Mediaboss Marketing

By The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) - Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:

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LONDON'S EYEFULL TOWER

A writer at Building Design magazine branded it "a contorted mass of entrails". The BBC said: "a catastrophic collision between two cranes." Others, though, are giving it a thumbs-up. Will the ruby red steel tower that rises above the Olympic Park - conceived as London's answer to the Eiffel Tower in Paris - win over the public? Remember this: The Eiffel Tower, one of Europe's most loved landmarks, was once loathed. It was built in the 19th Century as a temporary structure for a world fair. And Parisians weren't impressed.

-Rob Harris - Twitter http://twitter.com/RobHarris

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THE O-WORD

Stores and pubs around London are getting in the spirit of the Games - but don't call 'em the Olympics. With concerns running high about running afoul of Olympics branding rules and confusion over what is or isn't allowed, locals are getting creative in promoting their Olympic offerings. One pub in Camden placed chalkboards on the sidewalk saying "the torch with no name will pass us by" and "can you guess why we'll be open Thursday," highlighting their hours and specials for the torch relay day. Bartender Georgie Fisher said she'd written the boards for the Lyttelton Arms after hearing she might not be allowed to use the O-word. "My boss said specifically not to use it and instead to try to think of something sassy," she says.

-Cassandra Vinograd - Twitter http://twitter.com/cassvinograd

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EYES ON LONDON: The Eyefull Tower, O-word, UFOs

Portland, Maine (PRWEB) July 23, 2012

Hall Internet Marketing, Maines largest 100% interactive agency, announced that they have joined forces with mobile application development firm, LabelTop Software, to complement their existing mobile marketing and mobile web offerings. Prior to adding LabelTops native web app expertise, Hall completed development of their responsive design mobile framework and mobile landing page framework, both work hand in hand with their mobile SEO and mobile advertising programs that they provide to many national brands.

Following the completion of our successful mobile web framework and our responsive design process, it is exciting to have the opportunity to complete that suite of skills and offer native app development and distribution, says Tom Hall, president of Hall Internet Marketing, This gives us a strong competitive advantage in mobile marketing as we go head to head with regional and national agencies in this rapidly evolving space.

It is very exciting to work with a great organization like Hall Internet Marketing, said Hasan Adil, of LabelTop. Together we can create world class mobile design and development solutions for businesses and amazing mobile experiences for consumers.

Hall Internet Marketing is a 13-year-old agency that combines technology and expert services to drive cost-effective Internet Marketing strategies to improve website performance. Hall staff works closely with clients to understand their business objectives, their target audience and the competitive environment to create a comprehensive, tailored online marketing program that drives success. Hall helps some of the largest employers in Maine, well known Fortune 100 companies and innovative technology businesses to drive more sales online.

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Portland, Maine Internet Marketing Agency and Software Development Firm Join Forces to Provide Mobile App and ...

The company wants to create a place for people to share user-generated videos created through its app, hopefully setting itself from a crowded field.

If you look at Ptch's pedigree, you have to take the start-up seriously.

Ptch CEO Ed Leonard was the former chief technology officer of Dreamworks, known for films such as "Shrek" and "Kung Fu Panda," but left to run the start-up, which last week launched an iPhone app that allows users to easily and quickly create minute-long montage videos out of their existing photos and video clips.

The premise sounds familiar, right? In a previous column, I profiled a company with a similar mobile service called Animoto. Vyclone and Viddy offer similar remix video and photo services. Autodesk just spent $60 million buying Socialcam, which also does video sharing.

Ptch aims to be different because Leonard sees his service as second to the company's goal of becoming its own social network, where individuals follow each other, like their videos, and interact to create new videos.

"We really see this as a platform for living media," Leonard told me in an interview.

Still, with such a crowded field the company will face many challenges in winning converts. Leonard, however, felt so strongly about the company that he opted to leave the big studio behind, he told me in an interview.

"I felt so strongly about the company I decided to leave Dreamworks," he said. "I was excited to jump in with both feet."

Ptch came about as a result of Dreamworks' desire to improve its mobile presence. The company was incubated out of Dreamworks for the past nine months before going public last week.

I tried out Ptch, and like many of the other video services, the interface is easy to learn and fairly slick. By logging in through Facebook, you can automatically pull videos and photos from the site, as well as from your iPhone. You can mix and match, choose music, as well as a "style" that customizes how the photos are presented.

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How Ptch makes its pitch for video social networking

One man was killed and another was shot this month at parties in Charles County, and the sheriffs office said news of both parties was spread through social networking, which has been leading to trouble.

Across the nation and even here, the sheriffs office said in a statement, police are responding to more and more reports of parties that get out of control because the party is posted on social media.

The sheriffs office urged parents and teenagers to recognize that social media has changed the way people party. It said addresses of parties are forwarded to friends, who send the information to additional friends.

Soon, hundreds of uninvited people show up and in some instances violence has broken out, according to the sheriffs warning.

It may be tempting to go to one of these parties, the statement said, but those who do could be placing themselves in a dangerous situation.

The man who was killed, Jerry Adam Gilchrist, 18, of Cheltenham was involved in an altercation at a party July7 in the Indian Head area, the sheriffs office said. He died at a hospital, which reported that he had suffered blunt-force trauma, the sheriffs office said.

In the second incident, the office said, uninvited guests showed up at a party after learning about it through social networking. After an argument, there was gunfire and a 19-year-old was wounded. An arrest has been made, the sheriffs office said.

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Charles County authorities link party violence to social media

The social networking spent $960,000 on lobbying in the second quarter of 2012, the first time it has come close to spending seven figures in a single quarter.

Facebook has once again significantly increased its budget for wooing politicians. The social network giant spent $960,000 on lobbying in the second quarter of 2012, the transition quarter during which the company went public. This is up exactly 200 percent from the $320,000 the company spent in the first quarter of 2011, and up 47.69 percent from the $650,000 it spent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

As you can see in the chart below, Facebook has been lobbying since 2009 but only cranked up the gears last year. In fact, 2011 was the first year Facebook spent more than $1 million for lobbying. To put the latest numbers into perspective, Facebook spent almost $1 million this past quarter alone, and in the first half of 2012 ($1.61 million) it has already blown past its total 2011 expenses ($1.35 million):

Facebook's 16-page lobbying report for the second quarter of 2012 (PDF) lists the following specific lobbying issues:

In summary, Facebook lobbied lawmakers on advertising, cybersecurity, employment, patents, privacy, taxes, and IPO issues. There are many reasons why Facebook's lobbying is increasing: the improving U.S. economy, the upcoming 2012 presidential election, as well as the various Internet-related bills making their way through Congress.

As all technology companies of Facebook's size, the social network will continue to friend Washington, D.C. as long as it has a list of items it wants help with. Working with the government is one of many ways Facebook is working to protect its interests, and in some cases, the interests of its users.

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Facebook breaks its lobbying record in Q2 2012