Author: JD
VENTURA SPARC MGS
NEW WATCH ALERT $4.700 Ventura watch company was established by Pierre and Yuko Nobs in 1989, they developed the first automatic watch with a digital display.
LTL PHOTOS: FRESCO KANE xTHE SOURCE
Me and Fresco Kane up at the source with the Editor and Chief Kim O
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.”
Governing Member Spotlight: iCrossing and Global 14
Jacob Hurwith 7:08 am on July 20, 2012 | Permalink | Post Your Comment! As part of a governing member benefit, I recently sat down with David Deal, VP of Marketing at iCrossing, to discuss music artist Jermaine Dupri and Global 14. Jacob Hurwith: What is Global 14? David Deal: Global 14 is a leading social media community founded by Jermaine Dupri, the Grammy Award winning music mogul who has been producing, writing songs, recording, and running his own music label for more than 20 years. He is currently working with artists such as Mariah Carey and Leah LaBelle. JH: Why did Dupri start Global 14? DD: JD founded Global 14 in January 2011 because he wanted to have a more interactive relationship with his community of followers. JD has more than 500,000 Twitter followers, but he wanted deeper and more meaningful conversations than he was getting on Twitter. JH: What out of the box tactics have Global 14 used for search/social media? DD: In 2011, JD conducted the 1414 Tour. Strictly through word of mouth, JD built awareness for Global 14 by visiting 14 cities in 14 days on a tour bus. He hosted live events to celebrate Global 14 and take the online Global 14 community offline. He relied on Global 14 members to tell others about the tour. Each venue was packed and ultimately, the tour drove membership. JH: What are some of the results since Jermaine partnered with iCrossing in Feb. 2012? DD: iCrossing has been helping Jermaine Dupri build a more connected brand for Global 14 via a combination of earned media, social media, content marketing, and search. Global 14 membership has grown from 30,000 members to 37,000 since we began working together in February. JD’s Twitter followers have surpassed the 525,000 mark (up from 381,000 in January). JH: Is there anything else you would like to share about Global 14 and its social media/word of mouth campaign? DD: Global 14 is not a celebrity site; it is a strong community that happened to be founded by a celebrity. People may join because of JD, but they end up staying because of the relationships they build. There is a true community that exists on Global 14 beyond JD. JD will often spark conversations by asking questions. For example, earlier this year, he started a conversation about the Trayvon Martin incident in Orlando and then let the Global 14 community run it. JD is the spark that lights the flame. Jermaine Dupri and Global 14 have put community back into social media.
Dear God, It Wasn’t Your Plan To Kill Trayvon! By Michael Skolnik
Posted 6 hours 6 min ago by Michael Skolnik I have prayed with the Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and the non-believers. I have celebrated Passover, the end of Ramadan and Easter. I have sat in churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and the homes of beautiful, religious people all around the world. I have prayed. I continue to pray. I believe in prayer. And today, I pray to you, God, that you hear this prayer and let us all know that there is no way in hell that it was your plan to kill Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman said it was your plan. The guy who pulled a 9mm gun that rainy night in Sanford, Florida, said last night on TV, that it was your plan. Said he had no regrets. No regrets about getting out of the car. No regrets about having a gun. No regrets. No regrets about shooting an unarmed teenager with one bullet in his chest that put an end to his life. Forgiveness. We seek to forgive. But as Trayvon’s father said this morning, “To ask us if we will forgive a guy who doesn’t even regret taking our son’s life is just too much to ask right now.” Maybe one day, but just not now. Not at this moment, not at this time. Not after what Mr. Zimmerman said last night. His words last night did not help him and did not help us. George Zimmerman will be put through our justice system and we will assume he is innocent until proven guilty. However, we will not accept that this was your plan, just cause he said it. We will not accept that a young man’s life was cut short because a man holding a gun didn’t like the way he walked or how he looked. All of the good books teach us those lessons about judgment…by now we should have gotten the message. I never got a chance to meet Trayvon, so you tell him hello for me. Tell him that we got our hoodies up and that we will continue to seek justice for his family. Tell him that LeBron wrote his name on his shoes. Tell him the President of the United States said if he had a son, he would look like him. Tell him that strangers, complete strangers, people him nor I ever met, marched in streets all across this country because of him. Tell him his friends miss him…really, really miss him. Tell him that his mother, father and brother are some of the most incredible people in the world…I am sure he already knows that. But, please just remind him. And God, one more thing…if you are not going to listen to my prayer, please listen to the words of Trayvon’s father, Tracy, “We must worship a different God, because there’s no way MY God would have wanted George Zimmerman to murder my teenage son.” ~Michael Skolnik
Mariah Carey to Be Named BMI Icon
CONGRATS TO THE QUEEN By Derrick Bryson Taylor Just when you thought Mariah Carey, aka The Voice, couldn’t earn any more prestigious accolades, she’s earned yet another. The pop diva will be given the title “Icon,” according to Billboard. On September 7, the songstress and mother of two will be honored at the 2012 BMI Urban Music Awards for her illustrious 20-plus-year career. Carey is no stranger to the organization. Thirty of her songs have garnered recognition by BMI over the years, including “Hero,” “One Sweet Day,” “We Belong Together” and “All I Want for Christmas is You.” To her credit, Carey has earned an astounding 18 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 – second best only to the Beatles. In her trophy cabinet, you’ll also find Carey’s five Grammy awards, 31 Billboard Music Awards and 17 World Music Awards.