Scrapframing : My thing

Today I completed my "scrapframe" from my recent San Francisco trip. This is something I do for all my adventures / journeys / travels.  However today I felt like sharing what I do, because I don't think this term "scrapframing" is coined.....maybe I should add it to Wikipedia.

Many people do scrapbooks, which is a great way to preserve memories, but it is still in a book. Each page hides the others, so you can't see everything at once. I like to display my adventures in poster frames. That way you can see all I did from the flight into the adventure to the flight home.

I love to travel and I am also a little bit of a hoarder, (but not the bad kind that fills their home with boxes of stuff.. No, the good kind, like a librarian)  I keep flat things when on my adventure or traveling. It could be a plane / bus / train / boat / taxi / pedicab ticket or a handout for whatever I did, but to me it is a timestamp of where I was and what I was doing at that moment in time.

I found the best thing to do with all these papers, tickets, maps, name tags, postcards, pictures, room cards (sometimes), etc is to put them on the wall. I could just tape or pin the items up there, but why not make it clean and frame it? Once it is in a frame it becomes a story that can be hung on any wall and shared.

All the things in the frames are about the best memories from that time. They may be small and some need explaining but others are easy to grasp. You can look at the scrapframe and figure out I went to Alcatraz, but I'll have to personally share the story about negotiating in Chinatown over the $12 duffel bag.

Here is what is in my San Francisco Scrapframe that highlights the trip.

1. Printed itinerary
2. US Airways ticket stub YUM to PHX
3. US Airways ticket stub PHX to SFO
4. Ripped-out page from US Airway's in-flight magazine with stuff to do in San Francisco
5. BART map - from the airport, we rode the Bay Area Rapid Transit to Union Square
6. MUNI Voucher for 6/3
7. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - ticket and map
8. San Francisco Botanical Garden Map
9. San Francisco Maritime - Nation Parks handout
10. Aquarium of the Bay ticket stub
11. "No Fins No Future" button from the Aquarium 
12. 1945 US Penny minted in San Francisco - I got change at some point
13. Black Pancake Records matchbook - record store dedicated to vinyl
14. MUNI Voucher for 6/4
15. Coaster, Business card, and Room card cover for the Stanyan Park Hotel
16. Room card cover for Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf
17. Postcard for Zero Zero Pizzeria - Great Pizza!
18. Self Guided Tour Handout for the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien
19. MUNI Voucher for 6/6
20. Alcatraz Ticket / map / passport book
21. 4 free Irish Coffees at the Buena Vista because Erin got a hair in her meal (1 of 2)
22. 2 MUNI Vouchers for 6/7
23. Receipt and warranty for that duffel bag
24. United Airlines ticket SFO to LAX
25. United Airlines ticket LAX to YUM

It's not the Money, It's the Message...Stupid

This week on our City Council agenda is an item that could go before the voters of the City of Yuma.
It is the question of a pay raise for the Mayor and City Council.

What message does it send when the conversation is about giving ourselves a pay raise?
Really now, what does it say, when we tell those full time employees who serve the community "salary rates are frozen but now is a good time to adjust elected officials pay?

I am floored by the short sight and lack of common sense. I am against the idea of increasing the City Council and Mayor's pay at this time. So many factors make this a no-brainier, however it is government so of course we are talking about giving elected officials a raise in a rescission.

Let's look at the list.
1. City of Yuma Employees have not seen a cost of living increase in years.
2. City employees have not seen a pay raise in just as long.
3. Retirement has been encouraged and we have not refilled those positions, so the city employees are doing the work load of the veterans who retired, as well as their own work.
4. The cost of insurance has gone up again. This year by 5%
5. We have also told them to make that equipment last longer (because we stopped funding our equipment replacement programs.)
6. It will fail at the ballot. What?... It will... Look at the past 20 years and how the citizens of Yuma have answered that question every time it comes up, in one form or another.
7. We are in a recession.

The Council should be made up of leaders, who can set an example.
If the men and women who serve our city can't have an increase, nor should we.

SXSW - Day 2

Today, I wanted to take a different approach to SXSW. Yesterday I was fortunate to see some really great panels with cutting edge information. However, today I wanted to go do something that we did at Comic-Con, walk around. When you walk around these events and conferences you get to participate in some of the coolest corporate promotions out there. All kinds of free swag and unique opportunities to meet big name personalities, some of them are movie stars and others are CEO's. Most of the time a TV network or corporation takes over a building or restaurant and pull out all the stops to get you in there and talking, I'm sorry tweeting about their brand. Today I wanted to walk around and hop in some random lines to experience this, SXSW style.

ScreenBurn at SXSWi is a large arcade and expo hall with up and coming games. Some are major releases that you can demo right there and others are independent titles that are self published. I spoke and interviewed two developers today. The first one was Pete Fenlon of Mayfair Games, the only board game manufacture out here and I also met the whole team behind "Worlds of Discardia" of Stygian Games, they are launching an up an coming role playing computer game. It is a mix of a computer and card game, get the title now? "Discardia" discard, oh how Magic. I plan on incorporating these interviews into my radio show, so you'll have to listen to get the full details. I am going back at the ScreenBurn tomorrow as Rocklive is bringing in Mike Tyson to be in the ScreenBurn hall.

The When Facebook Falls: Future-Proofing Your Social Media Efforts #facebookfalls panel was packed, I was very lucky to walk in and get in the front row. Once again the folks sitting on stage discussing the business of social media were all under 40 and probably all millionaires. These are the people that grabbed Ted Williams before he fizzled out and designed social media campaigns for brands such as Skittles and Burger King, most likely we have all seen or even interacted with some of their marketing programs. It was great to hear the stories behind some of the most innovative marketing promotions in recent times.


Check out GoPayment if you want to use credit cards on the go, they offer free rides downtown, all you have to do it tweet something and you get a code for free bike taxi service. When this whole thing is over the company will still be around. They are an arm of Intuit, you know the people that make Quickbooks. This little device plugs into any smart phone, not just the apple one and it runs you credit card and emails your customer a receipt. Pretty cool.


I love just walking into something not know what I am getting ready to see. That is what happened when I saw "The Innkeepers" tonight. Just randomly walking down the street and walk into a screening. Normally I don't care for scary movies, but I try to keep an open mind at these events. Well it scared me, and not just me, it scared the audience as well. It was also very funny. I like the dry humor. The sound design was very good, that is what helped make it so creepy and the make up in a horror film must be quality and this one was on par. I got chills several times during this film, so that means they did a good job.


Daylight savings has went into effect now, so I need to get some sleep, good night.

SXSW - Day 1

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." - Albert Einstein.

Ok, let's start at the top, Austin is fantastic, the people are really courteous and friendly... we will see in ten days how they feel, but today they were great and helped me every time I needed it.

This morning I went to the Austin Convention Center and picked up my badge and bags of materials, a  big thank you to Erin from NY for taking me right to the registration hall, that saved me some time and frustration wondering around the convention center. After getting squared away, I spent most of the morning getting familiar with downtown Austin.

I attended a few different events and panels today. In the process I met some really cool and interesting people who are on the move. It kind of makes me want to spread my wings again and do something in a market that is with the times, but that is a blog for another day.

I left the convention center and "caught a Chevy" to the Hyatt. I rode in one of the new Chevy Volts and let me just say GM is ahead of the game by partnering with SXSW to demo their new cars to thousands of people. It doesn't hurt that the driver was pretty cute too, I think she was from San Antonio.

Once at the Hyatt, I stumbled upon a gem of knowledge. The Hyatt has prepared for this event by having a chef outside grilling on the patio next to the river. The best part about it.....no line. Maybe in the next few days this will catch on and it will be like any other restaurant or food joint, packed, but for right now it was so nice to have a meal in a peaceful atmosphere and talk to the chef while out there.

The first panel I saw was Marketing Budgets Have Gone Social - Is It Working? #MarketingSocial
What an amazing opportunity to listen to trendsetters talk about what they were doing three years ago and what they are doing today. This panel consisted of Julie Hamp from Pepsi, Kris Narayanan from Samsung, and David Witt currently from Hershey formally with General Mills. This panel wrote the rules for Social Media Marketing and let me tell you, they are not a bunch of kids on facebook. These three individuals have been in marketing for many years, probably more like decades. They are just savvy enough to identify a trend and get in front of it before it blows up. The biggest piece of information that was shared from this meeting was the 5% rule. It is now standard to expect 5% of marketing budgets to go towards social media, which is a huge increase from 0, some companies or campaigns are using 50% to 100% of their marketing budget for social media. So unless the internet is a fad, this stuff isn't going anywhere but forward.

After the budget panel I headed back to the convention center for a panel that I did not plan on attending at all. I wanted to go see Google's Marissa Mayer, but something pulled me towards a room with four very creative and unique people. It was The Steroid Culture of Social Media: You Use? #SXSWsteroids.
This panel was made up of Tim Walker, Laura Beck, Kyle Flaherty, and Troy Nalls and they talked about cheating. Basically being a cheater is wrong, but cheating is ok. The best nugget of info taken from this session was "volume doesn't equal value" and that was a lesson learned by one of the panelist while working on a social media project for a national franchise. It is better to have 100 sold out fans rather than a million followers who don't care about your business. So it's not always about the numbers, which is an important lesson that I think we tend to forget as we are focused on building a presence of the web. I am glad I found this panel, I took a lot of good information from it including that Albert Einstein quote and Troy had some great quotes as well, including "you don't know what a monkey eats until he shits" and "I may be kind of thick, but I'm cool."

To end the night I installed foursquare and saw Cirque Du Soleil. If you ever get a chance to see this show live, do it! A show like this is not normally my cup of tea, but I have a whole new respect for those athletes. Yes athletes, anyone that can hold their whole body up by one arm 50 feet in the air is a bad ass in my book. I'm not going to try it that's for sure.

I learned a few things today:
1. Look for the last ever White Stripes concert.
2. It's not called "South By South West" by the locals.....simply "south by"
3. Moby will be playing next week! - not a sxsw event but I have my ticket.
4. foursquare is pretty cool, I really didn't care for it before, but after being here, I see how it can be a powerful tool that other social media has not focused on covering.
5. The newest and hippest things are not capitalized. Example: facebook, twitter, foursquare, etc

Downside to today. I think I am the only "PC" in this city, besides Dell. I swear, I must have seen more apple logos today than people. If you ever see me with a mac, you will know I have finally given into peer pressure and bought the over priced, locked down, trendy computer.

That was day one for me at "South By," all prepped and ready for another full day tomorrow.

February's Awesome Events

“Seize the opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind.” - Bulgarian Proverb

I am very grateful and honored for the many different hats I wear. This past week it seems like I wore a different hat everyday and sometimes multiple hat changes throughout the day. I just want to share last weeks incredible situations while wearing some of those hats.

Lets start by working backwards.

Sunday 2/27 - Subway Fresh Fit 500 - NASCAR @ Phoenix International Raceway
This Adventure I had the accompaniment of C. McD and I must honestly admit when I first thought of going to see a live NASCAR race, C. McD was not the first person to come to mind. However, McD turned into the perfect travel companion for this adventure, minus his child size bladder and regular need for food. C. McD was perfect because he taught me something about being press and he understood what it takes to make the most of the access we were granted. It wasn't hanging out, it was work. This was second nature for him. I believe C. McD and I both share an autodidact theme in our personalities and that makes experiences like this so much more memorable when you are discovering a whole new world first hand. I can't think of a better way of learning about something, Total Immersion.

The race this weekend was the NASCAR cherry for each of us. Now I can say after seeing the race from the inside out and seeing the millions of elements that make up one event. I have a new respect for this sport. Yes, I said respect and sport. I know in the past I have ragged on this form of racing because it seems repetitive. I can tell you after a full day at the track and in the pits, it is anything but repetitive.

When the race started we were in the trenches watching the teams prepare for any possible scenario. Things were normal and running smooth until we saw last weeks Daytona 500 winner, twenty year old Trevor Bayne crash in front of us. The next thing to change the climate of the race was the large 13 car collision on lap 67, At this time I remember seeing the first team tear down their track side “forward operating base.” I am sure they have a different name for what that thing is, but that is the best way of describing it. Every car and team have a large, wheeled, transformable, tool box. This thing converts with padded chairs, shade, flat screens, Direct TV, tools, power, and anything you could possibility need to race a car at the highest level of performance.

The race went really quick, before you know it, we are down to 40 laps to go and things start changing behind the scenes. You first notice some of the pit crews shutting down and all the camera crews claiming their territory in the winners circle, victory lane, and track side. We witnessed the final laps and went into the post race celebration where champagne was sprayed, congratulations were awarded and pictures were taken of the winning team in the hats of every possible sponsor.

This was more than just a race for McD and myself. I am sure it meant a little something special to Jeff Gordon as well. This race for him was important because he finally broke his double digit losing streak. It was also the last race ever on the current race track. About two hours after crossing the finish line Jeff Gordon was taken to a waiting hydraulic excavator and he made the first scoop out of the asphalt he just crossed. That was an end to an era. This track will be repaved and I can't wait to go back and see the improvements in November.


Saturday 2/26 – Busdriver / Dark Time Sunshine presented by the Dune Sea Crew
This show made up for the horrendous chilling night prior. It was pretty cold outside but that did not prevent a solid performance from all that took the stage this night. Busdriver used a couple different mics. One was running through an FX pedal and two small samplers producing the fresh foundation for his lyrical assault. He just set up and went to work. It was nice to see just a couple pieces of hardware with knobs, faders, and switches and not another mac on stage. Tonight, I came to the conclusion I am truly in a minority. As someone that creates multimedia and not on a mac. Yep, that's right, I am a PC. Probably 7 out of 10 people are using macs for audio, hell probably closer to 9/10.

Dark Time Sunshine was sick. They demonstrated a smooth and successful performance with unique and original sounds preformed through Ableton Live on what looked like an MPC (couldn't tell from my location and I was too into the music to go look) The production was quality and they had a groove going. A few minutes was given to a white boy from Dallas that can rap pretty fast. He said he is playing SXSW, so I'll look him up there and see what else he does.

I really enjoyed the energy of Kamikaze Democracy. That was a nice surprise to the evening. I was wondering why there were amps and a drum set on stage at a hip hop show, but they proved to be a good addition to the night. All original and passionate, I will be watching for them in the future.

Aside from the music it was good to see street art happening live in a supportive environment. This form of art has a bad wrap and it is justified because the majority of the time it is seen, it is a result of an illegal situation. An artist can really make something amazing with any instrument, that same instrument in the hands of a vandal will be detrimental.


Friday 2/25 - Dwight Yoakam
No Commit. :(


Thurs 2/24 - Yuma Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting.
This isn't really a ticketed event like the rest of the week was. It is however an opportunity to represent the City of Yuma and try to express our thoughts and desires in the community. That can be hard to do when your colleagues dominate the meeting and try to shut out other members. The city lost even more of that charm we used to have. I understand the reasons behind the actions, I just believe the actions were crass and undiplomatic. I don't want to sound like a pansy ass politician but there is such a thing as civility and respect for the public, staff and other officials. So the long story short. The city lost more ground and may lose some votes because of the can of worms that was opened thanks to (redacted).


Wed 2/23 - Yuma County Lincoln Day Dinner with US Senator and Republican Whip Jon Kyl.
The Lincoln Day Dinner is a Republican tradition held every February. Hats off to this years chairman and committee for doing an outstanding job pulling this event together.

US Senator Jon Kyl was our guest speaker and with him recently making the announcement of retirement in 2013, we were all very curious to hear his reasons and thoughts behind that decision. Basically, he would like to continue to be effective and useful, and sometimes that happens best when you are not so far in front of the public.

I also appreciate the fact he can give straight forward answers to the questions posed by any audience. The fact based updates from Washington give us a small look into the enormous problems that are being deliberated at the capitol.

Beesonomics

I am totally not serious with that title…I was just in a good mood when I thought of it.

These are some rules I try to apply to my life.....and I just wanted to share them.

1. I buy from my neighbor, because my neighbor buys from me. Or shop local.
It's not all about the money. When we shop local we create activity, we move inventory from the shelves and we keep revenue circuiting in our community. Let’s not forget that the taxes stay local too. Those tax dollars go to build roads, parks, and our community.

2.  Use cash over ATM cards.  I am a small business owner myself and I am aware of the fees to the business owner associated with using an ATM or credit card. That being said, I want my neighbor to have the 3% not the credit card company. If the local business is doing it correctly, they are not charging you a fee to run that card. They have added that cost into the product. Actually when I first signed up for my merchant services, I agreed that I would not add a fee for credit card transactions, which forced me to mark everything up the transaction cost. Knowing that, if I have the cash in my pocket, I use the cash over the card, at least that way the local business owner can get a few extra points.

That's it for now......just some thoughts.

Fox Screener Reviews

TRAFFIC LIGHT

TUE FEB 8 9:30/8:30

I like this show and I wish Fox had kept the other name, "Mixed Signals." It isn't too hard to figure out why they would change that. Anyways, I do like this show, it seems witty and it has a different spin on the same old plot. I think the characters have a good mesh and somewhere to grow. However, the "thing" that these guys do, seems just a little far fetched. You know in “That 70's Show" they were around the circle or in “Seinfeld” they were at the diner, or in “Friends” they all did the coffee shop thing. Well, in this show they all drive around and talk on speaker phones. Really? Really? That's your hook? How often will three people all be driving at the same time? Really now?  It may have room to mature but it seems kind of silly. Oh and being a sound engineer, it quirks me that all the vehicles sound the same. Come on now! Do some audio design; make the old truck sound like one and the cars sound like little new cars. Aside from all that, I will be watching.

THE CHICAGO CODE

MON FEB 7 9/8c

Just what we need, another Irish cop drama based in Chicago. This was called "Ride-Along" a few months ago. It seems like a good move for Fox to change the name, because that old name wasn’t cool and kind of seemed lame.  Well, four shows into the season and I still don't care for it. Maybe it's the over the top dirty local politician and a weird hierarchy in the police department that make it seem unrealistic. I will be surprised if it makes it to season two.

BREAKING IN

WED APR 6 9:30/8:30c

Christian Slater, hey he is still cool right? It is called "Breaking In" but the name could change before it airs, but basically it is a show about people who break into things (who would have guessed?) they break into computers, locks, buildings, yada, yada, yada. I will give this show a season. It has the potential to develop the characters and some clever history for them but, we will see where the writers take this show. At this point (pilot) it doesn't look too terribly ridiculous and at least it isn't another reality show, however that could be more interesting....hum?

On a side note: What was the deal with the Simpson's this week making a WTC joke? It seemed really crass and out of place.

New Year's Ride-Along

January 1. 2011

Yuma Arizona

For Immediate Release

On January 1, 2011 Councilmember Cody Beeson was participating in a ride-along with the Yuma Police Department. At approximately 12:35AM the patrol car Councilmember Beeson was riding in interacted with a west bound vehicle at the intersection of 4^th Avenue and 26^th Street. Both air bags deployed and Officer Thomas Aker and Councilmember Beeson were transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center via Rural Metro. After x-rays and examination Councilmember Beeson was discharged from the hospital before 3:00AM. The accident investigation is being handled by the Yuma Police Department.

“ I participate in the ride-along program with the City of Yuma Police Department as a Councilmember to gain a glimpse at some of the issues that face our city and community. A regular shift at any time of day with a police officer can open your eyes to the many city departments and how well they interact with each other. We all work together, around the clock to keep this city running smoothly.”

“We live in a world where accidents and unexpected events happen to us all, I am thankful when something like this does happen, we have excellent people that care for our community. I am truly grateful to the public safety professionals who are dedicated, trained, and ready to care for Yuma, especially those who were on duty and responded to our call last night. Thank you to the fine men and women at the Yuma Police Department, Yuma Fire Department, Rural Metro, and Yuma Regional Medical Center. I would also like to thank Officer Thomas Aker, if it had not been for his quick actions and abilities, this situation could have been much worse, thank you for your care and service.”

Cody Beeson

City Of Yuma Councilmember

Click Here for the offical Press Release

Click Here for the YPD Press Release