The FOO.

Last night, Oct. 30/09, the Foo Fighters played a live show from Studio 606 streaming live on Facebook.

IT WAS AWWWWWWESOME! CHICKA-YE-YE-CHICKA-POW-WOO!

I've loved 'the Foo' since I was a kid and they're one of the bands I have stuck by through and through. It's cool to have seen them progress through the years and go through all the musical changes. One thing that has remained constant is Dave Grohl's awesome power of rocking and being a great guy.

They've been around for 14 years or so now and they're finally releasing a greatest hits compilation on Nov. 3/09.



This was a GREAT move on the Foo's part and Facebook's! First off, everyone around the world got a free 2 1/2 hour concert from the comfort of their own home. I was in my kitchen in my underwear eating popcorn and rocking out. You just can't do that at the MTS Centre. They played songs from their entire repertoire which meant long time fans got to hear the oldies. The event was very intimate and unplanned so you got to hear a lot of funny banter from the band and that made it much more than a concert.

People could also update their Facebook statuses which would then show up onscreen for everyone who was watching could see. The band would also see this and be able to take requests and answer questions. The interaction between band and viewers made the experience that much better.

Seeing the band in a relaxed atmosphere, joking around with each other and the viewers, playing songs from their entire discography, and interacting with us while a thousand miles away shows people that their a great band and great people. Who wouldn't wanna buy a CD from someone that shows us that? On top of that, they also played a couple new songs!

It puts the band in a good light and makes us want to go buy the CD. And who knows, maybe someone came across it and was turned into a fan. Who knows!

You can watch it replay here:

PREPARE TO ROCK!



This is good on Facebook's part because they are offering users extra services and show they want to give people more than just the social networking. People will stick around with FB to see if they're going to put more events like these on and if they keep doing it, people will. While watching, I think I saw the amount of viewers peak at 20,000. One broadcast brought in 20,000 people in at once. This doesn't include the people that are just on FB chatting etc. FB is also playing the replay for people who missed it to catch it again. Or for people like me who are watching it again.

U2 played a live concert on YouTube not too long ago. The Foo are obviously borrowing that idea because it was so successful. But, I think online concerts to promote CD's or tours will become a lot popular in the near future! It's reach is worldwide and easily accessible.

I'm sorry, this post is all over the place. I keep going back to my other window to watch it. I think I'm just going to leave it here. You get the point though, right?

1) Foo Fighters promoting their new Greatest Hits album by providing free concert for everyone in the world to see. Awesome.
2) Performance is live and intimate. You don't only get to see the great music but the great personalities of Dave, Taylor, Chris and Nate.
3) Everything is low key and relaxed. it's not a big production. It's not that difficult to put it on.
4) FB gets props for providing this to everyone.
5) People will look forward for FB doing more.
6) People buy their new album and people go on FB more.
7) This paves the way for more things like this!

Anyways, off to go watch the rest of it. I suggest you do too! Let's see if events like these happen more!

BLGW + SNL = 4EVA?

This past Saturday I was watching Saturday Night Live and the first thing that caught my eye was that The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) was doing the opening skit instead of Gerard Butler, who was supposed to be hosting. That usually doesn't happen, it's either the host does it or just the SNL cast. But, I guess the issues they wanted to address fit the skit. Anyways, they did "'The Rock' Obama" sketch:



First off, I think Fred Armisen does a great Barack Obama impersonation. He has most of Obama's mannerisms down and his speech characteristics are pretty much on. The Rock on the other hand, is more like Tarzan than The Hulk. But I digress.

The thing I was planning on talking about is how, when it went to the first commercial break, a big graphic came up on screen and the announcer said that Bud Light Golden Wheat was proud to give up some of it's ad time to bring you some special behind the scenes SNL moments.

Anheuser-Busch is extending it's brand line with a new kind of beer. Check out the press release HERE if you want the details on the product. It's basically Bud Light's answer to Alexander Keith's Premium White and Rickard's Original White Ale.

This is the first time in SNL's history that a single advertiser has bought out all the national ad time on the show. With this, Bud Light Golden Wheat (BLGW) had a segment called "Backstage with BLGW". It showed some clips from past SNL dress rehearsals and bloopers as well. They also sponsored a sweepstakes to fly you and a guest down to watch SNL live and on top of that, during the ad breaks, they aired highlights of SNL 'viewing parties' held in a couple big cities across the states sponsored by BLGW. This was a huge move on A-B to promote the new line in their brand. If you look back to last year and their successful launches of Bud Light Lime and Bud Light Chelada, they're probably hoping for the same thing.

I think they were smart to choose SNL instead of some prime time spot. SNL's audience is the exact demographic they're trying to reach; the audience being the legal younger aged men and woman, staying in drinking a couple beers with friends because it's way cheaper than going out. Also, it makes it seem like they want to connect with the content of the show and not just sell you the product. In reality, when they said, "We're giving up some of our air time to present you with...", they really did give up some of the ad time, you just don't know that they have all of it. Also, during the 'given up ad time' they had their logo plastered at the beginning, during, and at the end of the SNL moments. Even though a commercial wasn't playing, their presence was still there.

The viewing parties seemed kind of redundant but they were shown to show viewers regular people getting together to watch SNL, drinking the new product and having fun. BLGW also had regular ads aired alongside with this 18 second epic which they aired about a million times:



Though I didn't think the ads were that persuasive or great, nor did I really wanna thank BLGW for sharing those SNL moments with me, by the end of the show, I knew what the product was and I had the image of it being poured into a glass seared into my mind.

I'm sure there has been other examples of marketers buying out ad time from TV programs but this is the first clear example I've seen of it. If you know of any other companies that have done this or you think it's a dumb concept and it doesn't work, let me know, I'd like to hear what you have to say!

BUYER BEWARE - Ignorance means kiss your money goodbye

For my buyer beware project, my group did electronic device return policies. It's a bit of a dry subject but it's a subject everyone can relate to. I won't keep you here for long. I've had enough of this topic and want to purge myself of this completely. So, let's get started...

UGH.

Breathe.

Our group (Lennie, Karleigh, Steve) decided to look at local electronic retailers. We picked Best Buy, Future Shop, Visions Electronics, and Advance Electronics. BB is a big name corporation whose stores can be found all across Canada and the US. (BB Canada and the US BB have completely different policies). FS is owned by BB and is one of Canada's largest consumer electronic retailers. Visions is a national company with a handful of independently owned stores across Canada and Advance is a locally owned store with only one location in Winnipeg. I'm not going to get into each specific store's policy. If you're really interested, here's a link to each of their respective policies:

Best Buy Canada: HERE
Future Shop: HERE
Visions Electronics: HERE
Advance Electronics: HERE

Always, always, always read your receipt and ask what the return policy is. Make sure you know how many days you have for a full refund and how many days for exchange. Don't depend on the kindness of others when dealing with money. This is probably the most important rule. Don't come in on day 32 of a 30 day return policy and ask them to cut you some slack. It's clearly posted everywhere and you should have asked and taken the responsibility to find out. It's like CreComm. No if, ands or buts!

There are some items you need to know about, folks. Opened computer and video game software, CDs, DVDs cannot be refunded or exchanged for something else. This is due to federal copyright laws. It helps crack down on those kids who burn the files and sell illegal copies to their school chums!

When returning something, make sure you have all the original packaging, manuals, cables, accessories and little black twist ties (not actually, but better safe than sorry). Most stores will charge a restocking fee. This enables the store to retain some money from the sale if someone is returning a product that has been opened or is missing components, which depreciates the value of the item. Each store has a different restocking fee for certain situations which you can find on the links I provided. The prices are subject to change on the basis of the quality of the returned product. So, lets say something costed $1000 and when you returned it, they informed you that there's a 15% restocking fee. You've just lost $150, my friend. My sympathies to you. Make sure you find out your store's policy of restocking fees!

Here's an example where someone ran into problems with restocking fees:

HORROR STORY

From: www.complaintsboard.com

Basically, a customer bought a defective laptop and tried returning it within a couple days. Best Buy exchanged it for the same laptop. The new laptop was also defective. The customer tried returning it but Best buy said they would have to charge a 15% restocking fee ($112.50) or exchange it for the same laptop. The customer obviously did not want the laptop for it had been defective twice in a row. In the end, the customer was left with nothing and lost money. LESSON LEARNED.

Companies such as Best Buy, Future Shop and Visions Electronics have an online store where you can purchase items. You simply create an account, fill out your shipping information and supply them with your credit card number. As easy as it is to purchase items online, the returning process is more complicated. You have one of two options. Firstly, you can ship the product back to the company. To do this, you have to go through this whole hubbub about getting a return merchandise authorization number which is only valid for 14 days, then you have to ship it back yourself at your own cost and sell your soul and jump through a hoop. It's very time consuming and plain complicated.

The easier way to return a product you purchased online is to return it to the store. You must have the electronic invoice or purchase receipt that you received when you got the product in the mail. Without this, you have no proof of purchase and customer service representatives can’t even look at your product. All companies’ state that every online product purchased comes straight from the manufacturer so ever product is brand new. If the store deems that the product is in the same condition that it was mailed out in, then they will exchange the product for you (if they have it in stock) or refund your money. If there are missing parts, then you will be charged a restocking fee.

Some stores have “web-only” products. These products come in limited supply because there is a special manufacturer’s deal on them. It also means that the products will not be sold in the stores. Under these circumstances, the web-only products can not be returned to a store for exchange.

Lastly, some stores repackage returned items. They SHOULD be clearly labelled as a repackaged item. Because of this, stores like BB and FS take off a nice 10% of the price. Smaller stores like Visions and Advance also sell repacks but don't have a set price. So, the salespersons will try to sell you the highest the can above cost. It's at their own discretion and since they want to make high commission, they'll try and sell it as close to the original price as possible. In other words, if you're shopping at Visions or Advance, try and haggle a bit with the salesperson! You might get a better deal than you thought you would. Really, just generally make sure any product you buy is new, unopened as has everything in it! An example in a survey we took told us about how someone bought a "new" camera only to find that when they opened it, they found a work order slip that said it had been defective and fixed then put back on shelf!

I think these are the most important points to consider when you are purchasing anything from these stores in Canada. Just be smart, be aware, ask questions, make sure and think hard before making a final purchase decision!

My group made a video demonstrating how a smart customer and a dumb customer returns things. Here it is:


(It's more for the entertainment value. Just consider that.)

Okay, I'm done.

See you!

Buyer Beware...UGH

So, my Thanksgiving dinner was tonight. I ate till I was on the last notch of my belt. Unfortunately, I had to tighten that belt up again so I could rush off to school without my pants falling off.

Instead of napping the turkey and mashed potatoes off, I am now at school with my buyer beware group. Lennie, Karleigh, Steve and I are working hard, trying to get our project done.

I've learned a lot from this experience. I've learnt...wait a second. What is the difference between 'learned' and 'learnt'? We haven't gotten to that chapter yet in Writer's Craft. I'll have to ask Dr. Petty about that! Anyways, I've learnt/ed that scheduling group time to work takes a lot of time and effort. This being a holiday weekend, everyone has conflicting schedules. When someone has free time, someone else has to work or has their family dinner. It was tough and the only time we could find was late at night! Oh well, another skill we'll acquire through CreComm!

Anyways, we took a little break to record this for you!
Enjoy!!!

Marker Social Aftermath

Last Saturday was the Marker Social put on by the CCMA 2010 committee. Big thanks to Daria Lysenko and Kamila Konieczny for coordinating this fine event!



I have to say that it was a blast. There was a great turn out and everyone had fun. By the end of the night everyone's pure white shirts they came with had been tainted with markers, crudely drawn pictures and/or objectionable phrases. I met lots of people Saturday night and I hope that they'll remember me Monday!

Here is my after-social windup:


The back of our section's group shirt. Alpha Prime One came and conquered.



I'd like to mention this beautiful transformation of the white space in the letter 'O' of the word 'One' in the name 'Alpha Prime One'.



"Everybody Hates Mike Choi" was a popular phrase to be written that night. I hope this is a reference to a skit we had to do in Writer's Craft and not just the general dislike of me.



Shirts were also used as forms of amusement. Now, I don't know who played tic tac toe on my shirt but it seems as though X won. Good job. Next time, O!



What's a graffiti'd shirt without a Beatles reference?! Koo Koo Kachew to you too!



In fact, what's a graffiti'd shirt without an offbeat Beatles reference?



Plenty of animals were drawn. Here are a few. Here is a panda.



Here is a ssssssssssssssssssnake.



A beautiful butterfly.



R.I.P. Mr. Chicken ~ 2007-2009



PEOPLE'S CHOICE ANIMAL!!!
This lovely colourful caterpillar takes the cake! I swear, the girl spent 10 minutes drawing this. She also had a pencil case filled with a rainbow of markers! It was well worth the wait! She also lent me her green marker. Thank you again! My night would have been nothing without your marker!


In conclusion, it was a grand time! I implore you to come next year if you couldn't make it down this! I know, I know. Gogol was probably fantastic but I don't regret my decision!