Colorado Eagles change their minds about Rocky Mountain Rage
Posted on | July 1, 2009 | No Comments
I want to say I told you so, and I did predict some of this back in the day. Three years ago, the Colorado Eagles, our local Central Hockey League franchise, threw a temper tantrum and filed a lawsuit agains the league when the CHL awarded a franchise to the new Broomfield Event Center.
There was a lot of discussion about legal terms of the franchise agreement. It was just 37 miles away, and violated the non-compete terms of their contract. I thought it was laughable that the Eagles would cry foul and expect to lose fans from Broomfield when, clearly, the rapid local following they have developed is all right here in their back yard.
The new, close rival would be a good thing, in my mind, and it was — the Rage often gave the Eagles all they could handle, from the beginning of the series. A rising tide would lift all boats, and Rage fans — if they could get tickets — would come to the Budweiser Events Center/The Ranch to support their team; while Eagles fans — especially those who might not be able to get home tickets — could venture down the road and support their team at an away venue. How often does that really happen in the far-flung reaches of the CHL?
For a variety of reasons, the Broomfield Event Center, and the teams that call it home, have struggled to gain a following even as they have enjoyed some competitive success. The previous mangement company for the facility backed out, and now a new one is being sought. The NBA development league basketball team, the Colorado 14’ers, moved on to greener pastures in Frisco, Texas. And now the Rage is no more, either, according to a Fort Collins Coloradoan article from June 30. It may be temporary — they hope to skip a year and come back for the 2010-2011 season under new ownership.
Now, the Eagles are already missing the competition. And they are missing the short drive to play games — fuel costs are up, and now travel to other away games to fill their schedule will be much more expensive.
Now all the bluster of the Eagles management back in the day seems to be one of two things — ill-advised, short-sighted, childish and immature, or perhaps calculated to boost awareness. Either way, the struggles of team sports and the venue in Broomfield is in sharp contrast to the amazing job that the Eagles and those that run the local venue have done to generate interest and build a fan and user base for the facilities. Broomfield built it, and they did not come. The Eagles and the Larimer County Events Center seem very much to be in the right place at the right time.
Some think that competition from Denver — the NHL’s Avalanche — was a factor in Broomfield’s struggles, but clearly, it was not — the Avs were unwatchable this year, and people stayed away in droves as their dismal record continued to keep them in the league’s cellar. Desperate promos did not help.
The folks who pay for CHL hockey are clearly not the same demographic and target audience that the NHL covets. The price to take a family to a CHL game is in a different universe than what you have to pony up for a night at an NHL match-up. The Rage — and the folks at the Broomfield Event Center — have yet to figure out how to get to the sweet spot in their market. The Rage and the 14’ers put a good product on the floor at a reasonable price — just not enough of the right people knew about it.
Reality TV Casting Call for Inventors/Entrepreneurs
Posted on | May 13, 2009 | No Comments
I got an email from StartupNation today (www.startupnation.com). They shared info about a new Mark Burnett Productions/ABC show in the works called “Shark Tank.”
It seems to follow the all-to-common trend these days of taking ideas from already successful shows in Europe and remaking them in a U.S. version — this one seems to be inspired by “Dragon’s Den,” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/) which you can see on BBC America (http://www.bbcamerica.com/). (one of my favorite networks on DirectTV, btw, gotta love Top Gear)
If you are an inventor or entrepreneur, you might be a good match to be on this show — details below, text from the email I got from SN.
The SN blog: http://www.startupnation.com/blogs/
StartupNation PR Team Connects you to a Casting Call for an ABC TV show about Entrepreneurs and Inventors!
Do you have the next great moneymaking idea?
StartupNation is working closely with the wonderful folks at Mark Burnett Productions/ABC to help them in their search for entrepreneurs, inventors, businesspersons, dreamers, promoters, creators, innovators, etc. We hope is to find someone – maybe you – who can be part of the soon-to-be-released show called, “Shark Tank”.
If you feel you have a lucrative business idea but just can’t seem to secure the financial backing to get it off the ground, then “Shark Tank” may be just what the doctor ordered. Each episode features aspiring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to moguls in hopes of landing investment funds.
How to apply to appear
In order to have a chance to enter the “Shark Tank” and see if your idea causes a feeding frenzy, here’s what you do:
Send an email to this email address at Mark Burnett Productions: dpo.casting@gmail.com.
Address your email to Mr. David Polanzak and be sure to include the following information:
- Name:
- Age:
- Hometown:
- Best Phone Number:
- Photo of You:
* Be sure to put in the Subject Line of your email the name, “StartupNation”, and whether you are an Inventor, Entrepreneur or both.
A bevy of events to network, do good
Posted on | April 15, 2009 | No Comments
I’ve been helping to get the word out on a variety of great events coming up this week, next, and into May. Here’s a quick rundown, and let me know if you have an upcoming event that you’d like help promoting.
Tomorrow, April 16, Citron WorkSpaces is having a Spring Fling networking/celebration event from 4 to 6 p.m. at their Louisville, Colorado headquarters — details at www.citronworkspaces.com.
Also tomorrow, The TASTE, to benefit Neighbor to Neighbor and the Food Bank for Larimer County, 5:30 to 8:30 at the Hilton in Fort Collins: www.tastebenefit.org.
May 1, CLEAR for a meth-free Loveland holds its spring fundraise at Ellis Ranch from 6 to 10 p.m.: www.lovelandclear.org.
May 8, the Women’s Development Council of Colorado celebrates 25 years with the Women in Business Symposium from 3 to 7 p.m. at the new Embassy Suites in Loveland: www.wdccolorado.org.
Thought about Winter Park this summer?
Posted on | March 26, 2009 | No Comments
There’s a lot of fresh snow falling now, but before you know it, the ski lifts will be closed, mud season will pass, and it will be time to hit the trails to bike and hike! Thinking you can’t afford a big trip to the trails? How about a shorter trip, with trails as extensive and epic as most any other place you can think of? How about Winter Park?
My friends and clients at No Moosin’ Around have some great lodging options, and you don’t have to go all the way to Moab — or even fight the Eisenhower Tunnel traffic.
They also have some world-class music festivals each year in WP, and much more. Find out more at www.nomoosinaround.com, or http://pitch.pe/7332.
Local author’s book, “family memoir,” documents WWII experiences
Posted on | March 26, 2009 | No Comments
I just distributed news about a local Fort Collins author, Eric Jensen, who wrote a book about his family’s experiences during World War II. It is pretty cool on a couple of levels. First, how the book came together — Jensen’s father and uncles were scattered across the globe serving their country during the war, but never spoke about their experiences as he was growing up. After his parents passed away, he found a big box of letters that inspired the book. Then, there’s the whole story of his family’s struggle, adventures, tragedies and survival through the course of the war. Neat stuff.
Learn more at www.foreverandadaybook.com, or http://www.prxbuilder.com/link.aspx?p=1199.
New Guest Blog Post Pending
Posted on | March 25, 2009 | No Comments
Deb Campbell of Red Kite Creative was kind enough to ask me to write a guest blog post for her on “public relations and your website” – it took me longer to get it done that I would have liked, but I just sent her a draft to review. Hoping she likes it. The good news is that I learned quite a bit during the time I was mulling over the topic, taking notes, and wondering what the heck direction I was going to take.
If Deb is more prompt about reviewing it and asking me for whatever revisions she’d like me to make than I was about writing the darn thing in the first place, you can look for the entry at <www.position-relative.com> soon.
New Faustson Forum Newsletter out
Posted on | March 24, 2009 | No Comments
Just finished a newsletter for a company in Denver, Faustson Tool, that does high-end machining.
There was a particularly fun story in this one – through Ball Aerospace, they made a key component of the Kepler space telescope, which will be studying stars for the next 3.5 years to find planets, especially Earth-like planets. Some really big questions under investigation about our place in the universe, and if we are alone . . .
You can find this story, and a few others, as part of the newsletter posted here:
http://provensystems.com/faustson/2009_q1/newsletter.html
New client news: Citron designs new interior for local biz HQ
Posted on | March 23, 2009 | No Comments
http://tinyurl.com/ctue4d – Citron WorkSpaces Designs Corporate Office Interior for Innovative Openings Louisville HQ
Credit card companies seem to thrive despite terrible PR
Posted on | February 16, 2009 | 1 Comment
It’s the seductive nature of credit, I guess, that leads so many Americans into debt, and gives a bully pulpit to the Dave Ramseys and the Suze Ormans of the world. But, really, how do credit card companies get away with it? Great lobbyists, I suppose, and the (now seemingly passe) spend/buy U.S. culture.
Full disclosure – I learned a hard lesson just this past week. Spaced a payment on a sweet, sweet balance transfer deal, and as a result got hit with a huge interest rate jump. A moment of inattention, and it cost me dearly.
So I was none too happy to see David Lazarus rub it in with warnings that such happenings might just be the beginning: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus15-2009feb15,0,1994750.column.
In these increasingly desperate times for some when it comes to the economic front, the big banks — Citibank, Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and American Express Co. — threaten rates can go up to 30 percent for missing a single payment. He notes that “JPMorgan Chase & Co., the nation’s largest issuer of plastic, has begun charging hundreds of thousands of cardholders a $10 monthly fee for having carried large balances for more than a couple years.”
So, with banks having blown the housing boom and incurred massive losses, they are turning to the already debt-ridden American consumer to carry part of the burden. “Gouging” customers to boost their bottom lines, according to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.). This, just as consumers are in more dire straights than in any time in recent memory.
Clark Howard has a similar message on CNN.com – http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/02/13/clark.howard.credit.cards/index.html.
The good news is that new rules are coming that will stop banks from retroactively raising rates on existing balances – but they won’t go into effect until July 2010, and the banks will no doubt lobby to get the pending legislation overturned.
Clark: “the problem with banks jacking up the rates is that they’re making it tougher for someone who might have been able to pay at 5 percent but could never pay at 30 percent, for example. So they’re setting you up for failure, and they’re shooting themselves in the foot at the same time.”
Bottom line, as always — pay down your debt, and try to pay it off altogether. Easier said than done in ideal circumstances, let alone in today’s challenging times.
Welcome!
Posted on | January 23, 2009 | 1 Comment
This is my first post on my self-hosted WordPress blog. I was using BlogSpot previously, and chose to convert from a BlogSpot hosted site to this setup from http://howtopr.blogspot.com/.
I’ll put future posts here, and work on moving/converting my previous BlogSpot posts to this site.