If you’ve been following the previous iterations of the my blog, you are well aware that I’m am not a big fan of Bill Simmons a.k.a the SportGuy. While I think his writing can be somewhat witty and at times entertaining, It is for the most part too favorable to New England sports even when they are struggling; well except for Boston College since he attended to Holy Cross. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if he jumped on the wagon if BC wins a national title. In addition to that, His crush on Tom Brady, the entire Red Sox line up and soon to be crush on Kevin Garnett make his columns read like a sophomore high school girl ranting about her imaginary date to the senior prom with the HS quarterback. Moreover half of each of his columns consist of him talking about the bets that he is probably making (or encouraging you to make) but can not legally tell you that. Another ripe I have with him is his inability to talk about the number one sport in the world; soccer. Still beyond me how people take him seriously. And to top it all off, his wife is a better writer than him and makes better picks than him on NFL games. Plus I hope she names their soon to be born baby Peyton Manning Simmons, the ultimate spite move.

So if you’re like me and you find yourself wanting more from your sports writer beside a repeat of the Vegas lines and odds, I suggest that you check out NPR Frank Deford. While Deford might have a favorite team in every major American sports, he does not spend his entire column lamenting when they lose or bragging when they win. Instead he provides an intelligent, somewhat satirical and complex view of the world of sports. He covers every topic, from international soccer to college football including NasCar and Tennis, with in-dept analysis, humor, objectivity–something that Simmon’s writing lacks. You can find all of 270 archives here (free of charge) and you can even listen to them. Trust me, They are worth it. I would lie if I said that I have a favorite, because I enjoy them all but if you want a flirt before you start another relationship with yet another sports writer, I suggest you start with Duke’s Basketball Team: Uniquely Hated; Sports, the Rodney Dangerfield of Academia? and Can Sweet Lou’s Cubs Save Sour Sports Year? I promise you will enjoy Frank Deford and on every Wednesday you will dish your second class sports writer for him. This maybe the one of the few times when I would conduct having an affair…hey it’s not you’re cheating on your barber.

Technorati Tags: Sports , SportsGuy , Bill Simmons , Frank Deford , NPR , Sports writers

Yesterday, we went to see a special screening of the documentary Darfur Now. The film actually doesn’t open in DC until November, but we have special contacts that allowed us to go to a special early screening that included a Q&A with the director and some other folks involved in the film. The combination of location (Georgetown–far from nearly everything) and the weather (the first cold, rainy night of the fall) made the crowd small, but there was a good group of people in the theatre to watch the film.

The movie itself attempts to paint a broad picture of the situation in Darfur, as well as give examples of what is being done to address the situation. The director, Ted Braun, does this by profiling six people around the world who are actively engaged in working to end the conflict in Sudan and aid those who have been displaced. The panel after the film included Braun, one of the Darfurian translators, and Adam Sterling (executive director of the Sudan Divestment Task Force), one of the people profiled in the film. It was interesting to hear from them their perspective on making the movie as well as their perspective on the situation.

I would say Darfur Now ranks pretty high up there on the list of documentaries I have enjoyed (a caveat, that list may or may not be rather small). Braun managed to weave the actions of six different people together in an engaging way. One thing I especially appreciated about the film is that it was presented in a fairly non-biased manner. All parties have their say, Braun interviewed members of the Sudanese government, Sudanese rebels, actors, humanitarian aid workers, displaced Darfurians, and more. There is no narration telling you what to think, he leaves the decision-making and value judgement up to the viewer. In a world full of Michael Moore-esque documentaries, such an open perspective was quite refreshing.

The film was not all good, of course. I felt it could have been a bit shorter, there were times when I though it would be over, but there was still several more segments to go. It is probably average length for a documentary (a little over 1.5 hours) and there is certainly enough subject matter to fill the time, but it did drag a bit. Also, if you are not very familiar with the story of what is going on in Darfur, the film gives only a brief history lesson of the conflict. While Braun probably hopes (as do I) that most Americans have a basic understanding of the situation, based on some people I know, I’m sure that is not the case. Still, there are plenty of resources out there if you want to learn more.

When the movie opens everywhere in November, I’d strongly encourage people to go see it. It leaves you inspired to help (without being cheesy). More importantly, though, it reminds everyone of a topic that’s too often forgotten in the news cycles of Britney Spears, Iraq, and athletes using or not using steroids. Maybe if enough people see this movie, we’ll convince those in charge that something desperately needs to change in Darfur.

~ The GFF

All these Facebook events had me thinking:  Of all the politicians and or non-profits, who can really benefits from the extra exposure on Facebook?  At first glance the answer is easy.  Everyone of them can benefit from additional exposure on Facebook and if you subscribe to the theory that all publicity is good publicity, this is even more true. 

Before discussing who has the most to gain, it is imperative to mention that each organization must first determine its goals on Facebook and  its target audience and their habits.  For example, there is no need to for an organization like National Association of Home Builders to create a presence on Facebook, if their goal is to reach more Builders Members.  On the other hand, I don’t understand why an associations like National Minority AIDS Council or the Red Cross, have yet to take advantage of Facebook groups and Apps to promote their activities (at a local level if need be) and even launch education campaigns about AIDS and blood drives, respectively.

That being said, I think some stand to gain more than others.  In my opinion, the most stand to gain are local politicians and local organizations.  Facebook actions (i.e. signing up for events, following local group, viewing a tagging photos) better translate in the real world if they are kept in the small communities where that people can physically relate to and have to be part of every day.  I have no data to support this but one can only look at LateNightShots in DC and its success to get what the idea.  The site works because it drives people to meet and get together offline.   And they can do this because it’s hyper-local. Whether you agree with what they do  when they meet offline is a subject for another discussion.

While national organizations and national politicians can not benefits as much from the basic Facebook features as their local counterparts, they can rely on Facebook Apps to accomplish the same thing.  The Apps can be used as a tool to allow like minded users be a part of hyper-local community that will allow them then to engage with each other and organization/politician online and offline. 

Basically, a successful utilization of facebook to get a message across would be to create hyper-local groups than whose action and support can translate in the real world

Unless you’ve been living under rock, you are probably aware of the all the hype that Facebook has been receiving. With something like 45 millions users, everyone, from politicians to activist/Non-Profit organizations, has been trying to leverage for their purpose and or cause. The first event I attended focused on how political organizations and candidates can utilize Facebook to reach the masses. The Facebook reps started the presentation with statistics about the site, its users and the potential for growth. The numbers were impressive but nothing that hasn’t been published everywhere on the web. Needless to say, I was really excited about that part of the presentation. In latter part of the presentations made following recommendations to organizations and candidate that wished to tap into Facebook users:

• Form groups and keep the content fresh (i.e. pictures, wall post, notes, and posted items).
• Be candid, transparent, and relevant (i.e. don’t used canned photos only, don’t run everything by legal and PR, talk about Grey’s anatomy…everyone watches it)
• Encourage interaction between group members and have actionable items.
• Build Facebook application using the Facebook Platform when you find limitations in current Facebook functionalities (i.e. Barack Obama app & Causes App).
• Purchase various Facebook advertising package to target a specific audience (i.e. all 22-24 yrs old males living in NY) or to gain wide audience.

Post presentation, they had a Q&A. Again nothing exciting, expect you politician profiles can now have more than 5000 friends, and Groups administrators will soon be able to message more than 1000 people at a time.

The second event, titled Facebook Developer Garage, was held at GW the next day. By the title you can see that it was geared towards geeks like me. There was a bit of an overlap between the presentations. The presenters displayed the same stats from the other conference. I guess they can’t really compile new statistics overnight. During the second part of the presentation, the focus was more on the much touted Facebook Platform. To summarize, their message to developers was “build fast and iterate.” They made the case that the platform is young and full of potential. They, as in Facebook, have not yet identified all the characteristics of a killer app. The best way to discover users’ likes and dislikes is by trial and error, which is what they do themselves at Facebook (…think of backlash when news feed was first introduced). After the presentation from Facebook reps, some local developers came up and demoed their Facebok apps. Each of them talked about the challenges encountered while building their app and fielded some questions. I can not end with out a word of thanks for Jesse Tomas and Nick O’Neill for setting up the second event. It was very ad hock, but successful.

Next post what I learned…

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Facebook Platform, Non-Profits, Web 2.0

A couple of you have asked me why my site was down. Simply put, I wanted to move away from dasBlog and try WordPress. Why did I move? Well, after 3+ years with dasBlog I felt it was time to explore something new. WordPress is very robust and provided me with the flexibility I wanted from blogging platform. I have not yet decided if I will import the old content to the new blog. I’m currently leaning against the idea because it would not represent any departure from the way I’ve written in the past.

Besides updating my blog I’ve been keeping very busy. With the beginning of football season, I’ve spent a lot of my time managing various fantasy football teams. .. Just kidding. Actually school has kept me pretty busy. I’ve found the classes so far to be very thought provoking and applicable to real world experiences. To make a long story short, Grad school is much better than undergrad. In addition to school, I’ve been doing pro-bono web consulting for two start-up non-profits. I hope to use my knowledge of the web and web trends to help these organizations create an online presence that will enable them to reach a wide audience. Working pro-bono has also given me the opportunity to put to use the knowledge that I’ve acquired from class and through reading numerous online articles. In addition, It also gives me the chance to extend my portfolio (coming soon to this website) to include projects beyond those of now defunct Doceus Inc.

As those of who are addicted to Facebook already know, I recently celebrated my 24th birthday. I’m getting to be old man. Who would have thought? I didn’t do much for my birthday this year because I was in NJ/NY attending a wedding and visiting the girl’s brother. I must admit I was nice to get away for the weekend, but now it’s back to the daily grind.

Technorati Tags: blogging