Welcome to the (Social Media) Revolution
Hey folks,
Greetings from the cozy confines of the Virginia Blood Services‘ Bloodmobile, which is parked today at our client CowanGates in Midlothian. I paused for a 20-minute break today to give blood, and watch some of the inauguration coverage on my iPhone. If someone had told me I would be watching live television on my phone 20 years ago, I wouldn’t have believed them. If that same person had told me I could use that same phone to broadcast giving blood live (via Facebook Live), it would have blown my mind. There are 1 million people in Washington D.C. today watching a new president being sworn in, with another 250,000 people protesting it a few miles away. Estimates are that 100 million people will be watching at home, at work and yes, on their phones. Welcome to the Social Media Revolution.
Since 2010, the world has become a very different place, with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter not only transforming the way in which people communicate, they are the catalyst behind geopolitical change. Remember Brexit? People who supported Britain’s exit from the European Union outnumbered opponents 2-1 on Instagram, and 7-1 on Twitter. Remember the Arab Spring? Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and other Arab nations overthrew (or tried to overthrow) their governments.
The Trump supporters and Trump protestors both call this a “revolution.” But love him or hate him, Donald Trump‘s victory is due in large part to his mastery of social media, and understanding its enormous power to transform. @DonaldJTrump has over 20 million followers on Twitter, and the 24-hour news cycle reports on every single 140-character post. Welcome to the revolution; we have a President who tweets.
Monday, January 16 – Duck Season, Wabbit Season
On Monday, Jack and I “ducked” down to Currituck to freeze our butts off in a plywood box on the edge of a marsh. It’s called duck season, and not wabbit season. It’s nice to know when I’m out of the office, the Madison+Main-iacs are still “getting it done.”
Our spring interns started Monday, so we’d like to give a warm welcome to Joseph Davis, Lauren McCarthy, Roshni Kotla, and Erin Rebmann to the Madison+Main team! Joseph, Lauren, and Erin are VCU Rams, and Roshni is at the University of Richmond.
Tuesday, January 17 – Hot Diggity Dog
On Tuesday, I traveled down to Lynchburg, my hometown, for a couple of client meetings. I visited with Mike Jones, Assistant VP of Communications for Lynchburg College. The campus looks amazing and the new Drysdale Student Center is very impressive. One of the highlights of traveling to Lynchburg is bringing back a box full of the world’s best chili dogs from Moore’s Country Store.
Meanwhile back in Richmond, Account Executive Meredith Mason was busy dropping off tickets for the Virginia Home Show. She’s not excited about being stuck in a cast for three more weeks, but she was thrilled that DJ King Tutt from KISS FM and Paris Nicole from iPower 92.1 signed her cast while she was there.
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Wednesday, January 18 –Lunch & Learn
A couple of times a month, we have Lunch & Learns where we bring in partners to drop knowledge bombs — usually over pizza. On Wednesday, we were treated to Chicken Fiesta and Marketing Buddah Co-Founder Jason Moreau, who brought us up to speed on some exciting new targeting techniques for online ads and rich media formats for Facebook. Really cool stuff… can’t wait to put some of these ideas in place for clients.
Thursday, January 19 – Loooong Day
Thursday was jam-packed; starting at a 7:30 a.m. meeting at the Commonwealth Club and wrapping up with a JV basketball game. (Jack’s team, the Manchester JV Lancers crushed the Cosby Titans 60-28.) In between all the meetings, I was able to grab lunch with Scott Gunn from American Family Care. AFC now has more than 160 urgent care centers in the U.S., and Scott just opened one in Midlothian six weeks ago. I really enjoyed learning more about the company, and want to thank super-banker Max Morehead from Village Bank for making the introduction. Scott is also looking to meet more people in the area since he just moved here from Roanoke. Click here to connect with Scott.
The Auxo Medical team dropped by yesterday to “get the keys” to their shiny new website. We were thrilled to host President Jay Crabtree, Sales Director Tanner Seese, and Marketing & Sales Specialist Jalecia Walker as they learned about the new features and content management system behind the all-new www.AuxoMedical.com. Click the link, check out the site, and let us know what you think.
Friday, January 20 – It’s Showtime
In between working on projects, the Madison+Main-iacs keep sneaking peeks at television screens throughout the office… some are looking at the Inauguration, but most of us are screening CBS6, WRIC-TV 8, NBC12, and various Comcast Spotlight stations to see if we can spot the new TV ad we’re running for the Virginia Home Show. The big show comes to Meadow Event Parknext Saturday, and I’m going to give $1 off admission to every single reader of the Weekly Report. Why? Because I love you. Get your tickets today!
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Weekly Report Feedback:
John Watt, Tourism Project Manager for Chesterfield Economic Developmentreminded me that I mistakenly referred to the Four Points by Sheraton Richmondas Sheraton Southpark (its former name) last week. They paid a lot of money to rebrand that hotel, I’m sure.
“I just love these! Didn’t realize you began in 2005 — feels like you’ve been making an impact much longer. Have a great one!” — Carrie Roth, President & CEO of Virginia Biotechnology Research Park
“Happy New Year, Dave, this is just to let you know that I continue to enjoy your newsletter. Thanks for making it fun and interesting. A great way to end the week!” — Cherie Heintz, Sr. Business Dev Manager, Hunton & Williams
“The revolution will not be televised.”
– Gil Scott-Heron, 1970
“The revolution is being televised.”
– Dave Saunders, 2017