Travelocity is a good site to check when you are getting ready to take a trip.
Airline, Hotels, Air, car rental
I just learned that since opening in June 2007, the Noah’s Ark Exhibit at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles has been visited by 50, 000 people!!!
This is a great accomplishment for an establishment offering a rich experience.
I went through the exhibit last weekend and can only say great things about it. The creativity and interactivity with and by the kids is fantastic. The story of Noah’s Ark is a great way to communicate so many messages to kids and families.
This is the kind of place you want to keep coming back to visit. Kids will have a different experience every time, I can assure you it will always be good.
Check out more on the Skirball Cultural Center at www.skirball.org
-Victor Caballero
Summary of the eRumor
An email from a Marine who says some Marines wrote to Starbucks to say how much they liked Starbucks coffee and to request some donated coffee for the Marines.
The eRumor says Starbucks responded by saying they don’t support and war and will not send any coffee.
The writer urges a boycott of Starbucks.
bullet The Truth
TruthOrFiction.com contacted Starbucks about the story.
Starbucks says that the originator of the email, Sgt. Howard Wright, and talked with him about his complaint.
He has now sent a follow-up email to his email list, which appears below.
Starbucks assured him of their support of the military and that the only reason any coffee was not donated was because the official Starbucks donation policy authorizes such gifts to officially designated public charities, including libraries and schools, and that the U.S. military or military personnel do not qualify.
It was not meant to be a comment on the war or the service of military personnel in the war.
The company said that there have been employees that have showed their support through donations of coffee.
Starbucks told us that many of the company’s employees (called “partners” by Starbucks) receive one pound of free coffee each week and some of that coffee has gone to members of the military or related organizations.
For example, the employees in the Starbucks in Atascadero, California, decided to send their weekly free coffee to troops in Afghanistan and there are other such stories about Starbucks coffee finding its way into the hands of military personnel.
Here is Sgt. Wright’s follow-up email after Starbucks spoke with him:
Dear Readers,
Almost 5 months ago I sent an e-mail to you my faithful friends. I did a wrong thing that needs to be cleared up. I heard by word of mouth about how Starbucks said they didn’t support the war and all. I was having enough of that kind of talk and didn’t do my research properly like I should have. This is not true. Starbucks supports men and women in uniform. They have personally contacted me and I have been sent many copies of their company’s policy on this issue. So I apologize for this quick and wrong letter that I sent out to you.
Now I ask that you all pass this email around to everyone you passed the last one to. Thank you very much for understanding about this.
Howard C. Wright
Sgt USMC
1st Force Rcon Co
1st Plt PLT RTO
Here’s some interesting email I got today…..
Recently Marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks because they wanted to
let them know how much they liked their coffees and to request that they
send some of it to the troops there. Starbucks replied, telling the Marines
thank you for their support of their business, but that Starbucks does not
support the war, nor anyone in it, and that they would not send the troops
their brand of coffee.
So as not to offend Starbucks, maybe we should not support them by
buying any of their products! I feel we should get this out in the open. I
know this war might not be very popular with some folks, but that doesn’t
mean we don’t support the boys on the ground fighting street -to-street and
house-to-house.
If you feel the same as I do then pass this along, or you can
discard it and no one will never know.
Thanks very much for your support. I know you’ll all be there again when I
deploy once more.
Semper Fidelis.
Sgt. Howard C. Wright
1st Force Recon Co
1st Plt PLT
PLEASE DON’T DELETE THIS . . ALLOW IT TO BE
PASSED TO ALL IN MEMORY OF ALL THE TROOPS WHO HAVE DIED SO THAT WE MAY HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE TO SUPPORT THEM OR NOT! ! !
Also, don’t forget that when the Twin Trade Towers were hit the fire
fighters and rescue workers went to Starbucks because it was close by for
water for the survivors and workers and Starbucks charged them! ! !
JUST A NOTE TO THIS; STARBUCKS HAD STORES ON SEVERAL MILITARY BASES IN THE UNITED STATES. THEY ARE NOW BEING REMOVED BECAUSE OF THIS. GO GET ‘EM AMERICA. STAND-UP FOR OURSELVES!
As an American and a fellow Marine I will back my brothers in boycotting Starbucks! SEMPER FI
~PFC. Donnie Tice
2nd FSSG
Camp Lejune NC
——————————-IN GOD WE TRUST——————-
What to Include on Your Music Promotion Website
by: Ty Cohen
One of the powerful tools you can have as when attempting independent music promotion is a website. This is a given. There is absolutely no excuse for a musician, in this day and age, to not have a website. Your website is how you will reach the world. This is how you will market yourself to every single person you come in contact with. The internet and your website will be two of the most powerful music promotion resources you will have.
If you are sold on the idea of online music promotion and are ready to start your site but don’t know what to include, then you have come to the right place. It is crucial that you properly design your site and include all the correct information. You want to be as creative and stylish as possible, all the while staying true to who you are and what your music is about.
Other independent artists are making a killer living online selling their music and merchandise and so should you. independent music promotion on your website will be best achieved if all the right information is displayed. Your online music promotion success depends on it.
First, you need to add all of your contact information onto your site. This includes all phone numbers, email addresses, mailing address etc…In addition to this, you are going to need a bio of you or your band. Remember, with independent music promotion, you have no one else to rely on so try to be as thorough as possible.
Do you have any press releases, reviews or customer testimonials? If you do, incorporate these. It will let your future fans know that you presently have happy, committed fans. And of course you are going to need an upcoming schedule of some sort so your fans know where to go to hear you.
One of the most powerful music promotion resources you can acquire is an email list. With this list you can keep your fans up to date on the latest news and happenings with you or your band.
Lastly, you have your sounds and sights. Post some photos or video clips from live events. Action photos are always great so if you don’t have some, get some. Include downloadable sound clips from your CDs, this will entice folks to want more. And the best part, place your CDs, MP3 tunes and merchandise for sale! Incorporate all of the above things into your site and you will no doubt be an online music promotion success.
About the Author:
Ty Cohen, the online music industry’s most recognizable voice is the former owner of a successful independent record label, current owner of Platinum Millennium publishing and nation-wide music industry seminar speaker and panelist. He is also the author and creator of over 40 best-selling music business books, reports, courses, audio products and other music industry “How to” resources, that have helped tens of thousands of individuals like you to successfully find their way in the music business. Visit: https://www.musiccontracts101.com/cmd.php?Clk=2198789 for more information on online music promotion, music promotion resources and independent music promotion.
Listening to a conference call with Ty Cohen. He is talking about the differences with WARRIORS and WORRIERS.
Tonight’s Motivational Music Tele-seminar
Here’s some of the highlights from the call:
Recognize your uniqueness.
Stay true to what makes you happy
India.Arie
Jay Z – knows how to do it, creates value in him and his music
Being a person of integrity and ethics, strong work ethic, companies will come seek you out.
You have to do things to get the word out, YouTube, MySpace, Fan Generation, Giveaways, Articles, etc…
Traits:
Warriors
Born for success and destined for greatness
Decisive –
Don’t worry about what other people think
Do what is in their heart
Don’t try to please everyone with your music
Takes action for themselves, constantly on the go, constantly trying to help their carriers, to teach themselves something
Give it 120%
stay focused, I am focused to put things into perspective. What is important for the day.
Elevated expectations – they want more, they know they can have more, not that they have to be broke, waiting for handouts, they know they do things that will get them what they want.
No worries, aim high to sell 50 cds a day, with no discounts, full price
No holds bar, set goals and achieve them
Have a faith in themselves
Take chances away from the normal
Focused – they know what they want and devise a plan until they achieve or surpass.
Don’t play for peanuts, don’t beg for deals, position themselves to draw people to see value and people can’t turn you down,
Build value in yourself
Prepared and Plan – every night they plan the next days activities the goals, keep a pen with you and piece of paper
Worriers
Indecisive – worry so much about making a decision. Ty mentioned one of the artist
They worry about what other people think, every little thing
Try to please everyone or too many people, never please themselves and cause a mess
Try to cater to everyone
They claim to always be planning waiting for right moment, they never take action,
Worried about selling a limited amount, i.e. 50 cds for a week
live meager lives
never been taught to make money with their talent or that they need someone to assist them
Stop being afraid of going to the next steps, like signing with a major label or not being able to do it yourself, do you need a major label?
Expect labels to hand them a deal
Worry about what if
Full of fear, nobody will listen, color of background, simple things
Worried about putting it out
Easily distracted
No idea, no plan, no idea what they are doing from day to day, not getting things done, wasting time
Change your attitude, people will start to recognize you!
Testimonials! Be a fanatic and put in 120%!
Getting you music out there. Sell music online like crazy with the website, www.sellmusiconlinelikecrazy.com How to use the internet to sell your music on a global level. Like Soldier Boy
Ty holds this call weekly, I recommend it.
Next week, “call to action” How to get people to your site. To recognize your business, services, talent
December 10, 2007
Imeem To Offer Universal’s Music And Videos
Imeem now has deals with all four major music companies to compensate them and their artists by sharing ad revenue.
Universal Music Group’s entire digital music and video catalogue will stream for free on the social media networking site, imeem.
The companies announce an agreement Monday that completes deals between all four major music companies and imeem, which compensates labels and artists by sharing ad revenue. The arrangement is a new model for the music industry, which has been struggling to increase profits as the distribution of music changes radically because of the Internet.
According to eMarketer, spending on advertising on social networks will rise from $900 million this year to more than $2.5 billion in 2011.
The social media networking site, imeem, claims 19 million unique visitors each month and 50,000 new registered users each day. Users can upload their favorite music, videos, and photos, search for and stream videos, find new content through social discovery, and create custom playlists to share with friends on and off the site.
In October, comScore ranked imeem the fastest growing social site in the United States. Hitwise ranked imeem the fourth largest American social networking site and the fourth largest American media and entertainment site. The site has drawn ads from Apple, Microsfot, AT&T (NYSE: T) Wireless, T-Mobile, Nike, Puma, and others.
Universal’s catalogue includes works from Kanye West, Amy Winehouse, Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani, the Pussycat Dolls, Maroon 5, and Nelly. The company has operations or licenses in 77 countries. Its labels include Island Def Jam Music, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Verve, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown Records Group, and Deutsche Gramophone, among others.
“imeem has developed an innovative way to make our artists’ music a central part of the social networking experience,” Doug Morris, chairman and CEO of UMG, said in a statement. “More importantly, they’ve done so the right way — by working with UMG to provide an exciting musical experience for consumers, while ensuring that our artists are fairly compensated for the use of their works.”
The Universal deal comes after imeem has announced deals with Warner Music Group, EMI Music, and Sony BMG.
Microsoft starts offering U.S. ads on MSN Mobile
Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:28am EST
Microsoft Corp. began on Monday to place advertisements on its U.S. MSN Mobile page, moving into the nascent mobile phone advertising business.
Computer-based Web usage dwarfs mobile Internet use in the United States, but companies like Microsoft, Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. see advertising tied to mobile phones as potentially more lucrative than the $40 billion online advertising market.
The company will start with advertisements from Bank of America, Paramount Pictures and Jaguar. Microsoft already sells mobile phone advertisements in Belgium, France, Spain, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Microsoft’s idea is to offer customers the option to place advertising across a wide range of platforms from the Internet to mobile phones to its Xbox Live online video game service.
Microsoft also plans to bring new features such as astrology and movie ticket buying to its MSN Mobile page.