December 31, 2006. So very much has happened in our world since that time. The United States has elected
Barak Obama as the first African-American President. The world economy has fallen, gotten back up again, and depending on whom you listen to is in various stages of recovery.
What’s important about that particular day? That was the last game that

Michael Vick played in the NFL. As a member of the Atlanta Falcons, Vick at that time was finishing up another strong season that moved him to third in the career list of rushing yards by a quarterback. He had thrown for nearly 2,500 yards and 20 touchdowns and his team was bringing in a new coach that was looking to install a high powered offense.
All of that of course changed in July of 2007 when Vick began to be investigated for running a dog fighting ring. By November he was beginning to serve a nearly two year prison sentence and many wondered if he would ever play again. It is obvious now that he will play but what will the public reaction be once he begins to play?
I feel that Philadelphia is a very good city for Vick. If a player performs well, the city will forget everything he has done in the past and he will be a hero. However, if he is struggling, the city will come down hard on him. This is after all the same group of fans that once booed Santa Claus at a game. This is also the same fans that threw batteries at J.D. Drew after he refused to play for the Phillies and made his first visit into the City of Brotherly Love as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
PETA has already said back in May when Vick was signed by the Eagles that “the move disappointed millions of decent football fans”. With the number of animal rights activists around the country, some of whom can be extreme, it is easily to believe that there will be protests around each stadium that Vick plays in. Fans, which can be very cruel, will of course be hard on Vick. Not that long ago there were fans all across baseball that through large syringes onto baseball fields near Barry Bonds. That chorus of boos rang down whenever he came to the plate. That will also happen to Michael Vick wherever he goes.
All that being said, I am cheering for him to do well this week and as he moves through his life both on and off the playing field. I would like to think that if I made a mistake and had to spend time in prison, that there is an employer out there that gave me the same second chance that Vick received. If he is foolish enough to make mistakes again though, I believe he should be thrown to the dogs.

I want my burger!

Can a promotion be too successful? TGIFriday’s may know soon enough. The restaurant chain has decided to use social networking to find out just how big of a promotion a free burger or chicken sandwich can be.
TGIFriday’s is using Facebook to reach out to its customers. Their offer is that the first 500,000 fans to become a fan of Woody will receive a free Jack Daniel’s grill burger or chicken sandwich. All you have to do is give them a valid email address and be over 21 years of age and you will receive your coupon by email. Woody, the self-proclaimed biggest fan of TGIFriday’s is more than willing to help out and is now at over 700,000 fans. Their new goal is to give away 1,000,000 sandwiches. Yes, I did already register. I was more than happy to become a fan and get a free meal.
Woody
I think this was a great idea for TGIFriday’s. The marketing has been fantastic. Sure they may have spent quite a bit of money on the commercials but this is money they would have spent on advertising anyway. They also have a special at this time where you can buy a burger for chicken sandwich for five dollars. If they give away 1 million coupons, that will equal $5 million. That seems like a very large amount to give away. Most people though would not go there to get only the free burger. I know that when I go, I will also get fries and a drink. I will have others with me and they will be having meals and drinks, and probably an appetizer. The fact that I will have to drive 75 miles just to get there, I will make this a special trip.
I know that is how most people will be, and that will make this a very successful program for TGIFriday’s. I am guessing the average person will spend at least $25 dollars on their trip to the restaurant. Most of these people will be like me, and would not have made this trip in the first place had it not been for the coupon. It would be very interesting to see how much they make as a profit on this promotion. I am guessing that if it is as successful as it should be, you will soon be seeing more companies doing the same thing.

A day with out cell phones is like a day without your family

Never did I think that I would become dependent on one type of communication device, especially a modern one that runs on a new technology. I laughed at those people that mentioned in their discussion boards that they would not be able to live without their cell phone or without Facebook. I thought that since I grew up without any of these conveniences that I would easily be able to live without them now. I found out that I am very wrong.
I recently made a trip to a small city. This was my first trip to this city and I was very excited to be there. This place was amazing. The people were friendly, the town was sunk down into a picturesque valley, and everything was perfect, except for my cell phone. As I arrived at the edge of town, I noticed that my signal was weaker than it had been at any point on the trip. I was not concerned about that though because I deal with a weaker signal every day at work but I can still receive calls and more importantly I can still receive texts and check my emails.
As I drove down into the main part of the city for the first time, I realized that I had lost my signal completely. Again I thought maybe it was just a fluke. I was sure that as I moved to a different part of the city, I would have a signal again. I was completely wrong. I won’t say the name of the carrier out of fairness but I am very certain that this company had never heard of this wonderful place that I had come across.
I soon realized that I had not heard from anyone in my family for a while and realized that I was missing it. I always receive a text from my son on his way from school to cross county practice telling me how the day went and letting me know what he has going on for the rest of that day, that never came. I didn’t get a call from my four year old on her way home from school, I truly missed that. I wasn’t even able to tell my wife and kids goodnight. I had no idea that 24 simple hours without a cell phone could be that difficult to handle, but when you are over 300 miles away from your family, it becomes very tough.

It's Everywhere!

While working on a recent assignment for an Introduction to Anthropology class, I ran across an interesting article. The American Anthropological Association is now using Twitter. I found this interesting because here is a society that’s purpose is to study and explore humans. This same society is now using a modern tool to spread their finding. At the same time, they can be using this tool to study humans.
Archaeologists of the future will be using Twitter to explore human society and interaction. The days of digging in the remains of an ancient city will still exist but digging through thousands of internet sites will replace cave drawings and manuscripts.
Until I began researching this a little more, I had no clue that Anthropology would have so many followers on Twitter and found that it has moved on to other blogs as well. Blogs such as this one are normally very against Twitter but are promoting using it to meet and have conversations with other people interested in Anthropology.
The author of this blog also brings up an interesting point. Who isn’t on Twitter? Organizations that you would never expect to be on Twitter or Facebook are joining the Social Networking phenomenon. The local baseball team here in town is on both but I am disappointed in how they are updated. I am sure the time is coming soon that my employer will be using social networking sites to connect with trucking companies and drivers.
The City of Sioux City is on Twitter. The Tyson Events Center here in Sioux City has a Facebook page and uses that to provide updates on what is coming to town. People also have an opportunity to post messages such as reviews and their opinions on what they would like to see in town. Everywhere you go, social networking is there.
So many times, you reach a point where a hot new item reaches a point where it no longer grows. People have had as much of it as they want. Demand starts to drop. In this case, new content will drop. I am not sure this will ever happen with social networking. For one thing, it is becoming easier to update. The percentage of people updating their Facebook status on the go, or Tweeting while being mobile continues to grow. We had better get used to it. All of this is upon us, and it isn’t going anywhere.