Bender Helper Impact

Ever wonder what it’s like to attend a party at the Playboy Mansion? Find someone on the MGM Home Entertainment team and ask them about their outrageous event there on June 26, 2010. Packed with uniquely dressed (or not dressed at all) people, loud music and a whole lot of chaos, representatives from MGM and B/HI braved the crowd at Hef’s house for Kandyland V, a red carpet event tied to the Hot Tub Time Machine Blu-ray and DVD release.

The backdrop for the red carpet was unlike anything we’ve ever seen and included a hot tub filled with bikini babes and beach balls. Film stars Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry and Clark Duke along with local celebrities including Hef and his girlfriend Crystal Harris were encouraged to pose next to the hot tub with the babes and balls for a photo before entering the party.

Once inside, guests were treated to lots of eye candy and real candy including giant lollipops and gummy bears, along with performances by P. Diddy, T.I., Flo Rida and Too $hort. Additional celebrity sightings included Crispin Glover, Paulie Shore and Corey Feldman.

At the end of the night we all waited at least an hour to board a shuttle to get back to our cars which were parked at an off site location. I guess that’s what happens when 1,500 people try to leave at the same time with only a few shuttles seating 22 people at a time. Would I take the hot tub time machine back and change anything? Nope, it was well worth it and we all have stories that are guaranteed to live on for generations to come.

[Follow Becca: @RWolfson]

B/HI's Courtney with Craig Robinson	The B/HI team Corina, Becca, Tawna, Conor, Courtney, Nicole
Rick Ross, P. Diddy and Busta Rhymes at the Hot Tub Time Machine party at the Playboy Mansion	Cast of Hot Tub Time Machine at the Playboy Mansion
Hot Tub Bear with Oompa Loompas	Corina with American Idol Season 7 contestant Michael Johns

My very first E3 appearance began two days before the convention officially opened within the 100-degree furry fortress of what was my Naughty Bear costume. Representing our 505 Games client, my fun-filled experience took place at the annual Kotaku E3 party and ended with a drink in hand (or paw) while toasting the fine gentlemen of NerdSociety.com. As you can tell, my first E3 seemed destined for greatness.

For a majority of those attending E3 2010, the event began the morning of Tuesday, June 15, as thousands of convention-goers, including hundreds of media outlets, stormed the meeting rooms and show floors of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Arriving during the early hours of Tuesday morning, I joined up with my Konami B/HI team to make sure all PR planning for the day was organized and on schedule. Adam Fenton delivered the team our marching orders and we were on our way!

The Konami booth and press conference were full of activity throughout the week from not only media attendees, but also a few celebrity sightings, including press conference appearances by Russell Simmons for Def Jam Rapstar and Burbank, California’s nationally recognized Powerhouse High School show choir on behalf of Karaoke Revolution: Glee. In addition to the countless booth tours, Konami received a huge amount of buzz during the week with a concert from Method Man and RedMan, as well as a special surprise performance from TV host George Lopez.

Overall, E3 2010 was a terrific opportunity for me to grow as a PR professional (or bear) and meet press face-to-face. It was also a great time for the LA and NY members of the Konami team to hang out and enjoy the whole experience together.

After spending an inordinate amount of time selecting the perfect outfit, there’s nothing more embarrassing than having an unexpected run-in with your “fashion twin” at an event. You know — that girl wearing the same dress as you, whom you have to strategically avoid being near while perusing the crudités or waiting for a drink at the bar.

As I was filing into our weekly staff meeting recently, I couldn’t help but notice that I was a twin with fellow BHI staffer Robyn Cucurullo. I’ve complimented her style on several occasions but never thought I’d have this sort of fashion run-in. The scenario replayed like “twin day” during high school spirit week with everyone noting that we even had the same cardigan on! So we decided to take a page from the gossip magazines and break down — who wore it better? We’ll let you decide (scroll down to enter your vote):

I will freely admit that I am a fan of reality television. One of my favorite shows – “So You Think You Can Dance” (often referred to as “SYTYCD”) is currently on the air and, since I have a dance background, it is a show to which I can relate. 

Now in its seventh season, the producers decided to reinvent the series this summer through some major changes to the competition format: introducing a Top 11 contestant group instead of a Top 20, and pairing contestants with “All Star” dancers from past seasons instead of with each other. These changes were first announced to the public and the show’s fans via Executive Producer/Judge Nigel Lythgoe’s Twitter page – thus providing yet more confirmation that traditional media will never be the same. From there, many media outlets picked up the news and the blogs/twitter/message boards started buzzing.

According to “Effective Public Relations” by Scott M. Cutlip, Allen H. Center, and Glen M. Broom, “public relations” is defined as:

[T]he management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends.

The SYTYCD organization was able to reach a large percentage of its public directly through Producer Lythgoe’s followers on Twitter (currently 41,304). And, since Twitter is a two-way communication device, the show’s fans had an opportunity to Tweet their opinions back to Lythgoe – allowing for instant reaction/feedback from viewers.

Since I have been a fan for the past six seasons, when I first heard about the new format, I was concerned that the show might be negatively affected, though I was excited that some of my favorite dancers from past seasons would be returning to perform. As a publicist, however, I understand that rebranding, or reinventing, is often supported by a strategic public relations campaign, and can be the “go to” approach when a change is needed for a brand. Similarly, this attempt to rework the SYTYCD format is designed to freshen up a Summer show that tried a Fall time slot last year, and fell flat.

At first, it seemed that many people were expressing similar concerns to mine, but – after the first two weeks of competition – I am pleased to say that I think the changes the producers made to the show are going to work. In my opinion, this season had the strongest first week of competition in the show’s history. Rebranding and reinvention can sometimes be a risk if taken so far that the public can no longer recognize or relate to the original property. In this instance, it appears that the show will benefit from the changes made for Season 7.

Recently, anyone who has surfed the Interwebs has likely scratched their head and wondered, “What is HTML5 and why does Steve Jobs hate Adobe® so much?”   You are not alone in your wonder of what the heck the HTML5 vs. Flash debate is.

With the Internet abuzz with HTML5 stories, here’s a brief explanation in order to bring clarity to those of you who primarily count on the Web for celebrity news and Facebook pokes but don’t delve into the backend of Web development.

Strap on your online seatbelt and put on your geek helmet, because I’m about to take you on a ride through HTML5 and beyond.

Steve Jobs and Apple banned Adobe’s Flash from the iPhone™ back in 2007 when the smart phone launched.  Since then, he has stuck to his guns and has continued the ban for iPad™ devices and even further pretty much all Apple products. Translate that to terms which make sense to the world of PR, marketing and advertising and this leaves a big gaping hole for those companies trying to reach the iPhone/iPad audience. Most content owners aren’t tied to any one application, platform, browser or plug-in, their goal is to reach the largest possible audience and create content that can work with all devices.

Jobs slammed Flash in April 2010 in his open letter “Thoughts on Flash,” in which he says that “Flash is the number one reason Macs crash” and “Flash has not performed well on mobile devices.”

With Jobs’ backing, HTML5 is quickly becoming the new Web standard over Adobe’s Flash. It has been adopted by Apple, Google and others and according to Jobs allows Web developers to create advanced graphics, typography, animations and transitions without relying on third party browser plug-ins.

At last week’s D8 conference, Jobs was quoted describing his decision. "We didn't start off to have a war with Flash, or anything else. We just made a technical decision that we weren't gonna put the energy into getting Flash on our platform," said Jobs. "We told Adobe, if you ever have this thing running fast, let us know, which they never did." Flash forward (pun totally intended) to today, and all of a sudden, Apple loves HTML5, they even posted demos to prove it!

According to a new survey by Streaming Media, most online media professionals plan to support HTML5 video by the end of next year. Content owners and advertisers are now utilizing HTML5 in order to reach audiences across all devices including Android phones, Apple products and more.

Still having a hard time making sense of it all? Basically, most of the world’s websites are built using Adobe’s third-party tool, Flash which supports animation, video and interactivity. Without the support of Apple products, iPad, iPhone and iPod™ users will not have access to all of the content on the Web.

Enter HTML5. HTML5 is the latest and greatest open standard for websites.

Now, next time you read something about Adobe and Apple or Flash and HTML5, you will have a better understanding of what the heck the Web world is buzzing about!

[Follow Victoria: @vikkiweho]

One of the very best things about the New York B/HI office is the camaraderie.  During my three plus years here, I’ve been a part of many conversations in “the pit” running the gamut from the latest superhero movie to world peace. No, really, we talked about world peace once. Maybe twice.

The best conversations that don’t involve solving a global problem, though, center around our beloved TV series, LOST. It’s always the watercooler conversation on Wednesday morning after its airing, and I’m usually joined by Stacey Cusack, Dave Welch, JP Shields, Blain Howard and Brian Reinert. If you’re one of the three people in the world who isn’t familiar with the show and its pseudo-subculture, LOST is a little bit like crack — seriously addictive and likely to cause severe anxiety since it has unfortunately ended. 

We LOST enthusiasts gather to discuss theories on the Sideways World and which actors should be in the running for Emmy nominations for their performances (Terry O’Quinn as Locke/Not Locke, obviously). We compare notes about the last episode and call each other out on ridiculous ideas. Dave typically doesn’t even speak English – he’s developed some kind of broken gangsta dialect all his own that the rest of us just cock our heads at.  But he makes some darn good points and tells us every time he sheds a man-tear, so we have to let him participate.

There’s been a time or two that I wasn’t able to tune in to LOST live (blasphemy, I know), and it meant getting up 45 minutes earlier in the morning to watch just so I could participate in our discussions. And now that LOST is over, the end of an era in “the pit” is LOST too.... The Fall TV schedule better be good.... I’m just sayin’.

[Follow Ashley: @ashleygillen]

One of the most impactful and rewarding experiences I’ve had at the agency has been working with Konami’s DanceDanceRevolution (DDR) franchise. Since it was first introduced to North American video game consoles over 10 years ago, DDR has received a tremendous amount of exposure for its get-up-and-move-style gameplay and unique gaming experience.
 
The game is well known, and not only because of the fantastic press it’s garnered. DDR has invaded pop culture in a way I’ve never seen before with a video game. The game has made appearances in Ugly Betty, The Office, a Madonna video, Family Guy, and more. It even inspired the Broadway show "Dance Revolution" and a television show as part of the "KOL Secret Slumber Party" on CBS.  Witnessing DDR evolve into the pop culture phenomenon has been awesome, but the true reward of the revolution that is DDR is the many lives across the nation changed by a video game.
 
Stemming from the realization of the dangers tied to obesity, Konami entered into the first-of-its-kind partnership with the state of West Virginia to incorporate DDR as an official part of the physical education curriculum in public schools. You see? People can get active AND have fun at the same time! In addition to the schools, there are families, trainers, health clubs and fitness professionals that view DDR as the perfect tool to attract those people who have previously stayed away from exercise because it was too “boring” or “uninteresting.”

A few months ago, I was introduced to Rasha Adella. Rasha is 31 years old and never really engaged in sports growing up, nor was she an active adult – until she was introduced to the Revolution! She started playing DDR with her son in an effort to spend time with him and dance, something she has always loved to do, but never really participated in. She professed that once she began playing DDR, she was immediately hooked. She was not aware of the life-changing experience DDR would bring her in 13 months.

It is a privilege to spotlight Rasha Adella, one of the most inspiring DDR success stories I’ve ever had the opportunity to hear. Below is the exclusive B/HI Blab interview with Rasha, with images of her personal transformation. She is stunning inside and out and her path humbles me.

Q:  How has DDR changed your life?  
A: Hmmm…I could tell you a million ways DDR has changed my life, but here are just a few.  I can walk MANY flights of stairs without being winded. For the first time in over 13 years I can cross my legs.  I can fit in an airplane seat without a seatbelt extension. I can race against my son (who would’ve known that only a year after starting DDR, I CAN RUN!).  I have so much energy and am no longer depressed.  I feel happiness for the first time in many many years!!! I can wear different types of clothes and am not limited to shopping in only a select group of stores that only specialize in plus size clothing. I am confident. Most importantly my health is no longer in jeopardy so that I can be around for years to come and watch my son grow into a man.

Q: How many pounds have you lost playing DDR?
A: I’ve lost 70 pounds playing DDR, but because of DDR I have been able to change my lifestyle and have lost 165 pounds to date.

Q: What would you like to tell others about DDR?
A: DDR is a great way to get started in fitness.  It’s a ton of fun, even if you’re not a great dancer.  All it takes is a bit of motivation and determination to get on the mat at least 60 minutes a day. Once you get your metabolism going, there is no turning back, and although I still dance on the mat just about everyday, I now do it just for fun.  DDR doesn’t make me feel like I’m exercising.  After I saw that “hey I’m looking a lot smaller”, I decided that I would change my eating habits.  After I replaced my soda with water and traded in fried chicken for turkey, the weight literally just fell off. It’s also changed the habits of my family.  They are eating a lot healthier and I’ve motivated my son to join the track and field team, plus he is still active with DDR (although he is nowhere as good as I am, I beat him EVERY time).  He’s lost 12 pounds.  I feel so proud knowing that I am keeping his motivation going.  This is the FIRST time that I have been so motivated to keep going.

Q: You’ve mentioned recently that you were working with your school district to incorporate DDR into school programs, tell me more.
A: I am currently in talks with the San Bruno School District since there are a lot of overweight children at my sons’ junior high school.  I just want kids AND adults to know, that exercise doesn’t have to be boring. I have recently had a few private donations of DDR mats so that the school doesn’t have an excuse (lack of funding) for not adopting this truly amazing program.  Often times when state funding runs out (gets spent on crap), the schools are ALWAYS the first to suffer and the first programs cut include P.E., music, and other extracurricular activities that should be there to keep our children fit because they are our future.  I really am pushing for this to be a HUGE project and I’m hoping that more parents rally behind this idea and hopefully make a change themselves. Often times, obese children come from obese parents.  Most kids will eat what the parent provides for them and most of the time the food isn’t healthy; it’s what is affordable at that time.  I want to teach parents that eating healthy, staying active and being fit doesn’t have to be expensive and that change is ALWAYS possible if you believe it can be.

Q: You saw your family after not seeing them for three years. What did they say when they saw you?
A: Well I actually will see my entire family soon, but, recently, I saw my brother (haven’t seen him in three years) and lets just say there were a lot of tears.  He didn’t even recognize me.  He said I looked like I did when I was 12…I thought that was funny considering that was a very long time ago.  I will be recording the reunion with my family and they are going to be floored.  The last time I saw them I weighed 330 pounds. They will be speechless and I can’t wait.


So there you have it.

Rasha’s story truly highlights just how life-changing DDR is, and her story is part of the growing number of individuals using video games as a way to stay active and fit. I’m honored to represent Konami for bringing an entertainment product to market that is impacting people’s health and the future of our nation. So much so, Michelle Obama recently gave DDR a First Lady "shout out" in a speech she gave about obesity.

[Follow Marisa @MediaMarisa]

Last week, the social networking site, LinkedIn, turned seven.

It’s been steadily growing since its inception, and just surpassed the 65 million member mark in April!

The rise of LinkedIn, along with Facebook and Twitter, has restructured the way people are hired in the current job market. Before, human resources only had a resume and cover letter to help weed through candidates.  Now it’s virtually standard practice to Google search every name that comes across their desk.  With this change comes the need for every job seeker (present or future) to become his or her own public relations representative.

A recent study found that 78 percent of employers reported that they used search engines and 63 percent used social networking sites to research job candidates (TheWorkBuzz.com).  Just last August, that number was only 45 percent and will undoubtedly continue to grow (CareerBuilder.com).  With this in mind, it’s important to keep your digital image clean and appropriate for your job search.  This is where you have to think like a PR person.

1. Lock down your messaging
   Figure out the job you want, who you want to inform about it and the skills you want to highlight to get it.  Once you’ve locked down your message and targets, edit your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles completely and consistently.  Be sure that your resume and LinkedIn profile are uniform.  Any glaring differences could cause the hiring manager to be suspicious of your experience and eliminate you from contention.


2. Clean up your image
   If you have drunken pictures on Facebook or Twitter, take them down.  Even if you have everything set to private, the fact that it’s online means it’s vulnerable of being discovered.  Facebook’s privacy settings are constantly changing and they recently had a leak where live chats could be read by any of your friends (ZDNet.com).  Don’t rely on Facebook to block people from seeing your drunken shenanigans, do the legwork yourself and delete them. 
   
   Also, moving forward, think about everything you put online. While you may think your friends are the only people reading your Facebook statuses or tweets, anyone with Google search skills could stumble upon them.  Twitter is now even being archived in the Library of Congress (WashingtonPost.com).  Do you really want the historical record to show how hung-over you were the day after Cinco de Mayo? 


3. Identify and reach out to your target audience
   All the previous steps will passively help while you’re doing a traditional job search.  Submit your resume and cover letter and wait to be Googled.  But, to get a leg up on the competition, you can go a couple steps beyond this to use the new online job market to your advantage. On LinkedIn there are thousands of professional groups that anyone can join.  There are a few that pre-screen applicants, but if they’re truly within your target audience, there shouldn’t be a problem getting approval as you will post things related and of interest to the group.  Once in these groups, you can start answering questions and participating in discussions to show your knowledge in the industry.  When your name is recognized in the field, it will be fresh in people’s minds when a job becomes available.
   
   The same tactic can be applied to Twitter.  Start following prominent people and companies in your field.  If an interesting article is posted, retweet it with your notes.  Doing this consistently will get you noticed by those you retweet and start discussions with. Another bonus with this tactic is that many companies are starting to tweet job openings, instead of opting to pay to have it included on a job board website.  This narrows the job applicants to those who are already actively following them on twitter and engaged in social media.


4. Continually follow up with your contacts
   You can’t expect people to remember you from only a couple points of contact from months ago.  If you’ve reached out to someone, use it as a starting point in the conversation rather than a one-off note for help.  Even after you have a job in hand, keep in touch with them. Eventually, every job is temporary, so it’s good to have those contacts at the ready when you need to search again.  Also, if you only reach out to people while you’re in need of something, they’ll be less inclined to help you out; nobody wants to feel used.

These steps are a basic groundwork to build PR campaigns for our clients.  In today’s social media savvy workplace, it is important to consider yourself a product that you want companies to buy/acquire.  By strategically marketing yourself like a savvy PR person, you’ll stand out in a crowded sea of job hunters.

[Follow Kristal: @kristal_bailey]

Don't be dismayed at goodbyes.  A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.
And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends. 
~Richard Bach

It’s always hard to say goodbye, especially for me. Within the next month, I have to do that very thing, over and over again. This was something I definitely didn’t think about when I came to the decision to move from New Jersey to California. I’ve been so caught up in the excitement of moving to warmer weather and having new opportunities that I have completely ignored the fact that I have to say goodbye to people here. It wasn’t until my “Goodbye Party” with my coworkers, that I’ve realized what and whom I’d be leaving.

Although I have really enjoyed working on some wonderful, high profile and exciting accounts like BBC Video, Cartoon Network and CBS Consumer Products, among others, it is really the people that I worked with every day that made my job worthwhile. The people at B/HI have made this office more family than co-workers.  And just like in any family there are stressful days, disagreements and occasional mishaps, but at the end of the day there is nothing but love for each other. The party last Friday night was just another example of the love and support they have for me. I know I will never find a work family quite like the one I have found here.

So, I’ve decided not to be dismayed with goodbyes. I know that I’ll see them again, whether it’s during random trips I make to New Jersey/New York, or when they are in town in California. Not seeing everyone every day will be tough, but that only encourages me more to keep in touch.

I will always think of my B/HI family as fudge – mostly sweet with a few nuts. I wouldn’t have them any other way...

As a six-year veteran on our Konami account team, I’ve had the honor over the years to see the company pave the way in the music video game genre. Konami was one of the early leaders in the category and many recent music-based blockbusters followed in Konami’s early groundbreaking footsteps.

Did you know that before there was Guitar Hero, there was Konami’s Guitar Freaks? And before there was SingStar there was Konami’s Karaoke Revolution. And of course, how could we forget the life-changing DanceDanceRevolution that has helped gamers lose weight for more than ten years with its feet-pounding fast action dance music?

As a “crate digger” and record collector since the mid-90s, my connection with music runs deep, and my technique 1200s pay homage to this. When Konami released its DJ/turntable title beatmania years ago, it really hit a chord for me. And as Konami’s library of music videogames has grown over the years, so too has my record collection at home.

I’ve just returned from San Francisco for a weeklong trip with my bi-coastal B/HI-Konami team/family to put on Konami’s annual Gamers’ Night at the fabulous Ruby Skye. It was the biggest event yet for our team, with the announcement of multiple new franchises, an impressive group of media in attendance, stellar team effort and execution, and most of all a happy client.

After months of keeping our Gamers’ Night announcements mum, the anticipation of the news rollout and event was fierce. I was so amped I couldn’t contain myself.

The morning of the event, we announced the next addition to Konami's music videogame library, Def Jam Rapstar. As the first true interactive Hip-Hop music game experience for consoles, many reporters were impressed with the game’s content, user experience and “true-school” soundtrack.

One of the stories secured in support of the announcement was with agency favorite and all around awesome guy, Mike Snider from USA Today. First teased on USA Today Online and highlighted on the GameHunter’s blog, Snider unveiled an interview with Def Jam’s Kevin Liles, President and CEO of Def Jam Enterprises.

Later that night, the event kicked off with a packed press conference. Konami’s unveiled its highly anticipated and much talked-about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker with video clips. Other games presented in the press conference included Lucha Libre Heroes of the Ring (I got to meet a real luchador!), Saw 2, N3II: Ninety-Nine Nights, and Konami's downloadable line-up for 2010 which includes Rush 'N Attack: Ex-Patriot, Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex and Rocket Knight. Hudson’s Deca Sports 3, Lost in Shadows and Oops! Prank Party. After the press conference, journalists got the opportunity to get hands-on time with Konami's diverse line-up of console, DLG, mobile and portable titles, including Metal Gear Solid and Frogger Pad for the newly available iPad.

With Def Jam Rapstar in the mix alongside a strong and impressive line-up for Konami, sprinkled with a team that is beyond talented (and cool), I can’t begin to tell you how awesome 2010 is looking! And at the event, media got to see a dose of that vision.

While leaving San Francisco was bittersweet, we parted ways with our talented B/HI-LA brothers and sisters. With the smiles on the faces of our bi-coastal team paired with a triumphant event and thrilled-beyond-words client, this year’s Gamers’ Night is one that will go down in the books. During the flight home to the East Coast, I listened to much of the in-game soundtrack, relishing in the fact that with Def Jam Rapstar ­ I, too, can be as dope as Slick Rick, or have flow as slick as Method Man in his hook for C.R.E.A.M.

As the countdown to E3 begins, a Rapstar is reborn!



[Follow Marisa @MediaMarisa]
[Follow Konami @konami]