The National Basketball Association are looking to stay ahead of the curve and tap into the exploding world of online gaming. Seventeen teams from the NBA will be part of the upcoming 2K League, a competition it created in partnership with the developer of the popular NBA 2K series. The new eSports league will kickoff its first season in May 2018. It’s a big deal for the gamers, and an innovative move by the NBA to expand its market.
Beginning in early 2018, gamers will start competing in “qualifiers” for a chance to be selected in early spring by the 17 NBA teams participating in the first-ever professional eSports league. Each team will be made up of five basketball gamers who will represent the NBA team. They’ll be official members of their respective organizations, which means they will get a contract and sponsorship deals, just like NBA players do.
The smart home is official here. This holiday season, it has been reported the Amazon’s Echo Dot smart speaker and its built-in Alexa voice assistant dominated the sales charts. So following the Christmas holiday, Amazon announced the Echo Dot was the best-selling product of the holiday season on its website. The Alexa app also made its way to the number 1 spot on the App Store for the first time, and the Google Home app managed to sneak into the top ten. It’s easy to say, ‘Oh look, a lot of people got smart speakers this holiday season,” but this is an important milestone, as the smart home is finally upon us. If you are like the many people and got a smart home speaker this holiday season you are not alone.
There is a pretty good chance that you posted pictures from your Thanksgiving and holiday activities, viewed friends photos, or even did a little holiday shopping online this past weekend. Each of us does so much more on the internet than consume content. We create, share and spread ideas, and connect with friends and family. This is the open internet experience that we have come to know.
Service above self was something that was instilled in me at a very young age. When I was 13 years old, I was spending a summer week with my dad, he was a member of the Rotary Club of Kenosha-West. I had no idea what that organization was at that time, as all I know was they put on a legendary softball tournament every summer. A place where it all started for me, without my dad even asking me to volunteer. I just did it because I loved sports and was having a blast helping out. The Rotary moto is “Service above Self”. It reminds Rotarians to think of how they can help others instead of themselves.
If you have not invested in visual content marketing yet, you should. Visual content can significantly boost the results of your digital marketing efforts. Marketers who have embraced quality visual content are reaping the rewards in terms of more fans, followers, site visitors, longer time on site, referral traffic, leads, clients, and revenue. As we head to the end of 2017, if you are not focusing on visual content in your marketing strategy, whether on social, email campaign, or your website, it’s time to restructure your plan to include an emphasis on visual content. In today’s digital age, visuals help tell your story. Visual content can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool, and one that helps your target audience remember you.
This past week I attended the Wisconsin Fall Tourism Conference for work. Not only did I have a great time networking with current and potential clients, I also received a good reminder of what life is all about; family. Millions of vacation days go unused each year. Trust me I know, there have been years that I did not use all of my vacation days. Sitting in a session this week, something touched me personally, it was hearing about Visit Idaho’s 18 summers campaign. I have heard the phrase and term 18 summers for the past few years, especially since I have a young son, we have just 18 summers with our kids before they grow up so we need to take time to make some memories.