The PowertoProvoke.com Bowl Game?

Perhaps, the United States Government should steer clear of NCAA Football at a time when our beloved nation is in a state of economic downturn and political reconstruction with the latest installment of President Obama. Although this year, the BCS committee appears to have gotten it right by selecting Alabama and Texas to play for the national championship on January 7th, there is always going to be room for error. BCS=Beyond Common Sense. When will we see a non-BCS team play for the title? Will we ever? It seemed as though we stood a chance this year when underdogs No. 4 TCU and No.6 Boise State made a run for the inconceivable with an immaculate season defeating each of its opponents en route to Fiesta Bowl bids creating what has been dubbed to be a "mid-major Super Bowl." However, according to politicians like Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the possibility that the Bowl Championship Series will always get it correct is certainly a coin-toss. Due to the system's flaws, a House subcommittee has embarked on a mission set out to instate a playoff system, resembling that of any other NCAA sport. Associated Press reports have indicated that "the House has approved the Barton-sponsored bill, which would ban the promotion of a postseason game as a national championship unless that title was a result of a playoff." Additionally, college football fans and President Obama suggest that a playoff system is necessary.

Just think for a moment...if a playoff system were to be implemented, we would not be tortured with unwanted teams playing in unwatched games with unwelcomed names and sponsors. With this in mind, let's examine some of the worst college bowl games and out of place sponsorships for the current season. It seems as though anyone anywhere can have a bowl game named after them...with the current trend, it isn't long until we see a Facebook.com Bowl or a Donald Trump Bowl. I guess if you got the money, you too can become a bowl game for subpar teams.

1. The Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi. (Ohio State v. Oregon, Jan. 1, Pasadena.)

With the United States in an economic recession and bailouts galore, should the borrowed money truly be spent on sponsoring a bowl game? If that's not the case, couldn't the BCS find a more successful bank to do so?

2. The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. (Utah v. California, Dec. 23, San Diego.)

Could this title be long enough?

3. The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. (Houston v. Air Force, Dec. 31, Ft. Worth.)

Huh?

4. The GMAC Bowl. (Central Michigan v. Troy, Jan. 6, Mobile, Ala.)

Again, companies who are barely remaining above water should not sponsor bowl games, especially those in which no one watches.

5. The Papajohns.com Bowl. (South Carolina v. Connecticut, Jan. 2, Birmingham.)

Although UConn is one of the participants in this bowl game, it does not excuse the ridiculous name. If a pizza company is going to be the title sponsor, it should at least lose the .com.

6. Little Caesars Bowl (Marshall v. Ohio, Dec. 26, Detroit)

Another pizza bowl?

7. The Meineke Car Care Bowl. (Pittsburgh v. North Carolina, Dec. 26, Charlotte.)

Good for promotional ideas, bad for a name. Simply put, the title just doesn't go.

8. The AutoZone Liberty Bowl. (Arkansas v. East Carolina, Jan. 2, Memphis.)

Same as above. Drop one of the words....Is it the AutoZone Bowl or Liberty Bowl. It wouldn't surprise anyone if we saw both in the near future.

9. The Roady's Humanitarian Bowl. (Bowling Green v. Idaha, Dec. 30, Boise.)

Named after a truckstop, really? Come on now people.

10. The Advocare V100 Independence Bowl. (Texas A&M v. Georgia, Dec. 28, Shreveport.)

What is Advocare? It sounds like a car product....oh wait, it's a vitamin supplement? Let's sponsor a bowl game whose athletes may not even be able to consume the product without failing a performance enhancement test.

11. The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. (Southern Mississippi v. Middle Tennessee, Dec. 20, New Orleans.)

12. The New Mexico Bowl (Wyoming v. Fresno State, Dec. 19, Albuquerque)

How original...a bowl named after your state? This just opens a can of worms for others to follow...

13. St. Petersburg Bowl Presented by Beef 'O' Brady's (Rutgers v. UCF, Dec. 19, St. Petersburg)

14. Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Clemson v. Kentucky, Dec. 27, Nashville)

15. Texas Bowl (Navy vs. Missouri, Dec. 31, Houston)

See #12.

16. Konica Minolta Gator Bowl (West Virginia vs. Florida State, Jan. 1, Jacksonville)

SOURCE: Yahoo! Sports

The 2010 Census

Another decade has flown by, and now the country will be getting ready to dive into the biggest market research project in the U.S. On April 1, 2010, the Census Bureau will count the U.S population and collect the most recent data on consumers. It is estimated that up to $15 billion will be spent to gather all of the data.

The 2010 census is going to be a critical resource for marketers. The census is projected to show an estimated 309 million people living in the U.S. According to demographics expert Peter Francese, “the average American has been replaced by a complex, multidimensional society that defies simplistic labeling.”

This trend opens a window of opportunity for marketers to fine tune their target markets and understand the demographics that their consumers are currently living in. Any well done strategic marketing plan begins with market research and data. With this most updated data, which will be released in the spring of 2011, marketers can move forward in implementing the most effective marketing campaigns to their consumers.

2010 census will be dramatically different from past censuses that were conducted in previous decades. Before, one in six households were surveyed with detailed questions about social and economic information. For 2010, a less detailed survey will be distributed asking the questions of name, gender, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, relationship and housing tenure.

Due to respondents feeling the older version of the census was long and intrusive, the U.S Census Bureau created the American Community Survey. Instead of collecting detailed data every 10 years, the American Community Survey is conducted to 250,000 households monthly, and data is released yearly.

The American Community Suvey will also be a valuable resource for marketers to use to better understand more demographic, housing, social, and economic information on their consumers. This program is projected to be implemented by 2010.

Google Gets Real

Google has been exploding with innovation this past week at their launch event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

Now when you enter a search in Google, real-time results show up on the search engine results page. According to the Official Google Blog, “Our real-time search enables you to discover breaking news the moment it's happening, even if it's not the popular news of the day, and even if you didn't know about it beforehand.” Google is currently partnered with Twitter, Myspace, FriendFeed, Jaiku, and Identi.ca, to integrate the live updates of social media into search.

Google pulls the most relevant live updates to determine the results shown after performing a search. Your results show how long ago the update was made and the source of the update. If the most relevant update is from Twitter, the tweet, username, and link in the tweet are shown in the results.

To walk you through, I searched a popular trending topic of the day “tiger woods” to investigate.

As you can see, the “latest results” appear showing Twitter updates referring to “tiger woods”. Google also allows you to narrow down your search to only see the latest results by clicking on the "show options" tab, followed by clicking on “latest”. Here is a screenshot of what this page looks like:

Google has really differentiated itself by being the only search engine that presents real-time search results. Search has come a long way, starting off with just organic searches to now featuring paid search ads and now real-time search. It is important to note, however, that search results shown under the "latest results" will not always be the most relevant searches. For example, spammers can easily post an update onto Twitter and be ranked on the search engine results page, at least for a couple of seconds.

Who would have ever predicted search would get so complex!

ATTENTION MEN: Read Below

Not sure what to get that special lady in your life for the holidays?

Problem no more.

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Step 1: Select the occasion (ex: Birthday, Christmas, Screwed Up, (or my personal favorite) Screwed Up Royally)

Step 2: How much do you reallyyyy love us? Choose the amount you wish to spend on the gift.

Step 3: Who’s it for? A friend? Long-time girlfriend? New girlfriend? Daughter?

Step 4: Create a profile for this lucky lady.

Step 5: Let’s start with the basics. What are her sizes?

Step 6: Is she free-spirited? Adventuresome? Fashion forward? All the above? Check off as many attributes as needed to fully classify her type.

Step 7: Is she more simple or glamorous? Conservative of funky? Go through the list to rate where her style ranks.

Step 8: your personalized gift guide awaits you!

So of coarse I had to test this out for myself. And might I say, the results were right on target. After filling out my own personal profile, the first set of 9 choices described me to a T. The gifts included a Bohemian style scarf, the Sex and the City DVD, an iPod and a cute bracelet, all of which I already own! I highly suggest using this service for all of your female gift expenditures.

It’s about time a site like this was made. We all know those certain people who are impossible to shop for. But with this site, you are given options galore. Now what about shopping for men?

DRESS-FLIX

Pop Quiz for all of you Sex and the City lovers. How does Louise (Jennifer Hudson) ultimately win over Carrie Bradshaw in her interview to become her assistant?

a) Buys her a pair of Manolo Blahniks
b) Tells her about her rent-a-bag
c) Tells her she is Mr. Big’s long time friend

If you said B, you’re correct! What an amazing way to be able to sport around a Louis Vitton or a Prada bag without shelling out the cash! Customers of Avelle.com (formerly bagborroworsteal.com) can simply rent any designer bag or accessory for any amount of time they like. Once they are tired of it or want a different fashion-forward bag or accessory, they can just pop it into the mail and wait for their new arrival.

So now that you have the bag, what about the dress? You have a super hot date this weekend and are dying to look extra chic. You open up your closet to pre-plan your outfit, and even though you own what seems to be thousands of clothes, you still seem to have NOTHING to wear. Sound familiar? Well ladies, this is where Rent the Runway comes in to whisk all of your outfit troubles away. It runs along the same type of theme as the bag site which I mentioned previously, but with dresses. Browse through their extensive collection of A-List designers and find not just one but two different dresses you think would complete the evening. But what if the size you asked for doesn’t fit? No worries! They send backup sizes as well to make sure your evening goes perfectly smooth. (They even do same day delivery!)

So when your spectacular evening has commenced and your getting started to begin a new day, simply place the dress into their pre-paid packaging and off it goes. They take care of the cleaning. What more can you ask for? Even if the date didn’t turn out how you wanted it do, don’t fret. Because all-in-all, you know you looked good.