Who watched the Oscars last night? I definitely tuned in. I must say, I'm not a faithful award show viewer, but I do switch the channel to watch sometimes because, well, they’re big events. Who doesn't love to watch the rich and famous lavishly partying away what I can't even dream of earning my entire lifetime all in one evening. Besides, "everyone" will be talking about it the next day, right? The reason I paid closer attention to the Academy Awards this year was due to their promise to entertain a younger audience. Oscar v2.0, they called it.
A few years ago, viewership of the Oscars fell to an all-time low, so in order to get more people (young people, to be exact) to tune in this yesterday, they pulled out all the stops. It's not their first try. Jon Stewart hosting in 2008 followed by Hugh Jackman in 2009, the Academy's been trying to (re)build viewer base for a while now. This year's rebranding efforts seemed to be most obvious, though. Twitter, Youtube videos, television ads, and most importantly, hosts who "appeal to a younger demographic," according to host, Anne Hathaway, herself.
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Groupon Mania – Deal or No Deal?
Groupon's been all the buzz recently. Within the last few months, it turned down a $3 billion buyout offer from Yahoo! as well as Google's $6 billion offer. Not such a wise decision if you ask me, the company’s business model can be easily imitated by others, in fact, it already has. Numerous websites have popped up within the last year or so offering local deals. Of course, to add insult to injury, Groupon made 3 terrible (not to mention insensitive) Super Bowl ads. Bad move, especially with a pending $15 billion IPO.
Okay, enough of me giving them business advice that I'm clearly not qualified to do. For now, I'd like to believe the executives at Groupon have some special secret no-fail business plan that the rest of us can't even dream of.
Anyways, I have been on the Groupon train since 2009. When I first started, Groupon wasn’t getting all of the media attention it’s getting now, and like most people, I thought it was a very unique concept. Not only are the discounts generous, the element of supporting local businesses is a huge plus. It’s a great site to discover small local mom and pop places. In fact, my first purchase was to a restaurant that I had been dying to try. Awesome, right? In a blink of an eye, I joined Living Social (now backed by Amazon), DealOn, and BloomSpot. Sites like Yelp, Gilt, and Active.com , which I was already a part of, began to issue exclusive deals to members, too.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
What to Do With Your Business Travel Expenses
I'm heading out to a conference for work tomorrow, so I thought it'd be a good time to mention something about business travel expenses. Believe it or not, employers are not legally obligated to pay for your work related travel expenses or give you a per diem. Most do it anyways, though, for the sake of good business practice because the trips you make benefit them a great deal. Every company has its own policy for this matter, so clarify with your employer as to what you can and cannot get reimbursed for. Depending on what you're most comfortable with, here are a few ways you can keep organized:
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