Archive: PPP Team
Morning
Oklahoma City. Bricktown. We met-up with one of the Blogger's Choice Awards finalists, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. It just happened to work out that author lives somewhat near our tour path, so we decided to contact her and find a place to meet-up.
Afternoon
The afternoon found us heading to the outskirts of Dallas, and a chance to hook-up with another one of the BCA finalists -- they happened to be located on our route, so we thought we'd pop in and say hi! Heroes for Children is a fantastic non-profit organization that helps families with children who are battling cancer in the state of Texas. We visited with one of the co-founders for quite some time and she had a very moving story to tell. If you have some time please drop by their website and learn more about them.
Late Afternoon
The last stop of the day was at the home of Sean Jackson, President of the Dallas Ad League. Along with being one of the panel moderators for PostieCon, Sean hosted a get together at his home when we passed through his city...complete with a custom-made banner for us!
What was even more great about this stop was Postie Laurie met-up with us, and since she brought us canned foods for donation, and was the only Postie who showed-up, she was given the iRobot Roomba! Congratulations, Laurie.
Evening/Late Evening
We hit the road around 7:30pm, with the mission of driving all night through to Albuquerque. Yup...10 hours of driving through nothingness. We made it but not without a visit to one of the most interesting bathrooms any of us have ever seen! This was inside a well-known fast food restaurant (location to remain nameless):
Technorati Tags: Blog America Tour, blog awards, Blogger's Choice Awards, bloggers, blogging, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, Dallas Ad League, Posties
I think all of the travel might be catching-up with me. We've been driving literally all day long. We left New Orleans around 9am Central Standard Time, and since we weren't able to meet-up with our Postie Rebecca (hope your mother-in-law feels better) in Jackson, Mississippi, we kept driving straight on through to Oklahoma City. Right now it's nearing 10pm CST, so you can do the math. Fortunately our car has satellite radio installed to keep us entertained.
While this photo was taken in Atlanta a couple of days ago, this is what I feel like at the moment:
I'm looking forward to a busy day tomorrow, filled with meeting more Posties and Advertisers...to build my energy back up!
One of our stops along the Blog America Tour was New Orleans; a last-minute change from Tuscaloosa. Since we only announced the change mid-last week I wasn't all that surprised when we went to Jackson Square in the French Quarter and nobody showed up (although I do know we have many active bloggers in the area). So we really had "the evening off."
We went to an authentic Louisiana dinner at--get this--the Gumbo Shop. It was darn good, and when all was said-and-done Ted, Travis and I were all stuffed. Of course you know us...we have photos as evidence:
After dinner Ted insisted we go walk down Bourbon Street, if for nothing more than the "experience." Particularly since neither Travis or I had ever been there. First we stopped and had some grenades, and then went popped into Pat O'Briens for a hurricane. Needless to say those two drinks combined with the ridiculous amount of food we each injested, we were just ready to call it a night. We were in the hotel room by 11:00. We're officially old. (P.S. We're not quite sure why Travis looks so crazy in the photo below.)
Technorati Tags: Blog America Tour, Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Pat O'Brien's
It's hard to believe the first-ever Blog America Tour is already half-way over -- three days down and three more to go! We've already hit-up three major US cities, met with several devoted Posties, and collected over 300 canned foods for donations to local charities. All while calling a Dodge Durango home! So now we're about to hit the road and head towards Jackson, Mississppi, to connect with Postie Rebecca (I hope she remembered to turn her clocks back).
We've had a great time Twittering our trip. And if you're keeping up with us on the road we still have the following cities left to visit:
- Jackson, MS
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Dallas, TX
- Albuquerque, NM
- Phoenix, AZ
- Las Vegas, NV
Of course, our journey leads up to PostieCon next Saturday, and we definitely can't wait for that.
In addition to meeting Postie Alli in Atlanta yesterday, the BAT team went to the Downtown Varsity last night, where we connected with Posties Richard and Jason -- Jason was a little late but it didn't matter because he brought his daughter Skylar along...and she was a hoot-and-a-half!
As he did with Colleen and Alli, Ted gave Richard and Jason a sneak-peek of Argus. They both seemed really excited about the new application, and all the benefits it will offer not only bloggers but Advertisers as well.
On a side note, Skylar--who is only four-and-a-half--maintains a blog. I thought I'd check-it-out and was thrilled at the "treat" she decided to share with her readers. She's going to be a star (you'll understand what I mean in a minute).
Blog America Tour, day three. Ted, Travis and I still look at each other when driving down the road, and say "I can't believe we're actually doing this!" But we are, and we've had a blast meeting-up with all our Posties.
Yesterday we spent the entire day in the city of Atlanta, and had a chance to meet some fantastic bloggers. First off, we got to the CNN Center downtown at noon, and saw Postie Alli (who you may recall brought 104 cans of food with her) and her son. We walked a couple of blocks to a great restaurant called Ted's Montana Grill, where we talked about blogging, PostieCon, and the new application. Here's a photo of Ted sharing a few "secrets" about Argus with Alli:
If you're on the road and you see us...HONK! And don't forget we'll be Twittering our entire trip so you can keep up with what we're doing. We've uploaded the Twitter badge here on our blog (see image below), and if you're on Twitter yourself you can follow us here.
See you on the road...and hopefully at PostieCon as well.
It's almost time to kick-off the first-ever Blog America Tour! Yup...we're actually gonna do it. And as Ted mentioned in a post yesterday one of our first stops along the way is Tampa's Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. That should be loads of fun, especially since we're meeting up with Postie Colleen. (Where are all of our other Tampa Posties, by the way?)
So the official schedule is here (below), along with the times and locations* we're going to be stopping in each city. If you live in or around any of the mentioned cities please come out and see us. Some folks have already contacted us to let us know they're going to meet-up with us, but if you don't decide until the last minute you'd like to join us that's OK too! Just pop on over to the venue we'll be at; we'll be there for a couple of hours, I'm sure.
Don't forget, there's money up for grabs, a chance to help local charity organizations and, of course, a rare opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with Ted & Team.
Thursday, November 1st
City: Tampa (FL)
Venue: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Location: Map
Time: 7:00pm EDT
Friday, November 2nd
City: Atlanta (GA)
Venue: CNN Center
Location: Map
Time: 12:00pm EDT
Venue: The Varsity Downtown
Location: Map
Time: 7:00pm EDT
Saturday, November 3rd
City: Tuscaloosa (AL)
Venue: Bryant-Denny Stadium (Alabama/LSU Game)
Location: Map
Time: 4:00pm CDT
Sunday, November 4th
City: Jackson (MS)
Venue: The Jackson Zoo
Location: Map
Time: 12:00pm CDT
Monday, November 5th
City: Dallas (TX)
Venue: Dallas Ad League
Location: Map
Time: 5:30pm CDT
Tuesday, November 6th
City: Albuquerque (NM)
Venue: Flying Star (Nob Hill District)
Location: Map
Time: 8:00am MDT
City: Phoenix (AZ)
Venue: Rawhide (Chandler)
Location: Map
Time: 7:00pm MDT
Wednesday, November 7th
Las Vegas, Baby! We'll be exhibiting at BlogWorld Expo, and then time to get ready for PostieCon and the Blogger's Choice Awards.
* Unless otherwise noted we will meet-up at the front entrance of each venue.
Something new-and-exciting this way comes...starting next week! Of course, you'll just have to wait and see what it is!
The Marketing department has been busy, busy, busy lately...with various upcoming projects. It's been a while since we've done a video confessional, and we have some exciting updates for both Posties and non-Posties alike, so Britt & thought we'd put a little something together for you. Not the most exciting video ever, but I figure it's a nice diversion from the average blog post.
We've got some news on PostieCon, Blogger's Choice Awards, and a few other things, so check-out these two videos when you have a few moments. (The video cut-out when we were almost finished and rather than bother the production guys to edit the two together, we decided to keep it raw.)
As mentioned in the first video, here is the link for some information on hotel accommodations in the Vegas area: https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=53266. Most are pretty good rates but if you can find something better on your own, by all means feel free.
We're also heading-up to the Boston area tomorrow, for CollegeFest '07. We'll be documenting our trip so be on the lookout for a future RockStartUp episode. And if you're one of our Postie Reporters...we'll see you there!
Technorati Tags: Ashley, Blogger's Choice Awards, Britt, CollegeFest, confessionals, PostieCon, RockStartUp, TAO Las Vegas
Hello, Atlanta. Look out, Little Rock. We’ll see you soon, Phoenix.
These are just a few stops on PayPerPost’s Blog America Tour, a week long odyssey across the southern United States. On the wheels of our custom PayPerPost RV, the tour will cover more than 3,000 miles and 9 states. Of course, RockStartUp will be there to cover it all.
Will Ted and crew make a stop in your town? It could all depend on you. The proposed Tour Schedule is as follows:
1. Orlando, FL - Nov. 1, Noon (office send off)
2. Tampa, FL - Nov. 1, 6PM
3. Atlanta, GA - Nov. 2, 9AM
4. Tuscaloosa, AL - Nov. 3, 10AM (Alabama v. LSU)
5. Jackson/Brandon, MS - Nov. Nov. 4, 10AM
6. Little Rock/Jacksonville, AR - Nov. 4, 5PM
7. Dallas, TX - Nov. 5, Noon
8. Albuquerque, NM - Nov. 6, 7AM
9. Phoenix, AZ - Nov. 6, 5PM
10. Las Vegas, NV (Posties: Jules/Techie) - Nov. 7, 5PM
11. Las Vegas, NV (PostieCon & BlogWorld EXPO)
Now that you know where we’re planning to stop, we need you to give us some local knowledge. Comment on this post with your suggestions about where to go and what to do in each city. We’d love to meet up with as many Posties as possible. But we need to know you’re out there.
We’re still putting our plan together, so it’s a great time to influence what we will do in your town. As soon as we nail down a final tour schedule we’ll be sure to let everyone know.
We’d also like to let Posties hitch-a-ride to PostieCon, but we’re still trying to figure out the details… legal and insurance wise. However, if you’d like to jump on we want to hear from you. Send your request to britt [at] payperpost dot com. Include your name, location and a phone number. No guarantees.
See you on the road!
In an effort to continuously provide support and open communication to our Bloggers & Advertisers, and provide a simple understanding of the various facets of our system and our Terms of Service, we are in the process of developing a series of Postie Service Announcements (PSAs) and tutorials. Look for them to be released over the coming months. The intent is not only to educate those who might be unfamiliar with PayPerPost and blogging in general, but to also reinforce some areas where we see some common practices. Of course, in true PPP form we'll try to make them as entertaining as we can, while still maintaining the core message of each PSA.
OK peeps...don't hate! We're not actors, but we love you guys...it's worth the embarrassment...right?
So...without further delay, here is the first installment...PSA #1: The PayPerPost Court:
We'd like to extend an enormous amount of gratitude to The Orange County Regional History Center for allowing us use of their courtroom.
* All characters in this dramatization are fictional. Any likeness to real people or animals are purely coincidental.*
So, here are a couple of shots from the 10th row! Props to my pal Mike from Detroit, pictured in atypical i-look-baked mode, who coordinated the whole trip -- but not our shirts (purely coincidence)! Can you see Sting in the upper right corner of the frame? We even stood directly behind Sting's wife Trudy and one of the founding members of A&M records. I shook Trudy's hand at the end of the show and thanked her for coming to the first show!
I highly recommend you find a way to see Sting, Stewart and Andy this summer, because The Police still know how to rock out!
"fifty million years ago..."
As usual, we wanted to get the entire trip on video for a Rockstartup episode, so Travis was preparing to film Britt getting ready the night before we left. "Getting ready" entailed a trip to the salon to get her nails done, etc.
Somehow, I was convinced to join this trip to the salon, as Britt didn't want to be the only one there. I had the first manicure of my life done, and to tell the truth, my nails look rather shiny, and the hand massage was rather pleasant.
However, it all turned to tragic and excrutiating proportions when, after my manicure, I was led into the room of torture ... aka the "waxing room". Yes, I somehow agreed to get my back waxed in preparation for the Key West trip.
Now, I'm not Chewbacca, but have a few patches of hair here and there on my back. The only thing going through my mind at the time was the scene from the "40 Year Old Virgin". I knew I was in for some pain, but had no idea what kind of pain I was in for. Travis and Alan were there the entire time, laughing and filming, while watching the waxing girl take pleasure in removing every strand of hair from my back with vicious rips of the tape (or whatever it is).
It took about 3 days for my back to feel somewhat back to normal ... I felt as if I had a brand new sunburn for a while. Ouch is an understatement. Look for an upcoming Rockstartup episode to document the entire torture scene. Hopefully, you can feel my pain.
Kudos to Jessica at the Beauty Spot for making it a TINY better than grating my back with a cheese grater.
The votes are in, and thanks to your participating Trevor is headin' to PostieCon Vegas! In case you missed it here's his video:
Props to everyone who took the time and energy to make a video! Good job.
ONLY VOTE FOR ONE TEAM MEMBER, AND PLEASE USE THE VOTING WIDGET! We will not be counting any votes left in the comments area.
Voting closes tomorrow (Friday) at noon EST.
VOTE ON!
The deadline for voting will be May 18th by noon EST.
Luke
Pete
Trevor
Larry
Eric
Veronique
Jamie
Joe
I, personally, enjoyed some of the down time when we were able to leave the pressures of balancing the regular work day and training behind, to spend some time laughing together! It was especially helpful for me to get to know the other sales folks with whom I share the same challenges and motivation! Knowing I have such excellent resources to draw from via email, telephone, IM, text, or whatever means possible, while I am out there representing our company, and the Posties in our network, gives me a lot of confidence!
I am also encouraged by all the positive reception we are receiving in the marketplace from among top brand advertisers, I cannot mention here, but you will all learn about very shortly! I look forward bringing you my first opportunities!
Robb
The PPP execs are going on a retreat to Key West and want to hang out with some Posties! So grab your flip flops and head on down. Join Ted, Britt, Pete the Pirate, Randy, Karen and David for a night out on the Word Famous Duval Street on Friday, May 18th.
There is a good chance whoever makes it will be in an upcoming episode of RockStartup and will have eternal Postie bragging rights!
Send an email to travis(at)payperpost(dot)com if you are going to make it.
GHAARRRRR!!!
I know we're supposed to just go back 5 years, but I'm with Ashley... that's just not enough. What really changes between 20 and 25? Actually I guess lots of stuff did change in that time. Five years ago I was cursing myself for signing up for a class at noon, because it was hard for me to wake up that early. Nowadays I wake up at 9 or earlier on the weekends.
I think I'll go back just a bit further to the end of my highschool days. My college years were defined by sleeping in until it was late, and staying up until it was early, but my highschool years were defined by surfing. I lived in Melbourne, a town on the east coast of Florida, about 5 minutes away from the beach. I surfed literally every single day that there waves to surf. I would wake up at 4:30 AM before school, drive to the beach when it was dark, and surf until 7 when I had to go get ready for school. Of course, then I'd immediately head back out right after school was over.
So that was me about seven or eight years ago, when my skin was tanner, hair was blonder, body was thinner, and so on. Now that I'm living in Orlando, and I'm somewhat close to the beach again, I'm going to try to get back in the swing of it.
Oh yeah, also...
Hi Mom! Happy Birthday / Mother's Day (little early I know). I love you!
-Mike
In honor of the upcoming Cinco de Mayo, everyone brought a mexican-style dish. Yum! We even had a pinata, which was split wide-open by Luke (he actually ended-up breaking it with his fist)! Que bueno!
As if all this weren't enough we also had one of the biggest cake plows today, as we had to take care of March and April birthdays! What a mess!
As the Marketing team mentioned in our video blog yesterday, we planned on having a lottery for team members to find out who's going to PostieCon Vegas in November. Well, we had everybody take tickets after lunch, and after randomly drawing numbers the following folks were selected:
- Girl Ashley
- Caroline
- Dan
- David
- Don
- Marty
- Priscilla
- Robb
- Scott
THERE'S A CHANCE FOR ONE MORE TEAM MEMBER TO GO, and that's where you guys come in! For the remaining employees who wish to go to Vegas, they will have to make a confessional saying why they should get to go! And the winner will be decided by you Posties! That's right! When the revised PostieCon.com launches you'll be able to vote for the person you think deserves to go, based on their video. More details to come next week!
Have a safe & happy Cinco de Mayo, and a fun weekend! I'll leave you with our newest friend, Chachi:
Labels: Cinco de Mayo, payperpost, PostieCon
I don't tend to pay a lot of attention to the spam. Unlike most automated spam filters I can typically spot email-doodoo at a glance and just delete it and move on. One message this week though caught my eye.
I probably have three vices; smoking, coffee and games. This particular spam was related to a game that I particularly enjoy so I did spend a moment or two reading it. To my surprise it was quite entertaining. The company in question was trying to find bloggers to promote their service. They had emailed a ton of people with a simple proposal; blog about our website and we'll pay you!
What a nifty idea; get paid to blog about the things you love. Hmmm, you know it's a novel idea - it could just catch on too.
Either way Eric and I are going to be competing as a team at Muddy Buddy on May 12th in Orlando. If you haven't heard about this event you should really check it out.
..And don't hate. Peace. [It's just been added, 2:20PM EST, so if the video doesn't load, it may still be finalizing within YouTube, give it a bit.]
Donate to the team as a whole (If the team as a whole make 6k we ALL shave our heads)
Make a donation on Travis' head
Make a donation on Ted's head
Make a donation on Trevor's head
Make a donation on Mike's head
Make a donation on Luke's head
Make a donation on Dan's head
Info about St. Baldrick's Foundation:
St. Baldrick's began as a casual conversation between friends and has exploded into the world's biggest volunteer-driven fundraising program for childhood cancer! Events have taken place in 10 countries and 42 US states, raising over $20 million, and shaving more than 26,000 heads.
More...
Labels: children's cancer, posticon, shaved heads, st. baldricks
1. Drop to a size 34 waist by June and keep it off. In the past year I have chunked out and there is simply no excuse. Too much work, too little time, too much travel. Crap, crap, crap. Dr. Chunky Butt will be no more.
2. Give more to charity. I have been a longtime supporter of Habitat for Humanity though MindComet, and PayPerPost has some charitable components but I know I can do more. I will find a way to make a bigger difference in 2007.
3. Kick Caffeine. Caffeine is the devil. Coffee and soda are no good for you. I kicked it once for nearly 2 years in 2003 (yes, it was a resolution) and I never felt better. Water and juice from here on out.
And my update:
1. I have been working out at least 3 times a week for the past 2 months. I have run almost 80 miles since my first run including two half marathons. My first 5k was 32'53" and now I am consistency running 24-25minute 5ks. I feel great! I have only lost about 5 pounds but I am definitely building muscle. The next challenge I face is adjusting my diet.
2. There will be a post on the charity front later this week but I haven't done as much as I had hoped. This is probably my weakest area out of my three goals.
3. I have been caffeine free for two months and I couldn't be happier. I think cutting soda out of my diet may be a big reason for that 5 pound loss as well. I think I was more addicted to the thought of caffeine and soda than the actual soda itself. Soda gave me a pickup in the morning, I have replaced that with working out and the stimulus lasts all day.
So how have you been doing? Are you staying true to yourself? I know a few of you blogged about it. If you do an update post let me know in the comments and I will do a recap post.
David
Priscilla
Jamie
I have added Digg to our templates. You will see it on future posts, I don't know what it has taken this long! : )