Rochester Archives - Page 5 of 6

The Snow Monster Returns: Buffalo Bills, Undefeated for the Decade!

By Chris Carosa on January 4, 2010

Should I stay home or should I go?

With red letter snow warnings, ominous travel advisories and a plethora of church service cancellations, the question wavered annoyingly in my own mind and unspoken on my worried wife’s barely wakened lips.

Should I stay or should I go?

The last game of the season. A meaningless game. Against a team that expects to bench most of its starting players. The beleaguered Buffalo Bills, banished for the past decade to the Siberia of no-playoffs, have done little to earn back the loyalty of staunch fans since the heresy of hiring Tom Donahoe. Why should any humble fan place their body in harm’s way, especially when the kind Gods of Time-Warner decided to sell-out the game (the only way they could then broadcast it to local viewers).

Should I stay or should I go?

Continue Reading “The Snow Monster Returns: Buffalo Bills, Undefeated for the Decade!”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged Batavia, Bills, blizzard, bomb, Bruce Smith, Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Charlie Brown, Days Inn, DiPaolo, Dipaolo's, HSBC Arena, Ilio, Ilio DiPaolo, Ilio DiPaolo's, Ilio's, Jim Kelly, Kodiak, Lake Erie, Lake-effect Snow, Marine Midland Arena, New York State Thruway, Ralph Wilson Stadium, ravioli, Rochester, Sabres, snow, Snow storm, Terrel Owens, Thruway, TO, Tom Donahoe, touchdown, Twitter, Victor, Western New York, Western New Yorker, Western NY

It’s a Wonderful Western New York Life

By Chris Carosa on December 23, 2009

For the umpteenth time I find myself watching Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. Yet, in all the years those reels have run through my retinal receptors, for the first time I really see the poignant – if unintended – metaphor.

We – Western New York – are Bedford Falls.

I don’t mean in the literal sense like Seneca Falls. I don’t mean in the physical-proximity sense because the movie mentions Buffalo and Rochester. And I don’t mean in the meteorological sense because those are definitely lake-effect snowflakes in the film. Rather, I speak of a much more mysterious philosophical aura that borders on the eerie similarities of tragic prognostication laced with a fringe of hope.

Continue Reading “It’s a Wonderful Western New York Life”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged Bedford Falls, Berman, Bills, Binghamton, Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Capra, Chris Berman, Clarence, Elmira, Finger Lakes, Frank Capra, George Bailey, It's a Wonderful Life, Lake-effect Snow, Rochester, Seneca Falls, Tom Sawyer, Western New York

Day 24 – December 7, 2009 (Mon): Drive Followers to a Blog

By Chris Carosa on December 8, 2009

Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 148 Followers: 118 Listed: 7

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 23 – December 6, 2009 (Sun): Drive Followers to Purchase a Special Offer

That was fun while it lasted. So last night’s plan looks like it fizzled. Maybe not. Remember, the above statistics reflect only those few hours from late last night to early this morning. No doubt folks are just now receiving their new follower lists.

In other news, CoachJudy still hasn’t followed. That disappoints me. She usually keeps her word. She’s also usually on the ball in terms of her social media presence.

Here’s the reality for today: After spending much of the end of last week preparing for culmination of my year-long the IYA2009 outreach project the beginning of the year – the final top ten countdown of AstronomyTop100.com presentation at the Strasenburgh Planetarium last Friday evening; and then after immediately going to work with the GearFreeze kids over the weekend for Sunday’s Finger Lakes First Lego League Regional Championships at the University of Rochester; I concluded I needed to spend some quality time with my laptop at the office. In truth, work’s been a relaxing relief through all the buzz of last week. I really like my work. I can’t tell you about it (government regulations prevent me from doing so), but it does offer loads of fun.

Here’s the result: I’m switching today’s step with Thursday’s. So, today I’m having fun. I’ll drive followers to a blog (my blog) on Thursday. I hope Joel Comm doesn’t mind.

How many followers do you think I’ll have after 30 days? Click here to enter your guess on my Survey Monkey survey “Chris Carosa’s 30-Day Plan to Dominate Twitter Experiment.” There’s no prize, but the fan who guesses the closest correct number the earliest will “win” and I’ll mention you if you want me to.

Find out today’s results on Day 25 – December 8, 2009 (Tue): Drive Followers to Subscribe

Posted in 30-Days to Dominate Twitter Experiment Tagged astronomy, astronomytop100, CoachJudy, Finger Lakes, First Lego League, FLL, GearFreeze, International Year of Astronomy, IYA, IYA 2009, IYA2009, Lego, lego robotics, robot, robotics, Rochester, social media, Strasenburg, Strasenburgh, Strasenburgh Planetarium, University of Rochester

Day 22 – December 5, 2009 (Sat): Combine Your Social Media Tools

By Chris Carosa on December 6, 2009

Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 129 Followers: 110 Listed: 6

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 21 – December 4, 2009 (Fri): Do Some Off-Twitter Marketing

I must admit, I actually started doing this a few days before in anticipation of robotics consuming my day today. That’s correct, gentle reader, no sooner had I completed one major event, but it was smack dab right into another. Talk about jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire! Come to think of it, fire does have a mesmerizing ability. Perhaps you’d first like a glimpse at the fire before returning to the experiment.

Continue Reading “Day 22 – December 5, 2009 (Sat): Combine Your Social Media Tools”

Posted in 30-Days to Dominate Twitter Experiment Tagged Atlanta, Championship, CoachJudy, Dayton, facebook, fiduciarynews, Finger Lakes, First Lego League, FLL, GearFreeze, HFL, Honoeye Falls, How to Build Your Business in Just Six Months with Twitter and Other Social Media Networks, lego robotics, Lima, LinkedIn, Mendon, NXT, Regional, robot, robotics, Rochester, social media, U.S. Open Championship, University of Rochester, World Festival

Day 19 – December 2, 2009 (Wed): Try a Different Sequence

By Chris Carosa on December 3, 2009

Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 112 Followers: 97 Listed: 5

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 18 – December 1, 2009 (Tue): Start Putting Your Tweets Together

Remember @BPOrchestra? A couple of days ago they followed me, I followed back and then they unfollowed me. On Monday I sent them an @ message. As I assumed based on their tweet updates, it took them a day to get back to me. When they did they were very apologetic. They followed again (and I followed back). They even offered me two free tickets. I respectably declined (wouldn’t want the FCC on my case!). But seriously, they are a non-profit, after all, and I am sympathetic to cyber-mistakes, having committed my fair share. But, let’s not dwell on mistakes. Let’s reveal a little gossip.

Continue Reading “Day 19 – December 2, 2009 (Wed): Try a Different Sequence”

Posted in 30-Days to Dominate Twitter Experiment Tagged astronomy, astronomytop100, Buffalo Philharmonic, cyber-mistake, Digital Rochester, elite media, FCC, Festivus, magazine closing, newspaper layoff, old media, Rochester, social media, Strasenburg, Strasenburgh, Strasenburgh Planetarium, television cutback, Yogi Berra

Day 18 – December 1, 2009 (Tue): Start Putting Your Tweets Together

By Chris Carosa on December 2, 2009

Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 108 Followers: 94 Listed: 5

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 17 – November 30, 2009 (Mon): Post an Action Tweet

This Twitter Churn and Burn Hypothesis seems to have some legs. It makes me think a lot of folks waste a lot of time on Twitter. Why else would they follow and unfollow in less than 24 hours? I can almost understand the marketers doing this with all their fancy machines. But regular folks? And, especially, non-profits? @BPOrchestra, out of the blue, followed me. Since I feel I belong in their target market, I followed back. Then they unfollowed me. Go figure. So I asked them why with an “@” question. They haven’t updated their tweets in a while so I might not hear from them until tomorrow. But, instead of worrying about my followers – or unfollowers as the case may be – on this day I learn I should worry about my own motives.

Continue Reading “Day 18 – December 1, 2009 (Tue): Start Putting Your Tweets Together”

Posted in 30-Days to Dominate Twitter Experiment Tagged astronomy, astronomytop100, Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Churn and Burn, ERISA, fiduciarynews, Google Analytics, International Year of Astronomy, IYA, IYA 2009, IYA2009, Rochester, social media, Twitter, Western New York, Western NY

Day 17 – November 30, 2009 (Mon): Post an Action Tweet

By Chris Carosa on December 1, 2009

Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 107 Followers: 88 Listed: 5

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 16 – November 29, 2009 (Sun): Post a Discussion Tweet

Today’s the first day I’ve been really disappointed with this experiment. Although I admit I’ve been busy this weekend, I didn’t totally ignore Twitter. I followed a number of folks back. I did continue to do as Joel Comm suggested and I even got a big bounce in activity on my blog – at least as judged by Google Analytics.

But, given all that, I wake up this morning to find only two more followers. I’m beginning to formulate a hypothesis. I’ll call it the “Twitter Churn and Burn Hypothesis.” Here’s how it works:

Continue Reading “Day 17 – November 30, 2009 (Mon): Post an Action Tweet”

Posted in 30-Days to Dominate Twitter Experiment Tagged astronomy, astronomytop100, broker, camera, Churn and Burn, Google Analytics, Kodak, Kodak Camera, Monday Night Football, Powerpoint, RIT, Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, social media, Strasenburgh, Strasenburgh Planetarium, Twitter

Day 11 – November 24, 2009 (Tue): Have Fun!

By Chris Carosa on November 24, 2009

Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 64 Followers: 42 Listed: 2

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 10 – November 23, 2009 (Mon): Answer a Question

Hooray! I’m a third of the way done. So far, I’m less than impressed, and we’re heading into the Thanksgiving holiday so I think I won’t be seeing too much activity. Maybe Friday.

OK, so I just had fun today. I really didn’t have much time during the work day to address any Twitter items except for a few work related ones. After work (and my kids’ parent-teacher conferences), I went back on and repeated several of the steps Joel Comm recommended for the previous days. I followed a handful of Rochester Social Media Club folks (this time) Mike recommended. I also engaged in a few conversations and asked a question. I sent some targeted “@” posts to some folks who appeared in my “Back to the Future” article posted November 12, 2009. I even sent an @ message to Chris Brogan to encourage him to read the “It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again” article telling of his Veteran’s Day visit to Rochester to speak before the Social Media Today Conference. Lee actually left a great comment on the former. Who knows if Chris Brogan even noticed my one grain of sand tweet in his Twitterverse.

That’s it for today. Just a little fun and a lot of real work. And what little free time will now be devoted to either GearFreeze or AstronomyTop100.com for the next two weeks.

Find out today’s results on Day 12 – November 25, 2009 (Wed): Look for Your Evangelists

Posted in 30-Days to Dominate Twitter Experiment Tagged Rochester, Rochester Social Media, Rochester Social Media Club, social media

Day 9 – November 22, 2009 (Sun): Ask a Question

By Chris Carosa on November 22, 2009

Start of Day Twitter Stats: Follow: 44 Followers: 35 Listed: 0

Missed yesterday? Go here to read what happened on Day 8 – November 21, 2009 (Sat): Add More Followers

As luck would have it, the Buffalo Bills played Jacksonville today. With a new coach and some free time during the game, I figured this would be a great topic to ask a question.

OK, I tried asking a question:

ChrisCarosa @thurmanthomas Watcha know about Parrish’s sudden appearance?

41 minutes ago from web in reply to thurmanthomas

I waited a while and watched a little more of the Bills game. When I returned, I found I got nothing, so I tried this one:

Continue Reading “Day 9 – November 22, 2009 (Sun): Ask a Question”

Posted in 30-Days to Dominate Twitter Experiment Tagged Bills, Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, football, GuruBrian, Jacksonville, Jacksonville Janguars, Jaguars, making money on twitter, mikemcbride9, RichCurrie, Rochester, Rochester Social Media, Rochester Social Media Club, Roscoe Parrish, SEO, social media, Thurman Thomas, TweetDeck, twitter making money

The Snow Monster Returns: Buffalo Bills, Undefeated for the Decade!

It’s a Wonderful Western New York Life

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