Moran Tugs Save Miss Stacy

My lovely and talented wife @melsieburger proved herself to be Melanie-on-the-spot when she caught this drama unfolding in the Piscataqua River.  The Miss Stacy was foundering and the Moran tugboats proved themselves more than just photogenic Portsmouth icons as they saved the ship and the day.  Watch this! Crazy stuff! 

RIP Memorial Bridge: And We All Float On

The big news in Portsmouth these days is all about our old decrepit rusty bridge.  Personally I always thought it was pretty fuggly, but everybody is waxing poetic about the thing, so I won't kill the buzz. In fact, I find the entire process fascinating, not only from a civil engineering standpoint but from a psycho-social angle. This "float-out" simply captured the imagination of an entire city... and to be fair, it does only happen every 100 years or so. 

DirecTV and Sunbeam Work it Out!

Multiple sources are reporting that the dispute has been resolved.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-26/directv-signs-accord-ending-super-bowl-blackout-threat-for-boston-viewers.html

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/479683-Sunbeam_and_DirecTV_Reach_Retrans_Agreement.php

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYNz3_sMS-2gdusTmkaT15R2nQvQ?docId=09986412256e466098291e239bf701d2

I'd post the video announcement from WHDH, but I don't want to give them any clicks, nor do I wish to sully my blog with it.

Still not happy about it.  Don't appreciate being used as a pawn.  Don't appreciate my access to news and information being usurped by greedy corporations.  Nope, don't like it at all.  

Patriots Super Bowl Game Blacked Out for DirecTV Viewers?

This is what I see when I turn the channel to 7 WHDH-Boston, our designated local NBC affiliate.

At midnight on January 14, 2012, Sunbeam Communications shut down its link to DirecTV for the stations WSVN (Channel 7 Fox Miami), WHDH (NBC Channel 7 Boston), and WLVI (The CW Channel 56 Boston).  The result is what you see above.  We first noticed it when we tried to tune in "Saturday Night Live."


Of course, SNL is one thing.  "The Office" and the Thursday night NBC shows are another thing. But there's this little sporting event coming up called THE SUPER BOWL, and that's an entirely different matter!  Not to mention the tiny fact that the New England Patriots are in it! 

So what's the issue?  Sunbeam reportedly wants the transmission fees paid to them by DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) increased by 300%. This is a private negotiation but Sunbeam has not denied that number, saying only that they are looking for "market value." 

Thousands of customers are affected in their homes, plus the numerous sports bars that rely on sporting events to draw customers. 

Here's what appears to be DirecTV's official original press release.  

It's strongly worded! As it should be! As this is one of the major broadcast networks, I consider this nothing less than an infringement on my rights as a consumer, and my rights as an American, in that the freedom of press, and my freedom of expression, are inhibited by a private dispute denying me access to a major news source.

We have complained to DirecTV on Facebook and Twitter, but clearly their customer relations staff have been instructed to follow a script: "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you, and we will continue to work towards a swift resolution."

Sunbeam, for its side, is not a public-facing company and are clearly overmatched in this PR battle.  They have no Twitter, no Facebook, not even a web site! Worse, they have pulled the Ch. 7 news clip announcing the failed negotiations from the WHDH site. And they've deleted comments on the previous story. Near as I can tell from my research, the owner -- 73-year-old Ed Ansin -- is a crotchety "maverick" along the John McCain lines.  Frankly, they come off as extortionist thugs, holding the signal feed for ransom. 

Sunbeam did, to its credit, allow a temporary reprieve to let the signal go through for the Giants-49ers game yesterday. This gave us hope.  HOWEVER, according to a post on the protest Facebook page "WHDH Boston - DirecTV Negotiations," FOX Miami pulled the channel with 3 minutes left in overtime! Talk about a tease!

Because the situation has not yet been resolved, and because I believe the FCC will have to intervene, I have called Senator Jeanne Shaheen's (D-NH) office.  They were aware of the problem and took down my information. Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) have already written letters urging the two to play nice and come to an agreement.

For my part, I'm turning up the heat as a disgruntled customer, blogging and Facebooking and Tweeting about it to anybody who will listen, and contacting local media outlets.  Yes, I know I can switch to Comcast, but we just upgraded to DirecTV HD over Christmas.  Yes, I know we can buy an antenna and get the signal that way.  But there is a principle here.  A customer paying over $100/month for television signals beamed directly from satellites should not have to buy a set of rabbit ears!  

Oh, and... GO PATS!  

e-Coast Birthday Weirdness

OK, so a wicked head/sinus cold kept me from attending the 13th eBrew Birthday Bash. 

My dutiful and beautiful wife brought me some (Lemon Zinger) tea with (local) honey. 

The mug she chose for the job, totally at random mind you, was this one.

You can't make this stuff up!

Happy 13th Birthday e-Coast!  You're a teenager now.  Ugh!

Portsmouth Public Media Storytellers Open House a Success Story

The Board of Directors of Portsmouth Public Media pose for posterity at the end of the PPMTV Storytellers Open House on Sunday, November 20, 2011.  

Aided (or hindered?) by temperatures that soared into the upper 60s, we had a terrific turnout. Upward of 150 people visited, toured the South Meetinghouse facility, and fired their imaginations. What would they do with air time on local TV?  The possibilities are dizzying, and they wrote dozens of ideas on the board: A cooking show for bachelors...  High school sports... A reality show about band-geeks... A Portsmouth based variety show featuring local musicians... Restaurant reviews... Wine tastings...  So many great ideas!  

Dozens of membership applications went home with the highly intrigued-- and many wrote checks to sign up on the spot.

Talented volunteers with experience in video production came forward to offer their expertise. 


City officials and a veritable who's who of locals came to see the old Children's Museum, meet the PPMTV founders, and see how they could get involved. 

In short, it was a rousing success! 

Board member Dan Freund filed this report for his Monday Morning Show on ShortStream.tv:
 

So, what's next? As they say in TV land, "Stay tuned..."

Introducing PPMTV

I'm pleased to be helping get the word out about Portsmouth Public Media (PPMTV).  What is it?  Since it's a video medium, I'll let PPMTV Board President Dave Underhill explain:

Your chance to see PPMTV up close and personal is coming up this Sunday afternoon at the long-awaited Open House.  Here's the deets:

What:  PPMTV STORYTELLERS OPEN HOUSE 

When: Sunday, November 20, 2PM-5PM

Where: PPMTV's new studio facility at 280 Marcy Street, Portsmouth, at the South Meetinghouse, former home of the Children's Museum.

Who: Meet your South End neighbors, community leaders, PPMTV founders, board members, and volunteers (yours truly included).

Why: Because you've got an unique story to tell and voice to be heard... Because you're curious about the inner workings of how television gets made... Because you represent a business, group, or non-profit that needs to get the word out... Or because the Patriots play on Monday night so you're looking for something interesting to do. Whatever your motivation, we'll be glad to see you! 

Cost: Free. (But bring your checkbook, because you'll want to sign up for a membership!)

Parking: We have permission to park at Strawbery Banke's visitors' center lot, or just walk from one of the downtown lots.

See you there!  

Portsmouth Rallies to Save RiverRun Bookstore

The story of Portsmouth these days isn't being sold at RiverRun Bookstore.  It is RiverRun Bookstore.  This is a "The Shop Around the Corner"/"You've Got Mail" story that hopes to have an "It's a Wonderful Life" ending.

Bookseller, community activist, and protagonist Tom Holbrook set the scene in a mournful e-mail missive to his mailing list:

After a lot of hard thinking, I've decided not to renew the lease at 20 Congress St., which ends on December 31st.  When we moved into this space five years ago business was booming, the economy was good, and the Kindle didn't exist yet.

Fast forward to 2011 and we simply cannot afford the most expensive real estate in the most expensive city in New Hampshire.  The world of books is a beautiful one, but a shrinking one.  We just can't stay here.

The hue and cry was instant.  It was a front-page news story here, and the plight of the David indie bookstore against the Goliath Amazon-et-al was picked up by the likes of Salon and the L.A. Times.  But its our fabulous local rag, The Wire, who in this blogger's opinion best captured the story.   

People came out of the woodwork and wanted to know what they could do to help save the store.  Holbrook called a meeting--and 150 people crammed into the store. 

This certainly was an unexpected plot twist.  A shop owner openly admitting he got in over his head and asking for help?  A store accepting cash donations?  People willingly giving a store money without exchange for goods?  What store holds a special community meeting to solicit investors?  Who ever heard of such a thing?  As a public relations case study, this is definitely one for the books. 

Fact is, Holbrook might've taken on too much debt, but he has done everything right to date when it comes to public relations. All this tiny store has done is lead Portsmouth's highly successful Buy Local campaign, bring hundreds of big-name authors to our little town, discover a Pulitzer Prize winner, and basically make itself indispensable to the local community. 

Moreover, RiverRun leverages his customer base with Constant Contact and makes excellent use of social media.  Check out the Twitter feed with its own hash tag: #saveRRbooks. 

(Photo credit: New Hampshire Gazette.)

The goodwill Holbrook's built up over the years has come back to help him in a big way.  Now people are donating used books for them to sell, and investors are lining up, checkbooks in hand.  He blogged a recap of the public meeting, and there's plenty of cause for optimism. 

Will this story have a happy ending?  Or will this be another sad chapter in this era of big business squashing the little guy?  We'll just have to wait and see... We can't skip to the end of this book.

"Digital Ports" Embodies Original e-Coast Mission

I was pleased to attend this event last week at the new Music Hall Loft.  Note: It's on street-level in the old Stuart Shaines space. Disappointingly, there is no loft. But it is a neat space, and the bartender (Scott, not hard for me to remember his name) is top-notch.

If you watch Dan's video above, you'll see my off-the-cuff answer to the question of why I showed up for the event.  My longer answer ended up on the cutting room floor, but it went something like this: "This is the sort of thing we had in mind when we created the eCoast 12 years ago."  There were comments all night about how much talent is here in the Greater Portsmouth area, but how few people really realize it.  That's what the Seacoast --> eCoast initiative was all about: A bunch of coders and creatives taking a second to prairie-dog out of their cubicles and see all the other cool work that's going on all around them. Maybe they'll cross-pollinate and partner to win a big client. Maybe they'll find a new job, or just meet a new friend. It's all good when these people get together. 

I liked how there were 3 levels of web design represented on Thursday:

1.  Leah Creates.  Leah produces appealing entry-level web presences for artists and other low-budget clients with a healthy dose of funk and whimsy.

2.  VitalDesign, which although they serve smaller and larger clients, occupies the middle ground of web development in the area.  They also offer a one-stop shop for SEO, PR, blogging, and other web-marketing-related initiatives. 

3.  Raka Creative represented the high-end, brand-centric development that has its roots in eyeon interactive/Wunderkind.

Interesting takeaways include Duncan's pronouncement that "Steve Jobs put the kibosh on Flash,"  Leah's confirmation that WordPress has in fact become the de facto standard web template for small business (and that it's a lot better than Geocities!), and that this group of professional techies is taking decidedly New England Yankee approach to Google+.  One mentioned that the demo for Google-plus is currently something like "90% males 25-35 yrs old," so draw your own conclusions there.

The format of the evening was basically the booze and schmooze, followed by short Powerpointy samples of recent work from each company, followed by a short Q&A, followed by more booze and schmooze.  Can't argue with the genius of more booze, but I did find myself wanting more substantive discussion of the current state of web design, especially vis-a-vis the local area. Early indications are that there will be more Digital Ports events, so I expect the format may be tweaked going forward. I'll certainly be there!

My Kid Rocks, Retro-Style

I am contractually obligated to post this, onaccounta the facts that it's:

1. Local (Took place at New Heights in Portsmouth)

2. Techno-geeky (Making 8-bit music with old Game Boys? Are you kidding me?)

3. It's got my kid in it! (Her tune is great! Yes, I spent years feeding her Tangerine Dream.)

Check it out:  DoverNH.tv.

Yet Another Reason Portsmouth Rules

An OUTDOOR summer movie festival at Prescott Park?  Yep!  http://www.prescottpark.org/movie.cfm

BTW, saw A Midsummer Night's Dream last weekend and it was excellent.

Have NOT seen the Wizard of Oz production yet, but by all reports, it's outstanding, so try to catch that, too. 

The Ahts at Prescott Pahk, just another reason Portsmouth rules. 

Cruisin'... on a summer day...

Summer in Portsmouth means a lot of things, from the ceremonial opening of the decks (Poco's grande margaritas are the best on the planet) to tall ship visits (although this past one was a dud by all reports I've heard) to cruising on the MV Thomas Laighton for a variety of themed "booze cruises."  Pull up the Isle of Shoals Steamship Company schedule here and you'll see that there are plenty of opportunities for boozin' and cruisin' -- we call it the "Tipsy Thomas" for a couple reasons.  ;-) 

We've already done cruise so far this year: A fun night was had by all with Granite State sensation The Super Secret Project last month.

The next one is later this month: The NH Tweet-Up's CruiseUp.  This will be the 2nd annual.  I missed last year's as I was on the Cape that weekend, but I heard it was a great time and a great networking opportunity.   

Then in July will be the much-anticipated return of the eCruise.  They took a year off last summer to concentrate on TechWorld conference and trade show, but now eCruise is back! 

The eCoast board committee, on which I serve in an advisory ex-officio type manner, released the notice to the press yesterday, which our local daily dutifully reprinted. More details on the EventBrite page (link below). 


Here's my recap of the last eCruise in July 2009.  (Scandalous pictures from the infamous after-party have been omitted to protect the innocent.)  

So mark your calendars and reserve your spot on the boat! 

• Thursday, June 23: Get your tix for the NH Tweet-Up on EventBrite.  (In a tweet, I dubbed the CruiseUp 2 the "pre-Cruise."  Because it comes before the e-Cruise.  Heh-heh.)  
• Thursday, July 14: Get your tix for eCoast Mobile Tech Summit & eCruise on EventBrite. 

Happy Birthday to The Campbell Scoop!

Today marks the 7th anniversary of my first blog post here on The Campbell Scoop!

This makes this blog a particularly long-lived one, to be sure, but it could've been even older; I was advising clients to start blogs for a year before I had started mine!

Interestingly, while the Internet evolves at breakneck pace, blogs themselves haven't changed all that much in the 7 years I've been blogging.  The advent of Facebook and Twitter (which is officially referred to as a "microblogging site") have usurped some of its thunder as an instant updater of your "status" and your current thinking, but blogs remain popular, powerful, and unchanged in format.  In fact, nowadays Facebook and Twitter often drive the blog, much like a headline drives a news story.  One thing that has changed?  Nobody refers to them as "web-blogs" anymore.  

Blogs remain a great way for people to share their personal thoughts and interests on any and all topics, and businesses continue to use blogs as a supplement to, or even a replacement for, their web sites.  Blogs allow businesses to get personal about what they do, publish and distribute news (like a press release), and they help boost your search engine optimization, too.

If you're interested in starting your own blog for your business, let us know and we'll be glad to help you get started.  There are many questions you'll need to answer, and often what's right for one blog might not be ideal for another.  For example:

• Where should I host my blog?
• What should the URL be? 
• Should I use Blogger, WordPress, or something else?
• How often should I post?
• What sort of tone should I use, friendly or business-like?  
• How long or short should a blog post be?
• And the biggie:  What should I write about?!

Remember, blogging is easy -- that's part of its charm.  But blogging well?  That's hard.

eCoast is on the Map - Literally!

Check out this great illustration in yesterday's Sunday's Boston Globe!

It appeared on the front page of the Business section... sorry Money & Careers section... along with this great article by the legendary Scott Kirsner. (Thanks Scott!) Big props to illustrator Leo Acadia... It's a fabulous illustration! 

I tweeted it back to the columnist (this is reverse chronological, of course):

buzzonabudget Buzz on a Budget

@ScottKirsner that's ok... As long as Seacoast firms know eCoast tech vendors exist & UNH grads know high-tech jobs are here, we're cool.

»

ScottKirsner Scott Kirsner

@buzzonabudget I think eCoast has been doing pretty well in NH, and maybe MA. But has yet to achieve wider recognition...

»

buzzonabudget Buzz on a Budget

@ScottKirsner Regional tech monikers have gotta be organically grown like @eCoastTech Nice piece SK! And fab illus! yfrog.com/h7arjrnj

It's an interesting exchange, IMO, because SK assumes the goal is to establish a nationally recognized brand. While that would surely be nice, my goal for eCoast all along has been to simply make sure we have local and regional mindshare.  If a local firm is hiring out for a new web site, I sure as hell hope they know there is plenty of talent right here in their backyards; there is simply no need to go to Boston, New York, or San Francisco to get top quality results. And in tandem with that, if UNH grads are looking for jobs in high-tech, I sure hope they know they can stay here to get them; they shouldn've have to commute an hour every day, which adds to fossil fuel dependence, pollution, tax income lost to Massachusetts, and all the negative effects of "brain-drain."

Ineterestingly, the article doesn't mention Portsmouth or eCoast by name anywhere.  So if you have a Google News Alert or news clipping service searching for key words, like I do, you wouldn't have seen this. So yes, there's still something to be said for picking up and perusing the ol' dead tree and getting your fingers a little dirty with good ol' fashioned ink.

Portsmouth High School Sets National Record! 76 Wins in a Row!

If you know me, you know I love baseball. A lot.

And if you know me, you know I love Portsmouth. A lot.

And I love news that brings positive attention to our fair city. A lot.

So this story has got me particularly jazzed: With it's 76th win in a row, Portsmouth High School baseball has set the record for longest high school baseball winning streak in the nation! 

Personal anecdote:
My nephew Geoff plays for Oyster River, and he alerted me to the streak with a Facebook invitation to an event "Beat Portsmouth and End Their Streak." Uh-oh. A quandry. I'm a Portsmouth guy. My stepson is a Portsmouth Clipper -- played a little JV last year. So do I root for Portsmouth or for my nephew?  Luckily,  the game was moved up from its original time and was well underway by the time I got out of work and got over to PHS.  By then, PHS was up 8-0 on Oyster River, and Geoff was already out of the game.  Phew!

PHS won that game, then went on the road.  I started following them on Facebook, so I could get up-to-the-minute scoring updates.

The media attention has been impressive.  Here's a sampling:

The PHS Streak got some play in ESPN Boston blog right along, with Roger Brown reporting: http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/high-school/tag/_/name/portsmouth-n-h

WMUR-TV showed up for the record-setting game at Pembroke: Portsmouth Baseball Sets The Record - Video - WMUR New Hampshire

USA Today did a nice piece on it -- and not just running an AP story, either!

Boston Globe, too, as you'd hope.

What's really neat about it is that it puts NH, and Northeast, baseball in the spotlight.  So much attention is focused on Florida, Texas, and California high school ball--as it should be, because they can play pretty much year round. Here in Portsmouth, we've got precious little ball-playing weather... And this Spring has been one of the worst yet, so this bit of sunshine is most welcome indeed.  Congrats kids!

Happy Foursquare Day

Happy Foursquare Day! 

Portsmouth Mayor Tom Ferrini has made it official.... but...


What exactly is Foursqaure Day, you ask?  It's a worldwide celebration of a silly smart-phone app.  I mean, errr, it's a location-based social media phenomenon!

When is Foursquare Day?  It's April 16, of course.  4/16.  4 squared.  Get it?  How can you forget? If only birthdays and anniversaries were as easy!

In my bylined piece for Mass High Tech last fall, I touted the fact that Portsmouth was the #1 city in the world (yes you read that correctly) in Foursquare Day participation in 2010.  For your edification, here's a great breakdown of how it all happened from my friends at Vital Design, and an article from the local paper for good measure. 

OK, so why do I care?  Because Foursquare poses an interesting opportunity for small business owners -- those with real storefronts, mind you -- to draw foot traffic by providing an incentive for your customers to stop in. Foursquare says so right here, to wit:

Whether you’re a national chain, a mom-and-pop shop, or anywhere in between, you can attract new customers or reward your most loyal ones by offering foursquare Specials – mobile coupons, prizes or discounts – which are presented to users when they check in at or near your venue.  

Read on here.

After initial skepticism, we're buying it. 

It's a good Buzzonabudget technique because a.) it's free and b.) set up is easy.  All you have to do is decide what kind of discount or incentive to offer.  As for c.) The Buzz, it comes from, believe it or not, virtual badges that your customers collect, and their personal egos.  You see, the customer with the most "check-ins" at a particular venue is dubbed "The Mayor," and again, believe it or not, the competition can be fierce for this high honor!

Will it build buzz for your business?  Only one way to find out!  You don't have to wait for Foursquare Day 2012... Give it a try now!  We're here to help if you have any questions about getting started.  Look at the list of businesses that participated last year and see what they did.  Then let us know how you made out... Maybe we'll even make your business a case study and feature it here on this blog.  ;-)

Are We Running Out of Interwebs?

It may seem unthinkable, but when you do stop to think about it, it's an undeniable fact: There is a finite number of IP addresses.  What's more, those IPs are running out fast. In fact, ICANN, which oversees Internet domains, has already issued its last block of IPv4 addresses.

The solution?  IPv6.  Sounds like a new Subaru model, I know.

The issue was recently brought to my attention by Dynamic Internet (the Buzzonabudget hosting and data center of choice), who released this news earlier this month: 

New Hampshire data center finalizes IPv6 deployment

SALEM, NH - New Hampshire web hosting firm Dynamic Internet announced that it has completed initial IPv6 rollout and is now assigning IPv6 address space to its clients upon request.

Read on here: http://www.dynamicinternet.com/release_3_14_2011.html

Appears to be a geeky, arcane technical upgrade that matters only to geeky, arcane technical people, right? But it's a big deal. Such a big deal that the likes of Facebook, Yahoo, and Google are going to test it out, all together, at the same time, June 8, 2011. You may not even notice World IPv6 Day (although I bet Google will do something creative with their logo for it) but it'll be an important day in the future development of the Internet.

For further reading, I recommend this article: (The Internet is Running Out of Space) from the San Francisco Chronicle on March 22.

If you're one of those geeky, arcane technical people I mentioned above, check out this black-and-white plain-text wiki.  You'll love it.  http://test-ipv6.com/ipv6day.html

Me, I just "liked" the IPv6 Facebook page.

Breaking News: N.H. firm JitterJam sold for $6M - Mass High Tech Business News

N.H. firm JitterJam sold for $6M - Mass High Tech Business News

Curious to see how this affects the company going forward. We were impressed with them when we met them at TechWorld last fall.

Here's the full press release, FYI.

Representing @ SXSW

I wasn't at SXSW this year (who am I kidding, I've never been and probably never will, I'm not that cool!) but I still kept up with the goings on via the tweeterers and tweetists who were there on the scene.  I follow Pee-Wee Herman @peeweeherman, Eliza Dushku @elizadushku, Duran Duran's Simon le Bon @SimonJCLeBON, as well as even bigger stars like NH's local legends Christine Major @CMajor and Walter Elly @walterelly. If you're into the local social media scene, you already know these two.  If you don't, then you're not into the local social media scene.  Anyway, I particularly enjoyed Ms. Major's cmajor video production report from the ground there in Austin, where she got the goers to describe South by Southwest in one word! As you'll see, some were better at it than others, and she's pretty lenient on the one-word rule. 



As for Mr. Elly, he'll be leading a Social Media Club on Location Based Services on Thursday.  Our Social Media Maven Melanie will be there... maybe he'll tell some SXSW stories, too?

Men's Journal Tells Readers What We Already Know

Just picked up a copy of the dead-tree edition of the Men's Journal. I had seen a link on Facebook a few days ago, and Rachel Forrest covered it in the Herald, but sometimes you've just gotta have the real thing, and this is one of those times. Especially when the publication doesn't put current content on the web; luckily for you, I scanned it as you can see here. Portsmouth is now routinely named one of the best places in the country to live for a variety of reasons, but typically a national publication will have trouble with the details.  Here, though, MJ does a pretty good job. More than this though, I was most flabbergasted pleased to see eCoast and eBrew get mentions! This is now, in year 12 of the brand's existence, one of the biggest press hits we've gotten yet! They say we exist to link start-ups to angel investors, and sure, that's one goal of many... I think the editors probably got faked out by the eCoast Angels investor group and thought there was a direct correlation.  Certainly by focusing on the beer, they nailed us dead to rights.  :-)