The XO World

Cows and Bikes

2008-08-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Everyone needs to get out of the office and take in the fresh air. This is how we do it!

Look out for Cruiser Life coming '09.

Honestly Live from the West Coast Nationals

2008-08-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the Goodguys Rod & Custom Associations 22nd West Coast Nationals held in Pleasanton, CA. XO Pandora was there to broadcast the awards ceremony live on the internet at an event location with internet access!

I had tried this program out at the Summer Get-Together with some success. This time around we perfected the process and were able to stream to 40 minutes live to Hot Rod fans all over the world as well as catalog the video for future viewing from right in the middle of a 210 acre site. It was also cool to interact with the online viewers via the chat room next to the video stream as I was filming.

The Goodguys channel on Justin.tv has had more than 5700 viewers since the broadcast. You can now view the awards ceremony, split into smaller clips for easier viewing, at the West Coast Nationals Website - www.ggwestcoastnats.com

The kicker - this was all done on a Fairgrounds that has no internet connection on grounds! Yes, we can pull this off at your event as well!

Look for the XO Case Study on this type of event offering in the coming weeks. We have just scratched the surface on what we can offer to Events, Fairgrounds and event centers for the future of event exposure and marketing.

Side note: I received messages from fans in Hawaii to Florida and up to Boston. The response e-mails about the program were great as well.

Screenshot of the video display on the event website:

Fore A Great Cause

2008-08-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

The Tri-Valley Special Needs Fund (www.tvsnf.org) hosted their annual golf tournament at the Sunol Valley Golf Course. The day kicked off under a cool sun and gentle breeze with a large outdoor BBQ followed by a Putting Contest and a putting clinic with two-time LPGA winner Dana Dorman. Then, promptly at 12:30, 150 golfers hit the course!

I was on hand to finally meet Tom (chairman) and Polly Morelli (pictured below).

XO Pandora has been working with the Morelli's and the TVSN on a new logo design for their upcoming merged venture. To-date, it has been all phone calls and e-mails. As I've always stated, XO is more than turn-and-burn production agency, we are about the relationships we have the opportunity to build with our clients. TVSN is a great local organization of dedicated men & women that XO Pandora is privileged to be apart of.

(putting clinic with Dana Dorman)

BBQ'ing - The Big Show

2008-08-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

Today was the final day of the 2nd Annual Bay Area BBQ Cookoff at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. This year, 107.7 The Bone partnered up with the cookoff folks and hosted a beer garden along with the BBQ Festival. Honestly, the biggest problem was trying to choose which BBQ to eat. There were 6 massive BBQ stands serving everything from Ribs to Roasted Corn.

Our clothes smelled like BBQ when we got home there was so much in the air. A great event held on the newest section of the Fairgrounds (and the closest to the parking lot).

The beer garden was perfect. It was small, but it felt more welcoming that way. With a wife in the beer industry, I've attended some massive beer festivals which have their minus's for sure. This was a nice layout of local breweries with about 2 -3 beers to sample from each. The event was hosted on the lush grassy area of the Fairgrounds over by the Red Gate. Plenty of space, plenty of good beer and plenty of food to go with your beer! What an event pairing!

For those of you who do not know the whole XO story - I was the web development specialist for the Alameda County Fairgrounds for 2006 / 07. All attended ACF events make it into this blog. As well, XO anchor client Goodguys Rod & Custom Association hosts 4 events at the Fairgrounds annually.

Visiting the Monterey County Fair

2008-08-17T12:47:00.001-07:00

XO Client - Monterey County Fair (www.montereycountyfair.com) was wrapping up this weekend and we decided to stop in and see the show first hand. For XO, its not all about the turn-and-burn production of a website, it's about the personal relationship we have with each client. We come to take photos, meet our contacts and if it's a Fair, we get a carmel apple or soft serve cone!

The weather was great, the Fair smelled of wonderful BBQ and sugar and the place was bustling. Monterey puts on a truly great community gathering.

2008 Laguna Seca in Monterey

2008-08-17T12:38:00.001-07:00

We headed to Monterey to visit our client Monterey County Fair - www.montereycountyfair.com not realizing that this weekend was also Laguna Seca weekend. We took a small detour to check out the downtown scene. "You can think your rich until you come to Laguna Seca."

YES!!! Live "Weird Al" Yankovic

2008-08-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

Back to XO client the San Mateo County Fair for the "Weird Al" Yankovic concert. It's no contest that Mr. Weird has been an icon for us Gen X'ers. Fat, Eat It, Another One Rides the Bus, UHF...the list goes on.

We met a true Weird Al Fan in line and ended sitting next to him 4th row center. True fan...he only snapped about 300 great photos of the show. We hope to hear from him soon and link to his gallery. In the meantime, I'm working on the 50 or shots I got and hope to have an album up by next week along with a little video of the show...shhhhh.

YouTube craps on the video quality, and sorry for the camera experiment halfway through, but it resumes to normal shortly.

Building a Modern Day Trading Post

2008-08-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Massive production has begun on one of our newest clients - Alamo Sams Trading Post www.alamosamstradingpost.com

The site is a full service online store. The trading post takes the power from eBay and Craigslist and puts all the selling power into the hands of Sam Tullis's own website.

The site is built with web based administrator console which means Sam can manage his own store from the comfort of his own home! XO Pandora is always an e-mail or call away to assist with any technical matters, otherwise this is a turn-key business opportunity applied to Sam's hobby.

The store will feature hunting, fishing and "outdoors" related goods. Secure payment via paypal and automated shipping via USPS are some of the tech shopping features of the site.

The site should be live by Sept. 1. XO Pandora is putting the finishing touches on the graphics "front" of the site over the next week and will shift gears to the backend over the next two weeks.

Interested in your own online store? Contact XO Pandora today.

All work and no play make Jake go something, something

2008-08-13T20:39:00.001-07:00

Meetings, website updates, contract negotiations, logo production... it was time to grab a little play time.

Where else would we go to get some air? An A's game of course. My poor A's are waaaaaay out of Post-Season play, but it still a blast to sit with a beer and a dog and watch some pro ball. Plus you can't beat free seats! Drink New Belgium Beer!!!! There, seats paid for in Advertising.

Note: A's won 2-1 over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. 1 game winning streak!!!

FYI Raiders Fans - NB Beer is serving their "1554 Black Ale" exclusively in the Black Hole on tap.

NASA, Lockehead Martin?

2008-08-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Service Disabled Veterans Owned Business (SDVOB) Network is a new client of XO Pandora's. I recently had a chance to attend their latest network meeting.

As part of the most recent SDVOB meeting in San Jose on Tuesday, August 12, representatives Lupe Velasquez (left) from NASA and Michael Chang (right) from Lockhead Martin were in attendance as special guests to share "procurement" information with the SDVOB members. Pictured Center is SDVOB Nor. Cal. Chapter President Valerie Lewis.

Both guests divulged valuable information from the interior structure of the organizations. Bidding and winning major contracts with Government and Private sector corporations can be a large breakthrough for any business. These two guests graciously donated their time and expertise to share a wealth of knowledge with the members of the SDVOB in attendance. Most importantly, they discussed the right way to start at Step 1: getting heard.

The SDVOB website is currently in the early stages of XO production. Look out for this group to be a web community powerhouse in the coming years!

On Location at the San Mateo County Fair

2008-08-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

Friday 8.8.08 was the opening day for XO client The San Mateo County Fair! We were on hand for the opening night celebration and Fair festivities. I took along my handheld Casio Exlim camera to grab some photos for the Fair website. I added the photos right to the homepage on Saturday using the PhotoFlow (made famous in Mac Leopard) photogallery presentation. Check it out - www.sanmateocountyfair.com