Category: Of Interest

I read a great article this morning and I cannot agree more that Starbucks (especially) has become a place where people have literally turned the Coffee shop into their home offices, sitting for hours on end bringing extension cords with six outlets with all their gadgets, food from home, pets, printers and even major projects utitlizing two and three tables at once. In addition students sit for hours having study groups and homeless people have made it the new hangout .There is a Starbucks that is a walking distance from my gym and I live in a decent part of LA but the crowd that’s been coming in there have greatly hurt Starbucks reputation and business. Whenever I go in there no matter what time or what day the exact same group of people are sitting in there with their laptops watching movies eating up all the bandwidth, sleeping and occupying an incredible amount of seats and tables doing absolutely nothing. In addition I have been asked for money from homeless people several times. If you want to sit and catch up on email, do a quick project on your computer, have a quick meeting or catch up on the day’s events in the newspaper you have no place to sit. The employees constantly tell people they can’t sleep in there which is what has really hurt the reputation of the WiFi business but they go back to sleep and stay there anyway. Starbucks and other coffee houses are going to probably have to rethink WiFi which is the catalyst for these people’s attraction to the outlet,  so that they can be a place for quick meetings and people on the go again.  A coffee bar in San Francisco has curbed the problem by limiting the laptop hours and laptop free seating so that lunch customers can grab something to eat and have a place to sit.  “We unclogged the clog’ the owner, ”  tells the San Francisco Chronicle. “We made it work for the office workers in the area who wanted to grab a quick lunch. Now they can actually get a table.

Heineken, the official beer/malt beverage sponsor of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, taking place from April 12 ““ 14 and April 19 ““ 21, will provide several offerings to enhance attendee experience at one of the world’s largest musical festivals. During both weekends, Heineken will host top DJs and provide free Wi-Fi in the Heineken Dome, Cold Storage for cers and will serve ice-cold beer on over 32 taps at the Heineken Light Pavilion and throughout the festival.

This year patrons will have the opportunity to interact with the Heineken Dome DJs as light shows and projections digitally swirl around them.Festival goers will have the opportunity to control the visual content displayed inside the domes, using iPads to create their own artistic light show courtesy of Heineken Light.

Attendees can also update their social media status using the Heineken Wi-Fi in the Heineken Domes, the only wireless hub provided on the festival grounds this year. To ensure that their Heineken beers are cold and available at a moment’s notice, cers can scan their finger prints to store beer in Heineken’s Cold Storage unit.

Select fans of Heineken may have the opportunity to upgrade these experiences by visiting us on Facebook. “Heineken is thrilled to continue our relationship with Coachella, which is a premiere destination for our brand loyalists,” said Pattie Falch, Director of Sponsorships and Activation, HEINEKEN USA. “As a partner for 12 years, we strive to create authentic experiences and services that embody the energy of Coachella, and enhance the festival attendee experience.

“Coachella attendees who have purchased one or more festival passes and one 12-pack (or the equivalent or larger) of Heineken ® or Heineken ® Light Beer are eligible to receive a $25 rebate by mail. To find out more about Heineken sponsorships and news, visit Heineken on Facebook (www. facebook. com/Heineken), or follow @Heineken_US on Twitter.

2013 Heineken Coachella Activations Heineken Domes – Two immersive air conditioned domes will include a thirty-six foot Star Bar dome connected to a fifty-foot dance dome, featuring world-class VJs and DJs. The line-up will include top artists including DJ White Noize, Acid Face, Stanton Warriors, Mark Farina and more.

Highlights:Immersive 360 degree HD video and pictures of dome attendees projected on the ceiling surfaceDJ meet-and-greet for select attendeesAttendees can utilize iPads to creative their own light painting that will be projected on the domesWi-Fi hot spotCovered Exit Lounge with high tops, cube seating, sunscreen dispensersSix beer taps serving perfectly chilled Heineken and Heineken LightExpress line for 100 cers who check-in at Heineken cold-storageCold Storage – Heineken will once again provide the most convenient way for cers on Coachella’s cing grounds to store and chill their Heineken beer with increased storage this year.

Attendees can bring up to two cases of Heineken or Heineken Light cans to Cold Storage where it is inventoried and immediately placed into a refrigerated cooler. Highlights: Cer’s beer is linked to their fingerprint, insuring that only they can pick up their cans Cers can pick up any quantity of their beer at any time Heineken Light Pavilion – Heineken’s largest high volume output festival beer dispensing system returns for its second year to Coachella.

Attendees will enjoy a perfectly chilled beer all festival long thanks to our custom pouring system of 32 taps which are capable of pouring 200+ beers a minute. Highlights: A misting system in front of the bars will cool off attendees as they wait in line The Heineken beer goes through a custom dispensing system where it’s chilled twice ensuring ice-cold beer for every customer

Artist Jennifer Lopez celebrated her Premios Juventud award and early birthday at WALL Miami lounge on Thursday, July 17 , joined by close friends including Pitbull, Casper Smart , Benny Medina, DjIrie and WALL Miami co-owners Karim Masri , Nicola Siervo , Navin Chatani and Jarred Grant . Revelers looked on as Lopez and a group of more than 40 personal guests enjoyed Belvedere cocktails and Moet rose in a roped off section of the popular boite. Later in the night, Pitbull dropped into the dj booth, grabbed the microphone and wid Lopez a happy birthday, drawing cheers from the capacity crowd. Lopez and crew partied into the early hours of the night, which marked the official start to Miami Swim Week. WALL Miami lounge, located inside the W South Beach hotel, celebrated its 4th Anniversary on Saturday, July 20, 2013 .Since its opening, WALL has been a magnet for celebrities and jet setters. A-list clientele includes Matt Damon, Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, among others. WALL has hosted marquee events such as the official Swedish House Mafia “Masquerade Motel” after-party featuring Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell and Steve Angello. Other critically acclaimed international DJs who have headlined at WALL include Afrojack, Seth Troxler, Pete Tong and Reboot.

Today, Rhapsody, the original streaming music service, launched Rhapsody Concerts, a new music app that connects fans to the live music experience. With Rhapsody Concerts, music lovers can find concerts near them, listen to full streams of who’s playing the show and buy tickets directly from their smartphones, anywhere, anytime. Rhapsody Concerts is free and available for download from the iTunes App Store. Rhapsody Concerts is the second app in the company’s line of free companion apps that let music lovers discover and listen to music wherever they are and can be used by Rhapsody members and non-members alike.”Our members are huge music fans and we have always understood that fans want to ‘do more than listen,” said Paul Springer, senior vice president, product and design, Rhapsody. “While we were the first service to offer unlimited ad-free listening and the only on-demand service with expert curated playlists for any occasion, we wanted to go another step forward for fans by helping them discover great live events. Expect to see more innovation around how we create new value to Rhapsody members while giving prospective members a variety of ways to engage with our service.”With Rhapsody Concerts, music lovers have an effortless band tracking and concert discovery tool that ties back to Rhapsody’s core on-demand music experience. The app houses concert calendars for virtually every venue in the nation and is searchable by venue, artist and location, so fans easily can find concerts near them. Once you find a concert, you can purchase tickets and view information about the venue and the show, including opening acts, band bios, pictures, discography and related artists.Rhapsody Concerts also lets users listen to music from all of the bands that will be playing the concert, from the headliners to the opening acts. From there, Rhapsody members can seamlessly launch playback for any artist they discover via Rhapsody’s on-demand library, including a comprehensive listing of editor-curated playlists that feature the artist they’re searching for. Non-members using the free Rhapsody Concerts app can also get a taste of the full Rhapsody subscriber experience with a 14-day free trial by visiting https://try.rhapsody.com.For more information on Rhapsody Concerts or Rhapsody, please visit https://news.rhapsody.com/.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) today announced it will post its first-quarter 2013 financial results and business outlook on its investor relations website at https://ir.netflix.com on Monday, April 22, 2013, at approximately 1:05 p.m. Pacific Time. At that time the company will issue a brief advisory release via newswire containing a link to the first-quarter 2013 financial results and letter to shareholders on its website.Netflix management will host a live Q&A session at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time to discuss the Company’s financial results and business outlook, with questions submitted via email. Please email your questions to ir@netflix.com. The company will read the questions aloud on the call and respond to as many questions as possible.A live webcast and the replay of the earnings Q&A session can be accessed on the investor relations section of the Netflix website at https://ir.netflix.com. For those without access to the Internet, the dial-in for the live earnings Q&A session is: (760) 666-3613. The telephone replay of the earnings Q&A session will be available from 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time on April 22, 2013 through midnight on April 26, 2013. To listen to the replay, call (855) 859-2056, conference ID# 29873296.

CIROC ® Ultra Premium Vodka is the official vodka of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival and will be featured at all events, including the much-anticipated movie release celebration for “Trust Me” directed by and starring Clark Gregg and featuring Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, Allison Janney and Amanda Peet.Throughout the next 10 days, filmmakers and industry leaders will be treated to specialty CIROC cocktails at the festival’s most coveted events including the Opening Night Party, ESPN Sports Film Festival, the Women’s Filmmaker Brunch and the closing night celebration. In addition to its annual programming slate, CIROC will also toast the stars of “Trust Me” following its world movie premiere.”CIROC Vodka and I are very excited to support the Tribeca Film Festival in its mission to celebrate film by connecting fans and filmmakers through their shared passion for storytelling,” said Sean “Diddy” Combs. “Celebration is at the heart of our brand and we appreciate the opportunity to showcase this passion through partnerships like TFF.”The vodka brand continues to be a strong advocate of the arts. In addition to its most recent partnership with the Sundance Film Festival, during the 2012 holiday season CIROC Vodka partnered with Esquire to challenge aspiring filmmakers with the CIROC’Ultra-Premium Cut’ contest. The filmmakers were tasked to create a CIROC social responsibility advertisement focusing on safe celebration. The winner’s commercial aired on national television on New Year’s Eve and can be viewed at: https://bit.ly/CirocFY13NYEConsumerCommercial

COMEDY CENTRAL has opened its vault to give fans the ultimate in stand-up comedy binge viewing. The #1 brand in comedy announced today the launch of CC: Stand-Up, an innovative, free app for iPhone and iPad, available exclusively on the App Store. This innovative video App is a stand-alone extension of COMEDY CENTRAL that brings comedy fans a completely new stand-up channel, a tool to discover new comics and a platform for sharing comedic content.Comedy Central has a rich history with stand-up. The genre has been a part of the brand since its launch in 1991. As home to the largest stand-up library in the world, the brand’s CC: Stand-Up App features over 700 comedians, giving fans deep access to a constant stream of content.

The App’s innovative tool for discovery, “Six Degrees of Stand-Up,” uses a recommendation algorithm that will enmesh fans into an intricate web of comedic connections to discover new comics. For example, after viewing Pete Holmes, Six Degrees generates a web of additional comedians based on similar sensibilities (alternative comedy), topics (animals) and relationships (love of Ryan Gosling). With comedy content being the social currency in which young men connect, the App also gives fans the ability to watch curated playlists and share videos via Facebook and Twitter.”At its simplest, CC: Stand-Up is a digitally distributed, pure stand-up channel, in which fans can immerse themselves for hours with just one touch,” said Erik Flannigan, EVP Multi-Platform Strategy & Development, Viacom Entertainment Group. “Layered onto that is an intuitive on-demand and recommendation platform, which makes the discovery of new comedians something fun to explore. It’s got the whole ‘lean forward, lean back’ thing people always talk about, only for real.”The CC: Stand-Up App content will be promoted on all COMEDY CENTRAL brand extensions including the linear channel, cc.com, Comedy Central Certified Clubs, COMEDY CENTRAL Radio and COMEDY CENTRAL Live Entertainment.AXE Face is the official launch sponsor and has created a “Laugh Your Face Off” featured playlist.The CC Stand-Up App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.AppStore.com/CCStandUp.

Travelocity today unveiled its original weekly web series titled “Let’s Roam,” hosted by Senior Editor, Courtney Scott. From hidden cultural gems and must-try food finds, to spectacular scenery and encounters with locals, “Let’s Roam” entices travelers to Go and Smell the Roses ““ to get out and experience the enchantment and exhilaration that travel brings by uncovering destination-focused roaming moments for travelers. Premiering every Wednesday at 11:00am ET the three-minute webisodes will be available in high-definition at www.travelocity.com/LetsRoamTV.Launching today, the first two webisodes take travelers on an adventure to the big apple in “Let’s Roam New York City: Grand Central Nostalgia” and explore Travelocity’s hometown, Dallas, Texas in “Let’s Roam Dallas: Quest for the Best Taco.””With travel being our passion and our mission, we know there are a lot of untold stories behind every trip,” said Brad Wilson, chief marketing officer, Travelocity North America. “The ‘Let’s Roam’ web series is a celebration of Travelocity’s roaming tradition, aimed at uncovering those stories and offering unique insights for travelers along the way. Our purpose at Travelocity is to get you on your way and then roam the world beside you, and ‘Let’s Roam’ does just that.”Travelocity believes that travel makes you better, and as part of Travelocity’s Travel for Good ® commitment, Scott will spend one day in each destination volunteering with a local organization giving back to the communities that welcome her. In New York City, Scott volunteers at the Bideawee pet welfare organization and in Ft. Worth, Texas joins a Habitat for Humanity project to help one local family realize the dream of home ownership. In addition to the full-length webisodes, the web series will also deliver travel tips, and expert advice in shorter vignettes. Features will include tips on everything from packing to air travel to the best ways to book a vacation package.”The magic of travel isn’t just getting from point A to point B, it’s all of the uncharted moments that happen in between,” Scott said. “I’m a roamer by nature, and when I travel, I’m searching for the stories that bring to life the heart, soul and local flavor of a place beyond the tourist spots.”Eagle-eyed viewers of “Let’s Roam” will also notice cameo appearances by The Travelocity Roaming Gnome. To roam with Travelocity, viewers can subscribe to the weekly HD webisodes at travelocity.com/letsroamtv or view on Travelocity’s YouTube channel. Consumers can also follow along on Twitter with @Travelocity and @CourtScott using hashtags #letsroam and #gosmelltheroses.

Seems as if Time Warner Cable has some explaining to do in Columbus, OH. Seems there is a bit of an uproar because Time Warner doesn’t or chooses not to carry Bounce 23 tV and Asteca Columbus TV, which are two networks geared toward African Americans and Latinos.A major press conference held November 28, 2012 revealed that the Columbus NAACP and the Minority Media Community Collaborative (MMCC) are outraged at Time Warner Cable’s continuous refusal to provide local minority programming. Evidence of this blatant disregard is Time Warner Cable’s refusal to carry Bounce 23 TV and Azteca Columbus TV, two broadcasters dedicated to serving the African American and Hispanic populations in Columbus, Ohio.Reverend Joel King, cousin of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Time Warner Cable has hundreds of cable channels available and yet has refused to sign an agreement to carry local minority broadcasters. And to add insult to injury Time Warner Cable has snubbed our repeated requests for a meeting to discuss these minority community concerns.”Noel Williams President of the Columbus NAACP states, “Time Warner Cable says that they believe in the power of community and value diversity in hiring, but with no space allocated to local minority channels, they do not apply these beliefs to their programming.”The 2010 U.S. Census reports that nearly 40% of Columbus’ population is minority (28% African American, 6% Hispanic and 5% other) and they spend approximately $72 million dollars per year in cable service fees. Yet they are completely denied local minority programming. Time Warner Cable, which controls 60% of the Columbus cable market, recently merged with Insight Communications (30% of the market) and now has a virtual monopoly with 90% of the television cable services in Columbus, Ohio.The Columbus NAACP and the MMCC says, “Time Warner’s mission statement says they are committed to serving the community. Yet they have no local minority programming channels available and have refused to meet with the NAACP and the MMCC! This kind of blatant disregard displayed by Time Warner Cable has the uncanny feeling of 1954 in the year 2013.”

Of course you know TheIndustry.biz has been all over this but if you are just now tuning in, so to speak, The “Harriet Tubman Sex Tape” was a spoof where “Harriet Tubman” was supposedly having sex with her Master in order to allow her to run the Underground Railroad. russell simmons had the video taken down since the controversy. Simmons issued an apology on Globalgrind.com.“I’m a very liberal person with thick skin,” wrote Simmons. “My first impression of the Harriet Tubman piece was that it was about what one of actors said in the video, that 162 years later, there’s still tremendous injustice. And with Harriet Tubman outwitting the slave master? I thought it was politically correct. Silly me. I can now understand why so many people are upset. I have taken down the video. Lastly, I would never condone violence against women in any form, and for all of those I offended, I am sincerely sorry.”