Chiefs are getting ready!!!

Chalmers is a Timberwolf

Fierce by nature, Timberwolf by selection. Mario Chalmers was selected as the 4th pick in the second round of the NBA Draft. Going #34 overall wasn't what we had in mind, but we are definitely glad that Mario has moved on to the next level. Yes, we would have LOVED to have him in the Jayhawk uniform for the 2008-2009 season, but this is a good move for him.

Congrats, Mario, we'll be cheering for you!

Movers and Shakers

Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur will likely not be staying where they were drafted tonight.

It was proposed that Rush would be traded to Indiana this evening where he will join his brother Kareem. Likewise, Arthur is going to potentially be traded to Portland.

Will there be any other moves for these guys? Only time will tell.


JUST IN: Arthur was traded to Portland for cash considerations from New Orleans.

Arthur's time to shine

He's done it! First round draft pick. Not where he wanted to be necessarily, but Darrell Arthur has made it to the professional basketball level. As the 27th pick in this years NBA draft, Arthur was selected by the New Orleans Hornets.

Rush-ing to the NBA

Well the first round of the 2008 NBA draft was filled with elation and disappointment for Jayhawk fans around the nation.

Brandon Rush was drafted at number 13, to the Portland Trailblazers. This means that he was selected as a lottery pick in this year's draft! Congrats to B. Rush!

Now on to more disappointing news. After Darrell Arthur announced that he would return to the University of Kansas if he wasn't going to be in the top 16 drafted this year, I am just hoping that he gets drafted in the first round. At this time, Houston is making the 25th pick in the first round, and Arthur's name has not been announced yet.

And beyond Arthur's late blooming in the draft, Mario Chalmers has not been picked up yet either.

Hopefully both of these talented young athletes make it to NBA teams during the first round.

Only time will tell!

Rock Chalk.

Mock Draft - the night before

The NBA Draft is tomorrow night. Three Jayhawks are projected to be in the top 25. Where will they actually be going? We will have to wait until tomorrow night to find out.

There have been many mock drafts set up by the pundits, but the most recent one I have seen was found on the KC Star website.

16. Philadelphia 76ers - Darrell Arthur

21. Denver Nuggets - Brandon Rush

24. Seattle SuperSonics - Mario Chalmers

Tomorrow night, we will see if these mock draft predictions hold true, or if any of our guys will be lottery picks (top 14). We wish them the best!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Office Battle - Could this happen at your office?

Boston Celtics win the NBA Finals

Lead by Paul Pierce, the 2008 NBA Finals MVP, the Boston Celtics dominated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the Finals.

Ending the game with the score 131-92, the Celtics earned their 17th NBA Title. What a storied team. Seventeen out of 62 NBA Titles belong to the Celtics. Rock Chalk this one up as the most recent Title since 1986.

The Boston Celtics came in with 24 wins last season, last in the Eastern Conference. This season they turned it around and earned 66 hard-fought wins to lead the NBA. The addition of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett sent a spark through the team that allowed them to come together and crush the opposition.

Note: NBA Finals MVP - Paul Pierce attended the great University of Kansas as did Scot Pollard. Two great Jayhawks earning their share of the 2008 NBA Finals Championship the same year their alma mater earned the NCAA National Championship.

It's definitely been a great year to be a member of the proud Jayhawk Nation! Go Hawks!

Social Media Trends

According to Hitwise, MySpace continues to dominate the social media realm when it comes to visits.

This is a message to business to begin utilizing MySpace as an avenue to reach the targeted demographic, if it makes sense. There are a variety of businesses, schools, and people on MySpace, and this is a great outlet to increase exposure and brand awareness on the internet.

I, myself have a MySpace account, but haven't been as active in the community as I am on Facebook. Craigslist is another social outlet that I haven't really taken advantage of. I have heard of Craigslist being a great way to buy and sell items to local people online.

So let this Hitwise report be a call to arms for business who are not currently active in the social media realm. The longer you wait to create a profile, the more time you waste not exposing your brand as much as you could.

What social sites are you actively participating in right now?

Decision made, more Jayhawks going to the NBA

Sunday came, and went. The last day to withdraw from the 2008 NBA Draft. Both Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur have made the decision to stay and hope to be a lottery pick.

The LJWorld posted an article with this information on Monday to much of the Jayhawk Nation's dismay. Although this is a great opportunity for both young men, what about the rest of the Jayhawks?

With only 4 scholarship athletes left from the National Championship team, the 2008-2009 season is going to be interesting. With new recruits, junior college transfers and the return of Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, hopefully the 'Hawks will take a stab at the Big XII title.

All in all though, Arthur and Chalmers will be missed, but they are where they deserve to be and I wish them all the success in the world.

After winning the NCAA National Title, hopefully they will each fall in Wayne Simien and *Paul Pierce's footsteps to earn the NBA Title ring as well!



*Note - At the time of publication, the Boston Celtics lead the LA Lakers 77-48 with 5:58 left in the third quarter of Game 6.

Running for Fun???

A few weeks ago, I ran my first 5k. Me, running a 3.1 mile race. I had never done one before and thought that it would be a way to help PlattForm out with Kansas City Corporate Challenge.

So the KCCC 5k was early on a saturday morning and the course was a hilly one at Shawnee Mission Park. I wasn't really sure what to expect, I just knew that cross country runners in high school run a 5k for every race. I was not a cross country runner, but the helpful XC Manager for a few years during high school.

With little practice and preparation, I went for it. I ran what seemed to me to be forever. I even had to walk or fear passing out. I finished the race with a time of 36:09. I had hoped to be around 35 minutes, and so this was not far off of my goal. I did finish the race and that was important also. I actually placed in the top few of my age group for our Division, so I was able to earn a few points for PlattForm.

Since that day, I have been running more and more often, and have actually signed up for a half marathon in October. Both my wife and I are training for the Kansas City Marathon's 13.1 mile race.

We still have some time before the competition, and we will use that time to train. We've got a training schedule that should adequately prepare us for the race, and will also help us get into shape.

Wish us luck, we'll need it!

18th and Vine - the Blue Room

We went to the Blue Room on Friday night at the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz District of Kansas City. There were eight of us that went, and it was each of our's virgin experience in that neck of the woods.

As soon as we arrived, the jazz was playing. There was a live band - BMW - that was there, comprised of 5 guys that got down with the Jazz within them.

The Blue Room is in part of the American Jazz Museum, and the lounge itself is reminiscent of a museum. Along the walls, memorabilia was showcased. The back wall of the bar held a timeline of events that had transpired. I was only able to take a quick look at it, but it was definitely something that I will return to look at more indepth. There were a few tables in the main lower area that had memorabilia within the actual table top. There were items with the table and then it was overlaid with glass to make it usable.

Drink specials during Indigo Hour at the Blue Room included $3 rum and cokes and the like and $3.50 mixed drinks. No cover charge either. Normally it is $10 to get in on a normal night, but happy hour on Friday (5-730) is free.

Our first experience to the 18th and Vine area was great, and I can't wait to go back. Have you ever been to the Jazz district?

Jayhawks visit the White House

The National Championship Team visited the White House last week. Video of Bush's speech below:

Vinino!

We recently went to the new Italian restaurant in the Power and Light District, Vinino. It was a quaint place that seemed like it would be great for a casual dinner, or a place to meet friends and grab a drink. Watch out for cougars though!

Although they didn't have a great selection at the bar, it was stocked fairly well. A friend requested a Blue Moon once the waitress informed us that they had anything we could want, and he was denied. Boulevard was a mainstay though. Can't go wrong with that when you are in KC.

Our meals were excellent: Fruitte Del Marre for me and Shrimp Tortellini for the lady. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals and were impressed by the price. $10 for the tortellini and $20 for the broth based Lobster, Shrimp, Squid and more. Delicious.

Vinino has made a happy camper out of me and I can definitely say with confidence that I will return, and return often!

Have you experienced Vinino yet?

American Copywriter

What does American Copywriter and the Boulevard Brewing Company have in common? If you are in the advertising field and listen to industry-related podcasts, you know the answer is John January and Tug McTighe!

John and Tug, the hosts of the popular podcast American Copywriter, were also the hosts of Thursday nights 2008 AdWars at the Boulevard Brewery.

I had a chance to meet our hosts for the evening and was able to get a picture taken with them (below).

American Copywriter is one of my favorite podcasts and so I was honored to be able to meet them. John works at Sullivan Higdon and Sink in the Crossroads and Tug works at Callahan Creek in Lawrence. Both have a knack for comedy and are great on their semi-regular podcast.

I encourage all of you to check out American Copywriter if you get the chance and are interested in listening to something not only interesting, but pretty funny.

What's your favorite podcast?

AdWars 2008

Thursday night - Muehlebach Suite at the Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City. Fourteen teams comprised of members of different Kansas City area advertising agencies competed for the Silver Cup, the grand prize of AdWars.

PlattForm had a team of nine competitors for the 2008 AdWars competition. I was one of the few who competed with the team. We came in the top 10 overall, and that was a great showing compared to last year. The 2007 PlattForm team came in second to last. So that is some great improvement this year.

There were six rounds of Advertising-related trivia questions. I can proudly say that I knew a variety of the answers ranging from what the action is of a "twitter" and how many times Google changed their algorithm in a given time frame!

Laci wrote a great article about AdWars on the PlattForm blog, so you should definitely check that out as well.

All in all it was a great time and I definitely look forward to next year! Plus, what beats fresh and free Boulevard beer and free food. Heaven in Kansas City, I tell ya!

Helicoptor Game Addiction

This game is very addictive. You've gotta check it out though. It is really simple to play and once you start, you won't stop. My personal best is 1,938.

Click here for the Helicopter Game!

Fly the helicopter around the barricades. It is a very simple game, yet fun and even a bit challenging. Reminds me of the good old days of playing games on the Apple 2E.

PBR Big Sky

We went to the Country bar on Saturday night in the Power and Light District, PBR Big Sky. I didn't know quite what to expect in there, but we decided to venture in and check it out.

What we found was awesome!

There was a live band playing a variety of popular country songs and a mechanical bull in the center of the bar. A lot of the people in the bar were crowding around the center, watching the adventurous ones who with liquid courage go for a ride on the mechanical bull.

I was one of the few from our group who rode the bull that night. I didn't last for long, but it was fun while I was on there.

It was $3 cover to get in, and well worth it. The drinks were $3.75 for domestic bottles and $7 for mixed drinks. Not terrible for down in the Power and Light District.

When you do go, beware of the ladies with bootie shorts and leather chaps on. They get up on the bull and go crazy just like everyone else. They are really good at it though because I am sure they do it every night.

All in all, PBR Big Sky is a great place and definitely the place to go if you are feeling a little country inside you!

I recommend it.

Video Making fun of Facebook ... Hilarious!

In person it's creepy, yet online at your own computer it's acceptable. Gotta check this out:

NFL Draft - Talib KU's latest First Round Pick

Aqib Talib was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers yesterday as the 20th pick overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. This is KU's most recent first round draft pick, and the first one since 1993. It's been a long time coming, but Talib is definitely the guy who deserves it.

With other Jayhawks being drafted in the 4th and 6th rounds, and free-agency deals being worked out, we'll hopefully see more Jayhawks in the NFL. Anthony Collins was drafted 112th to Cinncinati, and Derek Fine was 132nd to Buffalo. Then comes Brandon McAnderson, the Lawrence native, who has agreed to a preliminary free-agent deal with St. Louis.

Congrats Jayhawks on making it to the next level!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, we'll miss you!