Brian Lee, Author at Public Relations, Advertising & Social Media - Revelation

Annual Forward Festival Focuses on ‘Next Big Thing’

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Brian Lee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 18, 2014

Contact:
Molly Walsh
608-616-0840
molly@forwardfest.org

Annual Forward Festival Focuses on ‘Next Big Thing’

(MADISON, Wis.)—Entrepreneurs, creative designers, tech professionals and even foodies will have an opportunity to collaborate Aug. 21-28 at the fifth annual Forward Festival, an eight-day celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship.

“With the growth of the event as well as the involvement of our community, we’re excited to showcase Madison’s entrepreneurial ecosystem across several industries,” Bryan Chan, festival co-founder and president of SupraNet Communications, said. “The environment is all about promoting and creating the next big thing.”

The festival’s main event is the Forward Technology Conference, which takes place Aug. 27 at the Monona Terrace. Jignesh Patel, a UW-Madison professor who sold his software company to Twitter, will be the keynote speaker.

Other highlights of the festival include a pitch contest for female entrepreneurs (Aug. 27), the annual Madison Ruby Conference (Aug. 21-23) and the inaugural Edible Startup Summit (Aug. 25), an event geared toward food entrepreneurs.

Originally started in 2010, the Forward Festival was created by Chan, Nathan Lustig of Magma Partners and Matt Younkle of Murfie to bring together professionals from a wide range of disciplines. That is evident in events such as High Tech Happy Hour (Aug. 21), the Badger Startup Summit (Aug. 26) and the Wisconsin Innovation Awards (Aug. 26).

For a detailed listing of events taking place during the Forward Festival, please visit www.forwardfest.org.

###

Resulting media coverage:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (July 29, 2014): Summit will focus on food business startups
Wisconsin State Journal (Aug. 8, 2014): Forward Fest broadens focus to all entrepreneurs
The Isthmus (Aug. 14, 2014): Forward Fest 2014 grows to encompass food, music
InBusiness (Aug. 14, 2014): Forward Fest keeps Madtown’s best entrepreneurial minds in high gear
WKOW-TV “Wake up Wisconsin” (Aug. 16, 2014)
WISC-TV “For the Record” (Aug. 17, 2014)
Madison Startups (Aug. 18, 2014): 2014 Forward Festival Preview
Wisconsin State Journal (Aug. 19, 2014): Want to start a food business? Edible summit could help
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Aug. 22, 2014): Conference will focus on start-up companies
Xconomy (Aug. 28, 2014): Doyenne Group Raising $400K Angel Fund For WI Women Entrepreneurs
Xconomy (Aug. 29, 2014): From Atari to VC’s Future, Highlights From Madison’s Forward Festival

Using Social Media for Business

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Brian Lee

Anyone who has ever written a book knows it’s easier said than done. But a vision came true this month as we published our first e-book, Using Social Media for Business. Here’s a description of it:

Social media is an integral part of marketing your business or organization, but which tools should you choose to reach your customers? This book explains how to use 18 different social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, for acquiring and retaining customers and promoting your company’s products and services. The advice provided can be applied to both for-profit and non-profit businesses, as well as member-based organizations and associations.

You can buy it as a PDF or Amazon Kindle format.

T-Mobile’s Test Drive campaign

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Brian Lee

I admit, I was immediately intrigued when I learned of the T-Mobile Test Drive campaign, in which the company sends you a new iPhone 5S with unlimited calling, data and text messaging to use for one week. Afterward, you return your phone to a T-Mobile store, and there are no strings attached.

First, the campaign had an inauspicious start. I learned about the campaign through a full-page ad in USA TODAY. That ad, as well as the ones in other newspapers, told readers to visit t-mobile.com/7nightstand. However, that site hadn’t been created. It was only after a bit of searching that I found t-mobile.com/testdrive was the correct URL (after a month, T-Mobile has finally created a redirect for /7nightstand).

Second, I discovered Wisconsin is not a T-Mobile-friendly state. You may not return the phone to an authorized dealer; rather, you have to go to a T-Mobile-owned store. The nearest ones to Madison were Brookfield, Wis., and Rockford, Ill. To me, it felt a little ridiculous to drive an hour away just to return a free phone.

Third, T-Mobile doesn’t seem to work on Fridays. That’s when I ordered the phone, but the company didn’t process the order until Monday, and I received it on Thursday.

Just before I received the phone I purchased a protective case. For $20, it helped insure me against damage, which would result in me paying up to $600 for the phone as part of the agreement.

T-Mobile did do a good job in selecting the iPhone 5S as the trial phone. Compared to the iPhone 4 I’ve used, it’s a million times faster. I enjoyed trying apps like Facetime, which I don’t have on my Windows Phone (actually, I basically have no apps for my Windows Phone, because no one will make apps for the platform).

Finally, this experience has taught me how much I value Verizon’s nationwide coverage. In various parts of Wisconsin and Illinois, my Verizon phone would be on 4G LTE, while the T-Mobile phone was on extended network. Sorry, T-Mobile.