Author: Brian Lee

Who cares about Asian carp?

Posted on by Brian Lee

I’m really sick of the recurring stories about Asian carp. Reporters and editors preach so much about publishing stories that matter to/affect their readers, but the Asian carp is not one of them. If it did, reporters would explain why higher in the story.

Take this story from The Capital Times, titled “Fears become reality as invasive Asian carp detected in two Wisconsin Rivers.” Who is fearing the Asian carp? Not the vast majority of readers, I suspect.

In fact, it isn’t until the seventh paragraph that the writer says “… carp destroy and disturb the natural habitat of waterways because of their ability to eat a significant amount of plankton daily.”

At this point, the writer fails to explain how destroyed waterways directly impact the reader. As it stands, the article just sounds like another whiny environmental piece, and most people nowadays are immune to those types of stories, it seems.

Note: I don’t mean to single-out The Capital Times. Other newspapers, such as the Wisconsin State Journal and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, are guilty as well.

Grocery shopping with QR codes

Posted on by Brian Lee

QR codes (the square, barcode-like picture that you scan with your smartphone to access a website) still haven’t taken off in the United States. For one, they were never really introduced to the public; rather, they just started appearing. Second, not everyone has a smartphone, and even the people who do know that QR code readers aren’t a standard app.

On top of that, I have read many case studies on QR code usage and have been completely underwhelmed (oh boy, a chance to sign up for your company’s crappy newsletter), until now: A Korean grocery store called Tesco put up displays of their foods in subways so people could shop while waiting. Watch this video:

Instead of creating some useless website as the destination of the QR codes, like most companies to date have done, Tesco actually filled a need (grocery shopping). Pure genius.

Rainbird: Help End Child Abuse with 1,000 Mile Walk Around Capitol

Posted on by Brian Lee

MEDIA ALERT
May 23, 2011

Contact: Brian Lee
(608) 622-7767

Rainbird: Help End Child Abuse with 1,000 Mile Walk Around Capitol

(MADISON, Wis.)—The Rainbird Foundation is hosting 1,000 people walking one mile around the State Capitol in the second-annual 1,000 Mile Journey, which begins at noon on July 31, to  raise funds and encourage people to take action for the end of child abuse, the non-profit organization announced today.

“Child abuse still exists because most of us don’t know what to do,” Hanna Roth, Rainbird’s founder, said. “We invite people to join us and take a stand for the end. That stand gives people access to the next action. It’s that easy.”

Featured speakers this year are Roth and Josh Jasper, CEO of the Riverview Center in Dubuque, Iowa.

Registration for the walk is $25 (free for those 9 and younger). Participants commit to collecting a minimum of $25 in pledges and are encouraged to create a team with friends, family and colleagues.

WHAT: The 1,000 Mile Journey
WHEN: Noon-3 p.m. Sunday, July 31, 2011
WHERE: 1.75 laps around the State Capitol
COST: $25/person (free for nine and younger), plus $25 in pledges
INFO: www.1000milejourney.org

The Rainbird Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Madison, Wis., is committed to the end of child abuse. Rainbird generates a conversation for the end of child abuse and builds local and global partnerships with organizations that share the same vision. Find out more at www.rainbirdfoundation.org.

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