A time to Volunteer - Race Playce -

Yesterday was spent around motorsports working on Race Playce, attending a press conference for the NASCAR Hall of Fame and then over to zMax Dragway for evening festivities.

Race Playce is an a heartfelt volunteer effort to build a state of the art playground that is accessible for children in wheelchairs. According to the Parks and Rec website. Race Playce "will be a play area without barriers, accessible for all children regardless of their abilities, a place where all children can play together. The playground was designed by children who worked with a professional designer. It has a NASCAR racing theme with play areas distributed around an oval track."

It is one of the first of its kind in North Carolina. Imagine you are a child in a wheelchair, your friends can go to a playground and go down slides etc. in order to do this you would have to have someone carry you. Well in this playground there is a ramp up to the top of the slide. This playground is being built by approximate 4,000 volunteers from around the community including a large contingent from Bank of America. I arrived on the site and was assigned to a team of six people. Our job was to measure, cut, and install rails along the ramps. We were guided by skilled experts from the community and the parks department.

Perhaps you can use Charlotte, NC as a "role model" for building this type of park in your community.

Day at the Races - zMax Dragway Grand Opening

Burning rubber, white smoke, nitro fumes and 30,000 plus fans and smiles were at the grand opening of the zMax Dragway in Concord, NC. This exquisite state of the art facility has set a new standard for drag racing. Owner and developer Bruton Smith nicknamed this raceway, "The Bellagio of Drag Racing." One could only feel that this new track and its innovations are going to lead this sport into the major leagues of racing as far as television exposure and media coverage.

The track has state of the art communications for track officials and press, an innovative 4 lanes instead of two, to be able to run preliminaries in a lot less time. This small innovation goes against the history of drag racing, so it was no small feat for the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) to approve this change.

I have spoken to drivers, NHRA fans, team executives, vendors and other experienced pros and they concur that this track now sets the standard.

The main difference between NHRA drag racing and NASCAR is pit access and access to the drivers. I was able to just walk down an area of the pits and had an opportunity to meet Melanie Troxell, one of the top women drivers of the sport and one of the few names I had known before today. In a day when sports stars are kept away from fans this is a luxury.

In spite of the gas prices and economy, 30,000 fans showed up, many driving more than a few hundred miles in their RV's and campers to stay right on the grounds. Again, one of the fun things to do with your group of friends.

There are many classes of racing from funny cars to motor cycles the the Nitro injected dragsters raced by pros Tony Schumacher, Doug Herbert and Hillary Will (some of the drivers, I had a chance to personally meet before race day).

There is an adrenaline rush which is equivalent to watching a rocketship take off, part fascination combined with a powerful rush of sound and fury. No matter who you are, the sensory experience is nothing you can imagine unless you are there on the track.

After a few hours at zMax, NHRA has found a new fan!. Great job! SMI! and NHRA! You set a new standard with your vision.

Kyle Busch, #1 NASCAR Driver (left) and Tony Schumacher #1 Drag Racer (Right) at the starting Line at zMax Dragway. Kyle Busch upset Tony Schumacher winning 3 of 3 heats.

After this race, I had the opportunity to drive the red Toyota accelerating to 90+ MPH in less a quarter mile.

(Photo credit: Lowes Motor Speedway).

Showdown at the zMax Dragstrip

Well, PT Barnum would have been proud of the folks over at the new zMax Dragway. They arranged what easily could have been a pay per view event, the top NASCAR driver, Kyle Busch vs. the top Drag racer, Tony Schumacher in a best of 3 drag race.

At the press conference promoting the zMax Nationals and the Bank of America 500. The race, the two drivers, were both reflecting on their remarkable seasons and the focus and determination of their teams. Tony Schumacher, who has not lost a race since June, was not only thankful for his season but being able to share it with his family. He realized success can be fleeting and is thoroughly enjoying the journey.

They also realized in their sport the playoffs are about to start and what they have done in the regular season is the prelude to the real part of the season Chase for the Cup (NASCAR) and Countdown to One (NHRA).

When Kyle Busch was asked about what he knew about drag racing.."Start when the light turns yellow". That was the coaching tip that Tony Schumacher gave to him.

Tony Schumacher had set the Top Fuel records for wins having won 6 races in a row and 11 of 18 races. You would think he had a distinct advantage in this race.

As Kyle and Tony lined up their red and white Toyotas, you would have bet that Tony would have won the first race. As they headed down the quarter mile track and over the finish line the lights came up and Kyle had won. They lined up for heat number two, again a new rivalry seemed to be forming...down the strip they went with the engines so loud on the modified Camrys. Again, Busch won. So he gave Tony a 3rd try. You would think the new all time NHRA winner would be steaming for a win. So the lights went from Red to Yellow to Green....Kyle Busch smoked him. With good humor, they both seemed to enjoy this.

Busch discussed how the adrenaline must flow going down a track at 300 plus miles an hour in less than 5 seconds. He was used to driving for a few hours an 5oo miles for a win.

After they raced, I had a chance to hop in the red Camry and race my photographer, Maurice. He got off to a great start and about halfway down the track I caught up and won with my speedometer showing about 90 mph. I am ready for you Kyle.

The zMax Nationals will be held from Sept 11 to Sept 14th. The Bank of America 500 is in October at Lowes Motor Speedway.

Coinjars - Send me a penny

I am working on a new project called Coinjars which is social media currency for Facebook. You can sign up for free under applications in Facebook. If you add an account, I will send you some a penny so you can see it really works.

The facebook is just one application. We are working with a few non-profits and other organizations to teach them how they might use this. We will be creating marketing around this area.

http://apps.new.facebook.com/coinjars

You can also read about how this system works at www.icoins.com

Back to Blogging

I took the month of August off from blogging for the 2nd year in a row. Now time to catch up. Over the past few months, my ventures in social media continue to grow. In July, I launched LinktoMotorsports which is now the #2 Motorsports group on LinkedIn and has some of the leading drivers, marketing execs and league owners.

I also created the group called LinktoCharlotte in June 2007. This group has now grown to over 750 members and it is now time to create some events around this group.

It was my privelege to work with Singer/Songwriter Nicola www.nicolanicola.com to help promote her quest as the top subway/underground performer on the MSG (Madison Square Garden) network's soundtrack show. She made it all the way to the semi-finals. What a journey it was for her. I was glad to be part of that.

The zMax dragway was built about 10 minutes from my office and I had the opportunity to attend press events and drive a fast Toyota Camry down the track.

One of my favorite projects was coinjars, which is a new payment system via iCoins (social media Currency). We are promoting this within the facebook community. This has the opportunity to turn into a great product for non-profits, students, musicians and writers.

Scrabulous Innocence - A 2007 Interview with Rajat Agarwalla

In a historical perspective of the Scrabble and Scrabulous controversy..Here is my interview with Rajat Agarwalla in the summer of 2007. As you can see he was passionate about the scrabble community having a better experience than what existed online at the time. I know he spent countless days and nights setting up servers and dealing with crashes..

One interesting part of the article is the copyright disclaimer...You can see clearly, they respected the owners of the Scrabble trademark.

http://www.facebookenthusiast.com/2007/07/facebook-and-scrabble-is-scrabulous.html

Scrabulous was capturing Lightning in a bottle..it won't happen twice!

Scrabulous was capturing Lightning in a bottle..it won't happen twice!

There is energy in the world that came from the passion of the creators of Scrabulous that you will never duplicate. They poured their passion and personal time into a game THEY grew up playing. They allowed millions to have hours of fun at NO Charge and NO ONE paid them a salary to create the game....Scrabulous was NOT a GAME, it was like capturing lightning in a bottle..to ignite friendships worldwide via games.

I know the story as I contacted them in July 2007.(see scrabulous is fabulous article on my Facebook Enthusiast Blog.)..Why Hasbro did not contact the brothers when their identities were known to all on Facebook. still mystifies....I can only think someone in a corner office is about to lose their job!

Politics - Howard Dean "Register for Change"

Photos of Howard Dean (DNC Chair), Andrew Kaplan (MediaMensch) and Hillary Protestor

July 25, 2008 (Charlotte, NC)

The democratic national party chair, Howard Dean, is out visiting 50 states in his "Register for Change" bus.
He arrived yesterday in Charlotte, NC after starting the day in Raleigh and Greensboro. My impressions of him were just as positive in person as they were from his presidential election bid. He is down to earth, accessible, smart, and a good listener. He really seems to be genuine.. Why would he decide to spend the summer riding a bus and talking to small crowds if he wasn't passionate about uniting this country and closing the wealth gap.

Some takeaways from the tour:
1. During this registration drive in NC, volunteers should knock on your neighbors doors 3 times between now and the election to make sure not only are they registered, but can and will get to the polling place on election day. He joked that the Oregon democrats were going to it 4 times.

2. He said the US already has government run healthcare. it is called Medicare and senior citizens don't seem to want that to go away.

3. He mentioned that the democrats had not competed in the South and ceded it to the Republican party. With the mass change of demographics, it was time the democrats got their message to all americans. He essentially says that the Blue and Red state is made up. and he believes that we all are Americans.

4. There were Hillary supporters protesting the allocation of Delegates. At first, they were interrupting his speech. It was hard to believe the disrespect they had for the chair of the party. He spoke to them to ask them for their opinion and he would listen. It did quiet them down. It continues to show how fractured and fragile the democratic party is and may be a preview of what might happen at the convention.

My firm belief is that Howard Dean, Obama and the democrats are correct in the assumption that North Carolina could vote democratic in the 2008 presidential election. I get that impression from the amount of newcomers to Charlotte from places like Buffalo, PA, Ohio, NY, NJ, MA, and FL, plus the growing international population as well.

My Personal Experience with Howard Dean
After the speech, I approached him to discuss the use of Facebook and the internet as I noticed they bus tour was not on Facebook. He said "Do you think we should be on facebook?" My response was an emphatic "Yes" and he then told me to provide my business card to his "traveling assistant"..maybe they will see it says on the front "Voted #1 branding expert for Facebook" (Note: marketinghsherpa.com voted an article "11 Ways to Brand Yourself on Facebook". where I was ifeatured as #1 in its great minds series for 2007). .

Perhaps that might be the next chapter of MediaMensch and politics.

MediaMensch Radio - Marta Tracy - Starring You! and Starmaker TV

Today, is the revival of the MediaMensch radio show on blogtalk radio, after a hiatus, I took to work on the film Blood Done Sign My Name (2009) starring Nate Parker and Ricky Schroeder.

The quality of guests that we have had will continue to provide you with insight into media while providing a look at the journey that brought them there. For many outside the media/entertainment industry, there seems to be a mystery or that question "How did you get started". It is important for those of us that have succeeded to help others achieve their dreams and goals.

I will also be working on my other radio show with a series about Facebook 2.0 (the new interface) and strategies that my clients, colleagues and friends utilize to brand themselves and connect. Using products such as facebook and LinkedIn in a strategic professional fashion can connect you with individuals at the highest levels of success whether measured by money, mental and physical fitness, or spirituality.

Within the last month, I have seen communities which I created an adminster grow tremendously. These include Linkto Motorsports, LinktoCharlotte, and the official Dickinson College alumni group on LinkedIn. Two other cities are launched as well including LinktoSanDiego and LinktoPhoenix. I am looking for partners or individuals in those cities to partner with me on their development.

Find our radio show at www.kaplan.fm or www.blogtalkradio.com/mediamensch and www.blogtalkradio.com/facebookenthusiast

10 Tips for Belonging to an Alumni Group on LinkedIn

Over the past few years, my college alumni department of Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA) has utilized my expertise as a social media and networking expert to build a local club in Charlotte, NC and to begin to bring strategies to connect our alumni via the web using social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn. In 2006, we went through approval with the college to set up an alumni group for LinkedIn (The leading social networks for professionals). The challenge was that at the time was that social media was new including LinkedIn, so that many or our alums where not aware of it or its power to connect. Within the last few months LinkedIn has made changes to its environment including newsfeeds and a searchable directory of groups. These two changes have now made it easy for colleges and universities to create groups on LinkedIn and grow them quickly.

Here are a few tips on how and why creating and/or joining an alumni group on LinkedIn is powerful.

1. Connect with Classmates

2. Connect with Alums in your geographic area

3. Connect with Alums in your industry

4. Collective intelligence of your alums

5. Recruit alums to work on your venture/business

6. Daily Newsfeed allows them to see what you are doing

7. Connect to their netwoks

8. Resource for College Career Center and Recent Grads

9. Public relations as an expert for articles for alumni magazine or other media'

10 Promotes recognition of the college or university

We will be expanding upon these topics in future articles, podcasts and teleclasses. If you are interested in participating please contact ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com ..If you have examples of how LinkedIn or other social networks have helped you we would love to have your success stories.

MediaMensch Networks Launches LinktoMotorsports

On July 10, 2008, MediaMensch Networks began its launch of its new brand called LinktoMotorsports. This purpose of this brand is to allow members who are on networks such as facebook and LinkedIn to easily find each other and network. Since MediaMensch Networks is located in Charlotte, NC, our location in the heart of NASCAR and racing will allow us to hold live events also. We are currently putting together and advisory board and expect to have our first events starting in the 2nd half of 2008.

We have an 18 month plan to grow this business and would welcome any ideas or resources. If you are looking to sponsor our website or any other part of this business, please contact, Andrew Kaplan at ewarriorbizdev at gmail.com

Social Media - Facebook and Alums

A new group was recently started on Facebook to connect Time Warner Alumni. This is an interesting exercise since many who are active in the offline Time Life Alumni club are some of the original people at Time, Life, fortune, etc. The Time Warner Alumni group within facebook includes the new media crowd of AOL, New Line Cinema, CNN and other recent acquisitions.

It is a great way to bridge another gap and expand one's network. This group is growing organically from informal relationships. One way to expand your network is to find people within the groups where you have mutual friends. Again, I am a believer in quality vs. quantity of friends on social networks. If you connect with someone find time to follow up to see how you might help each other reach goals or help them on their journey.

I am looking forward to developing new friendships and business relationships among this group.

Andrew Kaplan listing in IMDb

After a year of working in the film industry, my profile is now appearing in IMDb (Internet Movie Database), which is an Amazon owned company featuring the details of your favorite movies from an industry standpoint. My listing can be found at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2699505/ as Andrew R. Kaplan.

New Book Review of Jen-Zen And The One Shoe Diaries - Posted at Amazon

Here is the latest Amazon review of my novel, Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries. There are also some Gather and magazine reviews in the works. I'll let you know when those are live. I would love to get some more reviews going on Gather. In August I'll likely have a new spin on my ebook scavenger hunt.

===

(The novel is published by SynergeEbooks.com and is also available on Amazon.com, Fictionwise.com and other distributors.)

Headshot #3

Headshot #2 - Andrew R. Kaplan

Headshots - Andrew Kaplan

Blood Done Sign My Name - Oxford, NC Welcome

This is a picture taken with actress Robyn Shute and Andy Kaplan in front of the Welcome sign for Oxford, NC. In fact, we were actually shooting that day in Shelby, NC in an old run down area of town. The film takes place in a small town in 1969, so our costumes and hair reflect the era. Robin has a wig and my hair was cut short and slicked down. The costumers also supplied my shirt and undershirt and told me to unbutton the top buttons. Even though we are "extras" There is tremendous amount of work put into the details. Most of the costumes for the movie are rented from companies in Los Angeles. The costumers pick out the clothes from a large warehouse and they are trucked cross-country in tractor trailers which then are used as the local "warehouse" during filming.
Robyn is a talented actress who has a background in opera, self defense and horseback riding. She can fill a multitude of roles in a movie from actress to singer to stunt double.

Ten Tips for Being a "Professional " Extra

It is just over a year that I completed filming as an extra in the film Leatherheads. Although being an extra means waiting around, bringing multiple wardrobes, eating after the actors and production crew eat or watching them eat upscale food, while you are having burgers, there is a path or journey to move on to professional acting.

The journey and knowledge of being an extra and moving into different roles includes the understanding of the set, the director, the costumers, and production assistants. Here are some of the tips and tricks I learned along my short journey.

1. Be Inquisitive - On most movie sets there are people who just show up for fun and those who are interested in the "craft" of acting or producing a movie. Since on most movie shoots extras can be waiting for hours a day, there is an opportunity to engage in conversation with other actors/extras. You can also engage in conversation with the production assistants, hairstylists, makeup artists, audio engineers, grips, caterers, and even like on Leatherheads, the Animal Wrangler.

2. Listen - In the midst of all the waiting around there is then that moment when you are being called to the set. Listen to the announcements from the production assistants in extras holding. Be ready to go to the set on a moments notice.

3. Be Professional - Treat this as a professional job, not a hobby. Although you may be making minimum wage, there are hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent daily on major film productions or on a small film the actual invested money of the local producer or director. Show up to the set at the right time, bring the right clothes, and be positive.

4. Costumes - For many films, you may need to be self dressed. This means you are responsible for bringing clothes that fit the role for the movie or scene you are doing that day. If you are going to be a lawyer, town leader businessman, then bring a very nice suit and tie.. If you are a blue collar worker, then an old pair of jeans, and an appropriate shirt works. For women, bring the appropriate dress or pants for the day. Also maybe most importantly bring a good pair of shoes, so that you can wear your own vs the ones they may give you. This also means you may have to invest in clothes. You might need to go to a Salvation army to look for old clothes if you are working on a movie set in the 1960's for example. Make sure you also have an idea of your sizes. You might be dressed by the costumers themselves. In this case, and this is the fun part, you get to wear the clothes of that era.

5. Hair and Makeup - This is possibly a challenging area for some. In many films you will need to have your hair cut to match the era that the film or period that the film covers. In Leatherheads, my hair was cut to look like 1925. In Blood Done Sign My Name, my hair was styled and cut for the small town NC 1960's look. If you have a beard or mustache you might be asked to shave it off. The more flexible you are the more roles you can get.

6. Casting Directors - On each film there is an extras casting director. Keep an eye on their website or call their extras hotline on a regular basis. Keep in contact with them and let them know you availability. If they are on the set, introduce yourself and thank them for the opportunity. You might also inquire to future dates and roles that may be appropriate for your "look". In many films you may play multiple roles.

7. Paperwork and Pay - On most movie sets, you will need a drivers license and social security card as proof that you are legal to work on the film. Upon arrival on the set, the first thing you will do is sign in. There is usually a table set up as you arrive at the extras holding area. You will be asked to fill out a "pay" form that specifies who you are and where the check should be sent and how much the daily pay rate is. In cases where you will be given costumes, you will need to give your form to the costumers during the day. This is a way for them to make sure you don't walk off with any costumes. At the end of the day, when you are "wrapped" they will sign you out and give you the paperwork copy. Keep these in your records, as there might be a chance your paperwork might get lost. Also, travel costs are not usually covered, so plan that as part of your expenses. Carpooling, crashing on someones couch, sharing a motel room or sleeping in your car are some of the ways to keep expenses to a minimum.

8. Directions to the set - Make sure you have the correct driving directions to the set and a phone # of someone working on the production in case you get lost. In many cases, the film will be in an area of town which is sparsely populated. You may also be arriving at the set at 4:30 am to 6 am when not many people are around and stores are closed. Typically there will be signs directing you to extras parking when you are within a few blocks of production.

9. Be Noticed, Not Pushy - When you are on the set or in extras holding, get to know the production assistant who leads you out to the set. As you arrive on set, try to meet the production assistant there also and build trust and let them know your are professional and serious about this film. Many of them are just like you working their way up the ladder.

10. In the scene - One you arrive on the set, an assistant director in charge of keeping track of extras will instruct you or pick you out to be in a scene. They know you may be a first time person or they know you have experience so may use you differently. In some cases you may be in the deep background where you are just filling in the background just like scenery. If you are fortunate you may have a role where your face is clearly seen or you are "Featured". You know you are featured when the cameraman takes a tape measure to your face or the camera is just a few feet away. In any case, once you are "featured" you also may be "used" so they can not show your face any more. For example, in leatherheads I was a Chicago Photographer and Reporter. When I showed up one day, they were filming a scene in Duluth MN. It would not have made sense for me to be there. Or in Blood Done Sign my name, I was a city councilman. It might not make sense, if I was in another scene as a State policeman. As a professional, be honest with the assistant director. If you are not, you may end up being cut from the film when they edit.

10.5 Enjoy yourself, enjoy the journey, make new friends and "break a leg". You may even want to pack a bag with your overnight supplies, you never know when you may be asked to stay an "extra" day!