Post by dj on Sept 9, 2008 20:42:38 GMT -5
www.rrstar.com/communities/x590309255/YouTube-shows-what-Rockford-has-to-offer
YouTube shows what Rockford has to offer
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JOHN F. ELBERS II | RRSTAR.COM
Check out Rockford on YouTube
By Mike Wiser
RRSTAR.COM
Posted Aug 23, 2008 @ 09:01 PM
Last update Aug 25, 2008 @ 08:15 AM
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ROCKFORD — What could possibly connect a Tempe, Ariz.-based car stereo component company to actor James Garner to WREX-13’s Eric Wilson and Dani Maxwell?
Take some time to mull that over if you want.
Give up?
The short answer is the brave, not-so-new world of social media.
The specific answer is Rockford Fosgate (the stereo maker), “The Rockford Files” theme and introduction (a television show that ran from 1974 to 1980 and starred Garner), and the anchors at Rockford’s NBC affiliate (Wilson and Maxwell) are the stars of the top three videos that come up when the word “Rockford” is typed in to the YouTube search engine.
For those who don’t know, YouTube is a video-posting-and-sharing site owned by Web search engine giant Google. It allows anybody with the right equipment and a little know-how to post videos on the Internet and allows anybody who views said videos to comment or critique them.
On YouTube, people can find anything from ads by presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain and trailers for upcoming $100 million movies to puppet shows and exploding cola bottles.
“Social media is heavily used by the younger generation,” said Sabryna Cornish, an assistant professor of communications at Northern Illinois University.
“The older generation, even though they are more technically savvy now, still tend to look for information through traditional routes. But for the younger generation, they may be using social media sites like YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook almost exclusively to get their information.”
So what would Rockford look like to someone who only knew Rockford through YouTube? And should the city’s image-makers be concerned?
Where I’m from
“I’m a paper-chaser, moneymaker, Swisher-roller ...” Those are the first few words of Chad Springer’s ode to Rockford called “Where I’m From.”
The 24-year-old, who goes by the name SoLow, is a local hip-hop artist who has a video on YouTube that you can find when you search for “Rockford.”
That’s the same term you would use if you wanted to find clips of IceHogs games, concert performances by Cheap Trick and Reba McIntyre, a Rockford College student’s video about urban sprawl, a controversial speech journalist Chris Hedges gave here in 2003, a high school football game from Rockford, Mich., scenes from a rave, plenty of more clips showcasing Rockford Fosgate products and James Garner, and one short video entitled “old guy dancing in a bar in Rockford.”
SoLow’s video, edited and directed by Bill Daer, has SoLow rapping (in a Rockford Lightning jersey no less) in front of such local landmarks as the MetroCentre, the symbol, the Coronado, in front of the former Surf Lounge and inside Shogun restaurant.
There are scenes of rundown west side streets and east side housing projects. There’s even a shot of the heart-shaped “Welcome to Loves Park” sign that flashes across the screen while
SoLow says “there ain’t enough love in the parks or trees in the Forest City.”
According to the YouTube counter, 4,123 people have viewed SoLow’s video as of Friday afternoon. In some respect, he’s become a bit of an ambassador for the city, albeit a reluctant one.
“It’s not really supposed to represent the city,” SoLow said. “It’s more that it represents my experiences in the city. What I know.”
In other words, it’s meant to promote SoLow and his music as opposed to the city of Rockford at large.
Branding
But the city’s professional promoters are keen to YouTube as well.
“We definitely want to stay involved with social media,” said Stacy Kiejko, marketing and communications manager for the Rockford Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“We have a MySpace page, Facebook, and we have the short version of our video on YouTube.”
That video, titled “Real. Original. Rockford, Illinois.,” showcases Rockford landmarks and includes interviews from various people extolling the virtues of the city and the region. It had been viewed 2,019 times as of Friday afternoon.
Kiejko said the CVB is just getting into the social media aspects of promotions and, like others, they’re still trying to figure out how to best use the tools that are out there.
But, she added, the Internet already has made its presence known in her business.
For example, the number of visits the CVB had to its Web site in 2006 was 545,000. By 2007 that had grown to 718,000 and for the 2008 fiscal year — which runs from June to July — 792,000 people clicked on the CVB site.
Still, the local YouTube success story that actually includes local folks is the WREX-13 clip with Wilson and Maxwell.
“There have been numerous studies that show that people usually don’t look past the first search page that comes up unless they are looking for specific information,” Cornish said.
The clip is a newscast segment where Wilson and Maxwell cover the release of the Cheap Trick CD titled “Rockford.” As of Friday afternoon, the video had gotten 16,894 views.
“I do remember it now,” Wilson said Friday afternoon as he viewed the video from his computer at work. “It’s kind of neat to think that someone, probably from here, recorded that and then put it up on YouTube ... I think they did it because they were Cheap Trick fans, which is pretty cool that we’re associated with Cheap Trick in some sense.”
Wilson isn’t a YouTube poster himself, his social media of choice is Facebook, and although he thinks he and Maxwell were ancillary players to the YouTube video that put them in the top three, he thought it was cool that almost 17,000 people, possibly from the world over, have watched him do his thing.
And that’s the type of exposure that anyone can appreciate, whether they’re promoting stereo speakers, 70s-era television serials or hip-hop.
“You know, we just had a meeting with the On the Waterfront people and they’re going to let us shoot a video there,” SoLow said.
“It’s for this track called ‘Get me the Green,’ and we’ll be handing out green glo-strings and T-shirts for people to be in the video, so look for us.”
Staff writer Mike Wiser can be reached at 815-987-1377 or mwiser@rrstar.com.
YouTube shows what Rockford has to offer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN F. ELBERS II | RRSTAR.COM
Check out Rockford on YouTube
By Mike Wiser
RRSTAR.COM
Posted Aug 23, 2008 @ 09:01 PM
Last update Aug 25, 2008 @ 08:15 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROCKFORD — What could possibly connect a Tempe, Ariz.-based car stereo component company to actor James Garner to WREX-13’s Eric Wilson and Dani Maxwell?
Take some time to mull that over if you want.
Give up?
The short answer is the brave, not-so-new world of social media.
The specific answer is Rockford Fosgate (the stereo maker), “The Rockford Files” theme and introduction (a television show that ran from 1974 to 1980 and starred Garner), and the anchors at Rockford’s NBC affiliate (Wilson and Maxwell) are the stars of the top three videos that come up when the word “Rockford” is typed in to the YouTube search engine.
For those who don’t know, YouTube is a video-posting-and-sharing site owned by Web search engine giant Google. It allows anybody with the right equipment and a little know-how to post videos on the Internet and allows anybody who views said videos to comment or critique them.
On YouTube, people can find anything from ads by presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain and trailers for upcoming $100 million movies to puppet shows and exploding cola bottles.
“Social media is heavily used by the younger generation,” said Sabryna Cornish, an assistant professor of communications at Northern Illinois University.
“The older generation, even though they are more technically savvy now, still tend to look for information through traditional routes. But for the younger generation, they may be using social media sites like YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook almost exclusively to get their information.”
So what would Rockford look like to someone who only knew Rockford through YouTube? And should the city’s image-makers be concerned?
Where I’m from
“I’m a paper-chaser, moneymaker, Swisher-roller ...” Those are the first few words of Chad Springer’s ode to Rockford called “Where I’m From.”
The 24-year-old, who goes by the name SoLow, is a local hip-hop artist who has a video on YouTube that you can find when you search for “Rockford.”
That’s the same term you would use if you wanted to find clips of IceHogs games, concert performances by Cheap Trick and Reba McIntyre, a Rockford College student’s video about urban sprawl, a controversial speech journalist Chris Hedges gave here in 2003, a high school football game from Rockford, Mich., scenes from a rave, plenty of more clips showcasing Rockford Fosgate products and James Garner, and one short video entitled “old guy dancing in a bar in Rockford.”
SoLow’s video, edited and directed by Bill Daer, has SoLow rapping (in a Rockford Lightning jersey no less) in front of such local landmarks as the MetroCentre, the symbol, the Coronado, in front of the former Surf Lounge and inside Shogun restaurant.
There are scenes of rundown west side streets and east side housing projects. There’s even a shot of the heart-shaped “Welcome to Loves Park” sign that flashes across the screen while
SoLow says “there ain’t enough love in the parks or trees in the Forest City.”
According to the YouTube counter, 4,123 people have viewed SoLow’s video as of Friday afternoon. In some respect, he’s become a bit of an ambassador for the city, albeit a reluctant one.
“It’s not really supposed to represent the city,” SoLow said. “It’s more that it represents my experiences in the city. What I know.”
In other words, it’s meant to promote SoLow and his music as opposed to the city of Rockford at large.
Branding
But the city’s professional promoters are keen to YouTube as well.
“We definitely want to stay involved with social media,” said Stacy Kiejko, marketing and communications manager for the Rockford Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“We have a MySpace page, Facebook, and we have the short version of our video on YouTube.”
That video, titled “Real. Original. Rockford, Illinois.,” showcases Rockford landmarks and includes interviews from various people extolling the virtues of the city and the region. It had been viewed 2,019 times as of Friday afternoon.
Kiejko said the CVB is just getting into the social media aspects of promotions and, like others, they’re still trying to figure out how to best use the tools that are out there.
But, she added, the Internet already has made its presence known in her business.
For example, the number of visits the CVB had to its Web site in 2006 was 545,000. By 2007 that had grown to 718,000 and for the 2008 fiscal year — which runs from June to July — 792,000 people clicked on the CVB site.
Still, the local YouTube success story that actually includes local folks is the WREX-13 clip with Wilson and Maxwell.
“There have been numerous studies that show that people usually don’t look past the first search page that comes up unless they are looking for specific information,” Cornish said.
The clip is a newscast segment where Wilson and Maxwell cover the release of the Cheap Trick CD titled “Rockford.” As of Friday afternoon, the video had gotten 16,894 views.
“I do remember it now,” Wilson said Friday afternoon as he viewed the video from his computer at work. “It’s kind of neat to think that someone, probably from here, recorded that and then put it up on YouTube ... I think they did it because they were Cheap Trick fans, which is pretty cool that we’re associated with Cheap Trick in some sense.”
Wilson isn’t a YouTube poster himself, his social media of choice is Facebook, and although he thinks he and Maxwell were ancillary players to the YouTube video that put them in the top three, he thought it was cool that almost 17,000 people, possibly from the world over, have watched him do his thing.
And that’s the type of exposure that anyone can appreciate, whether they’re promoting stereo speakers, 70s-era television serials or hip-hop.
“You know, we just had a meeting with the On the Waterfront people and they’re going to let us shoot a video there,” SoLow said.
“It’s for this track called ‘Get me the Green,’ and we’ll be handing out green glo-strings and T-shirts for people to be in the video, so look for us.”
Staff writer Mike Wiser can be reached at 815-987-1377 or mwiser@rrstar.com.
Wow, hopefully he can find something more productive and beneficial to do with his time in the future.