This entry was posted September 30th, 2009 and has no nomments.
ChrisWalbert.com has been nominated for a Mobbie! The Mobbies, from The Baltimore Sun, are being awarded to the best Maryland blogs in a number of categories. My blog is in the “Personal” category, which I think makes the most sense.
If you want to vote for me, you can do so here. You can vote once a day until the contest ends.
I wrote a post a little more than a year ago about what newspapers, and The Sun more specifically, should be doing to build their web businesses. One of my main points was that The Sun needed to continue focusing on producing excellent content, while reaching out to new readers using social media. The Mobbies is just one example of how The Sun is working to engage people and get them excited about their product, again.
The newspaper industry is still having an extremely tough time and, of course, one blogger contest will not change that. What I think has changed, however, is The Sun’s desire to build a community of local citizens that are actively involved in writing about Baltimore. Hats off to The Baltimore Sun for trying something new and getting us involved.
This entry was posted May 18th, 2009 and has no nomments.
I was quoted in Friday’s Baltimore Business Journal in an article called “Blog and Pony Show“. The article is essentially about the money, or lack thereof, that people can expect to make from blogging. As a planner and buyer of interactive media, I’m approached regularly by sites with advertising opportunities and have to evaluate whether they are the right places for our clients to be advertising.
I wanted to expand upon the BBJ quote and explain a little more of my thoughts on advertising on blogs and in social media. Here’s the quote:
“It pushes the brand even further and gets people to talk about it amongst themselves,” said Chris Walbert, digital media manager for Media Works Ltd. in Owings Mills. “That’s the powerful thing about blogs and social networks.”
First, to state the obvious, just because you advertise on a blog or social network doesn’t mean people will care or talk about your brand or product. The fact that blogs and networks are innately social environments, though, does give people the opportunity to talk about your brand or product within the site.
This entry was posted March 25th, 2009 and has 1 comment.
Last night, I headed down to the second Outlet Baltimore event, this time held at Dougherty’s on W. Chase St. While I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself or say hi to everyone, I did talk to a bunch of cool, interesting people. For those that don’t know, Outlet Baltimore is basically a monthly event for people involved in tech/new media/Twitter in Baltimore to get together, have a few drinks, and meet each other in real life.
It’s a very interesting and sometimes awkward phenomenon to meet someone you follow on Twitter for the first time. When they tell you their name, you’re like, “Yeah, I know who you are. I also know what you ate for lunch today, what music you like, and that you have 3 cats.” But of course, I just said, “Hi, I’m Chris.”
But honestly, Outlet is a really cool event and one worth checking out. It gave me a chance to meet and talk with people who are interested in a lot of the same things I am. Hopefully events like this will continue to develop the community that exist online into one that exists in the real world.
Online social networks are great and very important, but they’re a lot more valuable and fun when they also extend to the real world. I highly recommend getting yourself out to the next Outlet Baltimore. If you do, make sure you say hi.
This entry was posted January 12th, 2009 and has 2 comments.
For the past two weeks, Baltimore has been filled with the kind of excitement that can only mean one thing, NFL Playoffs. Our beloved Ravens have gone further than just about any analyst thought they would and now face the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. It’s a huge accomplishment just to be at this point with a rookie coach and quarterback, but we’re not done yet.
It’s only fitting that we have to go through Pittsburgh to make it to the Super Bowl. The Steelers defeated the Ravens in both matchups this year. Their first win came in overtime and the 2nd with only seconds remaining in the game. Despite losing both games this year, the Ravens and their fans should feel good about Sunday’s game.
It’s going to be a battle, but one that we can win. Of course, the Ravens will count on their defense to stop Roethlisberger and limit the number of touchdowns the Steelers score. What we shouldn’t count on is our defense to score TDs. Cam Cameron has to open up the offense and score at least 2 offensive touchdowns for the Ravens to have a legitimate chance at winning this thing.
I don’t know about you, but I’m a believer.
And just for fun I had to include a video of my favorite hit from Saturday’s game against Tennessee. Ray Lewis might be getting older, but boy can he still hit.
So what do you think? Do the Ravens have a shot this Sunday?
This entry was posted August 21st, 2008 and has 2 comments.
This week, John Berry penned a very interesting and thought-provoking piece for the Baltimore City Paper titled, “Press Release, The Sun’s Ever-Shrinking Newsroom Isn’t Good News For Baltimore“. In this piece Berry takes us through the last 10-20 years of staff cutbacks, branch closures, and formatting changes that have occurred at the Baltimore Sun. Berry makes many great points and shows why every major city needs a credible, well-researched, daily news periodical.
The vast majority of Baltimore citizens can agree with this. We need professional, full-time journalists to cover our city and bring all of the stories into the public eye. What Berry doesn’t discuss, and what many newspaper executives around the country are no doubt struggling with, is how do newspapers remain relevant and increase readership in the 21st century? How do newspapers grow and remain profitable so they can afford to hire and retain these journalists and run a paper that people want to read?
Advertisers are the major revenue stream for any newspaper. As all of us know, there has been an explosion of new media options over the past 5-10 years. Where advertisers used to only have to choose from TV, radio, magazines, and newspapers, their choices have been compounded exponentially by the options available on the web, mobile, and other digital platforms. Newspapers have been hit especially hard by the web and the accountability and tracking it offers.
This entry was posted May 14th, 2008 and has 3 comments.
On Friday evening I had dinner with my friend Jess at a new restaurant in Hollins Market, Baltimore Pho. I actually don’t think I’ve ever been to the Hollins Market before, and my only experience in that neighborhood has been at the Lithuanian Hall (Wow, a geocities website).
We made a reservation for our 7:45 dinner, but the place was surprisingly uncrowded for a Friday evening in the spring. The dining room has a nice cozy feel without being too small. The tables are a bit close to each other, but that wasn’t an issue at all. The only possible problem is the proximity of the bar to the dining room, which could make it quite noisy once it gets more crowded.
Now, on to the food. We got 2 orders of rice paper rolls, both the Vietnamese and vegetarian varieties. I preferred the Vietnamese rolls with shrimp. For our entrees we each got the beef pho. I’m not exactly sure why, but they are adamant about making sure you know it is pronounced “fuh”. It’s literally written everywhere the name is.
This entry was posted April 17th, 2008 and has 1 comment.
Last week I sat down with Baltimore hip-hop band Soul Cannon to discuss their new album, give us some insights into who they are, and try yet again to explain their sound. We talked for over an hour, but I managed to edit it down to a more approachable 9+ minutes. Make sure you watch the entire video. There are some real gems hidden in there.
Soul Cannon’s new album, aptly titled “Kaboom”, is out on April 22nd. You will be able to find the CD in various stores, but be sure to get your copy at the CD release show, which is being held on Friday, April 25 at The Ottobar.
I cannot stress enough how much you need to be at this show. This is your opportunity to not only see an excellent band, but to also have a great time. So check out the video, listen to the new songs on their MySpace page, come out to see them on the 25th at The Ottobar, and buy the new record, Kaboom!
This entry was posted March 12th, 2008 and has 1 comment.
The Wire has come to an end. After 5 seasons, the show has aired it’s final episode and is now a piece of our history. I’ve read numerous articles, blogs and message board posts of people arguing their disappointment or satisfaction with the finale. I don’t want to look at or discuss The Wire in the small scope of one episode or even one season. And I’m not left with either of those feelings. When that familiar song played at the end of episode 60, I was left with a mixture of sadness that the show was over and thankfulness that it existed in the first place.
After a lot of thought, I’ve arrived at a few reasons why I think The Wire has captivated the loyal audience it has and why people have reacted so emotionally to the show.
First, The Wire does not allow you to be merely a casual observer. You cannot sit down for an hour, watch an episode, and then just move on with your life. You have to form an opinion. You have to feel something about the characters, the situations, or the circumstances.
There is no way you can watch an episode where the police major legalizes drugs in restricted areas and not feel something or want to discuss the implications of such a policy. To me, this was one of the critical plotlines in the entire series. It showed not only the futility of drug enforcement policies, but also how devastating drugs are; not just to the users, but to the community at large. To watch the citizens of those neighborhoods try to live their normal lives in the hell of Hamsterdam was heartbreaking.
This entry was posted March 3rd, 2008 and has 1 comment.
Sunday, March 9, 2008 will be a bitter sweet day for all Wire fans. This marks the final episode of one of the greatest shows ever to hit the small screen. I want to save a proper eulogy of the show for after the last episode runs, but to hold us all over is this preview of episode 60.
This entry was posted February 25th, 2008 and has no nomments.
Not only is Dustin Pfeifer a good friend of mine and a champion BSSC quarterback, but he is also an excellent web designer and developer. Dustin and I went to school together and also worked in the marketing department at our last company for about four years. During that time we worked on a lot of projects together, many of which I am still really proud of.
I left that company last April and in October, Dustin decided to work for himself full-time and focus on his company, Dustin Pfeifer Creative. He’s already done some great work that you can see on his brand new site, DustinPfeifer.com.
