Advertising and New Media.com

RVA - New Media Seminar - November 18th!

2009-11-09T16:24:00.003-05:00

The next New Media Seminar will be held November 18th, 2009 from 10am - 2pm at the Holiday Inn Select Koger Conference Center.

Join nationally recognized new media expert Dave Saunders, Chief Idea Officer of Madison+Main, for an exciting half-day seminar. Learn about web, search engine marketing and measuring ROI. Find out how you can use Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn to find and engage customers.

Register Today! Please RSVP by November 13th. Call Lisa at 877-623-6246 or register online at NewMediaSeminars.com. Presented by Madison+Main and NetSearch Direct.

Half of U.S. Employers Block Social Media, Meaning Half of US Employers are Stupid

2009-10-12T20:37:00.009-04:00

by Dave Saunders

According to a new Report from Robert Half Technology 54% of US companies block employees access to social media websites. Over 1,400 CIO's (chief information officers) were polled in the survey, first reported first by mashable.com a few days ago.

Although the report didn't speak to the reasons why, we can only assume a couple. CIOs are are naturally nervous bunch, afraid that social networking unleashes viruses at work. The other reason probably comes down from the uninformed CEO, fearing a loss of productivity if they let employees converse on platforms like F acebook and Twitter.

At the time of this blog post over 1,000 people had already commented on the story, most bashing the decisions of this uninformed segment of the technorati. The terms "short sighted" and "boneheaded" came up alot in the comments section.

CIO's should know better. Viruses, worms and other forms of malicious code are spread through email, and rarely, if ever, social networking sites. But no one wants to ban email at work....except me. And as for the "productivity" issue, the cause stems from social media's BIG image problem. People "play around" on Facebook and Twitter, they think. No one plays around on the phone, or on email, now do they?

Sooner or later (and hopefully sooner) companies will stop vilifying social media and realize it can become a valuable work tool, communication platform and ultimately, with the help of projects like Google Wave, the preferred work collaboration platform.

The big brains at IBM started encouraging participation in social networking and blogging back in 2005, and even put in guidelines for work usage in their wiki. (IBM SM GUidelines here). With open source, they opened up, started talking with each other and the ideas stared flowing....to much ballyhooed success. IBM is doing great, with a stock price 50% higher than a year ago and up nearly double in 4 years, despite the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Back in 1998, companies (like my previous employer the LA Times) feared the web, and didn't allow employees Internet access at work. Can you imagine not having web access at work? I am sure that when telephones came along more than a century ago, some knucklehead company owners said "No, we're not getting telephones. People will probably try to talk on them all day long."

There are 1.6 Billion people now on the world wide web. That number is expected to double by 2012, and most of these web newbies will get their access on their cell phones. What will these short-sighted companies start doing then? Perhaps, they'll confiscate your phone on the way into the office. It's really simple. If you don't let people engage on social media websites from their desktops, they'll be spending a whole lot of of unproductive time in the bathroom, or break room or somewhere else on their PHONES, accessing their FB accounts or texting their updates directly to twitter.

"i'm tweeting from the supply closet because my stupid boss doesn't allow us to use Twitter at work" --- posted 6 minutes ago from Twitterberry

You can't stop progress and you can't stop people from communicating.

Leave No Duck Behind

2009-10-08T10:23:00.011-04:00

If you've lived in Richmond for any period of time, you've probably heard of the Annual Duck Race fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters. If not, here's more info on the festivities http://bigbrobigsis.com/duckrace.html
20,000 ducks are bought (with proceeds going to BBBS), then hoisted high above the Kanawha Canal and ceremoniously dumped...
Thousands cheer the from the banks of Belle Isle and the winning duck is plucked from the soup and wins a car.
I always wondered what happened to the ducks afterwards. How do they scoop them back up, as not to litter the river? Do they re-use the ducks? Do they ever lose any ducks? Has any duck ever gotten away and swam to freedom?
After checking, I found that BBBS organizers scoop them out at the end of the race. Check. They do re-use the ducks. Check. They do lose a couple every year.

How do I know? Taking a canal boat tour last week with my fellow Madison+Main-iacs, our captain astutely noticed a duck floating in the canal, near the Holocaust Museum, and quickly fetched the little rascal.

After extensive cleaning, we present "Rocky," the Duck Race survivor that was left behind for 5 months in the murky waters of the canal.

Should we keep him? Should we give him back to Big Brothers, Big Sisters? Should we win a car?

Help the Children's Museum of Richmond at the Crossroads Travel Expo!

2009-10-07T14:14:00.010-04:00

The Crossroads Travel Expo, hosted by Crossroads Travel Advisors, will be at the Children's Museum of Richmond on October 15th from 4pm to 8pm. There will be over 50 travel experts on staff, great door prizes and an enter to win a trip for 2 to Disney World. All net proceeds from the event benefit the Children's Museum of Richmond.

Crossroads Travel Advisors, Richmond’s premier American Express Travel Representative, has gathered the best travel companies for the one-day-only Crossroads Travel Expo. Topics will include the finest cruises for you and your family.

Check out: www.CrossroadsTravelExpo.com for more information.

Register now for only $5 per person and save $5.
Click the PayPal “Add to Cart” button below or call Crossroads Travel Advisors at 1-800-322-0224 to sign up today!
Children under 18 enter free.

Color Goes Pop

2009-09-20T08:38:00.002-04:00

Posted by Joshua Barber, Creative Director - September 20, 2009

I am continuing to follow Ray-Ban Films "Never Hide Films" viral video campaign because of it's large spectrum of topics and style. The video "Color Goes Pop" stood out to me a bit with it's higher budget look and feel and the attention to the environment. The background has a softer quality that makes everything that is intended to be focused on very vibrant, while the use of fast/slow motion keeps cadence with the colors. Enjoy.

Madison+Main making IMPACT '09!

2009-08-26T12:47:00.009-04:00

Posted by Jeff Smack, Art Director

The Greater Richmond Chamber's IMPACT awards finalists have been announced and we find ourselves in the company of some fantastic organizations. This is our second year as a finalist. We had a blast with the whole process last year and we're excited and honored to remain in contention for the award this year. The finalists include, Central Virginia Health Network, Creative, Partner MD, The Pediatric Connection, and Uppy's. We'd like to send out an especially big congratulations to Uppy's! They're not only a great company but a great client! Good luck to our fellow finalists!

Here's a behind-the-scenes video from last year's process, produced by TV Jerry.

The Craigslist Context

2009-08-24T16:52:00.007-04:00

Posted by Jeff Smack, Art Director

"People are good and trustworthy and generally just concerned with getting through the day," Craig Newmark, the Craigslist founder and namesake, is quoted in the newest issue of WIRED.

This is a bit of a sequel to a previous post. I cringe at the danger-hype around Craigslist and other internet hubs and social media. A few weeks back I made light of the news media and their sensational spin on some specific common sense situations. I think they're starting to come around a bit lately however. The teasers (More at 10!) and the headlines (THE TRAGEDY OF CRAIGSLIST...) still play on our morbid curiosities but the actual features have been more level headed the last few times I've noticed.

One recent local Richmond report gave some good advice that I'd sum up in the following way: "Advertising 'massage' and taking 2 am appointments anonymously over the internet is sooner or later going to prove itself a bad idea."

It's common sense. We don't blame the phone for a prank call. We don't blame the bulletin board when the yard sale yields no treasure. Craigslist is not teleporting high risk activity into otherwise prudent living rooms.

The reason Craigslist endures all of this nonsense, I believe, is because Newmark's world view and attitude about people is essentially correct. People are basically good, occupied with living their lives and not inherently malicious. People will continue to misuse tools and consequently make the news. In the meantime I wish traditional media would stop trying to scare me away from my browser.

100 people per minute freestyle

2009-07-25T07:32:00.001-04:00

Posted by Joshua Barber, Creative Director - July 25, 2009

Ray-Ban's Never Hide Films latest video "100 people per minute freestyle" which features customized songs from user generated material. I like the second phase of the song which was a bit more rhythmic. Interesting outcome from their promotional booth at the SXSW music festival.

Compel Me Allrizon!

2009-07-14T14:40:00.010-04:00

Posted by Joshua Taylor, Communications Director
& Jeff Smack, Art Director

You've probably already seen the TV ads. Verizon & Alltel "Better Together." The two mobile giants try to navigate their brands through a mega merger without losing customers or their identities. At least for now Verizon & Alltel have combined the "Can you hear me now?" guy with the unicorn haired "Chad." The main question has to be "How long will this work?" Customers traditionally don't like change unless it's unquestionable improvement. How will they react to this new marriage? So far it appears that the campaigns have gone well but I can't help wondering how long "Can you hear me now?" guy and "Chad" can coexist before the muddling of the two brands leads to a weakened identity? It's smoothe sailing for now but I'm getting a "Two Great Tastes that Taste Weird Together" kind of sense of the future.

I look forward to seeing how far the agencies will push this tag team. Will we get a backstory where the two rehash past differences over a beer telling tales of their days manning rival kiosks at the mall? Wasn't "Can you hear me now?" guy one of the cretins in the gang that "Chad" was always nonchalantly undermining? There's got to be mascot beef broiling here. Is the market just supposed to assume these two step siblings are copasetic now that their parent organizations have tied the knot? Will mommy and daddy have a new All-rizon baby and kick the big bros to the curb? We demand a little more explanation over here at Madison+Main and we're looking forward to the play out.

Don't Be Afraid of Social Media

2009-07-13T11:03:00.009-04:00

Posted by Jeff Smack, Art Director

First I must ask, "Where do you get your news?" If you said "I get the bulk of my news from half hour programs, at the same time, everyday, via network television." then you're probably not reading this blog. Or you're into nostalgic rituals like walking down the driveway in your underwear to pick up a newspaper.

NBC 12 featured a scare piece on Facebook last night. I keep seeing this type of thing on the local television news. They inflate "hackers" and "the mysterious internet" and provide halfbaked information about what went down. Somehow a "hacker" used a woman's Facebook page to solicit wire transfers from her friends. I agree it's a good idea to change your passwords on a regular basis. I also believe it's a good idea not to share them or initiate wiretransfers to anyone soliciting via internet. Maybe wiretransfers are the boogie man here?

Pick smart passwords. Change them periodically. That's a good moral for the story but the feature also claims that Facebook is a 5 year old website with over 2 million active users. However that data must be a couple years old because all you have to do is "Google it" to instantly and effortlessly find a variety of more recent credible articles tallying 150+ million active FB users. Latest estimates are 217 million according to Facebook themselves.

In sum, I caught the feature by chance while loading the SNL rerun that I DVR'd this weekend. Are you enjoying the layered ironies here? I'm curious if this summary article is feeding to their fan page? I presume it isn't but I most likely won't check because network TV news is not feeding my RSS reader.

Traditional News can't ignore the evolution of communication any longer. Yes there's been lots of positive press about Twitter, Facebook, etc... but it makes me wonder when I see stories like "The Craigslist Killer" or "I Got Ripped Off On Ebay" or "The Facebook Hacker" what are their primary motivations? TV, newspapers and radio ad revenues are down. They're villainizing the reason.

Super Chameleon

2009-07-11T07:24:00.002-04:00

Posted by Joshua Barber, Creative Director - July 11, 2009

Ray-Ban's "Never Hide Films" latest video "Super Chameleon". It's had quite a response for only being up for 3 months. Great combination of visuals and sound.

Guy catches glasses with his face

2009-06-13T09:10:00.001-04:00

Posted by Joshua Barber, Creative Director - June 13, 2009

Yet another installment from Ray-Ban's Never Hide Films where a guy "catches glasses with his face." This is an older video, but I enjoyed how the up the ante with each face catch. Enjoy.

Can Google Predict the Winner of the Virginia Democratic Primary?

2009-06-08T13:00:00.012-04:00

Posted by David Saunders (Research by Will Trible) - June 8, 2009

Polls open early tomorrow in Virginia to decide the Democratic Primary race and it's still too close to call, unless you're counting keywords on Google.
Terry McAuliffe, has enjoyed early exposure and ample funding, in part due to his fundraising work during the Clinton administration. According to Google, however, Creigh Deeds has made a big push in the closing days of the primary campaign.

We'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see if Google called this race correctly.
See the data below....

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=Brian%20Moran%2CCreigh%20Deeds%2CTerry%20McAuliffe&geo=US-VA&date=today%201-m&cmpt=q

Using this and several other new media metrics, you'll recall we predicted 48 out of 50 states correctly during the Presidnetial election, at about 2 pm EST on November 4th, 8-9 hours before the networks called it. >>> http://madisonmain.blogspot.com/2008_11_04_archive.html

Lesson learned: social media and measuring tools like Google Trends can help companies, but also can take the instant pulse of a society, and sometime predict the future (at least on election day).

Cow gives birth to a dude

2009-06-06T07:34:00.003-04:00

Posted by Joshua Barber, Creative Director - June 6, 2009

Here is the "Cow gives birth to a dude" video I discussed previously from Ray-Ban's Never Hide Films. I enjoyed the "never hide" placement spray painted on the side of the trash bin. I'm pretty sure the gross factor of this particular video had a hand in it getting so many views.

Monster Yarn Ball Rolling in San Francisco

2009-05-31T10:07:00.004-04:00

Posted by Joshua Barber, Creative Director - May 31, 2009

Never Hide Films AKA Ray-Ban's viral online presence created a video of a very large yarn ball unwinding down San Francisco streets. Great edits and locations. There are over 10 different videos covering all sorts of topics of a cow giving birth to female body builders. More to come.

Talking New Media Via Old Media

2009-05-21T14:15:00.003-04:00

We all know that new media is the best thing to hit the world since individually wrapped slices of cheese. Social networking is here, it’s here to stay and it continues to captivate droves of people kind of like flip-flops and Pabst Blue Ribbon captivate your typical everyday hipster! While we all entertain each other through endless status updates and Twitter posts, the old media lions, radio, television and newspapers are doing everything they can to remain relevant. Despite saying it wouldn’t last like rockers and pop stars once dismissed hip-hop, old media is now turning to new media to keep the boat afloat. Naturally, when you have new media questions you turn to Dave.

Dave appeared on Virginia’s number one radio show this morning, Richmond’s Morning News with Jimmy Barrett, to talk about Facebook, Twitter and our upcoming New Media Seminar. I know Jimmy, having worked for him over a two-year stretch at Clear Channel Richmond. He’s an old-school guy from Michigan, the former Public Address announcer for one of Major League Baseball’s oldest franchises, the Detroit Tigers, and he’s definitely a man that believes in the power, validity and future of radio. One other thing I know about Jimmy is that he’s sharp! Not much gets past him and the power of social media isn’t something that he has ignored or dismissed. Now he’s a Facebook machine! Knowing that his audience represents one of the largest groups of people flocking to Facebook and Twitter, Jimmy brought Dave onto the show to talk about how they work, what they can do for businesses and why we’re all so wrapped up in our social media communities.

To hear Dave and Jimmy talk shop about the latest and greatest in social media, click here.

If you feel like you need to know more about social media and how it all works, there are still a few seats left for our next New Media Seminar to be held Tuesday, May 26 from 10am-2pm at the Holiday Inn Select Koger South Conference Center. Oh yeah…we’re knocking down the price too! If you purchase your ticket by 5pm Friday, May 22, we’ll give you a $100 discount off of the normal retail price.

For more information or to buy your ticket, log on to www.NewMediaSeminars.com/special.

Confessions of a Conditioned New Media User

2009-05-15T14:04:00.010-04:00

Posted by Jeff Smack, Art Director

Madison+Main, we're the New Media folks. We not only drink the Kool-Aid we are stakeholders. We believe in where it's taking our world and our role in that process. With this stated, I have noticed some unconscious training in myself that I would like to point out. I'm calling it New Media Conditioning and I'm siting some examples in hopes that some of you will have something to add.

1. I'm at the magazine stand in a big book store and I'm flipping through the pages of a thick little magazine called Wax Poetics. I come across an article I enjoy and my brain immediately begins scanning for an RSS button so I can book mark the author's "stream."

2. A friend tells me of an article in Wired before I get my copy. When I get home I see it on the floor with the mail as soon as I open the door. I pick it up thinking about the article he mentioned and impulsively scan for a search feature in the Table of Contents.

3. I'm on a non-Facebook website enjoying an article or photograph and I impulsively scan for the "like this" button.

4. My iPhone is set to vibrate when I get mail and also when I get a call. If I get email while I'm at my computer my phone buzzes to tell me and I log in on my desktop to check it. Now sometimes when the phone rings I start to reach for the mouse to answer the phone.

These are all things that I recognize as FAIL operations as soon as I do them but the impulse is hard programmed through well caffeinated and rigorous "practice."

Here's a joke that illustrates the same type of observation from the opposite angle. When my brother's cell phone rings he jokingly and loudly shouts to the room, "I'll get it!" An ironic throwback to the days of having one telephone line in the home. All of this illustrates the rapidly progressive and almost seamless integration of technology in our moment to moment existence.

The Beautiful Word - Yoga

2009-05-10T09:04:00.003-04:00

Posted by Joshua Barber, Creative Director - May 10, 2009

The final piece to the Scrabble campaign, "The Beautiful Word" by French agency, Ogilvy & Mather.

The Beautiful Word - Sumo

2009-05-09T10:07:00.006-04:00

Posted by Joshua Barber, Creative Director - May 9, 2009

This is the latest addition to the Scrabble campaign, "The Beautiful Word" by French agency, Ogilvy & Mather.

The Beautiful Word - Hula

2009-05-02T11:43:00.011-04:00

Posted by Joshua Barber, Creative Director - May 2, 2009

French agency, Ogilvy & Mather, Paris, created a very unique campaign for Mattel's classic game Scrabble. The animation and choice of music gives the game a lot of fresh personality.

Social Media Literacy & "Pop" Culture

2009-04-10T16:39:00.012-04:00

Posted by Jeff Smack, Art Director

A lot of people I speak to that are not yet on Twitter seem to be actively avoiding it. I'm not prepared to throw the term "luddite" around lightly but I would like to make a point. Whether Twitter is around in 5 years or not is irrelevant. It represents a communicative literacy that will be built upon.

When I was in high school people used to talk about getting a job in "computers." This is meaningless today. Computers in the job market are as ubiquitous as oxygen in the Animal Kingdom. This is what I'm talking about. Social Media Literacy is going to be a part of every product and service (and the customer service behind it) from now on. It may not be called "Social Media" at that point but it will be built on what we are now calling "Social Media."

Now, because I probably need to lighten up on my "Drink The Punch!" rant, I want to share a conversation that happened on Twitter through an interpreter: "Pop," A Social Media doubter, communicates with the Twitterverse through his son, the ultimate believer and Social Media Champion, Dave. The topic brought in a lot of response and interesting descriptions of what Twitter is exactly, or approximately.

madmain: 12seconds - showing my dad 12seconds.tv http://tiny12.tv/3BMM8

madmain: I guess my Dad isn't very "social" http://12seconds.tv/channel/madmain/125465

edovett: @madmain tell him we'll say hi anyway!

(Dave explains to Pop that he has 11,000 followers.)

madmain: my dad on twitter: "I'm really wondering why 11,000 people would wanna read this garbage."

madmain: I'm not doing well explaining what twitter is to my Pop....can anyone do a better job?

MaryHogan2: @madmain fun fun fun till the ice cream took the Twitter away.

jonnew: @madmain If you can't I'm afraid no one can.

k8iedid: @madmain the biggest room imaginable with lots of shouting where it's not rude to enter or leave any conversation you choose.

affiliate_dave: @madmain the online version of the gang meeting at the barbershop..lol

ggerth: @madmain Hi Pop, Twitter is talking and listening to as many people as you want all at the same time. Go Sparty!

madmain: @jonnew when I say stuff like "Twitter is a micro-blog" his eyes glaze over.

MikeNGarrett: @madmain AIM for old people, as in... archived chat messages addressed to "the internet"

JessicaLevin: RT @madmain: my dad on twitter: "I'm really wondering why 11,000 people would wanna read this garbage."

edovett: @madmain TWitter is a very powerful tool to share links with information and sometimes even photos of earthqueake victims in Italy!

davesaunders: @madmain How about: Twitter is like a crowded movie theater where everyone brought their cell phone.

bbille: @madmain does he understand status updates on Facebook? If so, just tell him it's like that. If not, it's like passing notes in class.

WalkingHorse: @madmain lol! I suspect my dad would concur. :)

Eyebee: @madmain sounds like the sort of thing my father would have said. Why do you want to sit typing to strangers all night?

JugShop: @madmain Can he relate to conference calling? Better yet, party line? How old is Pop?

davesaunders: @madmain Twitter is what happens when a library explodes and people read individual sentences from scraps of paper while cleaning up.

jonnew: @madmain Think "lowest common denominator" language like "talking in sentences small enough to fit on a movie marquee."

Addicted2Golf: @madmain Tell your Dad its real simple. Twitter is popular because we're all out of work and poor. What the heck else do we have to do?

udayd: @madmain - i told my mom it was a place to leave random short comments about what i'm doing if she really wanted to stalk me.

madmain: @JugShop he says it sounds like the old party line...lots of nosy neighbors listening in. LOL!!!!!!

Melhi: @madmain It's people sending/reading short msgs on everything from chit chat to business to... whatever. Each defines it by their use.

madmain: well Pop said "That's very interesting. Say hello to all those folks for me. I'm going to bed." End of twitter lesson. thanks guys!

(At this point Pop is bored enough and leaves but the conversation echoes on.)

GetFamous: @madmain Tell him it's kind of like the old aol chat rooms except only filled with people you like.

MarianeMatera: @madmain Tell him it's like telegrams to a group.

GetFamous: Right now is a great time to do a search for @madmain Topic is explaining twitter to his pops.

sparsonads: @madmain it's a networking site that uses short sentences and links to share your life with others. A virtual conversation!

JugShop: @madmain exactly! except with twitter, you want and expect it. voluntary party line exhibitionism.

OldWorldLimited: @madmain How about...It's like a conference call that is always on, and you can join in & drop out whenever you want.

(Conversation segues, topic over.)

This pro/con conversation is happening offline all over the world. I find this example compelling because it's between a reluctant participant (unfamiliar with the platform) and the community itself (through a translator). The situation is a metaphor of itself! Thanks to Dave's dad for being such a good sport!

The Richmond MS Walk is April18th! HELP SPREAD THE WORD!

2009-04-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

The Richmond Walk for MS is right around the corner. Please help us spread the word for a great organization. The madison+main-iacs will be there in full force! Won't you join us or help us spread the word!

www.IwalkforMS.org

DETAILS:

Date: 04/18/09

Location: Markel Plaza @ Innsbrook

Event Manager Name: Andy Page

Email: andy.page@nmss.org

For more information: www.IwalkforMS.org or call 804-591-3036

from the website:

The Walk MS: Lumber Liquidators Richmond Walk 2009!
With your participation we will be working to support programs, services, and research sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society which makes a huge difference to the people who are living with MS every day.

MS stops people from moving.

The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn't.

We are striving to create a world free of MS.

Search through our participants to read personal stories and see why others are participating in the Walk MS. Our participants want to end MS but they need you to join them to make an even bigger impact!
There are many ways you can "Join the Movement" through Walk MS… Create a Team, Join a Team, Walk as an individual, Create a Volunteer Team or just Volunteer. Doing any of these will help us keep Moving Forward and one step closer to finding a cure.

Richmond - New Media Seminars - 4/29

2009-04-01T10:48:00.003-04:00

The next New Media Seminar will be held in Richmond, Virginia on April 29th at the Holiday Inn Select - Koger Center.

Please go to www.NewMediaSeminars.com for more information and to purchase tickets online!

Creative Spam.

2009-03-27T11:07:00.004-04:00

Posted by Joshua Barber, Creative Director - March 27, 2009

I just received one of the most creative spam messages in the past 10 years. Being an html programmer, I was impressed with the use of tables, and hexadecimal color choices to avoid the "actual" html word Viagra which would mark it as spam.

Not only was this web savy technique used, it also came with the rambled poetic words to appear as an actual email. "the legends concerning diverse thoughts"...not bad.

These are the "Daves" I know

2009-03-26T08:00:00.006-04:00

These are the "Daves" I know. Well, I don’t exactly know them all, but I know of them. I always suspected there were other Dave Saunders in the world. After all, the yellow pages in my hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia had a couple. In college, I received a report card from VCU with the impeccable grades (all As one B) of a 5th year med student, another David Saunders…I was a lowly freshman with a lot of Bs and Cs. I moved to LA and actually met a guy named Dave Saunders. He was an actor and we kinda looked alike, too, which was creepy. Then on Twitter a few weeks ago, a guy started following me named--yep, you guessed it--Dave Saunders and I thought I was hallucinating, but as it turns out, he’s real. And get this, he lives in Virginia and he’s a marketing and social media consultant. Fr-reak-ay.

Turns out, through the magic of Google, I’ve found many, many more:

David Saunders, Vice President of Service Operations for beverage equipment maker Bunn. Used to be with Sarah Lee. Mmmmm, donuts.

Dave “Mudcat” Saunders, Democratic political operative who ran Virginia Sen. Jim Webb’s campaign and was a senior advisor to former Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards. (BTW, if you get confused with alot of other Daves, it's a good idea to have a nickname. I think "mudcat" is probably the best nickname I've ever heard. In LA, I knew "Couch Dave," "Tropical Dave," "Neighbor Dave," and "Big Wave Dave.")

Dave Saunders, Portrait and Studio Photographer from Columbus Ohio. Nice samples of his work on his website--but, dude, you gotta get rid of the music.

And then there's Dave Saunders, the county music singer: Yeah, baby, he sings purty good.

But the best Dave Saunders story is the guy in London who I’ve never met, but wrote to in advance of his 21st birthday party. I’ve never met the young gentleman who shares my name, but was asked to write about what it was like being “Dave Saunders” at the request of his girlfriend Xanthe. Xanthe toiled through hundreds of Dave Saunders on Facebook connecting to guys from around the world. I wrote her Dave Saunders a happy birthday note:

Dear Dave,
There will never be another guy quite like you, Dave Saunders, but apparently there are several hundred "blokes" on the planet who share the same name.
Happy Birthday, by the way. If you're reading this, it must have meant you made it to your 21st birthday. You'll probably get "pissed" at the "pub." Have a wonderful time.
I am 41. My friends threw a surprise party for me last night. My wife organized it. I'm completely hungover. My head hurts.
My wife is from the UK, so she talks funny, too, just like you.
Here are the facts: There are hundreds of Dave Saunders and every single one of us is charming, intelligent and handsome. At least, they are in America, I don't know about the Dave Saunders "over there." You see, Saunders is a noble name handed down by dress-wearing warriors from the foothills of Scotland. In those days we weren't rich enough to live in highlands so we were relegated to "lollygagging" around a couple of mediocre-sized hills. Anyway, our ancestors were smart enough to stay in the back when the fighting started, always escaping, bruised from battle, but not dead. Our ancestors lived a long time and that's a good thing. Heroes die for their country. Saunders live for theirs. And to our great-great-great-great-grandads, who stayed in the rear with the gear, we say "thanks."
I don’t know if you know this or not, but during the American Revolution our ancestor Saunders sat on opposite sides of the frozen Delaware river, and mine said "This crap isn't worth it. You guys go ahead. I'll catch up with you in a little while." Your great-great-great-great-grandad slept through the battle and was spared. The point is that they didn't kill each other or get killed. They lived. They multiplied. That's why you get a hot girlfriend with the "cockamamie" idea to email hundreds of other Dave Saunders all over the planet. That's why I get to sit here at my computer half a world away, drinking Gatorade, eating aspirin like M&Ms, typing nonsense and wrapping "quotes" around words I think are "British." So we turned out smarter, not necessarily bigger or richer or famous, just smarter. It's in our DNA.
Saunders is of a patronymic origin and comes from the word Alexander and "son of Alexander" and...oh well, you're smart, you already know this stuff.
Also, Saunders is the only name that is singular and plural all at the same time, but you already knew that, too, I'm quite sure. I almost forgot; you’re smart.
So, I'm almost twice your age. Jeez. Uh, I guess I should give you advice on the future, because even though you are a "smart lad," you're only 21 and don't a know a whole helluva lot...yet. Remember, I am older and I am wiser than you. You should listen to me. I'm also better looking, despite being 20 years older than you. (Sorry but I did see your pictures on Facebook…couldn’t help myself. Xanthe “friended” me. )
I've learned a few things since I was 21. So, take my advice and you will live to 41, at the very, very least.

Don't smoke.
Wear sunscreen.
Use condoms.
Floss. (I'm not kidding)
Laugh everyday.
And whatever you do, don't break up with Xanthe. You should probably make her an "honorary" Saunders by marrying her. She's a keeper.
And buy this book. "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff"

Sincerely and best regards,
Dave "madmain" Saunders

PS: Just to let you know, there are 175 Million people on facebook, but only 693 Dave Saunders.