World in Motion

How to remove connections on LinkedIn!

2013-05-03T20:08:00.001-04:00

I seem to get asked this question quite often. It really isn't talked about much and to be fair, LinkedIn doesn't do a great job of making it obvious to the user. So, as part of my new blog series, I want to provide answers to some of the questions that I get asked and to those questions that I want answers to! Without wasting any more of your time, here goes...

How to remove a LinkedIn connection:

1) Hover over "Contacts" and click "Connections"

2) Click "Remove Connections"

3) Select the contacts you wish to remove and then click "Remove Connections"

That's it! I hope that helps answer your question!

~Until Next Time~

WIM

GasBuddy Dot Com Review

2012-12-12T20:58:00.000-05:00

My new favorite app is here! I'm sure I'm pretty late to the game but either way I still thought it was worth sharing. The other day I was in desperate need for gas when I realized I didn't have enough Giant Gas Points to get me a solid discount from Shell. So...I went to the App Store and downloaded GasBuddy. The great thing about it was that it was so easy to use. Better yet, it sorts out all the gas stations by price so you can always find the cheapest location nearby! The other thing I found particularly useful was that it gave you gas prices for regular, midgrade, premium, and diesel gas. If you haven't already, go ahead and download GasBuddy! Do you have any favorite travel apps? If you do, I would love to hear about them! Leave me a comment with some of your favorites.

~Until Next Time~

WIM

Never Say No To Panda Cheese

2012-12-10T20:18:00.000-05:00

Never ever say NO to Panda! Hahah...probably one of the greatest commercials out there. This thing is fantastic. If you're the kind of person who loves very subtle humor, this is it right here. This particular series of commercials was produced in Egypt by Advance Marketing for Arab Dairy, the manufacturers of Panda Cheese. The commercial features a giant panda who torments people for wanting to try the deliciousness that is Panda Cheese. The video below is a compilation of all the Panda commercials and certainly features enough amusement for an entire day! Personally, I would have to say my favorite bit is when the hospital patient turns down the Panda Cheese and the camera slowly pans to the Panda disconnecting the IV. Love it. What about you? What was your favorite bit?

~Until Next Time~

WIM

IKEA 'Playin' With My Friends'

2012-10-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

IKEA has come out with a new campaign called “Entertaining” in the U.K. and Ireland. The spot “stars a group of kids and their wacky friends—an enormous stuffed bear, a giant toy robot, a life-size action figure, and others—preparing a dinner party in an IKEA kitchen while dancing to [a] goofy song” (AdWeek). Mother London, the agency behind the campaign, claims that the spot “explores the insight that adults and children all behave better when they're sat around the same table together, rather than the children being sat at the end of the table"(AdWeek). A very heart warming spot from our favorite company from Sweden. Now…if only they could make building their furniture a little less complicated!

~Until Next Time~

WIM

Marlboro Special Blend

2012-09-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

Originally seen on Shadow Aspect, I couldn't help but post this. As I'm sure you are very well aware cigarettes are quite expensive, yet, people continue to buy them for whatever reason! What better way to advertise the high cost of smoking than emulating the dollar bills you are literally inhaling! Very clever! What do you think?

~Until Next Time~

WIM

Nokia vs. Samsung vs. Apple

2012-09-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

Nokia wanted to jump in on the fun...haha. Interesting idea!

~Until Next Time~

WIM

It doesn't take a genius.

2012-09-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

"Samsung's new press ad arguably promotes the iPhone 5 pretty well."

As seen on Ads of the World

~Until Next Time~

WIM

Nike Jogger: Find Your Greatness

2012-08-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

Nothing like obesity to strike a conversation of both hatred and praise. Nike's "Find Your Greatness" campaign was a huge hit during the Olympics even if they weren't a sponsor! There were a number of different spots but the one that seemed to get under peoples skin was the one featuring Nathan Sorrell, dubbed by some as the "fat kid" running down the street.

There isn't anything particularly special, it's just him running. What makes it really good, is the voice over. You wouldn't think this would be that big of a problem, but I suppose a lot of people are getting upset that Nike is exploiting this kid for the simple purpose of selling shoes. I wouldn't necessarily say they are exploiting him, but sorry, they're a business, and it's their job to sell a product. And come one now, hasn't Nike had some far worse business practices in the past for us to worry about?

Here we are spending time hating on Nike and this poor kid, but why aren't we praising them for tackling the issue of obesity head on. None of their competitors are doing it, they took a risk and it paid off. Big time. Nathan on the other hand, we should be showing him nothing but kindness. This guy had all the courage in the world to film a commercial of him recognizing that he has a problem and that he hopes to try fix it by whatever means possible. That right there is pretty bold.

At the end of the day, if you still don't like the commercial, then direct all your frustration at Nike. For those who haven't seen it yet, check it out and as always remember to leave your comments below!

~Until Next Time~
WIM

Durex salutes every man who isn't as fast as Usain Bolt

2012-08-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Durex seems to play these things off perfectly. Talk about a clever piece of promotion! There isn't much you can really do but laugh...haha. Everything seems to blend together perfectly but my only thought is whether or not they would have still done this if Bolt would have placed second or third in his races. I figure at that point they would just replace the name with whoever won. Anyways, well played as usual.

~Until Next Time~

WIM

American Airlines: You + Me = Friends Forever

2012-07-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Dear American Airlines,

You and I are officially friends forever. I didn't mean to post about this so late, but one thing lead to the other and well you know how that goes. Anyways, what's important is that I'm here now and I wanted to share the experience I had with your airline with my current and future readers.

Very best,

Kenneth Westling

Let me begin by saying that American Airlines seriously went above and beyond the call of duty here. I'll try to be as concise as possible, but I want to make sure I include all the details. On the morning of April 30th, my wife and I left for Dulles International Airport expecting to leave on our honeymoon to St. Lucia via Miami at 6 AM. Everything was going according to plan and with a flight leaving at 6AM, you would think that nothing could really get in our way. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse.

We boarded our flight at approximately 5:30 in the morning excited and ready to go, but that excitement quickly faded when we were told that the plane had a mechanical error and the part they needed to replace could only be retrieved from a nearby airport. Needless to say, we had to get off the plane. I can't say we were pleased, but we were trying our best not to let the situation get us down. That changed very quickly when we found out the plane was going to be delayed by 5 hours and we were going to not only miss our connecting flight to St. Lucia, but we were also going to miss our first night at our resort in St. Lucia that we had paid for. Looking for an outlet to complain I did what all people do when they want to complain, I went to Twitter.

In times like these I look to Twitter to express my displeasure with @AmericanAir.Zero communication going on over at Dulles. #delayed
— Kenneth Westling (@westlingk) April 30, 2012

So what happened next is where everything really begins. Immediately after sending that tweet, I received a message from American Airlines asking what the problem was. After exchanging a few messages, my original thought was that they do this with everyone, but really, I doubt anything is going to come of this. Little did I know, they took my complaints to heart and told me they would try get our vacation back on the right foot.

We finally embarked on our journey and made our way towards Miami. As we were waiting to get off the plane in Miami we hear someone go on the intercom and say "Will Mr. and Mrs. Westling please step to the side when leaving the aircraft." Initially, I thought to myself, oh great, I didn't mean it!" But to my surprise there was a woman named Lori standing there from the American Airlines customer service department. Lori explained how sorry she was, and wanted to make things right. She explained to me how she saw my tweets, and when I say saw, I mean literally saw my tweets. In her hand was a piece of paper with my Twitter profile and all the tweets I sent!! She said she knew exactly who she was looking for. Well, because of this, she explained how sorry she was for the inconvenience, and as a treat she not only gave us some spending cash in Miami, but she set us up for the night, and best of all, we received business class tickets to St. Lucia AND allowed us to move our flights one extra day free of charge so that we could extend our honeymoon.

This was by far the greatest piece of customer service I've ever received. From my experience, companies rarely go that one extra step to drastically change a customers experience. Usually they leave that to a few carefully crafted words. But what you had here, was not only the web aspect, but you also had Lori who greeted us in Miami and made the whole experience personable. It really felt like they cared, and that really mattered.

American Airlines went the extra mile and for that I wanted to say thank you, and I look forward to flying again with you in the near future.

~Until Next Time~

WIM

Best Buy: Innovators

2012-06-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to post this commercial for quite some time, but for whatever reason I just haven't had the time. Anyways, I'm sure your familiar with this one, but Best Buy produced this commercial that originally aired during the Super Bowl (I think), and it features some of the worlds leading innovators. Now, I thought this commercial was pretty cool all around. I mean, I've never seen the person who invented the camera phone, or, even the person who invented SMS. That right there is pretty cool. On the other hand, what this post is going to gear towards, is that it bothers me that this commercial features the two guys who invented "Words with Friends." Are you serious? First of all, you invented a mobile version of a game called "SCRABBLE" that was originally created in 1948!! How on earth do you classify that as an innovator? Granted, Mr. Bettner has worked on some high profile games in the past, but to be included in this spot is just a little ridiculous. Anyhow, I've wanted to voice that for a while now. Let me know what you think!

~Until Next Time~
WIM

Nike: I Would Run To You

2012-05-28T22:50:00.000-04:00

Nike's "I would run to you" features two lovers looking to do whatever they can to be with each other. "Whatever they can" in this case involves running across the U.S. until they finally can be with one another. Wieden+Kennedy, the agency behind this commercial, shot the spot in three cities and five states over the course of 11 days. The commercials two main characters engage in a catchy duet that features the woman running gracefully with her new Nikes, and the man running well...not so gracefully. He actually ends up in the hospital and has some sort of revelation where he realizes that he could just stay where he is while his girlfriend runs...to him! Things certainly became easier for him at this point. This romantic twist on running was a winner for Nike. They do a great job of not only telling us that running is fun, but it also hints that running is something you could do with the person you love. It's worth checking out. Let me know what you thought!

~Until Next Time~
WIM

Thoughts on Facebook LIKES and Fan Pages

2012-05-09T21:28:00.001-04:00

I've been meaning to write about this for quite some time...but todays post is about Facebook LIKES.

There is nothing more amusing than reading the different ways people use the word LIKE.

I really wish we could get back to the days where we called a company brand page, a fan page. Or better yet, we could compromise, why not define them as fan pages but still use the word LIKE to engage people to become a member of that community.

Its become quite amusing reading the different ways people integrate the word LIKE into their posts. Just to mention a few, we have the all caps lock LIKE, the LIKE in italics, the spaced out L-I-K-E, the quotations "like" or the quotations caps lock "LIKE"... it seems like no one really knows how to incorporate it into their posts. Can we get some sort of Facebook guide book or something?

I'm obviously not saying that the whole "LIKE US" thing is a bad idea, it's simple, but that's what makes it work. But I wish we could have kept with the Fan page concept and just incorporated the whole "LIKE US" idea into that mix.

What do you think?

Thoughts on QR Codes and Shazam

2012-03-28T09:46:00.000-04:00

I've said this before, but I think QR codes are useless. You see them everywhere, but the thing is, they take you to something that's not even optimized for your mobile phone. They don't help me get from Point A to Point B. It DOES however, get me to somewhere in between.

On the other hand, we have Shazam. The team behind Shazam did exactly what I was hoping someone would do. They made it extremely EASY for users to become more engaged. It's one app with MULTIPLE uses. It doesn't make the process DIFFICULT. It's STREAMLINED, and connects you to all your favorite social media services. Not saying scanning something isn't difficult, but in my opinion it's far easier to whip out your phone and Shazam something. Also, let's be honest here, QR Codes simply do not look nice at all. They take up space, and are just unpleasant to look at. Hoping to see more of Shazam and less of this QR business.

Thoughts?

Introducing "the least interesting man in the world"

2012-02-17T09:32:00.000-05:00

You really can't help but laugh. Denver's Breckenridge brewery has come into the spotlight and introduced us to "the least interesting man in the world." Sound familiar? Well it should! Up until now, we've seen commercials from Dos Equis, and their "Most Interesting Man in The World" but this commercial introduces us to Bob, who claims that "[he] always drink beer. And when [he] do[es], [he] prefer[s] good beer."

Hands down, a pretty clever concept. They even went and poked fun at Corona's beach commercials, you know, the ones with the two people on the beach? Well, instead of enjoying a beer on the beech, our friend Bob has the beach on his TV. Turns out that Bob doesn't really care about the beach, and wants to enjoy his beer over some football. There is certainly no denying that Bob is "the least interesting man in the world" but I mean who are we catering this too? Lazy college kids? Do we not want to be interesting? Do we just want to be original? That's where I think this spot fails, and Dos Equis and Corona win. Whether or not they are actually good tasting beers, Dos Equis and Corona are much more appealing based on their commercials alone. Come on, really? I think we would all rather be the most interesting man in the world.

~Until Next Time~
WIM

See what happens when John Stamos comes between a woman and her Oikos.

2012-02-10T23:16:00.001-05:00

This could be my favorite commercial from this years Super Bowl. In the midst of all the other ones, this commercial stuck out primarily because it had such a hidden flare to it. A commercial starring John Stamos for Oikos Greek Yoghurt (Stamos and Oikos? I like the similarity) and a possible lover, find themselves playfully fighting over a cup of Oikos. The woman eventually gets sick and tired of Stamos, and delivers the headbutt of ALL headbutts and knocks Stamos to the ground.

What I loved about this was that it was just so unexpected. It actually reminded me of something Doritos would have have done. They are usually the ones behind this sort of stuff, so it was interesting seeing another company try take a stab at it.

What did you think? Did you like it? What was your favorite?

~Until Next Time~
WIM

Takeoff to Bollywood with Finnair!

2012-01-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, what you have in front of you today is the largest show of emotion you will ever find from a Finn. Believe me. I'm from Finland! Granted, I can't say I'm the most typical Finn, but Finns are known to be extremely serious, and don't really show emotion all that often. Having said that, I'm extremely surprised by this video from Finnair. The crew must have downed a bottle of Finlandia the night before to take part in this in-flight dance to Delhi to celebrate India's Republic Day on January 26th. The video quality could have been a touch better, but overall, I'm happy to see Finnair take part in this sort of advertising. Very unexpected, but overall, I thought it rejuvenated the Finnair brand and made it look a little more 'alive'. Hyvä Suomi!

~Until Next Time~
WIM

STA Travel Australia "Move"

2012-01-16T08:30:00.000-05:00

This commercial for STA Travel, titled "MOVE", is part of a campaign called "I Want To Know." At first glance, it resembled the Levi's commercial where the guy walked across America. Sort of the same concept, but STA travel tweaked it a bit.

STA travel came out with three headings titled 'Move', 'Eat', 'Learn', and took footage from a 6 week trip and condensed to 1 minute. The one I have for you today (my personal favorite) is for the heading 'Move'. Everything seems to work in unison, and I really enjoyed how it was put together with the music.

~Until Next Time~
WIM

This week's drinking and driving specials

2012-01-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

I guess I didn't get around to posting during the holidays, but that's understandable right? Luckily, what I have for you this morning is an ad I came across during my trip to London. Cleverly designed to mimic a typical pub advert, this ad highlights the realities of drinking and driving. Oddly enough, I feel like this was particularly effective because you didn't expect it. Here I was thinking I was reading some actual drink specials, when all of a sudden I realized it was a public service announcement.

I thought this was particularly well done. Sometimes you get tired of seeing the same graphic depictions of what happens when you drive drunk, so this was a nice change of pace.

What do you think?

Skateboarder Rob Dyrdek kick-flips Chevy Sonic for ad

2011-12-20T09:53:00.000-05:00

Source: AUTOWEEK

I won't take too much of your time this morning, I'm actually leaving for London this afternoon! (Pretty pumped about that) Having said that, posting will be quite sparse as I'll be busy doing other things, but I hope to put something up! The post I have for you this morning though, will certainly not disappoint.

Rob Dyrdek, a professional skateboarder and MTV star, embarked on one of the craziest stunts to date. Combining both his driving and skateboarding skills, Rob performed a KICK FLIP with his Chevy Sonic. For those of you that aren't familiar with skateboarding terminology, a kick flip sounds pretty much like what it does, the board...flips. Now, imagine the thought of flipping a car! The stunt is part of Chevrolets new ad campaign that features some more non traditonal stuff like their new hatchback driving out of a plane, as well as another one that features The Sonic rolled off a 100-foot tower with a bungee cord attached. The stunt is extrmeley impressive, and yes, it certianly does boost the appeal of the car, but will I go out and buy it? Probably not. Would you?

~Until Next Time~
WIM

Would you play video games at the urinal?

2011-12-16T12:26:00.000-05:00

Source: SmartPlanet

You can count on the Brits for everything these days can't you? Captive Media, a tech start-up based in the U.K., have turned a regular urinal into a full functioning game console. Just when you thought you couldn't make going to the bathroom anymore fun, this innovative concept allows you to literally piss and play.

With a variety of games to choose from, the most dangerous (as seen by the video) is appropriately titled "On the Piste." The game allows users ski down a mountain and have their turns dictated by peeing left, and right. (Don't expect me to be playing next to the drunk bloke on either side of me). Something like this would only work if it was free, but it seems like it will cost you. Even with the ads Captivate hopes to display, I don't see it working out in the long term, and I can't imagine these bars/restaurants willing to pay for the installation of this technology. Cool idea though.

~Until Next Time~
WIM

For gifts you can't wait to give

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

What more than a little Christmas cheer to start your Thursday? John Lewis, a department store in the UK, came out with this £5m pound ad that has households across the UK grabbing for their tissues. As the ad plays out, you slowly begin to feel a rush of childhood memories. I for one, remember waiting in anticipation for the moment I could open the first day of the advent calendar and eat the chocolate that's been patiently waiting but only to find out that I have another 23 days of chocolate goodness to get through. As we track the very patient young boy, his excitement is almost too much to handle, and he tries to find ways to make the time go faster. After what seems like an eternity, Christmas Day is finally here, and what else does a kid want to do on Christmas Day? Open presents, that's right! Wrong. We seemed destined to believe that the young boy was genuinely interested in opening his presents, until we see the boy deliver a very important message. It's better to give, than to receive. Truly, a heartfelt message, and a well delivered ad. What are some of your early childhood Christmas memories?

~Until Next Time~
WIM

It's lonely out there for a dictator

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Who would have thought that we would once find ourselves watching a commercial featuring the world's most famous dictators. I wouldn't think so at least. But I guess I was wrong. Nando's, the global grilled-chicken chain, together with director, Dean Blumberg, created an ad that features a lonely Robert Mugabe, reminiscing about the good old days with his friends Muammar al-Qaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin and a few other friendly faces. This is certainly something we would never see here in the U.S. I can't even imagine the backlash something like this would receive. But, then again, that's why we count on these other countries to produce commercials like these for people like me to talk about.

Paired together with the song "Those Were The Days" by Mary Hopkin, the ad shows us a glimpse of some of the good times shared by these dictators. We begin with Mugabe having a water fight with his pal Muammar al-Qaddafi, and even going as far to showcase his token golden gun. We then find Mugabe playing in the sand with a smiling Saddam Hussein, but not before we got a chance to see him singing karaoke with our good friend, Mao. I think the ad really hit a high note when we find Mugabe and Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, on the back of a tank re-enacting the famous pose first seen on the Titanic, where Leonardo DiCaprio is holding Kate Winslet.

As the ad comes to a close, we find a lonely Mugabe sitting at an empty table, with many of his past friends missing from the dinner party. A voice over comes along and says "no one should ever have to eat alone" so please indulge yourself in a Nando's 6-pack meal.

Obviously, this ad hit a few nerves when it was first released, and from what I found, I think it was eventually taken down. On the other hand, I applaud Nando's for taking a such a risk, and creating a commercial of this stature. This could have very easily gone wrong, but they managed to create something with the right amount of humor that made it very funny to watch.

~Until Next Time~
WIM

Vending Machine at Airport Prints Custom Banners

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

What a BRILLIANT idea! I was browsing through PSFK earlier and came across this gem. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport recently installed a machine that prints out "welcome home" banners. With prices ranging from €3.95 to €14.95, you can customize your banner to read whatever you want. I mean, it's pretty clever. Generally, people go to the airport pretty excited to see whoever is coming in, and if you didn't have time to make your banner (or thought of making one), this genius time zapper, let's you spend the time in the arrivals hall crafting your own welcome message rather than impatiently waiting for whoever it is to get through customs. At the end of the day, the machine creates a positive experience for the person arriving, and the person making the banner, and more importantly, leaves them with a positive impression of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

~Until Next Time~

WIM

RAM Racing: How NOT to run a social media page

2011-12-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I took part in the inaugural Washington, DC Hot Chocolate 15K/5K operated by RAM Racing. From those who took part, it goes without saying, the entire event was a complete disaster. That aside, I'm not here to talk about what made this event unsuccessful, but rather, what made this event fail from a social media standpoint.

As many others do, people look to a company Facebook page for event related information, as well as for any immediate updates that are critical for people to know on raceday. The Facebook page for the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K failed on many levels. The page itself was bombarded with hundreds of negative comments before the race even began. With the race even being over, the page continues to be a haven for people expressing their displeasure for how the event took place. People hated it so much, they even went so far as to create a new Facebook page appropriately titled, "EPIC FAIL: Hot Chocolate 15K/5K."

First off, if you plan on using a Facebook page as a means of communication, please do so. We want information, we don't want "Fun Facts." So let's begin! As I made my way to National Harbor, you could tell there was something wrong right away. The amount of traffic was unreal. According to the Facebook page there was a severe accident that caused a major backup. As a result, a majority of the runners were not able to make it to the race on time. At this point, all we were told was that the race was going to be delayed 15 minutes. Funny enough, it appears that there was no accident at all, and as it seems race directors were looking to jump on any excuse for the delay and thought that a car accident would suffice. According to a majority of the comments I've read, there was no accident at all. I'd take them as pretty accurate as they were written by people IN the backup.

After hearing this, the comments began rolling in, one complaint after another. 100+ comments later, there was still NO update from race directors. One would think that if these directors cared at all, they would make some sort of a conscious effort in informing runners that their spot in the race was not going to be jeopardized, and that they were doing their best in making sure everyone got to the starting line safely. Unfortunately, there was nothing along those lines, but rather a page filled with complaints. I would only imagine these people would care, seeing that no race could take place if no one was there to attend. I'm not asking for much here, just a small little update showing us that you CARE and that you're looking out for us.

With no updates from anyone at RAM Racing, we all of a sudden got the ONLY update of the day as to what was happening, and that was that the beginning of the race was now pushed to 8:15 to allow those in traffic to arrive. With hundreds and hundreds of comments coming in, this is all you could muster up? Come on now. With the flood gates now open to complaints, there was no communication from RAM Racing for another 7 hours! People have been training, and looking forward to this day for who knows how long, but all you could manage to type was that the race was now being pushed back. Take a moment and address people's concerns even if you need to go through them comment by comment. Otherwise, don't bother having a page up at all.

Now, what happened next is really what got me going. It's one thing if no one was monitoring the Facebook page, but it's another if someone from RAM Racing is there DELETING comments, and going as far as BLOCKING people from commenting on the wall. Here you have people clearly very upset, and all you can do is delete people's comments? People paid $65 for a race that didn't live up to expectations and for a jacket that at best, resembled a fashionable looking poncho.

All you had to do was SAY SOMETHING. SHOW US you actually care. There wasn't one instance where someone from RAM Racing tried to facilitate the very hectic day for any of the participants. And, on top of that, when they did decide to say something all they had to say was that there were "issues with today's race", and nothing more. No apology, nothing. No mention to the fact that they were deleting comments for whatever reason. Even in that example, all you had to say was, sorry, if you have noticed that your comments were deleted, we do not condone any sort of profanity, and leave it at that. I don't even know if there was profanity, but tell them they were being deleted for a reason. Otherwise, it just looks like you were trying to cover yourselves up, and it looks incredibly sketchy.

Unfortunately, it still appears that those at RAM Racing have learned nothing. A half hearted apology was posted on their Facebook wall, which didn't actually seem like an apology at all. From what I calculated, the owners certainly left Saturday's event with a hefty chunk of change. With the enormous amount of negative feedback this event received, and the number of people who displayed their displeasure, you would think that the owners at RAM Racing would maybe TRY win back their support by offering some sort of incentive for people to sign up next year, and from what it looks like, it might not even take place. But hey, here's an idea. Give the 20,000 racers, or whatever the number was, some sort of "I'm sorry" gift. Give them a free shirt, give them a coupon to Melting Pot for some more CHOCOLATE fondue, give them SOMETHING. People will like you a lot more if you do in fact show us you are deeply sorry, and would do anything to win back the support of DC. Unfortunately, from what it seems, you are doing everything you can to make sure no one signs up for your race again.

I really understand they were hoping for this event to go without any problems, but the moment you think more about yourself than the people attending your event, that's when things go wrong. Take a moment and imagine if you were in the runners shoes, and what you would want to hear, and how you would feel if this happened to you. Unfortunately, some people never learn, and they pay for it later.

Before I go ahead and post this, I noticed there was an update from race director, Steve Nearman, from the Wilson Bridge Half Marathon, which not only shows some sort of thought process but also that he cares. Hell, he didn't even take part in this weekend's race and he is already issuing a statement. Far more than anything I saw from the people at RAM Racing. Talk about GOOD PR! Here is what he said:

With that said, I understand this was quite a long rant, but I open this up to all the other participants who took part in the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K this past weekend, and even to those who have taken part in previous RAM Racing events. I'd enjoy hearing your comments, and despite all the problems that occurred, I hope everyone managed to have a great day otherwise.

~Until Next Time~

WIM