Serena Williams lost in the first round of a major for the first time. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Day 3 at the French Open was rolling along as expected, with nary a significant upset in sight … and then No. 111 Virginie Razzano of France scored the biggest victory of her career and handed Serena Williams her first loss in the opening round of a Grand Slam tournament.
Sloane Stephens was one of the 10 Americans to reach the second round. (Landov)
The second day of the French Open is in the books. Well, mostly in the books after still more matches were suspended due to darkness. On Monday, the American women remained perfect in Paris and Brian Baker kept on rolling.
American Woman: How’s this for a stat: The American women are 10-0 through the first two days of the French Open, and the top-ranked American hasn’t even taken the court yet.
The Daily Bagel is your dose of the interesting reporting, writing and quipping from around the Internet.
• As the French Open kicks off, here are some of the funnier moments from last year.
• Great piece here from Howard Bryant on Melanie Oudin.
Oudin is the game’s boom, simultaneously elevated and haunted by her sudden 2009 quarterfinal run at the U.S.
Many thanks to Consuela Hooblal for co-authoring this write-up and for inviting me to participate on the panel that is summarized below.
Last month, the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Greater New York Chapter Collegiate Relations Committee and USA TODAY co-sponsored a seminar geared towards HSMAI collegiate chapter members as well as students engaged in hospitality-focused marketing programs at local area colleges and universities. The panel was comprised of two hospitality veterans – Joe Radice, President of executive search firm Hospitality International, and Rose Genovese, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Denihan Hospitality Group – as well as two past HSMAI Collegiate Chapter Presidents – Matthew Gomberg, former NYU Chapter President and current Assistant Director of Human Resources at Ritz Carlton Central Park, and Greg Bodenlos, former Cornell University Chapter President and current Digital Marketing Specialist at The Mark. Each of the panelists offered their own personal insights into the best pragmatic ways for rising and graduating seniors alike to position themselves optimally for entry into the hospitality industry full-time.
The panel was moderated by Cornell University graduate and current Expedia Market Manager, Debra Stock, who elicited an assortment of responses from the participants about recommended preparation for an interview, examples of outstanding student applicants and the biggest mistakes made when looking for or interviewing for a job. A portion of the panel discussion centered on how to secure and make the most out of your internships leading up to the full-time. Furthermore, how to manage and optimize your own personal brand – through strengthening your online profiles and portfolio with social media – was discussed at length. Finally, audience members learned what executive search firms look for in candidates and gained feedback from each of the panelists on how to best harness youthful energy and ideas into a positive interview experience.
The attendee evaluation survey that was distributed post-event showed that attendees unanimously found each of the panelists provided clear, actionable guidance on how to better manage your personal brand and received insights from the panel that they weren’t previously privy to or had awareness of. Key session takeaways identified by the attendees specifically involved the interview, including:
In sum, the evening was extremely well-received by all the students, panelists and faculty attendees and will become a bi-annual HSMAI Greater New York Chapter event.
After starting 2012 on a 26-match win streak, Victoria Azarenka has seized control of the WTA power void. (Getty Images)
In last week’s Toss , tennis blogger Ben Rothenberg joined to assess Mardy Fish’s decision to skip the London Olympics. The top-ranked American got off to rough start to 2012, but was bailing on London a good idea? Well, sorry Ben, 59 percent of readers thought it was a good idea for the 30-year-old.
In the interest of immediately delivering to you – the loyal readership of The Social Sonic Traveler - my next batch of twenty soon-to-be (potentially) popular Top 40 singles “spinning on my iPod”, here’s a straight-forward, copy-free list that I have laboriously compiled, of indelible songs – ranging from hip-hop/R&B to country pop – that are radio-airplay ready. Click on the song title to listen and enjoy! Feedback as always is welcomed and appreciated in the comments section as I do take time (probably a lot more than I should) to put this list together.
Brandy featuring Chris Brown – Put It Down
Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo – Let’s Go
Cher Lloyd featuring Astro – Want U Back
Chiddy Bang featuring Icona Pop – Mind Your Manners
Daughtry – Outta My Head (Pop Mix)
DJ Denis featuring Juan Magan, Lil Jon & Baby Bash – Shuri Shuri (Let’s Get Loco)
Jay Sean featuring Pitbull – I’m All Yours
Little Boots – Every Night I Say A Prayer
Stefano featuring New Boyz & Rock Mafia – I’m On A Roll
TGIF readers! As the devoted dozen or so of you subscribers will know, my Songs Spinning on My iPod series typically publishes once a month, offering you my crystal-ball conjectures on what songs I believe will be primed for Top 40 mainstream radio success. Well, the two-week wait you may have expected for the next batch of songs is unnecessary, as below is an abbreviated – albeit still compelling – list of Top 40 tunes that have chart-climbing potential. As always, click on the song title to listen and enjoy the Twitter-length 140-character song descriptions accompanying.
Adam Lambert – Never Close Our Eyes
After lead single Better Than I Know Myself failed to make the impact it deserved, Lambert delivers this Dr. Luke and Cirkut produced second offering.
Serving as a quick follow-up to Top 3 charting UK single Elephant Burke offers this similarly danceable cut with hooky chorus and strong vocals.
B.o.B. featuring Taylor Swift – Both of Us
Following Top 10 singles Strange Clouds and So Good, singer-songwriter-rapper B.o.B. collaborates with Taylor Swift on this sure-fire hit duet.
UK singer Cheryl Cole connects with ubiquitous producer Calvin Harris on this sound-alike retread of his work on Rihanna’s We Found Love record.
Gym Class Heroes featuring Ryan Tedder – The Fighter
Riding a string of single success with high-charting Adam Levine and Neon Hitch duets, third single follows with an addicted Ryan Tedder feature.
After breaking through last year with Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 success, the group hopes to continue its Top 40 winning streak with this likable third single.
After a four-year hiatus, Mraz returns with this earnest, acoustic lead single that has already scaled the Top 10 based purely on download volume.
Without a Top 10 Pop single in over five years, Linkin Park hopes to return to Top 40′s good graces with this electro-hooky record that is the group’s most obvious attempt at mainstream success in some time.
Marina & The Diamonds – Prima Donna
Fresh off her US opening act stint on Katy Perry’s California Dreams Tour, British singer-songwriter Marina Lambrini Diamandis delivers her debut US single.
Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa – Payphone
Supergroup Maroon 5 collaborates with rapper Wiz Khalifa on the Shellback and Benny Blanco-produced, soon-to-be-omnipresent lead single from the band’s upcoming studio album.
Nelly Furtado – Big Hoops (Bigger the Better)
After a six-year gap between US album releases, Furtado returns to the spotlight with this thumping, urban leaning Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins-produced single.
After debuting in the Hot 100 Top 20 with 2010 single Animal, the band returns with their Picture Show sophomore album addictive lead single.
Allow me to preface this digital marketing post with an unabashed apology for the six-week delay on the publishing of this recap, as the summary that follows relates to a conference I attended at the end of February. That said, the sentiment and content affirmed here are both still very much relevant.
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While I certainly have an HSMAI bias and am quite enamored with the organization, I can resolutely state that this February’s 2012 HSMAI Digital Marketing Conference was THE best one-day conference relating to hospitality marketing that I have ever attended. The high-level conference – which took place the day after the HSMAI Adrian Awards at the Marriott Marquis in New York City – was tailor-made for engaged hospitality sales, marketing, e-commerce, revenue management and technology-savvy professionals looking to expand their working knowledge of this highly dynamic space.
The conference kicked off with an exceptional keynote delivery from Jason Harper, VP of Analytics & Marketing Intelligence at Organic, on Attribution & Analytics: How Do I Know If It Works for Me? A plethora of very advanced and insightful practices, techniques and tips were shared during this opening session, including a very targeted discussion debunking the common practice of equally weighing last click touch point in the purchase path.
The keynote surely set the right tone for the event, as the topics that followed covered – from varying perspectives – all reaffirmed that there’s a huge opportunity to get augmented digital marketing results. Next, Cindy Estis Green and conference moderator Bill Carroll led a rapid-fire panel discussion focusing of the key findings from Green’s recent HSMAI publication – Attribution & Distribution: Making the Connection. Ryan Stonehouse, Global Lead, Social Sales and Strategy, Google, followed with a timely discussion on “Social Media: The measures, the means, and the ends” and offered his take on Google’s future plans for socializing their many diverse product offerings.
The afternoon session kicked off with a riveting hour of social media “speed learning” sessions, where attendees were able to engage with subject matter experts and peers to understand what social strategies are working, and in what ways. This fast paced format allowed attendees to sit in on four of eight best practice discussions, learning directly from the marketers behind the case studies. Speed Learning case studies/topics included:
The day concluded with a series of keynotes focusing on mobile marketing – the trend identified by conference speakers and attendees alike as the “hottest” digital trend of focus for 2012. These keynotes focused on the customer’s mobile behaviors, the property’s marketing opportunities, and the best mobile practices and pitfalls to avoid when tackling the space.
Happy April everyone! As we are now officially entrenched in the “second quarter” of 2012, it’s time to share with you another edition of “Songs Spinning on My iPod.” As songs from my previous list begin to ascend the Top 40 charts, look for this next batch to follow-suit in the coming weeks or, in some cases – see Justin Bieber’s first-week debut today to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 - mere hours. In any case, enjoy this carefully curated list of current Top 40 music and my brief subjective commentary that accompanies each song. To listen, click on the song title or listen to all of the songs at once.
Kicking off the list with pure camp-value, this new single from obscure Danish band Alphabeat has really no chance of charting in the US. Full of glitz and 80s ostentation, the record is purest pop fluff at its best. And yet, we all need a dose of that once in a while right?
Carly Rae Jespen – Call Me Maybe
With high-profile endorsements from the likes of Justin Bieber and girlfriend Selena Gomez, this former Canadian Idol third-place finisher seemingly emerged out of the doldrums of pop obscurity into major label recording artist. On this her debut single taken from her first extended play, Curiosity, twenty-six year old Jepsen sings sweetly over a lightweight, however effervescent, melody adorned by strings and a bubbly beat. Already a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, expect this cut to continue its ascent to the chart’s highest echelons.
The Cataracs featuring Waka Flocka & Kaskade – All You
Having produced hit singles for the likes of Far East Movement, New Boyz and Dev, hip-hop indie-pop duo The Cataracs are already an established force behind-the-boards in the mainstream music scene. Here – with the assists from Waka Flocka and Kaskade – the duo makes their very fine case for solo artist stardom, as “All You” is an expertly crafted single that is both original in sound yet memorable given repeated listens. The rhymes, rhythms and vocals here are all first-rate, and it truly would be a shame for this record not to see the Top 40 success it so deserves.
A third place finisher on the first season of The X-Factor in the US, rapper Chris Rene releases his frequently-performed audition song “Young Homie” as his proper introduction to Top 40 radio. Established Top 40 producer Jonathan Rotem adds some much needed gloss and energy on a track that – while earnest and sincere – grew a bit listless on the show. View full article »
Since “officially” entering the hospitality digital marketing universe in 2009 – first as a social media strategist and then evolving my scope of work by focusing on larger, integrated digital marketing initiatives – my roles have consistently required a keen analytical approach. If we rewind three years ago, the social space was convoluted by ROI skepticism, with the hotel marketing key decision makers ascertaining a titanic level of uncertainty over why truly their hotel(s) should invest in social, location or even digital marketing for that matter. As a result, those specifically who “championed” the social media investment, at the time, were tasked with finding ways to prove their worth as digital marketers, focusing on media impressions acquired and social reach metrics – whenever available – to validate their “successes” for the hotels.
The Hotel Digital Marketing Specialist
In turn, I quickly evolved my approach as a social media strategist, who was initially concerned with the “soft” authenticity-building marketing benefits that social could achieve for your brand, and incorporated a layer of analytical reporting into each initiative I spearheaded. For example, each time I suggested investing in Facebook advertising spend, I first delivered a detailed one-pager of fan demographic data informing said initiative, accompanied by strategic objectives for the campaign(s) clearly defined, so that key stakeholders fully understood what they were trying to purposefully achieve.
Fast forward three years later and the hospitality digital marketing landscape has completely evolved. No longer are we, as digital advocates, pressured to persistently answer the question “is social media really worth investing in?” and now can focus on the more appropriate question of: “how do we leverage all of the digital channels available to optimize our hotel digital footprint and, more specifically, shift our distribution shares to that ideally sought after mix?” With this advancement in the space, possessing an analytical approach to the role has become all the more imperative. In 2012, I contend that the role of the hotel digital marketing and e-commerce professional is to – in collaboration with your property’s Directors of Sales & Marketing (DOSM), Revenue Management (DRM) and Public Relations (DPR) – identify, prioritize and action the digital marketing strategic initiatives with the highest ROI potential across multi-channels and platforms. With a well-reasoned approach, this challenge is not only achievable but, when carried out tactfully, can potentially yield a significant increase in optimal market share for your hotels.
LISTEN: Check out my All Things Considered feature on National Public Radio (NPR) –
Alexandra Burke – Let It Go
Cheryl Cole – Call My Name
Hot Chelle Rae – Honestly
Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up
Linkin Park – Burn It Down
Neon Trees – Everybody Talks
Alphabeat – Vacation
Chris Rene – Young Homie