Since we can’t seem to do anything without a smartphone in our hands these days, it has become pretty easy to track interest in events. Check out the graph below, which shows the use of sports apps by members of the Arbitron Mobile smartphone panel.

Said Arbitron Mobile in press release last week:

In the two weeks following the NFL championship game on February 3, use of mobile sports apps by men, age 18 and older in the Arbitron panel, plummeted from 12.9 percent to 10.0 percent. Starting the week of March 10, as fans starting filling out their brackets for the NCAA Tourney, use of mobile sports apps boomed, reaching 13.7 percent of men, age 18 and older during the week of the “Elite 8″ and the opening games of Major League Baseball.

The initial spike seen from the NCAA is thanks to what we all know as March Madness (a multi-week frenzy at the end of basketball season), but what I found most interesting was that the usage increase continued through the opening week of baseball season. This is regular season, out performing the NFL’s biggest game and college basketball’s end-of-season madness. Which kind of makes sense when you look at the sports, especially when you take into account my personal app usage.

I’m most using smartphone sports apps during baseball season, because it takes a little extra help to keep up to date on a 162-game regular season.

Also included in the data dump was the insight that smartphone sports applications are used by a dominatingly male audience. But what might surprise you is when the data breaks down into age group — men aged 35-44 are the top users of mobile sports apps. Men in their teens, 20s and early 30s are in fact the least-using of sports apps.

If I had to guess? Those aged 18-34 still have time to actually WATCH the sports. Perhaps the rest are just busier, and have to rely on a mobile app to keep up with their team’s season.

Data from U.S. Arbitron Mobile Trends Panels™ Service, March 2013

Totally good for you!

Our office manager got these new “fruit” snacks at work — it was a love-it-or-hate it selection.

It was a big hit, for example, with guys like our junior systems administrator; not so much with more health-conscious, whole-food eaters around the office.

One comment: ”BTW, did you have a look at the nutritional information on that bag? Scary!”

So I decided to investigate, and these are my findings based on a close examination of each ingredient listed:

• Corn Syrup: Um, it’s CORN and that’s a vegetable and everyone knows that vegetables are good for you!
• Sugar: Couldn’t we all really use a little more sweetness in our lives?
• Apple puree concentrate: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Beside, this is made from “concentrate,” which helps you think!
• Water: We should all be drinking more water anyway.
• Modified corn starch: Hello! Corn again. This stuff is awesome. They even modified it to make it better!!
• Gelatin: We be gellin! It makes it soft and comfortable.
• Citric acid: Isn’t that made from citrus fruits, and Vitamin C is good for you.
• Ascorbic acid: This only helps you to “ascorb” all the good things in this great-for-you snack!
• Natural and Artificial flavor: Hello? “Natural” means from nature, so that’s excellent. “Artificial” means from science, and everyone knows that science makes things awesome!
• Coconut Oil: Coconuts save lives. I’ve seen it on Man Vs. Wild.
• Carnuaba Wax: Wax is natural and good, and this kind is also used in car care products to make them look beautiful. It can do that same for you!
• Sodium Citrate: This is the same stuff they put in the cheese powder in Kraft Mac & Cheese, which is like the best thing ever. Total Yummo!
• Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1: Colors are pretty.

So eat up and enjoy! As shown here, these “fruity” snacks include only vegetables, fruit and the best super-awesome science has to offer.

The Swartz – Stone Brewing Company Smoked Porter Cupcake

When the opportunity recently came up to combine two of my favorite things — beer and cupcakes — I pretty much fell all over myself to get involved.

Getting to nominate a concept for a beer-themed cupcake was a chance I couldn’t pass off. Finding out the cupcake creation was going to be named “The Swartz” was, well, icing on the … you know.

The Toque and Apron recently published the how-to on “The Swartz.”

When it came to selecting the beer to go with for this delicacy, I asked myself not “what’s your favorite beer?” but instead “what beer would you most like to see turned into a cupcake?”

I put together a list of six finalists, and when it was finally settled on Stone Brewing Co.’s Smoked Porter — well, the result was pastry perfection.

A big hat’s off to Stone for creating this great brew, but the bulk of the credit has to go to Chef Genevieve Reyes for her execution. The result was a mocha-inspired cupcake with a buttercream frosting. Chef topped the treat with a chocolate-covered coffee bean.

I can truly say, this is my favorite cupcake — and not just because it’s named after me.

—

Check out The Swartz for yourself here.

While watching Brett Favre beat the Panthers on MNF was a pretty cool four-hour experience, it was 30 minutes spent above Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point that gave me pretty much the best day on the job ever.

It gave me this video:

And it gave me the below article (source wcti12.com, article has been archived or removed, or I would have linked to it):

Me and my YAK-52

The point was to offer a behind-the-scenes preview of just one of the features awaiting attendees of the 2012 MCAS Cherry Point “Celebrate the Heritage” Air Show.

The Northeast Raiders brought two of their aircraft — one a YAK-52 and the other a CJ-6A Nanchang — to Cherry Point, and each is equipped with inverted fuel and oil systems permitting inverted flight for as long as two minutes.

The air show is expected to attract about 150,000 people, and Lt. Col. Ken Asbridge said they’ll all have an explosive experience.

“The Marine Air-Ground Task Force (show) literally features a wall of fire,” Asbridge said. “There’s a simulated enemy, and (you can) really see Marines in action. You’re going to see them dropping bombs and there will be explosions — big explosions.”

Probably the most anticipated aerial performers will be the Blue Angels, which Asbridge said he’s most looking forward to seeing.

But the highlight of the show Monday was the duo from the Northeast Raiders. Marty “Raider” Sheehan piloted his bright red YAK-52, while Keith “Wizard” McKinley showed off his CJ-6A Nanchang.

Flying in tandem, the two aircraft took off together and performed carefully choreographed stunts several thousand feet in the air — each flight with white-knuckled members of the media in the back seat.

Flying around a handful of journalists allowed the Raiders to present their case for most exciting show off terra firma, but the two-seater planes are also on hand trying to turn the stomachs of a few special passengers.

“We’re glad to get the chance to fly around some of the Wounded Warriors,” said Sheehan, who served more than two decades in the Marine Corps. “These are men and women who have lost their legs and arms fighting for our country, and they just want to get back out there. It’s a real reward (to get to fly with them); it’s a real honor.”

The show kicks off Friday night at 7:30, with gates opening at 5 p.m. Friday’s festivities will run until about 10 p.m. The action will run Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Gates open those days at 8 a.m.

Both attendance and parking for the air show are free, and the Marines at Cherry Point are proud to open their gates to the community.

“It’s a chance to see just what the Marine Corps does,” Asbridge said. “And it’s our chance to show the community how proud we are to defend their freedom.”

As for that 30-minute flight on Monday, for the crew from NewsChannel 12 it was over all too soon. It’s a good thing the action picks back up May 4-6.

Those 30 minutes above MCAS Cherry Point were amazing, and I’m betting they’ll be tough to top.

@swartzdesk

SORRY, FOLKS: I’m going to make you read a little bit about me before you get to the list of Twitter awesomeness below (or, I guess you could just skip right to the list).

I used to be one of those people with two “personal” accounts on Twitter. I say two personal accounts, because I’m not talking about multiple accounts that people have when one of them is THEM-them and the rest are representing a brand they own or manage.

No, until recently, there were two John Swartzes out there. Well, one John Swartz, and one unnamed guy with “swartz” in the screen name, but it wasn’t exactly clear (unless you knew me) which guy-with-Swartz-in-his-last-name that might be.

The tactic was effective. I was in journalism working for an ABC station in North Carolina which came complete with a Social Media Code of Ethics. I had to have a buttoned-down personal/professional account that I used to represent myself as a company employee publicly. And the other account, well it was mostly friends that knew about that one.

After a recent need to reduce my personal social activity because I was, quite frankly, maxing out my bandwidth (I also manage accounts for three other brands professionally), I’ve since condensed everything into a single account — finally, just one ME. If you follow me on Twitter now, you’ll get everything — tips for social and brand development, a side-car seat down my journey as a new dad, a front-row seat as I enjoy the craft beer scene, sometimes some joking around, and even a few rants and musings about the world around me. You’ll get the Head of Editorial Content for @Technorati, the Publisher of @TheManFAQ, and the West Coast columnist for @BeerArmy. I try to be very open about my affiliations, so you know what you’re getting.

All that being said, it has been an interesting experience combining my Twitter selves. My new feed certainly reflects that! I have taken the liberty of pulling a sample of the people I’m following who I feel really round out my Twitter experience.

ALL-AROUND GREATNESS
@teedubya — Travis Wright describes himself  quite accurately, as a “digital disrupter and interactive awesomeizer.” He’s a tech blogger who is also a stand-up comedian and keynote speaker. So you can bet his tweets cover the full spectrum. He’s also the guy that taught the Kansas City Chiefs a valuable lesson.

INFORMATION SOURCES
@weeddude – Michael Rusch is the night editor for Buzz Feed, and I’ve always liked my news with a bit of a rough edge, and this account provides that. If that’s your thing, you could almost treat Rusch’s account as a one-man wire service.

@chrisbrogan — Chris Brogan is the top dog at Human Business Works. His content is great for learning about how to make actual connections in the ever-so-much-more-digital world we live and work in. I find myself clicking on his links very often. I also subscribe to his website’s newsletter. He’s not all square, either. He tweeted lyrics to a Jay-Z song earlier today.

@JohnAguiar — John Paul Aguiar is another blogger whose links I find myself clicking on several times a day. He’s a great resource for other bloggers and social media users.

@scottkleinberg & @JeffElder — You can take the man out of the newsroom, but … well you get the rest. Scott Kleinberg and Jeff Elder are both extremely active on the social media scene’s in their respective cities. Kleinberg is the SM Editor for the Chicago Tribune, while Elder holds that same position at the San Francisco Chronicle. I love following SM Eds for major newspapers because not only are they connected to all that city’s information (they work in newsrooms after all), but they’re extremely active on social.

SIDE-SPLITTERS
@JennyJohnsonHi5 — Jenny Johnson’s is one of those accounts that gets names often on “Top Twitter Accounts” list, but that’s because it’s so damn funny. Her tweets literally make me laugh out loud sometimes. She write a column for GQ Magazine (always funny) and will crack you up on Instagram as well. She seems to have somewhat of a dislike for Chris Brown.

@Carbosly — Funny, crude, real. Carbosly doesn’t list her real name on Twitter, probably so the cops can’t find her. But seriously, she’s another whose account has me cracking up at all hours of the day. She’s a pretty deft re-tweeter as well. So her RTs will introduce you to people equally as funny.

@WhyIsDaddyCryin & @ieatmykidzsnack — These two come as a great package, because they so often tear each other apart in ways that will leave you both humored and disgusted. You’d think they were two feuding spouses, but they’re not. They’re just Twittering. Read this article about them, and then you’re going to have to follow them both to get the full effect.

@tonycastleberry — Full disclosure, Tony Castleberry is my best friend. He’s also the guy that wrote the story about the previous two tweeters. He’s about knee-deep in the stand-up comedy world as an objective observer, but he spits out 140-character one-liners with the best of them. He’s another one that will give you quality RTs as well.

BEER ME
@MannyLJr — Another of my life’s great interests is craft beer, and Manny Lizarraga Jr. has some of the most experienced taste buds I’ve ever seen. Follow his tweets for his take on about every craft beer out there. He doesn’t discriminate on style, so you can pretty much bet that if he likes it, it’s a good beer.

So there you have it, what I feel like is a pretty dynamic list of folks. To be honest, the kinds of tweets these people send out are kind of in line with what I aim to produce. Now give those folks a follow.

That first paragraph is about 80 characters too long for a tweet. Perhaps I should rewrite it.

I love that tweets are held to 140 characters and your bio 160, putting great emphasis on word choice and forcing messages to be succinct.

— John Swartz (@swartzdesk) March 27, 2013

See what I mean? And with two characters to spare.

When it comes to a Twitter bio, 160 characters are more than enough for a call to action. It’s kind of reinvented the elevator pitch. But while  those 160 characters should be plenty, to ask someone to boil down everything they are to that brief message isn’t the point. That bio space should be used to get potential followers interested in who you are and what you do. Interested enough to follow you? Awesome. Interested enough to want to know more about you? That’s a KILLER start.

The first and most obvious step is to focus on those 160 characters and what they’re going to say. There are many resources out there that have some pretty good tips (some of my favorites are this one and this one), and there are even some good collections of top-notch bios to inspire you (like these).

Follow those tips, be true to who you are, and you should have little trouble coming up with your Twitter elevator pitch.

Now it’s time to fill out the Website field in your profile. Slap in the URL of your blog or website and call it good. No brainer, right?

Not so fast.

Think about why people might click that link — because they want to learn more about you, right? “Yeah, and my website is the perfect place for that,” you say. Well, sure it is. But why not continue to tailor your message to your potential Twitter connection by creating a Twitter landing page.

What’s a Twitter landing page? It’s a page specifically created as the destination for anyone who clicks on the URL in your Twitter bio. It’s almost like linking that person straight to your website’s About Me page, but instead it’s specifically written for a Twitter audience.

Sure, that page will go into the basics (and will likely mimic much of what’s on your main About Me page), but it will also give you the perfect place to answer a very specific question this potential follower might have.

“So, what kind of stuff do you tweet about?”

And there it is, exactly what a Twitter user might be looking for. A Twitter landing page is also a great place to explain where your Twitter username came from, and to even introduce that person to your other social channels.

Check out my Twitter landing page for just one example of what you can do with that space (Also notice that the URL is simply my domain name with a “/t” added to it, so it doesn’t muck up the look of your Twitter profile).

Darren Rowse of ProBlogger has an excellent breakdown of how to develop your Twitter landing page, if you’re interested in reading more.

http://about.me/john.swartz

As one the millions of users of the about.me service, I got the email announcement today that the company has gone independent after having been acquired by AOL a little over two years ago (just days after their initial public launch).

The message — from about.me co-founders Ryan Freitas and Tony Conrad — says they are excited to be “returning to life as an independent company that is financially backed by our management team and a truly amazing group of investors who have backed companies such as WordPress and Google.”

About.me is headquartered on Mission Street in San Francisco (just a few miles from where I work at Technorati Media), and I for one am looking forward to any changes they make.

As to what those changes might be, the email message simply stated, “we can only promise that many things our users have been asking for.”

When I logged into the service today, I was prompted to take a short survey. I did so, and I hope my feedback is useful to the team over there.

Either way, I’ll be keeping my eye on this.

Consumers surveyed say they are most swayed by written reviews and comparisons to similar products. They are also spending a decent chunk of time researching their decisions, and a blog or expert’s website is the top destination for the information they are most looking for.

For this survey, I asked about “mid-level” purchases in the $100-$500 range (think an iPad Mini, a 32-inch LED TV, or some high-end camping equipment).

When it comes to the most useful types of information in making purchasing decisions, 94 percent of consumers surveyed said they found written reviews to be effective. A comparison to similar products (70%) was also high on the list of what consumers say they need when deciding what to purchase.

Consumers are heading to blogs or an expert’s website 76 percent of the time when they’re looking for written reviews, and the top destination is the same for product comparisons (78%).

When looking for written reviews, consumers say they are also heading to customer review sections of product websites 70 percent of the time.

A product spec sheet (48%) and video (44%) were also found to be quite effective review methods.

Nearly 90 percent of consumers reported they would go to the product’s website to view a spec sheet. Social media sites such as YouTube (73%) and a blog or expert’s website (58%) were the top places consumers say they are looking for video reviews.

I asked consumers how much time they spent on product reviews for purchases they’re planning to make in this price range, and 86 percent said they spent either “very much” (34%) or a “moderate” (34%) amount of time. An additional 8 percent said they spent an “extensive” amount of time on reviews prior to making that purchase, so the effort to produce these materials would seem to pay off whether you’re in the business of reviewing products or selling them.

– FULL RESULTS BELOW – 

This survey was conducted using SurveyMonkey, and was capped at the first 50 respondents. Of those who took the survey,  54 percent were men and 46 percent were women.

We’re starting to see some pretty interesting predictions in the realm of marketing and business in general. The ExactTarget report Inspired Marketing Predictions for 2013 had a bevy of marketing bigwigs weigh in on this year’s climate.

Here are a few takeouts.

“Customers are more curious and more suspicious than ever. The only way to succeed in that environment is to tilt the marketing objective from selling to helping.” 

– Jay Baer, President of Convince & Convert

. . .

“Ask any person whether they’d rather talk to a logo or a real person on social media, and you’ll have a better understanding of how important placing faces amongst your brand can become.”

– Marcus Nelson, Co-founder/CEO of Addvocate

. . .

“Quality of fans and followers will matter more than quantity, and savvy marketers will begin to find creative ways to leverage social to drive higher performing interactions.”

– Susan Marshall, Senior Director at ExacTarget

. . .

“More and more organizations will hire a dedicated “chief storyteller” to work with marketing and public relations departments to create a cohesive content strategy and unified customer experience around content.”

– Joe Pulizzi, Founder of Content Marketing Institute

You can read the whole report by downloading it here.

My new iPad Mini, complete with the ultimate toddler-proof (and John proof) case.

Yes, you read that right: I love my new Apple iPad Mini.

For those of you who know me, you’ll know that I’m a PC guy (despite the fact that the vast majority of my career has been spent on Apple products, mostly because I’ve been in the publishing sector). I consider myself proficient using both platforms, but I’ve always preferred PC mainly because of the easiness of “getting under the hood,” so to speak.

Some of my fondest memories from my youth are the time I spent with my father staying up (almost) all night working on computer upgrades or simply building one from scratch (we usually bought a case and a few key parts and sometimes even used spare parts to put together our newest PC box). I loved building or upgrading a computer’s hardware — when it comes to Apple, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who’s built one from parts and it seems like the preferred method of upgrading is to just buy the next one.

That’s just a quick background on my preferences, now back to the iPad Mini. I won’t go into the specs and capabilities of this little device, they’re about the same as the regular iPad and you likely know them already.

What I love about the iPad Mini is this size — and that’s the main factor for my happiness with the product.

When the original Apple iPad came out, it was about time to get my wife a new computer. It was also about the time (give or take) that Apple released its Air product line. Sure, the Air cost a little more, but it was basically the same size and weight as the iPad and it was, for lack of a better phrase, a real computer with actual programs (not just apps) and an actual keyboard. We got my wife the air. She loves it.

In fact, we mocked the very existence of the iPad. I still do, to be honest. It’s too big to hold with one hand (unless you grasp it between your thumb and fingers or mash it with one hand against your belly — as I’m literally watching a guy at the airport do this very second). If I wanted to play with something that size, I’d just assume use my wife’s Air.

With with the Mini comes an iPad that’s a size I can get behind. I can hold it in the palm of my hand, and operate it with the other hand. It’s perfect for light browsing, reading, playing app games.

My favorite use of it is that type of browsing you do when you’re just hanging out watching TV.

“Hey, honey, isn’t that the guy from that serial killer movie?”

[Grabs iPad Mini, goes to Google ... 30 seconds later]

“Yeah, he’s the guy who was the killer on Silence of the Lambs.”

That’s pretty much what I use it for (that, and I’m about to watch a movie on it during my flight to Vegas for New Media Expo). It’s a toy, and it’s the perfect size.

Does it replace my need for an “actual” computer? Far from it. In fact, I’m typing this post on my Asus laptop running Windows 7. I’ve used my blog publishing platform on my iPad Mini, and it works fine. But it’s not a computer. For any serious work, I’m sticking to either my laptop or my desktop (also an Asus).

But I sure do love playing with my Apple iPad Mini!