By Kwasi Fraser

          Well, it seems that 2009 is no different from 2008 and the other years prior, meaning another hike in my property taxes to fund our school system.  Even with these hikes schools are still faced with significant shortfalls, just look at some of the real time comments posted on Samepoint at http://www.samepoint.com/real-time.php?q=School+Budget. 

So, I live in a relatively small town called Purcellville, it’s in Loudoun County Virginia.  It’s a great town rarely, in this days and age, would you find a major supermarket within few blocks of a working farm that is over 200 years old.  Well, we have that in Purcellville.  I’ll write more about my little town and that great farm another time let’s go back to the matter at hand, funding our schools. 

It seems each year our taxes increase to support the budgetary obligations of the school system, and even with these increases many schools are still forced to make cuts in certain school programs and even in academic staff.  Some districts have eliminated high school sports due to budget cuts. Frankly, I believe the current method of funding the school system has run its course and it is high time for another approach.  Don’t get me wrong; budget cuts are necessary at times. However, when there are financially viable alternatives we need to at least consider and assess them. One such alternative is to monetize certain assets of the schools to create revenue stream(s) to fund our schools.

The approach that I’m proposing is one that I have written about several months ago in my local newspaper.  This approach calls for schools to partner with major corporations that have large advertisement budgets such as Proctor & Gamble, AT&T, Time Warner and others.  Proctor & Gamble’s ad spend from January to September 2008 was $2.3 billion.  The D.C. schools’ budget gap of $40 million is less than 2% of Proctor & Gamble 2008 ad spend.  Many schools in my district have cut field trips that could have been easily sponsored for several years by a company like Proctor and Gamble in return for free publicity in the press and on T Shirts given to students during a sponsored field trip.  That’s a topic for another blog, think www.FieldTripSponsor.com, but I digress.

The schools across this nation have many highly visible assets that are advertisers’ dream.  As a taxpayer I am also an investor in the school system, as such, in addition to a quality education I’ll like to see a decent Return on Assets my tax dollars have placed into the school’s daily operation. The schools’ assets range from buses and buildings, to rooms and fields that are viewed by a rather captive audience each school day and at times on weekends.  Sure we can apply my proposal to the majority of these assets but let’s focus on the school buses for this writing.

The school buses are the most visible representation of the school, they are seen during on and off hours by thousands of eyes. Such intense visibility is an advertiser’s dream. Given this, the School Boards across this country need to develop a strategy to lease ad space on all school owned vehicles to generate ad revenues. I know there will be concerns around what items to advertise on the school buses, and the overall policing of the ad placement process.  But in these dire financial times we need to revisit this and work out ways for it to be effectively implemented.

This nation has a multi-billion dollar advertising industry and our school system has the vehicles that will drive in revenues for the advertisers and our schools.  I agree that placement of certain ads like junk food, for example, should be prohibited because it plays into the growing problem of obesity among our youth.  However, there are thousands of other beneficial products and services that can be advertised. For example, a company in Hanover, MD cleared off a part on their fleet of truck to place ads for Xerox, a company that produces office equipment for schools and our homes.  Again, in these difficult times we need to seek out opportunities and creative solutions for the financial challenges we face.  Budget cuts are not always the answer, let’s make use of our free market system, and in so doing let us not only teach capitalism but practice it, starting with our schools.

By Kwasi Fraser

Well, while the feud between Mayor Cory Booker and Conan O’Brien was going on, Mayor Booker was still in the business of working for the city of Newark and getting things done.  MrSilver, the alias of one of the founding members of the social media search engine and analytics company, Samepoint (www.Samepoint.com), can attest to that. 

MrSilver owns a mixed used building in the City of Newark and has witnessed a significant spike in the water charges over the last two months, amounting to over an 1100% increase.  This increase was in spite of the fact that one of the apartments was vacant during this period and two of the commercial tenants occupy the building for at most 4 days per week.  After making several failed attempts to contact the City of Newark Water department, MrSilver decided to take his request for resolution to the social web. 

On Tuesday October 6th 2009, MrSilver posted the following Tweet at the Mayor of Newark “@CoryBooker I need your help, our water bill increased by over 1120% over the past 4 months. No one is returning my calls to resolve this.”  Within minutes the Mayor of Newark responded to MrSilver with “Please DM me your phone # & I’ll call 2nite. RT @mrsilver I need your help, our water bill increased by over 1120% over the past 4 months.”  MrSilver then shared his information with the Mayor and they both spoke on the morning of Wednesday October 7th, 2009. 

Following the conversation the Mayor’s staff escalated the issue and was able to coordinate and schedule an investigation with the City of Newark Water Department.  MrSilver expressed his gratitude to the mayor and his staff for the quick call to action, and remains hopeful that the issue will come to a speedy resolution.  The exchange, along with updates, between Mayor Cory Booker and MrSilver can be tracked via the below links:

http://www.samepoint.com/real-time.php?q=Water+Bill+Increased

http://www.samepoint.com/real-time.php?q=MrSilver

By Kwasi Fraser

The social web continues to enable individuals, business leaders, and government officials to freely exchange thoughts, ideas, and opinions on a multitude of topics. I term it the “Voice of Humanity Online.” The comments and user generated content within the social web sphere range from socio- economic issues to discussions about products, services, and brands.

A single social media comment or user generated content that is well placed can turn viral and be a detriment or the ultimate praise for a company. An example of such content turning viral was the YouTube posting of a worker at a fast food chain taking a bath in the kitchen sink.

Without any doubt, that posting had some measureable impact on brand perception and sales. For this reason, I believe more companies need to utilize and incorporate social media monitoring, and consulting services into their ERM strategies. With this added dimension to ERM strategies, companies will be better positioned to evaluate the merits, risks and other aspects of comments and user generated content about thier brand, product, and service that are published on the social web.

Most CMOs I’ve spoken to recently have hinted at a decrease in their overall marketing budget.  Many are looking to social media as a more cost-effective means of building brand, driving traffic and delivering a strong bang for the buck.  But, most don’t know where to begin.  That’s the social media quandry - where to begin the conversation…

I always advise friends, relatives and clients that the first step in social media is listening.  You need to monitor the noise to find the buzz.  That’s what Samepoint is all about, finding out what people are saying about your brand, product, company or self.

After you find the conversations that relate to you, become part of that discussion.  Once you’re making your opinions known, you’ll see how the world of Social Media opens up new avenues of conversations, as well as new relationships and insights.

Social media can offer an extremely cost-efficient marketing channel.  There is no cost to making a comment, or emailing an influential blogger, or writing a post yourself.  The only expense is that of your time.  So, listen to what’s being said and get involved in the conversation.  Since most marketers are cutting back on their ad dollars, they’ll have plenty of time to tap into social media.  Once you start, the return on investment will become evident.