The Sports Info Business

The folks at Bluekai, a Bellvue, Washington based company that takes a data-centric approach to audience targeting, posted a Super Bowl related Infographic that I thought was worth sharing.  Now, the 2012 Super Bowl still a few weeks away, and there are the NFC and AFC Championship games to be decided this weekend before we jump to the Super Bowl.

I have always been a fan of stats and there are a few that are certainly worth to note from this Infographic.  How about:

**  In the last decade, Anheuser-Bush spent more on Super Bowl Advertisements than any other company ($235 Million dollars)

** In 2010, 33% of Super Bowl advertisers spent (13 companies) spent 10% or more of their yearly ad budget on Super Bowl spots.

** 30 second television sports are going for $3.5 million dollars for this year’s big game.

Before we get to the big game however, the New England Patriots will battle the Baltimore Ravens (3:00 p.m. East Coast time on CBS) and the San Francisco 49ers will square off vs the New York Giants (6:30 p.m. East Coast start on Fox Sports).  Only then will be know the final two teams for the February 5th game.

One last thought, if you’d like to see a nice graphic of the road to the Super Bowl, click here to see what NFL.com created.  It shows each of the 2011-12 NFL playoff teams and significant post-season events.

When you combine technology and sports related business, you have my ear.  Or in this case my eyes.  In this case, uh, maybe my legs too.

Yesterday, as I was writing and researching my first blog post for 2012, I came across a start up company called, Gympact.

The concept is simple.  Gym-Pact uses its site as a motivational tool to help get people who pay gym memberships to actually use it.  The concept of GymPact came from a Harvard behavioral economics class, and their pilot in Boston had a 90% success at getting people to the gym when they committed.

Via a free downloadable app, Gym-Pact lets you set the financial stakes of not getting to the gym, plus earn cash rewards and real prizes for fulfilling your Pact.  All you need is an iPhone.   In order to make money from this venture, you have to sign up and meet or exceed your commitment to going to the the gym.

As for getting paid to stay healthy, each Sunday night, the company calculates how much was paid by those who didn’t get to the gym that week. The money is then divided among those who made their Pact, based on the number of days committed (i.e. 3 days Pact = 3 portions).

Do I think this is type of tool can make a difference in motivating people to work out.  Yes, I do.

It reminds me of a story I heard last week, of a family member who joked that they might be thebest customer for a Los Angeles based gym.

This unnamed family member has been paying her gym membership for years and never goes.  I do think this grand mother would get there more often if she knew she might be losing more money but not going. 

As for company co-founders and  Harvard classmates Yifan Zhang and  Geoff Oberhofer,  If they practice what they preach, this dynamic duo is either very healthy or proceeds from their company will help pay for their lack of exercise.

The calendar officially says January 1st and that means we all have a clean slate for 2012.  Clear the cobwebs from your brain today and get ready to follow these easy steps of starting the new year off on the right foot.

When we begin anew, there are many things we wish to accomplish.  Things like exercise, organization and goal setting are the first items that come to mind.

Some of us make lists of things to do.  I am one of those people.

So with no further ado, I present to you my mini list of the First Five Things to do in 2012.

1. Update Your Business Networks

We all know how important business networking is, yet often times, the lines blur of where are contacts are.  Let me provide you an example.  How many of your business contacts overlap between your main contact database, which rests on your smart phone or computer, and other networks like LinkedIn and Facebook?  Mine too.  One of the first things I did this weekend was to sync my Facebook Contacts with my computer (lots of emails have changed and it was a good exercise) and then I moved to LinkedIn where I added people from my main contact data base.  I am willing to bet that some of us still have business card contacts that have not been entered into any contact list….

2) Refresh Your Resume

2011 is behind us, yet you certainly have accomplished items in your life that needs to be addressed in this space.  It could be a new job, work related accomplishment or just new items you have learned which should be addressed.  While the reports have been conflicted about the direction of unemployment and job growth, we should all be prepared for the next great opportunity.

3) Back Up Your Files

We are all guilty of not doing this item often enough, but a new year brings a new opportunity and a reminder that we will all kick ourselves if we don’t do it and then something crashes.  It is easier to stay ‘whew’ then ‘oh no!’  Hit the back up button and then grab lunch or watch an NFL football game today.  it is that easy.

4) Update Your Computer Software

This is also relatively easy to do.  Many of our machines need just a little attention and yet we neglect them and live in denial.  From computer systems, to operating systems to smart phone apps, it usually takes a few minutes of items running in the background.  Take time when its slow, like a long weekend like this and punch in those updates.

5) Renew old friendships

This kind of goes together with point number one.  However, my first point was about sync’ing and updating.  This is more about outreach.   I enjoy hearing from friends and colleagues with their annual holiday letter, but if friendships really mean something, take a few minutes to reach out and reconnect more than once a year.  Make a call from the road (I have a lot of experience with this), send an email or even a quick text message to let them know you are thinking of them.

Those are my five easy items to begin your year.  I could have goen the much more traditional route and said things like:  clean up your home office/business office desk, clean out the garage or even start a new exercise program.