Sabotage fait le pari un peu fou de re-imaginer le roman séminal sur un meurtre mystérieux (And Then There Were None) dans un thriller criminel moderne qui parle d’une équipe des forces spéciales de la DEA qui va voler un cartel, juste pour ce rendre compte que leur trésor est manquant et qu’il y a […]
Sabotage fait le pari un peu fou de re-imaginer le roman séminal sur un meurtre mystérieux (And Then There Were None) dans un thriller criminel moderne qui parle d’une équipe des forces spéciales de la DEA qui va voler un cartel, juste pour ce rendre compte que leur trésor est manquant et qu’il y a une grosse cible sur leurs dos. Après avoir passé un examen minutieux de leur département, John “Breacher” Wharton (Arnold Schwarzenegger) a enfin reçu l’autorisation de laisser son équipe de chiens fous en dehors du chenil; le problème est, dès qu’ils sont de retour sur le terrain, un mystérieux assaillant commence à les attraper un par un.
En voyant leur nombre diminuer, l’équipe de Breacher commence à partir en lambeaux – ouvrant des possibilités à exploiter pour les détectives en homicide Caroline (Olivia Williams) et Jackson (Harold Perrineau), en essayant de comprendre ce que cette équipe marginale d’agents peut bien cacher – et en espérant pouvoir sauver les survivants restant à temps.
David Ayer, est, de nos jours, une marque en soit; si un film a un rapport avec un conte de durs à cuire des forces de l’ordres au niveau de la Californie/Méxique, il y a 2 chances sur 3 qu’ils fasse parti du projet. Avec cette marque qui vient avec certaine marques de fabriques et des attentes (des flics à la morale discutable, une vision noire et sombre sur le crime urbain, des scènes de violence brutale), et en respectant ça, Sabotage nous délivre une bonne expérience signée Ayer. En tant que pièce cinématographique, cependant, ce n’est pas vraiment remarquable et gaspille l’un des meilleurs casting que vous pourriez réunir pour un film du genre.
Le casting de Sabotage
Ceux qui espèrent juste un peu d’action à l’ancienne – vous retrouvez une grosse scène d’action, quelques petites scènes, beaucoup de sang, du gore et un peu de langage grossier, et c’est a peu près tout. Presque tout les films de flics oscillent entre des dialogues durs et le “trash talking” plus ou moins amical, et même s’il y a quelques gemmes dans les dialogues à droite à gauche, ce n’est pas exactement le film sensation rempli d’action que beaucoup attendez.
Quoi d’autre à dire? Si ce n’est que sans ce casting et cette équipe derrière le film, Sabotage ne vaudrait même pas la peine d’être cité. Ce film ne vaut pas vraiment la peine d’être vu à part si vous êtes le plus grand fan d’Arnold, qui nous as dit qu’il reviendrait, mais le compteur sur son train de “comeback” est à un score décevant de 0-3 pour l’instant.
Social share buttons enable readers to easily share your blog posts to their friends and followers. You can install a social sharing plugin or module for your WordPress, Drupal, or other content management system (CMS) that will make it easy to include this functionality on every page of your website. Three popular social sharing services with […]
Social share buttons enable readers to easily share your blog posts to their friends and followers. You can install a social sharing plugin or module for your WordPress, Drupal, or other content management system (CMS) that will make it easy to include this functionality on every page of your website. Three popular social sharing services with CMS plugins are Shareaholic, AddThis, and ShareThis.
Shareaholic Social Sharing Buttons
But is that the only option you should give your readers? What about a click-to-tweet option?
When a reader shares your content through a social sharing button, the service posts the title and link of the article. While we should always try to make page titles enticing and meaningful, we should also find a balance that will satisfy search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. This typically involves using the article’s primary keyword phrase at the beginning of the page title and limiting the page title to no more than 70 characters. Such a balance can be challenging if you are targeting long tail keywords.
That’s where quotable content can come in handy.
Make Quotable Content Sharable
I love reading and sharing content about public relations, digital marketing, and social media. Many of the articles I share include pithy opinions, statistics, or facts from case studies that are more interesting than the page title. When I run across such material, I sometimes copy the snippet of content and paste into my tweets.
Why not make it easy for your readers to do the same?
I found a few plugins for WordPress that will create click-to-tweet links. I chose the Inline Tweet Sharer by Winwar Media because it works well and integrates with Bitly. While this plugin works great for blog posts, I haven’t found an equivalent feature for email marketing systems like iContact, Constant Contact, and MailChimp.
Click-to-Tweet Code
I recently sent an email to promote a social media awareness campaign as part of a coalition effort. The email included three elements that I believe improved its performance compared to other emails sent to the same list of subscribers.
I used the words “2 Tweets to Support [cause]” in the email subject
I included the campaign hashtag in the subject of the email
I included click-to-tweet links in the body of the email with calls to action
For example, if I want to tweet “We saw a 39.2% increase in open rate – by @johnjanney #click2tweet” and include a shortened URL for the article, the code will be:
Click-to-Tweet Code
If you worry about line breaks or spaces breaking your code (which is why I had to use an image in the above example), you can fill in the space between each word with %20. The resulting link will work the same, but will look like this:
<a href=”https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=We%20saw%20a%2039.2%25%20increase%20in%20open%20rate%20-%20by%20%40johnjanney%20http://bit.ly/1neNCXS%20%23click2tweet”>We saw a 39.2% increase in open rate</a>
DIY = Control
While plugins make tasks easy, sometimes you might prefer to have more control. Online content producers balance these trade-offs all the time. Content management systems, website themes, and social sharing plugins rarely satisfy every desire. As a result, public relations, digital marketing, and other online content producers should learn basic HTML and PHP to overcome the limitations imposed by content systems.
ClickToTweet.com
Alternatively, you can use ClickToTweet.com to generate your click-to-tweet code. This service offers up-to five free click-to-tweet links with shortened URL and click tracking services. If you want more than five links, you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro Plan ($4.97 per month or $49.70 per year). You can also include an image with your code, and the service offers a WordPress plugin. Anum Hussain (@anum) at HubSpot wrote an article, How to Generate Click-to-Tweet Links for your Content, that guides you through the process. Here is an example of the final result (1) with and (2) without an image:
Should PR/MarCom professionals know HTML and PHP? Do you use click-to-tweet links in your email marketing? Do you use a click-to-tweet plugin and are you satisfied with it? Have you or will you use ClickToTweet.com? What results have you seen by including a hashtag in your email subjects? Are you integrating your email marketing and social media engagement efforts?
Dans Players, Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) est candidat pour le Masters en Finance à l’Université de Princeton – il est aussi un représentant marketing dans une des plus grosses firme de paris en ligne. Malheureusement, quand le doyen met fin au business de l’étudiant diplômé, Furst ne peut plus rembourser le prêt pour sa scolarité […]
Dans Players, Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) est candidat pour le Masters en Finance à l’Université de Princeton – il est aussi un représentant marketing dans une des plus grosses firme de paris en ligne. Malheureusement, quand le doyen met fin au business de l’étudiant diplômé, Furst ne peut plus rembourser le prêt pour sa scolarité et est forcé de risquer le reste de l’argent qu’il a mis de côté dans l’espoir de gagner assez d’argent au poker en ligne pour payer le reste de sa dette pour terminer son université. Elevé dans un monde de paris à hauts risques par son père, Furst est un joueur de cartes talentueux, qui gagne rapidement une solide somme, juste pour voir le tout s’envoler dans les mains d’un joueur suspicieux avec un taux de victoires hors du commun.
Convaincu qu’on lui a volé l’argent qui lui aurait servi à payer pour sa scolarité, Furst réserve un vol pour le Costa Rica pour avoir un tête à tête avec le solitaire Ivan Block (Ben Affleck), CEO de Midnight Black (la compagnie que Furst suspecte de tricher), dans le but de récupérer son argent. Impressionné par l’intelligence de Furst et sa connaissance pour les jeux d’argent, Block lui offre un travail de rêve avec un salaire à sept chiffres dans le pays pittoresque – en autorisant même Furst à engager un de ses amis les plus proches pour manager la compagnie. Cependant, peu de temps après, Furst est contacté par l’agent du FBI Shavers (Anthony Mackie) qui lui fait part d’une perspective sur Ivan Block et l’empire Midnight Black différente – mettant Furst et ses amis en grave danger.
Players est réalisé par Brad Thurman, plus connu pour son hit tout autant au niveau des critiques que commercial de 2010 The Lincoln Lawyer, d’un script de la paire qui s’est occupée d’Ocean’s Thirteen, Brian Koppelman et David Levien.
Les enthousiastes de jeux d’argents vont sûrement conclure que Players est un regard peu profond, et carrément superficiel sur leur hobby/business, et ceux qui espèrent trouver une vision brillante et un regard “derrière la scène” trouveront que le film priorise une histoire générique à la place d’un drame innovant. Des performances solides nous font penser que, quelque part pendant la réalisation de ce film, Thurman a perdu le fil sur son histoire captivante dans son thriller sur les jeux d’argents – à la place livrant une narration fade et familière qui, en balançant un message parlant de “chasser la grandeur”, de façon ironique, ce film ne prend pas énormément de risques.
Dans Rush le réalisateur Ron Howard raconte la vraie histoire sur la vie des coureurs automobiles en Formula One James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) et Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) dont la compétition pas très amicale culmine en l’une des rivalités les plus excitante du sport des années 1970. Basé sur les années entre 1970 et 1976, […]
Dans Rush le réalisateur Ron Howard raconte la vraie histoire sur la vie des coureurs automobiles en Formula One James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) et Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) dont la compétition pas très amicale culmine en l’une des rivalités les plus excitante du sport des années 1970. Basé sur les années entre 1970 et 1976, Rush juxtapose les deux conducteurs de leurs débuts en Formula Three jusqu’à qu’ils deviennent des célébrités à part entière en Formula One. Hunt est charmant mais impulsif (sans mentionner le fait qu’il est un buveur et un coureur de jupons) et sa vie es pas moins intense que quand il passe son temps à défier la mort derrière son volant de course. A l’inverse, Lauda est discipliné mais au cœur froid (et un maître de la réingénierie des voitures de Formula One), dont le seul focus dans l vie est de gagner – souvent au détriment de ses amis et de ses compagnons personnels.
Après que Lauda signe un contrat qui lui permet de passer de la Formula Three à la Formula One, Hunt et ses bénéficiaires d’Hesket Racing font de même et lui sécurise une place dans le circuit de 1973 de F1 – laissant place à une querelle féroce entre les deux conducteurs. Cependant, alors que les deux hommes tentent de s’ajuster à la pression du championnat automobile, leurs motivations (avec leurs forces individuelles et leurs susceptibilités) amène à des ravages dans leurs vies et leurs relations – tout en se poursuivant l’un l’autre pour être meilleurs, plus rapides, et plus dangereux sur la piste.
Rush aurait pu être dilué pour descendre en dessous de l’interdiction pour les moins de treize ans, mais Howard a fait un choix audacieux en montrant les vrais dangers de la Formula One (dans un film interdit aux moins de 17 ans) – qui, comme le film le signale, est responsable pour (environ) deux morts par années dans les années 1970. Ce n’est pas pour dire que Rush montre gratuitement des carnages sur les pistes (sans mentionner les ébats sexuels de Hunt nombreux) mais le film n’y va pas de mains morte quand il parle des effets émotionnels que les périls ont sur les conducteurs.
Au final, Rush excelle dans l’exploration de la relation entre Hunt et Lauda tout autant sur la piste qu’en dehors. Quelques moments rigides où la réflexion philosophique tout autant que les leçons de valeurs du respect de la rivalité sont durement traité, les performances de Brühl et d’Hemsworth garantissent à cette histoire sportive avec un mélange aimable de charisme, respect, et vitesse.
It’s only a matter of time before someone at work asks you how the company can use Vine videos to promote itself. Before venturing into this new video sharing space, you need to considered several issues. Vine is a video sharing website. Unlike YouTube, Vine videos are limited to six seconds. Company co-founder Dom Hoffman […]
It’s only a matter of time before someone at work asks you how the company can use Vine videos to promote itself. Before venturing into this new video sharing space, you need to considered several issues.
John Janney’s Vine – Not Much Activity Yet
Vine is a video sharing website. Unlike YouTube, Vine videos are limited to six seconds. Company co-founder Dom Hoffman said that his team settled on the six second limit as an ideal amount of time for everyday users to share brief life moments with friends and family members.
So, Vine was created to make it easy for average smartphone users to capture and share personal moments. Vine videos of your baby’s first steps, dog’s new trick or cousin’s latest skateboard stunt are examples of the site’s intended content. It wasn’t long, however, before corporations saw commercial opportunity in the 40+ million-strong video sharing community.
Are Vine videos a good fit for your PR strategy? Here are five questions to help you decide.
1. Does your brand fit into the Vine culture?
It doesn’t take long to realize that the Vine community is about fun. This is understandable because it’s difficult to make a serious six-second, looping video. In fact, if dramatic Vine videos exist, I haven’t seen them — and I’ve looked. Perhaps a Vine version of the House of Cards Season 2 trailer could be a start.
Six-second Vine videos are ideal for physical comedy, one-liners and routines with a quick setup and punchline. One of the key elements in humor is surprise, and it only takes a few seconds to deliver a humorous twist.
Drama often requires more time to foster the emotional investment required for producing a somber connection with audiences. While it is possible to tell a dramatic story in six seconds, the Vine community culture isn’t likely the right place to share that story.
Vine videos are usually funny. Your brand should also convey levity to thrive inside the Vine community. Otherwise, consider sticking with Instagram, YouTube or Vimeo for your video storytelling needs.
Related questions to ask include: Are your audience members using Vine? Are Vine users already talking about your brand or anything related to it?
2. How do Vine videos fit into your larger strategy?
As with any corporate communication, do not publish Vine videos in isolation. Maintaining a consistent message is essential for properly managing your brand. You can have more than one voice, but those voices should be coordinated.
Many public relations executives provide their staff with social media accounts for communicating with the organization’s audiences. These staff-driven channels are great for building relationships. Openly sharing workplace life and other interesting tidbits online also helps humanize an otherwise faceless corporation.
The multi-staff approach, however, should never be implemented without planning, training and overview. This requires an open, cooperative corporate culture and systems that keep everyone on the same page. Staff on all levels should understand and respect the social media communications plan and how it fits into the organization’s brand message.
Establish the plan, communicate it to the staff and seek feedback. Provide examples of on-message and off-message communications. Give your staff the tools and training they need to succeed in adding some personality to the corporate brand.
Brevity requires as much planning as creativity. In fact, videographers report that each minute of video requires between 2 and 17 hours of production. Sure, videos between family members don’t require such forethought, but keeping your communications consistent with your brand message does.
Don’t Vine for Vine’s sake. If a Vine video is sent from a corporate channel, it is an official communication no different than a brochure, press release or banner ad. Plan each Vine. Plan a series of Vines. Incorporate the Vine video series into your global communications strategy. And definitely make sure your Vine videos are telling your brand’s story.
4. Are your Vine videos building relationships?
From what I’ve observed on Vine, many communicators are failing to engage with the Vine community. The site is full of promotional animations, cute video spots and one-liners. But I rarely see calls to engage in the video content.
Twitter has its 140-character limit. Vine, which is owned by Twitter, has its six-second video limit. As a video microblog, your engagement activities can borrow from successful YouTube channels and Twitter profiles.
Building relationships requires two-way communication. Don’t just push your message. Engage in dialog. Incorporate a call-to-action or call-to-engagement. If you can’t fit it into the video content, include your call in the Vine description.
Twitter enables you to build conversations by tagging users in tweets. You can also tag users in Vine posts. So, if a user asks a question in the comments of one of your Vine videos, why not answer it with a Vine and tag the user?
You can find many different opportunities to engage with audience members. You can use hashtags, request fulfillment, mentions, behind the scenes footage, product demos and creative loops. Just make sure each communication adds value and never spam.
5. Is shorter better?
Even if you can tell a story in six seconds, should you? Shorter may flex our creative muscles, but it doesn’t always produce better or appropriate communications. Just because a communications channel exists does not mean we must use it. A good rule for social media outreach is to research and select channels that fit your brand and then excel within that limited selection.
I have more thoughts on this subject, like how Vines of Post-It notes and other text-based messages are a tragic waste of the medium. But I would like to hear from you. Do you think organizations with serious or dramatic brands (charities, advocacy groups, funeral homes. etc.) can flourish on Vine?
Is shorter better? How short is too short? How long is long enough? Do you think communications departments should provide Vine planning templates for staff members? What are your suggestions for using Vine videos in a public relations strategy?
When I took over the communications department for a small charity, I switched workstations to Ubuntu and installed free open source software equivalents of popular marketing communications software. Employees who were familiar with InDesign, PhotoShop and the Microsoft Office Suite had little problem adapting to the new FOSS setup. They also appreciated the faster performance […]
When I took over the communications department for a small charity, I switched workstations to Ubuntu and installed free open source software equivalents of popular marketing communications software. Employees who were familiar with InDesign, PhotoShop and the Microsoft Office Suite had little problem adapting to the new FOSS setup. They also appreciated the faster performance of their workstations.
Below is a list of 12 free open source software programs that a marketing communications department can use to create high-quality, professional communications.
1. Replace Microsoft Windows with Ubuntu
Linux is a computer operating system. An operating system is the software that runs your computer, like Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X. Linux is distributed by groups who package the operating system with useful applications, much in the same way Windows comes with a calculator and notepad. Unlike Windows and OS X, Linux is free open source software.
My favorite distribution of Linux is Ubuntu. I like the Unity GUI (graphical user interface). Instead of clicking a home button and navigating through a thick, jumbled tree of programs, the Unity Dash offers much quicker access to files and programs. Simply typing a letter into the Dash returns a series of matching programs and files. It’s like having Google’s intelligent search platform for a computer interface.
Type into the Unity Dash to Find Files and Programs
Not all computers are compatible with Linux. You should research your computer hardware to make sure it will work. You can also download Ubuntu and burn a bootable DVD or USB. This is called a Live DVD or Live USB. You can reboot your computer from the bootable media and run Ubuntu without having to install it. It’s a great way to test it out.
For business use, I advise sticking with the Long-Term Support (LTS) version of Ubuntu. Canonical, the company that distributes Ubuntu, releases two updates each year. Some features in the “between-LTS” releases could cause problems with some hardware configurations. It’s best to stick with what works in the workplace.
You can install the following programs through Ubuntu’s Software Center application that Canonical packages with the distribution. Larger companies can manage its multitude of desktops through Canonical’s fee-based Landscape service.
Did I mention that computers run much faster with Ubuntu? I’ve seen Windows computers that crawled become snappy after wiping Windows and installing Ubuntu. So, if you have an older or slower computer that doesn’t seem to run Windows without a lot of drag, try Ubuntu. It will amaze you.
2. Replace Adobe InDesign with Scribus
I love InDesign. It’s easy to use, has an intuitive interface and produces great final products. It also costs several hundred dollars — not to mention the ongoing expense of keeping it updated. For small companies on a tight budget, Scribus can perform the same designs and render professional, printer-ready PDF artwork.
Scribus Interface
InDesign has a few feature advantages over Scribus. For example, Scribus does not have a bulleted or numbered list feature. However, like most free open source software applications, Scribus has an online support community to help you find workarounds. Once you’re familiar with the interface, features and capabilities of Scribus, I think you’ll find that your print shop staff won’t know the difference.
Scribus is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
3. Replace Adobe PhotoShop with GIMP
PhotoShop is a powerful program. The latest release had incredibly impressive features, such as its Content-Aware functions. But if you just need to edit images with a program that supports layers and doesn’t cost hundreds of dollars, GIMP is your free open source software application. That’s not to say that GIMP isn’t a powerful program. It has plenty of powerful features and lots of online tutorials to help you accomplish just about any photo editing task.
GIMP Interface
After you install GIMP, open a photo and play around with the filters. You can also extend the program’s functionality with plugins. Browse the features list and GIMP Plugin Registry to get an idea of what GIMP can do.
GIMP is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
4. Replace Adobe Illustrator with InkScape
I’m not an illustrator or an artist. I haven’t used Adobe Illustrator as often as I’ve used InDesign. However, I’ve used InkScape to edit vector files and found it easy to use. I would love to hear impressions about InkScape from illustrators or digital artists in the comments.
InkScape Interface
InkScape is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
5. Replace Microsoft Office with LibreOffice
Hardcore Microsoft Office users may cringe at the thought of using another office suite. The interface for Word, Excel and PowerPoint seems to be burned into their psyche. However, migrating to a free open source software alternative can save your organization from burning through its budget and offer faster-running applications.
LibreOffice is a community developed project of The Document Foundation. The office suite includes a document writer, spreadsheet application, database front-end, multimedia slideshow presentation creator, a drawing program and a math equation editor. Like all of these applications, it’s free open source software.
LibreOffice Startup Menu
As a writer, I mostly use Writer (the equivalent to Microsoft Word) and Calc (the equivalent to Microsoft Excel). I’ve only run into one feature that needs improving: mail merge. It’s much easier to perform mail merges with Microsoft Word. I anticipate that the community of developers will improve LibreOffice’s mail merge feature. Mail merge will need to run more smoothly before LibreOffice can earn adoption into office environments that need this feature.
LibreOffice is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
6. Replace Outlook with Thunderbird
Unless you’re running a Microsoft Exchange Server, Outlook is overkill for your email needs. Its inefficient management of data files causes the program to run slower as your inbox grows larger. This slowdown can also impact the overall speed of your computer.
I love Thunderbird because it’s fast and has everything you need in an email client. You can install add-ons to extend its features. The first add-on I recommend is the Lightning calendar add-on. I also like Thunderbird’s search feature much better than Outlook’s.
Thunderbird Setup Screen
Email is a big deal. You don’t want to lose anything when migrating to Thunderbird. You can find several online how-to guides for migrating from Outlook to Thunderbird. My preferred method is to install Thunderbird on Windows before installing Ubuntu. This will convert all your email messages to Thunderbird format. Then backup your Thunderbird data to a USB flash drive and copy your Thunderbird profile to the fresh Ubuntu installation after installing the application. You’ll need to import your contacts. So, don’t forget to save them in a CSV file.
Thunderbird is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. (check OS X)
6 More Free Open Source Software Applications for MarCom Departments
Most, but not all, of the following applications qualify as free open source software.
If you use VOIP (voice over IP phone service), Linphone is a VOIP client for Linux. You can make and receive calls from your computer — no need for clunky phones.
Remote computing is becoming common in the modern workplace. I telecommuted for four years in one of my previous jobs. On Ubuntu systems, you can work from home using Virtual Network Computing clients like RealVNC or NoMachine.
Some tech-savvy MarCom pros are involved with website development. Filezilla is a great file transfer protocol client for replacing commercial clients like SmartFTP.
DropBox for Ubuntu works great for saving files to the cloud and sharing files with coworkers. If you want a free open source software solution, point your IT team to OwnCloud.
Linux currently lacks an advanced FOSS video editing application. OpenShot, however, is great for basic video editing. I can’t wait for Lightworks to be ready for Linux. Lightworks is a powerful video editing program that will finally bring cinema quality video production to Linux. It’s currently in beta.
Does Your Workplace Use FOSS?
It’s becoming more common for nonprofits and small businesses to use free open source software. Millions of home users are already running Linux with FOSS applications. Government organizations, nonprofits and small businesses are saving millions by migrating from Windows to Ubuntu. I would love to hear about your experiences with FOSS at work and at home. Share your thoughts in the comments below.
