What do Cowboys, Computers, the Web and Social Media all have in common?

They are joining forces to bring high-tech into the daily happenings of the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series. Through the use of social media, the web and computers (and by computers I mean desktops, laptops, netbooks, smartphones and more) they are expanding their reach into new markets, new genres and opening up the sport to a much wider audience than ever before.

The 2009 season has seen quite a few changes at the PBR – from the main web site (http://www.pbrnow.com) getting a complete face lift early on, to the event information pages being completely redone to provide more information and better timed, to using social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace to not only communicate with fans, but provide more pertinent information even faster, the PBR has expanded its high-tech offerings to the world at large in the digital age.

You can follow @teampbr on Twitter to get behind the scenes photos in real-time from the events, including the currently happening PBR World Finals. They also provide some scores as they happen in real-time, along with photos of riders, bulls, opening ceremonies and more. They also run some trivia and other fun items during the events to engage followers even more. The same can be said for their MySpace and Facebook pages, with information going out faster and through more outlets than ever before.

One of the late offerings of 2009, which debuted two events prior to the PBR World Finals, was the addition of the Live Event Center. What the Live Event Center brings to the fans is a real-time, live updated ride-by-ride scoring system viewable in their web browser. Within seconds of a rider either riding a bull or bucking off, fans have the ability to see the rider score, buck-off-time if the rider bucked off and in all cases the bull’s score. The fans now have the ability to see the scores and other information at times they cannot watch it on television or the broadcast is delayed rather than live.

Additionally, one of the staff writers, Keith Ryan Cartwright, is “live blogging” – sending updates every few rides with information about the riders, their rides, the bulls, their bucks and behind the scenes text commentary with the riders, and others. This has been placed on to the live score page, so that visitors not only can see the scores, but then get a flight-by-flight “blog” update of all the action that gives some perspectives behind the scores. So now visitors to the PBR site can not only get live scores, flight-by-flight commentary, but they can follow the @teamPBR team and get some photos from in arena as well as other updates in regards to the rides, riders, bulls, bull fighters and more.

If that were not enough, for the debut of the 2009 PBR World Finals, visitors to http://www.pbrnow.com can click on the live photo page and get a very special treat. Andy and Matt from Bull Stock Media, the official photographers and stock provider to the PBR, are posting real-time live in-arena photos. These are in-your-face photos of the bulls, the riders, the rides – all the dirt, grime and hustle that makes the PBR THE Toughest Sport on Dirt. The photos are posted from the start of the show, including the rider introductions, the bull introductions, during the presenting of the American Flag, all the way through to the round winner circle, and eventually at the close of the 2009 World Finals World Champion ceremony.

Combine all of that with a mobile powered web site with the latest news and feature stories, http://mobull.pbrnow.com, blogs from some of the best in the businesses, including 9-time World Champion Ty Murray, and a complete online Audio podcast and Video archive located at http://pbr.tv – it is easy to see how the Toughest Sport on Dirt is fast becoming a high-tech sport – reaching new fans, new avenues and generating more content for viewers than ever before.

Danny Brown

It’s what he does beyond that though that makes the difference. Danny is a great connector – connecting people through Twitter, blogs, fund raising Tweetups and more; he has got a great sense of community. Just reading through his blog, watching his Twitter stream and seeing how he interacts with all levels of people is a wonderful and learning experience.

One of the best things I take from Danny is challenges. So often at the end of a blog post he leaves the reader with a question, usually one that challenges their thought process, their being or the way they conduct themselves, in life and in business. At least for me, many of his blog posts do that, as do many of his tweets.

Danny also is a very compassionate person – I have seen this through the 12for12k project he created. He has a genuine interest in being the best he can be, while helping those around him – in his local area, or around the world.

That is why I have chosen to lead my #SundayStar series off with him. He has made me challenge myself to become a better person, think things differently, check how I act and react and given me things to think about that have lead to changes inside and out. When you find a person like that, you really should just say “Thank-You”. And why not do a #SundayStar post and send a Tweet or two about it.

It goes like this – we should all have one person that each week we can point to that has a made a difference in our life. It could be the same person each week, a different person each week or whatever. Just so long as we choose one, and only one, each week to give a special thank-you too or a special shout-out to.

The most ideal way to do this would be to write a short blog post about the person – maybe how they touched your life, how they helped you or inspired you. You might write a simple thank-you post thanking them without mentioning the details. It truly can be whatever you want it to be, as long as you are acknowledging those who have made some sort of difference in your life.

Then, after you have your blog post written, head on over to Twitter and send a Tweet. You could do it like the sample below or however you want to.

Why not even go so far as to do a Video post simply saying “Thank-you” to them? I would have a tremendous impact.

Sample Tweet: @their.twitter.id.here – Thank-you! http://link.to.blog.post.here #SundayStar

You can read about it here:

http://www.hashdictionary.com/SundayStar

I am also looking at having some guest posts, so if you are interested just contact me through the contact page on this blog, or send an email to bnab [at] southplatte [dot] com.

However, I wonder, would it change if it was businesses sending the auto-DMs? Does that change perception? Some on Twitter said it would even be worse if a business, especially a large corporation, let’s say Dell or Toys-R-Us used this method. My thought process took it one step further, would it change the outlook for Twitter users IF the auto-DM contained a coupon code, discount code, rebate offer or other special offer?

That last thought changed some views, and that is why I am running this poll. Does it change the view if, let’s say hypothetically, one of Dell’s Twitter accounts sent an auto-DM with a 20% or 30% e-code or coupon code? It would be a one-time auto-DM that could really provide some great deals only offered through the auto-DM and nowhere else. Would that change the view of Twitter users? Maybe. Then again, maybe not.

Take the poll and chime in your thoughts in the comments and let’s see what happens – maybe a shift in the auto-DM feelings? Maybe a shift in who uses them and how they are used?

Good guy Danny Brown (@dannybrown)is the brainchild behind 12for12k – raising $12,000 for 12 charities in 12 months. Each month a different charity is picked, and money is raised in support of that charity. Someone happened to his idea this month. That someone was Scott Stratten (@unmarketing). Scott organized a 12-hour Tweet-a-Thon for 12for12k’s March charity, Strength.org.

For 12 hours, Scott pushed the envelope on Twitter. Through the combined efforts of many, spearheaded by Scott and Danny, in 12 hours $13,000 was raised. $13,000 in 12 hours, that is more than $1000/hour in donations.

You know, many people talk about social media not being worth the time or effort. Others talk about how it can and cannot be used. Yet still some say it is a passing fad, just as they do with anything that is “new”. Yesterday, I witnessed the social media micro-blogging service known as Twitter blow so many myths and rumors about ways to do things, what can and can not be done and rules simply shattered.

We MUST NOT label tools because we can all use them for the ways we want, and purposes we want, short of being a snot-nose-spammer – that’s wrong no matter what the tool.

I don’t personally know either Danny or Scott. I do know this – I seen something amazing on March 19th from these two, and I know they are good people from what they did. There were countless people helping to Tweet and retweet calls to action. Each one of us making a small difference, that collectively raised enough money to help feed over 500,000 children over summer break here in the United States. That is power my friends – when you can use a tool to accomplish that type of feat in ONE DAY, in 12 HOURS no less.

It is not about the number of followers, the number of readers or any numbers at all. It is about the passion of connecting, interacting and creating positive value for those who are in your network. Seeing Scott’s and Danny’s passion yesterday was awe inspiring and humbling. Seeing the passion of those tweeting and retweeting was the same. If we only use the tools as a way to get as high of number as possible on readers and followers, just to broadcast our messages to I think we are going to miss quite a few GREAT things that people are doing.

Don’t believe me?

Why don’t you just try it for yourself. Instead of using tools and gimmicks to gain mass followers to whom you merely broadcast yourself and your message to, why not build your followers by way of engagement, interaction and conversation. Sure, it does take longer. In the end though, when you call your network to action, they will do just that ACT. March 19th proved that to me.

To me, Scott and Danny are Twitter & Social Media ROCKSTARS with an exception – they are EXCEPTIONAL people who INTERACT, ENGAGE, CONVERSE and CARE about their networks – it is NOT just a numbers game to either of them.

You see, the tech came out and checked and we have a bad drop from the box at the corner of our property to our house. So he ran a new temporary line. About 2 hours later I was contacted by the contractor that is going to run a new underground line to the house. I no more hung up from that call and Steph from @TalkToQwest sent me a DM through Twitter. The purpose? FOLLOW-THROUGH! She wanted to make sure things were getting resolved. When she found out we needed a new line, which will take some time given they have to locate underground utilities, mark them, dig, run line and test she apologized that it couldn’t all be resolved today. No problem – I understand what it takes to run cable, been there-done that type of thing. But the follow through. Amazing.

Oh yeah, I was also thanked for the post yesterday giving props to the Qwest team and their service on this issue. That was unnecessary albeit welcomed and impacting.

So how about it. Do you follow through with your customers? Even if just to say hello or to check and see how things are going? Why or why not? Should you?

This is 2009, right? My T-Mobile Shadow, a Windows Mobile based cell phone, offers better quality and sometimes faster Internet speeds, which is saying something since T-Mobile has probably the smallest 3G network and my phone is definitely not 3G compatible.

A while back my wife (@raekaye) contacted our phone provider Qwest and was told we would need to install filters on the lines in the house and hook a phone up to the DMARC box outside to verify the problem existed at the point where the outside line transfers to the inside line. Pointless since we have their Linebacker service which means they will inspect, test and repair lines inside and outside of the house. But I digress. Testing done. Same issue.

Yes, the installation technician noted he filtered the line at the DMARC box. Why? He ran a brand new line, about 12 feet from the DMARC to where our DSL modem is in the house. He filter the other line that comes in to the house and powers the other phone outlets at that DMARC box. Filtering is good. Just to be safe I installed a filter on the only phone we have hooked up.

So time goes on, problem is getting worse. I Tweeted a time or two a few weeks ago. Venting really. I did the same today, and in under 3 minutes got a reply from “Steph” on Twitter, who works for Qwest. They can be found at @TalkToQwest on Twitter. Shock and Awe!

Needless to say, in under 20 minutes they contacted me on Twitter, verified my phone number and address via DM on Twitter and called me on my cell phone (since the main line was having trouble). At this point, Steph had a support tech on the line, conferenced us together and the support tech setup a support ticket to get a tech on-site at 9:30 AM the next day (March 11, 2008).

The fact that Steph stayed on the line until the tech was done scheduling the appointment and made sure that I was satisfied at the end of the call meant quite a bit. She took ownership of the situation. That is POWER in customer service. 100% pure power if employees are allow, nay encouraged, to take ownership of customer situations.

At this point, I will update the post once the service tech makes an appearance and I have been instructed to followup after the tech is here to ensure that it was satisfactorily accomplished. They told me to follow up, and that they would follow up. That’s power too. Too many customer service departments provide a fix, or what they think was a fix, and never follow through to ensure adequate completion and satisfaction.

So, what you and your business? Do you exercise 100% pure power in customer service? Have you experienced 100% pure power in customer service? Share your stories in the comments!

I will go one further – to anyone who leaves a comment, and no SPAM comments DO NOT count , on this post, follows me on Twitter from Friday March 06, 2008 or interacts on Twitter with an @reply to me will automatically be entered to win. The day I Akismet blocks the 2000th spam comment, I will randomly pick a winner from all and notify them appropriately. Also I will post a blog post/comment and Tweet out the winner.

What’s that prize? One lovely can of SPAM and to go along with it one lovely can of Crushed Pineapple. I will, of course, pay for shipping to the winner.

And hey, if you do not like either one, drop them off at a food donation location. Personally I grew up eating baked SPAM with pineapple on top and still enjoy it on occasion because it is ROOTS food….the kind that brings back a fond memory from somewhere in a time of being a kid.

<<----UPDATE---->>

Danny Brown (@dannybrown)is a genius. His comment of giving the prize to the local food bank spurred a thought. So the prize for the winner stays the same – 1 can of Spam and 1 can of pineapple (If you choose not to accept the prize, they will go to the local food bank). HOWEVER – for each entry (comment here, folllow me on Twitter or @reply to me on Twitter) 1 canned good will be donated to the local food bank here in Pueblo, Colorado.

The low down – yes, you can only enter once. Danny asked via Twitter if he got two entries for @replying and leaving a comment – I told him he just doubled his chances – but really only one entry per person. The drawing will be very scientific – no really it will be – I will simply create an internal database with the name of the commenter or twitter user, and do a script to randomly generate a number between 1 and the total number of entries received. Then, which ever record matches the random number, wins. The true winner? The local food bank.

<<----UPDATE---->>

The contest has now ended – I will be publishing the results the 1st or 2nd week of April as to the winner of the can of spam and pineapple as well as total number of entries received, which equals total number of canned goods donated to the local food bank.

Instead I started getting more posts, but no quality. So I gave up on it. Smart move in my view. I wish to create some form of positive value for those that come along this blog – and that just wasn’t accomplishing it for them. Nor for me.

It’s about quality, not quantity in many realms – this one seems to be one of the most classic applications of that mantra. Blogging, Twitter and truly social media as a whole seems to have two camps: Those focused on quantity and those focused on quality. There are a few who accomplish both…they are the kingpins of social media so to say. They consistently produce thought provoking content, interact with a large number of people and do both at an astonishing rate. Then there are those who create tons of content, but nothing that jumps off the screen if you will and generates readership.

What about you – do you focus on quality or quantity in your content creation, social interaction and general day-to-day activities?