Thomas Robert Wessel Memorial Scholarship

As many of you know, my father, Thomas Wessel, passed away 15 years ago on November 23, 1997. One thing that my mother didn't want to have happen was for us 7 kids to forget what a great man and loving father he was. Part of this is in the many memories of him that have been shared amongst us and stored forever in our minds and hearts. But my mother wanted to have us remember him in one more way...the Thomas Robert Wessel Memorial Scholarship.

For the past 15 years since his passing, my mother set up the Thomas Robert Wessel Memorial Scholarship at our high school, Warren Township High School. The scholarship is given to two graduating seniors (one boy and one girl) who have exhibited academic excellence while participating in performing arts activities and/or athletic activities. My father had an amazing passion for music and sports, two things he shared with my mother and passed along to his children.



Being so young when my father passed and when my mother initiated this scholarship (I was only 8 years old), I don't believe I fully realized the meaning of the award until now.

As I mentioned before, my father had such a strong passion for music and sports, and he did everything he could to share in these passions with us kids. He would take us to piano lessons and band practice, coach my sisters' softball teams, and attend all of our major events. These times that we got to spend with him, such as the one in the image below, were the ones we could cherish forever.



Now, being only 8 when he passed away, my mother knew that my brother Ben and I didn't have as much time with him and in essence didn't have the ability to form as many memories with him. Part of me feels this is another reason why she worked to create this scholarship in his name...to give Ben and I a chance to remember him when memories may not present themselves. For this, I cannot thank my mother enough.



Lastly, I feel this award wasn't just for us a way for us kids to remember him, but a way for the entire community he had come to call home and the community that had come to love him to remember him as well.

This year will mark the 15th year in which we will be presenting the scholarship, and it will also be the last. My oldest sister Nicki will be the one to present the scholarship. In 1997, she was the first of us to walk on to the stage to present the scholarship, and so it's only fitting that in 2012 she will be the one to present the scholarship for the final time.

People always ask me what it was like to grow up without a father since the age of 8. I never really know how to answer that question because with the memories my mother and siblings share with me, the father figure my older brother (Matt) and grandfather took on, and the yearly memory of my father through the Thomas Robert Wessel Memorial Scholarship, I feel like my father has always been there with me...and will continue to be with me.

Concert for Life 2012

While I had stressed I would be keeping up with my blog much more often than I have in the past, it's clear I've been failing at this. So, once again, I'm trying to make a comeback. And I'd like to say that I'm opening this blog up to more than just sports, entertainment, social media, marketing, advertising and PR. This is my personal blog and I feel this is a great means of also sharing things going on in my personal life. No better time to begin than right now....

In just a few weeks, Warren's Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) will be holding the 12th Annual Concert for Life, an annual fundraiser that helps to raise money for the American Cancer Society. My older brother, Matt Wessel, will be performing many of his original pieces. It's an afternoon full of wonderful music and raffle prizes, followed by an evening of friends and leisure. But I want to share with you how the Concert for Life got started and what the concert truly means to a certain few, so here's my post from a year ago.

In 1995, my father was diagnosed with a brain tumor and was only given 6-8 months to live. But his strength, will, and love for his family helped him survive 2 more years before he passed away in late 1997....I was only 8 years old. I have very few fond memories of my father, and it's sometimes hard to listen to my older siblings tell stories, laugh and tell their favorite memories of him because I know that I didn't get to spend as much time with him as they did. But every year, there is a time where I hear a lot of new stories from the many people whose lives my father touched....

In 2001, my older brother, Matt Wessel, was a senior in high school when he found out that one of his fellow classmates, Kate Pedersen, was diagnosed with cancer. Her classmates wanted to do something to support her fight, so they approached Matt with an idea. They asked if he would be willing to perform a benefit concert for the American Cancer Society in Kate's honor. Matt, who experiened the loss of our father from cancer 4 years earlier, agreed to perform. The concert was called "The Concert For Life."

The concert was held at St. Paul Apostle Church in Gurnee, Illionis, and it was so successful, that it has since then become an annual event. Since 2001, the concert has grown in size and in money raised. Each year, the concert touches the hearts of all those who attend. As the event continues to grow, more and more people will be moved by this special evening of music, love, and hope.

My brother Matt has continued to be the main performer since the concert's inception. While he understands that the concert was put together to support Kate and her fight against cancer, my family and I can see that the concert holds a much more personal meaning for him, and for all of my family. Every year, the concert is a time where Matt can open up his heart to the world and let everyone see the emotion he has felt since our father passed away 14 years ago. It's a time where Matt and my family can sit down, enjoy the inspirational music and reflect on the the father we lost too soon. And it's a time of rememberance, passion and hope.

The word has gotten out about the concert, and like I said, each year it continues to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Well, this year's Concert For Life was held last week on Sunday March 13, and the early total of money donated is $43,000 (which will continue to increase as receipts and funds are still being sent in). Overall, the Concert For Life has raised over $320,000, which has been donated to the American Cancer Society.

I guess what I'm trying to say through all of this is that, while the Concert For Life was started to benefit Kate Pedersen's fight against cancer and all those who are battling cancer, I believe my older brother wished to perform the concert as a tribute to my father, as well. While the money is being raised to support the American Cancer Society, Matt wanted it to be a time where our family could come together, reflect on our father, and share this time with each other. And for that, I cannot thank him enough....

"If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, we'd walk right up to Heaven and bring you home again..." - We miss you Dad and you will live on forever in our hearts....

Chris Narveson Joins the Twitter Ranks

Chris Narveson, still somewhat of a newbie to MLB, is looking to make a big name for himself this season. While he looks to have a a strong presence on the mound, he's receiving advice from teammates to also have a strong presence on social media.

Former teammate and fellow southpaw Mitch Stetterhas convinced Narveson to establish a Twitter account, asking Narveson "Do you want a bunch of followers?"

Narveson's twitter handle, @sleep_trick, is his gamer tag on XBox. Since joining twitter, he is already approaching 1,000 followers with 914 as I'm writing this.

Narveson joins other active Brewers on Twitter, including relievers John Axford (@JohnAxford), Francisco Rodriguez (@El_kid_rod57), Kameron Loe (@KameronLoe) and Manny Parra (MannyParra26); outfielders Nyjer Morgan (@TheRealTPlush) and Carlos Gomez (@C_Gomez27); and first baseman Mat Gamel (@JMGamel).

John Axford - Future Filmmaker?

For those Brewers fans who don't know, John Axford is a HUGE film buff. He took to Twitter on Sunday to talk about the Oscars and his predictions, as he correctly picked 11 out of 13 winners. But his love for film goes beyond watching movies, as he has lots of stories in his head and has ambitions to take a shot at film in the future after his baseball career comes to an end (which hopefully won't be anytime soon).

To my and many Brewer fans' surprise, it looks like John has already begun preparations for a potential film career after baseball. A spec script that John has been working on during the offseason has surfaced, and while I can't 100% confirm the scripts validity, I can say it sounds like it'd be an epic flick.

To read the few pages of the surfaced script, click here.

Go Brewers!

Super Bowl > Ad Bowl

Over the past decade or so, millions of households tune into the Super Bowl, the NFL's biggest game. While many viewers tune into the game for the joy of football and seeing who wins, just as many tune into the game just for the commercials....and I am one of those people (unless my Chicago Bears can get their act together and make it back to NFL's promised land). To us viewers, we call it the Ad Bowl.

Coming into Super Bowl 46, I can't remember an Ad Bowl being so hyped up. Year after year, the momentum and hype surrounding the commercials escalates to an unprecedented level. And for the most part, the ads have lived up to the level of generated excitement. Unfortunately, Super Bowl 46 might be remembered more for the game itself than the Ad Bowl.

There were some good ads, and there were some bad ads. There were some fantastic ads, and there were some terrible ads. There were some "WOW! They nailed it!" ads, and there were some "I can't believe they just wasted 3 million dollars on this" ads.

The majority of the commercials didn't explore any new creative limits and they simply were repeats of ads seen in Super Bowl past. The creative departments/agencies that worked on these commercials became to complacent with ideas that worked in the past and assumed they would work again. Examples include...GoDaddy, ETrade (although it was funny, he's running out of things to say), and car ads that are becoming more and more ridiculous each year (see Kia Optima, Audi, and Acura NSX). Below is the Go Daddy ad that, while sticking to it's sexual appeal, is NEVER going to get me to visit their site. Give up already!



But in reality, it's not just the creative team's fault for the surplus of terrible ads this year. Part of the reason is the public's fault as well. We've begun to demands ads BEFORE the Super Bowl even begins and in a sense, we are opening the presents much too early. The fun in watching the Super Bowl ads is to be surprised, shocked, WOW'ed, and mesmorized by ads that we have never seen before. All that is taken out the window when a company leaks its ad out a week before the big game, whether it be by their own decision or the public's high interest.

Maybe this will be the Ad Bowl where companies learn from their mistakes, and I have a few tidbits of advice for success:

1) While many successful ads are humorous, don't simply re-cast humorous situations from previous ads in the past. Unless the humor is iconic with your brand (i.e, the E*Trade baby), it's better to continuously come up with more creative and funnier ideas (I'm talking to you Miller Lite and your "man card" ads).

2) Grasp the power and potential of crowdsourcing. Look at how successful Dorito's ads have become in recent Super Bowl memory. Why are they so successful? Because they leave the creativity up to the viewers themselves. Nobody knows what's funnier than your audience, so see what they have to say and you might just find your next successful campaign.



3) No matter what anybody says, it's best to reveal your ad DURING the Super Bowl. Leaking it (or even displaying teaser ads) is uneventful and causes the ad to lose its appeal/spark when it actually is seen by millions during the game. The ad that's most talked about after the Super Bowl is usually (if not always) one that viewers are seeing for the 1st time. So PLEASE don't reveal your ads until the big game itself.

Later on in the week, I'll post videos of the ads that I thought were the best and those that I thought were the worst....and I'd love to hear what you have to think about my choices as well as what your favorite & least favorite ads were.

Thanks, and until next time, Go Bucks!

Let the Super Bowl Ads begin!

As I was surfing the Internet today, I came across the first full-length commercial that will air during Super Bowl XLVI next Sunday. The commercial was for the 2013 Audi SL7. Check out the ad for yourself below...

While my feelings regarding this particular ad are mixed, the real reason for this post is to express my excitement for the kick-off to what I call Super Bowl Ad Extravaganza, the one day where companies and businesses around the country put all their eggs into one basket and pray that their creative and marketing teams have come up with the ad that everyone will remember days, weeks and even months after football's main event. I remember the commercial that captured everyone's attention last year....The Force: Volkswagen.

With the cost of a 30-second ad continuing to increase, it's becoming more and more important for businesses to make sure their ads are the ones that stick out. And with most of the Super Bowl's audience not caring about the outcome of the game (like me), their attention is solely focused on the commercials. It's to the point where the Super Bowl Sunday is becoming more hyped up for the commercials than the game itself. Therefore, the pressure is on! Who will step up to the plate this year and hit a home-run? Well, we will just have to tune in and find out.

Ted Davis: Bucks Announcer on Social Media

With Twitter (and the rest of the social networking world) becoming so prevalent all around the world, it has become a major component of success for businesses. The same holds true for professional sports teams. Many organizations simply hand the team's social media controls over to the marketing department (or create a social media department) whose sole job is to develop effective social media strategies to engage with fans and increase revenue in creative ways. But a lot of times, it's the people within a sports organization who "aren't" expected to be tweeting that are the ones who are effectively engaging with fans. One such man is Ted Davis, the radio announcer for the Milwaukee Bucks.

A recent newcomer to Twitter, Ted has made it clear that fan interaction is a major reason for his decision to join the major social networking platform. "What is it that he does?" you may ask. It's simple. Before every game, Ted reminds Bucks fans on Twitter that they can tweet him a question and he will look to answer it during the game on the air. It's not a "big" idea that people are going to say WOW! at, but it's an effective idea that Bucks fans are flocking to. Hundreds of fans tweet a question at Ted during the game, and he does his best to answer as many as he can.

This is the type of interaction that fans are looking for. Not just tweets or Facebook posts that highlight deals and leave no room for communication between a team and its fans. But instead, interaction where fans and a team are actually conversing with one another.

The reason I wanted to highlight Ted Davis is to show that it's not just the marketing/Social Media department that can be effective on social media for a team....it's other people within the organization that can as well. Ted Davis is just one of those people, and as a Bucks fan, I can tell you he's doing great.

You can follow Ted Davis on Twitter at the handle @nbated