Mobilizing Mobile, AL - A Google Initiative

It’s official: Google is coming to Mobile, Alabama first to launch the GoMo Mobilize Initiative. And we’ll be there! Here’s the official schedule of events that’s taking place:

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14

6:30 PM – Mobile for Advertising Agencies

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15

8AM – 7PM – Mobilization Jams

7:00PM – Mobile for Larger Businesses

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16

8:00AM – 7:00PM – Mobilization Jams

If you want to register, there’s limited room left, but you’re more than welcome to visit online at http://www.howtogomo.com and take it from there.

Remember, we’ll be an Agency that can help you with your site after it’s all said and done, so don’t forget us when you need to make a change!

And most of all, Thank You Google for coming to Mobile, Alabama and helping the Web here!

According to their website, Checkers was first started in Mobile back in 1986 and has been cooking up great burgers ever since. The Checker’s story, which some of you may know from outside of the area as Rally’s goes like this:

“Checkers & Rally’s restaurants were born out of the idea that a bland and flavorless burger was downright bad and that Americans everywhere deserved a better tasting burger — one that was unexpectedly bold, made-to-order and priced at a value that was hard to beat. Founded by experienced foodies with a renegade spirit, both the Checkers & Rally’s unique double drive-thru concept, with its over-the-top checkerboard squares, chrome styling, red neon signs and of course the food, was an instant hit. These two new burger experiences were hot, fresh and served with a smile. People were hooked, and the world of cookie cutter corporate burger establishments was about to change.”

And here’s the official release about the re-opening:

The new reimaged Checkers restaurant at 2213 Airport Blvd in Mobile, AL will host a Grand Opening celebration for the hungry public on Saturday, November 12, 2011.

To kick off the grand opening on Saturday, November 12, Checkers is offering FREE fries for a year to the first 100 guests in line. And, guests in line, 101 and after will receive FREE fries with purchase all weekend. So, be sure to be one of the first people in line, as we anticipate people camping out!

During the grand opening celebration, there will be a kickoff to food eating contests open to the public with a competition showdown at 11am between the University of South Alabama’s STATS (Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow) student organization versus the University of Mobile’ SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) student organization.

Checkers will also give away prizes, coupons, and promotions to reward the community and its loyal fans.

Hoping to see you all there!

According to the Mobile Press-Register and other local sources, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently approached local marketing firms and the Downtown Mobile Alliance to begin to “Mobilize Mobile.” Most likely playing on the name of the city, Mobile reportedly will be the first to be a part of a program named “GoMo” launching November 14 where local businesses, both private and nonprofit, will be able to come to a Google storefront, have a mobile-browser based website created for them within half an hour and also have Google host the website for one year on a first-come, first-served basis.

From the Press-Register:

The Google storefront will be at Space 301, across from Cathedral Square, according to Carol Hunter, representative for the Downtown Mobile Alliance said.

Having a city that shares a name with a tech buzzword hasn’t always been fortuitous, as anyone who has searched online for “Mobile phone company” or “Mobile apps” could tell you. Not to mention all the time residents spend telling out-of-towners that they are from “Mo-beel,” not “Mo-buhl,” Hunter said.

“If you are not thinking about getting mobile with your website, then in the near future you’re going to be behind,” Hunter said. “This is an opportunity for us to really be ahead of that curve.”

No doubt that the south Alabama area could use the attention. However, no sources on the Internet tie the event to the website HowToGoMo.com. There’s no doubt that Google intends to do something with the website because they did register it, but the website remains under password protection so no one really knows what it’s for.

Despite a few websites registered by Google, it’s perhaps Google’s re-branding attempt at drawing attention to the mobile world we are evolving into. Millions rely on smartphone devices to find food, entertainment, directions, keep up with social media and communicate in ways we never thought would be possible.

If you’re looking to get a website created for a mobile phone, Google already has the Google Sites – Mobile Templates website available where you can choose templates for your business, add information and have a live mobile browser website finished in minutes.

So what’s our take on this? It probably will happen. To have a Google storefront in Mobile, Alabama would be awesome as-is. On the other hand, there’s probably a silver lining. Google is notorious for monetizing websites using AdWords. We expect ads. Not only that, but having a site that’s more than likely template-based and not created by a professional website design company is more than likely going to bring the quality of the site down. So, in terms of search optimization, if it’s going to be free and hosted at Google, you’re going to get what you pay for especially if you don’t have control over your content. GeoCities Mobile anyone?

All attempts to confirm this information were made at the time of the article, however neither Google nor our contacts in the Silicon Valley area were aware of the event.

In addition to feature-length and short films, the festival will offer seminars and workshops for adults and school children, to further its goal of educating – as well as enchanting – the growing regional film community. In its third year, and for many more to come, the festival strives to be the yearly event in Southern Alabama for all who love, and create, film.

The festival takes place November 4th, 5th, and 6th at multiple venues throughout Mobile, AL.

Passes for the festival are available now and at the downtown office. Weekend passes will be $30 and individual film tickets will be $5. Click here for tickets.

The South Alabama Film Festival is a part of the Mobile Arts Council made possible by the generous support of the Mobile Public Library, The Crescent Theater, The Center for the Living Arts, The Bike Shop, The Fort Conde Inn, The Hampton Downtown.

FEATURE LENGTH FILMS
Wrestling For Jesus (documentary)
Sat, Nov 5
3pm
The Crescent Theater

A documentary about Timothy who was born in Mobile, AL and grew up a wrestling fanatic. After moving to South Carolina, Timothy started a Christian wrestling organization. His goal is to use wrestling to evangelize his neighbors. However his passion and vision for his ministry are tested when his personal life begins to disintegrate. Wrestling for Jesus is a raw and honest all-access pass into the two worlds of independent wrestling and religion in the rural South.

- Timothy (T-Money) is originally from Mobile
- Timothy is scheduled to attend

http://www.facebook.com/wrestlingforjesus
http://wrestlingforjesus.com

Missing Pieces (special preview screening) (narrative)
Sat, Nov 5
5pm
The Crescent Theater

This is a story about a man who’s lost everything and his misguided attempts to put it back together. Missing Pieces is an emotional enigma about love and loneliness…and a kidnapping. Through interwoven, poignant vignettes, this multi-plot tale unfolds and untangles into a truly unique and heartfelt love story about finding hope when all is lost.

- Kenton Bartlett (writer/producer) is from Birmingham
- Started the film when he was 19; he’s now 23
- Filmmaker is scheduled to attend
- Along with film Q&A, Kenton will also be participating in a workshop/Q&A session with the kids camp students

http://www.facebook.com/FindYourMissingPieces
http://www.findyourmissingpieces.com

Prairie Love (narrative)
Sat, Nov 5
9pm
The Crescent Theater

When a mysterious vagrant living out of his car among the snowy plains discovers a nearly-frozen local with a pen-pal girlfriend, he sees an opportunity to change his lonely existence. From the harsh Midwestern frozen plains, comes this wonderfully bizarre but heartwarming look at three people searching for love and self discovery in the oddest ways.

- This will be the first screening in South Alabama
- Ashley Bias & Dusty Bias (from Baldwin County)
- Filmmaker scheduled to attend
- Official Selection: 2011 Sundance Film Festival
- Grand Jury Prize, Best Narrative Feature: 2011 Oxford Film Festival

http://www.facebook.com/prairielove
http://www.prairielove.com
http://www.prairielove.com/press/mr.pdf

Man of Deeds (documentary)
Sun, Nov 6
1pm
Bernhiem Hall

Born into the chaos of the French Revolution, Mathias Loras would come to develop a vision for a state of spirituality in the New World that few dare dream. Brought up in an elegant, bourgeois family he would eventually become a missionary assigned to a remote outpost in the frontier territory of Iowa. There he would sow the seeds of the church to rough miners and farmers, while battling the unending hardships of life on edge of civilization.

- Filmmaker Craig Schafer is scheduled to attend
- From 1830-1832 Mathias Loras served as the first president of Spring Hill College

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Loras

The Reconstruction of Asa Carter (documentary)
Sun, Nov 6
4pm
Bernhiem Hall

Forrest Carter, best-selling author of The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Education of Little Tree, was an exalted Cherokee hero of New Age wisdom. As a leader in the Native American cultural revival of the 1970′s, Forrest touched millions of readers with his gentle and earthy tales of Indian life. Twelve years after his death, however, the public learned that Forrest had a hidden past. Forrest Carter was actually Asa ‘Ace’ Cater, violent Ku Klux Klansman and Alabama Governor George Wallace’s principal speechwriter; author of the infamous 1963 inaugural address, ‘Segregation Now! Segregation Tomorrow! Segregation Forever!’

- Filmmaker Douglas Newman scheduled to attend

http://www.facebook.com/reconstructionofasacarter
http://www.reconstructionofasacarter.com

FESTIVAL VENUES
Ben May Main Library, Bernheim Hall
The Crescent Theater
Space 301
Cathedral Square

More films are scheduled to show. Check the South Alabama Film Festival Website and find out more:

http://www.southalabamafilmfestival.org

Follow the South Alabama Film Festival on Twitter at:

http://twitter.com/SoALFilmFest

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill may have a significant impact on local businesses for months or years to come. Many of our clients have questions about how to pursue claims with BP for loss of income resulting from the disaster. Click here for a summary of the claims process to assist you in seeking compensation for your business. For more information, please contact your HBK advisor.

For more information, please contact your HBK advisor or call your local HBK office:
Foley: (251) 943-5499
Fairhope: (251) 928-2443
Spanish Fort: (251) 626-0846
Brewton: (251) 867-3809

For more information, please see the latest news on the following links:

Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce: http://www.eschamber.com/
Hartmann, Blackmon & Kilgore, P.C.: http://www.hbkcpas.com/
Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau: http://www.gulfshores.com/issues
Deepwater Horizon Response: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/

Photo Courtesy of the Mobile Press-Register.

DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE ON THE NEWS ABOUT THE OIL SPILL! EVERYTHING ON THE ALABAMA COAST IS JUST FINE! (Or at least it was when we wrote this…now, it’s really, really bad.)

We are tired of the fear-mongering and it has had a direct impact on our clients income which in turn hurts our income because they no longer have a budget to advertise in some cases. One thing that this has taught everyone is that regardless if it’s true or not (in this case it’s not), the fact that someone who has a very loud microphone keeps talking about it (AKA the media), the more tourists don’t want to come visit. There are not dead, oiled birds, dolphins or tuna on our coastline. There are not tar balls washing up that would be any different than any other day at the beach (it’s normal for tar balls to wash up at the beach). And there is no smell of oil in the air. The local media reported that there were tar balls but that they were not confirmed to be caused by the oil spill and that LESS THAN A DOZEN were found. Again, that’s not more than normal. Dead fish? Happens all the time. Is it the chemicals in the water? What makes you think there weren’t already chemicals in the water from boats before the oil spill?

It’s no longer comedic or a joke. We’ve gotten fed up with it and the tone of this article surely is indicative of that. And we’re not the only ones. The Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce has spoken out against this fallacy of oil covering our beaches and the Gulf Coast being somewhere no one can visit right now too, and we commend them for it:

Originally Posted at: http://www.eschamber.com/bus_news.php?newsitem=357
Friday, May 14, 2010

Dear Friend,

We are urgently working to combat the negative national media message and get the facts out to the United States and the world that the Gulf Coast, including Alabama, is open for business. Our goal is to pass the truth on. Yes, there is an oil spill, is it as bad as they say? You be the judge. At the bottom of this message is a link to information updated daily. It includes reports from NOAA, and daily pictures of the beaches in Baldwin County, Alabama. The beaches of Alabama and the Mobile Bay are very important to us all.. we are all working to be proactive and ready to protect our waterways and natural habitats, WE are committed to keeping you updated with the facts – not the fear factor.

The Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce
www.eschamber.com

Here are a few facts from that link:

• The Alabama Department of Public Health and Alabama Department of Environmental Management stated that there is no foreseeable need to close beaches and, short of a drastic change, they have no plans to do so.
• Tarballs travel independently of an oil slick and are not an indication that the slick itself will travel in the same direction or to the same area. The oil slick still has not reached the beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and, according to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) forecasts, is not expected to for at least 72 hours. Forecasts beyond 72 hours are not available.
• Although NOAA has closed commercial and recreational fishing in a limited area between the mouth of the Mississippi River and Florida’s Pensacola Bay, there is a large area of the gulf still open.
• All appropriate preventative measures, including oil-absorbing booms, are being used along Alabama’s beaches, bays, inlets and sensitive areas in an effort to prevent oil from reaching our shores. Researchers and scientists have indicated that any impact directly on the beaches can potentially be cleaned effectively and fairly quickly.

GO TO THIS LINK FOR PICTURES , MORE INFORMATION AND DAILY UPDATES!:

http://www.gulfshores.com/issues

Darrelyn
Darrelyn J. Bender
President/CEO
Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 310
Daphne, AL 36526
251.621.8222
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

What do you do in a case like this? Well, first: Speak out. Comment here. If you don’t think that’s good enough, call WALA, WKRG, or WPMI, The Press Register and the entire conglomerate of sites that run AL.com and NOLA.com and tell them to stop running stories about it. Second: Go share this and blog about it yourself. Third: Tell all of your friends it’s OK to come to the beach and business is still open for EVERYONE. This is a very passive-aggressive move from our own people! Airing headlines that bleed to lead, putting statements and then following up with “inconclusive” facts. Shame on you local media for ruining your own town and our economy!

The South Alabama market cannot take this. This is unjust and it’s all from the media! Speak out and tell them to quit!  AND DON’T LET THEM DISTRACT YOU WITH ANOTHER STORY!! (People won’t stop thinking it’s unsafe to come to the beach until THEY SAY ITS SAFE – which it IS!)

Taylor S. Ripley
CEO – TurkReno, Inc.
PO Box 2361
Daphne, AL. 36526
(251) 279-0278

We were impressed from the moment we walked in. On a busy Friday night, you almost come to expect no one to even acknowledge you in any restaurant. We got immediate attention, were offered drinks and a place to sit. We got to review a large assortment of beers on tap (49 according to our waitress; 50 total she said if you counted root beer), an awesome assortment of bottled beers and a very interesting selection of appetizers and entrees. They even had Mixed Tap beers named things like Snakebite – Cider and Guinness, Dirty Hoe – Hoegarden and Framboise, and Chocolate Milk – Rogue Chocolate Stout and Lefthad Milkstout. They had everything from Dips, to Hummus, to Wings, to Salads. At lunch, they even serve pitas! Had we stayed a little later, we would have gotten to hear some live music (usually starts at around 9:30PM).

We started off our meal with the Belgian Fries. Those were awesome potatoes, classic-cut french fries, fried in duck fat topped off with ground salt and pepper. Served with Roasted Garlic Herb Dip and Ketchup. We loved them in both, so it doesn’t matter what you choose – it’s going to be good. The menu says that you can get crash helmet upon request, but we took a risk and ate them without looking silly.

It didn’t take long to get our Wild Mushroom pizza either. This was an awesome 16 inch pizza for mushroom lovers like ourselves, topped with Shitake, Portobello, Oyster and Crimini mushrooms on a red marinara sauce with what seemed like a mix of Italian cheeses. It had a unique, smokey flavor to the crust and was baked just right. These guys weren’t kidding around when it comes to good pizza (and we eat pizza all the time).

Reviewer #1: 9/10; Reviewer #2: 8/10; Overall Score: 17/20.

We did a little research of our own and found out that Hopjacks has a website. They’re open from 11AM to 2:30AM, they deliver to the Downtown Mobile area and also have a Pensacola location (located at 10 South Palafox, Pensacola, FL. 32502). At the time of this article, they scored a 94/100 with the Alabama Health Department.

For two people, a round of beers, appetizers and a large 16 inch pizza, it came out to be $32.40 before the tip. Overall, it was totally worth it. The next time you’re in the Downtown Mobile area, we recommend you pick up a slice of pie at Hopjacks!