ICSGCT 2009: Home Sweet Home

We spent almost the entire day traveling yesterday - leaving San Antonio early afternoon, and flying counter clockwise around the country with stops in Charlotte and Philadelphia before landing back in Syracuse around 10 last night.

This morning came a little early for those of us who were on the road, as we rolled into the office this morning, bleary-eyed with caffeinated beverages in tow - but, it's good to be home.

For me, CoSIDA was an awesome opportunity to finally put a face to the email address/voice for many of you that I communicate with on a daily basis. I hope the show was as good for you as it was for us, and that your travels got you home safely.

We look forward to working with you in the future, and - as always - don't hesitate to contact us with anything you might need or questions you might have!

ICSGCT 2009: Where ya Been?

I know what you are thinking - is CoSIDA over? Or perhaps my phone was
confiscated by the Texas Rangers because I took pictures in the
Alamo? Or even that I fell in the Riverwalk and was swept out to the
Rio Grande, eventually beached in Cuba and now have a small wooden
cigar stand in downtown Havana? After all, what happened to the
frequent updates?

Well, to be honest, this CoSIDA has to be the busiest I've ever been
to in terms of booth traffic and we've had zero downtime during
exhibiting hours. This is obviously a good thing, unless of course you
are my legs, in which this has been pretty much hell on Earth. (I AM a
programmer after all - sunlight and standing are mortal enemies).

Usually all of our tradeshows feature some sort of slow period, which
is where we invent games to keep us occupied, including SideBall which
was the big hit last year. There has been no equivalent this year,
unless DMG demos are somehow a competitive enterprise, which I would
doubt because there is no real possibilty of physical damage which has
long been a hallmark of ICS invented sports.

In our hours outside of the tradeshow we are generally partaking of
the local cuisine or visiting Tony Roma's, which we hit last night for
the third time. After yet another full rack of ribs (Jeff is currently
in the lead with 4) it's usually back up to the room to pass out,
waking occasionally to listen to Jamie as he recites SIDEARM demos in
his sleep.

Today is our final day of exhibiting, and will be punctuated by our
second annual ICS client get together which will feature a
presentation of the latest and greatest, free drinks, and Chris K
playing a few of his favorites on the pan flute. Should be a good time.

Meanwhile, back in Syracuse...

Hello everyone!

While Jeff R., Mark, Jamie and Chris are sweltering in San Antonio, searching for a Staples (follow them on Twitter) and living off Snickers bars, we here in Syracuse have been having our own adventures.

The Hinds Hall Bandit has struck again!

There have been a series of petty thefts on the Syracuse University campus, most of them occurring right down the hall from our office, inspiring what is left over of the art team to go VIGILANTE!!

As Passetti has seen this burglar up close and has innocuously interacted with said bandit, we have chosen him to be our leader, although he takes direction from Jesse (whom I've decided to call Charlie from now on). Drew, Jen and I will follow Passetti's every direction, as misguided as he may be....

Passetti (aka Bosley) has drawn us a diagram of the bandit's attire and we have memorized it, hoping it is this diabolical thief's unchangeable uniform (artistic rendition below, very accurate).
We know this thief is very cunning and powerful. We know this because he has also infiltrated Newhouse, where I spend a majority of my day, and snatched my Executive Editor's purse from the classroom next to where 70 Newhouse master's degree students were meeting to discuss extremely important details about our final project. If he can get past my Executive Editor (I'm pretty sure she has secret latent ninja skills as I do not trust anyone with such a sweet disposition), he must be cunning indeed. We have considered the possibility she's in on it-- the bandit was spotted at a near by gas station using her credit card.

Wish us luck and good health. We are the last defense of ICS Headquarters.

--Kate

ICSGCT: Wasting Time

I apologize for the delay in posting, but frankly there wasn't much to
talk about yesterday. We thought that setup would occur yesterday,
but that turned out not to be the case leaving us free for the
afternoon to tool around town and get the feel of Santonio. (that's
what the locals call it) (Ed. - No, it's not)

After an afternoon of aimless wandering, some pointless meandering,
and even a little random orienteering, we hung out in the hotel, crank
calling our colleagues in Syracuse and trying to get room service to
make a peanut butter and anchovie paste sandwich which they kept
insisting they wouldn't do.

For the evening we split up, with Jeff and Jamie attending the CoSIDA
Past Presidents dinner and Chris and I fishing partially eaten
quesadillas out of a Riverwalk Mexican restaurant dumpster as part of
Jeff's 'cost-cutting initiative.'. Then we met up and headed to a
Young CoSIDA with Abram from HPU and Darryl from AIC for some drinks,
pool and fussball.

Then this morning it was up early to get the booth setup for an 11 AM
starting time. Our second tradeshow in 4 days was set to begin...

ICSGCT 2009: Ruminations

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here in San Antonio, especially
because I'm sipping coffee and overlooking the Riverwalk rather than
crammed into a van trying to maintain my sanity and ability to move my
arms as I was yesterday at this time. My only conversation in the last
hour was with the bird that swiped a banana nut off of the loaf I
bought from Starbucks - it's been great.

It's also Father's Day, so best wishes to all of you dads out there
who might be reading this. Jeff, Jamie and I all have kids, so it's
difficult to be away from then, especially on the one day where they
are to celebrate your existence. It's worse for me for two reasons:
this is my first Father's day as a parent, and because yesterday was
my daughter's actual first birthday (we had a kegger last week to
celebrate).

In fact, between NACDA and CoSIDA, we're away from our kids for 9
days, which is a hard pill to swallow, especially today.

In any case, we're about to go pick up Chris K at the airport, and
then booth setup is in our future. After that, who knows? More
updates to follow.

Oh, and from all of us to our families - we miss you, and we're
thinking of you.

ICSGCT 2009: I'm halfway there

Howdy, Loyal ICS Blog Readers,

Chris K reporting here from the glorious airport in Atlanta. I was
fortunate enough to hop the first flight out of Syracuse this morning,
aboard a small tin can with wings and a pilot.

Upon the plane, I was excited to see my seat neighbor had obvious
personal space issues. Yep, he fell asleep on my shoulder....twice.
Which was only as exciting as the flight attendant performing a hit
and run on his lower half with the beverage cart...twice.

They're now directing me to turn off my "porbaltronicdevices" which I
think means me. Talk to you from TX!

ICSGCT 2009: Arrival!

Well folks, after 18+ hours, 1000+ miles, and a lot of adventures and misadventures, the ICS crew has finally landed in our hotels rooms in sunny (and hot) San Antonio just in time for the CoSIDA convention set up which begins tomorrow. We all are exhausted, and frankly smell pretty bad, but we are here, and here earlier than expected, allowing Jeff and I to enjoy some more Tony Roma's while Jamie attends a few CoSIDA board meetings.

Don't worry - we made him shower before he went.

Now that we are here, we'll enjoy the evening, turn in early, and pick up our fourth member (senior art director Chris K) who I'm sure will be absolutely WIPED from his dreadful, 3 hour flight...

Tomorrow - CoSIDA!

ICSGCT 2009: Spitting Distance

I finally found a moment to grab a snapshot of the 'backseat of doom.'. Despite my posturing, the hole is actually pretty spacious. The issue, as I discussed at great length before, is that it's very
difficult to find a comfortable position to sleep. For me, at least - Jamie was shaking the axles with his shores only moments after we switched spots.

Around hour 13, we stopped for breakfast in Raine, Louisiana at a wonderful Scottish restaurant for coffee and Egg McMuffins. The visit was pretty nondescript which was somewhat surprising because nearly every stop so far has had SOMETHING unique about it.

The highlight of our first stop at Arby's for example, was the odd sight of a fella with a classic shaved mohawk, giving his order to another man who was wearing what appeared to be pantyhose as a hairnet and had a full top-tier gold plated 'grill' that gleamed when he
smiled. And this was in the first hour of the trip.

Other notables were the aforementioned sign posted above the urinal at a rest stop, and a large red button inset into an exterior wall that offered a weather forecast if pushed, despite any visible way of conveying said information. I was too delirious at the time to
realize the potential hilarity of it, and sadly left the button without pressing it.

The final interesting spot so far was a gas station/casino in Louisiana. It featured a bathroom that might possibly have never been cleaned, slot machines that Jamie ceremoniously lost a buck in, and a convenience store that stocked seven different brands of pork rhinds, which is six more than I knew existed.

It's a different world down here for a bunch of New Yorkers, that's for sure. After breakfast, I took the helm for a few hours and got us past Houston, and now Jeff has taken over and I've returned to the hole to update all of you. In hour 17, we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this marathon ride.

ICSGCT 2009: Marathon Man

Hour twelve is upon us and I've just woken up from some actual bona
fide almost sleep and feel marginally human again. We are currently
in the middle of Louisiana somewhere, with Jamie at the helm and me
back in the hole after a brief foray into the wetlands of the front
passenger seat.

Jeff once again displayed his rarely used superpower ('marathon
overnight driving') and drove the first 543 miles - a mind numbing 7
hours fueled mostly by endless Coke (of the liquid variety) and a
blaring iPod littered with Kiss, Poison, and Barry Manilow. At 4:30
in the morning his stamina finally wore out (read ran out of Coke) and
he pulled into a rest stop just inside of Mississippi.

He didn't even attempt to have us keep going as Jamie was filling the
backseat up with liters of drool and I hadn't slept at all and was
having a lengthy conversation with Ira from NJCU on my iPhone (which
had run out of juice) while wearing a pair of mesh shorts over my
head. Jeff chose wisely, parked and napped for an hour and a half.

Finally, around 6, Jamie awoke, and was pressed into chauffeur duties,
I 'hung up' with Ira and tried sleeping again, and Jeff curled up,
took a 10 minute nap, then resumed a frightening state of cat-like
alertness. Louisiana beckoned, and pretty soon, we were at the state
line. At least I imagine that's how it went - as I passed out finally
as well.

By the way, this is my view from where I've spent much of the trip.
At least there is daylight now...

ICSGCT 2009 : Oh, Plese

As seen at 2 AM at a backwater panhandle rest stop. I'm just gonna
let this one speak for itself.

ICSGCT 2009: Sleep Please?

I can't sleep, as much as I desperately try. It's hard to adequately
describe the predicament in which I am presently ensconced. It's all
corners - everywhere there's some angle that juts into my body
providing just enough pain to deny my unconsciousness. I've tried just
about every position I can conceive of but am attempting to avoid
future chiropractic de-pretzeling so I've been trying minimize the
contortioning.

I feel like those NASA folks in Apollo 13, tasked with making a square
filter fit a round hole. I'm using all the tools at my disposal to
try and soften the edges. At present I have two shoes, a spare shirt,
several napkins, a roll of garbage bags and 500 rubber sporting balls
at my disposal. So far, no luck. And yes, I've contemplated 'the ball
room' but don't think I could take the smell.

My work has been interrupted though by the boys up front, who recently
discovered that their feet are soaking wet, despite any appreciable
source of liquid. The current theory is that the air conditioner is
condensing into the car and onto the front rugs - I've posited instead
that we are actually slowly sinking into a lake but are all
hallucinating via some tainted Arby's Roast Beef we grabbed for
dinner. In any case, Jamie is now calmly attempting to dry his socks
by holding then out the window, which is flapping wildly against the
back window and sounds like a hailstorm.

I doubt I'll be sleeping anytime soon.

ICSGCT 2009 : Goodbye NACDA

The second day of exhibiting here at NACDA started off very slow, much
more so than the first day, despite the rather fortuitous relocation
of the bar to directly next to our booth. We bided our time, chatting
with exhibitionist neighbors (that's the right term, no?) and swiping
candy from the dish when the boss wasn't looking.

Eventually it did pick up, and the booth was buzzing for awhile with
some new faces, as well as some familiar ones, like Marlon from Warner
who was amazed to see what the booth looked like when it was not
crammed into the back of the van.

The last half an hour of the exhibiting is generally a 'perfect storm'
- attendees run around trying to get as much free stuff before closing
while the vendors try to ditch everything they can so they don't have
to travel back with it. We were giving folks 3-4 bottles at a time,
dozens of balls, and cases of pens - often to the vehement protests of
folks that 'do not need this much crap.'

Tear down began shortly after and took place in what might be record
time for us, as we were anxious(?) to get on the road. After a
miraculous packing job, we were actually able to fit everything inside
the van (including luggage which we had excluded the first time) and
sped off in search of fame and fortune in San Antonio.

I write this missive from the hole they left for me, wedged between
the door, a box of water bottles and a trashbag full of rubber
footballs, somewhere in the middle of Florida.

And it begins...

ICSGCT 2009: Boredom

The exhibiting closed up last night around 8:30, the closing up
punctuated by a drive by silly stringing of one of Jeff's former
students by an inflatable bull sporting a LeBron James jersey. I kid
you not. After a wonderful dinner with Jason at Drew and some friends
at CSI, we collapsed in our hotel room and slept soundly until morning.

This morning we awoke the realization that we had to check out four
hours before the show began, leaving us room-less for our downtime. My
whirlwind 'Disney in 2 hours' fell on deaf ears and after a short
lunch we ended up in the lobby, taking advantage of the free WIFi and
trying to sell SIDEARM to random folks at the bar or on their way to
the pool. At one point Jamie was haranguing the guy painting a railway
out of sheer boredom.

At three we headed down to the booth to refill the schwag which
magically disappears overnight, grabbed by either the cleaning staff
and/or magical conference gnomes. After some feverish folder stuffing
and candy replenishing we are now open for business.

Bring it on, NACDA. Bring it on.

ICSGCT 2009: It's On, Like Donkey Kong

As the bell tolled four, the masses of NACDA attendees descended on
the exhibit hall en masse, partaking of fancy snacks and an open bar.
But despite the masses, business was initially slow, primarily because
of our location.

See, this exhibit hall is enormous, with hundreds of vendors arranged
in nine rows. The main entrance is at the first row, and
unfortunately we were in the 9th, so it took awhile for folks to
percolate in our direction.

At the other tradeshows, we often run into folks we correspond with
only via email or phone in person. But here, instead we run into their
BOSS. Then there's the standard 'you're with us' and 'we work with so
and so.' and hopefully 'we love you guys' and 'where's Mark Frantz -
that guy is money.'

Traffic got real heavy with many potential prospects and lots of
current clients, including Floyd from Morgan State, John from
Piedmont, Ruffin from Baltimore City, Scott from Belhaven and David
from CSI among others. We've been showing everybody DMG which is
garnering a lot of interest, and of course everyone wants to grab a
water bottle or carribeener, which I should remind everyone is NOT for
climbing.

From my perspective, I've become a water bottle and rubber ball
peddler, imploring everyone that walks by to please, please take as
many as you can carry. After all, the more we give away, the more
room I'll have to breathe in the van when we trek to San Antonio.

And that, my friends, is VERY important to me...

ICSGCT 2009: Candy Run

NACDA is unique from our other tradeshows in that the exhibiting hours
begin at 4 PM where most other shows begin ridiculously early in the
morning, like 9 o'clockish. This has left us with a wealth of time in
the morning and afternoon to prepare.

Jamie being Jamie scheduled 18 demos which he delivered from the hotel
in his skivvies, leaving Jeff and I to make the standard candy run to
Walmart. And for once there was one within a few miles of the hotel -
in years past we've had to drive for miles, ford streams, and battle
gangs of post-apocalyptic goons Mad Max style to bring folks the
Hershey's Minis they crave so much.

The afternoon was filled with some remote working, listening to Jamie
explain the health benefits of SIDEARM (47% of your daily fiber) and
some final setup of the booth. We put out all of our mugs, bottles,
carribeeners, pens, and paper material in hopes that it will disappear
and we won't have to cart it the hundreds of miles to San Antonio.

Now we stand at the booth, awaiting what will hopefully be a fruitful
bevy of administrators hungry for websites...

ICSGCT 2009: Set Up

After safely returning from Warner with our tradeshow booth, we set
out immediately to assemble everything. We were waylaid a bit because
where we could park the van and the exhibition hall were probably a
quarter of a mile apart, leading us to epic death marches schlepping
brochures and mugs from van to booth.

Compounding the issue was our proximity to the loading dock, which may
have appeared at first glance to be a large doorway but was in fact a
blast furnace buffeting us with the baumy 90+ degree humid air that
Florida provides this time of year.

Consequently, when at last the booth was erected, we stood drenched
staring lazily at what we had wrought. Compounded by the lack of any
food since breakfast, we were a pretty bleak sight to behold.

A quick trip back to the room, and a delightful dinner at Tony Roma's
lifted our spirits and hopefully will provide some positive momentum
as we head into the first day of exhibiting tomorrow afternoon.

Goodnight, folks.

ICSGCT 2009: The Pickup

We arrived at Warner University (about an hour south of Orlando) and
met up with Marlon who took us over to see the tradeshow boxes, which
had been moved out of the mailroom (possibly so they could actually
receive mail again) and into the hallway. I must admit, I did not
believe they could fit in our rented minivan, citing an old adage
about human waste and differently sized bags.

Confident as usual, Jeff began cramming them in, and we reluctantly
followed suit. It became apparent that in there present form, the
boxes would not fit, despite our Tetris-like attempts. That's when the
boxes of rubber play balls started getting opened.

And summarily crammed into every nook and cranny we could find. Under
seats, over seats, every space quickly filled with footballs, soccer
balls, and basketballs. When the dust settled, everything fit.

Thus we set forth back to Orlando, our van weighted down, the pungent
and nauseating smell of rubber stifling the cabin, and my life hanging
in the balance at every turn, as my seat was barely hammered out
amidst the mess.

Big thank you to Marlon - he's stopping up at the show so assuming I'm
not crushed by tradeshow boxes, I'll tell him in person...

ICS Gulf Coast Tour 2009

Hey there, ICS Client! Are you floating in your pool, sipping
margaritas? Out on the 8th hole, putting for eagle? Just sitting in
your office, twiddling your thumbs and waiting nervously for the fall
season to begin?

Why not live vicariously through Jeff, Jamie and Mark as we embark on
our southern tradeshow extravaganza? We start with NACDA tomorrow,
then the BigSouth Ammo and SalsaFest over the weekend and finally
CoSIDA next week, with a fabulous 18 hour minivan trek from Orlando to
San Antonio in the middle of it all. As has become an official job
requirement for me, I will be chronicling our adventure as we try to
peddle our wares south of the Mason-Dixon line, and try to provide
some entertainment to you folks back home.

Currently we are rocketing in our Town and Country to Warner
University and Marlon who graciously accepted our invitation to
recieve half a ton of tradeshow supplies via FedEx. Apparently we
have filled more than half of their university's mailroom and they are
a bit anxious for our arrival...

My Introductory Post

As one of the newer members of the ICS team, I will take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Brad and I am a senior at Syracuse University, very close now to earning a dual degree in information management and technology from the School of Information Studies and in photojournalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. I don’t quite know what I plan on doing with my education upon graduating, so please email me with your suggestions.

My role at ICS is a project manager in our customer support area and I’m currently assisting some of our newer clients to make a smooth transition over to SIDEARM for their new athletic websites. It’s been a great experience so far and I’m very fortunate to be working with such a talented, dedicated team.

I’ve also had my first Slapball match at the ICS office. Unfortunately, I lost my first game quite miserably. Now, occasionally being struck in the head with a stray ball from a game in progress while at my computer is the extent of my participation. One day I will try to make a comeback.

It’s also been great working directly with our clients and I’ve been finding their feedback very useful. Everyone I’ve worked with so far has been exceedingly kind and patient, so I really couldn’t have asked for a better start here at ICS.

If anyone has a question about using a feature on their site, do not hesitate to call and ask for me!

Twitter and DIII Athletics

Anyone who follows me on Twitter (@jhrubin) knows that I went on a bit of a 140 character rampage earlier this week about Division 3 collegiate athletics and the rules regarding Social Networking (specifically Twitter).

DIII programs have enough trouble bringing attention to their programs (attention that is well deserved). Twitter is an easy, no-cost way to promote your program, athletes, coaches, and college/university. Saying that a program cannot use any electronic means other than faxes or email makes me believe that whoever voted on this was not given all the facts about social media.

Let me backup and explain (and please if I am wrong about this I would love to hear from you). According to the NCAA Division III Manual (Section 13.02.10 - Electronic Transmissions).

Electronically transmitted correspondence that may be sent to a prospective student-athlete by, or on behalf of, a member of the institution's athletics department staff is limited to electronic mail and facsimiles. All other forms of electronically transmitted correspondence (e.g., instant messaging, text messaging and social networking Web sites) are prohibited. (Adopted: 1/14/08 effective 8/1/08)

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ncaadIII

So let me get this straight. Not only can a coach NOT use twitter because a prospective athlete COULD follow that coach but a DIII athletic department could not use twitter because their message may be sent to a prospective athlete? I am going to leave the coach part out of my argument but the athletic department I really don't understand. Let's say an athletic department sets up a Twitter account and they strictly use the account to send out score updates and news (the same news and scores that are on their website) then according to the way I am reading this they would be in violation. Really? How is this any different than if a prospective athlete went to the Website to read the latest news and scores? Twitter is just a way that people are CHOOSING to communicate and follow people - how can this be considered a bad thing? Please make me understand.

I guess the part I also don't understand is why is a Website not listed in Section 13.02.10 - Electronic Transmissions. I mean can't a prospective athlete go there and potentially watch videos interviews with coaches and players, potentially hear podcasts from coaches and student athletes, certainly read news which could contain quotes from coaches. Why is the Website allowed and Twitter is not? Isn't just another form of communication?

Ok let me move on. According to the NCAA Division III Manual (Section 13.4 - Recruiting Materials).

Institutions are permitted to provide to prospective student-athletes, prospective student-athlete's relatives [or guardian(s)], and to coaches of prospective student-athletes any official academic, admissions, athletics and student-services publications or electronic media published or produced by the institution. Institutions are also permitted to provide other information of a general nature that is available to all students or prospective students. (Revised: 1/11/89, 7/24/07, 4/21/09, 4/29/09)

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ncaad3

So is my frustration for nothing or is anyone else confused? Doesn't this say that an athletic department can send any information to a prospective athlete as long as the electronic media is officially from the athletic department? So if an athletic department is using Twitter to send out official news and scores is that allowed? I guess it depends which you read first. I interpret it to say yes you can do this but Section 13.02.10 limits you to fax and email.

I then found a great interview that was done with Jay Jones, the NCAA's Director of Academic Affairs and Membership Affairs for Division III. He says

Within Division III, social networking of any type that has an athletics nexus or athletics information and engagement with prospective student-athletes is not permissible. Therefore, information through a social networking site that with an athletics focus in which prospective student-athletes are allowed to be members are not permissible.

Source: http://www.dantudor.com/2009/05/post_208.htm

Folks, we are in the information age. While I completely understand the need to limit interaction between recruits and coaches I feel that by prohibiting an athletic department or coach from using Twitter is absurd.

Please please please... If anyone can shed more light on this or tell me where I am misunderstanding the facts I would be forever grateful.

Introduction

Since this is my first post, I would like to take the time to introduce myself and tell about my role at ICS. I graduated from SU this May and feel fortunate to even have a job in this lovely economy I've graduated into. I'm quickly adjusting to "real life" outside of college and am actually enjoying the change. At ICS my main task is to manage and update all the header redesigns as well as do the headers for new websites that are being worked on. Luckily for ICS and all you clients, I would consider myself to be borderline ocd about being organized (being president of a sorority with 150 girls will do that to you!). Therefore, all your header updates this summer should be done in a timely manner.

Outside of ICS, I workout and go running quite a bit. I'm contemplating signing up for the Liverpool Half Marathon in September, so if anyone would like to join, let me know! Other than that, I like to cook, be outside, paint and just enjoy myself. So far, its been great being part of the ICS staff and working with the clients, as I'm sure it will continue to be!

Calling All Header Redesigns! Calling all Header Redesigns!

Here at the ICS headquarters, we're quickly beginning the forward charge into our busiest time of the year - so while you're out enjoying the off season with your friends and families, we're feverishly polishing the look of some of your sites, and adding a bunch of new members to the ICS family as well.

I have to admit, I write today to ask a favor of you.

If you are planning to have us freshen up the look of your headers on your site by replacing the players in them at any point this summer, I'd love to hear from you as soon as possible. If you're waiting for the new budget year to come, don't worry - we can even send the bill along after July 1 if you'd like.

For a little encouragement, I've been authorized to give you Crazy Chris K's Bargain Basement Discount Pricing on your headers. Act NOW and you will save an additional 10% on all redesigns - but make sure you act quickly... as this offer is only good through the end of the day, on Monday June 8, 2009. So hurry!! (to take advantage of this offer, log into your sidearm system, and the bottom left link, titled "ICS Account", will take you to a page where you can order your redesigns)

On a related note, I am happy to announce that we have a staff dedicated solely to the creation of new and redesigned headers. Recently joining the SIDEARM staff is Jen Hawk, our new Project Manager for the Art Department. Jen has been a wonderful asset to us already, and I'm sure you will find that she helps make the redesign process go even more smoothly than in the past. She'll be making her first post on the blog on next Tuesday, so if you get a chance, please welcome her our staff!

You may have noticed that we recently redesigned our corporate site (www.sidearmsports.com) - and now, you can officially read fun and interesting facts about some of the key sidearm staff on our new staff page.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer! I'll be heading out to San Antonio soon for CoSIDA with the guys - will I see any of you there?

ck

ECAC-SIDA: Divergence

While the tradeshow itself continues tomorrow, we are winding up our
last day of exhibiting here in Avalon. It was a busy morning as we
continued to meet and greet the ICS Client crew as they continued to
arrive at the hitel from the opulent mansions they all must grace.

The activity was brisk but brief as noon arrived and everyone headed
to the 2 hour lunchathon to partake in the plethora of victuals and
listen to the likes of Bill Rasmussen, Jeff Bernstein and our own
intrepid Jeff Rubin, who waxed nostalgic about our love for this
tradeshow and equal passion for SIDEARM DMG. Ever the salesman, that
Jeff - he even convinced the bartender that he needed 'BacardiStats.'
Guess I know what I'm developing next week.

Now that the show is ending for us, the crew will spread back through
the northeast, with Jeff and family heading back to 'Cuse with Jamie
and Justin in hot pursuit, Cannonball Run style. My family is headed
back to Philly for the weekend and Jesse is off to Atlantic City -
something about 'bench warrants' and the Borgata.

We had a wonderful time at the tradeshow, and as always I've enjoyed
blogging about it for all of you - assuming anyone has read this
besides my mother. (Hi Mom!). Check back in a few weeks as we head to
NACDA and CoSIDA and a 16 hour van ride between the two... I'm sure it
will be interesting.

ECAC-SIDA: A Guest Post

Good morning.

My name is Justine Frantz, and I'll be guest blogging for my dad this morning as he is apparently still recovering from something he called 'Wally World' which I assumed was an amusement park but he assures me that while punctuated with screams and prizes it was definitely not.

As he wanders about moaning and squinting at bright lights, I thought it would be a good time to update everyone on the other convention going on down here - the Future Leaders of ICS Convention and Romper Festival. The meeting this year included me, plus the Rubin boys, Nathan and Benjamin. Sadly Jansen and Jace Joss had a prior commitment at Alliterative Namefest 2009 in Walla Walla, Washington.

We've had a great and productive time so far. Nathan has taken the lead with his apple juice initiative and I have been pushing for more bathtime and less naps. Benjamin is the thinker of the group, always quietly pondering the ramifications of our plans and occasionally
running in circles while laughing.

It hasn't been all business though. Our adult helpers ('Mommies') have facilitated several pool parties, a trip to the beach, a throughly engaging public service project building houses for disadvantaged seagulls, and an ice cream social.

The convention winds down today for us, but I think it's been a productive and enjoyable time for all. I look forward to working with all of your children in the distant future when you and my Dad get too old and begin to refer to common items as 'newfangled.'

ECAC-SIDA: Whirlwind

Day two at the convention has been quick and action packed. With my
daughter deciding that traipsing the length of the island via car was
the only way she'd fall asleep last night, I was a bit slow out of the
gate. Luckily the morning was a bit pokey, with only a few folks
dropping by to say hello and take some tosses at Jesse in the dunk tank.

The big event of the day was the informal ICS informational meeting/
pig roast. Due to the swine flu outbreak we had to forgo the pork,
but we were able to lay out some of the new features and enhancements
in the works, including SIDEARM Conference, Twitter integration,
enhanced video capabilities and a button that either does laundry and
taxes, depending on your astrological sign.

I think everyone was reasonably happy with the presentation, or at
least that's what BJ from DeSales and Jon from Alvernia shouted over
their shoulders as they jetted out to go golfing, along with half the
conference attendees. The other half headed to the beach and we took
the afternoon off to have some fun in the sun.

Tonight is a picnic on the beach, with some good food, competitive
volleyball, and hopefully a beautiful sunset - plus Kevin from RPI
said he would wrestle a shark if we gave him free live stats for a year.

I'm trying to convince Jeff right now...

ECAC-SIDA: It's Begun

Conference registration began at noon and officially ended just a few minutes ago, kicking off officially the first few hours of exhibiting. For us though, it's been nonstop action since we started manning the booth full-time at 11:30. The constant stream of friendly faces was overwhelming - I'd be talking to Amie at RPI and turn to sneeze and there would be Daryl from AIC catching the brunt of it. Then Lyle from TCNJ would hand me a tissue to help clean while Joe D from Hunter was taking pictures of the whole thing. Insane.

It always is a good feeling to meet face to face with what are often just disembodied voices that ring into the office during the seasons with their questions and issues. Everyone has been just catching up with us, the latest and greatest with the software, and of course checking out the new SIDEARM DMG that we are promoting. Despite a lackluster WiFi connection and a "tweaked back" that Rubin acquired trying to single-handedly lift his car to retrieve an ICS pen that had rolled underneath it, everything has been going great so far.

Jesse just flew in from Boston (and boy are his arms tired), and so we are now at full strength - which will come in handy at the "all-vendor drinking contest" taking place tomorrow night. At least that's what I thought Ira called it...

ECAC-SIDA: Setup

Getting the booth set up at ECAC-SIDA is always an adventure due to
some the unique spaces that we have been placed in. At the larger
shows, there is generally a exhibit hall that is large enough to berth
a 747 - not so usually at this smaller show.

One year we had to leave the ends off of our tradeshow display in
order to cram it into a tight location - another year we were pushing
up tiles because the ceiling was about two inches shorter than the
display. And don't get me started about our setup in the manta ray
tank that one year - I still have the scars.

So we were excited this year to have ample room to fit our tradeshow
display and associated ephemera without violating any fire codes and/
or causing any irreparable aquatic wildlife harm. We're all set up in
the lobby of the Golden Inn, awaiting registration and the roll call
of familiar faces to formally begin.

ECAC-SIDA: Convergence

With tradeshow season upon us, we've decided to build on the success
of our NCAA Convention blog updates and report to you from our summer
tradeshow destinations, and/or awkward second cousin picnics. First
up is ECAC-SIDA in sunny Avalon, NJ.

The ICS crew is descending upon the Jersey shore from all directions.
Jeff and his family, plus Jamie and Justin are winding their way down
from the 'Cuse while Jesse has hijacked a Duck Boat tour in Boston and
is cruising down the Atlantic enroute, Coast Guard in pursuit.

And me? After a friend's lovely wedding in the Factory Tour Capital
of the World (anyone? Anyone? That's right, York, PA) my wife,
daughter and I have already arrived at ritzy Golden Inn, even running
into a few familiar faces (Kevin and Amie from RPI and Joe D from
Hunter). I am typing these words in whisper silence as my daughter and
wife are both napping. I am standing vigil on our porch for any sign
of Ira Thor.

We're looking forward to a great show and fun in the sun! And
hopefully not having to bail any clients out of jail...