38enso Inc - Page 7

College Football Conference Chaos

09.19.2011, No Comments, Baseball (+ other sports), by Jack W Perry.

I am not sure when it all started. I can’t even keep track of the changes and proposals. But Division 1 College Football is going through radical transformation. Slowly but surely, college football will end up with 5-6 super-conferences of 16 teams. Those schools that don’t get in one of these elite conferences, look to be shut out of the lucrative post-season BCS championship.

What has transpired over the past few years (or will happen)

Nebraska left the Big12 to join the Big10. (Ironically, the Big12 has 10 teams and the Big10 has 12 teams).
Colorado left the Big12 to join the Pac12.
Texas A&M is strongly considering a move to the SEC.
TCU is scheduled to join the BigEast (a Texas school in the East?) because they have an automatic BCS bid.
Syracuse and Pitt want to leave the BigEast and join the ACC.
Missouri has rumored to join the Big10, the SEC and the Big East.
Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State may join the Pac12.
Utah, BYU and Boise State have all moved around — I can’t even keep it straight.
Schools continue to move around and I get confused.

Why is this happening?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

There is so much money in big time college football that the drive to be in one of the big games is over-riding regional interests; long-standing rivalries and cohesion of conferences. Many claim this is horrible and that this is the ruin of the game. I don’t feel that way. Yes, it is weird for me to see Nebraska in the Big10 but that’s the way it is. It always seemed strange that Iowa and Iowa State were not in the same conference. The Big12 was once the Big8 and before that the Big6. Times change.

Tradition plays a big part in college sports. So much that the usual schools (Alabama, Oklahoma, USE, Texas etc) get favorable rankings in the national pools and have greater opportunity to cash in on the big bowl games and BCS money. It is unfair to Boise State and TCU etc. to have to compete in this arena. So, the super-conferences allow these other schools to have a fair shot at the top.

My hope is there are six super-conferences. The champions of each get invited to the BCS playoffs. There are 2 at-large bids. We have an 8-team tournament.

I love tradition. But the old system is not working. Time to create new conferences and new rivalries.

Nothing ever stays the same.

Google buys Zagat

09.09.2011, No Comments, Books (+ more books), by Jack W Perry.

Google just agreed to buy Zagat Restaurant Guides for somewhere between $100-$200-million. Zagat information will be added to GoogleMaps. This will help and expand the usefulness of GoogleMaps. Plus more people will be viewing Zagat information now.

This is an example of how something that once was a string physical book seller is now being sold off to a digital-only company. It is an indication of how the world has changed in the past decade.

Zagat’s best selling guide is the NYC RESTAURANT GUIDE. They claim 600,000 sell each year. I am sure that is the case because the books are basically everywhere. Physical distribution has been stellar. Nielsen Bookscan tracks industry sales. They don’t cover all retailers and especially will under-report Zagat sales because of the vast specialty accounts that buy the guides. Plus the proprietary guides are not reported.

The Guides come out every OCT. The OCT 2001 guide to NYC sold 157,000 Bookscan. The OCT 2010 guide to NYC sold 54,000. That is 1/3 of the sales just a decade ago. This is a direct result of consumers getting this information online and no longer in books. The same has happened to all travel and guidebooks — from Fodor’s to Frommer’s to NFT.

I used to buy Zagat’s every year.

I love the simplicity of the ratings and the ease of browsing. I also enjoy the size.

But I stopped three years ago when I got my iPhone. I tried to use the Zagat iPhone App but found it lacking. I stared using Yelp! and Foursquare and other free on-line services. I liked them better. I also like the way they could be mapped. I still wrote my reviews, but no longer on Zagat.

This is why the move by Google and Zagat to combine makes a lot of sense. The brand awareness is high. Now they will be integrated into Net like never before. It may not reverse the decline of print, but it definitely will increase the usage on-line and mobile.

Zagat’s is now back in the center of the action.

Cribbage – the perfect score is 29

09.06.2011, No Comments, Bio (+ other thoughts), by Jack W Perry.

I love to play Cribbage.

I am not sure many people play these days. I do remember a friend of mine from work many years ago played. We used to meet and play on a regular basis. I think we were just amazed that anyone else even knew how to play.

My father taught me. I have taught my children.

What I like about Cribbage is it uses a different logic that many card games. It isn’t a “tricks” game like Bridge, Hearts or Spades. It isn’t a gambling game in the same way as Poker or Blackjack. Although one can gamble. It is more like gambling on Backgammon.

I am not going to lay out the rules here. But points are created by pairs, runs, and having cards total 15.

The best hand is 29. That consists of the four 5′s (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs) plus the “right Jack.”

Each hand has four cards plus a common card that is cut from the deck. If you have four 5′s in your hand and the Jack is cut — that is only 28. The Jack must be in your hand and the 5 that is the same suit must be the cut card — hence you have the “Right Jack” in your hand and that gives you the extra point.

How the total is calculated:

5S + 5H + 5D = 15 for 2 points.
5S + 5H + 5C = 15 for 4.
5S + 5D + 5C = 15 for 6.
5H + 5D + 5C = 15 for 8.
J + 5S = 15 for 10.
J + 5H = 15 for 12.
J + 5D = 15 for 14.
J + 5C = 15 for 16.
5S + 5H + 5D + 5C = 4 of a kind for 12, added to the 16 = 28.
The Right Jack is worth a point and that comes to 29.

Who Wants to Be A Millionaire – three strikes…

08.29.2011, No Comments, Bio (+ other thoughts), by Jack W Perry.

In 2009, I took the written test to be a contestant. I passed.

In 2010, I took it again. It was a different test. I passed.

In 2011, I took it again. It was a different test. I passed.

But I have been rejected each time in the “1-minute interview.” I get a postcard a week later telling me that I have not been selected. No reasons.

The way it works. Go to the web site and see when the auditions are being held. Sign up online and then they send an email confirmation of the date of your test. On the test date, line up outside and wait until they start to let you in. Most of the auditions are at the ABC Offices (a cafeteria) on 67th in NYNY. There is a metal detector and guards. I guess the ABC people don’t want any irate MILLIONAIRE wannabe going crazy.

I walk into the cafeteria and am handed an manila envelope and a Scantron sheet. The envelope contains the written test. The Scantron is for your answers. Fill in the circle with a number 2 pencil. Remember those from every standardized test you have ever taken? Sit down and wait. The staff tells you stale jokes (I think they are the same ones each time) and everyone seems a bit nervous.

Then you are given the basic rules. You have 10 minutes to answer the 30 question multiple choice test. Answer each on the Scantron sheet. Make sure you fully erase any changes and don’t write beyond the lines. Also don’t write on the test. Each test has a number. Write that on your Scantron.

Then after a few questions from the audience, the test begins. 30 questions in 10 minutes. It may seem quick but it is enough time. No time to sit and ponder. Since it is multiple choice, I have found the tests very easy. The subjects are pop culture, movies, music, simple history, geography, etc. It really is a test to see how wide a path of worthless information one knows. It helps to know trivia from many eras.

After 5 minutes, they tell you the time is 1/2 up. Then a 9 minute warning. Then time to put pencils down.

They collect the tests and run them through the Scantron. That just takes a few minutes. Everyone looks relieved and chatty. Who knows? Out of the 150 people taking the test, each time about 10-15 pass. So 90% of the people are asked to leave. They start to announce the numbers of those that passed. If your number is called, you move to the other part of the cafeteria. The rest leave.

I have passed the test three times in three attempts. I feel I could pass it 100 times. I am not cocky, just I have taken it three times and find the test easy.

But I have also failed the personal interview three times. That part seems easy, but I am not getting through the process.

They take your picture and add it to your file. Then one of the interns calls out your name and it is time for the interview. She asks a few questions like, “what would you do with a million dollars?” and “are you married? family? work?” – basic inane questions.

I have not passed the personal interview barrier…. yet.

I am disappointed. I have always wanted to be on a game show. I understand they can’t give reasons for rejection but I would like to know why…. Am I ugly? Am I too talkative? Am I too shy? Am I not white enough (the auditions are overwhelming white)? Am I boring? Am I not the right age? I just don’t know.

It is what it is.

Oh well, although you can try up to five times in a season, I have decided once a year is enough. I will try again in 2012.

Maybe 4th time is a charm?

After all this angst, if I ever get chosen and make the show, I will probably be the dummy that misses the $100 question!

Life goes on.

Keith Richards’ memoir LIFE sells 1-million copies

08.26.2011, No Comments, Beatles (+ other music), Books (+ more books), by Jack W Perry.

According to publisher Little, Brown, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has passed the 1-million copy mark for his autobiography. A milestone few books make, let alone a music biography.

There has been a run of memoirs by rockers over the past few years. Most recently, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler had a best-seller with DOES THE NOISE IN MY HEAD BOTHER YOU? Nielsen Bookscan reports over 200,000 sold (Bookscan reports 75% of sales and no eBook sales, so the number could easily top 300,000). Sammy Hagar (Van Halen and a stellar solo career) hit #1 with RED: MY UNCENSORED LIFE IN ROCK AND ROLL. It was propelled by Hagar discussing his UFO abduction. I guess that explains a lot. Bookscan has it selling 65,000 (so let’s put that total at 100,000 overall).

CLAPTON sold over 400,000 Bookscan (600,000 total?).

I read Rock biographies. Sure there is the usual stories of groupies, drugs, excess, recollection of the songs that we all know so well. But usually there is also a pretty interesting perspective into a life that is lived outside the rules.

Rock and Roll is ‘sex, drugs and well rock & roll’ but it also about rebellion and working within a system but still being outside of it. A series of contradictions. I prefer the biographies to come from the person themselves — I am much less interested in critical bios from outsiders. Although that has a lot of value too (Stanley Booth’s account of the Stones; Bill Flanagan on U2 are a couple of classics that deserve mentioning).

I would like to see:

Roger Waters — the story behind the genius of Pink Floyd would be fascinating. THE WALL, THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, WISH YOU WERE HERE.
Paul McCartney — actually John Lennon is more interesting, but Paul is still alive to tell the story. The full story.
Bono — More than just a rocker, he has made a difference in the world.
Bruce Springsteen — I am a fan but not insane like so many of my friends. But his story would be interesting.

I want real autobiographies. I don’t want water-downed rehashing of the same stories. I also hate it when someone just lends their name to the story and has little involvement. I want the subject to care about this and not just go for the money.

Rock and Roll has grown up. It is time to make sure the real story is recorded.

eBook break-even…

08.15.2011, No Comments, Books (+ more books), by Jack W Perry.

eBooks are the growth vehicle for book publishers today. But still many are hesitant to spend the money to convert their backlist. I understand it can be an expensive proposition especially if the backlist is extensive. Some go direct to Amazon Kindle and B&N nook. These companies will do it for free or will take a higher % of the sale to pay for the conversion, But the publisher doesn’t own the files.

eBooks are great because once the initial costs are recovered, the incremental costs are minimal. So once the break-even if achieved, almost 100%of the revenue will go to the bottom line.

How long does it take to break-even?

Assume $1,000 to convert and distribute an eBook. If it is all text, it will be 30% of that, but let’s use $1,000 including QA costs and time.

Agency pricing — $9.99 retail delivers $7.00 (70%) to the publisher. At that rate, the break-even is less than 150 copies. If the price is $4.99, then $3.50 is generated per sale and the break-even is less than 300 copies.

Wholesale pricing works pretty much the same. List the book at $14 and collect 50% or $7.

If a publisher sells to libraries, the entire conversion cost could be recouped just in that channel. Then ALL retail sales would be profit.

It actually is a good time to be a publisher.

Agency

The Smaller the Ball, the Bigger the Sales

08.08.2011, No Comments, Baseball (+ other sports), Books (+ more books), by Jack W Perry.

An old adage in publishing is the smaller the ball, the bigger the sales. This is traditionally true but there are, of course, exceptions.

A look at four sports that proves this statement:

Golf — Sales of golf titles generally back-list very well. This is dominated by “how-to.” As with the enormous sales in golf equipment illustrate, people are always trying to get better. Many of these books are by golf coaches as opposed to the celebrities. There are also a few successful books about the Masters, US Open etc. But overall the instructional books dominate. I wonder how eBooks and websites have changed this?

Baseball — The sport that has the most literature devoted to it. Historically baseball writers were considered a step above the other sports. Baseball has a tradition like no other and Biographies of the stars seem to have the best sales. Sales also that follow a specific championship season and team can be very appealing.

Football — Although football dominates television and mind-share of sports in America, the book sales generally lag behind baseball. Successful football books generally are around a single player or coach (Maraniss’ book on Vince Lombardi is classic). College football has some success too but it is highly regional.

Basketball — Few books on the NBA or NCAA basketball sell that well. Bill Simmons recently hit #1 with his NBA book but that was more built on his celebrity through ESPN, his blog and Twitter. Overall basketball books don’t sell very well.

There are other sports books that do sell but many transcend the sport. Examples of these include Andre Agassi’s OPEN and Lance Armstrong’s IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE. These highly successful books sold outside of the sports demographic. Both of these men had stories to tell that had universal appeal.

One area of sports books that has basically been eliminated by eBooks and websites is Sports Reference. I grew up scanning my Baseball Encyclopedia every day looking at past stats. Today it is all online. I prefer Baseball-Reference.com.

MLB Realignment

08.03.2011, No Comments, Baseball (+ other sports), by Jack W Perry.

It is August and the pennant races are heating up. The traditional winners, Yankees and Red Sox (and others) are settled at the top. There are a few surprise teams like the Pirates. The Royals are way back in last place as usual. Although there are some shifts, overall the playoffs continue to be between a handful of select teams.

There are 30 MLB teams. The NL has 16 teams and the AL 14. I hate the imbalance. I understand for scheduling reasons, an even number of teams in each league is considered necessary. But I don’t buy that. I am sure the computers that crank out the schedules can make it work. Or MLB can add two more teams (or drop) to balance the teams.

But, ignoring the need to be even, I would like to propose a 2-league 15-team set up. I had been thinking about this last year when the current division set-up seems to be un-fair with less deserving teams getting playoff births. Then this Spring Mike Greenberg on ESPN’s Mike and Mike discussed it at length. He even asked Bob Costas about it, and he was not against the idea.

Rumor has it the Astros are willing to leave the NL for the AL. This would establish a much-needed rivalry for them with the Rangers. That would give us 15 teams in each league. I suggest the divisions be eliminated. The Rays, Blue Jays and Orioles get screwed every year because they have to play in the same division with the Red Sox and Yankees. These teams have to play a tougher schedule but still compete for the same wildcard. Plus every year one of the other divisions is won with a team barely above .500. Seriously, how many times would the Twins have made the playoffs if they had to compete with Boston and NY? Probably zero.

Two 15-team leagues. No divsions. The top six teams make the playoffs. The top two get first round byes. The team with the best record always gets home field advantage. Sure the top will still be dominated by a handful of teams, but there is more equity and fairness for the wildcard spots.

Just a thought. Before 1969, MLB had two leagues and no divisions. Win the regular season and you were headed to the World Series. So in some ways this is a return to tradition (but with a twist for the realities of the playoff system in place.)

Waldenbooks RIP

07.24.2011, No Comments, Books (+ more books), by Jack W Perry.

This week marked the end of Borders Books and Music. There are thousands of articles, posts and comments. Most lamenting the demise of one of the largest book sellers in the nation. Many pointing out the problems. This post is to remember the forgotten sibling, Waldenbooks.

Waldenbooks started to die when the company was purchased by KMart and absorbed into Borders. Then they moved to Michigan and started to quickly lose it’s identity. Borders hastened the death by deciding that 3,000 sq. foot mall stores were no longer viable. Bigger was better. The superstore model was the only way to go. Borders started to bleed Waldenbooks profits and put them in the Borders superstore concept.

Some facts about Waldenbooks:

At it’s height, there were over 1,200 stores. By far the biggest in the nation and sold more books than any single company.
Celebrated GENRE fiction when most bookstores ignored. WB sold Romance, Science-Fiction and Mystery better than anyone.
Didn’t look down on less expensive mass-market titles. At that time many bookstores didn’t like that format (still don’t).
Had lists of MILLIONS of devoted readers through their “Preferred Reader Programs.” These were focused on ROM, SF and MSY.
These names were invaluable and today it is still a target for booksellers — get the names of the rabid readers and ‘own’ them.
The first to embrace scanning technology and utilize bar codes for inventory tracking.
Opened stores in communities that were not served by bookstores. Almost every mall in America had a Waldenbooks.
When a new book of commercial fiction arrived, WB had a lease-line program that announced it to millions of people. People walking in the mall would see it even if they were not ‘book people.’ It was tremendous exposure.

Waldenbooks is another casualty in the death of the bricks and mortar bookstore. It started decade ago, but the final nails were just driven by the end of Borders. Waldenbooks dies with it – although they had been dead for years.

I still believe a chain of mall-based bookstores can survive. 3,000 square foot stores that are focused on genre and customer service. Combine it with a strong curated on-line precence and re-establishment of the Preferred Readers club. It is still something that can be effective (possibly more on this in another post). Add in bargain and Children’s books and it would be successful. Counter-intuitive? Yes, but that is part of the success.

Waldenbooks was the only bookstore within 50 miles of my home when I was growing up. Waldenbooks game me my first job in book-selling and opened doors for me to decision-makers in publishing. I owe my career to WB. It is sad to see a friend die. It is sad that WB is also forgotten.

Murdoch is not the first…

07.18.2011, No Comments, Bio (+ other thoughts), by Jack W Perry.

Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has come under tremendous attack the past few weeks.

I am not a fan on Murdoch and have believed his actions have always been one step ahead of the law. So this latest scandal doesn’t surprise me.

Evil Media Conglomerates are common in history.

Rupert Murdoch is just the latest in a string a mega-maniacal media barrons who manipulate the news, intentionally mis-lead and create a story they want to tell. Murdoch’s cronies went too far and broke the law. They should be arrested and jailed.

But again, this is not the first time, nor will it be the last time someone gains monopolistic control over the media.

William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were known for their battles and the tension to get a story created ‘yellow journalism’ and the active mis-leading of the truth. Hearst is even credited (blamed) with stirring national sentiment and created the Spanish-American War. That is power?

Murdoch is evil. What he has done in the UK is completely wrong and he deserves to be brought down.

Will anyone see that his FOX NEWS in America has done more to harm our Democracy than any single entity of the past 50 years?

Murdoch is old and maybe this scandal will kill him. But there will be others. As long as the media has such control over how and what people think, there will be criminals like Murdoch to exploit it.