When Jerod came to me as a new employee with the idea of creating a sports blog so that he could have a testing ground for his passions around both social media and SEO, I said, sure.  What is amazing is that this blog has grown from an experimental project to a heard voice in online sports.  18 months later, the site has accomplished more than either of us would have imagined in our wildest dreams.  With Jerod’s leadership, this sports blog dedicated to Midwest sports has reached the 2 million page view mark, has over 16,000 total pages and 3,614 hand written posts, was in the Top 100 most popular sites on Digg.Com for February of 2010, has been featured on ESPN, referenced by hundreds of newspapers, featured on the front page of The Huffington Post, and has more front page appearances on Digg for this month than Yahoo Sports, CNN, and ESPN.  In 2009 it broke the Top 50 sports blog list.

MidwestSportsFans.Com has been hitting on all eight cylinders ever since the Spring of last year.  With only 6 months of traction as a blog on the Internet, Midwest Sports Fans was a prominent source of Internet information for March Madness 2009.  The single highest source of page views on the blog was last year’s March Madness preview post having over 60,000 page views.  This weekend, Jerod set out to break records as he posted the March Madness 2010 preview post on MidwestSportsFans.Com.

March Madness is always a crazy time of year and it is evident from the search and interactivity online.  I’m excited about our preview coverage on MidwestSportsFans.Com and am looking forward to keep with the content that Jerod creates!

Jerod congrats on your accomplishments with Midwest Sports Fans and at Orangecast!

(Oh, and did I mention that in 18 months he went from “employee” status to having an equity stake in the business?  The power of blogging. . . .)

One of the most amazing things I find about being a professional in Dallas is who comes and goes in this city and no one knows.  While our mainstream media is fixated automobile accidents and the latest twists of 20 year old city hall battles, some amazing people come to Dallas without much recognition.

The first time I realized this is when The Indus Entreprenuers (TIE) organization brought Ram Shriram in as a keynote speaker to a yearly event they hold.  I sat there in the audience of roughly 250 and listened to a speech that literally changed my career.  I actually got a chance to speak with him after his keynote which was an added bonus.  Who is Ram Shriram?  He’s the guy that listened to the founders of Google when no one else would.

We have actually had a couple of those opportunities since then.  Most recently Brian Clark, a.k.a. The Copy Blogger, spoke to a very small crowd a the Dallas-Ft. Worth Search Engine Marketing organization (DFWSEM).  If you’ve missed those and are kicking yourself, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to hear Chris Brogan.  Chris Brogan and Julien Smith co-authored the NY Times best seller Trust Agents.   The book unveils many insider secrets to success in the world of social media by two pioneers in the industry.   Trust Agents is one of the most responsible books I have read on Web 2.0 to date.

Chris’s appearance is brought to us by a relatively new professional organization in the DFW area called Social Media Club Dallas.  The club is one of the most approachable professional organizations I’ve engaged with in a long time.  If you are a traditional marketer, you really should not miss this event as it is a great opportunity to hear one of the thought leaders in social media speak as well as engage with a great local professional organization that is open to marketers of all walks.

For more information visit the Social Media Club Dallas presents Chris Brogan on Event Brite.  The event is on Thursday, January 21 and will be held at the Angelika.  The address is:

Orangecast would like to congratulate Debbie Stallings in the launch of her website , Journey Bags, which is dedicated the journey of surviving breast cancer. In addition to hope provided by her successful journey, Debbie is committing her post journey career to the sale of products that will help others in their journey. She intends to donate a percentage of proceeds to breast cancer research. In addition to pink ribbons, Debbie’s site features a host of products that make great gifts for those fighting cancer.

Promotion of hope and giving back to a cause is one of the more powerful aspects of the Internet! Congratulations Debbie!

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