One of the biggest months of the year is coming up in Indianapolis. It’s time for the Indy 500 which is going to have events throughout May happening in the city. I’m wondering if anyone with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or IndyCar is going to step up to the plate and have a social media command center like that which was available for Super Bowl XLVI.

I think it was pretty well proven how effective and useful a resource like that can be for a large event with lots of attendees.

I believe setting up a permanent command center that could be used for a variety of events would be a good move for the city. Perhaps it could be run by a not-for-profit organization that would be in charge of organizing the staffing, obtaining the resources and managing the space for future events.

What if, as part of any large convention that came to town, the city had this offering of setting up a command center to monitor the social media airwaves and Internet to handle questions, disseminate information and promote the event and the city?

Sounds to me like a great plan! Who’s in?

What’s your story? Have you been impacted by breast cancer? Share your story here.

After a few discussions with people in the office this little conspiracy theory just popped up in my head.

What if the Colts release Manning today merely to avoid the required $28M bonus payment due to him on Friday. It’s my understanding that would make him a free agent and available to sign for any team he wanted to (that will afford him).

But, what if Peyton still wants to be a Colt and remain loyal to Indianapolis and the city and retire with the team he helped make great. He’s been tremendous for this city and fans of the Colts. What if, instead, he resigns with the Colts with a new contract that works in some kind of give and take for the $28M he just “lost”, but stays with the team in a fashion that works for him, Irsay, the Colts, the city and even Andrew Luck?

What do you think? Possibility? Or am I just Positively Dreaming?!

Here’s a 90 second video produced by Matt Dial of the Indy Star from pre-game ceremonies to wrap-up after the big game.

Indianapolis Super Bowl Village from Paul D'Andrea on Vimeo.

Hat tip to @cjtheisen for sharing the link to this video on Facebook.

Here’s an infographic that ExactTarget put together that gathers some information about the social media activity that happened more as an event and not directly tied to the efforts of Indianapolis. I would be curious as to how the Indianapolis stats would have played into this graphic.

This infographic is brought to you by ExactTarget a leader in Email Marketing, and Social Media Marketing.

That’s not the case for Brian Alano who invested over three years and 30,000 pieces to build a replica of the home of the Indianapolis Colts.

Rock Cola Mile High Club Sandwich - Super 46 Sandwich Conference Champion (Click to Enlarge)

Go ahead, click that image. See the Mile High Club Sandwich in all of its splendor! Then, go visit the Super 46 Sandwich contest page RIGHT NOW and vote for Rock Cola.

Here’s the deal. If you’ve never had the Mile High Club Sandwich from the Rock Cola you owe it to yourself to get one as soon as possible. But that shouldn’t keep you from voting. Vote, then eat, then realize you were right all along to vote. Next time you’re in the city and looking for a place to eat, let me know and I’ll escort you to the Rock Cola myself.

I need you to send you friends to this post or directly to the voting website and have them vote as well. We need to pull this in for the little guys on the east side of the city of Indianapolis.

Go vote NOW!

Tip: Are you on Pinterest? Pin the photo above to your wall (or re-pin mine) and ask your friends to help us out and vote. Are you on Facebook? Like this post using the buttons above and ask your friends to vote. On Twitter? Share the link and ask your friends to vote. Google+? Share it and ask your friends to vote. Getting the hint?

I would hate to see Peyton wearing any other jersey if he’s not wearing a Colts jersey, but I’d also hate for him to leave his football career be retiring from the sideline and injured list instead of going out as an active player after another decade of taking snaps as our quarterback.

With the recent hires of Chuck Pagano as head coach, Bruce Arians as offensive coordinator and Keith Butler as the new defensive coordinator, I’m very excited about the coaching experience and strengths these three are bringing to the big, blue horseshoe.

The question still remains, will the Colts keep Peyton? Will they draft Andrew Luck? We’ve been known to NOT do what everyone else expected (at least under Polian… remember Edgerrin over Ricky and Peyton over Leaf?). What if the Colts traded the 1st round draft pick for a flurry of additional picks and were still able to pick up Robert Griffin III instead.

If Peyton is healthy and Irsay picks up the tab for him and Luck. How much does that leave for keeping the rest of the team that’s usually required to protect those expensive quarterbacks, or give them targets to throw to or hand-off? Just lots of questions abound.

I just don’t see Peyton coming back. I sure would like for him to still be a part of the Colts organization. I have no idea how that would work but he’s an asset to a team no matter what role he’s in on the field, on the sideline or in the booth.

Photo Credit: Jason Lavengood

The football spirit is in top gear in the city of Indianapolis now. The Super Bowl Village and NFL Experience are officially open and coming around the 1st turn.

First if you’re visiting from out-of-town, WELCOME TO INDIANAPOLIS! Make yourself at home, unless that means sitting on the couch in your underwear, in that case, put some clothes on and come on out to the party.

Check-out that photo! Is that not the best! What better way to tie some of what Indianapolis is known for in with the NFL and the Super Bowl? A car for each team featuring their logo, colors and motif all rockin’ the Indy Car look of speed and craftsmanship.

As I made my way downtown to the City Market this morning I could already feel the energy surrounding the events that are going to be happening over the next week and a half in this wonderful city. As I left the City Market I noticed Monument Circle wasn’t completely blocked off so I headed that direction. I got a little bit of a view of the 30′ XLVI Roman numerals sitting on the Circle facing down Meridian. I also noticed there were a number of the Indy Food Trucks lined up on the northwest quadrant already serving some great food. There will be different rotations of food trucks each day in different shifts. What a great idea and option for football fans walking around the city.

The city is getting some positive press about how everything is going so far. Many people are already saying Indianapolis is going to be a great host city here, here and that we’ll be ready for anything. I’ll be interested in hearing this guy eat some of his words and hopefully issue an apology after the big game, but most of the commenters on his post have already set him straight on some of his inaccurate facts.

The Social Media Command Center has already been helpful to me as they answered my food truck question earlier this afternoon. My son has been begging me to take him to the food trucks, so I wanted to make sure they’d be around next Wednesday when our family will be heading downtown.

If you’re on Facebook or Twitter it’s almost a constant stream of all the fun people are having. If you’re curious, just follow some of these hashtags on Twitter: #SuperBowl46, #SuperBowl, #XLVI, #SuperBowlIndy, #Social46, #SuperIndy, #SB46, #SB2012, #SBVillage, #Super46.

Or you can of course follow some of these great friends and tweeps: @SuperBowl2012, @AroundIndy, @cjtheisen, @seppichdaily, @mooshinindy, @BgKahuna, @ChuckGose, @PeteThePlanner, @roundpeg, @NaptownBuzz and plenty more if you just watch those hashtags and tweets by everyone else.

I headed over to the Rock-Cola Cafe today for lunch to congratulate them, well more accurately to just fill my stomach with some more of their great food. Feel bad for my really close friends at Papa Roux (@PapaRoux) for not making it to the final two sandwiches, but love the support and excitement he’s been bringing to the city and the east side for all of this.

We’ll be seeing you around town I’m sure. Hit us up in the comments and let us know what you think of your experiences so far in the city. Whether your from here, or visiting from out-of-town. Let’s hear it!