Positively Indy » Indy Events

Will There Be An Indy 500 Social Media Command Center

Jason Bean — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:29:01 +0000

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?

Race for the Cure Indianapolis

Jason Bean — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 02:04:37 +0000

Today the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure took place in Indianapolis. This hit a little closer to home this year for us in that we had a dear friend that was diagnosed and successfully treated and is now cancer free. You can see our friend, her name is Amy, at 2:15 in the video below.

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

Check out Brain Extravaganza on a Day Trip to Bloomington

Guest Blogger — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:15:57 +0000

As its name implies, this blog is dedicated to the great features of Indianapolis. Usually we talk about the great things going on around here and the latest Indy news. Today, though, I wanted to dedicate a bit of space to our southern neighbor, Bloomington, because frankly, the city has earned a bit of attention with its new plans for the spring. The month of May will mark the beginning of Brain Extravaganza, which artistic brains on display in Bloomington. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is the creator and organizer of the project, whose goal is to raise awareness of the human brain. Brain Extravaganza is likely to entice more people to spend time enjoying Bloomington’s outdoors during the beautiful spring and summer months.

Mastermind Behind Brain Extravaganza

Dr. Jill Taylor is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist, or brain scientist, and motivational speaker. In 1996, she suffered an unusual kind of stroke, called an arteriovenous malformation. Full recovery took eight years of intense therapy to gain her brain function back. She published her memoirs about her experience in a book called “My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey.” As an advocate for brain health issues, she has been the National Spokesperson for the Harvard Brain Tissue Research Center and the president of the Bloomington chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Dr. Taylor is a resident of Bloomington.

All about Brain Extravaganza

Dr. Taylor developed her artistic side during her long recovery from stroke, and she came up with the idea of Brain Extravaganza to raise awareness of the amazing and complex functions of the human brain. The project consists of 22 enormous sculptures of brains to be on display in highly visible locations in Bloomington and the IU campus.

The brains are made of fiberglass, and each is to be decorated by a different artist. Artist Martina Celerin, a Bloomington resident, is decorating her brain in two distinct halves, one green and one black, to signify bipolarism. Joe LaMantia, also from Indiana, is placing animals on one half and faces on the other half as a depiction of the different perspectives of the two brain hemispheres. Each brain has a sponsor to help cover the brain’s cost of $3200.

Brain Health and Disease

Brain Extravaganza is intended to encourage people to think about what amazing things healthy brains can do. The project can also make you think about the potential for disturbances in equilibrium and cures for brain illnesses. Brain disorders include depression, schizophrenia, bipolar and meningiomas, or other brain tumors. Modern technology is increasingly effective at treating disorders. For example, Bloomington-based IU Health Proton Therapy clinic uses a highly specialized radiation procedures to treat brain tumors.

Now that you’ve been warned, don’t be alarmed when you start to see or hear about giant brains appearing in Bloomington. Instead, admire the artwork and, as Dr. Taylor hopes, take some time to consider the incredible functions of the human brain. Located 50 miles south of Indianapolis, Bloomington is just a quick day trip away, so it’s easy to make an effort to see each of the brains in Brain Extravaganza. .

About the author: Matt Herndon is a freelance writer living in the Indianapolis area. As a native Hoosier, he enjoys helping others discover the exciting things happening Indiana. You can follow Matt at @Just_Matt_.

Re-Live Super Bowl XLVI in 90 Seconds

Jason Bean — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:23:52 +0000

Don’t blink! You’ll miss something. That’s kind of what it feels like here in Indianapolis this week. All the anticipation. It’s finally here. Things are going great. The weather is fantastic. Game day. GIANTS WIN! It was a great time Indy and you showed up and delivered an amazing event.

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.

Time Lapse and Other Video of Indy by Paul D’Andrea

Jason Bean — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:21:49 +0000

I shared a link earlier of some of the photos local photographer, Paul D’Andrea, had taken over the last few days of Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. Just noticed some of his videos he’s put together and here’s one of them. Everytime I see Paul’s work I’m more impressed. I’ll let you decide for yourself though.

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

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

The Winner of Social Media Bowl II

Jason Bean — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:43:36 +0000

I’ll say that the first Social Media Bowl in coordination with the Super Bowl took place in Dallas for last year’s event. Indianapolis definitely upped the ante in that department with all of their efforts and the help of the #Social46 team. I believe we won, don’t you?

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.

Football Fans… Start Your Engines

Jason Bean — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:55:35 +0000

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!

Super Offerings from the Farm and U-Relish

Jason Bean — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:53:39 +0000

My wife and I have found something new that we love to eat on a regular basis and we’ve been telling all of our friends about it. I’m always challenging my wife to fix more meals at home and try to help us save some money by eating meals out much less. She’s taken up the challenge and doing a great job and U-Relish Farm is making our success DELICIOUS!

My wife helps our friend sell his beyond organic poultry, pork, beef at the Indy Winter Farmer’s Market on Saturdays. The market is located at the City Market in downtown Indianapolis and my wife has struck up a friendship with Cara Dafforn with U-Relish Farm.

U-Relish Farm provides crock pot meals that are perfect for single parents, college students, busy professionals and outdoorsy types and of course just busy families like ours that want to have great food, at a great price that’s delicious and ready with very little effort.

Offering meals-in-a-minute, U-Relish Farm’s promise is simple: Place the package of regionally-sourced ingredients into a crock pot in the morning and when you get home there is a slow cooked meal that is preservative free, nutrient dense and delicious.

U-Relish Farm is among the tenants in the City Market preparing for the SUPER BOWL. U-Relish Farm at the Indianapolis City Market is realization of its vision of becoming a destination for artisan-crafted foods and gourmet retail products. Furthering our local food safety and fostering a global perspective for saving resources.

To that end U-Relish Farm celebrates our out of town guest with some new menu offerings including but not limited to Jerky Rounds, Gluten Free Crackers along with our peas, beans and lentils meals for the crockpot.

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About U-Relish Farm – Opening its first franchise in 2010 at the Winter’s Market of the Original Farmer’s Market at City Market in Indianapolis. U R fulfilled by U-Relish Farm’s dedication to helping families and individuals manage their money more effectively through the use of a slow cooker. U-Relish Farms progress can be found on Facebook and Twitter. Another Project of Eel River Marketing

U-Relish Farm • Main Market House • 222 East Market Street,
Indianapolis, IN •46204 • @CaraDafforn • www.u-relish.com

Stage Collapse Photos from WTHR Channel 13

Jason Bean — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 23:19:59 +0000

Fan Video of Stage Collapse at Indianapolis State Fair

Jason Bean — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 20:42:30 +0000

As we continue to hear news and stories of the tragedy last night at the Indiana State Fair, my family has now found out that we have friends who know families that lost loved ones in this collapse. Here’s another fan video that captures the stage collapsing. Warning, knowing the results of this collapse, watching this video is not recommended for young children.

Click here to view the embedded video.