Finish Line: Allstate Washes Hands of Lagging Brickyard

After a disappointing turnout at yesterday's Brickyard 400 -- ticket sales were down 20% and revenues down an estimated 30 percent -- Allstate Insurance has pulled the plug on its 5-year sponsorship of the Brickyard 400.

Not so good hands.
"It will hurt us from a revenue standpoint when it comes to the bottom line, but the long-term future of this event is secure,” said IMS spokesman Ron Green.

In a breaking news report today from the Indiana Business Journal, Green cited the bad economy, a softening interest in NASCAR, and the tire shredding that marred last year's event, as reason for the mega-insurance company's decision to bail.

150 Acres of Photos -- IMA on Flickr

Established back in 1883, the venerable Indianapolis Museum of Art is one of the oldest and most popular art museums in the country. Famous for hosting Robert Indiana's "LOVE" sculpture, the museum is built on the grounds of Lilly House Mansion, home to the late Indy business man and philanthropist J.K. Lilly.

One of the most popular attractions at the IMA can be found outside of the facility in the form of the truly amazing Oldfields –Lilly House & Gardens, 26 acres of sculpture, beautifully showcased amongst the magnificent gardens and grounds designed in the 1920s by Percival Gallagher of the famous landscape architecture firm Olmsted Brothers.

These romantic gardens are a popular destination for art lovers, nature lovers and, especially photographers. Strolling the gardens (with our iPhone snapping away), we encountered not only a large wedding party in progress, but many smaller photo shoots -- professional and impromptu -- along the trails.

Seems that so many folks are snapping pics and sharing them on Flickr, that IMA recently established an official Indianapolis Museum of Art Flickr Group. You can see it here.

Cathy Kightlinger: Indy Star's Talk of Our Town

IndyStar Report Cathy Kightlinger (she of Talk of Our Town fame) stopped by to welcome Indy Social to the neighborhood. In her role as TOOT columnist, Cathy buzzes about Indianapolis so that we can eavesdrop on all the Circle City happenings in the arts, entertainment, party and social scenes.

Cathy tells us that there are exciting things happening over at the Star these days, and that we can expect to see some very innovative social media and 'convergence' media initiatives in the near future.

Of course, we'll be covering it all right here at Indy Social.

Taboo Man Speaks

Clarification: This just in off the mojo wire from Tranquility:

I do know about the Taboo Man on Ovation, Merde told Indy Social, " Thom emailed me the link when he uploaded the photo a couple of months ago. I visited his cabin in Spencer on a trip to Indiana three years ago and we keep in touch."

What does the old Taboo publisher think about his ancient covers coming to life as online art, "It should be known," Berry said, "that Jack Merde owns all the original prints from Taboo's distinctive front covers. Perhaps one day he'll donate them to a museum one day, but at present they are part of his private collection in the heavily guarded Merde Compound in Tranquility, New Jersey..."

Pacers Spin Social to Pick Pacemates 09

When the Indiana Pacers began looking for this year's Pacemates, they relied on social media. The innovative Pacemakers 09 campaign included a slick web site, viral "Cast Your Vote" contest, significant presence on both MySpace and Facebook, and of course plenty of Tweets and TwitPics.

Taboo Man Makes National Debut

Those of you old enough to remember Taboo Magazine, will surely remember the iconic cover imagery that was created by photographer Thom Kondas. The covers always featured Taboo's ego-centric editor-in-chief Don Berry, in his bowler capped persona The Taboo Man, usually composed in some complicated, sexually-saturated gimmick shot with a hot local model.

Taboo Man playing Woman as Cello; Taboo Man holding deck of cards with model "Queen of Hearts"; Taboo Man playing Pinocchio, turning toys into "real girls"...and so on.

Taboo was published in the early to mid eighties, the images however have found their way onto Ovation as part of their "Make Life Creative" campaign.

I wonder if Kondas knows that Don Berry is still publishing, both trade magazines and a blog (under his nom de plume Jack Merde), from his impressive compound in Tranquility, NJ.

When we contacted Merde...er Berry, an associate could only proffer a meek, "he's unavailable for comment."

Stay tuned for further updates.

How should Farm Bureau use Social Media for its Colts Association?

The Indiana Business Journal reported this week that Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance has extended its relationship with the Colts by inking a five-year multi-million dollar sponsorship deal. According to the business trade magazine, the company will receive brand representation in the form of a patch to be featured on players practice jerseys. NFL rules prohibit these patches on game-day uniforms. Farm Bureau is also the sponsor of the team's training facility.

“This is an incremental increase to our revenue, and every bit in this economy helps,” Colts SVP Tom Zupancic told the IBJ. “We’ve been working on this deal for a while, so we’re really happy to get it done. Farm Bureau continues to be a really good partner for the Colts.”

All this got IndySocial to thinking about ways that State Farm could extend its sponsorship of the Colts online and across the Social Networks and Blogosphere.

We'd like to hear from you, the Indianapolis social media and marketing community, about how you would extend the reach and value of Farm Bureau's Colts sponsorship by using web 2.0 tactics.

Email us your ideas -- images and video welcome: indysocial@gmail.com .

IndySocial will showcase the best ones here!

Indy Social now on Flickr

Indy Social is proud to announce the creation of Indy Social on Flickr. Flickr is a part of Yahoo, and one of the leading photo sharing communites. Our new site will make it easy for all of us to post and share pictures of all the Indy events and social media happenings.

Please join us at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1174883@N23/

Welcome to Indy Social Media Marketing

Welcome to Indy Social -- A network of of media, marketing, entertainment and branding professionals living and working in and around Indianapolis.

Indy Social is designed to be a community of web 2.0 brands, agencies, freelancers, talent, venues, media and individuals interested in learning new skills, meeting new folks, and building Indianapolis social media marketing relationships.

Through this blog, as well as upcoming Indy Social events, newsletters, flickr galleries and promotions we hope to get to know you, and your efforts.

If you or your company is doing social media marketing, please let us know about it and we'll help build the buzz. Send all info to us at: indysocial@gmail.com

...and be sure to let us know if you'd like to be added to our blogroll.



Please join our list of Indy Influencers, and look for our very special first event invitation.