June 2007 Archives
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 29, 2007 at 09:49 PM
One benefit to living in Polk County is that when something like the iPhone launch happens you can be sure to find 'smaller' lines here, compared to Orlando or Tampa. Across the US there were HUGE lines at Apple Stores, but for the most part AT&T Wireless stores fared a bit better. In my case, the Winter Haven AT&T store was the perfect location.
I arrived around 3:30 to find myself 13th in line. The first person in line arrived at 7 p.m. on Thursday, the second person said he showed up around 3 a.m. The one question on everybody's mind was, "How many phones do they have?" The other folks said that earlier in the day the manager had come out and said he couldn't tell them how many phones they had, but that everybody in line (at that time) would be getting one.
As scheduled the AT&T store closed at 4:30 for staff to prep. The manager came out again and reviewed the sales process and answered some basic questions about the phone. Once again he surveyed the line and said that everyone would be getting a phone.
The line slowly grew up until shortly before 5 p.m. That's when more people began to arrive. The store manager came out and handed out numbers to the first 30 people in line and said they would be allowing 10 people in at a time to purchase the phone.
By the time 6 p.m. rolled around the line was probably 40 people deep. With a slight amount of applause the store opened and the first 10 shoppers entered. As number 13 I was forced to wait outside for the next 15 minutes. During the time the manager manned the front door and fielded question from shoppers. He finally confessed that the store had a total of 60 phones. Of those, 40 were the 8GB model and 20 were the 4GB model.
I was let in the store around 6:20 and the played with the demo units while I waited for my number to be called. One thing to note is that the demo units are connected to the internet via wifi so they're very fast. Obviously the 'cellular' connection won't be as fast.
The selection of cases wasn't that impressive so I held off on purchasing one. Soon my number was called and I purchased my 8 GB unit and was on my way. As I walked out I showed the packaging to the rest of the folks in line.
Arriving home is when the fun began. I attempted to use the online registration system but received and error and was told to call AT&T. I called, waited 30 minutes and then was told they'd call me. Great. It's not 9:45 p.m. and still no call from AT&T.
I'll post an update when anything new happens.
In other Polk coverage, Kyle Kennedy has a recap of some action in Lakeland.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 29, 2007 at 03:48 PM
As of 3:50 there are 15 folks in line at the ATT store in Winter Haven. I'm lucky 13. Below is the 'happy' scene. The poor picture quality is because I took it with a cameraphone.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 29, 2007 at 01:42 PM
The new publisher for the Lakeland Ledger is Jerome Ferson. The announcement was made this morning. Jerome starts on July 30th.
Here's the interesting part, he's 35. Younger than many of the managing editors he'll be in charge of, especially Skip Perez.
I wouldn't stereotype and say young = more internet savvy, but I think that any new hire in the executive ranks within newspapers has to have a strong focus on the net.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 29, 2007 at 09:02 AM
Driving by the AT&T store in Winter Haven this morning there were 5 or 6 folks camped out in front. To give you a comparison, there were that many folks in line at the St. Augustine location yesterday morning.
I'm resisting the urge to jump in line now. I plan on stopping by around 2:30 or 3:00. Phones go on sale at 6 pm. There is a limit of one phone per customer at AT&T stores and two phones per customer at Apple stores.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 27, 2007 at 06:17 PM
I wouldn't say I predicted it, more perhaps foreshadowed it with my previous post....but the Starliner grand opening on June 30th has been delayed. The Winter Haven Chamber blog has the details.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 26, 2007 at 11:00 PM
The initial reviews of the iPhone are up from the major media and for the most part they're all glowing.
Walt Mossberg - Wall Street Journal
David Pogue - New York Times
Steven Levy - Newsweek
Ed Baig - USAToday
I've been on the fence about whether I was going to buy one or not. The major hang-up was the keyboard, but Mossberg said it works well...so.....looks like I'll be heading to the AT&T store in Winter Haven on Friday afternoon for the 6 pm sales extravaganza.
If you're going to the store as well be sure to say hi.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 26, 2007 at 08:45 PM
Update: Via the comments, Bob Gernert informs us that the launch has been delayed.
If you've missed the barrage of advertising from Cypress Gardens, their latest roller coaster, Starliner, will open on June 30th. Construction crews have almost been working around the clock. I've seen them working in the early morning and the evening on Sundays.
The deadline is fast approaching, but the question is, will they make it? I'm not talking about construction though, you can always throw more people and money at that. My concern is testing and certification. How long does it take to test and certify a roller coaster before guests can ride on it? What happens if there is an issue with the certification process?
I e-mailed Cypress Gardens' spokesperson Lynn Wright to see if she can fill in the details.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 26, 2007 at 12:47 PM
WorldGolf.com recently reviewed Southern Dunes in Haines City, FL. Tim McDonald says:
An easy drive from Orlando, Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club in Haines City is like finding the Mona Lisa in a trailer park: It's a strikingly imaginative Steve Smyers-designed golf course that ranks among the best in Florida golf.
I'm not sure if the 'trailer park' thing was a joke or a serious quip.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 25, 2007 at 03:24 PM
The small (but growing) cadre of Polk-Bloggers is getting together on Monday, July 9th in Lakeland. We'll be meeting at Black and Brew around 7pm for dinner then coffee (or beers).
Chris and Mike (owners of Black and Brew) have agreed to stay open an hour later for us (they normally close at 8pm on Mondays). If you plan on stopping by, leave a comment or e-mail me.
Black and Brew is located at 205 East Main Street, Lakeland...right on Munn Park.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 25, 2007 at 10:59 AM
In a comment on a previous article, Tom Palmer from The Ledger asks:
What is the significance of the fact that the overwhelming percentage (76-24) of readers who responded to the Polk Pulse question the day the CSX blog story ran said they didn't read local blogs?
I'd say it's in-line with our community and the state. Florida tends to be a bit behind on many things :-) According to a 2006 PEW report, national blog readership is around 39% (PDF Report Link) and 8% of Americans keep a blog.
In my comment response to Tom, I said with blogs it's the who, not the how many. If it's only 24% that's fine, as long as that 24% are a the folks "I" want to reach.
Fundraisers have known this for years. Sure they can go out and ask 100 people for $10 or just go directly to the one person that will probably give them $1000. It saves them time and effort.
I know that this blog is read by a number of reporters from various media around the area and by a number of, well I'll just say 'community leaders'. If I only have one reader, but that reader is a reporter that writes a story, or is a civic leader that mentions it to somebody else then my job is done.
Another major factor is that most of the hyperlocal bloggers I know aren't in it for the money. While page views are a nice metric, revenue is not an issue. With traditional media it's a major factor. Traffic drives revenue and that runs the business. While I know many journalists that 'love' their jobs and are amazing journalists, I'm not sure how many of them would continue to cover their beat if they weren't getting paid :-)
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 24, 2007 at 10:25 PM
Do you know of a good place to launch model rockets in Polk County? The large field by Polk Community College in Winter Haven is where we have launched in the past, but with any wind at all your rocket is due to drift into a street/yard, etc.
I welcome any suggestions.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 23, 2007 at 10:43 AM
Tim Harris, Polk County School Board member from District 7 has a blog. There is only one post up right now. It's dated June 22nd, 2007 and discusses School Concurrency.
According to the PCSB web site, District 7 includes the following schools: Auburndale Senior, Caldwell Elementary, Combee Elementary, Doris A Sanders Learning Center, Lake Gibson Middle, Lake Gibson Senior, Lena Vista Elementary, Polk City Elementary, Stambaugh Middle and Wendell Watson Elementary.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 22, 2007 at 11:34 PM
In a comment on my other blog Ledger reporter and blogger Tom Palmer asked when the Polk County blogging crew planned to get together again.
Good question.
Chuck, Bill, Bob, Billy you up for a meet-up. Perhaps Lakeland this time around? I'm free most nights next week, except for Wednesday.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 22, 2007 at 01:43 PM
In reference to my previous post, I am now receiving an e-mail from The Daily Ridge. It appears to be a web site that features news about Lake Wales. Looking at the site there is no information about who is responsible for the content. Each article is attributed to 'Staff Reporter' and the phone number listed is 000-000-0000.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 22, 2007 at 11:48 AM
Since the article ran on Monday about this blog I've been receiving some interesting e-mails. Mostly it's clueless PR folks that just send me releases without any introduction.
I am proud to say I am a member of the local chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association, and the 'clueless' PR people I refer to above are not members of that organization. FPRA members know better.
With that said, if you want to send me something to highlight on Empirical Polk don't just send me a release, send me a real e-mail that features real communication and conversation. Tell me why you think it would be of interest to my readers. If you can't do that, then don't bother.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 20, 2007 at 10:39 AM
I think it's safe to assume that CSX's public relations firm is Fleishman Hillard. On Monday, the day the CSX/Blogging article ran, EP had quite a few visitors from Fleishman's offices.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 20, 2007 at 09:50 AM
The New York Times posted a column/review of the DayJet service yesterday. Times reporter Joe Sharkey took a test flight with DayJet in Boca Raton.
We’ll be hearing a lot more about very light jets, especially as commercial airlines and the business jet industry battle over increasingly crowded skies and the question of who pays how much to help fix an outmoded air traffic control system.
In late 2003, I began visiting very light jet manufacturing plants, including Eclipse and Adam Aircraft, which is bringing its own $2.5 million A700 into service next year. At that time, many critics in aviation scoffed that very light jets would never get off the ground.
Here is my review and photos of the DayJet.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 18, 2007 at 07:22 AM
The CSX/Blogging article ran in today's Ledger. I think John Chambliss did a good job with the write-up. The article looked more at the overall issue of hyperlocal blogging rather than the specific development of the CSX story itself. Here are a few random thoughts:
- Susan McManus from USF states that blogs are a form of activism. That's not always the case and it's not always good to make broad generalizations about what a blog is or isn't. A large number of people who blog aren't interested in activism.
- While blogs helped push the overall dialogue of the story, much of the true groundwork was done by Billy Townsend of the Tampa Tribune. If you want a review of how the CSX story developed online click here.
- One of the benefits of blogs is long-term search relevance. While there may be short-term discussion around a post, it's the long-term visitors that can add up. Do a Google search for 'winter haven csx project'. What comes up first? Probably something from the Winter Haven Chamber. That's the true power of blogs.
- The photo of me was taken late on a Saturday at Richard's Coffee....a slow time. Generally there are more people in there :-)
- Of course the story does feature a picture of me 'blogging'. That's what's always funny about stories like this. The photographer shows up and says, "I'm supposed to get some shots of you blogging......so blog." Looks exciting doesn't it.
- Also, for the record, I am in favor of the CSX project. I just think it needs to go through the proper channels for approval.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 17, 2007 at 07:16 PM
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that Apple's iPhone will be released on Friday, June 29th. While there are no Apple stores in Polk County, there are a few AT&T Wireless (formerly Cingular) stores. Steve Jobs recently told fans to head to AT&T stores, rather than Apple stores.
Only corporate AT&T stores will be carrying the phone. The lone Polk County corporate stores are located in Lakeland and Winter Haven. There is even a rumor that the phone will actually go on sale at 6PM, so you don't have to take the day off :-)
Demand and hype for the phone is at an all-time high. I'm hoping that acquiring one won't be that bad in Polk County.
How about you? Are you planning on buying an iPhone? If so are you going to be visiting a local store?
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 17, 2007 at 10:38 AM
If you remember a few weeks ago Weird Al played a concert at Cypress Gardens. Well, uber-Al fan Johnathan took a road-trip to follow Al and his band across Florida and Georgia:
This past weekend I took a trip down to Florida to follow Weird Al's Straight Outta Lynwood tour. I had tickets to Melbourne, FL; Pompano Beach, FL; Valdosta, GA; and Winter Haven, FL....
It's an interesting story of fan devotion.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 17, 2007 at 10:29 AM
The Ledger might be running the CSX/Blogging story tomorrow (Monday) the article is posted. The basic gist is how a few blogs in the area opened up the story a bit and caused everybody to take a closer look at the project.
The big question is, will The Ledger be willing to give the majority of the credit to Billy Townsend at the Tampa Tribune? Billy was the one reporting and investigating long before any other media outlet was. We'll see.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 15, 2007 at 09:56 AM
Over at the Polk Politics blog Bill Rufty reports that Don Gifford is considering running for county commission again.
Gifford said he will run for the seat in the 2008 election. English won the seat in the Republican primary in 2004, but Gifford believes that English is now vulnerable for supporting a tax increase for infrastructure.
Don is somewhat of an interesting figure.
A number of years ago a group from Lakeland met with Don and a few other commissioners for a short Q&A. I was part of that group.
To set the stage, this was during the time that some of the commissioners began lobbying to have a copy of the Ten Commandments placed in the County Administration Building. (As a side bar, the debate about the oversight/position of constitutional officer, i.e. Supervisor of Elections, Tax Collector, etc. was also brewing)
One of the audience members asked whether it was a waste of local tax payer money to mount a legal battle to get the 'monument' placed in the building. Don and Randy Wilkinson both noted that the law firm representing the county was doing the work pro-bono.
The follow-up question from the audience switched the tack from money to time. How much time was being spent by county staff to defend the position? Time of course being money. Don began a lengthy response to defend the position.
Don rambled on and lost much of the audience, till the very end. Don said (talking about the issue of placing the Commandments in the building):
"What we're dealing with is more than right versus wrong, we're dealing with a battle of good versus evil. It's a battle of Jesus versus Satan."
I think the proposition of Jesus and Satan battling it out in Bartow woke much of the audience up. Most of us looked at each other to clarify if we did in fact hear what we just heard.
To break the silence in the room I jokingly asked if Jesus or Satan were constitutional officers?
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 14, 2007 at 11:43 AM
Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to check out the DayJet Eclipse 500 Jet at Lakeland Linder Airport. DayJet was in town for a sales/media event. I actually represented both.
In addition to inviting the traditional media, DayJet has been conducting outreach to local bloggers as well. So in the media sense, Empirical Polk was invited. From a customer standpoint, Hyku was invited since I do quite a bit of traveling in Florida. I was able to take a number of photos before and after my flight, the slideshow is below.
DayJet VP of Flight Operations, Don Osmundson, took me on a short flight in the jet. It is of course quick and smooth. Our flight took us over Mulberry and much of the phosphate land/facilities in Southwest Polk County. On our return we encountered one of the standard late-afternoon rain-showers that Florida is so famous for. Even with the strong rain we had a smooth landing.
Don and the rest of the DayJet teamed answered every question I threw at them about the jet and the service. (I'm working on a detailed post with all of that) My post is up.
The plans are to kick off operations in late July or early August.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 13, 2007 at 06:53 AM
I'm in Washington DC for business so I wasn't able to make it to the CSX/Lakeland meeting that was held on Tuesday. Chuck Welch from Lakeland Local was there and has posted two reports. Thanks Chuck.
Billy Townsend from the Tribune also has some internal e-mails from the city of Winter Haven regarding the CSX DRI process.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 12, 2007 at 08:19 AM
The Ledger reports that DayJet is waiting on jets, so they can't launch yet. However they will be providing a preview of the jets to the media and potential customers tomorrow at Lakeland Linder Airport. I'll be there and will post photos and a wrap-up afterwards.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 9, 2007 at 12:25 AM
I just got word from Anaheim, CA that Polk County was designated an All-American City.
More details soon.
Update: Chris Gent from KUA e-mailed me the following:
Polk County was just named an All America City by the National Civic League -- one of only 10 cities in the nation this year. Kissimmee/Osceola County was a finalist but did not make the final cut.
The awards were given out in Anaheim, Calif. That's where I am now.
If you remember I posted about this last week.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 7, 2007 at 11:16 AM
The big political news earlier this week was Adam Putnam announcing his support for Fred Thompson. Seth McKeel e-mailed to let us know he was joining Adam in his support of Fred's campaign:
Wanted to let you know that I have discussed the Thompson campaign at length with Congressman Putnam. He asked for my support and I'm excited to come on board the Florida team with the Congressman.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 6, 2007 at 01:51 PM
Over at the Winter Haven Chamber Blog there is an update on the CSX project. Per a letter from CSX DCA:
This is to confirm that the Department is prepared to work with you on a Preliminary Development Agreement pursuant to Section 380.06 (8), Florida Statutes for the CSX Integrated Logistics Center Terminal Project. A Preliminary Development Agreement would allow CSX to construct a substantial portion of the overall project prior to the issuance of a Development of Regional Impact Order. If you wish to proceed toward such an agreement we believe it could be completed fairly quickly.”
CSX will pursue this option to allow the Phase I intermodal facility to proceed.
What this means I do not know. Any DRI experts care to comment?
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 5, 2007 at 11:16 AM
The Sun-Sentinel has an article about the connection between sea-planes and the Central Florida region. Winter Haven is mentioned in the article.
McManus says that seaplane pilots overall "have a tremendous safety record." More than 15,000 of them, including singer Jimmy Buffett, have earned their water wings at the world-renowned Jack Brown's Seaplane Base in Winter Haven, which draws clients from around the globe.
Here is Jack's web page.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 4, 2007 at 11:37 AM
I was in the Florida Keys for a few days, but back now. Posting will resume tomorrow :-)
I took this guy's picture near our hotel room at Hawk's Cay Resort on Duck Key.
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