Reason #27 we should go to Thailand: We're not liquored up

It should really come as no surprise that I am a bit of a beer snob. Living just outside Düsseldorf and studying at Heinrich Heine Üniversität really spoiled me back in 2002. That was when I first discovered Altbier, a style of ale that can be found nowhere else. Och meine Himmel... I was already picky about alcohol before I moved to Benrath, but a particularly delicious Altbier sealed it. No more would I let a lame American domestic touch my lips.

That being said, we have no idea why so many of the couples competing think the bar scene in Thailand is tantamount for their travelogues. Amber and I have been involved in the Ultimate Thailand Explorers contest for almost two months now, and I have seen countless pictures roll through the UTE Facebook page displaying hedonistic beer binges beyond what I think lies in good taste.

Just a glance of some of the pictures of other teams, and most of the jolly good friends are in some back alley dive drinking the night away. I guess if that's how you want to promote Thailand, I can't stop you, but you're out of your mind if you think I'm not going to rip you for it.

I've written about the Altstadt in Düsseldorf, and I had lots of fun there. But that was not the essence of my time in Germany. Two teams in particular, one not included in the contest (and thank the good Lord for that) actually posted an update with a picture of a women's glittering glutes while in a dusty establishment in Cambodia. Another proudly displays half-inebriated pics of "him and his bros" while chugging in a boozy board in Bangkok. They devoted half a post on their "blog" to where to drink the night away in Railay.

We'll enjoy our taste of Thai liquor when we go someday. We'll promote it with the best of them as well, but Amber and I can promise you this: we're there to see and promote Thailand, not to drink ourselves silly like we're back home in Ann Arbor. That's akin to heading to Hokkaido and stopping at the McDonald's in Sapporo. Please.

We enjoy the nightlife, but if we're heading to a wonderfully historic city like Chiang Mai, you can bet we're there for other reasons. So while we won't win this edition of the UTE contest, you can be sure that we'll raise a glass of Chang beer for the winners. We can guarantee we'll do it responsibly.

Reason #26 we should go to Thailand: We're trendsetters

Theo and I have been involved in the Ultimate Thailand Explorers contest for almost two months now. I first saw the contest discussed on a Yahoo News story back on Sept. 1; I sent it to Theo that day suggesting that we enter. We started planning our video that evening and completed the shooting the next weekend. Because we've been involved in the contest for so long, we've seen various trends among the contestants come and go, and we'd even be so bold as to claim that we started some of those trends. We are the UTE original innovators.

We knew that if we wanted to have a chance in the contest, we needed to show off our social networking prowess. We decided that it would serve us best to have a blog and a Twitter account devoted strictly to the contest, giving daily updates on our new content, and also on the numerous reasons why we were the perfect choice as the Ultimate Thailand Explorers. So as I finished editing our video footage, Theo was hard at work setting up our blog and connecting it to our new Twitter site. We were among the first teams to have contest exclusive social media accounts that we promoted through our video, and as you all know, we used them extensively. In fact, if you watch the end of our video, we don't just mention "We'll be on Twitter." We actually gave our Twitter address. Other groups simply stated they'd have these accounts, but it wasn't until we popularized it, it came in vogue.

We were also among one of the first groups to set up a Facebook fan page. We learned quickly that the fan page was one of the best ways to send updates to our friends and family. Soon everyone we knew was interested not only in our progress through the contest, but also in Thailand as a travel destination. While others floundered with group pages, our fan page hummed right along updating our friends' walls the second we posted an update.

While we weren't the first team to do a second video, we were the first with original content and not a blooper reel or a lame attempt at humor as moronic robots. We wanted people to learn something from our videos, whether it was about our personalities, our travelogue skills, or even a culinary video people could emulate in their own kitchens.

After we learned we were not selected as semi-finalists in the UTE contest, we continued to be trendsetters. Theo and I discussed our options and decided to keep blogging about our qualifications and the contest itself. We also wanted to publicly express our support to the teams we thought would best promote Thailand as a destination. So we then became the first teams to publicly endorse a full slate of UTE contestants. (And we don't think they're doing so badly so far!) Granted, we didn't sell our votes as some of our imitators did, so I guess they did do something we didn't.

So stay tuned. While Theo and I might not be heading to Thailand this year, we will continue to lead the way in the UTE contest. You don't want to miss it.

Amber and Theo Endorse...

So we started breaking the news today to our blog readers, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers. When we told them that we were not selected as semi-finalists in the UTE competition, the most common response we heard was, "But we were just waiting to vote for you!" We wanted to let everyone out there know that they can still vote, even if it's not for us. While we're still campaigning to be the Ultimate Thailand Explorers, we think the following teams are worthy of your vote. We're definitely not going to split our votes like some, "Sure we'll vote for you today, but tomorrow..." We not duplicitous or disingenuous. We genuinely believe the following teams would make ideal Ultimate Thailand Explorers, and they receive our official endorsement.

Chiang Mai: Greg and Phil. Greg and Phil joined the contest shortly after we did, and they have had the right approach to this contest the entire time. They've been fun, irreverent, and witty, and they've been fairly active throughout on Twitter and their blog. You can also follow them via their Facebook fan page. They'll approach Thailand with a fresh set of eyes that will get people to follow them over their large network. We aren't going to vote for spammers, self-absorbed people who live in Thailand and want to keep prizes to themselves, and pros who skipped a puddle to make a slick video there.

Bangkok: Cheryl and Genevieve. This team (aka Two Happy Campers) are newcomers to this competition, and while they are as slick and professional as anyone else, they've enthusiastically promoted Thailand already through their great application video, their Twitter account, Facebook page, and even through the press. Their video was one of the most creative and best produced we've seen. Everyone else "talked" about how they'll use Web 2.0, but they demonstrated their plans for promoting Bangkok. They're enthusiastic travelers, and they showed better than anyone how they'll travel. We know they'll do a great job of promoting Bangkok to the world. We like another couple on a personal level, but they've been to Thailand way too many times. And while screaming "Thailand is my favorite country" may curry votes, ranking places you've been is just poor etiquette.

Phuket: Connor and Mike. While they are professionals (Connor is an international tour guide and filmmaker and Mike is a graphic designer), their video shows them to be adventurous travelers. Theo sees a kindred spirit in Connor, I see a creative and seasoned filmmaker. Check out his Twitter account and his YouTube channel. It was hard for us to choose a team in this category, because we loved Marcin & Agnieszka's creative video, but they've been absent from Web 2.0, as far as we can tell. (Hey kids, we tried.) And for all those teams who are trying to sell us on sending them back to Thailand, go there on your own dime. And we're not voting for Mathieu and Emilia, who arrogantly told us they would go to Phuket even if we didn't vote for them.

Pattaya: Justin and Libby. Justin and Libby's video stood out to us, because it was different from any others we've seen in the contest. They have also been active in other ways online, and we know that they can write entertaining and informative travel blogs. Check out their Facebook fan page. (And we've read a lot of travel blogs.) While they have been to Thailand before, as new parents, we think they will enjoy it even more this time. We're not going to send two pathetic Carrie Bradshaw wannabes, a Free Credit Report Band knockoff, or two self-absorbed dudes who write press releases.

Koh Samui: Personally, we'd send Craig and Jono, two Kiwis with the best narrative in the competition. Instead, we're left with a bunch of teams filled with pros, hucksters, and bad story telling. One video was great, but didn't say a single thing about Koh Samui as a destination. We're sure as hell not going to send someone who does this for a living. You wanna go lay on beaches, have your company sponsor you on your own dime, not TAT's. And don't you dare think you deserve to go over someone who's never been there. So we're officially endorsing NO ONE for Koh Samui. If we could send ourselves there, we would, because we'd certainly come up with better results than a girl trying to improve her odds at starring in "Candide" in the West End. (psst... one more word of warning, if you've just come back from Portugal, write a real blog).

So vote Greg and Phil, Cheryl and Genevive, Connor and Mike, and Justin and Libby. Since we can't go to Thailand, we think these teams deserve to.

Reason #25 we should go to Thailand: We're not going to stop

So we got the bad news this morning that we are not semifinalists in the Ultimate Thailand Explorers contest. As you know, Amber and I have been hard at work for the last month and a half writing, tweeting, and vlogging about why we were the Ultimate Thailand Explorers. It seems all for naught with our names excluded from the list of semifinalists.

In fact, it be very easy and understandable for us to not want to continue the blog at this point. We now assume that no other material was actually considered during the course of the contest. We produced copious amounts of writings and videos to show the committee how serious we were about the social networking aspect of the contest. Other teams said, "we'll try to blog," but only a handful of did, and not one produced as much material as us. Despite the opportunity to qualify for the consolation prizes, the fact that our work at promoting ourselves as contestants and by virtue, Thailand as a destination, is a bitter pill to swallow.

But we're still going to keep posting and keep writing. Why?! Well, we proved we were more than adept and more than capable as the UTEs even without an endorsement from the TAT. Of the 38 teams competing for Chiang Mai, only three had a Facebook Fanpage before today, (including us). Most never appeared as fans on the UTE Facebook page, never commented, and never posted. (of Chiang Mai semifinalists, three NEVER contributed on Facebook)

Only two had a blog exclusively devoted to the contest frequently updated, (psst... just us and Greg & Phil), and only two other teams made supplemental videos for the contest. (both being kinda jokey/outake vids). And nobody in the entire contest blogged more substantially and prolifically than us.

So no, we haven't been to Thailand, and it appears we're not headed there anytime soon, and we're definitely bummed about being left out. But as my favorite lyric from Midnight Oil goes, "It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." We're gonna go out fightin'!

Reason #24 we should go to Thailand: We can multitask

The excitement and anticipation have been building this week, as the submission deadline for the UTE contest came to a close and the number of applicants more than doubled. I had some pressure building in other ways this week, as the submission deadline for an article a few of my colleagues and I are writing approached. The journal is completely online, so I spent the last few days in my office until after midnight working to build webpages and embed video. This week was not that different from most other weeks during the school year, though, as I'm constantly doing 10 things at once: planning events for my graduate program, managing a journal, supervising a multimedia writing course, working on my dissertation, attending committee and reading group meetings, participating in the HASTAC technology scholars program, and those are just the things I do on campus. Theo's schedule looks similar, if not more hectic, than mine. But neither of us mind; we're graduate students. We live to multitask.

Growing up, vacations were always like this for me also. My father is a small business owner and he can never leave his office for vacation time. Instead of taking the typical summer American road trip out West, our family vacations always happened over Thanksgiving break. Because we only had a few days for each trip, we packed in as many things into our schedule as we possibly could. I remember a family vacation to New York City where we were out the door before 6am, and returned every night after midnight. We had a wonderful trip, and all of us decided that we would worry about sleeping when we got home.

Theo and I are going to do the same in Chiang Mai; we already have a list of hundreds of attractions we want to see, both in the city and the surrounding area. We want to travel to have fun, but that means spending our time experiencing as much of the city as we can, not just lying on a beach or relaxing at a health spa. Because we're so used to multitasking, you can be assured that we'll be tweeting, blogging, and vlogging the entire way. (And we've had some great practice doing this already since the contest started!) We're used to having to produce final documents (in text, image and video) with quick deadlines, and we'll be able to write a blog and upload a video even when we're traveling to the next location on our agenda. With all of the temples to see, foods to try, museums to visit, rivers to raft down, hills to trek, and people to meet, you can certainly trust two ambitious and hard working grad students to get it done.

Reason #23 we should go to Thailand: We are athletic

It should come as no surprise that I love athletics. I've coached wrestling at the scholastic level in three different states, and I study sports now as a graduate student at Northern Illinois University. After serving as a head coach in Louisville, I took an assistant position last fall with a small private Catholic school in Illinois. As the assistant coach in charge of, let's call it motivation, it was my responsibility to make sure the wrestlers practiced the way we want them to. I'm leading the guys in something called a Hindu push up, a nasty little exercise I picked up from my friends in combat sports and professional wrestling. (long story) It's a yoga move used in ancient Indian wrestling and has found practice in combat sports like the UFC and Gracie jiujitsu.

It's because of that flexibility and balance that powerlifting has come so easily for me. Don't get me wrong, there's some differences from strong man, which I used to compete in, that are now old habits I have to break. That's been the hardest part of the transition.

Amber has been doing yoga and pilates for a number of years. She also rides her bike to school on a near daily basis, and has gone roller blading with me on my Trikke for miles at a time on the Cardinal Greenway in Indiana and in various parks in Illinois. Amber's Wii Fit let's her run around a virtual island, do step aerobics, or even tackle a fierce, (and I do mean fierce!), boxing workout.

But why is this blog about why Amber and I are athletic? Well beyond speaking about our physical prowess (c'mon, we're not that vain...), I wanted to talk about how Ambi and I are ready for any physical challenge that may come our way in Thailand. Climb 309 steps to reach the pagodas at Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep? No problem. Hiking to take the eco-friendly zipline tour, Flight of the Gibbon? Cannot wait! Carrying 80 lb. for days filled with smelly clothes and gifts for the peeps back home? Bring it on!

Chiang Mai has lots to do and we're a couple who'll be ready to rise early, backpack all day while visiting the sites, and be ready to do it all over again the next day. We look forward to showing you all that Chiang Mai has to offer and we're physically fit to do it!

Reason #22 we should go to Thailand: We know how to brand

After Amber wrote an excellent blog about our understanding of social networking, I think we're ready for another academic piece, but this time, I would share my knowledge of branding and how that makes us the perfect Ultimate Thai Explorers.

To my Uncle Dennis who works as a cowboy on his own ranch in Idaho, branding has an entirely different meaning, especially to the cattle which roam his plains. As a grad student in sports management branding encompasses my life and my research.

The utilization of Web 2.0 in brand management is key to understanding my research. In fact, that's one of the reasons Ambi and I made our Colts travel vlog. Sure we tried to flex our muscle when it came to showing what we can do with a tankful of gas and a digital video camera, but the another purpose of the vlog was to show how adept I am at branding.

That's right, I am a brand: the Dreadhead. Just by being my wild and crazy self at the games, I have created a "character/superfan" with brand awareness and brand equity, far beyond what a normal fan could do. As witnessed in the video we posted, you can see fans flocking to have their picture taken with me.

"But why, Theo? Why do other fans care about you, when you're not even on the field?" It's all part of the brand awareness. When you are at the market and see a recognizable commodity, be it cola or bread, or even toilet paper, the more aware of the brand you are, the more likely you are to buy it. The greater degree you trust the brand, ("Wow, Smucker's makes delicious strawberry jam!") the more likely you are to buy it.

The same goes for the Dreadhead. I actually never set out to become a commodity, a usable good, if you will. I was just at the games like anyone else, trying to get on the Jumbo-Tron and get the other fans excited about the game. But as I got on the screen more and more (usually 3-5 times a game), people began to recognize me (psst... brand awareness) out and about Indianapolis. When I was picked as the "Fan of the Game" and included in the official team video, I had equity, value. I was an identifiable quantity, and people started to ask me to sign autographs and pose for pictures at a rapid pace.

The Dreadhead now poses for pictures with at least a dozen people a game. I never get tired of it, but must admit that I am strangely fascinated by it. I'm not famous, just recognizable, as in "Oh, I think I saw the Dreadhead at Chili's last week!"

I have cultivated this image, and people have come to recognize it. It's really beyond "the big guy with dreadlocks who headbangs." The Dreadhead is recognized for his passion, his energy, and his loyalty to the Colts.

Let me end with a message for the Tourism Authority of Thailand: if I'm getting this much brand awareness for just being me, imagine what I can do for Chiang Mai. Whoooooo!