Sounders Ticket Winners announced for Sunday's Game against the New England Revolution

I feel like I am still the "Yoyoman" doing school assemblies for kids every time I give away tickets to the Sounders. Today's lucky winners are here with their tickets and their bright smiley faces. I hope that everyone has a fun weekend whatever you do. It is going to be a busy one around Seattle so be sure to check on traffic before you head for Seattle this weekend.  I am still experimenting with how I interact with you all. This was the first time I used my blog as the conduit. If you have any feedback on the giveaways you can always reach me at Michael.Lee@expresspros.com  Make it a great weekend!

Mike Tolleson

Matt Arnold

The season is still a long way from over! This could be you one day very soon...

When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."
~Author Unknown

Does Only One Person Win "The Prize"?

When I was traveling the world as a motivational speaker in elementary schools one of the coolest parts of my show was inviting the kids to answer questions on the microphone as I roamed the audience. They loved to share. Then I would pick one of the participants to join me on stage for more fun and a cool prize... usually a free yo-yo.

What I discovered is that even though only one person received "the prize" everyone felt like winners just by participating. And it did wonders for overall morale at the school. The positive momentum wave would last for weeks.

What I have heard from many of you is that you enjoy participating in these Sounders ticket giveaways and it adds a positive element to your day. Well, I have another opportunity for you this morning to reach for "the prize"! The Sounders won 4-2 last night against the Red Bulls of New York and they will be facing the  New England Revolution this Sunday at 1pm at CenturyLink Field. (formerly Qwest)

I have two sets of two tickets to giveaway for Sunday's game. All you need to do is send an email to Michael.Lee@expresspros.com and mention SOUNDERS in the subject line or body of the email. That's it! I will announce the winners this afternoon.

Have a great Friday! And Go Sounders! #ScarvesUp

Thursday night: Sounders vs. Red Bull New York Winners

Happy Thursday! And it is an even happier Thursday for the two Sounders tickets winners going to the game tonight against Red Bull New York at CenturyLink Field, 7:00pm.

They are...

Adrien Whittemore

Jordan Taylor

Congratulations to you both! And have a great weekend everyone.

Michael

Ps- If this is your first time here, Welcome to my new Blog!  If you have time to look around and leave a comment I would appreciate it! Thanks.

Giving Value is the Key to New Media Success

I have always believed that it is much better to give than to receive. I have been giving away tickets to Sounders and Seahawks games for a couple of years now. Some people have asked if I got the idea in some marketing book or heard about it from some social media guru. The answer is no. While I do read widely on the subjects of business, leadership, and marketing, the roots of my ticket giveaways come from much more humble ground.

It was August of 2009 and the Seahawks were playing their last preseason game on Thursday night. I decided to try an experiment. I had four tickets to the Seahawks game. I wanted to see if my audience was listening. I sent a very short and simple email to about 500 people that said, " Hi, my name is Michael Lee and I have Seahawks tickets to give away in a drawing. All you have to do is respond to this email and your name will be entered. Good luck!"

My email box lit up like a Christmas tree. It was quite funny actually watching my Outlook inbox grow before my eyes. The audience WAS listening and they had their WIIFM hats on. (What's In It For Me) I learned an important lesson that I try to emulate with every email that goes out with my name on it... Give something of value to your audience. They will let you know you if they want to engage further.

Since that August 2009 day I have sent approximately 200 people to events.... so far! And I am sending four more people to the Sounders game this Saturday, June 11, 7:30pm against the Vancouver Whitecaps. You may still enter up until noon on Friday, June 10th! Just send an email to Michael.Lee@expresspros.com and mention the words SOUNDERS & BLOG in the body of your message. Winners will receive their tickets on Friday.

I will talk about the ROI I have seen from the ticket giveaways in another post and the results might surprise you!

Have a great weekend and remember with new media the ancient rules still apply… It is more blessed to GIVE than to receive.

U2, Recruiting, & Social Media 301

For my new friends from Social Media 301, welcome! If I didn’t get a chance to meet you in person yesterday I hope to have the pleasure at a future event.

You can read more about me elsewhere but the short of it is I am a headhunter and a motivational speaker. I am a recruiter who helps companies find the right people for their teams and then I help those teams get along with each other. One of the topics I talk about is the Four Generations in the Workplace and I had a brainstorm yesterday while sitting at SM301 contemplating the U2 concert on Saturday.

I was very sad when the U2 concert for Seattle was cancelled last year. When the new concert date was scheduled for June 4, 2011, I somehow missed it and didn’t put it on my calendar even though my old tickets would be honored.  Earlier this week, one of my staff members shared her excitement to be attending the concert this weekend and I suddenly remembered that I have four tickets myself! However, on Friday I still had no plans for the tickets. Doh!

I am a proud member of Generation X. I was inspired by the great content at SM301 and an idea was hatched as I sat at my table. What if I invite a Traditionalist, a Baby Boomer, and a Millennial to join me at the concert and make it a multi-generational event? We could create, #U2Sea4Gens, and enjoy the different generational perspectives on the concert. We could have a good time and I would have more material for future talks on the Four Generations.

And that, my friends, is how the following SM301 attendees were selected to join me for the concert today…

Linda Aaron, @skynnard, Traditionalist

Mike Whitmore, @mikewhitmore, Baby Boomer

Todd Martini, @tmartini, Baby Boomer

Mirriam Kelly, @littleslav, Millennial

Emily Bratkovich, @emilybratkovich, Millennial

You notice that we have more than the original four. That’s because two of the people got to me AFTER I gave away the original four tickets and I was so touched by their stories and desire to attend that I jumped on Craig’s List and was able to pick up two more tickets. The more the merrier!

And there you have it. A modest social media event was hatched in the midst of SM301 yesterday. Please feel free to tweet on #U2Sea4Gens if you are at the concert tonight. And if you would like to join us for an early dinner before the concert we are meeting at 4:30pm at Elysian Fields Pub.

Thanks everyone! I had a great time at SM301 yesterday and enjoyed meeting many of you. I hope to meet more of you soon. Have a great weekend and follow us tonight for U2 concert updates!