I Survived 2010’s E3

This week thousands of game industry insiders (and a few outsiders) met in Los Angeles, California for the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Running from June 15th through the 17th, it was three days full of giant convention displays filled by equally giant videogame companies showing off both their latest releases, as well as upcoming game titles and hardware.

I was there in the middle of the gaming chaos to help with coverage for this month’s online issue of Best Buy On. Helping to cover the show with photos and articles meant a lot of running around the convention floor, which can be a lot of work, but it also meant I was pretty much guaranteed to see just about every part of the show floor. I even had a number of opportunities to stop and talk with the smaller companies who came with hopes of attracting new fans to their products, as well as see some “unique” hardware accessories that were shown along with the big show stoppers.

Even though it was my first time at E3, I had a blast, and can’t wait until next year. In the meantime, check out the rest of the Best Buy On E3 coverage.

It’s a Twitter Christmas for Retail

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/tKpAzVAIa0s" width="450" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

ABC World News took a look at the “Twitter Christmas” in this report about how retail companies are using social media resources like Twitter and Facebook to reach out to the public.

I had a chance to speak about our own @Twelpforce in the report, as I answered incoming tweets while on-camera.

How About a Little Twelp From Your Friends?

Phil Wilson has a nice piece on the Minnov8.com website in which he asks about the success of Best Buy’s Twitter-based @Twelpforce.

As a member of Twelpforce, my favorite line comes from our own Twelpforce lead, John Bernier, who explains that, “We’ve been able to meet our customers at the crossroads of need and time…Being there when and where they need us.”

That is, I think, really the best way to measure our progress on the project.

Dear Mom, I Enlisted in the Twelpforce

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/j0IuvR1hQZ0" width="450" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qnyqv2-etyE" width="450" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

@TwelpforceThis week marked the official launch of Best Buy’s @Twelpforce, which allows customers to connect with regular employees for questions and support with products and services they are looking at, or have already bought.

TechCrunch has been very positive on the idea of connecting customers with employees, calling it, “a phenomenal way to engage with Twitter users and social media in general.”

I’ve had an opportunity to join in on the experience as a Geek Squad Agent, and it’s been eye-opening in just how powerful the idea is. I’ve seen hundreds of customer-employee interactions since the launch, and it’s wonderful to see how welcomed the responses are by the public.

I think the thing that makes this idea so unique is that it’s not just another contact point for a company public relations team. Instead, it’s made up of regular employees from around the world, 700+ at last count. The expectation for participation, according to the publicly-available website is that @Twelpforce members, “just have to be curious, proactive, and helpful- much of the same stuff you do everyday.”

I look forward to more @Twelpforce twittering in my future!

Best Buy to Help With Spring Cleaning

Best Buy has announced that they are rolling out an electronics recycling program to all of their US stores on February 15th. The program will allow consumers to bring in 2 devices per day, including a wide range of items, such as computers, VCRs, and some types of televisions.