I’m back! Back in the Cleveland groove!

Oh my goodness, dear readers. I apologize. From the depths of my soul and the soles of my feet, I sincerely apologize for my unofficial two-week hiatus. You see, things had gotten a little hectic. Working in a kennel is tough. It is exhausting, physically and mentally, and I was exhausted. Any free moment = sleepy time for Abbie.

But I’m not here to make excuses! I’m here to get back on the wagon, to put my fingers to the keyboard and regale you with tales of my time in Cleveland! As you shark enthusiasts probably know, Discovery Channel’s Shark Week was recently upon us. The Greater Cleveland Aquarium pounced on the week as a convenient marketing opportunity and took to social media to spread some fishy love!

The GCA implemented Twitter to host a scavenger hunt throughout Cleveland during Shark Week; we called it #SharkWeekGCA. The hunt was simple–our mascot, Sandy the shark, would be lingering in one famous Cleveland location at noon, Monday to Friday. Clues about the location were tweeted throughout each morning of Shark Week and the first person to solve the clues and find Sandy was given two free admission tickets to the aquarium.

The hunt was very successful. Within 30 minutes of 12 o’clock, Clevelanders were approaching the GCA Aqua Squad member accompanying Sandy and asking, “Do you still have tickets?” Only one day was not a thriving success, and of course it was the day I was stuck in the shark costume. Hindsight showed our mistake–we chose a location that did not receive tons of foot traffic in comparison to other places downtown. This article actually has a slew of great tips for virtual scavenger hunts, and we followed the guidelines closely: we over-communicated the clues and made ourselves very visible.  I danced my shark fins off for an hour before admitting defeat and slinking back into Lake Erie.

Aside from the one day, though, the scavenger hunt was great! I will certainly remember this strategy of interacting with your audience when I’m back on Ohio University’s campus, doing my best to get people excited about ACRN Media. There are countless opportunities for ACRN Media to utilize social media platforms in order to increase our outreach, and I can’t wait to employ them!

Aside from the scavenger hunt, in these post-less two weeks I also became acquainted with another great Cleve record store! This one is called Music Saves, and it’s located on Waterloo Road. Like many pockets of Cleveland, Waterloo is undergoing a makeover and is in the process of emerging shiny and new. One of its shiny spots is its entertainment district, which is where you can find Music Saves! The store’s selection is awesome; its intended audience is undoubtedly 18 to 30-year-olds who keep up with new releases. I was able to snag Alvvway‘s self-titled while I was there, which is something I’ve been looking for since that record came out last summer.

Photo via Yelp

Music Saves also has a cat that chills big inside the store. She talks a lot and has an expression that reads “Please get the hell out of my face.” Truly great feline.

Meow!

Located just down the street from Music Saves is Beachland Ballroom & Tavern, which hosts plenty of great musicians. For example! Waxahatchee performed there just last night! Jake and I were in attendance because we both love Ivy Tripp and the tickets were super cheap. The opening act, Pinkwash, is home to a very obviously talented guitarist, Joey Doubek, with a flair for doom and heavy math rock. I will admit, the noises he created made me want to smash some things. However, a performance can get a little tiring when it’s repeatedly the same power chords; the shrieking, C- quality vocals were also quickly growing old.

Pinkwash’s set was brought to an abrupt end when Joey broke a guitar string. Then it was time for Waxahatchee! Pinkwash’s drummer, Ashley Arnwine, also drummed for Waxahatchee and the drumming was, frankly, impeccable.

Look how stinkin’ cute she is. Photo via WaxahatcheeMusic

I did not realize the creative force behind Waxahatchee, Katie Crutchfield, is a twin until I saw two identical persons on stage last night. Not only do Katie and Allison look exactly alike (tattoos not withstanding), but they sound exactly alike and they sound good. I can’t get over how awesome the set was. Ivy Tripp was played practically in its entirely and the three-song encore was exactly what the crowd demanded. It was also Waxahatchee’s first time ever playing in Cleveland! I’m glad I got to be there, and I know for a fact Cerulean Salt will be added to the record collection very soon. I connected with Waxahatchee’s live set more than I have with their recorded material, and I am genuinely very pumped I attended the show. It honestly may have totally changed my relationship with that music.

In other non-local news, True Detective has improved. It took five episodes but now I am actually invested in the plot of this season. There were absolutely some laughably bad lines in Sunday night’s episode, but overall it is leagues better than it’s been. I suppose sitting down to view with an attitude of “Well, how badly is this going to suck?” helped me enjoy it more than I thought it would. So, hope is almost lost, but glimmering. Barely. Just barely.

Sorry again for the delay, folks. With summer winding down and classes about to resume, I should probably get back in the groove of productivity and accomplishing tasks! Oi. It’s gonna be rough.

Do mascots count as media?

Dude, totally. A mascot is a representation of a company, brand, organization, whatever, and its goal is to attract audiences and ultimately sell a product. In effect, it is a form of communication. Mascots typically don’t even speak–they are silent but entertaining, dynamic conversations between a consumer and a company. This article from Advertising Age, written by E.J. Schultz, gives great insight into the use of mascots as a marketing tool.

(By the way, media–plural for medium–is “the main means of mass communication regarded collectively.”)

So why am I talking about mascots and media? Did I have a dream about Ronald McDonald trying to sell me a hamburger? Or did Moondog goad me with popcorn, soda and LeBron jerseys?

No, no. Not quite. Believe it or not, I am reflecting upon the relevance of mascots as media because yesterday, I was a mascot for the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. This was me:

Taken from https://www.pinterest.com/thegca/

Okay, so maybe that is not actually me inside that costume, but I wore that same exact costume for 90 minutes yesterday! 90 dispersed minutes, of course; I could only be Sandy the Shark for half an hour before sweat started dripping over my eyes. That was my cue to head back inside and let my co-worker don the shark costume for the next half hour.

As this was my first stint as a mascot, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. But now that I’ve had the experience, I realize just how important and effective mascots are as media tools! When I was Sandy, my goal was simple–get the attention of kids and interact with them. This allowed my co-worker to engage parents in a conversation about the aquarium. It worked, too! We encountered countless interested folks and handed out a good deal of pamphlets–and it all started with Sandy! Not to mention it was a pretty fun time–I received and gave many high fives, danced a lot and did a minimal amount of chasing (mostly seagulls, a few obnoxious kids). The absolute best part, though, was when a sizable group of small children crowded around my knees and lovingly touched my shark face and hugged my shark waist. It was awesome. In every picture I was in, I was smiling even though my face was totally hidden. It was a genuinely fun time! I unintentionally scared a few people, but none of the scares were as hilarious as these:

1:45 made me laugh out loud, repeatedly.

I must say, though… Never thought I’d be dressing up in a shark costume for college credit.

Now, imagine dressing up in a big furry costume for actual monetary compensation! Did you know that a mascot for a NBA team makes $100-$200 per game? This results in an annual starting salary of about $40,000. This information comes from a 2006 article in the Tampa Bay Times, written by Alan Sel. Those figures are over a decade old–just imagine how much mascots are making in 2015! This AskMen article is a bit vague on the actual numbers, but reports that the Denver Nugget‘s mascot, Rocky, supposedly earns up to six figures.

Makin’ bank, no biggie.

However, not just anyone can don a mascot outfit and start making big bucks. Professional mascots have a very physically demanding job. The amount of energy they must exhaust to entertain crowds while wearing a heavy, hot suit is massive. In fact, Ohio University’s own Backdrop Magazine recently published an article all about one man’s experience as OU’s mascot Rufus! According to Nate Hug, it was no easy feat.

Professional mascots pretty much have to be in the same physical shape as the professional athletes they’re rooting for. I definitely could not do that, so props to those who can!

Take a break. You’ve earned it.