Simon S. Tam's Blog, page 12

The Difference Between “Redskins” and “The Slants”

This morning, one of the top trending news stories is the cancellation of the trademark registrations for the Washington Redskins. Given the political pressure that’s been widely applied, it wasn’t that surprising. People drawing false-equivalency comparisons to my trademark case pending before the U.S Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit wasn’t surprising either. In fact, it seemed almost ironic that the decision was made shortly after my TED talk criticizing the Trademark Office of inse...

Guest Curating State of Wonder on OPB

Today, I was a guest curator on OPB’s State of Wonder, a show about the arts, talking about my newly released book, Music Business Hacks.

I was blessed to be joined by some incredible people:

Frank Portman, YA author and lead singer of The Mr. T Experience
Angela Weber, one half of The Doubleclicks
Ryan Nikolaidas, of Cloneless
Matt King, talent buyer at Mississippi Studios
Daniel Jose Older, author
Matthew Salesses, author

We talk music, marketing, books, and tech and pack it all in one hour!

Head ov...

Social Media Listening Tools That Everyone Should Be Using

Are you listening?

Are youreallylistening?

I’ve mentioned it a few times before: treat social media more like a telephone and less like a megaphone. However, some might not knowhoworwhereto listen. This is important because you want to know what’s being said about you and where are they saying it. You’ll also want to know how to respond.

Free Social Media Listening Tools

First, let’s talk about some of the free tools available to you. Here are some that I use everyday:

Google Alerts:Google Alerts...

Forbes Feature – The Millennial Game Plan: Career And Money Secrets To Succeed In Today’s World

Today, the newest book in the Forbes Signature Series was released. It’sThe Millennial Game Plan: Career And Money Secrets To Succeed In Today’s Worldby Laura Shin. It features some very personal stories with yours truly.

Yes, it’s true that I originally dropped out of college to be a rockstar and that I was laid off from a job I loved due to a poor economy. Yet somehow, I found a way to survive and thrive through my music and my writing. There are many more features from other incredible indi...

How to Create and Deliver a TED talk

Yesterday, May 3, I drove up to Seattle’s UW Tower to deliver my first TED talk at the third annual TEDxUofW.

TEDx events are independently organized, officially licensed, and designed to spark conversation and connection through local TED-like experiences.

How to be Invited to Share a TED talk

All TED events are managed by a committee, including one that oversees the speaker selection. Often, committee members have some ideas on who they would like to attend and speak at the event. However, all...

Interview with Business Info Guide

I recently did an interview with @bizauthor of Business Info Guide about the inspiration behind my book,How to Get Sponsorships and Endorsements, as well as how I like to stay organized for productivity.Check it out here.

Just Confirmed: TEDxUofW and the Business for Culture and the Arts

I’m excited to announce my appearance at my first TEDx event!

Join me on Saturday, May 3 at the University of Washington campus for the TEDxUofW event this year. It’s an incredible honor to be a part of this legacy event. Register here.

I’ll also be delivering a keynote at the Business for Culture and the Arts (BCA) Skills Day for the Arts, talking about strategic partnerships – that will be a whirlwind week (Portland, Indianapolis, and Manhattan in four days). Looks like I’ll be racking up tho...

The National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education

I’m honored to join a distinguished list of presenters at this year’s National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE).

TheNCORE®conference series constitutes the leading and most comprehensive national forum on issues of race and ethnicity in American higher education. The conference focuses on the complex task of creating and sustaining comprehensive institutional change designed to improve racial and ethnic relations on campus and to expand opportunities for ed...

Thoughts about the Status Quo

During a long drive today, I had some time to think about the status quo, tradition, and people who justify their actions because “that’s the way it’s always been done.”

Here are some thoughts about that:

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll never achieve more than you ever have. In fact, the law of diminishing returns says that you’ll continue to succeed less and less.
People who maintain the status quo aren’t driven by satisfaction – and certainly not the satisfaction of their key stakeho...

Using Social Media to Deliver Strategic Communications

It’s common to hear phrases like “think strategically,” “strategic communications,” or “marketing strategy.” Yet, for all of our education and focus on using strategy to deliver keyinitiatives, one thing is often overlooked: delivery of that information. This seems to be especially the case with social media and how many organizations approach it. In my experience, this problem is accentuated in the world of higher education.

In colleges and universities, there is often a disconnect on how to...