Thursday December 15, 2011
I spent a bit of the day with my father, post surgery, at Greenwich Hospital. All I can is it will be an interesting road to recovery. As I sit and listened to a Doctor talk, I am posting manipulated images to my instagram.

I assure the nurse that I am listening.., I am just a byproduct of the obsessive mobile generation.
Welcome to Pancity!
Panman Mixtape no 79 by Panman
I am hit with a wave of motivation to round out the year on a strong note. List upon list, I create my end of the year objectives. The road ahead will be filled with new adventures and challenges. Tech projects on the Horizon; the transformation of underutilized spaces; Better business operations and relationships; I know I must live my life to it’s fullest.

I need to learn to listen, follow, lead and always strive to innovate.

I want to thank everyone I have worked with in 2011. I’m happy to be bringing new excitement to the Roger Smith Hotel in 2012 operating as their Director of Digital Marketing.

Panman Productions is not dead but will be focused on very specific projects. In 2012 I look to release my documentary on earth healing. It is a project that I have been working on since 2007 and it is long over due.  I am also going to be introducing a new app and will be driving the social initiatives at the Roger Smith Hotel. You will see new pop-ups and witness the next level of collaborative efforts. There will be an increased mobile integration surrounding everything that I am apart of and mark my words, 2012 is my year to shine.

Panman mixtapes have been a great creative initiative for me over the last couple of years. They have served as a testing platform for experimental video and artistic expression.  I have created 80+ mixtapes and am embarking on new artistic collaborations with top New York artist and playwrights as a result. The efforts of live video mixing as an art form have inspired the creative collaborations with Aleks Degtyarev, Abianne Prince, John Birdsong, Lisa Paul Strietfeld,  Daniel Rothbart, Mark Wiener, James Knowles, Jasminka Baney, Melissa Gonzalez, Kate Griffler, Molly Barnes, Daniel Terstad, Fleur Keyes and others…

With new relationships being built I imagine the list of artistic collaborators will grow and become more  sophisticated.

It is also important to note the emergence of the new artistic space at 125 East 47th street and the developing program of artists collaborations in our space in 2012. The current sculpture piece by Harlan Mack stands strong in New York City’s newest Gallery installation window. I will be working with Molly Barnes as well as the Vermont studio center to fill the program for 2012. Be sure to follow the 125 window gallery tumblr for latest updates and news.

So at this point I want to thank a couple specific people with made huge difference in my year and recognize their good work. Starting with the RS pop-up shop, I tip my hat to Melissa Gonzalez and Lionesque media. Together, inspired from an idea of transforming an under utilized space Melissa has gone far and beyond my levels of expectation. She has pushed me to be much more accountable and taught me how to succeed in business in New York City. She sets the pace, and has a compass for the next developments of our industries. We have become friends, disagreed with each other routinely to eventually agree and as a result have created a unique and desirable product known as RS Pop. I look forward to continuing our growing business and personal relationship.

I also need to thank and recognize John Birdsong. At this point John has been the longest working colleague of mine in the field of production, social media and marketing. We worked together at Plum TV, then at Panman  Productions and now with the Roger Smith Hotel. We absolutely disagreed on creative decisions but find clarity when discussing strategy and the vision ahead. A project in John’s hands will always take shape and inspire different levels of conversation. I’m not going to lie, he can be a pain in the ass but he’s always reliable and has continually had my back. Thanks John for the years of continued support.

The third acknowledgment that I feel is necessary to mention is my family. From my father who is always been my number one fan and audience member, to my mother who always believes in me and Phoebe who is continually trying to help me be my best. My family is the best support team that I can imagine and I am truly lucky to have them in my corner. They are the reason for the opportunities that I have in front of me and they are continually trying to keep me on my toes. I thank Allie and Jeremy and James and Maureen for providing a brilliant next generation.

I believe in that one can accomplish their greatest desires in life and I strive to live by that expectation. With hard work, support from others, and a dedication to seeing it through, I believe we will experience our biggest achievement in the new year. So my advice is, dare to dream and believe in your own success.  I look forward to making it happen in 2012.

I appreciate the continued support. Thanks for following the tangent

Please leave a comment and let me know what you are looking forward to in 2012.
Much love,
Panman
Aka John Knowles

So I am involved with this QR code Hunt brought to you by Ford and “The International Office” as part of the Ford Focus outreach during Internet week and I wanted to keep you all in the loop as to what is happening.

You may need to catch up but I recommend that you play the game. You have to register here and take a picture of these QR codes to play the game. If you have been participating up to this point you will have been at the Metropolitan Pavilion Internet Week HQ and will have taken these pictures on location. If you collect all five QR codes you have the possibility of winning two tickets to the Webby’s and a stay at the Roger Smith Hotel on June 13, 2011. Ford will be providing transportation to the event.

Lucky for you I am willing to share my images with you so that you can participate even if you are not here for Internet week New York, or can’t make it to the Internet Week HQ each day. So sign up and make it happen!
QR Code day 1
QR Code day 2
QR Code day 3
QR Code day 4
QR Code day 5

My objective with this is to increase awareness of what Ford is doing and encourage you to participate in this social media campaign. I am one of five who are helping in this effort. Others who are participating are Damien Basil, (@DB) The Roger Smith Hotel (@RShotel), Meghan Asha (@Meghan) and Gregory Littley (@Littleylittley).  I was encouraged to be involved by the affiliation and personalities involved. Gregory Littley of “The International Office” is doing innovative things and I’m glad that he asked me to be a part of it.

Please share this around and engage in the game. I am @pancity. Be sure to follow my progress and engage in the hunt!
http://fordfocushunt.com/
http://rogersmithlife.com
http://panmanproductions.com

NEW YORK, March 28, 2011 PRNewswire

The Roger Smith Hotel is taking its creative and innovative brand to the next level with the launch of The Roger Smith Shorts, a series of six short films shot in the hotel by emerging filmmakers. The short narratives are directed by Aleks Degtyarev, Abianne Prince, John Birdsong, John Knowles, and Melissa Gonzales. The mid-town Manhattan boutique hotel is partnering with high quality video platform The FreeStyle Life in order to connect with consumers through traditional, social and mobile media. John Knowles, Director of Innovation at the Roger Smith Hotel, explains, “The quality of the viewers experience with relevant contextual marketing The FreeStyle Life provides a unique opportunity for us at the Roger Smith Hotel to further our community engagement.” The films’ online release kicks off in conjunction with the hotel’s new rewards program Roger’s Rewards.

The initiative is one that looks to give back to those who participate in the conversation. Each individual who comments on or reviews any of the six short films will receive $100 worth of Roger’s Rewards, which can be applied to a two night minimum stay in a Roger Smith Suite.  Terms and conditions apply.

The FreeStyle life provides a great compliment to the creative culture that is Roger Smith,” Knowles comments. “A platform that combines contextual marketing with groundbreaking documentaries, thought provoking films, and music videos by world-renowned artists, The FreeStyle Life is building a niche in the high end web video market.  ?CEO of The FreeStyle Life, Tommy Swanhaus, comments, “The use of film as a medium of connection through story telling along side the Roger Smith Hotel back drop makes the series a unique fit to The Free Life brand.” The Roger Smith Shorts films can be watched and voted on via The FreeStyle Life’s Tribe page (http://thefreestylelife.com/tribe.html).  The Roger Smith Shorts are Check Mate, The End, Shoe Fits, Hair Ball, Mother Teressa’s Hiatus, and the Counterpane Fairy. Enjoy the Roger Smith Shorts and be sure to share, comment and engage.

The Roger Smith Hotel and Blip TV Present a Roger Smith Round Table and World Premier of Status Kill a new web series by Jesse Cowell.

About the event
In conjunction with the Roger Smith Hotel and Blip TV will be hosting a Live Round Table Discussion in the Starlight Ballroom at the Roger Smith Hotel hosted by Jesse Cowell. Following the round table we will host a networking cocktail hour and world premier screening of Status Kill a new web series that will be released in the Fall of 2010.

When; September 1, 2010

Where;
The starlight ballroom at the Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Avenue at 47th Street
New York, NY 10017

About Status Kill
I go to my favorite social networks everyday. Every hour. I can’t stop. Follow my Twitter.  Become my Facebook friend.  Like me! This is the world we now live in. We are all stars in each other lives via sites “like” Facebook, Twitter, and many others.  We comment to impress and love to know we are heard.  You love/hate these things, and so do we.  You find the ever changing rules of communication maddening and so do we. You wish you had more time to do it (and more will power to quit it) and so do we.

http://www.statuskill.com/?page_id=2

Join us! Follow us! Become part of the conversation!

teaser #1

teaser #2 reverse pony mix

hair-ball.tumblr.com

directed, shot, cut by John Birdsong

written by Morgan-Jo Teller and John Birdsong

made by @panmanprod

Cast

Bari Hyman – Sylvia Goodman

Brett Siddell – Louis the bellman

Matt Semler – the Concierge

Mala Wright – Connie

Wayne Soares – head of HR

Fanny – as herself

coming June 2010 to @brooklynfest.

Tumblr is a popular short form blogging service; it was founded by David Karp in 2008 and has grown since then to 3 million plus “publishers”. The number one reason to use tumblr as a blogging platform is that it’s really really simple, like even my cat could use it.

Here’s what Tumblr has to say about Tumblr…

“Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from your browser, phone, desktop, email, or wherever you happen to be. You can customize everything, from colors, to your theme’s HTML.”

Get started. Register as a user. Tumblr’s registration should be a model for all. It takes thirty seconds and skips on asking your blood type and your mother’s maiden name. Easy.

Once you’ve registered you’ll want to name your Tumblelog. If you change your mind you can change the name later. Tumblr uses a dashboard setup, and if you’re familiar with wordpress you’ll either find it’s simplicity refreshing or leaving you wanting more.

Tumblr will allow you to post a picture, text, video, link, or song from your desktop or mobile. It will also syndicate that message to twitter and/or facebook. In other words it makes sharing your, or someone else’s, content really easy. The other great thing is custom themes. Tumblr allows you to choses form hundreds of custom themes to completely change the look and feel of you r tumblelog.

Following and being followed…

If someone is following you, your posts will show up in their dashboard feed similar to the news feed in facebook or twitter. This makes keeping up with what your friends are doing/saying pretty easy.
Tumblarity is tumblr speak for popularity. Tumblr is a bit of a social network as well as blogging platform, as it allows you to follow other people and vice versa. If your tumblarity goes up, it means you have more people viewing and interacting with your posts.

Sign up for tumblr, and get blogging. It’s free (and there are no ads)!!!

As an appreciation for all of the support we received in 2009, the Roger Smith Hotel will be giving away one room every day in the month of January to our online community.   We will be releasing information regarding Roger Smith Room giveaways with the twitter hashtag “#Rogersrooms” so that you will be able to track the promotion.

How does the Rogers Rooms promotion work? 

Roger Smith Rooms will be given away by members of your community. Every day at 11 am we will announce who will be giving the room away and how they plan to do it. At 4 pm, we will announce a winner and that person will be able to pick a date in the month of January to come and visit us. Based on the scheduled availability plan on staying in Suite 1102.

Participation is the name of the game!

Each day a room will be given away through an online interactive method. It could be trivia, a creative competition, or just a first initiated response. For more information regarding this promotion please engage with us on Twitter with #Rogersrooms and we will answer any questions you might have. As an added bonus, even if you are not picked for a free night, we will Direct Message all participants an exclusive promo code (only offered here) for substantial savings when booking a room in the future.

We aim to engage with you as a member of the Roger Smith Community. What better initiation, than to have you stay with us and experience the pride of Roger Smith, his rooms. 

We look forward to having you as our guest.  Thanks for the support.

See you soon. 

Roger Smith.

 

Redwing Interview Series with Director of Product Development Dave Hill and Director of Sales (North America) Steve Spencer.

On November 11, 2009 from 6-7 Red Wing Shoes hosted a blogger event that introduced fashion and digital media to the Lifestyle Collection.  This signature event will be the first of its kind, providing select bloggers a first-hand opportunity to view the Fall/Winter 2009 collection.  A key aspect of the event is an introduction to the brand’s iconic “Americana” heritage. Guests will gain additional insight on how Red Wing Shoes are made and experience a“how to distress” tutorial with leather expert Michael Napoli.  Red Wing’s director of product development, Dave Hill as well as their director of sales (North America), Steve Spencer will be on hand to discuss Red Wing’s tannery and factory, the World’s Biggest Boot and touch upon how Red Wing has evolved as a company since the brand’s inception in 1905.

For more information visit http://www.redwingshoes.com/.

It has been almost one full year since Phase II of Roger Smith Hotels’ on-line presence began. I say Phase II because Phase I started about three years ago with Roger Smith News, a video based website used to broadcast and share the inner community that makes Roger Smith special. Now that this type of communication has a name, social media, we find ourselves right in the middle of the movement.  As we look back over the last few months it is obvious how important all of our new friends and relationships have been in shaping our future. 

For the many of you who already know us and embrace our culture, there is a clear understanding that our satisfaction is in knowing you! We are in the people business ~ Roger Smith is not a person – Roger Smith is a community – we look to expand community everyday with new connections, new clients and most importantly new friends. 

In the new social internet it is important to engage in the discussion of social media in such a way that we can help others build and share information. We are excited to engage with people in the dialog and embrace the opportunity to interact face to face. 

We are excited to be part of the Social Internet and hope to learn more about others who have similar experiences. Please feel free to reach out through any of our social media platforms.  Thanks to everyone who has helped build the Roger Smith Community. Please Share, Comment and Engage!

In the links below you will find great blog posts, editorial articles and even a couple of thoughtful videos published by our guests ( who we like to call friends ). Enjoy. 

Some other interesting articles mentioning Social Media and the Roger Smith Hotel;

Twenty-One Top Twitter Tips

Life imitates Twitter at a hotel in midtown Manhattan (ragan.com subscription only)

Q&A: The marketing duo behind New York’s social media hotel

Secrets to Writing a Social Media Policy that Actually Means Something