Okay, it’s official. VOTING HAS BEGUN in the Samsung Mobile Explorers Competition here in Vancouver during the Olympic Winter Games.  Our first challenge was to get the message out about Hannah Teter’s charity, Hannah’s Gold.  How would we do this?  Well, with tiny shots of the Hannah’s Gold Syrup from VT. that she sells on the site!  This challenge was tough.  We wanted to think of something creative and true to the Team Cool Kids spirit and humor while keeping the message intact and professional.  I think we nailed it.  As did the other teams.  The only way we’ll know is if you go to http://Facebook.com/SamsungUSA and vote (I have a preference for Team Cool Kids).  In the meantime, challenge #2 is under way. We have to create an original song for Valentines Day about Samsung. This is gonna be good…Stay tuned for that!

Ethan & Lindsay at the Inukshuk!

Here we sit in the heart of Vancouver.  We’ve found a small cafe with delicious soup and espresso to keep us chugging along.  The day isn’t even halfway through, and already we’ve been thrown into a wirlwind of experiences that words cannot do justice.

We woke up early once again after hitting the hay at the wee hours of the morning.  After spending the night editing, blogging and posting photos following an evening spent on the karaoke stage.  Upon finishing breakfast we met up with our fellow Samsung Mobile Explorers, all bleary eyed from the night before and received our first challenge.

This first challenge is going to span two days, and started at the OR@S (Olympic Rendezvous @ Samsung in David Lam Park) where we were interviewed by media outlets and were lucky enough to meet the lovely Olympic Gold Medalist, Samsung Olympic ambassador and  philanthropist, Hannah Teter.  She was absolutely lovely, and we so wish we would have had more time with her, but c’est la vie, she is a very popular lady these days.  Our challenge revolves around her and her charity Hannah’s Gold (www.HannahsGold.com), and we can only hope we can do both aspects justice.  We’re certainly going to try our very hardest.  Believe me, we definitely have some tricks up our collective sleeves.  Be sure to hit http://Facebook.com/SamsungUSA at 9:00 PM PST tomorrow (February 13, 2010) to check out Team Cool Kids finished video and vote!

Just a couple of Knuckleheads!

For now, the day will chug along now that we’ve filled our very needy bellies.  We will continue to explore all that Vancouver and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games have to offer including the opportunity to watch the opening ceremonies at the USA Olympic house.  Revelry and good times are sure to be had there before returning to the hotel for more hard work.

We also just saw the news from this morning regarding the Olympic Luger from the country of Georgia. Our hearts go out to his fellow teammates, family and country.  It certainly is a dark cloud on the opening day of such a wonderful global event.  We can only hope that this tragic event can bring our world nations closer together in unity. May he rest in peace.

We’re running on little to no sleep, but we hardly notice.  There is so much excitement and amazing opportunities everywhere here in Vancouver.  For now, we hardly have the time to bat an eyelash with so much to do, but we look forward to finally getting the chance to get some sleep…..in March.  Team Cool Kids FTW!

Team Cool Kids FTW!

So we can finally announce it:  Samsung has chosen Team Cool Kids to compete in their Mobile Explorers competition up in Vancouver, Canada during the 2010 Winter Olympics!  My partner, Lindsay Harbert, and I are STOKED to have been chosen as a finalist but our work is not yet complete. We need your help. Here is the video that got us into the competition:

The competition pits Team Cool Kids up against 4 other highly qualified teams in a series of Olympic challenges involving video making, blogging, twittering, and social networking.  The challenges have yet to be announced, but you can count on them being fun!  IT’S THE OLYMPICS!  Now what are we competing for? Well, $24k, a bunch of Samsung schwag, and the potential to do more Mobile Exploring with Samsung (wait, A JOB!? YES PLEASE!).

How do we win? Another good question.  We will be graded on the following criteria: best balance of communication skills, creativity, originality, personality and social media networking capabilities in addition to audience votes and views.  This is where you come in.  We will be posting videos and promoting them while we’re up there for the competition.  We hope that you can help us by checking out these videos as they come up, vote for us, and help us come home with the big grand prize!

The best way to stay up to date with us while we’re there is to follow us on twitter, facebook, youtube, and on the Samsung USA website.

• Twitters: @teamcoolkids, @ethannewberry, @lindsayharbert, @samsungtweets
• Facebooks: Ethan’s FB, Lindsay’s FB, Samsung’s FB
• Youtube: Ethan’s YouTube, Samsung’s YouTube
• Websites: EthanNewberry.com (you’re already here), Samsung.com/MobileExplorers

I’ve also attached the Samsung Official Press Release HERE.  If you know anyone in the press, blogs, or any other way we can help spread the word about Team Cool Kids in this competition, we would be much appreciative.  Here is the second video we made prepping for the competition:

So again, thank you so much for helping us get this far.  We have the best fans in the world.  Just a little more to go and let’s win this sucker!  Stay tuned for more information!

Well, the video above about sums it up. I hate Christmas in LA.  As a result, I wrote and produced this song (with some audio help from my good friend, Blake Lewis).  I am giving you the video above (which debuted on THIS episode of The Real Cool Club) and the mp3 below.

I am not asking for money for the song, but a lil tip to The Real Cool Club’s “Canon 7D Fund” doesn’t hurt.  Our goal is to raise $2000 to buy ourselves a Canon 7D so we can film sketches and bits for the show.  We are at $1100 right now and so close to meeting our goal!  Just click HERE to drop us ANY amount you like – big or small.

Thanks and enjoy the music! Also, spread some of the joy to your friends. Everyone loves a good Christmas jingle, even if it’s about the crap-stain city, Los Angeles.  BONUS: I also included the Frosty Jingle Jam for your listening pleasure.

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Download MP3

BONUS TRACK:

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Download MP3

The 24 Hour Streamathon crew w/ Jeff Castelaz

I will remember today for a very long time.  For the last 24 hours TheStream.tv has joined with Pablove.org to raise money to improve the lives of children with cancer, as well as their families.  It’s a fantastic organization that does amazing things and we were honored to help in raising the funds.  We set out with a $5,000 goal in mind.  This would average just over $200/hr.  It seemed like a lofty goal and we like it that way.  It gave us something to shoot for.  Well guess what, after 24 hours of live streaming that featured most of the hosts from programming on TheStream.tv , celebrity drop-ins (Kevin Pereira, G4tv, and more), constant stationary bike riding by a number of individuals the entire stream, pancake throwing, tandem bike riding, a monster pizza eating robot, and more, WE DID IT. We achieved our goal, AND THEN SOME. We raised over $7,300!  This is absolutely crazy and is all testament to our loyal fans reaching deep into their pockets to help a great cause.  I am seriously humbled by the generosity that the human spirit can achieve.

Having directly been affected by cancer with my father, I know some of the effects it can have on a family.  It’s a horrible illness that when affecting a child can really take it’s toll.  Pablove.org is such an amazing foundation and I encourage you to all look into helping them out in any way you can.  Pablo Castelaz was a boy that died from a 98% curable cancer. His father Jeff started the foundation and has since been biking across the country spreading the message and joining forces with the likes of Lance Armstrong (a personal hero of mine) and the LiveStrong organization.  I am honored to have been able to help with the streamathon, and will do anything in my power to help Pablove in the future.

Myself and Jeff Castelaz riding hard through the desert

Those of you who know me or have been following me for awhile, know that I ran The Seattle Rock N Roll marathon back in June, 2009 – the same month Pablo passed.  A few weeks before my marathon I asked myself why I was running 26.2 miles.  Was it for myself or perhaps there was a greater good.  Around that same time, I went to Disneyland with a friend and my life shifted. Walking amongst thousands of happy children running and screaming through the the paths of Disney, a small boy stood out.  He was in a stroller with a mask over his mouth and a respirator at his side.  His head was bald and he was not looking well.  Nothing like this image to make a grown man stop dead in his tracks.  Now I didn’t know this boy, but at that moment, something shifted inside of me. I did what I could with my video blogs leading up to the marathon to raise awareness with cancer in children because I was going to run this race for that small boy, who I never knew.  Now that I know Pablove exists and the father of a boy who’s passed from cancer is doing anything he can to stay strong and proving we can all help, I will do anything in my power to help them spread their message.

Again, I thank every single one of you who donated to Pablove.org over the course of our 24 streamathon.  I thank all of you who could not donate but sat up the entire time, watching and participating as best you could.  I thank all of you who spread the word on your twitters, facebooks, etc.  I thank all of you for helping us reach and greatly surpass our goal.  And I thank Pablove.org for helping the lives of the families of children who are constantly battling with a disease they do not deserve to suffer from.  Thank you.