Why a Facebook Fan page? 5 priceless reasons to get on board.

“Why do we need a Facebook fan page?”, “Everyone knows who we are, why would we need a fan page?”, “I am not a personal fan of Facebook, why would I set up a fan page?”

These were question that were recently asked while we were at a marketing conference just recently. Not only the small businesses owner, but large organizations are still not really sure of the true value in having a a Facebook fan page. A Facebook fan page is not just about the number of “Likes” you get on a fan page. It is much more than that.

Take a peek at these facts and figures from Facebook;

1. Monthly active users now total 901 million (up from 680 million a year ago)
2. One in 7.7 people in the world have a Facebook account.
3. Daily active users are up to 526 million (up from 372 million last year)
4. Monthly mobile users now total 488 million
5. Eighty-three million monthly active users accessed Facebook solely from mobile in the month ending March 31, 2012
6. 300 million photos are uploaded to the site each day
7. 3.2 billion Likes and Comments are posted daily

If 1 in 7 people in the world have a Facebook account, I guarantee that your clients, fans and your competitors are hanging out on Facebook. So, if your audience/cients/fans are there, it would only make sense for you to go there as well, wouldn’t you agree?

These are the 5 {priceless} reasons why I believe it is vital for you to have a Facebook fan page for your business:

#1 – Higher Conversions
#2 – The “trust” factor
#3 – Credibility
#4 – Support and Feedback
#5 – Bring awareness to new products and upcoming events

The Facebook fan page is set up with analytics so that you can track how many people your posts reach, how your page ranks on Facebook and how many people your posts will engage with comments and likes. This is a great tool for providing customer service and to get feedback from your customers.

The new Facebook Timeline has covers and tabs which allows you to customize as often as you like. Here is a great example of a cover that CEA created for Neal Communities:

This is another great cover that CEA created for the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl;

Remember, you can get as creative as you like with your covers and tabs. You can have contests, promote upcoming events or introduce new products. This is a great opportunity for branding as well as building credibility with your customers. Now that I have you excited about setting up your fan page, CEA will create a free cover for you ( a $300 value) to get you started! Even if you are already using the Facebook timeline, all you have to do is mention this blog post to receive your free cover.

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It’s All About The Fans-TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl

The 2012, TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl will forever be remembered for one play, a 99 yard Florida kickoff return by wide receiver Andre Debose, the longest scoring play in college bowl game history. The play was seen by the over 60,000 fans in attendance who poured into the stadium hoping to witness their team make history. The fans knew little about the extensive preparations that had taken place to provide them with their game day entertainment, including a successful social media campaign launched by CEA Marketing Group.

The first half of the campaign begun in early September with the announcement of the “TaxSlayer Player” campaign, allowing fans from the Big Ten and SEC Conferences to share their game day experiences in hopes of winning weekly prizes. The second half of the campaign got underway when the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl teams were announced. Titled “TaxSlayer Player Road to the Bowl”, it gave fans a chance to display their true colors by submitting photos and videos for a chance to win the ultimate bowl experience. The campaigns generated over 100 submissions and nearly 3500 votes were cast, resulting in high volumes of traffic for both TaxSlayer.com and the Gator Bowl Facebook fan pages. Each fan page saw close to a 20% jump in Facebook “Likes”, while the Gator Bowl’s “Talking About This” statistic rose a startling 596%. Other campaigns launched included a YouTube Channel and “Patches Picks”, which pitted fans against the mascot Patch to predict the winners of weekly games. Over the duration of the campaign TaxSlayer.com received over 6800 new visitors to their site, with the largest majority, 35%, coming from Facebook referrals.

CEA Marketing Group has proven time and time again that they are on the forefront of innovative social media campaigns. They provide measurable results, which can be seen and felt on the bottom line. Their services foster a well-balanced, cost efficient campaign; leading to positive experiences for their clients and community. Their ability to implement various social media outlets provides clients with a means to generate immense exposure for their company or event.

Highlights:

596% increase in Facebook “Talking About This”

148% increase in Facebook Weekly Total Reach.

18.7% increase in TaxSlayer.com Facebook “Likes”

15% increase in Twitter followers for The Gator Bowl

6,800+ new visitors to TaxSlayer.com

Game Day!

 

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Fans Love Social Media-St. Petersburg Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl

The fourth annual St. Petersburg Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl kicked off on Tuesday, December 20th 2011. The much anticipated bowl game featured two well deserving teams, Marshall representing Conference USA and Florida International University representing the Sun Belt Conference. The anticipation grew as the game approached as a result of a successful social media marketing campaign launched by CEA Marketing Group. The success of the campaign was driven by an array of social media sources, including Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare, as well as promotional events such as a “Talent Tryouts Contest” and a “Fan of the Game Contest”. Through the use of social media CEA Marketing was once again able to showcase the effectiveness that social media can have on a business’s profitability.

Through effective Facebook utilization CEA Marketing was able to employ attractive incentives to draw attention to the game. As a result of their “Predict and Win”contest CEA was able to generate 968 visits to the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl Facebook page, resulting in 305 “likes” and producing a 33% chance that a “click” would spawn into a “like”. CEA drew yet more attention to the Facebook page by launching a promotion to give away $10,000 to a lucky fan if the opening kickoff of the game were to be returned for a touchdown. In order to qualify for the promo the fans were required “like” the Facebook page of thegame. With the success of these contests CEA Marketing was able to increase the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl Facebook fan base by 42%. By promoting events through Twitter and using Foursquare “Check in” offers CEA was able to increase Twitter followers by 25%, resulting in nearly 900 retweets and over 1,400 mentions. Finally through the use of an on-site promotional tent CEA showcased their ability to tie a campaign together by offering fans a place to meet up, take pictures and share their game day experiences with the world.

Successful social media campaigns, like the one executed by CEA Marketing, allow businesses and organizations to achieve reach and generate attention once only dreamed of through traditional marketing methods. With the number of college football bowl games seemingly growing each year it is important to realize the advertising needs of the sponsors, the teams and most importantly the community. Throughout their campaign CEA Marketing never wavered from their responsibility to provide an outstanding experience for all involved and showed that with the right company a social media campaign can be an invaluable asset.

Highlights:

14-week campaign spanning across 3 social media outlets.

Over 3 Million Facebook impressions resulting in a 42% fan base increase and a total Facebook fan base of 5,492.

47% increase in Twitter’s True Reach resulting in a grand total of 2,944 followers (average of 6 new per day)

4 different fan contests promoted through social media outlets with nearly 100k votes cast

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New Facebook Profile App – Hurry, it’s Launching!

Back in September during the Facebook F8 Developers Conference, Facebook announced their most significant changes to the Facebook Platform since its launch in 2007. Once of the most talked about is the ‘re-invention’ of the Facebook Profile through the use of TIMELINE.

Broken down, Facebook Timeline will essentially tell the story of you (yes, you ala your Profile)  in roughly three parts – Stories, Apps and an inventive way to allow you to express who you are. The layout will have stories appearing at the bottom of the page. In the middle, there will be tiles to display all of the Apps and the things you have done with them. The neatest thing is the ‘Timeline’; displaying years so you can literally go back in time.

Although currently available in beta stage, developers (apps developers) can try it out! Not a developer? Become one – it’s quite simple. Below are some guidelines to get started:

1. Visit FACEBOOK to start the developer access process.
2. Click ‘Create a New App’ and name it whatever you want. Of course, you’ll have to agree to the Platform Privacy Policy. Then click on ‘continue’ – you will then have to submit a CAPTCHA.
3. Go to your app’s main settings screen and find ‘Open Graph’ on the left hand side. Once there, you’ll be directed to ‘Getting Started Using Open Graph.’
4. Test It Out! Follow along the test route and type in any VERB in the first box and then any NOUN in the second; then click ‘Get Started.’
5. You’ll almost there! You’ll be taken to a new page where you should change your default settings. Of course, there will be a few pages of settings to swim through.
6. Visit the Facebook Home Page; and there should appear an option to tryout the new Timeline on your home page.

Just a note that until this is live (rumors have it that October 9th will be the day); only other developers will be able to see your new timeline.

Here are my ‘Before’ and ‘After’ photos so you can see the difference!

 

BEFORE – OLD PLATFORM

 

AFTER – NEW PLATFORM

WOW!  Huge difference, don’t you agree! Needless to say, now is the time to play with it before your profile changes on you overnight without knowing it.  Heaven knows we’ve seen quite a few changes lately from Facebook; so at least you know have a heads up on this one!

Be sure and share your new profile photos when you’re finished!  Would love to see how it turns out!

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Hi-Res, Low-Res, PDFs, EPS’…what’s it all mean?

So your agency ask you for some files so they can get started on your next project, but you’ve got no clue what they are talking about? EPS, PDF, TIF, JPG, GIF, what’s all this garbage mean? No sweat, we’ll just take a couple of minutes and give you a brief description on each and how they fit in to projects you’ll be doing.
First off you’ll need to know the difference between a vector file and a raster image. Vector files are created by lines and dots, also known as curves. They are smooth images and because of the way they are built by lines and dots, can be resized to nearly any dimension needed. These files are usually logos and illustrations. Vector images are built of pixels of color and create that lovely photo you took with your digital camera or that photo you scanned of your brother naked in the sink when he was 2. Vector files have a limit they can be blown up by the amount of pixels they are created with. The more pixels, the larger the file is and the higher the quality.
Another thing to know is image quality. What’s the difference between low-res and hi-res? About 228 DPI, or Dots Per Inch. DPI is used for printing purposes and should be at least 300 DPI. Web images are only 72 DPI and are usually only around 400-800 pixels wide. A hi-res image would typically be over 2,500 pixels wide. Now, if the image you have is 72 DPI, can you just change it to 300 DPI? Generally no, but it depends on how many pixels there are. If you want to change the DPI setting in a program like Photoshop, you have to make sure when you change the DPI that it DOES NOT change the pixel size. If it does, your image will still come out grainy and pixelized as photoshop just enlarges each pixel to make it the new size. If you want to know more on resizing an image, just shoot me an email.
EPS: Most generally used for vector art. This is the form you should have your logo in. If not, make sure you get one from the company or person that created it. Most PC users can not open an eps file unless you have Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, or Corel Draw (hopefully you don’t have Corel). This files are ideal for large signs,  your stationary, and embroidery among other things.
JPG: Most people already know of this format. Generally used for photos placed on the web, but is also used to save a photo as small as possible during storage. JPGs use very little hard drive space, depending on the pixel size of the photo. This does cause one issue, every time you use that photo, it actually loses a bit of quality. In most cases though, the vast majority of people would never notice.
TIF: This is usually a high-quality photo. You want to use this format when the highest of quality is of most importance. If you know you plan on using a photo for a high-end brochure or large print in your office, a TIF is the best way to save the file and keep it as it’s finest quality.
GIF: This is a low-res web image. These files should never be used in any print advertising, WEB ONLY. The gif format is a very high compression image to keep the file size as small as possible so page loading is as quick as possible.
PDF: If you are dealing with an agency or freelancer already I’m sure you are familiar with these, but what all can they do? PDFs are great for sending hi-res files to print, for posting a lo-res file for people do download from a website or email (say an ad you’d like to share, directions, a map, or some kind of list), for viewing proofs, or making images files small enough to send via email (but not for printing). PDFs are difficult to edit. There are some programs out there that can do it, but most either cost too much or are difficult to edit. Illustrator is a great program to edit PDFs, but is difficult and time consuming. You should also know it greatly increases the file size of the PDF. If you have a file you’d like to be edited, the native file and the artwork that goes with it is always the preferred method to send to an agency or freelance. You’ll incur a lot more fees just sending a PDF vs the native files.
These are just some of the basic files times you’ll see dealing with your agency or freelancer…although hopefully you’ll be dealing with CEA Marketing. Knowing a little more about the file types you’ll be dealing with will help you deal with your agency better and can help cut down costs and production time by delivering the correct file to your agency the first time. If you have questions about file types, don’t hesitate to ask. We are alway here to help.

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Get your Facebook Page Up to Snuff Before Facebook Changes…Again

CEA Marketing Group is a full-service advertising agency specializing in social media. We work with small to large businesses to help them create effective design, content, promotional and engagement strategies for social media.

One of those things about social media is that it is always changing, Facebook especially.

By the end of 2010, the pretty examples CEA created below will be more difficult to create. Tabs will still exist, but coding will take a lot more time, whereas now, it’s relatively simple, keeping costs low. The good news is that current pages like, CEA’s clients, will remain up after Q4 of 2010 according to the Official Facebook Blog below published on August 19.

So, if you were thinking about getting your Facebook pages up to snuff, now is the time to do it, before Facebook enacts these changes! Official Facebook Blog regarding FBML Page updates

Facebook FBML pages, as they exist today, start at around $400.00 with CEA Marketing Group. Call us for a same-day quote. 727-523-8044 and ask for Jennifer or Contact Us.

You have 4 months before these changes are enacted. Upgrade your Facebook today and put your best face…book forward! (LOL, I laugh at my cheesiness.)

EXAMPLES

GTE Federal Credit Union – http://facebook.com/gtefederalcreditunion

GTE Federal Credit Union U22 Account – http://facebook.com/myu22

TradeWinds Island Resorts – http://facebook.com/tradewindsislandresorts

Gator Bowl – http://facebook.com/gatorbowl

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl – http://facebook.com/stpetebowl

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Six Years: A Look at the Birth, Growth & Global Social Dominance of Facebook

What started as a Harvard-only networking site has taken the globe by storm in just six short years. It is within this time frame that Facebook, along with all social media, has revolutionized how people use the internet and communicate with others.

Today’s social media enables people to communicate and share information more efficiently. It’s no wonder why celebrities, causes and major brands have taken to social media to reach a global audience.

Case in point, recent statistics report there are over 400 million users on Facebook worldwide spending an average of 55 minutes on the site each day. The site translates into 70 languages to serve the 70% of Facebook users who reside in countries outside of the United States.

What is the impact of 400,000,000 active users in an average week?

  • 5 billion pieces of content are shared (which include blog posts, web links, photos, news stories and video)
  • 700,000 events are promoted
  • 140,000,000 people become fans of Pages

As the statistics show without a doubt, Facebook users can be valuable ambassadors for a business, celebrity, cause, artist or brand.

One may wonder if Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg envisioned internet dominance of this size and scope. Perhaps not, but Facebook is here to stay with others nipping at the heels of social media’s revolution.

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Why DIY Social Media Doesn’t Make Sense

The temptation is definitely there…

Social Media is FREE right? Anyone with a computer can set-up an account and start writing stuff. “I could hire my teenage daughter or an intern to put stuff on Facebook for me! Heck, they’re on Facebook constantly – they know how to use these tools!”

It sounds enticing, but when you really dig into what Social Media  is all about, a do-it-yourself approach just doesn’t make sense:

  • Time - this is the one thing I hear most of all. “Well, I just don’t have time to stay on top of all this.” It’s true. Social Media is a time-suck. Creating a page and then leaving it to rot won’t do you much good. Moreover, if you are on Social Media, your fans and potential fans expect some activity. If they write you, and ask a questions or worse, post something negative, like a complaint, if it just sits there with no response…that’s when being in Social Media can actually be worse than not having a presence at all.
  • Let’s move beyond Time – Let’s think about this whole interactivity thing. Sounds great right? The opportunity to have a dialogue, for the brand to really engage with customers. The interactivity part should be a primary reason to hire a professional. Clients come to CEA Marketing Group all the time to create an ad for example in a magazine. It’s a one-time placement; there’ s no potential for a conversation. You have total control over messaging and visuals- it’s static. It’s not “alive”. Ads cost maybe $500+, on the economic rate schedule – take 1-2 weeks to create, on a shortened turnaround. Let’s be honest – why would you agree to hiring a professional for an ad placement, but not to handle something as organic, 2-way, and impactful as Social Media?
  • Permanence – when you create accounts, there is a ton of stuff that you can never change, for example your Twitter name or handle. Don’t just set-up an account or page on a whim. It requires thoughtful planning.
  • Change – Facebook is changing every week. No joke. The last thing you want to do is allocate money into a campaign that can get you kicked off Facebook. It happens. And Facebook doesn’t have customer service; so if your page is removed; it’s gone. You have to be able to keep up with the updates. Not to mention, be on a regular regiment of Social Media education – seminars, conferences, webinars! There’s always something to learn.  Much easier said than done.
  • According to Mari Smith – she is amazing, and I absolutely agree with her – there are 4 strategies you have to consider: 1) Design 2) Content 3) Engagement 4) Promotional. It’s like any other campaign you ever hire an agency to creatively and strategically implement, except 10x more moving parts.
  • Brand – more than any other type of marketing tool ever, you have the ability to build your brand in Social Media. You also can hurt your brand tremendously. Do you really want your lil sister or an 18 year old intern being the communicator for your brand? Probably not.
  • Policies – companies need to establish internal policies and Social Media protocol. Agencies, like CEA Marketing Group, help clients develop those standards. It’s a critical part of the puzzle – for how to handle employees to how to handle negative feedback. We don’t pretend to be lawyers, but to have guidelines established is a must-do for small and large companies.
  • Viral – everyone wants to go viral right? Well, it’s a double-edged sword. A viral campaign can be great if its positive and controlled, but can do a lot of damage if ignored or not handled properly. As a general rule – what goes on the internet, stays on the internet.

So yes, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, FourSquare etc. – all “FREE” tools. But, FREE doesn’t mean that DIY is the way to go.

Social Media is a marketing staple and will only become more influential and prevalent in the future. Remember – it’s a two-way tool. The dialogue is it’s greatest selling point. But, in order to have a dialogue you have to be prepared, professional, and available – you have to have a plan. My advice…don’t underestimate the power of Social Media. Before you get started, look into hiring a company and be reasonable – you invest in an ad; you should invest in 2-way campaigns – building a network – Social Media.

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In a Social World – Why Databases are more important than ever!

CEA Marketing Group recently attended the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association 2010 Restaurant Marketing Summit at the Renaissance Vinoy in St. Petersburg. (Love Love Love this Hotel!)

The focus was of course on restaurant marketing – independents, franchises and joint venture restaurants. One of the main themes that resonated with me was the importance of building a database TODAY!

Databases have been around forever. Obviously, they make a lot of sense – collect a list of people that want to hear from you…then keep in touch with them. The three databases that were discussed primarily:

1. E-mail – I know a lot has been done with E-mail, and most people kind of have that “So over it” attitude. SPAMMERS have unfortunately made E-mail marketing sort of a negative thing; however, a well-managed, opt-in database and campaign – not a random purchased list – still can be an amazingly effective and low-cost form of communication.

2. Mobile – I loved what I learned about mobile. Did you know that a text message is typically read within 4 minutes of receiving it – and some statistics put the read rate at almost 98%. So – 98% of text messages get read! That’s crazy!!!!!

3. Social Media – This isn’t typically referred to as a “database” per say; however, a social media network really serves the same purpose. People that have “opted-in” by liking you, following you, connecting with you. Most will agree that Social Media doesn’t equate to much without an active network of connections.

The main point to all this is that there is going to be a ton of opportunities in the future. Smart phones. Applications. Facebook taking over the world. E-mail will still be a great way to cross-promote and will be more accessible/mobile. IF YOU DON’T HAVE A DATABASE OR NETWORK ESTABLISHED, YOU’RE GOING TO BE WAYYYY BEHIND.

Things to consider:

  1. Have a backed-up system in place for managing your database before you start trying to build one – be organized about it – make sure you know how to access your database, how to export it, and if you choose to use a service or a management provider, make sure you know if you own your database.
  2. Go for quality over quantity – the more clear you make your opt-in message, I think, the better – that way there are no surprises – let them know the frequency and content they will be receiving and stick to the plan.
  3. Don’t start off with a bang and then fizzle out – stay consistent, and really think through your messaging – marketers spend months primping and perfecting one ad placement, then turn and burn their E-mail, Text or Social Media content – really take the time to think through it, put it on a schedule, and don’t let your list go stale.
  4. Include offers that are timely, relevant and deadline-oriented and use them to build your database.
  5. Track! – All of these forms of advertising are track-able, so make sure to really dig in. E-mail and text especially don’t require mega-dollars and complicated systems to discern numbers and review important trends – I do it on a weekly basis typically.
  6. Everything works together. Your E-mail can advertise your Facebook. Your Facebook can promote your Blog and Twitter. Your SMS can drive sales etc. Cross-platform promotion is huge!!!!
  7. Lastly, if you don’t have time to set-up and manage database campaigns properly, hire a professional :) Cheap yet ineffective doesn’t really do you any good. It’s just a waste of money.

So, although databases are not a new thing, they are more important than ever!

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Kelly 9-1-1 My Experience on a Ride Along with Pinellas County’s Finest

What one thing do we fear the most when we are driving around in our cars? Perhaps we’re going a little too fast, we look in the rear-view mirror and see those dreaded flashing lights and siren – BUSTED! You wonder “Why me? Why did they have to pick on me?”

I personally never had a clue as to what is entailed in a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy shift until I had the honor to ride with one of them as part of my Leadership Pinellas class requirements. Hey, at least I wasn’t in the BACK seat! The cool part was being in the front seat during a full eight hour shift. In that short period of time, I learned a few things I thought I would share with “John Q. Public.”

Did you know that all of the Deputies have computers in their cars? If you see one behind, you better hope that your tag and license are current because more than likely they are running your tag! They don’t do this to try and capture you – they do this to look for people that might have a warrant out for their arrest. By doing this they might find someone who steals cars, has had several DUI’s or perhaps a sex offender that has a warrant out for their arrest. This new technology is extremely cool and it was designed to keep us safe. Besides, who wants a sloppy drunk on the road or a creep that might be driving around looking for vulnerable children?

Crazy people are everywhere! During the course of the night we got all sorts of wild calls. A few that we went on had to do with domestic violence. Deputies don’t show up to cause problems – they are there to help calm down the situation. With a Deputy present, people tend to calm down and not be so violent and crazy. My ride along buddy was very calm, cool and collected, very understand and spoke with a strong voice of authority. He knew how to handle all of the different types of weird calls with ease. It made me feel good to see him work; plus it made me feel safe to know that he was there to protect me. I was walking up with him on all these calls and was able to witness the reactions and the way he dealt with every situation. There wasn’t a single time when I didn’t feel safe. I felt sorry for most of the people that we had to pay a visit to because they all seemed far removed from reality. It was sad to see so many messed up people and situations. It’s nice to know that we have someone to watch over these messed up individual’s otherwise who knows what might happen. They truly make the world a safer place.

The last part of the night was the most action we had all night! While searching for a trouble-making minor, we happened to see a car that had just pulled up to a convenience store who just happened to have busted out taillights and tags that expired back in 2008. The Deputy noticed this right away. To me this was amazing as it was a very dark area – they really know what to look for. After running his license, we found out that this person had several DUI’s, traffic violations and his license had been revoked years ago. The officer handcuffed him and put him in the back seat of the car. At this point, he started searching the suspects car. He found a small container that had small white pills in them. We continued to search and found another container that had crushed white stuff in it. Deputies’ cars have drug kits in them, so they can test the chemicals to see what kind of drug they are. After running the tests we found out that the pills were Oxycontin and the crushed up white stuff was crack cocaine. At this point a car pulled up and out came a woman on crutches (that seemed to be in a lot of pain) plus her two children. The woman had just gotten out of the hospital and it turns out that the guy we were arresting was supposed to be home taking care of her. It was really sad. The children should have never witnessed that. Turns out they only lived around the corner so if the guy was smart he would have walked to the store for his cigarettes and beer. Again, the Deputy handled the situation with ease. He asked the woman and her children to go home, which they did, and He called in for back up. Within minutes another cruiser pulled up to help. They worked together as a team to continue with the vehicle search and eventual arrest. While we were waiting for the paddy wagon, the Deputy had to type in his report. There were so many counts it took him awhile to do this. He explained the entire process to me as he typed. In the mean time, the arrested individual in the back was pleading for his release as he told us his sad story over and over again, stating he would never do it again if only he was released this one time. Deputy’s hear sad stories all of the time and they need to stay calm and do the right thing. Putting the bad guy away can save a person’s life. This guy had a history of DUI’s, was driving a car that was not registered to him with expired tags, driving with an open container and he had illegal drugs with him. Who knows what might have happened if the Deputy did not pull him over. A busy neighborhood was right across the street with cars and people walking about. By taking this guy away he might have saved a life.

This experience taught me to really appreciate what the Deputy’s job entails and how hard their job is. Without them, our world would not be safe and full of violence. It makes me proud to know that there are some people that are willing to fight crime and deal with all of the emotions that come along with it. I have a new respect for our Sheriff’s department. The next time you see one, wave at them and say thank you. After all, they’re here for your protection and to help make this world a safer place to live in. This ride along was one of the coolest things that I have ever experienced. Now instead of fearing the Sheriff and thinking they are the bad guys, I have a new and trusted respect for them. Thank you, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office!

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