Ryan McManus's Barbarian Blog

I'm a Driver, I'm a Winner.

ryan@barbariangroup.com(Ryan McManus) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:28:23 -0500

So, The L Magazine, bastion of Brooklyn culture, recently had a contest where patrons could nominate their bodegas for Best Bodega in NYC. For those of you outside the NYC area, a bodega is a corner store that carries the essentials: coffee, egg and cheese sandwiches, some dusty cans of goya, and most importantly, beer (here in NYC, you can only buy beer outside of a liquor store, you know, because it’s still the 1400s?)

So I nominated the guys at On The Corner, which not only is the closest bodega to my house, but is literally the best one I’ve been to – they’re just really interested in making it the hub of the neighborhood.

And L Magazine agreed, so they gave them the award.

And then they gave me a prize: A week’s supply (7 six-packs) of whatever beer I wanted.

We all win.

InternetOnlineWebsite.com

ryan@barbariangroup.com(Ryan McManus) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:38:29 -0500

Have you ever sat and wondered: “Just how do they make all that Internet? And how do I get me some?” Well, you are not alone. Plenty of folks have struggled with these very questions since the dawn of time, which is why The Barbarian Group has teamed up with Aquent, America’s best talent sourcing agency, to create InternetOnlineWebsite.com.

“What is InternetOnlineWebsite.com,” you may ask yourself, “besides a catchy URL?”

InternetOnlineWebsite.com is a website ABOUT websites. It’s been specially formulated to educate, enlighten, and delight those who are looking to add to their online presence and marketing initiatives.

Does this sound familiar? “I want this thing on my website, but I don’t know how to get it, or even what it’s called! THERE’S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY!”

Well, fret no more. InternetOnlineWebsite.com knows what it’s called. InternetOnlineWebsite.com is designed with the features of today’s most popular websites, and lets YOU discover more about these features, like what they’re called, why they’re awesome, and who you need to make them.

Clicking on almost anything on InternetOnlineWebsite.com will bring up Aquent’s helpful orange box, describing what the thing is for, why you need it, and who you need to hire on to accomplish it. At the bottom of the box, a direct line to those experts at Aquent, who have these people at their disposal and can get you started right away. No fuss, no muss!

But wait! There’s more!

InternetOnlineWebsite.com isn’t JUST about websites! It also addresses other helpful aspects of anyone’s successful marketing campaign, including:

Mobile Internet Online Sites!
Send to a friend E-Cards!
Sharing on all of the most popular online social places!
Flash Videos!
Direct Mail Items!
Promotional T-Shirts!

No more struggling with technical jargon. No more having to explain to your uncle what SEO is. No more Internet Anxiety Disorder. Best of all, InternetOnlineWebsite.com is 100% free, satisfaction guaranteed.

So go on! Visit InternetOnlineWebsite.com and start living the dream TODAY.

5 Years Ago

ryan@barbariangroup.com(Ryan McManus) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:07:53 -0400

“The Red Sox seemed impenetrable to me then – a locals club that I had not earned the right to be a part of. Having grown up a Mets fan, I possessed the required disdain of the Yankees, but other than that, I was an outsider. A tourist. And those who know me know there’s nothing I hate more than being a tourist.”

SVEDKA.com Bot Builder asks you to Bot Yourself

ryan@barbariangroup.com(Ryan McManus) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:04:18 -0400

Many years from now (let’s say, 2033), the world will be a much sexier place. All of this strife and conflict and spam and Twitter outages will have been resolved, replaced by a wonderful, vodka-filled nonstop party. And SVEDKA is the uncontested president of that party. And everyone who’s anyone has given up their bodies and gone Bot.

Well, you don’t have to wait. The SVEDKA Bot Builder lets you create a perfect, silicone simulacrum of your sexy self, one that is more perfect than you could ever hope to be. Your Bot won’t age, won’t rust, and certainly won’t be hailing a cab at midnight because it has a 9 am meeting.

Building on the svelte SVEDKA.com, The Barbarian Group combined like Voltron with OddCast to create the SVEDKA Bot Builder, utilizing their way-futuristic character generation to make sure the Bots were as sexy as possible.

You can upgrade your new Bot bod with all sorts of useful tools, like rollerskate feet, wings, and an arm that’s an always-full martini. You can paint it, pose it, and even add some sick lowrider flames if you’re feeling fancy.

Once you’ve got your Bot perfected, you can make it do your bidding: say marginally titillating things with a voice-synthesized e-card, show off your shiny new physique on your Facebook profile, or save out some snapshots to use as profile pics on Twitter, AIM, or Friendster.com.

So go on! Get your Bot on – the future isn’t going to wait.

AreYouBotOrNot.com

Other People's Problems

ryan@barbariangroup.com(Ryan McManus) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:15:58 -0400

Other People’s Problems: Introduction

I feel like I need to give back to y’all. I feel like I just project myself out into the void, but I never take the time to listen to YOUR feelings, YOUR problems.

SO! Other People’s Problems. You can hit me up on Twitter (tag it #OPP) or email me directly (ryan (at) barbariangroup dot com) and tell me the problem you need solved, and I will do my best to solve it for you, with words, in a timely manner, for free.

Let’s do this.