Cart before the horse or horse before the cart?

My team at bakersfield.com launched a new site this week called BakoDeals that features coupons from local businesses. As a website, it's not breaking any new ground in the world of local coupons. But what's different is the site is an offshoot of an @BakoDeals Twitter feed I launched months ago as an experiment in local advertising.

The @BakoDeals Twitter feedI launched the feed initially to experiment with a potential new form of ad delivery and soon began promoting local deals of all kinds, whether they were paid ads in The Californian or Bakersfield.com, or from competitors or elsewhere in the community.

Feeble attempts at advertising -- embedded "house ad" sponsorships, a bungled effort to sell a paid Twitter ad -- went nowhere. What did gain traction was our promotion of local deals, regardless of source. Our only guidelines were that the deals be genuinely valuable and of interest to more than a few people.

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Giving the Jam some props

Updated on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 9:18 AM by Logan Molen

OK, a few days ago, I pretty much slammed the Bakersfield Jam for what I thought were some goofy decisions in asking its season-ticket holders and the media to help it select a new head coach.

Still a bad idea.

But, Jam owner Stan Ellis also has unveiled a very innovative plan to make the NBA D League team profitable out of the gate this upcoming season, its first in a privately funded two-story basketball center out in north Bakersfield.

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What are they thinking?

The Bakersfield Jam are outdoing even themselves with their latest stunt: let season ticket holders and media vote for the team's next coach.

Ugh.

This is a horrible idea on so many levels.

First, you're assuming your fans care enough to do hardcore research needed to make the right decision. They won't. Just check out any sports team's message boards. Nearly all of the active participants are clueless.

Second, the media should be impartial in covering the team. If they're helping to choose the coach, that line between fan and impartial observer disappears.

Third, this smacks of desperation. For a team that is trying a unique approach to making a final go of it in Bakersfield, why send the message that you don't know what you're doing when it comes to such a core decision?

My prediction: This will be, again, the Jam's last season in Bakersfield. I've always wondered how Stan Ellis could so freely bleed millions to run a team that has so little support here. The guy obviously is a smart businessman, but sure seems like the ego boost of owning your own sports team is clouding basic business judgment.

But since you're asking, I vote for Paul Mokeski, an Anaheim Arsenal (D-League) assistant coach. Why? He's listed fourth, alphabetically, among the 11 candidates. D is the fourth letter of the alphabet, and as any experienced California public school student knows, "When in doubt, answer 'D'."