Film production workshop offered Nov. 16-18 in Boise

Buster Keaton as "The Cameraman" (1928)

So you wanna be in pictures? If your dream is behind the camera, Boise State University is offering a way in.

For more than 15 years, Ken Chaplin’s company has led production crews on film locations in the United States, Canada, Europe and Africa. At each location they have sought to hire qualified  production assistants only to find the local talent lacking in adequate production training. This prompted them to develop their Production Assistant Training Seminar (PATS) program, which Chaplin is bringing to BSU Nov. 16-18.



The class is open to the public as well as students. Cost is $150 for members of the public, $125 for students.

After completing the workshop, each participant’s name will be entered into the PATS national database, available to national and local film professionals and production companies. Participants will also receive a 110-page production assistant training manual.

"Kenny’s 2011 workshop was terrific and we welcome him back to Idaho for a second class," said Peg Owens of the Idaho Commerce Film Office. The state's media production industry is valued at $36 million, with a payroll of $15 million, according to the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis.

For more information and to register online, click here: http://copperledge.boisestate.edu/CourseStatus.awp?&course=129COM109U01 or visit http://www.filmidaho.org/filmmaker-resources/workshops/.

Lucy's offering free desserts to voters

Do I need to admonish my BizMojo Idaho readers to vote? I hardly think so, yet for the sake of our republic I will anyway.

This has been a volatile election, and regardless of who wins I think we are going to see great unhappiness in its wake. Deal with it. This is democracy, and for all the people who moan about its lack of civility I would like to point out that no one is fighting duels or attacking others with fireplace andirons, as has happened in the past. Nor is anybody being jailed or killed for political statements. There are a lot of countries where this still happens.

We are engaged in a grand experiment in self-governance that began in 1776. Our system, for all its faults and imperfections, is a model to the world.

If you need more incentive than my words, Lucy's New York Style Pizzeria, will give you a free dessert cannoli if you show up wearing an "I Voted" sticker at either of its two Idaho Falls/Ammon locations (West Anderson and Hitt Road, next to Merlin's) or at its original location in Roberts.

I would not be surprised if other businesses are offering similar specials. So do I need to make my point any clearer? Go out and vote. It matters.

Idaho theme hotels prominent in Frommers online article

The Hawaiian Suite at Idaho Falls' Destinations Inn is one of 10 themed hotel rooms featured in an online layout on www.Frommers.com.

What does it tell you that four of the 10 Wacky Hotel Rooms on a current Frommers.com slideshow are in Idaho?

These include rooms at Destinations Inn in Idaho Falls and the Black Swan Inn in Pocatello. By far the most unique, however, is the Dog Bark Park near Cottonwood (pictured below).

To look at the full feature, follow this link: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?p=1&group=1203&cat_cd=FAMILY#slide

Idaho Falls photo studio offers mini-headshot sessions Nov. 10

An example of a mini-headshot from Kristi Sheriff Photography's Web site

If you would like your child to try out to be a model for Kristi Sheriff Photography & Sweetiebirds Designs, now is your chance. The two Idaho Falls businesses are offering five-minute mini-headshot sessions Nov. 10 to get a feel for how your kids are in front of the camera. Sessions are only $5 plus tax, and special packages will be available that day as well.

If you aren't interested in having your child be a model but would still like a nice portrait of them, this session is also something to consider. Special packages are available the day of the session.

If you want to see some images from other Mini-Headshot Sessions, you can see them here: http://www.spgx.com/blog/?p=275.

Bring your child dressed and ready to go. Kids must wear their own clothes for the Mini-Headshot Session. Winners will be chosen for modeling the Sweetiebirds clothing at a later date.

If your child is interested in modeling, Kristi’s images can be a great asset. Some of Kristi Sheriff’s modeling images have been used by her clients to obtain jobs at Disney and the Weather Channel. She has also had many images appear in print.

To sign up, follow this link: http://kristisheriff.bookmonline.com/schedules

Still trying to make sense of the numbers.

In my continuing effort to understand how many people I may be reaching with this blog, I've noticed a huge difference between the number of pageviews as reported by Blogger as opposed to the number reported by Google Analytics.

Looking at the Blogger stats, here's what I see:

October was our biggest month yet, with 9,456 pageviews. Since beginning BizMojo Idaho in September 2011, we've been seen by over 76,000 pairs of eyeballs.

Nice going, eh? Not so fast. Let's take a look at the Google Analytics chart now:

While impressive for a local blog (I wouldn't be sharing this otherwise), they present a more modest picture. In the case of October, pageviews were 4,803, slightly more than half the number reported by Blogger. Why is this? Apparently, Google can filter out bots that Blogger counts. These bots are crawling the Web looking for keywords, which is good for search engine optimization. I don't think there can be any argument that original content frequently posted is the key to a good profile with the search engines. This also probably explains the mystery of why our posts about Carl's Jr. and In-N-Out Burger get so many pageviews.

Here's a link where I learned picked up this information: http://jensontaylor.blogspot.com/2012/03/blogger-stats-vs-google-analytics.html. I found the comments to be interesting, too.