Bad at Sports » Website

Arianna Huffington’s AOL buys Bad at Sports for over $790,000 in first round of mergers

Christopher — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:00:07 +0000

Full press release below:

San Francisco, CA March 31, 2011 – AOL Inc. [NYSE: AOL] today announced that it has agreed to acquire BadatSports.com, one of the nations leading Contemporary Fine Art & Culture commentary/interview programs based out of Chicago, IL. Bad at Sports is well known throught the world for its fresh take on the current Fine Art scene and will make a strong cornerstone to the growing AOL Culture Network while retaining their editorial independence and unique voice that has proven so successful over the years. Further bolstering AOL’s position as one of the world’s leading providers of high-quality & timely commentary and insight into everything from technology & politics to art & culture.

Founded by Duncan MacKenzie and Richard Holland, Bad at Sports which has operated on a minimal budget and office of dedicated staff has over 5 years grown into a site that reaches millions around the world and has archived over 300 hours of one on one interviews with some of the art worlds most notable up in coming art creators, curators, historians, educators, business insiders and collectors.

AOL’s Editor in Chief Arianna Huffington singled this out as one of the main reasons Bad at Sports was one of the first aqqusitions under her direction. “The work that Holland & MacKenzie and everyone at Bad at Sports has done over the years is close to amazing and shows a level of care and dedication that you need to succeed in the long term in both the publication business and Art/Culture world and made bringing them into the larger portfolio an obvious decision.” she said.

“Engagement with thought leaders, tread setters and those that create the culture of tomarrow is as important to AOL’s growth as is the engagement of our established audience and having spoken with Operations Manager Christopher Hudgens at length about the ideas he had for the role Bad at Sports in expanding the art & culture division of AOL under the supportive hand of our new Editor in Chief will only continue to show AOL’s commitment to quality and a greater conversation on the internet. I look forward to what they can produce with the full support and resources of AOL behind them.” said David Eun, President of AOL Media and Studios.

This acquisition will further AOL’s strategy to become the global leader in sourcing, creating, producing and delivering high-quality, trusted, original content to consumers. Bad at Sports will remain headquartered in Chicago,IL, as a wholly owned AOL unit. Deal terms were not disclosed.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding business strategies, market potential, future financial and operational performance and other matters. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the transaction and other statements identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “intend,” “should,” “expect” or similar expressions. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs, and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances, including, but not limited to, the satisfaction of the closing conditions to the transaction and the parties’ performance of their obligations under the agreements; changes in our plans, strategies and intentions; the competitiveness and quality of our products and services; our ability to retain, hire and develop key employees; and the intensity of competition. Any forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein, due to changes in economic, business, competitive, technological, strategic and/or regulatory factors, as well as factors affecting AOL’s operations and businesses. More detailed information about these factors as they relate to AOL may be found in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in AOL’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AOL is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About AOL

AOL Inc. (NYSE:AOL) is a leading global Web services company with an extensive suite of brands and offerings and a substantial worldwide audience. AOL’s business spans online content, products and services that the company offers to consumers, publishers and advertisers. AOL is focused on attracting and engaging consumers and providing valuable online advertising services on both AOL’s owned and operated properties and third-party websites. In addition, AOL operates one of the largest Internet subscription access services in the United States, which serves as a valuable distribution channel for AOL’s consumer offerings.

About Bad at Sports

Bad at Sports located at badatsports.com and based in Chicago, IL is one of the worlds leading contemporary fine art commentary/60 minute art interview programs. Founded in 2005 as a podcast by co-hosts Duncan MacKenzie and Richard Holland, Bad at Sports has grown into a website that is read and listened to by people in every major metropolitan city around the globe. With over 300 60 minute episodes with leading art world over a thousand posts Bad at Sports has and continues to document the Art world from within with a unique and valuable position of insight.

——————————————————-

Update

Art Practical releases a more up to date statement read here

How Many People Do You Really Know?

Christopher — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 05:01:06 +0000

Lets take a short break from news and events in the Art World to ask an important but often misunderstood idea, how many people do you really know?

I don’t mean know their name, or went to the same school, town, program, gallery or even concert with but how many people do you really know? In this day and age of social media/networking/six degrees of Francis Bacon its easy to mistake being linked to someone being equal to knowing them. If I asked you to name a good lawyer, cook, programmer, printer, accountant or Mr/Ms “get the job done no matter what” could you? Do you know someone you could promote for a project and they could not only be relied on to do a job but do it well, on-time and the first time? If so how many, even I admit it isn’t as deep as I would like and thats a shame.

I have worked for or with many companies over the years and what often amazes me is not that there is lack of work/contracts but the amount of time and trial/error that goes into finding good people to do any number of skills.

Wasted time and mispent money.

The Art World in my estimation is the epicenter of “Jack of all Trades” skill sets. I have meet people that have skills so varied and rich that you would be forgiven for thinking they have Multiple Personality Disorder, thats a benefit we have, a asset if you will and we need to leverage it in the 21st Century.

Working in the Arts will always be precarious and fragile but we know change, we know projects, we know guerrilla style zero budget business models and we know people and we need to promote that. I will be doing this myself over time but its high time every blog/website in the art world spent some space helping people know how to contact the best individuals for any skill. It should never be who/what company should I contact to do this job but how do I organize the funds to pay [insert name here] to complete this project for me.

If you don’t know a good cook, caterer, programmer, designer, printer, lawyer, copywriter, editor (in this town who isn’t?), media production, animator, auto repair, public relations, ect then it might be best to start adding to your list since having a team you can rely on is more valuable for you and especially others then the funds it takes to hire them. Who has the time or energy to suffer through multiple bad suppliers to find that right person. The person or company that has that up to date list is the one that will hit the ground running and execute their idea the first time on half the actual budget.

Don’t build your list of friends, acquaintances, followers or warm bodies but your cabinet of professionals for the job of today and more so the one right over the horizon.

Art Babble

Christopher — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:09:44 +0000

Art Babble has for a while been for me a great example of a institution just putting a few people to work and creating something on the net that is both useful, fun, well designed and not covered from head to toe with the trappings or promotion of the parent institution. Conceived, initiated, designed, built, sculpted, programmed, shot, edited, painted and launched by a cross-departmental collection of individuals at the Indianapolis Museum of Art Art Babble takes IP that they already have and presents it in a way that is greater then the sum of it’s parts. Too bad Art institutions haven’t been able to do the same with the net or social media on average.

We Are Hunted: Music Discovery Site

Christopher — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:00:58 +0000

It’s nothing dramatic to say that radio is largely dead and discovering new music you like is both simultaneously easier and much much harder then ever before.

Myspace was a solution at one time, as was marketplace solutions like iTunes, Amazon & Zune.

Thesixtyone.com was a solution for a specific genre that was and still is quite good and in that vein “We Are Hunted” was created. It attempts to crawl the web for the top 99 relatively new songs that a majority of people are talking about then displays them on the site for your listening pleasure.

It’s not a one stop shop but definitely a nice tool in your music safari arsenal. Enjoy and find that new song for your summer fun or maybe just this weekend.

Review: Manystuff #1, One Possible Catalyst

Martine Syms — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:42:43 +0000

Photo by Charlotte Cheetham © Manystuff

Manystuff is a blog, edited by the mostly anonymous Charlotte Cheetham, that offers a “daily selection” of graphic design. Manystuff has a devout, international following of 5,000+ visitors a day, they regularly organize design exhibitions and recently began publishing a magazine. Manystuff #1 is actually the second issue. Manystuff #0, More Real Than Fiction was released in 2008, but I wasn’t able to get my hands on it, so it remains less real to me.

Manystuff #1, One Possible Catalyst states its case modestly. The objective is to “fix a laboratory of experiments and meditations released from formal and theoretical prejudices.” One Possible Catalyst is not for those seeking a practical treatise about running your own studio or how to do-it-yourself, nor those looking for a barrage of striking images to consume. It comes as a refreshing counterpoint to the glut of design thinking, design within reach, and design sponging that currently abounds. One Possible Catalyst is for serious thinking about Design. Read it when you’re feeling cynical, but not when you’re feeling sleepy.

(Contributors were asked to diverge from the following three themes:)

Photo by Charlotte Cheetham © Manystuff

Less is more
This way of life has become a cliché and/or vice versa. Less is More is an argument for minimal graphic design that features an essay on the public notice by Rob Giampietro, a collection of business cards from Christian Brandt and a historical survey by Olivier Marcellin. Succinctly, “Use of a sans-serif and a uniform background.”

Support Graphic Design
Support Graphic Design is a catalog of structures used to hold posters and other designed objects, including outdoor benches from EventArchitectuur, billboards from Experimental Jetset, and a mobile bookshop from Robin Gadde. I was struck by the beauty and economy of the mobile bookshop, a succession of plywood sheets with rectangle cut outs for shelves.

Transmission
The headline asks “What about intergenerational relations between designers?” I often wonder if it’s even possible to establish intergenerational relationships outside of an institution. Sometimes I lament that the only way I’ll be able to meet so-and-so is to go to X school or secure another internship with no pay but lots of prestige. Although One Possible Catalyst provides no alternatives, it does offer a series of texts pairing educators with students and employers with interns that contemplate the role of generational exchange within the field.

Manystuff #1, One Possible Catalyst features contributions from Christian Brandt, Lorena Cardenas, Change is good, David Conte, Pinar Demirdag, Neil Donnelly, Laurent Fétis, Kees de Klein, Wayne Daly, Bear Demen, EventArchitectuur, Experimental Jetset, Robin Gadde &team, Rob Giampietro, Hannes Gloor & Stefan Jandl, Catherine Guiral & David Cluzeau, Arnaud Daffos, Vincent Lalanne, Aurélie Guérinet, Rikard Heberling, Hey Ho, Hyoun Youl Joe, Julia, Konst & Teknik, Sacha Leopold, Olivier Marcellin, Fanette Mellier, Pipi Parade, Please Let Me Design, Thibaut Robin, Grégoire Romanet, Mathias Schweizer, Maki Suzuki (Åbäke), Pierre Vanni, Karen Willey, and Ivor Williams.

It is available now at Manystuff.

Maybe Hip: Internet TV out of Chicago

Christopher — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:09:52 +0000

Maybe Hip which has been broadcasting from Chicago only since Nov/Dec of 2009 is already starting to find it’s feet successfully as the new independent pop culture-focused internet television network. Their stated goal, to be a place where original video entertainment centers on all things that may – or may not – be hip.

Be it music, film, TV, pop culture, news, events in Chicago or around the world the crew of Maybe Hip are successfully writing, filming, producing & creating high level content on a shoestring budget. It’s funny, driven and earnest in it desire to inform & entertain. Needless to say it reminds me of another group I knew 5 years or so ago.

The company, founded in 2009 by Patrick Lothian, Robby Silver, and Lexi Scherr looks to add to the growing internet television industry discussion by creating original content for Generation Next that is more mainstream then the work done by people like Revision 3. It’s raw, it wears it heart on it’s sleeve & it wants to have fun and bring everyone along.

Time will only tell if the group can continue to refine their voice, onair chemistry & most of all get past the coming wall that is continuously meeting weekly deadlines for more then a year with no budget. So far though it looks to be a group worth keeping an eye on and more importantly, watching.

Infosthetics.com Celebrates 5 Years by Displaying all their Posts Aesthetically On One Page

Christopher — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:33:39 +0000

Infosthetics.com a site dedicated to collecting, sharing and promoting the art of pleasing data visualization celebrates it’s 5th birthday with a flash visualization of all their posts over that time broken down by time, category, comments & author using color and line. Bad at Sports would like congratulate Infosthetics “Where form follows data” and we follow them. Keep up the good work!

Art Critics Can Have Beautiful Websites Too

Claudine Isé — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:20:15 +0000

New City art editor, Frieze contributor, independent curator and culture essayist Jason Foumberg has a new website, designed by Ryan Swanson, that kicks ass. Professional writers know how important it is to have all of their written material online in an easy to access format. Foumberg’s site shows an eye for typography and design and has tons of flair. It’s actually fun to navigate – check it out for yourself! Bravo to Ryan Swanson for his bang-up job here, and to Foumberg for reminding us that writers and other culture workers deserve to have gorgeously designed personal websites too.

In 7 Days Everything Changes

Christopher — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:46:07 +0000

Author insert a music with WS Audio Player.
(Download) this music.

Duncan MacKenzie, Hacker?

Christopher — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 07:10:41 +0000

ESPN Homepage Hack Screenshot

It is unknown when exactly the hack was added but on Monday 4/27 it was discovered that entering the Konami cheat code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, enter) at the official ESPN Web site made glittery pink unicorns with rainbow manes and tails pop up all over the site. And more clicks led to more unicorns.

In addition to this visitors also got their headlines in hot pink and the Comic Sans font (every designers fav font).

We at Bad at Sports want to officially deny any rummer that Duncan MacKenzie was behind this in any way whatsoever. Yes we may be horrible at everything ESPN reports on and yes we all love some glitter loaded unicorns but that by no means implicates Mr. MacKenzie in this act. As for the mountain of MySQL & Javascript training books that were found at his residence after tracing an IP address to his billing address we have been informed to say “No Comment” and hope this suffices.

The hack has since been removed but Cnet caught a screenshot of it before the takedown.

Bad at Sports » Website

Arianna Huffington’s AOL buys Bad at Sports for over $790,000 in first round of mergers

Related Posts

How Many People Do You Really Know?

Related Posts

Art Babble

Related Posts

We Are Hunted: Music Discovery Site

Related Posts

Review: Manystuff #1, One Possible Catalyst

Related Posts

Maybe Hip: Internet TV out of Chicago

Related Posts

Infosthetics.com Celebrates 5 Years by Displaying all their Posts Aesthetically On One Page

Related Posts

Art Critics Can Have Beautiful Websites Too

Related Posts

In 7 Days Everything Changes

Related Posts

Duncan MacKenzie, Hacker?

Related Posts