Having been a long fan of the South Korean legendary defender, Y.P. Lee, the last night’s retirement match against the Colorado Rapids was an absolutely stunning experience.  After 13 years of his illustrious playing career, Lee retired with the Vancouver Whitecaps – “a great team,” as remarked by the player – which had seemingly put in an enormous amount of effort to recognize and appreciate Lee’s remarkable career path.

Putting aside all the honorary respect he received from his teammates and fans, Y.P. Lee was recognized by the Vancouver Whitecaps through its various marketing efforts. Lee’s face was printed on the ticket and the official pamphlet. The Vancouver Whitecaps’ official website was filled with articles related to the player’s career life. Posts about Lee’s retirement game covered the Whitecaps’ facebook page. Videos related to his contributions were uploaded to youtube. Throughout the match were shown videos of the player, with captions in Korean in appreciation of his Korean fans.

The Vancouver Whitecaps’ marketing effort was truly amazing. It attracted so many new fans to the season’s last match. Many South Korean soccer fans who had little interest in the Whitecaps before attended to fill up the stadium, and many of them really appreciated the Whitecaps’ recognition of their favourite player. That is, the team has successfully targeted a new market segment.

Personally, it was my first time ever visiting a Whitecaps game. My ticket was definitely more than what I was initially willing to pay, but I did not want to miss Lee’s retirement game. When I went to watch the match, I really enjoyed the environment as well as the team’s effort to appreciate who I believed really deserved it. Simply put, it was a great experience and I returned home a fan of the Vancouver Whitecaps. I obviously have been a target of the team’s marketing efforts, and truthfully it has done a remarkable job.

Scott Stratten posted on his famous business blog, UnMarketing, about the 5 worst practices one could exercise on LinkedIn. From what he says in his blog post, LinkedIn does not sound like the best way to connect with others – that is, if not used properly as exemplified in the article.

According to Stratten, one could “stink” on LinkedIn through:

1. spamming (or “warm spam,” as he put it),
2. blank-requesting,
3. being everywhere (that is, posting the same status on five different social media websites),
4. posting “drive-by group articles”
5.  and endorsing strangers.

While there seems to exist a craze about LinkedIn among businesspeople, one should always keep in mind that misusing this social media channel could seriously harm one’s reputation online which directly connects to the offline status. While the list above may sound rather funny, there have been numerous reports by the HR department of today’s world of business on misuses of LinkedIn which led to more serious grounds.

What one should really keep in mind while using LinkedIn is that in today’s society anything one does online holds direct connections with how one is viewed offline. I think there tends to be a tendency where people think of themselves online apart from who they are in real life, which is no longer the truth in a world like today where everything – whether it be on the Internet or just with a group of friends at a local Starbucks – is literally “linked-in” together.

So be aware not to “stink” at LinkedIn! You never know what consequences you are bringing about with a post of a stinky status.