http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/ben-mckelvey/ Ben Mckelvey was born at Canberra Hospital in the seventies very small and at a very early age. After that, his mass increased relative to his age (which continually increased) until his late teens. With all that excitement behind him, Ben then studied journalism at Curtin University in Western Australia until leaving for the east cost and a job at the Sydney Organising Committee of the Olympic Games. Between then and now, he has edited a music magazine, worked on a men’s magazine, produced a TV show, written for almost every Australian magazine and filed from punch-ups such as the INTERFET intervention, the Iraq war and Wrestlemania. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-a-working-class-sham/ When done properly, a celebrity endorsement can literally make a company. The most famous example is when then third string sportswear company Nike (behind Adidas and Converse) signed first year NBA player Michael Jordan in 1984. Jordan had just been picked third in the NBA draft after centers Hakeem Olajuwon and Sam Bowie, but Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight really liked the free-scoring Jordan and courted him personally. When Jordan signed, Nike’s stock price was below 60 cents. When he finished his first three-peat in 1993, Nike’s stock price was $8.80 and now the biggest sportswear company in the world. When Jordan announced that he was retiring from basketball a few months later, Nike stock sunk to $5.20 and when he sent out his famous two-word “I’m back” press release, Nike stock surged again. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ben McKelvey) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-a-working-class-sham/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-a-working-class-sham/#item6793 Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:40:36 +0000 Ben McKelvey | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/help-i-lost-my-mind-online/ Of all the things I’ve lost online, I miss my mind the most. On Friday I forgot a friend’s name for almost a minute. And this was an actual, real friend. Someone who’d been a guest at my house. After a little Wiki work and web MDing on my phone I come to the conclusion that I probably had early onset dementia. The next day I mentioned my ailment to one of my friends - whose name I can recall because I see it every day in my Twitter feed (@juzzycullen). She told me she had the same problem and we agreed it was unlikely that we both had dementia. We decided it less likely we’re suffering a digital-age DDoS attack on out brains. A personal Future Shock if you like. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ben McKelvey) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/help-i-lost-my-mind-online/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/help-i-lost-my-mind-online/#item5816 Thu, 12 May 2011 19:35:28 +0000 Ben McKelvey | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-pride-driving-the-iranian-protesters/ People are dying on the streets of Iran, which isn’t surprising. Iran seems to have ended up as both a theocracy and a military dictatorship, and neither forms of government are known for their permissiveness to public disorder. So why are rioters still bothering? Even if you dislodge the latter, you won’t get rid of the former.  And lets keep in mind that Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s reformist colleague and friend Mohammad Khatami had two terms as president and the mullahs- the real power in Iran- let him reform but very and little. Khatami even found that while he held the highest elected office in the land, governmental agents were still murdering other reformists. And even after he found out about it, he couldn’t stop it. So I ask again, why bother? And why now? I think the answer is maturation and technology, but also pride. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ben McKelvey) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-pride-driving-the-iranian-protesters/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-pride-driving-the-iranian-protesters/#item441 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:40:21 +0000 Ben McKelvey | Author bios | The Punch