Not a fan of Valentine’s Day? No worries. In the February issue of Her Nashville magazine, your Chic Geek explores easy–and artsy–ways to pamper the real love of your life: your pooch! Here’s a sample:

They say dog is man’s best friend, but we all know that a dog is also a woman’s soul sister.

She knows the songs you sing in the shower and completely respects your crush on 80s power ballads. She’s been there for you through “Do these khakis make me look thick?” and “OMG! These jeans make me look thin!” Steadfast in her devotion, she’s never judgmental,  even if you haven’t washed your hair since last Tuesday. Read More…

My lone comment on the Apple iPad is here at my Her Nashville blog.

Sorry, folks. It’s not pithy, just the truth. I was listening to Joe and Dave chat about the iPad over beer this weekend; I think they are right: we’ll need to get our hands on it before we can really talk about what we think it’s gonna change/kill/replace/enhance/improve. Until we’ve experienced it first-hand, it’s all just talk. Read More…

When’s the last time you loved on your LinkedIn profile? Believe it or not, HR recruiters really do use it to scout prospects. Does your profile paint a relevant picture of the professional you?

If you haven’t laid eyes on your profile in a while, stroll on over and take 30 minutes to freshen it up with these three improvements:

1. Create a thoughtful “summary” – also known as a bio, these paragraphs should explain how talented and experienced you are, while also hinting at your fabulous personality.  Don’t be afraid to share with the reader the kinds of work you most enjoy. For example, my profile says, “Margie most enjoys cause-related public relations…” It’s also nice to talk about your community service work, or other relevant extracurricular activities. Oh, and when you are finished be sure to add your skills to the “specialties” box. Read More…

Several of you have sent me versions of the TechCrunch slam on Aol’s communications gal, Tricia Primrose Wallace.

The rundown: when confronted with the TechCrunch scoop that Aol CTO Ted Cahall was leaving, Wallace says it’s not true. She even goes so far as to tell TechCrunch to “update” their story to reflect the inaccuracy; they also say she directed other outlets to run stories saying TechCrunch was wrong. Read More…

The Gray Lady wants to charge folks to partake of her online work; you know, because she likes having a staff, a budget and paying rent.

We live in a world that loves now and expects free.  I admit to fueling that fire, but we get what we pay for. I’m tired of shoddy reporting–I’ll not call it journalism. It’s not that reporters want to write poorly or get stuff wrong–no one enjoys being factually incorrect. It’s that there are like three people left in America’s collective newsrooms. With one part-time copy editor.

A newspaper can’t do amazing stuff like this, or make folks cry like this, without experienced journalists and a budget.

For some reason, we want to be paid for our own talents and services, but can’t seem to wrap our heads around why newspapers would require–or even desire–compensation. It blows my mind.

So, newspapers of the world: charge me. I’ll pay it in a heartbeat if it helps reinstate a well-stocked newsroom, thoughtful editorials, heart-pounding investigative work and a fact-checker or two. I admire The New York Time‘s move and hope other papers follow suit posthaste.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The New York Times to retreat behind a paywall (inquisitr.com)
• Why the NYT’s Paywall Could Succeed (markevanstech.com)
• Would you pay to read the New York Times online? (downloadsquad.com)
• New York Times takes giant step in industry standard (telegraph.co.uk)

They’re Penelope Trunk’s words, not mine. But I don’t think she’ll mind if I adopt them. They underscore my firm belief that the shape of your career is molded by your personal brand and the company you keep:

One of the most important changes in work life is that we do not define our career by working for one company—we change jobs too frequently. Today, we define ourselves by the integrity with which we manage our career.

Amen, sister.

Do these two sentences resonate with you? Forget 140 characters! What are the 40 words that define your career?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Brazen Careerist: A Professional Network That Realizes You’re More Than Just A Resume (techcrunch.com)
• Taking Risks to Boost Your Career (online.wsj.com)

My hometown of Nashville boasts an abundance of talented PR firms, but D.C. is truly bursting with fabulously useful PR events.

This week, I’ll be attending two flack-tastic gatherings. The first because I’m hosting it, the second because it features a rockin’ panel of D.C. journalists I’d like to get to know. And because the hostess makes for a delightful coffee date.

So, if you are a Washington D.C. PR pro (or just wanna hang out with cool people who like to talk a lot), I hope you’ll show your face on:

Wednesday, January 13 at 6:30 p.m. — it’s time to resume our monthly DC Flacks happy hour at the District Chop House downtown. Join us for cheap beer (a near-impossible find in this town), talented PR, PA and Web professionals, and onion rings. We’ll see you at the upstairs bar; membership is free. Read More…

I’m prone to exaggeration, but believe me when I say the Amazon Kindle is about the most amazing piece of technology I’ve ever held in my tiny hands. You must go buy one.

Seriously, do it. You’ll not understand how freaking cool this thing is until you own one. You’ll not be sorry, in fact, you’ll be addicted to reading again.

You know how you go through those phases of constant bookish-ness…then it fades. For me, it was always a matter of instant gratification. When I want a book, I want it now. The Veruca Salt in me is completely satisfied by the Kindle.

The Amazon Kindle is the kind of technology you can cuddle up with–yes, even with a cup of tea. It’s not heavy like all the Harry Potter and Twilight books you’re reading.

More good news: if you are embarrassed to be reading the aforementioned works, your secret is safe on the Kindle. No one can see what you’re reading.  So feel free to consume Eat, Pray, Love for the third time. Read More…

Okay, I know I expressed a bit of concern about whether SXSW would be this big I Heart Twitter! fest or if I would actually learn something new. No worries! I attended three fabulous panels and a keynote address on Day 2. In all honesty, the speakers most certainly did teach/encourage/motivate/challenge me, so if I had to go home today I would feel like I got my money’s worth.

I very much enjoyed hearing from Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh, his keynote address was packed out and even spilled into three simulcast rooms. The great news about Tony is that he’s relatively young, extremely successful and absolutely understands that THE BEST way to have productive, customer service-oriented, on-message employees is to create a culture that fosters those things.

If you want your customers to be WOWed, as Hsieh does, then you’ve gotta take great care to hire employees who enjoy WOWing folks. And, “fire quickly” those who do not. Nice the hear that Zappos’s priority is creating and maintaining that culture. “If we hire for the culture fit,” Hsieh said, “the rest just takes care of itself.” He also said that Zappos considers money spent on WOWing customers and training and motivating employees as marketing dollars. It’s billiant, in my opinion.

The panel on Internet privacy was also fabulous. It wasn’t so much that I learned new stuff, you already know how I feel about the importance of knowing your online self. It’s was really just nice to have my obsession validated by really smart folks who are just as freaked out as I am about how little the average person cares about what personal information of theirs is floating around on the Web.

Anyway, there were so many great nuggets of geekdom crowding their way into my head that I thought I might explode a little. You can see my schedule over there…except for that Obama/Dean one. I skipped that to hang with hubby. And that’s okay because the keynote for Day 3 is the same Obama Web-ness, so it’s all good. The topics and converstaions spurred many blog ideas for me, so look for those in the coming days!

In the meantime I’ll leave you with this video of Dave stripping down at the trade show to get a cool t-shirt. We do what we have to do, friends:

Saw this Cult of Mac post about a Blackberry Storm ad that was rejected by RIM.  Though the gun message and copy claim is clearly misguided, I still find it rather clever.

Of course, you already know how I feel about the Storm after my brief time throwing it against the wall trying to figure it out. (sigh) Bless ‘em.

You like, you love it, you want some more of it:

• BlackBerry advert sticks it to Apple (reghardware.co.uk)
• The BlackBerry Storm ad that might have been (engadget.com)