• NYTimes: 36 Hours in Nashville http://s.nyt.com/u/Dln – some recs are boring, but at least they found Marche! #
• OMG what is Lebron wearing in that interview? He looks like Erkel! #
• Droid drooling: Her Nashville Chic Geek Droid review http://tinyurl.com/yc3obo9 #fb #
• If you care about early childhood health/development/education/safety follow: @PreKNow @FSSimon @FightCrime @LizSzabo @FirstBook #FF #
• RT @evula: "Where are my pants?" is one of those questions you hope to never find yourself thinking. And yet, here I am. #

• RT @Hammarstrand: @MargieNewman to Stop DM-SPAM: go into Twitter's "Settings" > "Connections" & click on "Revoke Access" to application. #
• Lots of DM spam from friend's accounts today; change your passwords often, folks! And please, if you get spam from me, please let me know! #
• Testing out the Motorola Droid for the next two days; it is fast and fabulous. Verizon loyalists rejoice! #fb http://twitpic.com/o8yqi #

In this town there is a Meetup, Tweetup, Festival or Twestival every night — at least it seems that way. Over the past three months, we’ve been hitting up social media happy hours like nobody’s business. In fact, Team Newman was recently included in a verbal listing of “the usual suspects” at “these kinds” of D.C. events. We weren’t sure if we should be flattered or embarrassed.

So far, we’ve: attended the NextGenWeb re-launch party, taken a free trip to New York courtesy of @SouthwestAir, partied with Social Media Club DC, eaten tasty brie at #Hyatt4Good, giggled at the DCBlogger’s Meetup, won a free dinner at the @destinationDC Tweetup, declared a winner of our very first Twitter contest and even started a Meetup group for digitally minded DC Flacks. Oh, and along the way, we’ve made some incredibly smart and talented new friends.

Yep, The Hill is alive with the sound of geek-ness — this particular social scene is just another reason why we heart The District. What’s your favorite thing about D.C.?

I was being asked a bunch of questions about Twitter today (Hi, B!) and found myself saying that the best way to get to know the ins and outs of social media is by testing it out on your own account, on your own time.

And then I thought to myself, “Hey, that makes a lot of sense, Margie. Good one.”

You know, because then when you say something patently offensive or stupid, you’ve done it under your own name and not your employer’s. Even though that can still get you fired.

Like most things, practice makes knowledgeable. So, when you are at the conference table and someone asks you how hashtags work, you’ll know because you’ve used them. When someone, like your boss, says they are confused about what happens when p*rn creepos follow you, or why it matters if one RTs, @s or DMs, you’ll explain it to them with authority – not because you read it on Mashable – because you’ve already done it well (or messed it up).

If you have never been caught up in the World Wide Web, why would your employer trust you with their online reputation?

If you want folks or co-workers to look to you for Geek Guidance you’ve gotta create, play with, and maintain a personal Twitter account; you’ll need to have personally blogged for an extended period of time; you must continuously play around on Facebook and constantly seek to find a purpose for LinkedIn. You’ll need to know how Google rules the world works and “what makes a RSS feed different than an alert.” It takes a lot of work;  a lot of reading; a lot of trial and error.

Agree? Or am I just being snobby?

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• Can Social Media Get You a Job? (usnews.com)

This week, my new friend and long-time blogger Nisha asked met to rattle off a few PR blogs I read regularly.  I get this question pretty often, but it gives me pause because I don’t really read many straight-up PR blogs. My daily read list is actually a smorgasbord of tech, HR, social media, writing and future-of-journalism blogs — but I believe their collective offerings make me a better flack.

Here are the blogs consistently bring something fabulous to my itty bitty table:

Human resources and GenY in the workplace

• Lindsay Olson
• Penelope Trunk
• Brazen Careerist

Future of journalism-ish

• Clay Shirky
• Daring Fireball

Writing

• ProBlogger
• Copy Blogger
• Blogsessive

Geek trends and nerd news

• Lifehacker
• Mashable
• TechCrunch
• Chris Brogan (you know, this guy)
• Cult of Mac
• Chic Geek (my alter ego, of course)

Public Relations

• PR 2.o/Brian Solis
• Daily Axioms
• B.L. Ochman’s What’s Next Blog
• Bad Pitch Blog
• Communications Overtones
• Media Bistro

This chex-mix approach to web surfing keeps me out of the PR/ Social Media- bubble. That’s important because a sound public relations practice requires you to be well-read and well-rounded, so you have to expand your horizons a little. Your clients (rightfully) assume you are their go-to gal/guy about every kind of media and communication tactic – not just the ones you like. (i.e. there is a lot more to PR than Twitter; there is more to the Internet than social media).

So, I’ve shared my favorites. Check’em out, study up and please share your favorites in the comments!

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In keeping with my recent streak of firsts, I created a Meetup group this evening! If you are a PR flack in the DC area, I really hope you’ll join us for happy hour on August 18 at the Chop House upstairs bar (it has its own bathroom!).

I recently accompanied Dave on two Meetup happy hours:  DC Bloggers and DC Photography. Their respective organizers have polar opposite visions for their groups:

The DC Bloggers Meetup was a blast – cool, funny people – but the gal running it has since made it clear the causal attendee isn’t her target audience.  That’s her prerogative, of course, but I just want to MEET UP with folks, not take on a part time job. (sigh) It honestly made me sad to learn folks like me aren’t welcome. Oh, well – at least I got introduced to the DCBlogs dude!

But tonight’s DC Photography Meetup, led by the fabulous Jim, ROCKED. Great turnout, sincere and talented folks – and the entire point really was simply to meet up and get to know each other. And look: the photo dudes have already posted a pic of me and my baby! I had so much fun, it inspired me to start my own for PR peeps.

Right now, the only members are me and hubbs (thanks, baby!). But even if it’s just the two of us who show up, it will still be a fantastic adventure for me, the Meetup newb.

Are you active in Meetup? Do you find them fun or beneficial? Have you ever started a one?

The post that leads the most* Google and Bing searchers to this blog is my October 2008 rant, “Twitter is Useless.” In it, I say that if even a handful of your audience is on Twitter then it cannot be called useless; that very essence of public relations is to focus on a message and communicate that message to the intended audience via whatever communication channel that public uses and views as valid.

It’s a post that generates a decent amount of traffic here, and of course, web surfers who disagree with me.  Just this morning I received a comment from “Joe” in Atlanta: Read More…