Nothing makes me cringe more than people choosing to use the very public Internet as their very personal diary. It’s altogether worse when folks don’t realize that is what they are doing.

Exhibit A: young professionals who Tweet drunk photos of themselves, not realizing they’ve perviously set their Twitter feed to autopost to their LinkedIn profile. I’ll not “out” this gal here on FlackRabbit, but I did email her and suggest she take down the unflattering photo perched atop her very impressive skills summary and employer information. Then, I Tweeted about it:

I received a flurry of replies, from folks who wanted to know who the gal was (I’ll never tell!) to the social media savvy who strongly believe streaming your Twitter feed shows future employers and peers that you possess a working knowledge of the Internet.

While I agree that having a visible link to your Twitter account makes good sense, I can’t see the logic in auto-posting my sometimes “unprofessional” thoughts/opinions/beer selections to my “professional” resume. I’d much rather a head-hunter see my skills and work history than my excitement over finally getting to try DC Brau’s Penn Quarter Porter. Which, by the way, is very tasty.

Fortunately–thanks to Twitter hashtag magic–we can Tweet about our beer and appear professional on LinkedIn, too, by displaying only the Tweets that include #in. Here’s how my settings look: Read More…

You know how sometimes you want to do something, but then decide you’re not going to just to spite someone? I see this happening a good bit with technology hold-outs. One main reason: they are sick of being nagged about how “out of touch” they are, so they decide (if even subconsciously) to prove the Social Media Disciples wrong. They’ll get along without the Internet or Facebook just fine, thank you very much!

In my January Her Nashville column, I offer up a few tips on the best ways to share your geekish enthusiasm and convert the tech-less masses without starting a technology revolt. Here’s a teaser:

Don’t be pushy
When you lead the horse to water, don‘t try to shove him in the pool. It’s poor form and ineffective: the horse is only going to get angry and certainly won’t ever trust you around anything resembling a lake. The same is true for the Internet. You’ll be much more successful in your effort to convert your non-techie peers, relatives or clients by showing them that it’s safe to jump in. You, and a host of well-respected others, are already surfing around, and the water is fine.

Applaud their approach
If someone was afraid to swim and finally dove in, you certainly would not criticize their form and choice of swimwear. Think about this the next time a friend finally ditches their flip phone for a Droid or creates a Facebook account with a status they rarely update. It’s not when they “joined,” what technology they use, or how they compare to others that counts. The fact that they are giving technology a chance is the real achievement. So, avoid the temptation to dictate a preferred, one-size-fits-all social media strategy. You may be an newly converted iPhone fan, Facebook poker and hashtag addict, but not everyone else has to be. Read More…

Last week, I sat 800 miles away and watched as my hometown drowned. I’ve lived in D.C. for one full year now, but Nashville is home. I’m a communicator–a good one–but I don’t know how to express how much my heart hurts for my city. I can’t find a way to verbalize it. My fingers refuse to put pressure on the keys when I try to type it out.

The good news: I don’t have to worry about my inability to explain how I feel, folks like Patten Fuqua,  A.C. Kleinheider and countless others have said it all for me–for all of us. Powerfully, honestly, beautifully.

My one contribution to the discussion is over at Her Nashville magazine. As the post says, I’m completely in awe over the way Nashvillians are using social media platforms to communicate, connect and share information in such a meaningful way. Facebook, Twitter, text messages, YouTube, Flickr, blog posts, websites.  Nashvillians have taken to the Web and it’s working. Read More…

…it’s not merely a business mantra, it’s the latest social media trend.

In the May issue of Her Nashville magazine, you’ll find a brief tutorial on location-based social networks Gowalla and Foursquare, which utilize GPS and those fancy smartphones to allow you to “check in” to places you visit, tell folks where you are, and post your thoughts along the way. Here’s a teaser and–of course–a little “surf with caution” reminder:

Both Gowalla and Foursquare give you the option to share your check ins and travels via Facebook and Twitter. I don’t do this, but you may want to. How much info you share and who your “friends” are is all yours to control. For these location-based networks — unlike Twitter, which is designed for stranger-to-stranger info sharing — I only friend my actual friends, but I’m sort of protective like that … with who knows my whereabouts at any given time.

Like most technological wonders, what the Gowalla and Foursquare creators conceived now makes up only a fraction of what they actually do. Just think about Twitter as geeks knew it in 2007 compared to Twitter as the world knows it today. What started out as an odd text messaging service known to a few thousand people is now a global, real-time, information-sharing phenomenon. READ THE FULL COLUMN!

I usually base my Chic Geek columns on reader questions, ideas from co-workers and/or brainstorming sessions with my husband, but no one has really asked me to write about location. In fact, no one outside of my geek friends ever mentions location-based apps, which makes me think it’s time I wrote about them. Read More…

Thank you, Katie Place, for the invitation to share with your University of Maryland public relations class my thoughts about Web content strategy and my obsession with the Internet.

Among other things, we talked about the importance of ensuring your Web and new media content is truly in service to the audience you’re trying to reach, as well as the goal of your communications campaign.

Does the client just want Twitter because everyone else is doing it? Or is there a purpose? The burden is on you, the PR pro, to ask these questions of your client.

Of course, you know I can’t speak to a group of people and not work in a quick lecture on how there is no privacy on the Internet and how if you want to be known for your pr and new media expertise, you must strive to be your own guinea pig. So there was plenty of that, too. Read More…

Here's a shot of Team Newman in the wild at SXSW 2007. Many thanks to Joe Flood for the documentation.

This is the first year since 2006 that one or both members of Team Newman are not making an appearance at South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi), the geek conference in Austin, TX.

It’s not that we haven’t loved it. Our SX adventures of yore enabled us to be among the first to try Twitter, discover Ze Frank, meet our good friend Joe Flood and give Gowalla a go. It also did wonders for our sticker collection. But after AT&T’s Great Network Failure of 2009, and attending one-too-many Twitter panels, we’re taking a break.

We wish many a Chris Brogan and Guy Kawasaki sighting, much fabulous swag and free beer to those thousands of social media guinea pigs in attendance. Have fun and consume tons of Stubbs BBQ for us!
Read More…

I’ve received a few emails from folks asking about my motivation for starting the DC Flacks happy hour, how I organize it, get folks to show up each month, and if they can copy the format in their town. Well, sure! And I’m happy to help! Here’s how DC Flacks came to be (feel free to plagiarize as much or as little as you want):

I like talking to strangers. Dave and I moved to DC last May. I was new to this city and needed a way to meet my fellow public relations and public affairs pros. So, I declared a happy hour and folks actually showed up. At first, there were just a handful of us. Then Twitter word-of-mouth took over; we had 40 folks in January and nearly 60 in February. Out of my purely selfish desire to meet new folks, DC Flacks was born. If you like talking to strangers, you’re gonna do great as a ___ Flacks host/hostess.

I heart Meetup.com. I had accompanied Dave on various adventures of the Nashville Photography Meetup that he founded back in 2006, so I was familiar with the concept. You don’t have to use Meetup to organize your happy hour, of course, but if you want to, here’s how: Read More…