9/11: 10 Years Later, Like Yesterday

September 11, 2011 Leave a comment

wtc

Image via Wikipedia

I was going to write my memories of the attack on our country on 9/11, in my New York, that occurred 10 years ago to the minute that this post was published, but I can’t. Each time I tried the emotions overcame me and I just cannot relive the details of that day and its aftermath. So let’s just say that living in the NYC area that day deeply affected me — and still does.

If you’re not from here (or D.C.) you may think you know what it was like — but you don’t. I don’t mean to belittle your personal 9/11 experience but for those of us who live near where the planes hit the effect was, and continues to be, devastating.

But I do want to mention one name to you today. Ernest James. What’s that? You don’t know him? Not surprising, he was a night janitor, one of the 2,753 average people for whom that sunny September morning who at the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan would be their last day alive. Why mention him? His remains were just identified August 23, 2011. That’s right, almost 10 years later the identification effort continues. Most people don’t realize that even now, over 1,100 victims have yet to found.

The pain remains. So, God bless the victims, including the first responders (343 New York City Fire Department firefighters, including FDNY Fire Chaplain (and childhood friend of my father and uncle), Franciscan Fr. Mychal Judge,, 23 New York City Police Department officers, 37 Port Authority Police Department officers, 15 EMTs and 3 Court Officers. God bless their families.

And God bless the U.S.A.

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Happy 100th IBM – and a One Word Lesson for Social Media

June 16, 2011 Leave a comment

Image representing IBM as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

Light the candles (and notify the Fire Marshall) on the cake and sing “Happy Birthday” to IBM as it celebrates its 100th birthday. Despite its many technological accomplishments including the revolutionary punch cards; electric typewriters, mainframes and personal computers, its most significant contribution to social media use may be its iconic company slogan — “THINK”.

On June 16, 1911 four companies merged into the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation in Endicott, NY creating one of the great American corporations, renamed in 1924 as International Business Machines, IBM. Three years later its iconic leader, Thomas J. Watson, instituted the one-word slogan that both encourages and cautions – THINK.

And that’s the social media lesson for brands and individuals today. Before you send that photo… before you post that angry rebuttal… before you denigrate others (no matter how well deserving)… before you tweet that knee-jerk reaction that , at the time, you are sure is justified… THINK.

Think about how what you send may be received. Think about how what you say can be interpreted. Think about whether what you are about to do maintains accuracy, integrity or transparency — or — just lowers you to the same level as the muckrakers and mudslingers.

Too often, brands have been tarnished, careers ended or major revenue lost, due to the failure to employ a “digital count-to-ten” before publishing on the Web.

It’s not enough being right. It’s not enoughbeing technically correct. In social media, as in all marketing and indeed much of life itself, it’s all about how what you do is perceived. So before you post, tweet, like or digg…

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In Defense of Women, or “Another Day, Another 77 Cents”

April 20, 2011 1 Comment

Women don’t need me (or any other man) to defend them, as they are quite capable of doing so themselves. But they do deserve my support and that of all men in their long and ongoing effort to achieve equality when it comes to treatment in the workplace, today earning about 77 cents for every dollar a man earns for similar work.

Married to a top corporate executive with two daughters working in the education and government fields, I have witnessed first-hand the challenges each face in pursing their careers. Two events last week got me thinking once again about this issue. The first, was the celebration of Equal Pay Day (Apr. 12) which strives to increase awareness of the discrepancy between male and female wages. The second was attending the “Shine On: Celebrating Women Making a Difference” awards at Radio city Music Hall (Apr. 11).

Despite the emergence of women as keen, capable business leaders the latest info shows they still only make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns for a similar job. To quote the Department of Labor,

“While women hold nearly half of today’s jobs, and their earnings account for a significant portion of the household income that sustains the financial well-being of their families, they are still experiencing a gap in pay compared to men’s wages for similar work.” (Dept. of Labor, Equal Pay Day Toolkit)

Yes, progress has been made over the years, and certainly,  there has been a fundamental change in the role of women in the workplace. While Stay at Home Moms (SAHM) remain a vital part of society wage equity has certainly lagged behind the realities of today’s workforce where men are not necessarily the family’s main wage-earner.

Portrait Monument image via WikipediaCongress as well has hampered equal pay progress by failing to pass HR:1519 The Paycheck Fairness Act in both 2009 and 2010 (although reintroduced last week with 168 congressional representative sponsors). Ironically, Congress itself is an equal-pay workplace, mandated to pay senators and representatives specific salaries regardless of gender. Of course, Congress also kept the Portrait Monument (left), dedicated to the pioneers of women’s suffrage Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, in the basement of the Capitol for 76 years before restoring it in the Rotunda in 1997, and even then said it’d only be there for one year (though obviously extended).  Hmm…

On a brighter note, Good Housekeeping — a “main stream media” magazine publisher that has remained relevant for over 125 years — celebrated women making history with its Shine On awards. This year’s winners were:

  • Christy Turlington Burns – For her work as an advocate via her Every Mother Counts
  • The sOccket Girls – Four Harvard grad students for combining  soccer with enlightenment
  • Elizabeth Blackburn – Nobel prize-winning scientist whose work may unlock a cure for cancer
  • Michelle Rhee – Controversial forward-thinking educator for her Students First organization
  • Lisa Switkin – Urban planner of green space including the High Line park in NYC
  • Indra Nooyi – Chairperson and CEO of Pepsico, Inc. also active in Water.org

Amazing people all, I was impressed with their intelligence, eloquence and passion to improve society.

Oh, and they just happen to be women.

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The First Amendment – First For a Reason

February 16, 2011 2 Comments

The Newseum's Five (5) freedoms guaranteed by ...

Image via Wikipedia

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

It never ceases to amaze me how eloquent, prescient and radical the founding fathers of our country were when they crafted the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution 222 years ago.

In barely enough characters to fill two tweets, the first (and arguably most important) amendment covers our most cherished freedoms: religion, speech, press and assembly to air grievances against the government.

Wow, think about the freedoms we enjoy — no, take for granted —  when you look at what’s happening Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Tunisia, Iran and other places in the world today.

Wisdom and enduring relevance more than two centuries later.

One wonders if today’s Congress could be as wise.

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To Stop the Bleeding AOL Applies a Patch

December 13, 2010 Leave a comment

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When I was at AOL, we had two areas that appealed to our members literally where they lived: Digital City (later CityGuide and now City’s Best) for local content features; and AOL Local which provided local based community forums. These areas really resonated with our members because as vast as AOL was in its hey-day, these relevant offerings touched them on a personal level.

Flash forward to the present, and those halcyon days are long gone. AOL is now a smaller player on the online scene with niche properties replacing the walled-garden portal. And, it is making a big splash in the formerly safe-haven for local media — hyper-local news — with Patch.

Patch sites have sprung up all over the U.S. and their success is taking its toll on local news orgs. It just launched its 500th site in Hopkins, Minnesota and despite Patch editor-in-chief Brian Farnham’s contention that, “We aren’t there to compete, but to just add another voice to serve the community,” Patch is causing local news media to make changes.

After the launch of Sonoma (Calif.) Patch, the local Sonoma Index-Tribune was forced to drop its three-month-old content paywall in order to compete.

Will Patch be AOL’s salvation? Combined with it’s niche sites (TMZ, Popeater, LemonDrop, et. al.) I think it just might. What do you think?

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