On International Women’s Day — Just STOP! #IWD2012

March 8, 2012 Leave a comment

March 8, 2012: International Women’s Day — first observed in 1909 as a day to celebrate women, their accomplishments and contributions to society — is a day when I ask everyone to just STOP!

STOP devaluing women in the workplace.  Equal pay for equal work certainly sounds like both a logical and inherently American principle especially in 2012. But, as I’ve written previously, it remains an unobtained goal

STOP eroding women’s rights. Women are not second-class citizens and should not be treated as such. Attacks on rights granted by the Supreme Court should not be eroded by individual states that increase barriers to participation, such as, requiring a medical procedure prior to exercising your court sanctioned rights (yes, I am talking to you, Virginia and even worse, Texas), as that is as un-American as the old poll taxes and intelligence tests required by some states before African-Americans could vote until outlawed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

STOP attacking women in the workplace, in particular one of our most important resources – teachers. Yes, the education system needs a major overhaul but that involves issues related to policy, accountability and funding. Teachers are being attacked en masse (yes, I am speaking to you Pennsylvania with your “special rules” for the Philadelphia school district and to you New York) because they are an easy target for people frustrated with government, taxes, crime, etc. Oh yeah, and they’re 76% female.

STOP demeaning women in the media.  Please view this trailer for the documentary “Miss Representation” by filmmaker Siebel Newsom to understand how media affects women’s self-esteem, skewed body image and aspirations.

Now,that you’ve stopped– GO! Get mad and do something about it.

Filed under history, holidays, media Tagged with , , ,

Social Media Week 2012: Love, Personalization and the Death of Serendipity

February 14, 2012 Leave a comment


Ah, love. Each February 14 we celebrate all things love in remembrance of St. Valentine, a priest who (literally) lost his head over the emotion.  And so, by the powers of the Roman god Cupid; the Greek god Eros; and the consumer goods god Hallmark, we enjoy love found, curse love lost and are hopeful for love to come.

The logo for Love@AOL

Love@AOL - one of the first online dating sites

For me, it also brings back memories of my first “real” job in social media, as a Community Manager at AOL for one of its largest channels, Love@AOL. Launched as a Valentine;s Day special feature in 1996, it did so well that it became a permanent channel, with (at the time) the largest collection of online dating profiles featuring the newest innovation of the day — photos! Simply put, people — even online —  expressed a need to connect, to be social.

Fast forward to yesterday in New York City at the Third Annual Social Media Week New York. In his keynote speech titled ‘Top 2012 Trends in Social,  JWT CEO David Eastman pointed out that four key operators own almost all of the information about you  online. He called them “GAFA” (pronounced “gaffa”), they are: Read more of this post

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Happy Birthday Facebook and an Apology to Mark Zuckerberg

February 4, 2012 Leave a comment

the facebook original welcome screen

Facebook's home screen - 2004

Late afternoon eight years ago today (February 4, 2004), in a small room at Harvard University, Mark Zuckerberg flipped a switch and TheFacebook.com went live. Did he know he created a revolutionary platform that would help define the term social media? Hardly. As reported by The Harvard Crimson five days later, the Mark Zuckerberg of then is not much different from the Mark Zuckerberg of today: talented, impatient and cocky.

Having come off creating Facemash.com, his take on the popular “Hot or Not“site where people submit their photo for public judgment (except that he hacked the photos of Harvard students from the schools records resulting in student backlash), he turned his talents towards a Friendster type site — but one based upon “weak tie” connections like school; dorm residence; subject classes rather than a desire to find a date (or mate).  Perceiving the University’s attempt to create a universal face book as moving too slow, he wrote the code for TheFacebook in his dorm room in one week. Talented; cocky; impatient.

Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg '06 (right) credits his roommates, Dustin A. Moskovitz '06 and Christopher R. Hughes '06 (left and middle) as the site's social directors.Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg '06 (right) credits his roommates, Dustin A. Moskovitz '06 and Christopher R. Hughes '06 (left and middle) as the site's social directors.

Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg '06 (right) credits his roommates, Dustin A. Moskovitz '06 and Christopher R. Hughes '06 (left and middle) as the site's social directors.

After five days TheFacebook had 650 subscribers. Just eight short years later, it counts over 845 million worldwide registrants.  Early on, Zuckerberg rejected an offer from Friendster to sell for $10 Million just a few months after going live. A bold move for a college sophomore.

From the Harvard Crimson 2004 article:
“While Zuckerberg promised that thefacebook.com would boast new features by the end of the week, he said that he did not create the website with the intention of generating revenue. “

In 2008, he resisted Yahoo!‘s offer of $1 Billion (a move many thought foolish). This past week, Facebook filed the paperwork for a $5 Billion public offering that would value the company at between $750 and $100 Billion.

And so I owe Mark Zuckerberg an apology. In 2010, TIME Magazine named him Person of the Year. I wrote an entry at the time stating that it was not the best choice available (see Mark Zuckerberg,TIME Magazine Person of the Year — But Not Mine). But with a 28% ownership stake, Zuckerberg stands to be worth $28 Billion. Yes, that’s billion, with a “B”. Obviously, I was wrong in 2010 and for that I apologize.

I hope he’ll forgive me.

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New Broadway Hotline – 1-855-SEE-BWAY

February 1, 2012 Leave a comment

Broadway producer Ken Davenport

Broadway impresario Ken Davenport

Bravo to Broadway producer Ken Davenport (“Godspell” and others) and team for staffing the free Broadway hotline 1-855-SEE-BWAY. Want to know what’s opening or closing? Need to see what shows have performances on Mondays, or curtain times as early as 7:00PM? Curious as to who the leads currently are in a long-running show, or how long a TV or movie star will be in a current show?

Just ask Ken and his team from Davenport Productions who are staffing the line as a service for Broadway lovers (and more importantly, potential Broadway lovers).

Kudos, Ken.

Here’s a link to Ken’s blog entry: http://ow.ly/8OWYq

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A New Year, But Same Rules for Social Media PR

January 12, 2012 Leave a comment

Image courtesy of the Association of Web Design Professionals2011 was the year in which social media gained wider acceptance as a viable business tool. But in many ways th new year finds the chasm between Marketing and Communications over its use has grown wider.

I’ve written before about the ultimate goal for social media within the enterprise (see “Who Owns Social Media? Ultimate Answer: The Opposites”), but at the start of 2012 it seems (according to the job openings I have observed) that social media marketing is taking command, with calls for professionals experienced in social and viral marketing campaigns ruling the day.

So, when I found this article, The Do’s and Don’ts of Using Social Media in Crisis Communications, I noticed that despite the crisis communications spin of the headline the advice listed makes good sense for any company looking to leverage social media for Communications/PR. Briefly:

Dos
Accept social media as an ongoing tool; create a social media policy; trust and use your staff; plan on who and how to handle crisis communications; keep social media social – participate in the conversation; be honest; always think of your image.

Don’ts 
Try to ban social media use company wide – it won’t work; talk at you audience – engage with them;  try ti spin the message – insincerity is magnified (and readily apparent) online; keep your associates in the dark — keep them apprised and energized; mix corporate social media accounts with associates’ personal ones – accidents do happen.

Of course, the biggest “Do”: engage in social media. It’s a valuable cross-discipline tool for your entire organization.

image credit: association of web design professionals

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