Online ((ME))dia

Awesome

2010-03-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

Tweet Museum

Fresh

2010-03-08T22:43:00.001-08:00

3 Qualities to Look for When Hiring a Community Manager

2009-11-16T17:06:00.000-08:00

3 Qualities to Look for When Hiring a Community Manager

by Jennifer Van Grove (Mashable)

Nov 16, 2009 -
With the prevalence and growing importance of using social media to connect with customer communities, the community or social media manager is fast becoming a commonplace and much-needed position at companies around the world.

Determining whether or not you need a community manager for your small business is a question in and of itself (though this post is not without some guidance on that front). But once you do make the decision to hire someone to be the online and offline face of your company, as well as the go-between for internal resources and external voices, then you need to focus on finding that right person.  The best way to start your search for a community or social media manager is to talk to and learn from those already succeeding in the role. I tracked down three recognizable staffers in customer-facing community positions, each with their own creative approach to community building, and asked them to identify one nonnegotiable quality that you should look for during the hiring process. Here's what they had to say:

1. Intellectual Curiosity

George G Smith Jr. [@GeorgeGSmithJr] is Crocs' rock star resident social media specialist. He believes that all businesses, regardless of their size, "already have a community manager in some form or another," but that if "a businesses' community is growing to the point where they start to question whether they should have an in house Community Manager, then they probably do."  His advice for small businesses looking to hire a community manager is to seek out individuals with intellectual curiosity.  Smith Jr. says, "I think a quality that almost all Community Managers have is intellectual curiosity. That trait is pervasive throughout their entire job description. You need to have that intellectual curiosity to learn everything you can about the company/brand that you are working for. Whether it’s customer service procedures, specifics about products, or just corporate culture – a successful community manager will have the curiosity to learn it all. On the flip side, they will also take that trait into the community. They will want to engage the members of their community because the curiosity is really a form of passion which will allow them to integrate seamlessly into their targeted community. It won’t be a one way relationship but a true two way relationship."  Speaking from my own prior experience as a community manager, I agree with Smith Jr. wholeheartedly. A great community manager is one who has an unquenchable hunger for knowledge.  Of course, intellectual curiosity is hard to find from bullet points listed in a resume, so Smith recommends that you, "ask questions about a person’s passions and hobbies in life. I think you’ll find that the intellectually curious will always be discovering new things that they can feel passionate about. Listening to someone talk about the things that they do for fun will reveal a lot about their methodology behind the things that they work on professionally."

2. Passion

Brad Nelson has become the poster boy for how to use Twitter to build and support a massive online and offline community. He's been Starbuck's "Official Tweeter" [@Starbucks], and has been their product manager on a social media front since before it was trendy to tweet. In fact, Nelson's role, and the visibility of the Starbucks Twitter account, has no doubt influenced countless other big brands to take the Twitter leap.  As to whether or not you need a community manager for your small business, Nelson says, "The community manager is the voice for the company externally, and the voice for the customer internally. All types of business have found success in the online space, so don’t think it’s not for you. More than ever, customers turn online to find your company or leave good and bad comments about your company. If you’re approachable, they will turn to you and ask questions. Every company should embrace this role, in some way or capacity. It comes down to being an approachable and friendly company online."  The one quality that Nelson says you can't live without in a good community manager is passion. "The most important aspect of any community or social media manager is passion for the company, the product and the people. Every great community manager I’ve ever met loves all of these things. Yes, you need to have someone who is savvy online, but passion is more important. I worked as a barista at Starbucks during high school and college. I really came to love the customers, the coffeehouse and the coffee, so I try to take the type of conversations I had in stores and apply them online."

3. Knowledge of Your Business

As JetBlue Airways’ Manager of Corporate Communication, one of Morgan Johnston's tasks is to manage the company’s very popular Twitter account, putting him on the front lines for fielding costumer and media inquiries and attacks.  His take is that, "Every company should at least be monitoring social media. As for those that should take the step of hiring a social media manager? Any company where a large number of their target customers are online; any company where there is a lack of available information online; any company where the customers could benefit from having a community."  Morgan advises those small businesses looking to fill a community or social media manager position to pay less attention to social media prowess, and instead put someone in the position with "an intimate knowledge of your business, or the immediate resources to access and apply that knowledge."  Morgan also asserts that, "Social media acumen can be learned - and your customers will be more than happy to teach what they want, but what they need is someone with the knowledge and expertise in the subject that only you can provide."

FCC Adopts Open Net Rules

2009-10-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved a much-anticipated open Internet proposal despite concerns of commission Republicans and big cable and phone companies that the rules aren't necessary.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the draft rules are designed to protect consumers' right to access lawful content, applications, and services. "Government should not be in the business of running or regulating the Internet," he said.
read more here.

LA food on the go!

2009-09-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed this post about all of LA's different eateries jumping on the Twitter/ Kogi bandwagon! Yum can't wait to sample them all!

WHO AM I?

2009-08-21T17:18:00.001-07:00

Alexandra Camille Asselin Hernandez Bio
Alex Asselin Hernadez currently works at NBC.com as the Online Community Manager while getting her M.A. in Communication Management from the University of Southern California specializing in Online Communities. Alexandra Asselin was born in Paris, France and spent her childhood between the United States, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic. She received her B.A. in Communications from American University in Washington DC, and later moved to Los Angeles to be a freelance film editor. After working on editing for an ongoing webseries, she became increasingly interested in Digital Media and the Internet as a marketing tool. Before NBC, Alex worked at Revver- an online video sharing site, that she helped build from the ground up. At Revver, she worked closely with developers to ensure a user-friendly experience, she moderated the community of hundreds of video creators, did editorial and assisted in producing content for the web. Alex was also heavily involved with content acquisition and creator development. She has worked closely with the Creative Commons movement and helped define and protect the rights of online creators. If you want to talk about Online Media as it pertains to social change, community, open source, peer production, UGC, viral marketing, social media marketing, UE, internet video, QA, social networking, or monetization models, she just may be your girl! Alex is a firm believer in using the Internet as a catalyst for social change. She hails from Washington DC but after 6 years calls Los Angeles her home where she lives in Echo Park with her newlywed husband, 2 pets.

Survey Monkey is fun and easy!

2009-07-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

Please take this quick 8 question survey!

Click Here to take survey

Companies pledge more openness about Web tracking

2009-07-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

New Self Regulating Policies in Web Advertising

"The new guidelines recommend that companies tell consumers more clearly when they're being tracked, educate them on how Web tracking works and give them an easy way to opt out of being followed." Read more here.

And what about iPhones and Facebook? Shouldn't the public be concerned there? My good friend Jeffery sent me this.

My new favorite site

2009-07-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

For a long time, that’s been a tough question to answer. In dense, bustling cities like Chicago, New York and San Francisco, the number of daily media reports, government proceedings and local Internet conversations is staggering. Every day, a wealth of local information is created — officials inspect restaurants, journalists cover fires and Web users post photographs — but who has time to sort through all of that?

EveryBlock is a new experiment in online journalism, offering a news feed for every city block in 15 cities. Enter any address, neighborhood or ZIP code in those cities, and the site shows you recent public records, news articles and other Web content that’s geographically relevant to you. To our knowledge, it’s the most granular approach to local news ever attempted.

June 25th 2009

2009-07-01T11:22:00.001-07:00

Revver's days are numbered

2009-05-01T13:52:00.001-07:00

Bu the good thing is we will always have this..........

Check this out!

2009-04-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

Ok- I've seen a TON internet videos in my day, so needless to say it's rare that I find one that really impresses me. Today I was forwarded this by a good friend.
I Love it! Thank you Jeffery!

The White House on Flickr

2009-04-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

This week the Obama Administration released it's official Flickr channel. The pictures are a window into this Administration's first 100 days. Not only do they represent the White House's commitment to embrace social media but also it's fulfillment of promising transparency to the American public. Some of my favorites are below.

But first, while on the subject of the President's first 100 days...let us look back at what Mr. Bush (aka the War President) was able to accomplish during his first 100 days...that of course was when Mr. Bush wasn't taking the record for the most vacations of any US president in history.

In President Bush's first 100 days in office he:
-Refused to help consumers harmed by the Western electricity crisis.
-Opposed comprehensive protections for patients in HMOs.
-Proposed large budget cuts and misguided plans for health care.
-Refused to provide adequate funding for low-income energy assistance.
-Decided to allow cable TV and telephone monopolies to expand.
-Endorsed a bankruptcy bill that excessively punished honest consumers hit by unexpected debts.
-Proposed killing a program to help low-income consumers who cannot afford to open bank accounts.
(source)

Change Is Here.

More pictures of the White House on Flickr can be found here.

A Gaythering Storm

2009-04-21T15:28:00.001-07:00

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

2009 Grilled Cheese Invitational

2009-04-20T22:59:00.001-07:00

Los Angeles State Historic Park
1245 N. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
4/25/09
12:00pm - 6:00pm
Competition starts at 1:00pm
Admission Fee: $5
Competition Fee: $10

More info can be found here.

Amazing 3D immersion technology

2009-04-20T22:55:00.001-07:00

WOW

Scientists warn of Twitter dangers

2009-04-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Twitter, which allows users to swap messages and links of 140-characters or less, says on its Web site that it sees itself as a solution to information overload, rather than a cause of it.

Related:
Three Hidden Dangers of Twitter

StumbleUpon Goes Independent; Backed by Founders and New Investors

2009-04-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

StumbleUpon Beats Skype In Escaping EBay’s Clutches (TechCrunch)

Back in September, we reported that eBay was attempting to sell off StumbleUpon, the website recommendation service it bought for $75 million in 2007. That didn’t happen. And now the company has been spun off to start life over as an independent startup, backed by new investors and the original founders.

The new company is led by co-founder Garrett Camp, who now steps into the CEO role. Co-founder Geoff Smith also joins Camp in returning to lead the company, but in an unannounced role. The company is backed by Sherpalo Ventures, Accel Partners, and August Capital. David Hornik from August Capital and Sameer Gandhi of Accel Partners join the board.

“The company is amply funded. And everyone is glad that the company is away from eBay,” a source tells us. eBay had previously been looking for a minimum of $75 million for StumbleUpon. It’s likely the spin out valuation was significantly lower than that. Our understanding is that Sequoia placed a competing bid, but Camp and investor Ram Shriram went with Accel and August Capital.

It’s not clear if eBay maintains a stake in the company, but that seems fairly unlikely. Really, its interest in the company never made a lot of sense in the first place. StumbleUpon is a way for users to find interesting sites throughout the web. While eBay certainly could have used that technology to find interesting things on its site, it never did that.

And StumbleUpon’s traffic has been falling in the past year. In February 2008, the site was at 2.6 million unique visitors. But in February 2009 that number was down to 1.4 million, according to comScore (chart below). Of course, traffic numbers are a bit odd to use with StumbleUpon because the service doesn’t require that you visit its actual site if you use its popular web browser toolbar. But last year it launched a frame-based toolbar that kept you on the StumbleUpon domain in a way similar to what Digg is now doing with the DiggBar.

Similarly, just as the DiggBar allows users to shorten URLs, StumbleUpon had been working on a way to do this using the Su.pr domain.

This news comes at a time when reports are circulating that VoIP company Skype’s founders are also trying to rip it back out of the hands of eBay. That may be a bit more complicated as eBay bought Skype for a cool $3.1 billion back in 2005.

In its former life as a startup, StumbleUpon raised a $1.5 million seed round of funding in December of 2005.

Obama opens crack in U.S. embargo against Cuba

2009-04-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Obama opens crack in U.S. embargo against Cuba

10 Twitter tips from early federal adopters

2009-04-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

Having trouble convincing your boss that Twitter isn't a waste of time? Then you might find it interesting to learn that social media evangelists across the U.S. federal government are blasting out Tweets several times a day to their constituents. Here are their suggestions for how to integrate new media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and Flickr into a large, old-fashioned bureaucracy:
By Carolyn Duffy Marsan

Is Web 2.0 Abandoning the UGC Ship?

2009-04-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Is Web 2.0 Abandoning the UGC Ship?
Great article by Sarah Lacy

CVS joins Google Health Rx network

2009-04-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

Google Health partners with CVS.

Jason Kincade writes:
The slow but steady march towards a unified online healthcare management system continues. Google has announced that it has forged a new partnership with CVS, one of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains, allowing CVS customers to import their full prescription history into Google Health. CVS joins other major pharmacies including Longs Drugs and Walgreens in offering the same functionality, which combined now allow over 100 million Americans to import their medical histories into Google Health, which launched last May.

It may not sound terribly exciting at first, but the ability to quickly look up a patient’s past and current medications is actually very important in an age when it seems that nearly everyone is on at least one prescription medication. While national pharmacies can typically look up what medications you’ve filled from other branches of their store, they can’t search through the systems of other chains, so they’re forced to rely on the patient to self-report their medical history.
Unfortunately most people have pretty poor memories when it comes to remembering their current and past medications, especially when they’re taking generic drugs, which can lead to some very dangerous drug combinations (the Google blog post notes that as many as 1.5 million Americans a year are harmed by dangerous medication interactions). By aggregating prescription histories in a single place (which users can then share with their doctors and loved ones), Google Health can help cut down on these harmful drug interactions.

Of course, a central hub for your prescription history is only really useful if you can import all of your prescriptions, not just most of them. And Google Health is still missing out on a few major players, including national store chains like Wal-Mart and Target. Google won’t comment on who they’re currently in talks with, but I suspect they’re trying to get as many of these chains on board as possible.

Google Health doesn’t seem to get as much attention as many of Google’s other properties, but my guess is that it will be among the company’s most important assets a few years down the line. The American healthcare system makes accessing past records, prescriptions, test results, and other important data a huge hassle, not to mention the ridiculously confusing (and uncentralized) hubs offered by health insurers and pharmacies. There are privacy issues abound with a centralized system (the fact that Google insists on labeling its health product as a Beta is definitely unsettling, as are the company’s past security issues), but the potential benefits may well outweigh the risks.

Tweetfind

2009-04-06T09:18:00.001-07:00

Tweefind Applies Google Magic to Twitter Search

(Interesting article from Mashable)
Remember how Google conquered the world of search? They figured out a way to tell which web sites are more important than others, by judging how many links are pointing to them, and called it Google PageRank (it’s a bit more complex than that, but it was one of the key parts of Google’s search algorithm).

Now, Tweefind is doing something similar for Twitter. It’s a Twitter search engine which returns results based on rank, hopefully returning more relevant results and users on top.

Rank is calculated through several parameters. Creator of Tweefind, luca Filigheddu, lists them:

# followers
# following
# of tweets
# of RT he/she receives
# of replies
# of distinct users who reply
# of distinct users who retweet
# of RT he/she makes
# of links the user shares

This approach raises some interesting questions. Are Twitter users with more followers, tweets, replies or retweets more relevant in the context of real time one-to-many conversations? Is there really a “rank” on Twitter that can be calculated and be useful in real world usage? Could an approach similar to Google’s PR algorithm do for Twitter search what it did for Google?

Botanicalls Twitter

2009-03-31T09:11:00.000-07:00

Botanicalls Twitter answers the question: What's up with your plant? It offers a connection to your leafy pal via online Twitter status updates that reach you anywhere in the world. When your plant needs water, it will post to let you know, and send its thanks when you show it love.

How to Start an Online Community.

2009-03-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

This week we need to think about component areas necessary to build a successful Online Community. Here is what I'm finding so far on the subject:

Building a successful online community.
Five rules for building a successful online community.
A 3 Month Pre-Community Strategy
Start an Online Community
Things to Think About Before You Start Your Online Community
4 Key Things To Start Your Online Forum Community
How to start an online community using a forum.

Trouble and Her Friends

2009-03-23T13:57:00.001-07:00

Trouble and her friends
By Melissa Scott

Less than 100 years in the future….(2094)

It’s been weird on the NETS. Trouble aka India Carless a notorious hacker has gone underground never to been seen again when one day an impersonator using her handle begins to wreak havoc on the NETS.

India is forced to come out of hiding and reunite with her ex lesbian lover, now Government agent, Cerise.

The overly poetic story tends to drag while going in to explicit detail inter cut with dream like sequences taking you, the reader into the NETS via India’s brain. India has installed what is known as a Brainworm- total body immersion into the NETS.

“Trouble represents a feminist approach to femininity in cyberspace”
Trouble had earned her name on the NETS.

Key Concepts:
IC(E) Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics- security programs that protect computerized data from hackers.

India (Trouble is queen hacker) or a CRACKER. They would move around in fear of the shadows and also in fear of being recognized.

Treasury: Government

There are designer drugs (tiny pink pills) that you wash down with coffee that keep you up all night but don’t cloud your judgment.

The BBS runs like a streaming wave of code that you can jump on and ride to places or simply observe.

The NETS as a dirty seedy underground corrupt almost dangerous place. There is also the concept of coming out of the bright lights.

Brainworm: a plug that connects the NETS directly thru the side of her head. It is possible to walk the NETS with out a Brainworm, however to really feel the net you need one. For $3,500 you take the risk of a powerful heightened experience or if it power surges, you end up like a drooling idiot. Once installed you can upgrade and trade in your chips. You can actually HURT yourself physically while on the NETS. Brainworm is said to signify women in cyberspace.

Sex: W2W actually safer now

Evan Tisdale movement created to monitor activity on the nets.

“Friends” include:
Cherise, Liesvelt, Silk, Mabry, Butch, Huu, Mollie, Nova, Blake and Max

In the end India and Cherise prevail and uncover the Mayor of Seahaven’s – a popular city on the net- plot to infiltrate the NETS and the IC(E) by hiring a young male hacker to pose as Trouble.

A prophephtic poetic novel-overly complicated and even boring at times but a smart theme and even smarter author.

Author Melissa Scott:

Email Regret

2009-03-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

Another day, another new feature in Gmail Labs. This one could be more useful than most, as it’s something you probably have a reason to use with some frequency. It’s called “Undo Send,” and as the name suggests, it lets you take back a sent email, as long as you act quickly enough.

After enabling the feature, Undo Send works much like Gmail’s other “undo” features. When you send an email, you get a message confirming it has been sent, along with a link to “Undo.” This message lasts for 5 seconds, at which point you lose the opportunity to take it back.

While that might not be much time, it’s probably enough to pull back emails where you forget an attachment, forget to cc someone, or catch an obvious typo

No more waiting in line!

2009-03-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

The Average American is said to spend 6 months of their life waiting in line. My attitude has always been that waiting in line sucks, but we all have to do it- so grab a book or magazine and deal with it. As we move into practically a completely digital age, can technology save us the hassle? Introducing...
Qless! QLess is a queue-management solution using mobile phones to physically eliminate the need to wait in line

Genius Idea: When you show up to a restaurant and it’s fully booked, sometimes you’ll get lucky and they’ll have some sort of electronic coaster you can take with you to roam around within a few yards of the establishment. Other times, you’ll just have to sit and wait or risk losing your spot in line.

QLess is looking to provide a more logical system that uses your mobile phone. The idea is that you can check into a line by sending a text message or making a phone call, without even the need for someone to physically check you in. Then, you’ll simply receive a text message or phone call when your turn in line has come up.

In addition to making things more convenient for customers, QLess offers establishments that use it a number of marketing and research features. For example, you can send out coupons to customers that are waiting in line, and utilize analytics to see how your establishment is trending in terms of return customers or average wait time.

While restaurants are the most logical place for something like QLess to take hold, the company is also targeting doctor’s offices, pharmacies, and amusement parks, among other places where waiting in line is common.

As a customer, there’s not much to see unless you encounter a QLess-powered line in the wild. But as a business that might want to consider implementing its service, QLess’ website offers some more details on the features and how to get setup.

Ultimately, QLess is an idea that makes sense, and seems more lightweight (it’s all Web-based) than the type of hardware and software-based solutions that you typically encounter at busy restaurants

Top 10 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs

2009-03-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a great post from Mashable I wanted to re-post!

Top 10 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs
Dan Schawbel is the author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 09), and owner of the award winning Personal Branding Blog.

Looking for a job? Consider creating your own. There are a number of social resources to help you connect with other entrepreneurs and get your business ideas off the ground.

Here are the top 10 social networks for entrepreneurs. Each helps entrepreneurs succeed by providing them with the guidance, tools and resources they need to setup their company and gain exposure.

Noted- Agile and Scrum

2009-03-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

Agile software development is a group of software development methodologies that are based on similar principles. Agile methodologies generally promote a project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation, a leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork, self-organization and accountability, a set of engineering best practices that allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software, and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals.

Scrum is an iterative incremental process of software development commonly used with agile software development

SoulPancake!

2009-03-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

SoulPancake is live.

The 50 Media Sites Bloggers Link To The Most

2009-03-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what everyone else is reading? According to Technorati here is a list of the top 50 media sites that blogger (like you!) link to the most. YouTube takes the top spot with the New York Times, BBC News, CNN.com, and MSN rounding out the top five. Are you surprised by any on the list?

Here’s the list in its entirety:

YouTube
New York Times
BBC News
CNN.com
MSN
guardian.co.uk
Washington Post
Yahoo! News
Reuters
Los Angeles Times
Telegraph.co.uk
MSNBC
The Wall Street Journal
Time
Wired
USA Today
boston.com
FOX News
Daily Mail
ESPN
CBS News
Financial Times
Forbes
San Francisco Chronicle
Chicago Tribune
The White House
New York Post
New York Daily News
International Herald Tribune
PBS
Salon.com
BusinessWeek
Slate
Newsweek
New York Magazine
Economist.com
CBC.ca
San Francisco Examiner
MarketWatch
Chicago Sun-Times
US News & World Report
Houston Chronicle
Yahoo! Sports
Entertainment Weekly
Seattle Times
E! Online
People
Science Daily
Style.com
The Christian Science Monitor

this is it

2009-03-05T23:38:00.000-08:00

The Most Awesome Thing On The Internet Today is.....

2009-03-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

Twitter

2009-03-03T14:19:00.001-08:00

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Twitter Frenzy

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

NOTED- TRANSMEDIA

2009-03-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

The 8 defining characteristics of a trans-media production (by Jeff Gomez):

1) Content is originated by one or a very few visionaries
2) Cross-media rollout is planned early in the life of the franchise
3) Content is distributed to three or more media platforms
4) Content is unique, adheres to platform-specific strengths, and is not repurposed from one platform to the next
5) Content is based on a single vision for the story world
6) Concerted effort is made to avoid fractures and schisms
7) Effort is vertical across company, third parties and licensees
8) Rollout features audience participatory elements, including:
- Web portal
- Social networking
- Story-guided user-generated content

Examples of contemporary trans-media properties include:
The Blair Witch Project
The Matrix
Hot Wheels: World Race / Acceleracers
Bionicle
Pokemon
Magic: The Gathering
Many Disney projects, including High School Musical, Pirates of the Caribbean, Fairies, Hannah Montana
The source of this info.

Video Response using the Flip Cam <3

2009-03-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

I chose to comment on this video.

and my response

using a handy little flip camera...jeees I look tired!

Skittles

2009-03-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

"Don't sweat it, this is still Skittles.com. It just has a new twist. User this as your guide to find anything and everything Skittles that's online. Have fun."

By now I'm sure that most of you have seen the new Skittle site.
The new Skittles.com features content about the candy created by its consumers on a host of social media sites, including Google’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo’s Flickr photo site. On Monday, the content of the site was pulled from Twitter. Any Twitter user who mentioned the word “Skittles” was featured on the Skittles home page.
Is this a smart move for Skittles? I'd have to say YES.
More on the the subject here here, and here
Here is one anti-skittles website....wow who hates Skittles?

Hey Los Angeles...what's happening?

2009-03-01T19:37:00.001-08:00

Hey Los Angeles, feeling bored? Looking for something to do? I've made a list of some of my favorite websites and blogs about the LA area that are sure to keep you constantly stimulated!
Experience LA
Flavor Pill
Blogging LA
LA City Beat
My Open Bar
Book LA
Calendar Live
KCRW
Art Scene
LA Observed
Curbed
Art Blogging LA
The Flog
CitySearch
Yelp

Paul Boag and Online Communities

2009-02-24T11:39:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed this blog posting by Paul Boag. His article

7 harsh truths about running online communities

highlights 7 ideas to consider in building an Online Community. It's an essential read! His points include:
1. technology does not create community
2. show some commitment
3. learn how to lead
4. an antisocial community is your fault
5. you need to swallow your pride
6. stop trying to control the message
7. nobody likes to be alone

Additional info on this here and here.

Facebook and Open Social

2009-02-23T22:11:00.000-08:00

OpenSocial is a set of common application programming interfaces (APIs) for web-based social network applications, developed by Google along with MySpace and a number of other social networks. It was released November 1, 2007. Applications implementing the OpenSocial APIs will be interoperable with any social network system that supports them, including features on sites such as Hi5.com, MySpace, orkut, Netlog, Sonico.com, Friendster, Ning and Yahoo!-Wikipedia.com

Here is am interesting presentation on Open Social

Sounds great right? So why is Facebook is denying the love? Facebook COO Owen Van Natta responded by saying his company was "evaluating" OpenSocial. "Standards which reduce friction for developers are good," he said. "Facebook is going to embrace standards which enhance those things." However, "privacy and control of security is really important. If that is going to be undermined in any way, that is something we can't do," he added.-SeekingAlpha.com

Seems to me that the other reason is that they have Facebook Connect. Facebook Connect is a single sign-on service that competes with OpenID, the service enables Facebook users to login to affiliated sites using their Facebook account and share information from such sites with their Facebook friends.-Wikipedia.com

Come on Facebook-can't we all just get along?

A Hip Hop Guide to Twitter and Digg

2009-02-13T11:04:00.001-08:00

A Hip Hop guide to Twitter.
"Each day, more and more people from the rap community - rappers like Rhymefest, Mos Def, Q-Tip, Jay Electronica, Phonte from Little Brother and even Jay-Z and Kanye West are signing on to Twitter. And its a fascinating window into their lives."

A Hip Hop guide to Digg.
"Getting on the front page of Digg is like the mythical unicorn - everyone one is looking for it and very few actually find it. As the tale goes, if you are lucky enough to get on the front page of Digg, you’re website will crash. They’ll be so many hits, you’ll finally be an internet celebrity. The so-called “Digg effect”. Or so it goes."

100 People you must follow on Twitter is you love Hip Hop!
"In NO particular order, here are 100 hip-hop people to follow on Twitter"

Free Documentarys Online !

2009-02-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

I found this today! VERY COOL!
Speaking of documentaries, one of my favorites (although not available @free documentaries.net), Is the The Walmart Movie. If you haven't seen it already, I STRONGLY recommend this film.
The Walmart movie - The High Cost or Low Price- is a MUST see!

What an eye-opening film. WOW

Batwoman is Gay!

2009-02-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

2009 will see its first lesbian superhero in its longest running book as Batwoman takes over Detective Comics.

The modern Batwoman is written as being of Jewish descent and as a lesbian in an effort by DC editorial staff to diversify its publications and better connect to modern day readership. Batwoman's sexual orientation has been both criticized and praised by the general public and the character has been described as the highest profile gay character to appear in stories produced by DC Comics.
More on the complete history of Batwoman can be found here.

What the heck is PORK spending?

2009-02-09T10:47:00.000-08:00

Pork Barrel spending and the current stimulus plan.

If you are anything like me, you are curious as to why so many people are coming forward to oppose the current administrations stimulus package. The term pork fat is constantly being thrown around.

What does it mean? According to Wikipedia: In United States politics, the term pork barrel refers to the appropriation of government spending for projects that are intended primarily to benefit particular constituents, such as those in marginal seats or campaign contributors. So what does this have to do with Obamas plan?
Here is the breakdown-

Do you consider his spending ideas to be pork?

Coincidentally, According to the Citizens Against Government Waste a watchdog group New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is our new grand national oinker among presidential contenders for most pork barrel spending. She inserted a whopping 281 individual spending projects into bills for the benefit of New York interests at the cost of taxpayers everywhere.

My online obsession called Etsy.

2009-02-02T22:10:00.000-08:00

There is a website that every creative person should know about; it's called Etsy. Etsy is a community or artist of every sort. The global community connects you to top notch one of a kind products at affordable prices. The products are artist direct. There are 10000's of treasures and interesting way to find them. Here is an example of how Etsy not only delivers amazing products, but a friendly community and fresh ideas. Etsy even has delicious homemade treats.

Holy YUM!

Steelers make NFL history!!

2009-02-01T19:58:00.000-08:00

Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super bowl for the 6th time!
I have to admit I wasn't overly excited for the Superbowl this year, but MAN was this a good football game! It was exciting down to the last second of the game! This game was such a great way to finish out the season (sobbing).... The halftime show was ehhhh preforming was the Boss himself Mr. Bruce Springsteen.

Goodbye for now sweet Football, I will miss you!

The first day of my new job @ NBC

2009-01-26T21:10:00.000-08:00

I started my new job today. I was greeted by most with a "We are glad you are here" and bunch of "Yay's"
...translation....
"There is a ton of work to be done"

Normally I'd be more excited but today I woke up feeling soooo crappy (I've been sick all week) and as the day has gone by, I'm feeling worse! ugh But enough of my bitching....I gotta lay down. More to come....

Thoughts for the day

2009-01-25T22:01:00.001-08:00

Open Source
Common Based Peer Production

Communication Breakdown

2009-01-25T14:28:00.001-08:00

This video is ridiculous, yet I feel the need to share it on my communication blog. You've seen the signs posted around town, now accent elimination is as easy as dogs in bath tubs, a Nazi themed hangover and flying blood....all these plus many can become to you too.... watch the video and learn!

"Nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye"

2009-01-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

Bush Leaves the White House

There is only one thing better than Barack Obama moving into the White House and that's George Bush moving out. This afternoon George Bush packed his bags and his 22% approval rating and boarded a helicopter bound for the plane that would take him back to Texas for good.

With an estimated 1.5 million people in attendance, the crowd cheered and sang "Nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye"

Bush will live primarily in a new home in Dallas, near the future Bush presidential library (yes that right folks...a library)
I can only hope we will never see him back in Washington unless of course its on trial for being a war criminal. Goodbye Mr Bush, may we learn, grow and never forget your 8 years of shame.

2009-01-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

indie 103.1 is going off the air?

I almost couldn't believe it- indie 103.1 was vanishing from the airwaves. Could this be? For any of you living in LA, indie 103.1 (like it or not) has become a staple of the LA scene for the last 5 years. This Thursday they announced they were going off the air and moving to exclusively online broadcasting.

The reason given so far is "because of changes in the radio industry and the way radio audiences are measured, stations in this market are being forced to play too much Britney, Puffy and alternative music that is neither new nor cutting edge. Due to these challenges, Indie 103.1 was recently faced with only one option --- to play the corporate radio game"

Is this an indication of the time? Is it yet another example of traditional media's struggle to adapt in a modern online era? When will advertisers see that popularity and success are not effectively measured by current standards set in place. Making a stand against these advertisers may not seem like much but as listeners spend their more of their time online, advertisers will be forced to pay attention.

Unfortunately attempts to save the station are proving to be of little help. In the end however it all comes down to dollars. Inside sources at the station tell me the station will be replaced be Spanish station El Gato. More information on El Gato can be found here

Like many who have turned to the Internet as their only home, indie 103.1 is currently striving to figure out ways to make the Internet work for them. The biggest issue I predict is that no one has internet radio in their cars- YET. Technology will have soon to adapt, cars sales may even depend on it.