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and, yes that’d be twenty ten.  We’re taking off for the rest of the week.  See you dark (we post at midnight) and early Jan 4, 2010.  That’d be in about…

I've recently become obsessed with FourSquare. I can't seem to stop myself from "checking in" places, and now that they've made it easier to add new venues, I've become the resident scout for my town in New Jersey. So you can imagine how sad I was when my buddy Keith told me that he's not a fan of the service. However, I know that he isn't alone- many people are questioning the point of FourSquare and other location-based applications. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t care if you’re the mayor of the Kirksville YMCA, or you just ousted Marcy as the mayor of Pistol Pete’s Coffee Shop in Kalamazoo. That’s great … for you. But not so much for me. Even if I am your friend, and we have all long given up hope of not knowing every intimate detail of your life, played out for us online in real time, the fact that you have “checked in” at some store, office, coffee shop, etc., whether it be in the same city that I live in or 3,000 miles from me really doesn’t matter. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s that time of year again – time for reflection over the last 12 months, time to consider our victories and our losses, time for copious amounts of champagne and other adult beverages, and time to improve ourselves for the coming year.  And so, in no particular order (and with varying degrees of humor, sarcasm and (hopefully) wit)… Read the rest of this entry »

Well being that it has been one month, and one week, since my last post, it’s probably time to jump back on the bandwagon.  Between a new job, moving to NYC, and the holidays, balancing everything has been quite difficult for me.  Honestly, if it has been difficult for me, it most likely has been difficult for more out there, hence the post on Time Management.

I feel like every interview I go on, when someone asks “What is your weakness?” I always say, ‘Time Management.’ It’s definitely an easy out, because most people have time management issues so it’s pretty acceptable – and I’m not about to admit a fault that I have that isn’t acceptable…Now, don’t get me wrong, some people have natural time management skills, have minor OCD, can stick to agendas, and fit everything in their life, but this is definitely something that takes time.  The real question is how does one learn time management skills? Read the rest of this entry »

We all have opinions. Hell, those opinions, and its cousin – counsel – are a major part of what we as communications and brand management professionals are sought out and paid for. But at a certain point, no matter how great we think our opinions, ideas and strategies/tactics are, once the ideas are all out on the table, and our clients (or potential clients) and bosses have had a chance to mull them over, that’s when the really hard work begins. That’s when it’s time to compromise. And listen. And not get all bent out of shape when someone questions your motives or puts it right out there and says they just don’t like/get your concept or proposal. That can be a tough thing to accept, I’m learning. And yet, it’s actually quite a relief. It means we don’t always have to be perfect, and not all of our ideas have to be world-changing, save-the-planet and/or the-next-greatest-thing. It means we listen a little harder in 2010 and relinquish the silly “guru” and “expert” tags from our bios and Twitter intros and just listen to people’s needs. The economy may still be sour, but at the end of the day, there is still a great need for tons of companies, non-profits and organizations to cut through the clutter and make 2010 a hell of a lot better than 2009. Our job is to continue to give our opinions and stellar counsel and don’t get too bent out of shape because the new year is sure to present just as many questions as the past 12 months.

We all have opinions. Hell, those opinions, and its cousin – counsel – are a major part of what we as communications and brand management professionals are sought out and paid for. But at a certain point, no matter how great we think our opinions, ideas and strategies/tactics are, once the ideas are all out on the table, and our clients (or potential clients) and bosses have had a chance to mull them over, that’s when the really hard work begins. That’s when it’s time to compromise. Read the rest of this entry »

In a community characterized by comments and retweets, it is often difficult to notice when the SM becomes the news, rather than the news itself.

After reading some tweets the other week, I noticed the frequency of condolences directed towards @military_mom and felt compelled to dig a little deeper.

It seems, tweets have gone from being merely traceable in a Google search, to starring as the headline of an ABCNews story, the subject of Huffington Post’s scrutiny, and the fodder for a New York Post report as well. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve seen it. The template pitch. The “cut this person’s name out <here> and insert next person’s name <here>.” Outlook usually has this cute feature where any new text in a forwarded e-mail turns a different color making any changes obvious. I cannot stand when people carelessly forward along identical e-mails. Even more when they make it so obvious. It makes me wonder how many of these e-mails editors, producers and reporters receive… And I shiver.

Below is an e-mail I received from a guy we’ll call Jason. Jason is a very nice man. He came into my office, asked for some business contacts I knew and said he’d be happy to refer me any clients he had looking for PR. Great! All the greatness ended when Jason sent me this e-mail: Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Folks -

As everyone spreads to the four winds we at PRBC hope you have a happy, healthy, and safe (No Nog Driving) long holiday weekend. Rest up, avoid killing your family members, and smile when you get socks.

We’ll see y’all bright & early Monday midnight, that’d be in about…

As we enter a new decade, let’s all make a pact right here, right now. Let’s stop saying “two thousand” when we say the year.

Guys, it’s 2010. That’s “twenty ten.” We’ve gotten away with saying “two thousand blah blah” for far too long. It’s ridiculous. No one at the turn of the last century was saying, “Oh dear me, I cannot wait for nineteen thousand oh-one!” By rights, we should have been saying “twenty oh-five” or whatever, but because the new millennium was such a big deal, I let it slide.

But no longer. Read the rest of this entry »