The N.Y. Times article, “How Companies Learn Your Secrets,” didn’t scare me; it just confirmed much of what I’ve already suspected about the sophisticated ways in which brands can just know what you need. Thinkgeek knows that I buy stocking stuffer-ish products each December. Target knows that I have a dog, a lip gloss addiction (image) [...]

NPR had a piece this morning on Barry Wellman’s recent work analyzing Twitter networks and geography: “Why Twitter Ties Resemble Airline Hub Maps.” It’s a new spin on his catalog of research, which I remember reading much of as a graduate student. Dr. Wellman teaches at the University of Toronto (not too far from Buffalo, [...]

Find out the demographics of your Twitter followers with knowyourfollowers.com. Become a Twitter ninja (lordy, I hate that word) in 30 minutes a day via @tweetsmarter Get circled on Google+ via @glengilmore Urban Chicken Backlash by @dlepeska via @rachelbarnhart As long as you have a big enough yard and are prepared to deal with chicken droppings on [...]

cross-posted at Alumni Trending.  I have a challenge for anyone who works in an alumni or development office. Build a bank of questions that you can have in your toolkit the next time you are called upon to write an article, news item or feature that highlights one of your graduates. Once you get past [...]

PRSA’s campaign to redefine public relations, #prdefined, has its detractors, but the public relations industry has to give the organization some credit. After 30 years, the world has changed, and revising the definition to reflect technological and structural changes only makes sense. Each option is an improvement over the old definition: “Public relations helps an [...]

I try to check in on the HARO (Help a Reporter Out) emails at least once a day, and last night there was a request for “professional” (sure) advice about managing emails and making the emails you send more effective. I sent my thoughts and share them below. Do include a descriptive, appropriate subject line. [...]

I will preface this by saying that Stevenson’s publications are ones that I truly look forward to reading each month. I don’t remember how I discovered them, but I am grateful that I did. Here is a screenshot from an article a few years ago where I was cited in a short piece from Stevenson, [...]

While I wouldn’t characterize the presence of my smart phone in my life as transformative, it has changed the way I approach working with data and documents. I’ve long since abandoned using CDs or DVDs for anything but a backup for irreplaceable pictures and video. And flash drives are too unreliable and too easy to [...]

@FakeElsevier: a voice of reason in the debate over open access to scientific publications. Discovering your superpowers from @redcaperev via @IABC A tip from @your_say: A key to being good at SocialMedia is the ability to Be Social. Don’t just talk to yourself… Interact! If you’re serious about improving your writing, can you write three pages each day? Try 750words.com [...]

Publicity for a planning/informational meeting for IABC in Buffalo is ramping up, slowly but surely. I had a very productive chat with Cheryl Carr of Carr Marketing Communications, another at-large IABC member and previous chapter president. She gave me great leads on former members and I have already started to reach out to them. I [...]