Does Forbes "Influential Twitterer" List Fuel Spam?

Study Forbes' Most Influential Twitterers but think before signing up -- these huge "Follower" lists may attract back-door “direct mail” advertisers.

Me? I clicked “follow” on several. Almost immediately, Twitter emailed – "new followers" for me.

That felt good for the same 3.4 seconds it takes to figure why you got the jewelry "party" invite.

What now?



#1 -- “Block” rogue Followers, an easy Twitter tool.


# 2 -- “Follow” sparingly. Know the best Re-tweets. Lurk via twitter.com.

Real solution:

Curtail Ads ... Or Catch next Rave. This one’s getting noisy.

Career Sense amid the World Wide Rave

It’s a welcome moment of career clarity.

Caught by David Meerman Scott’s “World Wide Rave,” my planned corporate re-entry should be as Corporate Storyteller, Information Packager, Brand Journalist, Narrative Marketer, or whatever new moniker next pops up.

It’s a job that requires social media enthusiasm, feature writing flair, editorial confidence, freelance-honed creativity, real-world business acumen, marketing know-how… and a decade of corporate client management experience to best leverage the rest. My background.

No lie.



Think free e-book, coming soon. Possible blog spin-off.

One small rave should do the trick.

I.C.U. -- But Now I don't

There’s an immediate kinship among I.C.U. patient families, everyone living hospital-staged dramas, individuals cast in supporting roles of various ranks.

Between 2-at-a-time bedside visits, I.C.U. sentinels befriend one another in the waiting room, chat by the elevators, share cafeteria breakfast tables. Personal concerns, blended.


Everyone flung into the same leaky lifeboat.


Yesterday, I received Dad’s post-surgery thank-you-for-being-there note. More than anything, I felt lucky. Ours was a happy ending.

But it made me wonder – what about those we’d left in the I.C.U. ...

Did they make it to shore?

Testing Information Confidence

Information Confidence:

Ability to find -- and use -- the right information.


What my teenager knew – midnight, Saturday:

(1) He’d left calculator under Oakland school desk after SATs - not his school
(2) Classroom number
(3) Teacher’s name on blackboard – not proctor
(4) Guy next to him played on school's basketball team, recognized proctor

Within minutes my son emailed teacher and principal, and identified basketball player (alas, no Facebook address)

Sunday, Principal emails “you can look” 8am Monday meeting offer.

Result: Calculator found, still under the desk.

How did you leverage your Information Confidence to solve a problem today?

Part of the Rave

It started with needing Air -- a break from Dad's hospital room. A walk to George Washington University’s bookstore.








Marketing fun-read.


Dad goes home. Back in California, I log onto David Meerman Scott's blog and tap free World Wide Rave download.

I resuscitate twitter account, tweet about free book and am immediately Re-Tweeted.

Now feeling "social," I decide to "follow" more. I add Patti Digh. She's just FollowFriday’d @CCSeed. (Richard Reeve).

Reeve’s top post today? Scott's Rave presentation format at SXSW Interactive Conference. Yesterday.

Dizzy? Or... are you used to riding Raves?

Social Media Means No More Excuses

Using iPod Touch as Kindle, I've just read World Wide Rave, by David Meerman Scott, downloadable free through Sunday.

It's a rally cry to tap low-cost social media as soft-sell communication tool, fostering relationships with would-be clients/customers by offering important information, free -- thereby building credibility and crowd-sourced internet buzz. All of which translates into business success while diluting traditional media and deep advertising budget power. 

True --  social media has amazing potential.

But what about this: Now when our ideas fail, products languish, careers stall... who's left to blame? 

_{Note: Sorry for the silence. Excuses... unacceptable.}

Signs of Home

Four signs along Silverado Drive, and then no more. As if you had to know now where to go, or miss it.

So we searched up the street, and down, finally picking the correct turn, into a cul-de-sac.
The signs reminded me of a United cross-country flight I once took to Dulles. My parents and I had agreed -- I'd take the shuttle bus. But they were waiting near baggage claim. I smiled -- home at last. It didn't matter that we still had another 25 minute car ride to go.

Christmas Crafted Cheer

I don't remember it looking so funky.



The twig tree craft was extra holiday insurance the year we traveled, eliminating tree-turned-fire-hazard house sitter risk.

Funky, yes. But politically correct "green" before its time thanks to recycled products. Plus... the big upside:

Stop to craft Christmas cheer and the craziness of holiday preparation slows to the pace of a bending wire, a warming glue gun, a pin attaching a pattern to a bit of felt. Traffic becomes passing fabric pens, scissors and fabric glue.

That, and stove-brewed hot chocolate? Priceless.

3 Nativities and a Camel

Nestled under the decorated corner pine, it's one family's tradition neighbors expect to share. Just try to find someone who remembers when it wasn't there.

Simple -- yet attractive -- molded-plastic design.

"It's surprising no one ever steals it," someone said a few days ago. And yet, I'm not surprised. Are you?


Meanwhile, a few miles away, another faux nativity greeted arrivals to the Methodist church's bi-annual "Bethlehem Market" production.


Groups flowed through the market vendors, winding towards that familiar scene, cast this time with teens.

The camel? Kazzy -- a therapeutic camel, manger moonlighting.

Miracle Humor @ Lafayette Town Hall

Risky, this long term fan of Maureen's O'Hara's 1947 Christmas classic taking in Lafayette Town Hall's Miracle on 34th Street production.



Surprise -- strong community theater cast delivering familiar lines brings back movie scene memories where simplistic props might fail.

Extra credit for ingenuity -- Alfred (Santa wannabe) is M.I.A., replaced by new vision of Doris Walker's office assistant, primed with hilarious one-liners.

So... let's forgive Doris' Christmas morning junior high sewing class disaster, ill-fitted sleeveless black bodice with Christmas plaid sateen Barbie-doll full skirt.

Just know... Hollywood heads would roll.