One True Sentence

This post was written by DR. WHAW? Contributor Melissa Cafiero.

I’m getting tired of finding different ways to say it was a crazy busy day – such is life in crisis communications. I’m tweaking my post format a bit to include a quote from each article to serve as the summary. Tell me what you think!

For your reading pleasure…what I Didn’t Read While Hard at Work!

DR. WHAW? – July 20, 2010

1. When Did You Last Camp with Hundreds of Followers? By Danielle Cyr

When I first heard Coleman’s latest television spot, which touts the camping supply manufacturer as the inventor of the ‘original social networking site’, I thought, ‘Wow. That’s smart.’ Then I listened to it again. And, I thought, ‘Wow. That’s not entirely right.’ …the idea that social network started by assembling small groups of people is preposterous. While Coleman’s campaign is clearly intended to put the brand in the company of a favorable concept, social networking, does it ultimately make a mockery of social media, implying it is a quaint activity relevant to small groups?

2. Too High, Too Low: Where’s the Professional Line? By Lauren Fernandez

As women, do we struggle more with dress in the workplace, in the sense of being taken seriously by others? While talking about this with Tamsen McMahon, she brought up the great question of branding/company feel, and then the conversation shifted to generations. Is it a generation thing?

3. The Creativity Crisis By Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman

A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 “leadership competency” of the future. Yet it’s not just about sustaining our nation’s economic growth. Researchers say creativity should be taken out of the art room and put into homeroom. The argument that we can’t teach creativity because kids already have too much to learn is a false trade-off. Creativity isn’t about freedom from concrete facts. Rather, fact-finding and deep research are vital stages in the creative process.

4. 60 Embarrassing Ways to Butcher the English Language: Isn’t Spelling Important Anymore? By Jackie Tithof Steere

In our hurried, communication-addicted society, it’s become far more important to get things done quickly rather than done right. I know schools teach spelling. I’ve seen high marks on my kids’ spelling tests, but, honestly, sometimes you’d never know they’d learned a thing. At this rate, it won’t be long before we’re looking at a nation where these types of mistakes are the norm, not the exception. I think we owe it to ourselves and the future (and image) of our country, to reach out and grab a dictionary, or at the very least, conduct a search on dictionary.com.

5. Twitter time-savers: Tweet success in just 20 minutes a day By Mark W. Schaefer

Can you keep up with everything going on? No way. Not even if you spent 10 hours a day!  Being effective in 20 minutes a day means knowing how to use these time-saving tips and then having the discipline to prioritize.

This post was written by DR. WHAW Contributor Melissa Cafiero.

I was in a meeting yesterday that completely reinvigorated me and made me excited to be part of such a great PR agency! Have you ever been in those types of meetings? They have a way of making you feel valued, don’t they?

Today was a hectic day (and it’s still busy), so I barely had time to find articles for you! But rest assured, here’s what I Didn’t Read While Hard at Work!

DR. WHAW? – July 13, 2010

1. Dealing With the Impacts of Recall Fatigue by Gene Grabowski – Did you know that more than 10 percent of Americans ate food they knew was recalled, based on a recent study? Or that only 30 percent of recalled products are returned by consumers? This is shocking, particularly if one of those recalled products is a baby bed, child seat or some other device essential to your, or your family’s, safety. Costco has a great recall communications plan – check out the article for details.
2. Pitching the Perfect Pitch to Bloggers by Rodger Johnson – “Many would have us believe pitching bloggers is different than pitching a journalist. I would argue there’s no difference.” Really? I was previously taught there was. But I think this has some truth. I was told in the past to make pitches to bloggers much shorter, and even more casual, than those to traditional journalists; however, journalists are busy too and aren’t going to enjoy a wall of text from you. There are really helpful tips here and I love how the author used a real example.
3. 4 keys to to building a social media editorial calendar by Arik Hanson – Remember: platforms/channels, quality, audience, collaboration. Okay those are just the basics, but the post contains the meat!
4. How to Adopt an Attitude of Gratitude by Mark Harrison – Not to get all Oprah here, but…

“People who consciously attempt to be thankful and appreciative tend to feel happier and at peace to a greater extent than others. According to a research project from the University of Miami, people who practice some form of conscious gratitude:

• exercised more regularly, were healthier, slept better and felt more optimistic
• made more progress towards personal goals
• were more alert, enthusiastic and could handle stress more effectively”

How can you argue with that?

1. The best creativity technique known to mankind by Mark Schaefer – This is an amazing brainstorming/idea creation technique and I can’t wait to try it! There is too much content here to adequately share the process, so go! Read it now!

This post was written by DR. WHAW? contributor Melissa Cafiero.

Happy July, happy mid-year, happy 2010 halfway point! I hope you all had a wonderful and safe July 4^th weekend. I’m sure you were busy catching up today, so let’s just get on with what I Didn’t Read While Hard at Work, shall we?

DR. WHAW? – July 6, 2010

1. Five simple uncluttering tasks by Erin Doland – This was a wonderful helper in getting back into the groove this morning and I think it’s a good reference for any time you return to work from an extended holiday.
2. 52 Cool Facts About Social Media by Danny Brown – I love random knowledge and fun facts so this post is great for people like me! It includes snippets about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Blogging. What fact surprises you? What are you not surprised to learn?
3. 3 Tips for Taking Back Some Control in an Uncontrollable World by Meredith – This is one of my new favorite blogs, Penelope Loves Lists. So, what’s a Penelope? “Penelope is unabashedly organized. She makes no apologies for her love of lists, and notebooks, and pretty office supplies. She adores anything that’s called a ‘storage solution.’ She loves useful websites, design blogs and shelter magazines. She hunts down smart work organization software and swoons for project management tools. She’s tidy, she’s a bit OCD. She’s got a To Do List and she knows how to use it.” I’m not sure what you’d call the male version of a Penelope, so my apologies for leaving out the guys. Anyway, back to the article…. There are only three tips, but all are very helpful and I’m going to try them: “I can reframe my thoughts,” “I can decide I’m going to be in a good mood,” “I can keep my mouth shut.”
4. AP gets billed for use of content – and hypocrisy by Sam Diaz – The AP charges to use its content, so what did Woot.com do when the AP used content from the company’s blog post announcing its sale to Amazon? They sent a bill. Interesting read. The culture at Woot.com seems so fun!
5. Dog by Allie Brosh – Another one of my favorite new blogs. You won’t learn anything here and you won’t find any new concept on which to chew. This simply isn’t that kind of blog; however, you will giggle and walk away with a smile for the rest of the day. In this post, Allie describes the tests she administered to discover her dog may possess a lower than average intelligence.

This post was written by DR. WHAW? Contributor Melissa Cafiero.

It’s been a rough few weeks with personal family issues going on and today was another kick in the pants. But I’m always looking forward to sharing what I Didn’t Read While Hard at Work so let’s get on with it!

DR. WHAW? – June 29, 2010

1. “Social Media Smackdown: WWE Headlocks Social Media (Case Study)” by Casey Hibbard – This is a fascinating article. Many companies can only dream of having a fan base this active and engaged! What do you think the WWE is doing right? Is it just the nature of WWE fans to be engaged? How can you repurpose these ideas for your company/clients?
2. Google Me a “Facebook Killer”? Place Your Bets! By Mike Melanson – Agree or disagree? I don’t think it will take off, but that’s just me. And if you think Facebook has privacy issues, well….
3. Time to Do Everything but Think by Gail Liebl – While it’s great to be connected, and I don’t think I’d survive without my cell phone, we should take a step back from time to time. “Take a second to reach out to someone on the other end of the phone…. Take time to let your creativity flow in its purest, unfiltered form, and perhaps capture someone’s interest as well as ear. And be sure, most of all, to put ‘think’ onto your everything list.”
4. “Top Ten Signs You’re Drinking your Own Kool-Aid When Pitching Bloggers” by Valeria Maltoni – I’ve heard some of these tips before, but it’s always nice to be reminded. Plus, these are super helpful!
5. [VIDEO] “Can Twitter help land you a job?” – The video is fairly interesting, using a “case study” and talking with the CEO of a Twitter feed that posts job opportunities. And it’ll only take two minutes of your time.

This post was written by DR. WHAW? Contributor Melissa Cafiero.

Do you ever find that some of your most productive days seem to drag on? You feel like you’ve done a TON of work and you look at the clock and it’s not even 2 p.m.? Today was one of those days for me. Let’s move on to what I Didn’t Read While Hard at Work!

DR. WHAW? – June 22, 2010

1. 11 Creative Ways to Avoid Becoming a Workaholic by Tammy Strobel – I think this post offers some good tips, and I previously would’ve agreed they are easy to follow; however, I think it depends on your job whether you can follow some of them. For example, “set clear boundaries” and “unplug” can be a challenge if your job requires you to be available, particularly if you are in crisis and response communications roles. What do you think?
2. 7 More B2B Social Media Tools You Haven’t Heard Of by Adam Holden-Bache – I never heard of any of these tools (as the article title says!) but some of them seem pretty useful. Have you used them? What did you think? Would you consider using any of them?
3. Responding to a Social Media Crisis: #Intuit Outage Takeaways by Caroline Himmelman – This post is about a week old, but I didn’t see it until today. Anyway, I think there are some good tips here for responding to your customers/stakeholders during a crisis. I would’ve liked a bit more detail on the case study, but that’s okay.
4. Are Your Financial Habits Just Bad? by David Ning – I really think financial courses should be taught in K-12 (or at least in a portion of the education process). Our parents don’t always set the best examples, do they? A lot of this seems like common sense, but clearly it’s not so common after all.
5. Do you suffer from G.A.S. (Goofy Acronym Syndrome)? – These provided a nice giggle to end my workday. There are more gems in the comments.

This post was written by DR. WHAW? Contributor Melissa Cafiero.



I hope you had a wonderful and productive Tuesday. Did you read anything interesting today? If not, I hope you find something useful in what I Didn’t Read While Hard at Work!

DR. WHAW? – June 15, 2010

1. How to Finish Something Hard by Sarah Winfrey – This is old (from December 2009), but I think it’s timeless. The article should instead be called “How to Get Through the Hard Stuff” and the tips are: Breathe, Take Small Steps, Find Motivation, Keep Going. It seems simple enough, but I think we often lose sight of it.
2. Nielsen: Social media use increased by 24 percent by Benny Evangelista – This post is filled with data and not a lot of analysis, but that allows you to draw some conclusions on your own. From April 2009 to April 2010, time spent on social networking sites or blogs more than doubled. “But while the average user spent 1 hour, 21 minutes on Google during April, Facebook users were logged on an average of 6 hours.” WOW! [Disclosure: Bing = Microsoft = client]
3. Twitter Launches “Places” Feature with Foursquare Integration by Jolie O’Dell – Offering integration with FourSquare and Gowalla, Twitter Places allows Twitter.com desktop and mobile users to tag their tweets with new or existing locations. “Twitter Places can be explored and will reveal a list of recent, public tweets from that location. Twitter will also show you nearby locations and points of interest, including restaurants and shops.” Have you tried it out? What did you think?
4. Why Your Grandpa Is on Facebook [STATS] by Jolie O’Dell – “The AARP spent some time last month interviewing 1,360 adults over the phone. The Association found that more than a quarter (27%) of Americans age 50 and older use social networks. Facebook is the most popular — in fact, 23% of all survey respondents said they preferred it to sites such as MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter. When it comes to general web surfing, 49% of respondents between the ages of 50 and 64 and 40% of all adults age 50 and older said they consider themselves extremely or very comfortable using the Internet.” This entire post is interesting to me. Most of the seniors I am friends with on Facebook are playing FarmVille and other games, along with keeping up with family. Is it a similar situation for you?
5. 4 Ways to Measure Social Media and Its Impact on Your Brand by Nichole Kelly – A lot of articles posted this week and last providing specific tips and steps to develop a social media measurement strategy. This article, for me, was the most helpful with just the right amount of information.

This post was written by DR. WHAW? Contributor Melissa Cafiero.

I realized my articles today kind of mirror a person’s working day. First, there are a couple of posts that are professional-related (work), one for professional development (more work), tips to unclutter (work and home) and a lesson in quiet time (home/relaxation). I hope you enjoy!

DR. WHAW? – June 8, 2010

1. Why the corporate org chart must die by Arik Hanson – Personally, the only instance where I find org charts useful is seeing who owns what and which people I should impress the most. I guess maybe this is the wrong way to look at them, though? Arik points out that we should not focus on the titles and hierarchy of an organization for several reasons, including limited thinking and a time suck. Check out the article and let me know what you think.
2. Don’t Hire a Community Manager for Their Network by David Spinks – I always assumed one of the prerequisites to being a community manager, or getting the job, was to have a large personal network. In his post, David argues why that shouldn’t be the reason to hire someone. Do you agree with his points?
3. Are You Too Lazy to Write Less? By Chris Garrett – This post just serves as a good reminder for some of us: “Cut the fat.” And for others, heads up: stop blabbering.
4. Uncluttering the most troubled area of your home or office by Erin Doland – “For most people, the amount of frustration and anxiety felt about a cluttered area in your home or office is disproportionately higher than the energy required to alleviate the situation.” Ah, so true. The tips are awesome!
5. The art of being still by Erin Doland – When I first saw this post in the RSS reader, I skimmed quickly over the headline and moved on, thinking it was ridiculous. Something kept bothering me about it, so I went back and actually took time to read it and I’m so glad I did. For two and a half months, every single day, from museum opening to after closing, a performance artist sat as still as possible in a wooden chair. She invited museum visitors to sit in the chair across from her and look her in the eyes. Photos of these participants are available here. Check out the video in the post – it’s amazing! In your day-to-day, how often do you sit still, body calm, mind quiet?