Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sign up for a FREE webinar
As we mentioned in our newsletter we are launching a new series - Blogalicious Bytes: Lessons in Social Media. Blogalicious will host monthly webinars on topics of interest to our social media community. These hour-long webinars will be taught by well known and respected instructors in their respective areas of expertise.The first webinar will be held on Monday January 18th, 2010, at 8:00 P.M. EST, join Ken Gibbs, Jr., former Site Development/Real Black Network Director on Essence.com, as he presents on the topic of Money Matters: Monetizing Your Blogs.
Please rsvp here to reserve your spot in this session. The webinar is free, so in the spirit of the season, please share this tip with your friends:)
Saturday, December 5, 2009
We need your input, please
Planning a conference is not as easy as it seems! There are so many details and so many choices and it's a little daunting that one misguided decision could affect many things. Fortunately, there weren't too many poor choices for Blogalicious 2009 (we hope you would agree).
As we embark on Blogalicious 2010 we are once again reminded of the many, many choices that go along with this process. We narrowed down the city to Miami with ease and I think we are all pretty comfortable with that choice. I mean, c'mon, its Miami - sun, sand and fun; what more could we ask for?
Onto the next big decision - the hotel. Do we want posh and hot or laid back and relaxed, mid city or beach front, fancy guest rooms or great amenities. Granted, it would be fabulous if we could wave a magic wand and get it all, but the truth of the matter is that it's just not that easy.
We visited Miami this weekend in search of the perfect place to host Blogalicious 2010. For us, the accommodations and vibe have to be just right because we want the best for you. We want you to enjoy your experience so we are considering many options. But, we have safely narrowed the choice to a couple hotels, BUT we want your input.
Help us choose the RIGHT hotel. Here are the specs:
Downtown - moderately priced; fantastic rooms with lots of hi-tech gadgets; great in-hotel amenities; posh and sleek; Biscayne Bay views; walking distance to shops, dining and the Bay; a 10-minute ride to South Beach.
Beachfront - moderately priced; plush and spacious rooms; beautiful beach views from rooms; beachfront resort; laid back; family amenities; great outdoor facilities; North Miami Beach; convenient shuttle rides to South Beach and superb shopping.
Tell us what you want your experience to be. Please leave us a comment AND vote. Voting closes on December 12th, and we're looking forward to your feedback.
As we embark on Blogalicious 2010 we are once again reminded of the many, many choices that go along with this process. We narrowed down the city to Miami with ease and I think we are all pretty comfortable with that choice. I mean, c'mon, its Miami - sun, sand and fun; what more could we ask for?
Onto the next big decision - the hotel. Do we want posh and hot or laid back and relaxed, mid city or beach front, fancy guest rooms or great amenities. Granted, it would be fabulous if we could wave a magic wand and get it all, but the truth of the matter is that it's just not that easy.
We visited Miami this weekend in search of the perfect place to host Blogalicious 2010. For us, the accommodations and vibe have to be just right because we want the best for you. We want you to enjoy your experience so we are considering many options. But, we have safely narrowed the choice to a couple hotels, BUT we want your input.
Help us choose the RIGHT hotel. Here are the specs:
Downtown - moderately priced; fantastic rooms with lots of hi-tech gadgets; great in-hotel amenities; posh and sleek; Biscayne Bay views; walking distance to shops, dining and the Bay; a 10-minute ride to South Beach.
Beachfront - moderately priced; plush and spacious rooms; beautiful beach views from rooms; beachfront resort; laid back; family amenities; great outdoor facilities; North Miami Beach; convenient shuttle rides to South Beach and superb shopping.
Tell us what you want your experience to be. Please leave us a comment AND vote. Voting closes on December 12th, and we're looking forward to your feedback.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Facebook changes its privacy policies
FYI....just in case you didn't know, Facebook is changing its privacy policies. Please see open letter from Founder, Mark Zuckerberg:
An Open Letter from Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg
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by Mark Zuckerberg Yesterday at 9:23pm
It has been a great year for making the world more open and connected. Thanks to your help, more than 350 million people around the world are using Facebook to share their lives online.
To make this possible, we have focused on giving you the tools you need to share and control your information. Starting with the very first version of Facebook five years ago, we've built tools that help you control what you share with which individuals and groups of people. Our work to improve privacy continues today.
Facebook's current privacy model revolves around "networks" — communities for your school, your company or your region. This worked well when Facebook was mostly used by students, since it made sense that a student might want to share content with their fellow students.
Over time people also asked us to add networks for companies and regions as well. Today we even have networks for some entire countries, like India and China.
However, as Facebook has grown, some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we've concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy. Almost 50 percent of all Facebook users are members of regional networks, so this is an important issue for us. If we can build a better system, then more than 100 million people will have even more control of their information.
The plan we've come up with is to remove regional networks completely and create a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content to be available to only your friends, friends of your friends, or everyone.
We're adding something that many of you have asked for — the ability to control who sees each individual piece of content you create or upload. In addition, we'll also be fulfilling a request made by many of you to make the privacy settings page simpler by combining some settings. If you want to read more about this, we began discussing this plan back in July.
Since this update will remove regional networks and create some new settings, in the next couple of weeks we'll ask you to review and update your privacy settings. You'll see a message that will explain the changes and take you to a page where you can update your settings. When you're finished, we'll show you a confirmation page so you can make sure you chose the right settings for you. As always, once you're done you'll still be able to change your settings whenever you want.
We've worked hard to build controls that we think will be better for you, but we also understand that everyone's needs are different. We'll suggest settings for you based on your current level of privacy, but the best way for you to find the right settings is to read through all your options and customize them for yourself. I encourage you to do this and consider who you're sharing with online.
Thanks for being a part of making Facebook what it is today, and for helping to make the world more open and connected.
Mark Zuckerberg
An Open Letter from Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg
Share
by Mark Zuckerberg Yesterday at 9:23pm
It has been a great year for making the world more open and connected. Thanks to your help, more than 350 million people around the world are using Facebook to share their lives online.
To make this possible, we have focused on giving you the tools you need to share and control your information. Starting with the very first version of Facebook five years ago, we've built tools that help you control what you share with which individuals and groups of people. Our work to improve privacy continues today.
Facebook's current privacy model revolves around "networks" — communities for your school, your company or your region. This worked well when Facebook was mostly used by students, since it made sense that a student might want to share content with their fellow students.
Over time people also asked us to add networks for companies and regions as well. Today we even have networks for some entire countries, like India and China.
However, as Facebook has grown, some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we've concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy. Almost 50 percent of all Facebook users are members of regional networks, so this is an important issue for us. If we can build a better system, then more than 100 million people will have even more control of their information.
The plan we've come up with is to remove regional networks completely and create a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content to be available to only your friends, friends of your friends, or everyone.
We're adding something that many of you have asked for — the ability to control who sees each individual piece of content you create or upload. In addition, we'll also be fulfilling a request made by many of you to make the privacy settings page simpler by combining some settings. If you want to read more about this, we began discussing this plan back in July.
Since this update will remove regional networks and create some new settings, in the next couple of weeks we'll ask you to review and update your privacy settings. You'll see a message that will explain the changes and take you to a page where you can update your settings. When you're finished, we'll show you a confirmation page so you can make sure you chose the right settings for you. As always, once you're done you'll still be able to change your settings whenever you want.
We've worked hard to build controls that we think will be better for you, but we also understand that everyone's needs are different. We'll suggest settings for you based on your current level of privacy, but the best way for you to find the right settings is to read through all your options and customize them for yourself. I encourage you to do this and consider who you're sharing with online.
Thanks for being a part of making Facebook what it is today, and for helping to make the world more open and connected.
Mark Zuckerberg
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
McDonald's releases “Meet the Mom Blogger Series” on MOMTV filmed at Blogalicious 2009
Watch Blogalicious 2009 attendees on MomTV as they support Ronald McDonald House Charities’ (RMHC) commitment to children, their families and to making the world a better and more caring place. The on-site interviews sponsored by RMHC were conducted by Maria Bailey, CEO of BSM Media. Ms. Bailey views the interviews as "an example of engaging moms in a 2.0 way that creates a relevant dialogue and allow these moms to continue the conversation." Ms. Bailey spoke with influential women bloggers of color such as novelist, Denene Millner of My Brown Baby, and Ms. Latina of Latina on a Mission about their perspective on mom blogging.
For 35 years, RMHC has supported programs that directly improve the health and well being of children by providing a bridge to quality health care. With the approach of McHappy Day on November 20, RMHC is endeavoring to spread the word about the Charity using social media. On Facebook, fans can download the “Give a Hand® for Ronald McDonald House Charities” online widget application, and McDonald’s will donate $1 for each of the first 35,000 Hands shared online. Followers can link to the RMHC web site, or follow the Charity on Twitter using the #McHappyDay hash tag.
For 35 years, RMHC has supported programs that directly improve the health and well being of children by providing a bridge to quality health care. With the approach of McHappy Day on November 20, RMHC is endeavoring to spread the word about the Charity using social media. On Facebook, fans can download the “Give a Hand® for Ronald McDonald House Charities” online widget application, and McDonald’s will donate $1 for each of the first 35,000 Hands shared online. Followers can link to the RMHC web site, or follow the Charity on Twitter using the #McHappyDay hash tag.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Product Recommendations come from friends, not networks?
MediaPost published an article today discussing a survey of 583 moms with kids under 12 conducted by MomConnection entitled "Product Recommendations Come From Friends, Not Networks."
The gist of the the study is that that "despite all of the attention being given to the relationships that moms form online through social media...they do not use social networks as a resource when it comes to product decision-making. Moms are four times more likely to turn to their personal offline network of friends and family than online social networks for product recommendations and buying advice." (Read the MomConnection release here).
I could NOT relate to this story at all because I find myself relying on online recommendations for certain products, especially products related to my daughter. Don't get me wrong, I have not bought products based purely on Twitter entries, but I rely on my "trusted mom" sites/blogs to look for information.
I think the study misses the mark a little because it fails to appreciate that in many instances our online network (especially in the blogosphere) is personal and true friendships are made and that it's not just about being social.
What are your thoughts? Do you rely on social media for information about products or do you view your online relationships as purely social? Is this survey correct?
The gist of the the study is that that "despite all of the attention being given to the relationships that moms form online through social media...they do not use social networks as a resource when it comes to product decision-making. Moms are four times more likely to turn to their personal offline network of friends and family than online social networks for product recommendations and buying advice." (Read the MomConnection release here).
I could NOT relate to this story at all because I find myself relying on online recommendations for certain products, especially products related to my daughter. Don't get me wrong, I have not bought products based purely on Twitter entries, but I rely on my "trusted mom" sites/blogs to look for information.
I think the study misses the mark a little because it fails to appreciate that in many instances our online network (especially in the blogosphere) is personal and true friendships are made and that it's not just about being social.
What are your thoughts? Do you rely on social media for information about products or do you view your online relationships as purely social? Is this survey correct?
Friday, November 13, 2009
Follow @SantaClaus on Twitter!
[Actually you really can.] A recent survey found that 17% of adult shoppers will use social media in some aspect of their holiday shopping, and 19% will rely on their mobile phones.
Deloitte's 24th Annual Holiday Survey polled more than 10,000 adults in the U.S, and says that of the nearly one in five who plans to use social media sites, 60% say they will do so to find sales, discounts, and coupons; 53% intend to use sites like MySpace and Facebook to research gift ideas, and 52% say they will check the wish lists of friends and family.
No surprise there right? As social media increasingly becomes a routine part of our everyday experiences, it only makes sense that the trend spills over into traditional activities, such as holiday shopping. As we enter into the wonderful, dreadful holiday season, how does social media factor in to your plans?
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