The Spin Within

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge only got married a few months ago and their first born child is already in the news.

Thankfully, it’s not as part of a “is Kate or isn’t Kate pregnant” story.  We’re getting enough of that with Jessica Simpson.  (Enough indeed.  Let’s face it, she isn’t fooling anyone anymore…)

It’s actually a bit of good news – news that is bringing the old fashioned monarchy up to date.  Well, in at least one aspect.

It has been decided unanimously by the England’s government leaders that Will and Kate’s … Continue Reading

Why would someone who I have not seen in about 10 years want to post where I live on Facebook?

I kept asking this question as I looked at a post from a former work associate; a post to which Facebook alerted me. The message is pretty benign – it just states that my friend “Ralph” said I live in Cincinnati, Ohio, and now Facebook wanted me to confirm it. But why on earth would he post that?

It is among the growing list of items that Facebook is sending me that require … Continue Reading

Carol Bross-McMahon

A big welcome to Carol Bross-McMahon who joins us as Vice President where she’ll help our clients maximize their return on marketing investments and become thought leaders. Carol previously ran a successful marketing consulting business and served as Vice President of Marketing at Harte-Hanks for nearly 10 years. Combining her knowledge of sales, marketing and public relations, Carol also provided business development leadership for Whittman-Hart and software startup, The Sant Corporation. Her strengths in team development and her bias toward action have earned … Continue Reading

Every now and then we see something that causes us to shake our heads, let out an audible sigh and think to ourselves, “why didn’t I think of that?!”

IWearYourShirt.com is the latest one for me.

Former web designer and marketer Jason Sadler launched the site in 2009 as a business based solely on social media.  It’s a ridiculously simple concept. Each day, he wears a different sponsor’s t-shirt, makes a YouTube video about it, then adds tweets and Facebook posts promoting the company of the day.

That’s it. That’s his full-time job. … Continue Reading

Facebook is taking heat from human-rights advocate Lydia Cacho Ribeiro because she claims that it deleted her account after she was vocal about Facebook being a stomping ground for pedophiles and it not doing enough to stop it. Cacho Ribeiro is a Mexican investigative journalist who is known for busting pedophile rings. She says her account disappeared six months ago after she wrote posts against Facebook and it’s leniency on pedophiles.

Facebook had no comment about the claim and said they would “look into it.” They do say that “Facebook is … Continue Reading

The many avid followers of my Spin Within contributions each week will attest that I have on occasion referred to my former colleagues in the news business as over-worked, underpaid, cranky, cynical ink-stained wretches. To my mind, there is a certain sense of nobility in that description.  But some may find it offensive. Today, I make amends by calling attention to a book that public relations professionals will benefit from reading.  Deadline Artists — America’s Greatest Newspaper Columnists, is a work by columnist and commentator John Avlon, who is touting it on a national media tour.

Avlon and the book’s promoters call … Continue Reading

Sorry Hammer. To me you'll always be this guy.

Watch out, world.  The man who brought us “Hammer Time” is branching out.

At O’Reilly Media’s Web 2.0 Summit on Wednesday, Stanley Kirk Burrell – that’s MC Hammer to you – announced WireDoo, a new search engine focusing on deep search and relational topics.

He explained that most search engines use keywords to pull results.  WireDoo will use relationships – thinking beyond the keyword.  For example, a search about cars is also about models, mileage and features.  A search for a … Continue Reading

Almost 20 years ago I was the victim of a rather rudimentary form of identify theft. One of my credit card bills had been intercepted at the post office, my account number and name copied, and the bill torn to pieces and thrown away.

As the detective explained to me on the telephone, the thieves were summer interns at the post office who, in collaboration with friends back home, stole credit card numbers, ordered loads of products through catalogs, and then had them shipped to … Continue Reading

We’re still more than one year away from the 2012 Presidential election, yet many of us are already beyond tired of the campaigning.  From all parties.

Last night, a reporter was talking about the amount of money raised thus far for Obama and the Republicans (sounds like a good name for a rock band), so out of curiosity, I did a little investigating.

According to the Federal Election Committee, as of September 30 the candidates have pulled in more than $176 million. During the 2008 campaign, they raised more than $1.3 billion.

This … Continue Reading

Seventh Annual “Slingshot” Guidebook Names 50 Most Innovative Jewish Nonprofits in America

CINCINNATI (October 18, 2011) – OurJewishCommunity.org, believed to be the largest online Jewish congregation, has been named one of the nation’s 50 most innovative Jewish nonprofits in Slingshot ’11-’12, a resource guide for Jewish innovation.

OurJewishCommunity.org was selected for this list because of its groundbreaking use of technology to create an online Jewish community with a contemporary Jewish voice and philosophy.

Slingshot is used by philanthropists, volunteers, not-for-profit executives, and program participants to identify path-finding and trailblazing organizations grappling with concerns in Jewish life such as identity, community, and tradition. … Continue Reading