Social Media and Branding News for today

Sad day today. There's something that makes a tragedy worse when it befalls your hometown. (Plane crash in Buffalo in case you haven't been reading news today.) Still awaiting full passenger manifest to be posted to know my friends and family are safe. Anway, say a prayer.




On with the news. So many stories, so little time. Read them all here!



Survey: Consumers Prefer McDonald's Over Starbucks? Very random study by Pew.



NCAA Backpedals on Banned Substances in Vitaminwater
Says Normal Consumption Doesn't Put Athletes at Risk for Positive Drug Tests
Never knew that anything in Vitaminwater was considered banned. Now I know.



Sports drinks scratching surface of mainstream potential - Powerade
Powerade is gaining traction in the sports drink market. At least they don't have a letter for a logo!





Starbucks introducing instant coffee. Seattle coffee company spends 20 years on patent to make instant coffee.


"Hey! How 'bout a Sanka?!?"





Social Media and Blogging Ethics and a Code of Conduct


Great read if you need to create strategy or educate leadership at work about social media.





Getting Social Media Approved by Your Boss


This is something near and dear to my heart. I work on this type of issue almost daily. I'm still processing Geoff's ideas and will respond with my own experiences soon.

Social Media for Your NonProfit. Tweet or Not to Tweet. (Thanks to Son for providing link)

Good rundown of some basics for incorporating Social Media for nonprofits (or work in general)

Blogs from the U.S. Government


Partial list of some official Gov blogs. Good for research.



Alright. That's enough reading for today. Have a great weekend!

Consolidation of blogs?

Well, here we are in a new year and I realize I haven't been writing much lately on the ol' blogs. So now I'm pondering the notion of maintaining just one blog. I mean, do I really need two? If I can't keep up with one, why do two? The initial intent was for this one to be my screeds and rantings and the other one to be more "scholarly" or work-related. Should I consolidate? I'm thinking that might make it easier. Or maybe I'll just close both of these and create one brand new SUPER BLOG, the proportions of which the world has never seen!! Nah, sounds like too much hassle.

Stay tuned. A decision will be coming soon (and by soon, I mean at the glacial pace that I seem to work under these day :)

Back and Forth We Go

People say that they wish I'd keep up more with this blog, a.k.a., "the fun blog," as opposed to "the serious blog." Wellllll, I try, but it's not easy. I have to keep up on my other blog on a regular basis because it was actually created for classes that I'm taking in grad school. Welcome to the digital age where your homework is now completed on a blog! Anyway, it's tough to flip and flop between the two, and it's especially hard when you still have no Internet at home because Comcast is a shitty company! I guess I could maintain one blog, but where's the fun in that! So if you're looking for a fix and you can't find it here, feel free to visit the "serious blog." It's really not too serious. Plus, my professor said, I'm "the first person in [his] class to categorize a blog entry as 'F******." So that's pretty cool.

And here's some amusement for the day. Take this online caffeine test to see if you have a problem. This morning I clicked 192 times in 30 seconds, which means I'm "A vibrating crackhead." This afternoon I tried again and got 200, which means I'm "Near Death--Delusions of Godlike Power." Flattery. It means everything.


OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets