It’s Rahm vs. Axelrod, and Rahm Is Winning

Sunday, 07 Mar 2010 11:19 AM Earth to Rhambo: I don’t know what you had to do with picking the people that surround the One. Clearly they haven’t a clue on how to create real jobs and turn the economy around.  You see, Rham baby, it may be the desire of the progressives to make everyone except for the elite poor, news flash, It’s not going to happen.  So get your tu tu out of the cleaners and start working on your game. You will be gone by January if not before.  It’s said, you can better articulate the message? Here’s the message:  It’s jobs and the economy stupid! Give up on all your progressive schemes.  Random thoughts while watching the deck chairs being moved on the Titanic, J.C.

In the days of the old Pravda, one could determine who was winning secret Politburo power struggles by just looking at the official Soviet newspaper. Those winning simply got better press.

Perhaps it may be no different here in the United States.

This week two of the heaviest guns in American media, The Washington Post and The New York Times, unloaded their missiles at Obama adviser David Axelrod while heralding White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel as a centrist and pragmatist.

This Sunday’s New York Times, for example, features Axelrod and describes him as the ideological courtier advising the president into darkness as Emanuel remains the level-headed counselor.

Here’s an excerpt from “Message Maven Finds Fingers Pointing at Him”:

“Recent news reports have cast the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, as the administration’s chief pragmatist, and Mr. Axelrod, by implication, as something of a swooning loyalist. ‘I’ve heard him be called a “Moonie,”’ dismissed Mr. Axelrod’s close friend, former Commerce Secretary William Daley. Or as the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, joked, ‘the guy who walks in front of the president with rose petals.’”

The Times speculates that the “No Drama Obama” Team is indeed “fracturing.” The Times report follows the page one, top-of-the-fold story in Tuesday’s Washington Post that screamed “Hotheaded  Emanuel May Be White House Voice of Reason.”

Sorry Ballerina Boy Following Axelrod, make your flight reservation

The Post story details the enormous transformation Rahm has been making.

Once considered a “caricature,” the paper says he has had a reputation as D.C.’s “resident leviathan, a bullying, bruising White House chief of staff who is a prime target for the failings of the Obama administration.”

But then the dagger falls on Axelrod as Emanuel is played as the White House voice of reason, as the Post describes:

“But a contrarian narrative is emerging: Emanuel is a force of political reason within the White House and could have helped the administration avoid its current bind if the president had heeded his advice on some of the most sensitive subjects of the year: health-care reform, jobs and trying alleged terrorists in civilian courts.“

Emanuel could have saved Obama from falling poll numbers if only he had avoided all the agenda items pushed by Axelrod!

For instance, the Post notes that Emanuel pressed Obama not to allow Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed to be tried in civilian court.

Attorney General Eric Holder argued for doing just that as a matter of “principle.”

The Post says: “David Axelrod, senior adviser to Obama, supported Holder, the source said. The president agreed that letting the Justice Department take the lead was the right thing to do.”

The paper quotes Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham: “During this whole civilian-trial debate, Rahm’s gut instincts knew that taking KSM to New York for civilian trials was going to be a misstep. He has a better ear for domestic politics on this issue than anybody in the administration, quite frankly.”

Kremlinologists can see the handwriting on the wall. Axelrod will soon be ousted or sidelined. Rahm emerges, and so does a more pragmatic and moderate Obama.

[Via http://dancingczars.wordpress.com]

Should you cross-post updates to Facebook and Twitter?

Here’s an article I wrote that was published on Ragan.com:

Published: 3/5/2010

Should you cross-post updates to Facebook and Twitter?

By Ari B. Adler

Consider your audience before posting the same update to multiple social media channels

The root strategy for any public relations initiative includes creating your message, determining your audience, and finding the best way of delivering your message to that audience. But now, with social media, technology has given people the ability to blast identical messages to different audiences.

LinkedIn allows you to post your status update simultaneously to Twitter. You can automatically feed your tweets to Google Buzz. You can connect tweets with your Facebook status updates or your Posterous feed. And with third-party software like Tweetdeck, you can post the same message to multiple Twitter accounts, Facebook and LinkedIn with the touch of one Send button. Whether that’s a good thing or not depends on whom you ask.

“I don’t cross-post, because I use each tool for a slightly different purpose. Therefore, I target messages for each audience,” says Angela Dockett, marketing and communications manager for the American Cancer Society in East Lansing, Mich.

“I’ve done it, but am starting to back off,” admits Jason Dobson, a professional gaming blogger in Broken Arrow, Okla. “Audiences can be quite different between social media sites, and the messaging needs to reflect that.”

Although there is some mingling of followers and friends from one platform to the other, the style of how people communicate on those platforms differs, especially from a language standpoint.

While Twitter often is filled with abbreviations and symbols, those same messages appearing on a Facebook page could be confusing. Still, that hasn’t stopped some people from connecting their accounts.

“I post Twitter to Facebook, because I have friends and family finally on Facebook that don’t get Twitter. It’s too much of a hassle for me to keep up with both,” says Colleen Lin, senior rich media producer for the Dallas County Community College District in Texas. When asked if the audiences were ever confused, Lin said they were at first.

“I had some complaints, but I find that most people ‘hide’ me (on Facebook) if they’re irritated,” she says.

For some entities, particularly government agencies and universities, cross-posting may make sense.

“We cross-post, using Facebook for students and future students; Twitter for corporations, media and parents,” says Laurie Creasy, a new media specialist at Penn State.

Creasy said they aren’t using quite the same message everywhere, but Penn State hopes all the separate networks see similar messages. She noted the messages on Twitter are “more professional.”

In Rhode Island, the state Department of Transportation uses the exact same message on multiple networks, according to Dana Alexander Nolfe, RIDOT’s chief public affairs officer.

“I have a very broad target audience, and I think my goal is to get my message to as many people as possible. With so many venues, and to ensure consistency, I cross-post my message,” Nolfe says. “Some social media have a good-size audience, and some are very small, but my feeling is if MySpace, for example, is the only place someone is going to go to get RIDOT’s message, then I am going to continue to ensure that the message gets out that way.”

Some argue that business accounts should be given some leeway when cross-posting.

“The audiences are completely different if you are coming from a personal perspective,” says A.J. Teachout, owner of Ulu Marketing in Detroit. “My Twitter followers are likely not my Facebook friends, or friends at all for that matter, so they will not care to hear about what my kid did the other day. My Facebook friends actually know me and care to hear more personal details.

“That being said, from a business perspective, I think it’s a wise move. Your audience is in it for the same reason—to learn more about the business and, likely, your messages will be similar.”

In the end, it’s up to the individual whether to cross-post. With social media being such a new conduit, there’s no proven right or wrong way to do things—yet.

“The bottom line is: Know your audience and how they might be different across multiple networks and social sites,” Teachout says. “How would that affect your message?”

[Via http://aribadler.wordpress.com]

Are employment publications really helpful at all?

A funny thing happened one day as I was out for breakfast in Saint Paul.  Every now and then in the morning I would take a walk down the street and catch the first #21 bus to get myself an egg mcmuffin, hash brown, and orange juice at McDonald’s.

I would pick up the local newspaper the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and also each one of those freebie Employment Guide & Employment News publications and look through them while I sat down for breakfast.

 This weekly issue of the Employment Guide was one of the smaller ones I had seen in quite a while.  As I unfolded it I realized that it was only a four page issue.  On further inspection, the pages were filled with only advertisements for job training in multiple fields: truck driver CDL training programs, a full page of medical assistance training advertisements,  culinary training programs, online college courses, and GED classes.

 What caught my eye was that there were no job listings!  None whatsoever.  Not one. 

I was so surprised by this that it prompted me to make the following sarcastic status update on my Facebook page when I got home:

 I just picked up the new issue of the Employment News.  The unemployment rate in the Twin Cities must be at zero because there are absolutely no advertised  jobs. 

The recession is over!

[Via http://dahospitalityguy.wordpress.com]

Beware of Ganj A Fahma on Facebook!

Totally not a forward, and completely real. A friend of mine has pics of her baby on Facebook and got a comment from someone she did not know named “Ganj A Fahma.” HE, SHE, or IT is a fake!!!

Beware if you get “Ganj A Fahma” (ganja farmer = weed farmer) for a friend whom you never added who starts leaving random comments about some awesome game that you have to check out or anything else that is irrelevant to you.

Report it FIRST by going to the profile by clicking on the name, go to the bottom of the page, and click the Report/Block link. Then, go back to your pics and delete the comments if they’re still there so no one clicks on the link the faker provides. They’ll get hacked or worse!!!!! Totally a faker, you DID NOT add this person!!!!

Please pass this note onto others.

View This Poll

surveys

[Via http://ejatpsyche.wordpress.com]

Facebook ads

Creepy facebooks ads currently showing on my profile:

See what your baby looks like, all you need is a pic of you and a pic of anyone else! Subscription required.

You only live once, Make the most of it. Date wealthy and upscale men. Join MeetingMillionaires and meet the man of your dreams!

I’m not ready to think about having a child, and am not shallow enough to go to a site like meetingmillionaires

[Via http://creativityfromscratch.wordpress.com]

Mud is good.

Well, it was muddy – incredibly muddy.  There were all different kinds of mud.  There was the shin deep mud that pulls your runners off your feet.  There was the slippy mud you kind of skate on.  There was watery mud – up to your waist at points, that you waded through.  There was grassy looking mud that you thought was grassy enough to be safe, but wasn’t and you went flying.  There was mud that looked like it had broken glass in it, but it was just muddy ice.

Last Saturday I participated in Ireland’s first ever ‘Mud Run’.  It was in aid of MS Ireland and each runner had to raise a minimum of €150 to take part.  Probably about 500 people turned up and ran on the day – it was out in Mondello Park.  There’s an off-road tank track there and they marked out a running route through it.  It was a lovely morning, cold, but bright.  My running mate had flaked out, so I was on my own, but actually you couldn’t really be on your own there, because there was great banter and fun and helping each other out as you fell.

The event raised about €75,000 for MS Ireland and it was also sponsored by Persil – and that’s where it’s a bit interesting from a marketing point of view.  What a nice fit for Persil.  Not too big, not too clever, but some lovely touches.  They had a giant clothes line at the finishing line.  And when you finished you got a goodie bag including a sample of Persil Naturals.  Of course what do you do when you go home, only chuck your gear in the wash?  The facebook page for the event had about 800 fans, there’s photos and video up already – I found myself at 1:35 here: .  Not to mention all the online talk and content outside of the official pages.  Already the runners are talking online about next year.

Between the ideal sampling opportunity (proper old-school marketing), the on-course branding, the online presence and the good cause, it worked out pretty well for Persil.  Sure, there are probably things they could have done better – but that’s something they can start working on for next year.

In the meantime, Dirt really is good.

John Clancy

[Via http://theinfluentials.wordpress.com]

so, is this Facebook stuff worth it?

I asked this question about Social Media in general a few weeks back.    I also noted how at the C.H. Nash Museum we do not want our newsletter, website, and Facebook to be simply different versions of the same thing.  We routinely use Facebook to interact and with our fans.  So how is that going and what are we learning?

The first thing I learned was the need to give up control.  This seems somewhat contradictory to my position as the Museum Director, but all of our staff and graduate assistants are now administrators of the Facebook page.  We routinely discuss the type of content we think will work.  I thoroughly enjoy that the posts I at first might cringe at, are in fact those that engage our fans the most.  Further, this interactivity is driving increased awareness and participation in our on-site events, such as our annual 5k run.

Second, the ability to interact with other Museums, cross promote activities, and simply share and be engaged with other folks experience is tremendous.  The page Museums on Facebook lists some 600 different institutions with fan pages.  I am a fan of a couple dozen different regional, Native American, and archaeological museum pages.  The types of posts from these museums is diverse.  Most museum web pages continue to just push product.  However, an increasing number are becoming more interactive and “social” in their approach.  For example the Newseum Facebook fan page always ends their posts with a question to engage their fans.  On the C.H. Nash Museum page, we find that questions posed are always answered by at least a couple of fans.

A recent post on Beth’s Blog discussed Facebook analytics.    Options range from the complex such as Google Analytics to not so complex analytic options.  For example, the simpler Insights link available to administrators of each individual Facebook fan page actually has a wealth of data.  There are also links with lots of Online data on Facebook fan page analytics.  A good starting point for me was a download that reports on comparative data based on Facebook Insights.  The report contains abundant detail on averages for Fan Pages, on everything from number of fans, average posts, number of comments per post – more stuff than you can shake a stick at.  This downloadable report allows you to see how your Fan Page stacks up against the norm.  For example, on the C.H. Nash Museum page, we are above the norm on the most of the various feedback measures.

However, these data still do not directly answer the question, is this Facebook stuff worth it?  If a page maintains above average rankings on all measures, does that mean it is working and is worth the time expended?  I’ll play with this more in the future.

What are your thoughts on how to measure if your energy expenditure in Facebook is worth it?

[Via http://rcnnolly.wordpress.com]