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Saturday, March 24, 2007

Twitterisms - Random Observations

I guarantee you'll get sick of this topic long before I do. Yep, I'm blogging about Twitter again. Don't worry. I'm sure I'll get it out of my system eventually.

I caught myself on recently. It's like walking by a row of TV sets at Sears. Sure, you're trying not to notice a camera is pointed at you, but you can't help yourself. Gee, is that broccoli in my teeth?




The Twitter spam has started already.

You knew it would, so stop pretending it wasn't going to happen.

Hey, Twitter head honchos. Now would be a good time to put some user-optional filters in place. Or not.


I've noticed lots of people using facial parts for their profile images...like Yours Truly. Ever wonder what happens in the when two face parts appear together?

So much for originality on my part. Funny, I never thought of myself as a "lowest common denominator" type of person, but I guess we all have our moments. Ironic how part of the other screen name matches my real surname.


And speaking of moments, the following Tweets -- found courtesy of -- fit in the category of "Too much information."

I draw the line at Twittering while on the toilet. Not gonna happen. Nope.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

48 Hours in Twitterland

Twitter allows employees to live a day in someone else's cubicle, so to speak, and share learnings less obtrusively.

I am addicted to Twitter. is a "service that allows you to post short little posts under 140 characters," according to an Ask.com-retrieved definition from blog.zemote.com. This week, I've been using Twitter frequently, just to experience for myself if there exists any real business apps potential here. You see, I just joined a new project team and I decided I needed some high-tech, fast on-boarding. Twitter is a great way that co-workers can shadow each other and learn. I asked co-workers to sign up and Twitter about their day, so I could get a feel for their hour-to-hour activities. Meg accommodated me and signed up immediately. She Twittered about meetings and conversations and I soon realized that people-to-people interactions take up a good portion of her day.

As for me, I Twittered tweeted about a combination of one-sided MeetingPlace calls and Web slide presentations, amidst intermittent tasks like customer care by email, software training, and little unrelated observations. I tend to be more "heads-down," burrowing into the guts of the work like a tech-loner. I'd make a lousy manager that way.

Sometimes conference calls are the background noise I need while I dual and triple process. I rarely pick up a phone to chat with a colleague, because email is just an extension of my whirling fingers. Maybe that's not so great, especially since I work remotely much of the time, and my over-dependence on technology makes me a corporate wallflower -- invisible too often. If my co-workers in other cities were on Twitter, perhaps I wouldn't feel so isolated.

Two co-workers in the same company or group can have and act upon different concepts of work day effectiveness. After comparing our Twitter posts (Meg and mine) for the past 48 hours, I felt like my day was fragmented. It made me think about better ways to organize my tasks around bigger chunks of productivity and, of course, people. So, in a way, being on Twitter caused me to up my game, mainly because I was broadcasting to the world. Now if every person behaved that way...

As a side note, while reviewing emerging presidential candidates, I found myself gravitating toward certain candidates for technological reasons. Now I'm wondering if I can separate the medium from the message. I noticed that and both have MySpace.com & Twitter pages. No, I don't think having a "cool" Web presence is necessarily a requirement of U.S. leadership. They're just tools (she tells herself), not qualifications for vote-getting or indications of competence. But I'm getting sidetracked again.

Anyway, back to the business hook for Twitter. Twitter allows employees to live a day in someone else's cubicle, so to speak, and share learnings less obtrusively. For or those in another city, -- something most distance workers wouldn't normally experience in such an informal manner.

So...if you've , I can answer that. There are real time implications for corporations interested in adding more social media tools to their internal communications mix. It's giving me a better perspective on how I can best work on this new team, too.

Here's a list of business :
· Attracting event sponsors - whether planned or spontaneous
· Media outlet news feed
· - i.e. film festival mini-reviews, sports play-by-play and so on
· Informational and real-time updates for users - system outages, server issues, product releases, and product updates
· Radio station play list - with updates on what track is now playing
· for a geographically diverse workforce
· Marketing or PR ticker directed at journalists or analysts
· Feedback channel for customer care purposes
· Blow-by-blow notations of usability studies for PD teams
·

Can you think of more? Comment on this blog post and/or add a link to Twitter Fan Wiki on Business Uses.

~ Kim

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Teens Know Best -- Getting Started Early in Business

I love fusion words. They illustrate how flexible we've become and how we continue to evolve. For example, first came the term , to designate a person who "organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture," according to the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language. More recently, we've heard the term , which is a fusion of "Mom" and "entrepreneur." These are female business owners with children at home. Many of these mothers are work-at-home parents.

Recently, I discovered the term Teenpreneur and . The . These days, teen entrepreneurs have advanced well beyond babysitting, mowing grass and after-school fast food jobs. Thanks to organizations like the SBA and Junior Achievement, .

As a high schooler, I was very active in Junior Achievement, even winning a few sales contests (see picture). Being able to combine sales acumen, speaking skills and financial management at an early age contributed to my future success. I'm glad to see J.A. is still around and keeping up with the times.

All these teen business resources make me wish I was more motivated at sixteen...I might have become a female Donald Trump or Bill Gates. Well, without the bad hair, anyway. You know, in today's crazy job market, learning about business is essential for future career development, regardless of one's focus. Kudos to Web sites who recognize the value and cater to teen visitors.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Truthiness is Now a Flavor

I often tune into Comedy Central to watch "." If it weren't for Jon, I wouldn't have been introduced to omnipotent satirist . Yes, I admit, I was watching "" when Stephen made a mockery of Wikipedia's user-generated greatness by coining the term "."

Here's the scoop. Apparently, I wasn't the only one impressed by Stephen's glib information refactoring. Ice cream moguls Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s just announced a new flavor called "AmeriCone Dream," dedicated to Stephen. Proceeds from the sale of the ice cream "will support charities...such as food and medical assistance for disadvantaged children, helping veterans and their families, and environmental causes."
Ben & Jerry's new flavor is a decadent melting pot of vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl. It’s the sweet taste of liberty in your mouth.~ Official B&J corporate news release, February 28, 2007 05:11 PM ET.
Ben and Jerry are scheduled to festively debut the ice cream with an appearance on Stephen's show. To hear about Stephen's plan to "save the world," tune in to "The Colbert Report" on Monday, March 5 at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT. Now if I can only get my hands on a pint to enjoy while pondering my liberal bias.

Yum!