Mike Hollywood and I really like what we do, we work hard, bust ass all week and if I may say so myself, do some pretty innovative work in New Media at our communications agency. So when the week ends we congratulate ourselves with a cold frosty and shoot the shit about what is going on in our industry in regards to social and new media.  One week at a college’s farewell party we decided that we should start taping our Friday afternoons and share it with you, and thus #beerfridays was born. We are now 8 episodes in and don’t plan on stopping, we have no agenda other then to entertain (ourselves) and share some ideas, but the main reason we podcast is …. well… because we are the dorks on the New Media team!

Without further ado #BeerFridays!

The thoughts and opinions in #BeerFridays are our own and do not necessarily represent our employer.

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That was easy!

Can’t wait to see what talented developers can do.

For details instructions on how to add to your blog check out this post by Diana Freedman:

http://ustandout.com/facebook/add-facebook-button-blog

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Hello! After listening to a podcast today on imedaconnection from Nalts, a YouTube star and soc med video consultant I decided to create this video. If you don’t know me that well give it a watch and then go make your own! YouTube is the second largest search engine on the web and you should own your search there. Be brave – Record Video.

-Marcus

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Last March I told you I was joining HealthTalker, an early age startup marketing agency in Somerville, MA as their Social Media Associate. It was a great opportunity; I spent 8 months at the evolving company before a financial situation lead to the elimination of my position. In November I began consulting for City Year founder’s Alan Khazei’s campaign for the late Ted Kennedy’s senate seat. Both experiences were very rewarding; I discovered a lot about applying social media to the Pharma industry and politics.

I’m now excited to announce I’ve taken a job with one of Boston’s largest and most respected communication agencies; one that is committed to advancing new media. This Monday (Jan. 11th) I will join Boston-based Cone as their New Media Associate. I will work directly with Mike Hollywood, Cone’s Director of New Media, to accomplish Cone’s mission:

I’m eager to apply my skills and experience in new media to the impressive range of Cone’s clients, and I am thrilled to get back to the communication world. I believe that new and social media should be executed my communications agencies and am dedicated to advancing the practice. A big thanks to Carol Cone and Bill Fleishman for their dedication to advancing New Media in the industry.

I’d also like to thank all of you who helped me and worked with me while I was looking for a job and consulting. It’s the the tough times that really prove the strength of your network and mine is strong. There is to many to thank and I know you all know who you are. Thanks!

-Marcus

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“Find a partner and build a team. No one changes the world alone.” – Alan Khazei

As part of the live video podcast Rule53 Alan Khazei brought his passion for social entrepreneurship and his experience founding City Year to a room of young entrepreneurs Sunday the 22^nd.

The podcast – a production of DartBoston – pairs a proven entrepreneur with an under 30 Boston professional who has an early stage startup. On Sunday Alan was paired with Ashli Stempel a Northeastern senior who is founding PULSE. PULSE is a non-for-profit with a mission to help juvenile offenders transition back into their communities through activity based workshops.

The event brought out some of Boston’s young bright stars including entrepreneurs, social media folks and tenacious students. Based on my informal pole post event (“Hey, what did you think?”) The crowd was genuinely impressed by Alan’s deep experiences as a business man, entrepreneur and social activist. Alan’s ability to articulate and transfer his knowledge and experiences maybe his greatest strength as a public speaker. Several times during the show he provided one line bits of genius:

“We need a system to celebrate social entrepreneurs, like the system for entrepreneurs.”

“You need 5 people to start a project…you need a team”

“Sun Tzu – every battle is one or lost before it is fought….it’s not the battle, it’s the training and preparation.”

The show centered on how Alan was able to establish City Year and then turn it into such a successful non-for-profit. He also talked about how he had to fight to keep Americorps (modeled after City Year) alive after funding was cut for the program. This transitioned nicely into Alan telling the story of why he is running for senate. He made a great name for himself as a champion for big citizenship at City Year and that’s what he wants to bring to the senate.

There are 9 days left before the special elections on the 8^th. I hope you all get out and vote and choose someone who will be the kind of person you want in the senate. I’ve been working with the Khazei campaign for the last month and he is the candidate I want to fill Ted Kennedy’s old seat. He is a savvy business man, a tough negotiator and the peoples champion.

If Alan wins this election it will be because of a groundswell of support from citizens. It wont be because of money, TV ads, political leverage. I find this one of the most attractive ideas behind this campaign.

The word-of-mouth for Alan’s run, generated by the event was tremendous. The live podcast reached an online and offline audience of over 50 people and the video has since been watched over 100 times. The link to the show was shared on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and through email and was clicked through by over 300 people. On Twitter over 30 people sent over 100 tweets to a combined network of 27,020 people.

You can watch the whole show here:

Alan Khazei and Ashli Stempel – Rule53 DartBoston

If you are reading this you are probably involved with social media or online communications in some fashion. If this is indeed true I think you will be impressed by the support that Alan has demonstrated for our community and his understanding of the big ideas behind it. The video below expresses this.

I would love to hear your thoughts about how Alan can improve his chances in these final days. As always I appreciate any and all comments!

Thanks

-Marcus

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There are some 40 odd days until the Massachusetts democratic primary. There are four candidates vying for the seat vacated by the late Ted Kennedy. You may have heard that the commonwealth tends to be a little liberal. So it is almost guaranteed that whoever represents the Dems in the race will end up in the senate.

The four Democrats running are:

1. Attorney General Martha Coakley
2. Congressman Mike Capuano
3. City Year Founder Alan Khazei
4. Boston Celtics Co-Owner Steve Pagliuca

In such an accelerated race how voters get their information on candidates is going to be different. It takes TIME to produce and disseminate a TV commercial, design an ad campaigns or execute a PR blitz. It also takes time for voters to digest and understand these messages.

That is why social media is going to play such a huge role in this race. Social media happens in real time. A candidate can send out his/her stance on an issue that just happened via Twitter or Facebook instantly and then that message will spread like wild fire assuming the candidate has a large enough network. We all know how social media can have an effect on a campaign *Obama*. So which candidates are doing it the best in the race for Teddy’s seat? How can they improve?

The Grades:

Martha Coakley: Overall B-

Twitter: C         Followers: 962 Tweets: 183

The Coakley campaign has almost 1,000 followers which is a great base. They tweet often and are good at using links and hashtags.

The tweets are often coming in the third person, however. Martha is this or Martha is that. So if this isn’t Martha tweeting than who is it? The handle is also very broadcasty. Not a lot of @replies.

Facebook: B    Fans: 4,824

The Coakley campaign has a very strong Facebook presence with almost 5k fans. The do a very good job of adding updates daily. These update are heavily liked and commented causing them to spread virally over Facebook.

Again however there is no interaction between the fans on Facebook and the campaign. No responses to the comments.

Action items:

ENGAGE! The Coakley campaign needs to stop ignoring their followers and fans. These are the people most dedicated to the campaign. Engage with them and figure out ways they can spread the message.

Alan Khazei: Overall B-

Twitter: B         Followers: 1,162          Tweets: 265

The Khazei campaign is by far doing the best job at using Twitter to engage their people. They are doing a good job of @reply people, posting links and using hashtags.

They do need to continue to tweet more often though and build their following. This could be an easy piece of low hanging fruit for this campaign.

Facebook: C+  Fans: 4,025

What I loved about the Khazei Facebook page was that a lot of the content was being uploaded by fans. They also do a great job of posting great links and updates that get out in Facebook and go viral.

The setup of the fan page could use some work though. For instance adding an events and video tab could boost this page from a C+ to an A.

Action items:

Considering that Khazei doesn’t have the funds or name recognition as some of the other candidates, they need to win online and have a great opportunity to do so. If they continue to increasing followers and fans they will be able to spread the mission faster than TV ads or print pieces.

In this accelerated election if you win online you give yourself a great chance to win at the poles.

Mike Capuano: Overall C-

Twitter: D         Followers: 452 Tweets: 145

The Capuano campaign does do a good job of engaging on Twitter. They are adding links and using hashtags, but there really need to become more involved in the space. It’s such an easy way to make connections and there are not spending enough time on it.

Facebook: C+

The Capuano Facebook page is very well done. They have boxes for their Flickr and YouTube pages. They are using more function on the page than other campaigns however they are not updating regularly. On Facebook it is important to get as much content out into the public stream so that fans can like it and comment on it.

Action Items: With Capuano’s name recognition there is no reason he shouldn’t have followings the size of Coakley’s or Khazei’s. There campaign needs to make a commitment to being in the social media game instead of half-assing it.

Steve Pagliuca: Overall D-

Twitter D          Followers: 395            Tweets 133

I think that the need to take the time at the Pagliuca campaign to figure out how Twitter works. They don’t really have a grasp on the whole @replies thing but they are trying. They did get the big time twitter “celebrity” endorsement from @DonnieWhalberg.

Facebook:  F     Fans: 442

They are on Facebook and 442 fans is a start, but you have to do better than that.

I only took a look at Twitter and Facebook because I didn’t want to post to get to big. Also I didn’t compare website traffic because compete.com doesn’t have the Oct. numbers out and Sept. doesn’t tell the whole story.

How big of a part do you think social networks are playing in this campaign?

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Startup companies amaze me, better said the people behind startups amaze me. I’m attracted to the entrepreneurial spirit like a moth to bright lights. There is something just sexy about the excitement and risk involved that makes this game so much fun.

When I moved to Boston I got a job at a startup and it was a wild ride, now that I’m no longer working there I’ve started doing it myself as a social media consultant. I attend young entrepreneur networking and development events each week and soak up their tales of success, failure and ingenuity. I have been meeting more and more with young entrepreneurs in coffee shops, bars and living rooms to help them figure out how they can use social media tools and enter the content game.

What I have been seeing is that each business no matter where it is in the development stage comes with a philosophy. These young entrepreneurs are very passionate and it’s because they have a mission behind their work that drives them. You ask them about the weather and in an instant they have you convinced that their product of service is going to change the world.

That’s why it blows my mind when I ask these people if they are blogging or creating content and they say “Well, I’m not really sure what to talk about”. The internet is the greatest platform in the world for disseminating information about your passion. And also it’s not just one-way! You get to hear from all those people who love your idea, can help you, want your product or have criticisms you need to hear.

Are you a young entrepreneur who wants to, build a network, get feed back, build an army, sell product, make connections, change the world, get VC funding and get credit? Of course you are! So then you need to get into the content game. Start a blog, blog everyday about what you know best for 30 days and see what happens. Keep track of twitter followers, readers, traffic, comments and leads. I’m positive that at the end of those 30 days you will have more defined goals, know your business better, have a ton of contacts, build your personal brand and become an expert in online communications.

Do you have a brilliant idea for entrepreneurs to use when getting started? Please share.

Thanks to Beepie K for the photo and @GaryVee for the inspiration.

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It’s a god-awful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
But her mummy is yelling “No”
And her daddy has told her to go
But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seat with the clearest view
And she’s hooked to the silver screen
But the film is a saddening bore
‘Cause she’s lived it ten times or more
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on

Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man! Look at those cavemen go
It’s the freakiest show
Take a look at the Lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?

It’s on America’s tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
Now the workers have struck for fame
‘Cause Lennon’s on sale again
See the mice in their million hordes
From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads
Rule Britannia is out of bounds
To my mother, my dog, and clowns
But the film is a saddening bore
‘Cause I wrote it ten times or more
It’s about to be writ again
As I ask you to focus on

Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man! Look at those cavemen go
It’s the freakiest show
Take a look at the Lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?

Thanks to @Boomshiddang for inviting me to Honk! and supplying the great pictures.

Thanks to everyone who helped put on Honk!

Thanks to David Bowie for your truly Absurd words.

-MA

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I’m addicted to my Google Reader. It brings everything I could ever need right to my doorstep and helps me stay informed and up to date. I take pride in the amplitude of my reader and how well stocked I keep it. From time to time I’d like to tell you about the latest subscriptions that have made the grade and the people behind them.

This week’s RSS All-stars.

http://www.schneidermike.com/
Mike Schneider the man behind @schneidermike is a funny guy with lots of rich content on his blog.
I had the pleasure of meeting him for a quick second at the infamous #burritup and have been following him for a while on Twitter. It wasn’t until this week however that I checked out his blog. (Sorry Mike not sure what I was thinking!)
What I got was two great video’s that kept my attention, were funny and valuable to me as a new media marketer.
If you’re in Boston he is definitely a dude you should meet and wherever you are you should subscribe to his blog.

Mike is a strategic technology consultant focused on web content management, social media measurement and dual shore delivery models.

http://www.sparkminute.com/
I found sparkminute while doing a search for creative contests on Google. What I found was one of most interesting Mashable articles I’ve ever read. It was written by David Spark who happens to run a hilarious twitter handle and publish some great content on his blog.
His latest blog post was an excellently well done interview with Adam Curry of Mevio.com. I guess I’ve just got a thing right now for blogs with video.

David Spark is a journalist, consultant, producer, and owner of Spark Media Solutions, a firm that helps companies build voice through storytelling.

http://tomokeefe.com/
You most likely know TOK (Tom OKeefe) by his real name @BostonTweet. But if you think this knowledgeable local only knows burritos and beer you’re very wrong. Mr. OKeefe is an epic content producer yes but he also knows his social media. There are some great insights on his blog and interesting information on his many projects.

Tom O’Keefe is based in Boston, MA and is the Twitterer behind BostonTweet, VP of Business Development for Sayagle, founder of Bizak and c0-founder of infoMedMD.

http://www.yifeizhang.com/
Yifei (Pronounced E-Fay) is a young guy with a killer attitude. Already a serial entrepreneur in his early 20’s Yifei is producing some content to take notice of on his blog. Yifei most recently started hosting DartBoston family dinners. The next one will be this Friday at Tupelo.

Have you heard of these guys? Do you think they are relevant like me or are they all hogwash? Please comment and feel free to add you own great RSS feeds.

-MA

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The team at DartBoston.com is Absurdly Digital.

DartBoston’s Pokin’ Holes is a live Boston based video podcast spotlighting young entrepreneurs. You can come join the shows studio audience at a unique Boston venue each Thursday night or watch the show live on Ustream.com (provided they finagle internet access).

The hour or so show picks one lucky entrepreneur to pitch his idea/company to a panel of three specialists. After the pitch the panelist take questions from Dart’s ring leader Cort Johnson. The panel then takes turns dissecting the entrepreneurs idea piece by piece while the subjects sits silent in the audience.

Jake Cacciapaglia handles the technical aspects of the live show, which is done with great quality lighting, video, and sound depending on the venue. Outside of the aspects of the actual show the real magic happens by their ability to organize, promote, and recruit through new media. Using their website as a hub Dart has built a vibrant community through their team’s word-of-mouth and Twitter networks.

This community is becoming an important piece of the Boston social media scene. Each week the show brings together and builds relationships between some the best and brightest Bostonians. The show is able to bring in lots of people to the production and provide value to all. The entrepreneurs get real, valuable consulting, the panelists get great recognition, and the studio audience gets to have a blast.

DartBoston and Pokin holes are an excellent example of the power of community and new media tools. They are special because of their youth and welcoming attitudes. I can’t wait to watch their network expand and be part of the fun.

Is there any other organization bringing together young professionals and new media like this in Boston or anywhere else?

-Marcus

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