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"Attending" conferences via Twitter?

Guest blog from Jessi Wortley, a.k.a, @MiniJ on Twitter:

While the rest of the world (or so it seems) was at the 2008 International Public Relations Society of America conference in Detroit, I “attended” via Twitter. Using Twitter Search and the keyword #PRSA08, I followed along with every aspect of the conference, from the keynote speakers, to the individual sessions, to Tweetups. I’m even aware of the serious lack of heat, coffee and free Wi-Fi.

I thought it would be a good way to hear some great advice and see what’s going on in the larger PR world. However, after two days, I don’t think I learned what I hoped to.

I tried to keep up on it while at work, but due to the never-ending stream of tweets I experienced information overload. I would look away for 5 to 10 minutes while I do real work at my desk, and come back to at least eight new tweets; more if something exciting is going on, like a keynote speaker. Heck, I went out for lunch and came back to close to 200 new tweets.

Now, I couldn't afford to take that much time to read them all, so I just skimmed a couple pages worth. What I discovered is that while I was reading a lot of interesting comments people are garnering from speakers and presenters, I didn't have the context to put with it. So, a 140-character or less “catchphrase” means nothing to me.

I also found that with so many tweets, it was hard to focus, remember and key-in on everything being said. There may be some brilliant messages, but when a new tweet is being fired off every 30 seconds, there is no time to soak it in before the next one comes across.

The ones I do remember came from the keynote speakers, where every person is commenting on the same speech, so single messages get multiple tweets, and have more chances of being ingrained in my memory. Two memorable ones: “Bankruptcy is not an option for GM” and “Job hop, have great sex and blog.” Technically, I still don’t have any background for them, but I've at least remembered them. I suppose that’s a start.

I’d hoped to learn something via my “Twitter attendance,” and I believe I have, it’s just not what I expected. I've learned that too much information all at once can be counter-productive. Maybe everyone who tweets constantly from conferences should instead spend more time appreciating that they are actually at the conference, pay more attention to the speakers and come home and blog about it – in detail. To me, reading a full-length summary, which I could save for future reference, would be much more useful than a few tweets of 140 characters.

I’ll continue checking Twitter periodically for updates from people attending conferences in case some earth-shattering news breaks, but I also plan to start saving my pennies so I can attend in person next time.

I've turned pro

OK, so it's a bit of a stretch to say I've turned pro -- but what do you expect from a blog entry being written while watching Monday Night Football? :)

Here's the scoop: there's a new blog site from Offset Media that is currently offering six different blogs with a different focus for six different audiences. Offset Media is a project from parent company Talent Zoo, the self-proclaimed "No. 1 site for ad, marketing and media professionals."

If you get a chance, check out the various blogs, which include:

• 12 Point Type (for graphic designers)
  
• Beneath the Brand (for marketers)
• Beyond Madison Avenue (for advertising folks)
• Digital Pivot (about new media -- the one I'm writing for)
• Flack Me (for public relations pros)
• SEO Shootout (focused on making organic search work for you)

Keeping up with the Digital Pivot posts means I'll probably be posting to this blog less frequently. Of course, I'll probably say that and then end up posting here anyway as I find things to write about that don't quite fit the Digital Pivot brand.

I guess we'll see what happens. That's a motto that kind of describes my life lately, so it seems appropriate.

My first entry for Digital Pivot is now posted, so have a look. I ran onto the field during my first pro game by talking about the mishandling of the Joe the Plumber situation by McCain's campaign. As I ask in that post, how can you hook your wagon to a shooting star before you've Googled it's trajectory?

"Too fat" guy being executed

CINCINNATI (AP) -- A double murderer who says he's too fat to be executed humanely has passed a pre-execution exam and is cleared to receive a lethal injection today.

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I blogged about this issue in September, so I thought I should post this news update.

The good news for the victims' families is that the Ohio Board of Parole and Gov. Ted Strickland have refused pleas for clemency.

The bad news is we still have this stupid philosophy in this country that people facing execution are entitled to their favorite meal just prior to paying the ultimate price. According to the Associated Press: "Cooey dined Monday evening on the special meal he ordered, including T-bone steak with A-1 sauce, onion rings, french fries, four eggs over easy, toast with butter, hash browns, a pint of rocky road ice cream, a Mountain Dew soft drink and bear claw pastries."

That's a nice message to send, isn't it?

My heart goes out to the victims' families. At least now, you'll hopefully have a bit more peace by not having to hear about this guy anymore.

Can your hobby survive as a job?

"Never make your hobby your job because then it becomes a chore."

I've heard that phrase a number of times over the years and I've always wondered if it's true. It's one of those things that people tend to just take at face value because they sound right and seem to make sense.

If you take up a hobby, it's probably doing something you like to do just for fun and it was never intended as a way to make money. Heck, it was probably a way for you to escape the daily grind of the thing you do to make money in the first place.

I don't know if blogging is really a hobby or a way to keep something that I like to do fresh. You see, I have always enjoyed writing. I don't know when it started, but from elementary school on I knew I'd be a writer -- a journalist to be exact. I held on to that childhood dream right through to my bachelor's degree in journalism from Michigan State University.

I wrote as a journalist for several years, then I was an editor but made a point of writing a weekly column to keep my creative juices flowing. I've spent a lot of years since then on the public relations side of the industry and coming up with clever ways to say things is fun. Sure, there are days when I'm doing the mundane and it's a bit routine, but that's OK. Hanging on and writing a clever headline or suggesting a witty quote for someone is worth the wait.

Then, a few months ago, after watching others blog for quite some time, I decided to start this regular testament to the fact that I have something to say and people might want to hear it. I'm not naive enough to think people are subscribing or regularly checking this blog to see what I've had to say lately. There are millions of choices out there of things to read on the Internet and I'm surely not very high on most reading lists.

But it doesn't matter. Writing this blog has been an outlet for me. It's helped me stay focused on the communications industry -- journalism, media relations, new media, social media -- and that's made me a better employee and a better teacher. Still, it's really been all about me and what I wanted to write about.

Now, I have a chance at blogging for a paycheck. Oh, certainly not enough of a paycheck to quit my day job; not that I would want to. But it's a bit of extra money anyway. I can't help but think that if I'm going to write these blogs, maybe I should get paid for them. But, alas, that means this blog isn't a hobby anymore -- it's a job. And that means it doesn't matter if I "just don't feel like writing today," I still will have to do it.

Will that impact the quality of my work? Will that bring an end to blogging as a hobby? Will it take the fun out of it?

What do you think? Can your hobby survive as a job? Or, over time, will I find that I need a new hobby to help me escape from the chore that used to be a fun escape?

How do you define "leadership?"

With Michigan being a targeted state until a few days ago when John McCain decided to abandon all hope here, we've been seeing a lot of TV commercials about why McCain or Barack Obama should be our next leader. Well, that's the message, technically, but primarily we've been seeing a lot of commercials about why the other guy shouldn't be.

It's been interesting to see how both supposed leaders and their minions have been trying to prove they're ready to lead -- and to compare it with a list presented recently by a true leader in the private sector.

At a conference in Grand Rapids a few weeks back, Rich DeVos, one of the founders of Amway, shared some ideas on leadership and it was a compelling enough list that I made some notes. Here, with all apologies to Mr. DeVos for butchering his wonderful presentation, are some highlights:

• Leaders set the tone and the atmosphere.
  
• Leaders understand that growth comes from within.
  
• Leaders are communicators.
• Leaders are innovators.
• Leaders are givers.
• Leaders are builders.
• Leaders enrich the lives of others.

Think about this list when you're deciding who to vote for in November. If you're like me, you'll be shaking your head and wondering about the rules for write-in candidates. You also should think about this list when you decide whether you have a good boss or whether you are a good boss.

And feel free to chime in on this list. How do you define leadership? When have you shined as a leader? When have you found a leader to admire and why did they earn that admiration?

And, finally, if you'd like to see part of DeVos' speech for yourself, it's presented here, courtesy of the Grand Rapids Press:

Tag, I'm it

I've been tagged, thanks to Anna Hill, a person who truly represents how small this world is to me and others to whom I explain blogging, Twitter, etc.

You can learn more about Anna at her blog. She and I have never met, in person. We've become sort of pen pals in the modern sense of the word. We rarely write directly to each other, but we have had a number of conversations on Twitter and we tend to read each other's blogs regularly. What makes the small world thing work is that Anna lives in the UK and I live in the states. The Atlantic Ocean has never seemed like such a tiny pond.

Anyway, Anna selected me to be tagged in a current blog trend in which you are asked to write six things about yourself that your readers may not know. Then, after you opened up and shared something personal, you tag six more people and hopefully they do the same thing. Anna said her reaction was mixed when first tagged, and mine was, too. Initially I thought it was a bit like the old-fashioned chain letters, except there was no threat of great personal loss if I didn't tag other people. Then I thought it was cool to be counted among Anna's friends that she tagged. Then I was a bit flustered, trying to figure out what I could share that people would even care about and worried that people I tagged would be upset with me.

So, I've decided to land in the middle somewhere and share things about me, but not tag other people. Hopefully, Anna will understand.

So, six things about me, if you care to know -- and they're in no particular order:

1. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia and have moved around more than any person I know outside of my family. Due to job changes and miscellaneous circumstances, my parents often packed up the family and headed off to new homes, new cities and even new states. I've lived in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Michigan. Maybe there were more from when I was too young to notice. I'm not really sure.

2. I'm a first-generation American born citizen on my father's side of the family and only second generation on my mother's side. My dad came over from Czechoslovakia after WWII and my maternal grandfather emigrated from Greece.

3. One of my favorite hobbies is driving off-road in my Jeep Wrangler. It was a childhood dream to own a "real Jeep," and on sunny days in the summer, you'll often find me tooling around in the Jeep with the top down and the doors off. I've gotten proficient enough to be a trail guide at Camp Jeep.

4. I'm a recovering work-a-holic. I used to think this only pertained to work at my job, and I've gotten much better about that. I've recently discovered that those tendencies can be a problem when dealing with blogging, home maintenance, lawn maintenance, car maintenance -- that's why I'm "recovering" and not "recovered."

5. I gave up drinking alcohol a few years ago. No, I didn't "have a problem," as many people suddenly think when I tell them this. I just did it on a whim one New Year's Eve and since then I've lost the taste for it -- but I've also gained the money I used to spend on hooch. Not a bad trade-off if you ask me.

6. I was a bit of a local celebrity in Grand Rapids, Michigan back around 2000 when I was overseeing some public relations efforts for the state Department of Transportation. We were reconstructing the US-131 S-Curve that runs through downtown and I was on TV so much that the local NBC affiliate did a profile piece about me for an evening newscast. I still have multiple copies -- I think that was my proverbial "15 minutes of fame."

So, there you have it. If you continued reading to this point, thanks, I'm honored.

Now, it's off to do some various types of work. This recovery stuff is tough to pull off.

Too bad screaming for attention works

It's too bad, and perhaps a sign of why society is so dysfunctional and overpopulated with lawyers, that screaming for attention and threatening people works to get problems resolved.

In an earlier post, I lamented about the horrible customer service I was receiving from Comcast regarding an error on my cable TV bill. It appears the trouble has been fixed and, to Comcast's credit, they are trying to make amends with me.

The problem is, I had to scream at them to get anything done.

The last straw was when I tried to reach customer service by phone again and was told, again, I needed a supervisor. I waited patiently and was connected to the supervisor's line, which had an automated recording telling me they were busy and offered a call back. I took it, and about 30 minutes later I received a phone call from another automated system. When activated through the suggested telephone prompts, I was dumped into Comcast's internal system and repeatedly asked to enter various codes based on which company call center I was working at.

During the 30-minute wait, I finally lost control and exploded all over Comcast with an angry email. It was the most venomous email I can ever remember sending to a business. It's not my style and I felt bad after I hit send, albeit the venting rant helped release some tension.

Lo and behold, within a few hours, my problem had been resolved. Finally, after months of telephone and online battles via the normal channels and playing by the rules, I got some service. I also received a nice apology and am supposedly going to receive a couple of Pay Per View movies free to make up for my inconvenience.

The email I received last night was a welcome relief from the nightmare I've been dealing with. The bigger problem is it's an email I should have received months ago. It's an email I should have received while playing by the rules and without having to unload on them.

It's too bad screaming for attention works. But it's undeniable now that it can get something accomplished. How sad.