Category Archives: Uncategorized

“Twitter is Stupid?!”

Posted on by

“Twitter is Stupid!” was the ignorant comment I received from a classmate during a Q&A (after a presentation on a social media and website plan for a law office). Can you imagine the expression on my face?

It is comments like this, from individuals who have never even dabbled in Twitter, that bother me. I understand if an individual has attempted Twitter, realized what it is used for, but does not believe it is something that works for them or something they want to put the time into. However, those individuals who have looked at Twitter, but failed to actually utilize it, and do not understand the potential it has for brand management – those individuals – I’m sorry folks – ignorance is lame.

I applaud those who have tried it, are confused by it, but do not bash it. I have some law school friends who always ask “what do you tweet?” I love it when people inquire, and truly want to know what is involved in utilizing Twitter to its potential. While some folks may just Tweet personal items such as where they go out, they are still benefiting the places they tweet about. Aka enhancing brand awareness via word of mouth.

So whether you’re tweeting about the burger you ate at X Restaurant, the awesome jeans you bought at Y Store, or just how cool it was to hang out with Z — Twitter is not “stupid” – it is a tool that can be used for great potential, or wasted by “ignorance.”

This is one time when I say…Ignorance is not Bliss.

Save the Date: February 18, 2011

Posted on by

Suffolk University brings you Bridging The Gap: A Mashup of Academic Framework & Business Social Media Conference on February 18th, 2011.

Social Media and Inbound Marketing are making their way through business and culture.  This migration of ideologies creates opportunities and complexities within all organizations.  Our conference intends to connect academia and real world practices, strengthen the connection between the frameworks preached in schools and the practical applications being used in organizations.

The Info:

February 18th, 2011
Suffolk University
120 Tremont St
Boston, Massachusetts 02108

Registration Time: 8:00 am

Lunch Included.

6pm Post-Conference Cocktail Networking Event at Red Sky

The Agenda (order may be switched):

1. Academic Keynote

2. Expert Panel on Facebook

3. How to utilize SEO in your Marketing Plan

4. Expert Panel on Blogging

5. Expert Panel on Twitter

6. Industry Keynote

Our two keynotes are Erik Qualman and  Mike Volpe !! In addition we have confirmed speakers such as Julia Roy, Brian Simpson, and Michelle McCormack with Joselin Mane as our main man MC!! Stay tuned to find out who else will be speaking.

Also stay tuned for the landing site (under construction) for up to date details.

Until then…Hit us up for more info:

The Planning Committee:

Pam Sahota

Sean Zinsmeister

Paul Schmidt


My New Site!

Posted on by

So I bought the domain months ago — and finally “got off my butt” to put it to use! I was fed up with the .com version of WordPress and the lack of plugins I could utilize and realized the awesomeness of the .org and all it beholds. I’m sure you all are nodding your heads, “yes, dear – about time.” Well a special thanks goes to a great friend of mine, Shawn McCarthy, because with his web-building skills I was able to get this site launched in no time.

Hope everyone subscribes via email or RSS. Would love to get feedback on what you think and keep up with my thoughts on what’s fresh and new in branding, social media and charitable causes.

Love to all my readers,

Pam :)

FutureM Un-Conference

Posted on by

Unfortunately due to my silly MBA classes, I was unable to attend any of the FutureM events earlier in the week, but I was able to hit up a couple events Thursday night. Holland-Mark‘s Digital Man Mike Troiano spoke about “Scalable Intimacy,” siting their client example Notch Session (which I must admit is some exceptional beer — especially if you want a few without that headache the next morning). The set up of this event was particularly interesting, since it was a contest where the winners received on the spot social media advice from Mike himself. (Full disclosure: I did work for Holland-Mark and loved every minute of it.)

And who were the winners?

3rd Place: Creative Crafts for Creative Kids

2nd Place: Formaggio Kitchen

And the 1st place winner is….United Way of Mass Bay!

All 3 received specific advice on areas they were having trouble in – whether it be content strategy, which social media tool to focus on (depends on where your target market it), etc. Lets just say, the crowd was not yawning, and they were not leaving early. Mike knew how to keep the crowd laughing and entertained while teaching the crowd on how best to utilize social media to your advantage. And if you are now sorry you missed this, you can see check out the full deck from the event.

And as I tweeted from the event last night: “Remember the social, not just the marketing” – Mike Troiano.

After saying “great job” and “c ya later”, I quickly ran off to Mantra where Cyberbrew had been kicked off. There was an eclectic crowd of veteran “cyberbrewers” and newbies (such as myself). Unfortunately I missed the open bar, but I did meet some interesting folks and ran into a few good friends (Jason Rush from Boston Interactive and Joselin Mane from BostonTweetUp). Familiar faces always make an event that much better. While I laughed at the men who “networked” from one female to the other, I drank my glass of wine and chatted away…until next time FutureM, you sure did rock!

PodCamp Boston 2010

Posted on by

After attending numerous social media networking events such as the 140 conference, and now Podcamp (and soon to attend FutureM), I can officially claim my “nerd status” without rebuttal. Although, I was only able to attend the 2nd half of this weekend’s PodCamp conference (can you blame me for wanting to run the Susan G. Komen 5K on Saturday as well?) — it was well worth the commute over the bridge to lovely Cambridge.

I joined my good friend, Sean Zinsmeister as we hopped from David Wells (Social Media for Social Good) to Paul Gillin (B2B Social Media – Really!) to Morriss Partee (Geolocation) to Chrisopher Penn (Podcasting 101: 5 years later) to Lane Sutton and Avrom Honig (Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare — It’s Taking Over Our Lives).

I definitely enjoyed David’s talk as I’ve worked for a local nonprofit (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company) for about 2 years, where I also utilized social media platforms in order to spread the word n’ do some “social good” for a non-profit that has given such cultural enrichment to the community of Boston.

Paul was more than informative on how B2B’s can and should be using social media platforms to their benefit. Having worked for a digital agency in Boston I realize that utilizing social media platforms is not just a good idea, but imperative.

Morriss hit a hot topic with geolocation. Although I am not a big fan of letting people know where I am via Foursquare and other geo apps, I realize the impact these apps are having on businesses. If a business utilizes an app like Foursquare or Gowalla in a way that consumers are pumped to participate and use it, then it can reap great rewards for that business.

Chris, entertaining as always, kept the audience laughing and intrigued by the different tools that podcasters have at their disposal for delivering their content to their audience. Who knew it could be so easy?

Last but not least Lane and Avrom were the perfect duo — they created quite a discussion regarding privacy and young social media users. How will the new generation of teens impact social media in the future? Guess we’ll have to wait for Lane and his fellow teens to show us.

After a jam-packed day — I am looking forward to seeing these speakers and those I missed again at a future conference. Until then — I salute my fellow social media nerds that I am not only impressed with the work and involvement of each person at these conferences, but look forward to see what develops next…

How do you Subscribe?

Posted on by

Do you subscribe to magazines the old-school snail mail way? Or do you get the digital version sent to you via email? I cannot help but still enjoy turning each glossy page filled with a ridiculous amount of advertisements…and then the other day I was trying to decide whether or not to subscribe to Fast Company. I paused when I was about to subscribe via snail mail thinking I can get all the cool articles right on the website and via email rather than having 50+ issues stacked up on my nightstand collecting dust, as they hope to be opened and taken on the T on my way to be work. It is a never ending battle for me as I do not see myself w/ an iPad (yet), so as for now I am becoming a fairly regular digital reader (thanks to Google Reader) but also enjoy my stack of magazines that I can just throw in my bag on the way to work, dinner, and/or on my future apartment balcony where I sit on my lounge chair taking in the short yet splendid Boston summer.

Where do you stand?

S.W.A.P. Boston

Posted on by

Want an opportunity to donate clothes or “SWAP” them with others? These events have been occurring in Toronto and Montreal Canada (among other int’l locations) and now it is here in Boston (June 5th and 6th). Thanks to Sarah Martin for putting it together here in Boston and of course all the volunteers. And if you still want to help out you have an opportunity to do so still.

Fan Page
Volunteer Page

I’ll be there. Hope to see you there too – a great time, a great experience, for a great cause.

Time to Blog?

Posted on by

I frequently wonder how people find the time to research and write daily blog posts on relevant topics. I write a weekly blog and this past week I have fallen behind, due to being an overzealous full-time MBA student and feeling like a massochist, for not only having 1, but 2 consulting gigs, a fellowship, and helping a school organization. When would I find the time to eat, sleep, exercise, and breathe, let alone blog? This week I do not have the slightest clue. So this is my applause to all those who write daily blogs that are interesting, relevant, and thought-provoking. I commend you, and I thank my friends/readers for suggestions on upcoming blogs for me to write. I promise, to catch up and write a kick-ass post, next week!

Stay tuned…

Social media and your furball?

Posted on by

People make fun of me all the time for being a little obsessed with my cat (who being 1 yr old now – still is the size of a 6 month old kitten…quite cute). However, I think I may be given some reprieve since I did not join a pet social network site and post all of her adorable pictures (even if they may be on Facebook). But for you loving pet owners that want another way to boast about your cute furball and how awesome he/she is…the site Cute as hell may be for you! And for those, who just want to see some cute animal photos – it is a fun site to get in some “oohs” and awwws.” Enjoy!

How much time do you spend online?

Posted on by

As I was sitting here thinking about what I wanted to do this evening, I realized I had been twiddling my thumbs on Facebook for a little too long. Then I started to wonder, how long do I REALLY spend online between Facebook, Twitter, reading blogs, on Gchat, etc? I don’t think I want to know the answer. So now, my question is, how much is too much? Do we ever forget to put our computers away and join our “social networks” at school, work, home, a bar, restaurant, party, etc? The key is to find a balance between socializing online and socializing offline.

Ironically I was just pondering whether to put on my sweats or my high heels…choosing between researching about new online platforms and grabbing a beverage at the local dive.

To FourSquare or not to FourSquare?

Posted on by

Foursquare, the “location-based social network” has become quite popular. All the cool kids are doing it, so I better too! I just saw today that even Harvard has joined the game, and is taking part to show prospective and current students where to go on campus. I have been meaning to check it out for a while, but keeping up with what’s awesome in Social Media is crazy enough, sometimes, isn’t it? So, I just downloaded Foursquare to my blackberry, which unfortunately unlike the iPhone is still in Beta version. Hopefully the kinks are being worked out! I’ll share more of my thoughts as I begin to play with my new social media toy.

What are your thoughts on Foursquare? Are you one of the cool kids?

Haiti – Social Media can help!

Posted on by

As many of us have seen from pictures, it was a tragic experience for people in Haiti when the earthquake occurred, along with the horrible aftershocks. Many people have stepped up to aid, whether by donating a dollar at the local grocery store, or by actually going to Haiti to lend a hand in whatever way possible. According to the NPR article (http://bit.ly/c7cdMp) “Social Media Among Haiti’s First Responders,” Social Media such as Facebook and Twitter has assisted in both small and big ways. It allows for Apps for people to translate words into Creole, for people to help in identifying bodies by pictures, and further ways of donating clothes and money needed. No matter what one may do, I am sure the survivors of Haiti appreciate every little piece of assistance offered in this time of need.

Marketing or lack there of…

Posted on by

During my school’s MBA travel seminar to Brazil, there was a visit to a marketing firm. I was quite excited, as I had done some research to see what types of social media marketing are implemented in Brazil (Orkut, Twitter, etc) in comparison to the U.S. Unfortunately this firm (lets call them Firm No Marketing) did nothing compared to what I was expecting. Their presentation was a marketing 101 course for an undergraduate student (if that) and they avoided questions that were pertinent to Brazil and marketing. I was quite disappointed and did not even bother raising my hand to ask what forms of social media they use, because they do not use any. They  do not research, do not use social media, do not market products or services, or anything else for that matter. They form plans for others to implement. Maybe it’s me, but should they be labeled as a marketing firm, if they do none of the above?

Note: I know this does not represent other marketing firms in Brazil and that this was an unfortunate exception to the marketing firms that do exceptional work for the brands and clients they represent.

Social Media and Brazil

Posted on by

I am going on a travel seminar for my MBA program to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero, Brazil from January 9 – 18. We are mainly focusing on the economic state of the companies in these two major cities. However, since I am concentrating on marketing, this prompted me to wonder how social media is thriving in Brazil and what applications are most prevalent. Trusty google pointed me to a a few articles and blogs on the subject (http://bit.ly/7krz8a and http://bit.ly/4p9kKS specifically).

Social Media is indeed spreading like wildfire, as in the U.S., especially in the major city of Sao Paulo – “Brazil’s New York City”.  As for applications that are doing well, Orkut appears to be the leader (3rd most accessed internet domain), but Twitter and others are not far behind. Brazil is not only kicking butt at an economic standpoint, but is showing the World that the country has a lot to offer in other realms, such as marketing, too.

I recommend checking out these articles and other they mention if you are intrigued about Brazil and social media. Farewell, until I return from 80 degree days and the sunny beaches.

Where I will be in a couple days...

I haven't blogged since March 2009

Posted on by

I started my first official blog at http://becharitable.blogspot.com/ and unfortunately have been slacking. I entered the social-media world back in January 2009 and was so overwhelmed by the different applications such as Twitter, Tumblr, etc that can be utilized that my blogging days were left in the dust. So this is my way of saying, I’m going to make a second attempt at this.

Hope you will visit back for my thoughts on social media, marketing, charity work, and the environment.

Before you run out and go to your next page – check this out (food for thought): Mobile Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations LinkedIn Group: http://bit.ly/5Pp48Z