commbasics

It’s not often that a legislator introduces a bill to not only deal with a current problem but could forestall a potential economic disaster, but I have to give props to California State Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro), the current majority leader and author of SB 242.  She’s really on to something, S B242, The Social Networking Privacy Act , does three things: Stop the publication on a networking Internet Web site of registered users’ home addresses or telephone numbers without consent Require sites to establish a process for new users to set their privacy settings as part of the registration process that explains privacy options in plain language, and to make privacy settings available in an easy-to-use format Require a site to remove the personal identifying information on request, including the information of their under-18, 96 hours  Naturally the big gorillas in the market are opposing this with phrases like "inhibition of free speech ," but they bury t...

It's like the good old days in B2B press with personnel leap-frogging from one  pub to another.   Patrick Mannion six months ago jumped from his post of editorial director of TechOnline at United Business Media to go take the newly created post of director of content at Hearst Electronics Group.Well, UBM thought that was a pretty neat idea and created a similar post for EDN and the Designlines.  Who would best fill that post then.... wait for it.... Patrick Mannion? That opens a whole in the staff over at Hearst that's being filled temporarily by Murray Slovick on a consulting basis, while they look for a permanent replacement. Director of content is a fairly new concept developed to handle the flood of information on the internet.  Where an editorial director sets policy direction for the editorial staff, the content produced by that staff is also under the supervision of the content director, whose job it is to coordinate and weave together that cont...

I have been a professional communicator for almost 40 years now and have seen a lot of stuff come and go.  One thing I have learned is that there is no sure thing in a communications program, but you can increase your chances of succeeding in an uncertain world.  What is success?  The bottom line is always, increasing the bottom line. Your communications program should either get you more sales or additional funding. Failing that, it should get you more exposure in the available press, beyond just a repeat of your press release off a wire service.  If you get neither of those, then your effort was a failure. When I go into a company, I can pretty much determine if they can get where they want to go with what they have put into place and what they need to improve their chances.  After more than 20 years in the PR and journalism business I have made some mental calculations that I employ to reach my conclusion. Over for the past few weeks, as I have been gett...

 Last week I went to the inaugural Smart Power Grid Technology Conference put on by ISQED .  It was a great conference with about 100 engineers packed into a tiny conference room in a Santa Clara hotel.  Lots of great information... if you worked hard to get to it.  And as I watched about five presentations I came to the realization that these guys must have had the same presentation training.  So I decided to go looking for the school they went to over the weekend.  I found it.  It was in the basement and a San Francisco cigar store.  The sign, hanging from a single nail on the left side on the door, said “Crappy Presentation University” in 9-point type.  So I went in.  What luck! There was a class in session.  Here are some excerpts: Typography:  If you use a font that is clear enough and large enough for people in the back rows to see, they will get your point right away, so whenever possible use a font that is ...

It's been a month since I last posted. Where has the time gone? Today I'm trying to do a piece on a conference I went to yesterday and the only thing that comes to mind right now is Dorothy Parker's quote, "I hate writing. I love having written." It's not that there isn't anything to write. It's where to begin. And how. Do I have all the notes I need? Where is that url? What was that speaker's name again? What's the lead? I need coffee. Oh, crap, I forgot to send that email. Phone rings. No, I don't want that magazine. Skype IM dings. Need to turn that off. And on it goes. So much is happening. I promise there will be something her next week. Where did I put my coffee?