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A roundup of a few relatively recent Twitter mistakes - Joe Logon lets go and bares all and of all places the Network Solutions blog. Hey its all about conversation but apparently not in all places read more | digg story

http://www.bloggersforgood.org/ organized a meetup today and donated the proceeds of funds, food collected to benefit Loudoun Interfaith Relief . I liked meeting new folks and there was avery good turnout atleast 40 people I think. Erin who organized the meeting did a great job along  with Tammi , Dan , Erica to put this together. I was so happy to see Tammi bring her kids (sign of comfort). I wish I had shook hands with everyone in the room but my colleague Joe Loong seemed to know everyone. Mayra Ruiz McPherson had hubby Sylvester in tow . he is a awesome guy and he works just down the road too. Loudoun Interfaith Relief .(LIR) is the largest and only nutritious food pantry in Loudoun County. LIR serves their clients by providing the food necessary to prepare three balanced meals a day for three days for any size family. I hope the good folks at this meetup made a difference. There were several firsts here for me. My first meet-up in Sterling ( The nearest was at Jim...

Update : 20th February 2009 Article in the Financial Times   Blog today Update on the Yelp Blog PC World Article Yelp page that explains the reviews and sponsored reviews http://www.yelp.com/business#whatisyelp Brian Solis on the Yelp issue -------------------------- I quickly got hold of Chantelle Karl who was about to hop on a plane back to NYC this morning and asked her to give me a few details about Yelp . Here is the dialogue.  You can reach Chantelle  on Twitter at @cckarl if you have any questions or you can comment here and I can do a follow-up. a) What do the Yelp Sales reps sell? First, to be clear, Yelp provides two types of tools to businesses: 1) Yelp for Business Owners which is absolutely FREE to any business that claims its Yelp listing. These tools include: -Ability to monitor online conversations -Make sure contact/location/business hours are up-to-date -Add pictures -Reach out to customers through private messaging -Offer coupons -Keep tra...

Today I was looking at my Twitter stream and saw Dwight Silverman post this tweet " Whoa. Yelp accused of offering to remove businesses' negative reviews for a price in the Bay Area. http://is.gd/k2Gn" He later followed up with a blog post " Yelp's not helpless against accusations of extortion http://tinyurl.com/bt52ja " I quickly asked my Kevin Lee  who is the DC "public servant" for Yelp about this issue and he pointed me to a blog post by Jeremy Stoppelman Yelp's CEO http://officialblog.yelp.com/2009/02/kathleen-richards-east-bay-express.html ( This guy is just 31 - Man ! These people start very young :) ) Conversations:   Kathleen Richards story on East Bay   Says Yelp draws more than 16 million unique visitors to the site each month, according to Yelp spokeswoman Stephanie Ichinose. More than 4.5 million reviews have been written so far, and the company has raised $31 million in funding to date. Specially after the FaceBook s...

I used Chris Pirillo's new tool http://twickie.pirillo.com/ to get this conversation to my blog . I had asked my network about who was coming to SXSW this year. This is amy second SXSW and I am excited that I am having a 'Core COnversation" On Saturday 14th at 3.30 p.m . Please mark your calendars. A Hard Sell? Social Media & Your Boss Room 5B Saturday, March 14th 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm Add this to your SXSW Calendar Moving your boss from 'No' to 'Go'Are you frustrated that your company is not engaged in social media? The panel will provide actionable steps to convince your boss of the value. We'll cover how to: become a champion, creative ways to recruit internal proponents (including lawyers), gather & present compelling reasons. Sell your social media ideas!We'll make your social media plan an easy sell Details : http://sxsw.com/interactive/talks/core_conversations?action=show&id=IAP09012...

For the past few days the My Videos folder in my computer has been crashing my Windows Explorer. It is quite frustrating because if you have any Internet Explorer windows open they crash too. Well I am happy to say I fixed it. I have no scientific evidence for this but I think when you se your Windows folders for a Thumbnail view you may have this problem. ( Also mentioned here http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread65876.html ) Problem: Every time I opened the "My Videos' Folder all my windows explorer windows and my Internet Explorer windows would crash and I would get the Dr. Watson message asking me to report the problem.   Fix: I opened my "My Documents" folder Set the view to " Details" Clicked on Tools >> Folder Options >> View Clicked on " Apply to All folders" Clicked on " reset All folders" Now I can open the folder without any danger of browser or explorer crash.   I hope...

I attended Small Business Summit  2009 on Feb 3rd in  New York. This was my third time ( hat trick !). The conference is organized by Ramon Ray, Small Business technology guru who writes on Technology for Small Business for SmallBizTechnology.com    with Marian Banker of Prime Strategies , a small businesses consulting firm. Every time I attend this conference attended I am amazed by the energy of both the presenters and the audience. The conference is well planned and the agenda for the Small  business conference filed with topics that are tuned to both the novice small business owner and the expert. This is a refreshing focus from conferences that cater to experts only. I met several small business owners and persuaded them to give me a video interview which will be published on the Network Solutions Blog soon. Small Business Entrepreneurs: Regina Furfy ( http://www.gourmetible.com ) and Jill Frechtman ( www.fretzels.com ) Opening keynote at the Small Business Summit was ...

On a Sunday evening when the weekend is winding down, I like nothing better to watch a movie with the family. Alas my Sony DVD Recorder  RDR-VX555 decides to stop working. I am not sure when I purchased it and so I call Sony and they go thorough some steps to troubleshoot. I am glad that SOny even has phone support. The troubleshooting does not work and the SONY support rep tells me I have two alternatives: - Send the set back to Sony for evaluation and pay UPS ground shipping - Take it back to Best Buy if it is under warranty. I haul my sorry axx grudgingly to Best Buy. Service is with a smile and politeness but I am out of luck. I am 30 days out of warranty. From my days in India Sony in my mind was a brand that made things that lasted till the technology changed. I was disappointed that this Sony device did not stand upto the brand promise. Remember I am in the market for a TV and may decide to forgo Sony. How American Express stood behind its promise I remember readin...

This was the second tweet-up this year at the Indique Heights. When I first started engaging in the social media there were a lot more impromptu Tweetups and then came a flurry of corporate sponsored events which got too frequent. I feel 2009 will bring about a consolidation of "social" social events and learn as you dine events.   Today I met new friends  many whom I have known online and some I met for the first time. The merry tweeters who came to Indique Heights Chantelle Karl  @cckarl Yelp.com's Communication manager for the East coast ( That includes Canada and UK !- figure that out ) Nakeva @nakeva http://www.meeid.com/nakeva/ Gaurav Sharma @gauravonomics   http://www.gauravonomics.com/ ( Steven Fisher after probably a huge does of Slum Dog Millionaire called Guarav's Hair style a Bollywood actor style)   Lisa Throckmorton @lkthrock   http://www.speakerboxpr.com/plugged-in/ Kim Oser @putitaway   http://www.pu...

This was the second tweet-up this year at the Indique Heights. When I first started engaging in the social media there were a lot more impromptu Tweetups and then came a flurry of corporate sponsored events which got too frequent. I feel 2009 will bring about a consolidation of "social" social events and learn as you dine events.   Today I met new friends  many whom I have known online and some I met for the first time. Here is Jeremiah Owyang's definition of a Tweetup   What’s Tweetup? A few years ago, we called them blogger dinners, and it’s where folks got to come together, meet each other face to face (scary huh?) and actually talk in real life. Despite the affection many have for these social tools, there is nothing like seeing people in real life and meeting them. A few guidelines for social events that I mentioned on twitter: Unlike Fight Club, talk about Tweetups, before, during, and after. Come to meet folks, be social. Don...

Blogger for Good : Meetup in Loudon County : Details at http://www.bloggersforgood.org/ The inaugural BFG meetup will take place on February 19 from 6-8 p.m. at O'Faolain's Irish Restaurant in Sterling. Bloggers, blog readers, and the general public are invited to attend. This event is free and open to the public. Proceeds will benefit Loudoun Interfaith Relief, the area's largest food pantry. Featured bloggers include Erica Garman from the Washington Post's Loudoun Extra website, Tammi Marcoullier from Inside Out , Dan Sousa from LoudounPrepSports and Ramblin' Man . To be listed as an attendee, join our email list or blogroll, get our graphic, or for more information, contact Erin@BloggersforGood.org . What is BFG ? Bloggers For Good (BFG) is a new, grass-roots group that sponsors local meetups for people to meet, greet, and give back to their communities. Meetups and other events provide a chance to gather in a fun, social setting with a com...

I am always proud of working with smarter people and the proof in the pudding is my blog colleagues at http://blog.networksolutions.com - Steve Fisher, Joe Loong and Jill Foster. Steve manages the blog and runs the strategy while Joe writes from his heart often writing the most commented or linked posts there. What started of as a spontaneous idea  and got quickly made into reality is WomenGrowBusiness.com. Jill is the editor , Steve helped with the name and setting up of the blog. I perform my part as team member by keeping out of the way while these smart folk do their magic. I know a lot of people want to know how social media tools like Facebook , Linkedin etc can be used , I think you should follow Jill Foster on Twitter @jillfoster and see how she takes this blog to the community and makes it a success. Since we are sharing Jill Foster's secrets, here is a question she asked on Linkedin http://cli.gs/ZNv2YP . Since she teaches Social Media I am enjoying seeing her pract...

Feb 09 Tweetup Meeting online friends offline and having great Indian Food When: February 9th 2009 6.30 to 7 ish Where : Indique heights   ( Above Friendship heights metro) 2 Wisconsin Circle Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301 656 4822 Parking in the building Please RSVP on Twitter to @shashib or comment here if you can come so i can give the restaurant the estimate. Who is coming: @shashib, @jillfoster ,@Stevenfisher ,@joelogon Twitter RSVPs so far. alexismichelle @ shashib count me in for the 9th :) Looking forward to seeing you again! about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to shashib kirbstr I am a maybe- will try. RT @ shashib : DC/MD/VA tweetup Feb 09 at 6.30-7 at Indique Heights , hope to see you there, RSVP appreciated about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck asomyak @ shashib Big presentation on Wed, but I'm going to try and do my best to get out there on Mon! I'll be clearer on Fri but now count me in. a...