It’s Gonna be one of those posts…..
As many of you know, I’ve been involved in local politics seriously since 2014. I became a local democratic zone leader in 2022. It’s been a big job, but it’s largely akin to running the PTO, but with more far-ranging consequences. You’ve got planning for events, wrangling volunteers, and keeping…
Guide to Gift Giving
It’s close to Christmas, and as we finish up our shopping, it’s worth reflecting on the purpose of gifts in the first place. I read an article this am about how millenial parents are frustrated that their Boomer parents are showering their kids with useless stuff that just ends up…
FFS
We’re living in interesting times. The lead candidate for the republican nomination for presidency just wants everyone to give up and anoint him their candidate now, despite finally starting to face the consequences of years of fraud and treating the legal system as a cudgel to use against anyone he…
AI is Going to Change Everything
Working in digital marketing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and what it can and should be used for is all the rage right now. If you want to understand AI better, the best source is really Chris Penn– who has an excellent set of videos and regularly explains what’s happening in AI…
Podcamp 2023
A small group of us, die hards from Podcamp Philly and Podcamp East, came together this past weekend for Podcamp 2023 in Philadelphia. There were amazing sessions talking about how AI and Chat GPT will pose challenges to those of us who are involved in digital marketing, or looking to…
Glad to Leave Office? I get it.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is getting into trouble because he spoke his truth, saying he’s looking forward to a time when he’s not mayor. As someone who was a Township Supervisor for 6 years, I understand this sentiment perhaps as much as anyone. Being a local elected official may look…
Almost 80 Best Movies of the 80’s
Rolling Stone just put out a post of the 100 best movies of the 1980’s- and there are a lot of obscure movies that as a teenager/college student during the 80’s I never heard of. As a child of divorced parents, I spent a ridiculous amount of time at the…
Losing but not Lost
I lost my bid for re-election as a Township Supervisor. Elections are like the world’s longest job interview. I knocked 946 doors, speaking with friends and neighbors; sending mail out to people about what I stood for, and what I believed. I chose not to attack my opponent, even though…
Running for Office
I am a local Township Supervisor in Pennsylvania, running for re-election this year. Supervisor is a part-time position, and comes with a statutory stipend of $2,500.00 a year. that equates to about $5.20 or less an hour of meeting time, and other work we put in to help guide the…
Dementia
My mother-in-law has dementia. She had been pretty good at hiding her slow cognitive decline for a long time, but gradually, not even those of us who would have preferred to be in denial could avoid the truth. We needed to move Nancy out of her home and into a…
Casual ADHD
A friend of mine just made what I feel is a common perception and prejudice- they said something like "Don't be surprised if your child comes home with a prescription for Ritalin. Public schools would rather drug than deal with intelligence." This touched off a huge...
Technology Barriers We Forget About
There have been a few blog posts over the past few days talking about podcasting as a failed experiment because there hasn't been exponential growth. I would argue Podcasting may be hitting its first dip (a la Seth Godin's great book of the same name) and it will...
Immediacy vs Deferred Gratification
I've been thinking about this for a while- Why is it so easy to make grand plans about what I should do, yet so hard to execute some times? I think it comes down to immediacy vs. deferred gratification - what's happening now versus looking into the future towards your...
Why Fine Line Distinctions Are Important
Listening to NPR today, covering the Attorney General resignation, one of the 9 fired Asst US Attorneys mentioned how the Attorney General would remind everyone at conferences that they worked for the President. This fired Assistant US Attorney said that was wrong; ...
Changing Media Formats
I am in the middle of planning for PodCamp Philly, Sept. 7, 8, and 9. One of the interesting presentations that's in the works is by Quincy MacDonald, of McGraw Hill, talking about how Traditional Media (publishing) and New Media can work together. Want to know what...
UnConferences
I am the lead organizer of PodCamp Philly, a New Media UnConference being held at Drexel University September 7, 8, & 9, 2007. I got the UnConference bug after attending PodCamp Boston in September of last year, and my world was largely transformed by the people I...
Thoughts on Cult of the Amateur
I've been reading Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen. This is basically a rant book, saying that the democratizing of media production is eviscerating our culture. I disagree, and would say podcasting, videoblogging and blogging are actually arising because of the...
If Content Rules, then….
I've been trying to catch up on some reading, and Thomas Friedman's added content to The World is Flat 3.0 is one of them. There's a great section about using social media tools for educational projects that reflects what is my every day reality of collaborating with...
How New Media Has Changed My Impression of Customer Service
Being an "Internet Girl", as I tend to refer to myself these days, has totally changed my expectations in real life. I expect stores and products to impress me. I expect them to work a little harder for my business, because it's just as easy to cut them out of the...
Room to Make Mistakes and Change Your Mind
I've always been disturbed about political scorekeeping. John Kerry famously got called a flip flopper for changing his mind about issues. Isn't revising your opinion and stance in the presence of new and additional information actually a good thing? Isn't this...
