You've got less mail

A new SEC rule taking effect January 1, 2008 will likely impact the amount of mail you receive. As we are moving into proxy season, you are no doubt starting to receive notifications about annual meetings, proxy materials and annual report information in the mail. If, like me, you'd rather get this information and respond to it electronically, you will increasingly have that option. In a new rule called shareholder choice regarding proxy materials, the SEC is mandating that shareholders...

Can you Digg it? Maybe not.

Nice move by Digg, in my humble opinion. I was reading the report on Webware this morning that Digg launched a new algorithm during the past week to keep people from scamming the system. This new algorithm enables Digg to effectively " punish" people who vote in groups to promote certain stories. The result is that stories that ultimately reach the homepage will need to be "dugg" by a diverse group of people. "Digg's promotional algorithm ensures that the most...

Are you Faced or Linked?

Picture of boxers from Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror: photo by Jim Powers How often are you asked this question -- Do you use Facebook or LinkedIn? I get it a lot. Currently I use both. Right now I have more connections than friends, which is probably true of most people my age. But I have to say that I am now spending more time on Facebook and I think that this trend will continue. To me, Facebook is now setting...

Tech Barons Learned from Robber Barons

When I first got out of college with my journalism degree and there was a dearth of jobs in journalism, I became a writer for the William Penn Foundation, the 13th largest foundation in the country at the time that had been started by the Haas family who had founded Rohm and Haas, the chemical company in Philadelphia. I learned a lot about foundations in the five years I was part of William Penn, attending the Council on Foundations annual...

An Automattic ray of sunshine

Trying to look for evidence that the Chicken Littles dominating the business conversation this week are overracting, I grabbed onto the story yesterday about Automattic getting $29 million in funding. Automattic is the company that offers the WordPress blogging platform and service. It currently is arguably the most popular platform right now, and has achieved this with only $1 million in investment until now, so this much incredible infusion of capital suggests even greater potential for the company. What I...

Eyes on the Prize, Randy

He's had an amazing season with the New England Patriots and as an NFL receiver overall, but Randy Moss clearly hasn't learned the Patriots' communications style yet -- less is more. Clearly someone did not get to him in time to give him the playbook for interviews about behavior off of the field. When asked about the accusations of battery brought upon him by a long-time woman friend, Moss actually answered questions. His coach and quarterback quickly and succinctly gave...

Good Job Announcing Bad News

Kudos to John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch. After joining the firm in December, he had the fun task of announcing his first public quarter with Merrill, which Reuters characterized as the worst in the company's history, in which he "reported about $16 billion in mortgage-related write-downs and adjustments." Not what you would call a red letter day for any CEO. But from a communications standpoint, Thain probably could not have handled it better. He was very straightforward in describing...

Why do 60 Minutes?

It's deja vu all over again. The young hotshot entrepreneur who currently has more money than most countries is asked to appear on 60 Minutes. Absolutely! Why not?! Why even think about whether I'm ready for the big stage or what I'm going to actually accomplish with this interview. We're the Nike generation, for heaven's sake. Just do it! Am I talking about the Mark Zuckerberg appearance on 60 Minutes this past Sunday (chronicled here by Kara Swisher, who appeared...

Where is IT Help When You Need It?

Within the past week, I have spent more than six (yes, six!) hours at my local Sprint repair shop because my Treo wouldn't charge. They gave me a new one after several hours of confusion around why the device wouldn't charge, but this one didn't turn on for several days. After receiving another incorrect replacement over the weekend, today I finally received my fourth phone. It's been a few hours since I received it, but so far, it's stayed on...

Beyond blogging; Socal Media Club highlights

On Thursday night at Bentley College, the Social Media Club of Boston and the Boston PRSA held a joint "Beyond Blogging" seminar. It was one one of the better social media events in recent memory in the Boston area (not taking anything away from the recent TechCrunch or SNCR events of course). The packed hall at Bentley showed just how important social media has become to us in the area. LP&P had a number of folks in attendance, of course....