The Olympics and life without the First Amendment

I can't wait until the Olympics as I'm a sports nut and love watching international competition. I'll also be tuned into what should be an interesting back story of how the Chinese government will treat international journalists there. If tidbits passed along to me in the last two days are any indication, we'll get a very good glimpse into what life would be like without freedom of speech or the press. From a story on the AFP wire this week:...

Greed is Good

Last night I attended a MassNetComms gathering of 100+ people, hosted at Battery Ventures, which included a panel of investors offering perspective on wireless, networking and telecom opportunities. John Dix, editor-in-chief of Network World, hosted a lively, optimistic discussion that kept coming back to mobility and video. In particular, challenges to be tackled, according to this group, are monetization of content; getting content from our computers to our TVs; and watching the smaller video players (e.g. Joost) figure out ways...

Happy 50th NASA! What you've meant to us.

In the course of work on a client's news announcement today, I learned from a colleague that today marks the 50th anniversary of when President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which spawned the creation of NASA. I wasn't alive at the time, but I find the period of history and the motivation behind the Act's passage fascinating. We were falling behind the Soviets in the space race. This country was shocked by the launch of Sputnik and...

Is there an Amex and MasterCard of Social Networking?

I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members. Groucho Marx In her post last week about social networking overload, MSNBC.com columnist Eve Tahmincioglu evokes the Brady Bunch episode where high school freshman Marcia Brady joins too many clubs and gets overwhelmed. Instead of the Brady Bunch, I thought of the Groucho quote above when I was pinged by a former co-worker, Tim Scannell, a couple weeks ago on Plaxo Pulse. "You're just joining...

PopTech's Call to Bloggers

This week, I received an email from Pop!Tech promoting their new blog group focused on innovation. According to them, "The Pop!Tech blog is a place to learn about and discuss the ideas shaping our collective future – as well as track the amazing people and projects driving the Pop!Tech community – and we want you to join the conversation!" They also asked for bloggers to put it on their blog rolls, so we have done that here. So if you...

How About a PR Whitelist Instead?

It's been very interesting lately to see signs of mid-life (?) crisis blossoming in the blogosphere. Om's well-covered wakeup call over the holidays and his nicely written self-assessment of how he needed to revisit all aspects of his life, including the race to be the most prominent blog in the industry, is at the forefront of my mind. Jason Calacanis has abandoned blogging and now is using a personal email list to share information and ideas -- at least I...

"The Lois Paul Building"

Our blog recently crossed the one year milestone. We are now celebrating a new anniversary - the one year mark of the company sign on our Boston office building (in Woburn, MA). I've heard from Lois countless times over the past year about how many people have called or e-mailed her out-of-the-blue to complement her on the sign, as our location, near the junction of Route 128 and I-93 and its positioning on the building makes it highly visible. The...

Answer Might be Blowing in the Wind

It was hard to miss T. Boone Pickens' PR blitz earlier this month that kicked off his campaign to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and increase windfarm production. With all eyes on the explosive cost of oil, Boone explains why gas prices are so high and states that we are past the point of no return with cheap oil. He said it will stay where it is or get worse based on new demand from China and India and...

Remembering Patrice Burkett

Only a few months after learning of the passing of Sue Schauppner, another member of the LP&P family has sadly succumbed to cancer. Patrice Burkett worked with us in the mid-90s and became a mentor and friend of mine almost immediately. Her spirit and smile were always bright, and she was always in the mood for a good laugh. At the same time, she was level-headed and smart with her advice. I learned of Patrice's passing this past weekend from...

Beyond the Hype is mobile!

The excitement for the iPhone 3G around the office is palpable. There are plenty of people that have been holding onto creaky and clunky Blackberrys for over a year now just waiting for an iPhone that would allow the same kind of access to e-mail that Blackberry has had. Obviously, it's now here and we're in the midst of testing support for it. At the same time, we have more and more people using Blackberrys, and I've even noticed that...