One of the things I’ve learned in 21 years of freelancing, no matter how cool you think a photo or video is, it might just not pique the interest of the professionals who run the editorial desk at major news outlets. That’s why, after taking a bunch of shots today of Mitt Romney (presidential candidate) and Robert Kraft (owner of the New England Patriots), I decided to just post them here on one of my sites.

If you’d like the original file, please contact me in the comments. I’m sure that nobody would be silly enough to just use one of these copyrighted photos without permission, attribution and payment.

Thanks!

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Post tags: luxury box, mitt romney, Patriots, patriots day, photos for sale, president, red sox, robert kraft

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If we’ve met, one of my regular comments is that we all can bear to learn something new about our colleagues, friends, partners and even competitors. Further, I have said repeatedly that we often fall short of this goal. One big example in this argument is Mike Langford and his career as a financial specialist. For years, very few people in the social media fishbowl even realized that Mike had a background in financial services.

But that’s neither here nor there. Just provides an example that you can know someone and not really understand where they are coming from or from whence their skills have evolved. So, I took Mark Dykeman’s task to heart and put up ten of my own facts for people to enjoy. Here they are…

Essentially, ten fun little facts about my life that give people a little insight into who I am and what makes me tick. Once these were posted, I went forward with my recovery from surgery (I had an operation last Thursday), mourning the loss of my father (he’s been gone one year this weekend and it’s still very painful as anyone might imagine), and my celebration of Passover and Easter with my extended family.

There’s your Easter update from my little quarter of this planet. What have you been up to?

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If you’re in the gate area or on the 8:45am Jetblue flight to Austin, TX tomorrow – that’s flight 1263 at 8:45 from Boston – then I’ll be handing out some of the following schwag. Please tweet at me or leave a comment on this blog post if you’d like to put in dibs for an item.

*Folks I already know who are on this flight include CC Chapman, Steve Garfield, Clarence, Jenny Frazier and Jim Storer.

Here’s the run-down to the best of my memory. I packed the gear giveaway bag last night…

Headphones
Earbud accessories
Callpod charger
Staples Easy Button
Three-port extension cord
Dexim iPhone car charger
Fusegear phone stands
NautiCase for iPhone 4 (waterproof)
Keystone Marine Case for iPhone 4 (waterproof)
DryCase Tablet Bag (waterproof – fits an iPad)
LensPen cleaning kit with Sidekick cleaning pads
Multiple USB drives in 1GB – 4GB sizes
a brand-new duffle bag from CES 2011
and an umbrella I might keep for myself

So, who wants what? Tweet me or leave your comments here. See you tomorrow!

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: #sxsw, charger, gadgets, gear, giveaway, headphones, rain gear, waterproof

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This shot taken by Derek Peplau at Nogup3 - a Boston Tweetup - you can find more of Derek's shots at http://www.flickr.com/photos/peplau

The title is self-explanatory. If you don’t know how to host a tweetup, this is the book for you. Just click on the link below and it will download for you. You will know how to host a tweetup and you’ll be the envy of all your friends and business colleagues. This is really Tweetups made easy, and the mystery of successful Tweetups will be solved.

I welcome your comments and ideas for future books. Enjoy!

How To Host A Tweetup

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: book, Boston, boston tweetup, ebook, fun, how to host a tweetup, parties made easy, social media, tweetups made easy

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Well, if it were that simple, everyone would be doing it. But I’ve had a series of clients find some value in the light, easy-to-create skits and I’ve also taken to doing a few myself – see my YouTube channel for an example or two.

The reason I mention XtraNormal is because 2012 looks to be the year of content strategy for a lot of companies. No matter what channel you operate or with whom you communicate (B2B, B2C, public sector, media), the use of content to achieve your goals has never been more important. You want eyeballs, audiences want information. The sticking point is finding the best way to deliver that content so everyone emerges from the content orgy satisfied.

Suffice it to say, there’s no silver bullet. This is still the misunderstood world of social media where everyone things content is free on the Internet and that social tools and engagement are also low- or no-cost. At the end of 2011, that belief took a hit as some agencies jettisoned their smoke-and-mirrors social media practitioners and went back to the hard work and clear communication that had proved successful in the past.

I expect more of this happen in the early part of 2012 and then I think Q2 will be the golden age of content strategy. Companies will be working toward establishing new channels in which to engage their audiences and they’ll require great writers, interviewers and communicators to help them do that.

Over the next couple weeks, I’ll do a few posts on how content strategy works and how anyone can use it to reach their target market. Until then, take a look around your office and see who’s just faking it until they get lucky. The trick isn’t knowing how to schedule a status update, sent an e-press release or host a tweetup, it’s knowing how to identify audiences, craft messages and then communicate those messages in the appropriate channels.

What are your thoughts on how social media will shake out in 2012?

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2012, content strategy, jason falls, social media, xtranormal, youtube

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