Posted by Charnell on Mar 5, 2010 in
General 
What comes to mind when you think of a huge crowd of Geeks partying? I’m not talking about LAN parties or RPG’s, I’m referring to all the Geeks over at ServerBeach. If you haven’t heard, ServerBeach is hosting a SxSW GeekyBeach party down on 6th street at Ace’s Lounge. Our Beach Party is by geeks for geeks, but don’t let that geekiness fool you. We know how to have a good time! Just take a look at some of our photos from our last SXSW party.
Join us and many other geeks like ServerBeach founder, Richard Yoo, WordPress for Dummies author & ServerBeach customer, Lisa Sabin-Wilson, and many more at the epicenter of Austin’s Sixth Street entertainment district, Ace’s Lounge for outrageous fun, free drinks, free swag, and so much more!
If you’ve already signed up – GREAT! If you haven’t already signed up, you missed the EarlyBird passes but we still have VIP passes that will get you priority entrance! You can also stop by the ServerBeach booth in the Interactive and pick up a VIP GeekyBeach party pass. We’ll be at booth #1118, 1120.
Hope to see you there!
Tags: dedicated hosting, dedicated servers, GeekyBeach, hosting, Party, ServerBeach, SXSW 2010
Posted by Charnell on Feb 23, 2010 in
Blogging I received the BurrellesLuce Newsletter this morning and wanted to share it with you. While I don’t read this newsletter religiously, from time to time there is some information that catches my interest (especially when it relates to my job) – this is one of them.
Social media’s proliferation has helped to advance public relations and marketing practice. Yet, despite the long distance we’ve traveled in just a short time with social media, we still have much to learn about both its potential and its limitations. So whether you’re an experienced social media user or are just now developing this aspect of your communication program, all can stand to benefit from recognizing some common myths surrounding social media.
Dispelling Five Common Social Media Myths
- Myth: Social media will soon replace traditional media as the most viable source of news.
Fact: The percentage of original content found on social media pales in comparison to traditional media. In fact, most news content is first published in the print or web editions of major news outlets, and then syndicated or picked up on social media networks and blogs. Thus, while the preferred vehicle for news distribution may be shifting to digital, real-time platforms, the source of most content remains the same. Without traditional media, in whatever form, there would be very little, if any, news to fuel social media.
- Myth: Social media is a cost-effective and easy way to connect and engage with stakeholders and brand constituents.
Fact: Engaging your audience via social media is certainly cost-effective in the sense that most of the sites available for participation are free to join. However, they still cost you in terms of the time needed to establish and maintain a profile or account. In fact, in the U.S., the average median salary for a “social media manager” hovers around $73,000, whereas the median salary of a “community relations manager” is over $82,000. That assumes you want to hire a dedicated person to handle your company’s social media. If you’re going to use someone already on your team, you’ll also need to factor in the additional expense associated with the time the person spends on other tasks, the newly added responsibility of maintaining your company’s social media presence, as well as the training they may need to undergo (think html and graphics for more advanced campaigns or the learning curve associated with novice users). Regardless of whether you choose to expand your team or stay in-house, you’ll also want to consider how much you’ll spend on social media advertising and how that fits into your overall communication budget.
- Myth: If you want to take part in social media you’ll need to hire a special “social media agency” or some other form of social media “guru.”
Fact: A quick search on Twellow.com (The Twitter Yellow Pages) reveals that out of the 15.8 million profiles indexed, the phrase “social media” appears in some 31,000 bios, “new media” appears in 5,800. Whether known as a … guru (517); expert (405); manager (246); agency (151); pro, maverick or maven (86); or by some other name – we’re all merely students at various stages of development.
- Myth: Because content is posted online or in social media, it is exempt from copyright or anti-piracy laws.
Fact: It has never been easier to distribute and disseminate content across the web. And the expansion of social media has accelerated the process. Unfortunately, many communications practitioners labor under the misperception that anything residing on the web “must be free” or “covered by the doctrine of fair-use.” In actuality, though, much of what populates online and social media remains subject to copyright or anti-piracy laws. “Alleged Peer-To-Peer Pirate Rejects Settlement Offer In File-Sharing Case” and “The YouTube Approach to Copyright Infringement Claims” are just two of the many recent headlines atop stories that shed light on copyright as it applies to the web.
- Myth: Social media is an effective communication strategy.
Fact: Yes, if your audience is attuned to social media, it can be a viable tool of engagement. But your communication program should not paint itself into a social media corner. It is important to remember that social media is just one tactic in a much broader communication effort; it is a medium, not the overall message. To demonstrate and measure success, it’s essential to create communications objectives that are aligned with your organization’s broad goals.
So many “myths & facts” relating to Social this, Social that, it’s no wonder there is so much confusion today. You have self-proclaimed experts guiding you down one road, you have entire business teams taking you down another. The bottom line, while all this information is definitely useful … do what’s best for your business. Trial & error, fail faster, call it what you wish but there will never be a one-size fits all when it comes to Social Media.
Did you find this helpful? Sign up for the BurrellesLuce Newsletter here and start getting your fix.
Tags: BurrellesLuce, Newsletter, PR, Social Media, social networking
Posted by Charnell on Feb 8, 2010 in
Rants 
Seriously. No matter where I’m shopping, eating, or out and about, I am always having to deal with terrible customer service. There’s the retail employee who is just rude and avoiding all contact. There’s the waiter/waitress who would rather stand there taking your order rolling their eyes, writing, snapping the gum, without saying a word, or the coffee house worker who hates their job so much … you get the idea.
What gets me the most is that businesses choose to keep these type of employees. Why? I’d really like to know…
Tags: bad attitude, going out of business, poor customer service
Posted by Charnell on Feb 3, 2010 in
Personal Man, I am getting terrible at keeping this blog current. There has been so much going on over the past few months that I haven’t even had time to sit down for a family dinner.
Family. Dinner. Life. Success. Family.
I’ve spent many days and nights thinking about the words above. Okay, not dinner but family, life, and success. Due to all of my thinking (and stupid-crazy busy life), I’ve got some big decisions to make that will impact all three of those things in a big way. In no way, shape, or form, is it easy to juggle balance all three and win. Something is going to lose.
I’m not going to drag this post out and give you my life story over the past few months but I will say that it’s been way too crazy-busy.
I’ve got some big decisions to make…
Posted by Charnell on Jan 20, 2010 in
General On January 12th the World was notified of an earthquake that devastated Haiti. The severity of this earthquake has not only caused mental and physical pain and suffering, there has been a critical shortage of supplies and assistance to help the Haitian people through their crisis. Numerous individuals and businesses from around the World have come together to provide assistance in any way they can and today, the company that I work for along with other hosting providers in the industry are joining these forces.
Today, the hosting community is coming together as an industry to do our part. We’ve set aside our competitiveness and joined in numbers to help in the relief effort by launching a new Web site – Hosting for Haiti (http://www.hostingforhaiti.com/). We are grateful to be able to take part in this relief effort along side The Planet, Rackspace, GoGrid, and ServInt.
We’ve partnered with the American Red Cross to provide support, which may include mobilizing relief workers, sending relief supplies, and providing financial resources for recovery. Every dollar donated through our Hosting for Haiti site goes directly to them, an organization that can make the biggest difference in disaster relief.
We hope that you will join us by making a donation – we know that together, we can make a difference.
If you’re one of our industry partners and want to join us, contact us at info@hostingforhaiti.com about joining the cause. Please help spread the word by sharing the link and information to help provide much needed relief for those in Haiti.
You can follow the progress of these efforts on Twitter by following @hostingforhaiti http://twitter.com/hostingforhaiti (use the hash tag #hostingforhaiti).
Tags: American Red Cross, Fundraising, Haiti relief, hostingforhaiti, natural disaster
