In late April, I had a great opportunity to speak to members of a local Chamber on Social Media in Government Contracting.  I found that based on my experience and research, government contractors are slow adopters of social media, unknown or any untested ideas for that matter. Now, for those active in social media, you might be wondering why? Like most companies and even individuals who have not yet adopted Facebook, Twitter, Quora, etc., most government contractors do not know where to begin. How to measure what they are doing and who is going to do this? Oh, and do not forget the security concerns. My recommendation before employing any new marketing and communication strategy is decide what your company wants to accomplish. If you are a government contractor, do you want to be seen as experts in security? Or are you trying to keep a handle on what your competitors are saying or doing? If you do not have an objective(s), it will be very difficult to determine whether all these new efforts are adding value to your company, the bottom line and providing you any return of investment. Even though this notion seems like common sense, it would surprise you how very few companies have a social media strategy. According to Market Connections, Inc. in the 2010 Government Contractor Social Media Survey out of the 167 government contractors 59 percent employ social media and out that group only 36 percent actually have a social media strategy. Most companies are Twittering, posting on Facebook and updating LinkedIn statuses ad hoc.  These numbers should concern you. This should concern you because you wouldn’t buy a house without any research on the structural integrity of the house, the neighborhood or not knowing the price?...

  This is poem that most parents will be able to relate to. The Toddlers Creed If it is on, I must turn it off. If it is off, I must turn it on. If it is folded, I must unfold it. If it is a liquid, it must be shaken, then spilled. If it a solid, it must be crumbled, chewed or smeared. If it is high, it must be reached. If it is shelved, it must be unshelved. If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed. If it has leaves, they must be picked. If it is plugged, it must be unplugged. If it is not trash, it must be thrown away. If it is in the trash, it must be removed, inspected, and thrown on the floor. If it is closed, it must be opened. If it does not open, it must be screamed at. If it has drawers, they must be rifled. If it is a pencil, it must write on the refrigerator, monitor, or table. If it is full, it will be more interesting emptied. If it is empty, it will be more interesting full. If it is a pile of dirt, it must be laid upon. If it is stroller, it must under no circumstances be ridden in without protest. It must be pushed by me instead. If it has a flat surface, it must be banged upon. If Mommy’s hands are full, I must be carried. If Mommy is in a hurry and wants to carry me, I must walk alone. If it is paper, it must be torn. If it has buttons, they must be pressed. If the volume is low, it must go high. If it is toilet paper, it must...

  I am writing about this because I recently witnessed a mom getting barraged on Twitter about being an “unfit” mom because she had a registry for her son’s first birthday.  Abusive, not providing for your child, not educating your children can classify as unfit, but a gift registry. This is the site she used. Now, I do admit back before I had C2, I might have thought the concept of a gift registry was a bit greedy, but no longer. The practice of registries has been around since 1924, when Chicago-founded department store Marshall Field’s first instituted the bridal registry as a means for the engaged couple to indicate chosen china, silver and crystal patterns to family and friends. As some might recall, I made C2 Amazon Wish list public for his 1st birthday and the reason why is because I had so many people ask me what C2 wanted and I found myself copying/pasting the links into an emails and repeating that process several times.   So to be more effective, save time and reduce frustration, we made the decision to go “public”.  I did have a lot of hesitation about this because I knew some people would view it as being greedy.  Or people would think we expect everyone to purchase him a gift.  Or this may be considered rude or tacky by some people.  Yes, as I suspected I did receive some comments. But, before I move on, I do want to make this clear. We were, are and always will be grateful for any gift C2 receives and by no means do we expect anything or everything from anyone. Now my question, is why ask for suggestions then make a “to do” out of it when a website with gift...