Julie Pippert: Using My Words

This image is from Shelly's Pybop " Content strategy Success in 5 Steps. " It's a really clear visual of the flow and process that I think is crucial. It's very worth studying. This week I've been training nonprofit arts groups in the art of social media. In one section, I discussed "worthy content." I flinched a wee bit as I did so. There's plenty of worthy content out there that barely sees the light, and there's plenty of unworthy content that sees way too much light. Who am I to judge? The consumer of said content. That said, it's subjective. But people want a formula. So there's a book. Ann Hadley & C.C. Chapman wrote a book, Content Rules . In the words of Beth Kanter , The book shares the secrets to creating good content on social channels that engages your audiences. They offer principles, how-to steps and tips, and case studies. My favorite chapter is “Reimagine: Don’t Recycle: Anatomy of Content Circle of Life.” Bet...

The other day I listened to one of the most brilliant modern satirists, David Sedaris, talk about his new transition into fictional stories, where the main characters are animals ( David Sedaris, Anatomizing Us In 'Squirrel' Tales ). These aren't fables nor are they for children. They are instead modern Grimm's Fairy Tales of a sort -- although Sedaris claims they have no moral to them (I think they do, in fact -- any satire of a culture includes a lesson, if you think on it). Sedaris said: "Fables have morals, and not all of these do," he tells NPR's Steve Inskeep. "So I wound up calling it a bestiary, which is just a book in which animals do things that people do." In contrast to classic animal fables like Aesop's "The Tortoise and the Hare," there are few identifiably good characters in Sedaris' stories. "I don't think our world is as black and white now," says Sedaris, who consciously avoided Aesop and La Fonta...

I recently spoke at the Mom 2.0 Summit , a wonderful event where businesses and market influencers converge in Houston to discuss what we're doing, how we're doing it, how it's working for us, and what next. I'm in the interesting position of being on both sides of that fence, and when I was invited to speak, I encountered a framing problem for my topic, " The Macro Impact of Social Media Engagement. " Despite this framing anxiety, I was honored to get a platform to speak, further honored by my amazing panelists ( Joanne Bamberger, extraordinary pundit and lawyer ; Loralee Choate, whose direct interaction with Valerie Jarrett regarding healthcare caused the entire Web to inhale sharply in admiration ; and JJ Lassberg, whose creativity inspires enriched marketing and communication ) and rich for choice about what to focus on in my panel. That's nearly as bad as having nothing, you know. But as I spoke with my panelists -- and by speak I mean I spent a lot o...

I feel ridiculous sitting here thinking about trying to provide a post-conference recap of this year's Mom 2.0 Summit. Post-conference recaps are like train-wrecks for me personally, when I was unable to attend. I'm sick to think of all I missed and reading about all that I did miss (usually the Total Awesome, as I feared) makes me cramp a little in the gut region, and yet...I'm unable to look away. I assiduously scan all posted photos, read all recaps I can get my hands on, and ask attendees to fill me in. I feel a little desperate to somehow capture a bit of the magic and be included. With the socialization. Not, per se, with the messages. Which, it seems, few people discuss. Instead it's all about the people. Which makes sense. Except... As I posted my own photos from the recent Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston (which I did attend), I caught myself gushing over how wonderful I felt being with My Tribe, my Race of Joseph, my Bosom Buddies. My photos were all of the After mom...

Last week, colors began appearing in people's Facebook statuses. I received several messages about it, some entreated me to join in and a few asked me what was going on. Most of the messages were the same coy message most other women -- and yes, just women, no men -- received. It begged that we, to paraphrase, titallate our fellow Facebook users, especially the guys, by posting our bra color without explanation. The concept, you see, was to raise awareness of breast cancer. Always a supporter of initiatives to benefit finding a cure for cancer, I decided to play along...in my own way. I dropped the coy thing, but kept the playful element. When I saw people ask "what's up?" I was honest. Initially, okay once, I stuck to the original message. After that, I began sending out my own. I said, to paraphrase, that the idea was to "check your bra to remember to check your breasts -- self exams monthly!" The next day, I went in for my annual check-up and I tweeted th...

Elvin Bishop singing "Fooled Around and Fell In Love," an oldie but goodie and fave of mine through the ages (literally). I'd have preferred to put up the Rod Stewart modern cover of it but Rod says no. It's true: the mighty has fallen. After all my kvetching and questioning about social media, all my fooling around with Flickr, Twitter et al. you could call me a player. I dabble with Facebook, but it was clear: I was not really ready to settle down. But then. Michael Stelzner introduced me to LinkedIn . I fooled around. And fell in love. That place has purpose, use, functionality and fabulous resources. It's everything I was looking for. I think we'll live happily ever after. Even better...you can join us. Like one, big, happy family. ************************************************************************************* Drawing Winner In last week's Hump Day Hmm , I asked you to deliver and offered an incentive (art or editing). You followed through won...

Social media: Yeah, it's a little bit like this, if busy children in a tunnel could be considered tweets. Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start... A long time ago I worked in technology. I know, me, the technophobic Luddite. But back then it was exciting, rather than overwhelming and was also the place where the money was. I was tired of the fun but poverty-stricken jobs of "back up script writer for TV show/talent wrangler/gofer/PR and copywriter/fan mail answerer/WTFever they needed me to do" and "poorly paid and much-abused political writing hack." Not to mention the thrilling "bill researcher and translator for rich people worried about what politicians were doing with their money" and the can't beat it "no job whatsoever despite college degree and extensive efforts ACK ACK ACK!!" jobs (or lack thereof). Although I gained extensive experience and talents in forging (whether it be handwriting or way someone...

I went to the Got Social Media? conference yesterday. Some of the best and brightest were there, and some of the even better and brighter presented. It was an interesting conference, full of good-to-know information, new concepts, attention-capturing speakers, and excellent networking. So why, after it is over, do I still say I haven't Got Social Media? 1. Whoops! Wrong class! I was looking for "101---Social Media for Dummies" and accidentally sat down in "102---Social Media for Those With a Clue" Have you ever walked into a classroom, sat down, opened your notebook (or your NoteBook), tuned in to the Professor, found yourself a little baffled, looked around and saw everyone else was getting it...and then realized, whoops! Wrong class! Okay maybe not but I'm sure you can sympathize. I spent an entire semester in geology feeling that way and whoops! It was my class and whoops! It was one of my required courses for my degree. I freely admit I cried my way to ...