For Father's Day, Share the Awesomeness

Ernie Bormman Memoriam Page

Last year the communication discipline lost one of its greatest scholars. The U of M now has a nice memoriam page on their site. In some ways, Bormann was like my academic grandfather. Ernie, the creator of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT) and other ground-breaking group communication research was the advisor to John Cragan. I studied with John and have worked with John and Don Shields on furthering SCT. I was lucky enough to meet Bormann a few times. Ernie was also a University of Iowa Ph.D. At Iowa, Ernie roomed with Sam Becker, another giant in the communication discipline, and one of my favorite professors.

Rest in peace, Ernie.

Tropicana Design Mishap

As noted on "Under Consideration," Tropicana is reverting back to its old design...or the one that was recognizable.   The design may have been acceptable for a Web 2.0 site, but is not the right move when consumers, especially those in your tribe, are trying to find your product in the commodity laden refrigerated section.  The iconic logo was easy to spot and differentiated from other OJs. The new (now old) logo looked more like a generic.  

Perhaps the PR team will argue that this is generating buzz, but I don't think it's going to have a long-term positive effect on sales or the brand.  I'm curious to know what, if any, research when in to creating the creative blueprint for this.  I must say that this post makes me want to pour myself a nice glass of of pulp free Minute Maid.

Thanks to Rett for the link.

Sanctioning Agent Welcomes Newest Field Agent

Malcolm W. Arnold is ready for assignment.  Malcolm was born February 18.  Mom and baby are doing fine.

From TED: David Carson on Design

A great video from the fine folks at TED. It's part of David Carson's talk on design. It was recorded about six years ago and recently posted to the TED site. It's perfect fun for a Friday.

Thanks to Rebecca for the link.

Recent Social Network Demographic Data

Today's eMarketer update has recent demographics regarding social networks. It aligns with Pew's research, released this month, which shows rapid adoption of social networks among adults.

Take Aways: eMarketer has great updates, and Pew is a great resource for research regarding internet impact in the U.S.

MIMA Reminder

A reminder about next month's MIMA event - Inbox Insanity: The Future of Email Marketing. This looks great. As noted in the tease for it at this month's event, what constitutes an inbox these days? With the onslaught of social media applications we can message in so many ways. What's your inbox?

By the way, this is a morning event. I wonder how different the attendance and attendees will be from the evening events. I hope to be there unless Agent Infant arrives early.

Event Details

when:	Wednesday, February 18, 2009 7:30 am Registration and Continental Breakfast 8 am Presentation 9 am Networking
where:	The Depot 225 Third Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55401

Digital Reputation Management Event

Tonight was another great educational event put on by the fine folks at MIMA. One of the things I'll miss about moving out of the Twin Cities will be access to these events. The topic of the evening was Digital Reputation Management. The discussion reminds me that the principles and theories of good communication and constituent relations haven't changed because of the internet or Web 2.0, as much as they have been accelerated. Great conversation with Ward about this topic as well. Anyway, if you're not doing so already here are three tools you can use immediately to try and "listen" to what people are saying about your business:

1. Spy - http://spy.appspot.com/
2. Google Alerts - http://www.google.com/alerts
3. Twitter Search - http://search.twitter.com/

Other advice from the panel included embracing transparency, being honest and human...and not creepy. That's pretty good advice regardless of setting.