From IBM Selectrics to social media

Congressional leaders should focus on IT issue without packaging punishment for government works who stray onto porn sites

2010-05-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

If you read "Porn provision stalls House IT bill" article in today's Washington Technology, you wonder who is representing our technology interests in Washington, D.C.
Alice Lipowicz, a longtime beat writer for this magazine, details how Democratic leaders pulled the America Completes ReAuthorization Act pulled this important legislation over language concerning punishment of federal employees who view porn on government computers. Republican leaders added this federal porn punishment clause as part of the bill that would funding for science, engineering, technology and math education.
Lipowicz noted in her article that "...that no federal funding could be used to pay the salaries of federal employees disciplined for accessing pornography from government computers. The motion also directs lawmakers to reduce funds for Energy Department research and other programs."
It's time for those of us who are concerned about the growth of technology in our community to take the time to call, write, tweet or use other methods of communication to let our legislative leadership know that it's time to forgo the porn clause of this important legislation.
Don't get me wrong. I am all for punishing those who work in the "gov" who want to use their work station to watch porn. Yet, the question also arises about how the government IT can't make it darn difficult to even access those sites to begin with....
If you feel like I do, here's a listing of our local elected officials in the House of Representatives:
Lamar Smith (R) -- http://lamarsmith.house.gov/
Ciro Rodriguez (D) -- http://www.rodriguez.house.gov/
Henry Cuellar (D) -- http://cuellar.house.gov/
I would list Charlie Gonzales' official page, but it's not working. Here's hoping that our Congressman will get someone to help him fix the problem.

Cyber Security Summit shows the good and the quiet aspects of San Antonio

2010-04-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

After attending part of the first Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce's Cyber Security Summit, I have to admire Howard Schmidt, the White House Cyber Coordinator, for helping me understand the national need to change the way things are being done with protecting my computers.
In time, the best way to secure a computer is through the use of additional protection processes. I agree with him that in the near future, computers will have a card slot that will allow what industry experts terms a common access card to provide secure access for non-military uses. The military already has a long-standing policy on using these cards, but I would guess that most businesses will soon embrace this policy as well.
The rest of this morning's event was such that I was asked not to blog about it. I heard an Air Force senior officer talk about the information warfare capability of my former service, but the greater chamber asked me not to take notes or blog about it. It seems the Air Force didn't want media coverage on this.
Bummer!!!
And, I could imagine what Brig. Gen. (Retired) Harry Dalton, my favorite Air Force Director of Public Affairs, would say about not allowing media or even a blogger like me into the room to take some notes. The general's talk was a rehash of efforts that have already been well reported. I believe that General Dalton would say having media on hand would only strengthen the Air Force's reputation in a community which supports the military.
Yet, the biggest highlight of this event was talking to the college kids competing in The National Collegiate CyberDefense competion held as part of the conference. These college students seemed truly jazzed to compete in the simulated cyber attacks designed by firms like the Denim Group.
If San Antonio is going to prosper as the center of cyber defense, it's these competitions and the willingness of senior Air Force officials to explain the basics of their mission.

Social media efforts need integration with traditional marketing efforts

2010-03-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

As more and more of us add social media tools to our communications efforts, it's important that we look at ways to integrate them into more traditional forms of marketing.
For example, a client of mine is running for a judicial position. I began to work with her after she had ordered her signs. Had we started our efforts earlier, she could have added her Twitter campaign site to her signage. I believe that if we had added this to her signs, she could have increased her base of followers.
Another easy update is to add your Twitter profile to your business cards.When I updated my cards last year, I added the @Matt_scherer below my email and phone information I believe that adding the Twitter profile has increased my exposure among business associates. More importantly, it made some traditional business types think about adding Twitter to their communication mix.
Just as important as updating your business cards is adding key social media data below your name on your email signature. If you get an email from me, my signature includes name, phone, email, Twitter profile, the link to my Express-News blog and my Linked-In profile.
There are more ways to integrate your social media tools into traditional advertising and communication platforms. A savvy social media professional can help your business and organization integrate them into your communication efforts. So, please call them to have them work with you on your integration efforts to add your new tools into processes that get full exposure.

Why San Antonio needs more Internet fiber in its diet

2010-03-08T10:14:00.001-08:00

When Google offered to install a test version of its new high speed fiber network for a town of 50,000 to half a million residents, Don Ness, the mayor of Duluth, took a winter dip in Lake Superior in the middle of February to garner publicity for his city's effort to get the quicker network. Meanwhile, Rancho Cucamonga offered to change the second part of its name by calling themselves Rancho Googlemonga.
You can't fault these and other mayors for trying to get this test project. Having the higher speeds within their civic borders will attract future business, most notably in animation services and other multimedia outlets.
Because of our size, San Antonio can't qualify for this Internet bakeoff. Yet, as the opportunity for a larger beta project from Google arises, I wonder what our civic leadership is doing to embrace these types of efforts.
Our city has done a great job with attracting computer security organizations, most notably the 24th Air Force and expanded NSA operations. Yet, we need to diversify our technical efforts so that when opportunities like Google arises that we have the components to make it happen.

Alvarado deserves your vote for 285th District Court

2010-03-02T06:09:00.000-08:00

   Until this year, I had never been actively involved in the campaign of someone seeking office. However, when I met Rosie Alvarado last year, I met someone who made me want to get involved.
   Alvarado is seeking office as the judge for the 285 District Court. She is one of four running for office.
   Of the four running for this position, Alvarado is the youngest candidate at 33. Some have questioned her age and experience.
   However, she has gotten the endorsement of San Antonio Express-News and Leticia Van De Putte for her campaign.
   Alvarado truly impresses me with her leadership and her vision. She's been involved in some major cases in Bexar County, and she will represent our community on the bench. If you are voting at lunch or after work today, she clearly deserves your vote.

Cook and Associates to hold social media tweetup

2010-02-17T06:35:00.001-08:00

Cook and Associates will hold a social media tweetup from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 24 at Sean Patrick's, 202 E. San Antonio in San Marcos.

Steve Cook, the owner of Cook and Associates, said his San Marcos and San Antonio firm is sponsoring the event as a way to help San Marcos based businesses connect with others in the central Texas region. "We are hoping to attract small business and social media professionals from Austin to San Antonio at this event," he said. "We're thankful to the chamber for their help and support to alert their membership about the powerful tools behind social media and blogging."

Reservations for the event can be made by going to http://www.twtvite.com/zl2mc6.

Congressman Gonzalez should call upon local security talent to protect his web site

2010-01-29T22:16:00.001-08:00

When Representative Charlie Gonzalez' web site was hacked by the Red Eye Crew, his staff said that he would request help from his tech support team.

While that is a good idea, Congressman Gonzalez should turn to the leaders in infosecurity for help. As San Antonio is a well recognized center for cybersecurity, it would seem that his staff should be on the phone now to get their advice and help.

Knowing many of the leaders in this field, I am sure that they would gladly give the Congressman some excellent advice on how to prevent these hackers from issuing a F-bomb about President Obama.

With the Texas Lyceum set for next Friday, I am hoping that the experts in this program can talk about some of the methods and processes needed to prevent hackers from taking over a public web site. If I get to this conference, I am going to ask Howard Schmitt, our Cybarczar on what the "gov" can do to prevent these hacks.

Here's hoping that Congressman Gonzalez' legislative team meanwhile takes the time to reach out to people like John Dickson of the Denim Group and others like him to get their advice on how to protect his web site.

Reaching out to others will help those depressed about missing family members cope with the holidays

2009-12-25T03:57:00.000-08:00

     It's been 32 years since I first spent a Christmas away from home. I was a young airman stationed in Guam, and I never forgot that my holiday weekend was filled with playing on the beach as well as spending some time with friends from the Catholic chapel community.
      Today, as I write this, I am in Miami with my wife and my son to visit my 84-year-old father-in-law, who is in a nursing home after a recent trip to the hospital for internal bleeding. My oldest step daughter is in Utah and my youngest is in Wyoming.
      For many of us, the separation from our family is a difficult thing.   So, for those of you who are feeling a little depressed about missing family members this Christmas, I have a simple suggestion or two.
     First, if you are hosting a dinner or party today, reach out to those without family. It could be the single mother next door with the two children or the office worker who has a family in Nebraska.   Having some extra people around to share in a holiday dinner will make you forget that your daughter is a time zone away.
     Second, volunteer to help those in need.   If you have a beautiful voice like my wife, you can visit a local nursing home to sing Christmas carols. If your voice is not well suited for music, just taking the time to visit people is something that's appreciated.    Shelters and food kitchens can also use the help of volunteers, especially during the holidays.
      To me, Christmas is like that classic Crosby, Nash and Young song "Love the One You're With." As the famed Woodstock crooners wrote:  "And if you can't be with the one you love...Love the one you're with...Love the one you're with..."
      Here's hoping that everyone finds a little love and some family this holidays.

Spotted: random acts of holiday spirit at the Baytown Waffle House

2009-12-25T03:40:00.001-08:00

Do you remember that scene in the movie "Elf," when Santa Claus can't get his sled off the ground because of the lack of holiday spirit? It wasn't until Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel started singing carols that Santa escaped the Central Park Park Police.

I was thinking about that holiday spirit when my family stopped in Baytown at a Waffle House to have breakfast yesterday. Two elderly woman, named Mary and Kathy gave home made angels to some of the staff and I overheard one of the waitresses say that their gift made their day.

It's these random acts of holiday spirit that make the holidays special. Yet, I am wondering why we have to stop afterwards. I would think that we south Texans would want to continue in the spirit of generosity through out the year.

Here's hoping that more of us can spend the holidays and the year in the joy of giving. I want to thank my new friends, Kathy and Mary for showing me that Christmas holiday spirit comes even at a Waffle House.

Yes, Virginia, you can learn a little geography while waiting in line at Walt Disney World....

2009-12-25T03:39:00.000-08:00

Walt Disney makes a vacation seem like a dream trip, but what those ads with the princesses and Tinker Bell doesn't show you are those long lines for rides.

However, I have developed a new game to help keep children and others from getting bored while winding their way through long lines to spend 90 seconds on Space Mountain.

Several years ago, my wife and I invented a road game featuring unique car models and license plates. For example, if my daughter saw a Hummer and a Iowa license plate on a drive north to grandma's house, she would be given points for it.

So, in the midst of all those lines, I came up with a new game that combines geography and sports. It's a simple game. All you have to do is to observe those Red Sox and Yankee fans and write it down in a little notebook. And, of course there are rules that give extra points to those rare sightings of New Jersey Nets and LA Clipper hats.

While professional sports provide an obvious starting spot to the game, I think that a good game could also embrace colleges as well. For some reason, I saw a lot of Florida apparel and some Texas.

With some friends who develop I-phone apps, I am going to ask them to help me develop it. I believe like the license plate game, it will help parents teach their children about geography and economy.

Is a $75 security fee from my merchant processing service really needed?

2009-12-07T05:37:00.001-08:00

Imagine my surprise when I got my latest statement from my merchant processing service with a $75 fee for security services. I am used to paying for monthly administrative fees and the two to three-percent for each transaction. But, the security fee was an unexpected cost.
After a phone call to my provider, I was told that the major credit card companies were updating their security features. They then required the merchant processing services to pay for it. Thus, the annual $75 fee in my last statement
Having done some recent marketing and public relations work for one merchant processing service company and reading the standard contract from them, I wondered how they could require me to pay for their upgrades. After reading the SEC 10-K filings for both VISA and MasterCard and noting their high amount of profitability, I am wondering how my credit card providers need my $75 to upgrade their security systems.
After this latest incident, I believe that it's time for the federal government to regulate the credit card processing industry. Yet, I also know that this would never happen either. With millions if not billions in profitability at stake, the credit card companies will do everything they can to not create change within their operations.
I know that some folks who read this will tell me that it's the cost of doing busine
ss. As I already pay monthly administrative fees and processing fees, I think I am doing more than enough to offset the major credit card companies' need to upgrade their security system. So, I am using this blog to open a dialog with other small business types who want to see some changes within their credit card processing.

Newspaper reports on Virginia Tech tragedy show a need for administrators to develop a better emergency response plan

2009-12-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

If a crazed gunman was holding students hostage in a lecture hall, doesn't it make sense that university employees would try to reach their children who were students? And, certainly, I would make sure that garbage collectors would want to know now to come on campus to collect our trash.
Today's Express-News article on the Virginia Tech tragedy shows how most of us who are parents would react. Yet, it also shows that college administrators don't really think through their emergency communications programs here.
If I was a president of an educational institution who read the published report of this article, I would want to gather my security forces, my communications professionals and my public affairs team to have them create a way to communicate to students on an assortment of emergncies such as crazed gunmen or if there's a blizzard that could shut down the roads near college.
For those educational administrators who want some unsolicited advice, I would first ask my public affairs professionals to create a Twitter site that addresses emergency responses. For inspiration, I would look at the Center for Disease Control Emergnecy Twitter site as a source of inspiration.
I would also invest in a phone texting service that can also alert all students of pending emergencies. And, after both are in place, I would instruct professors and staff to make sure to spend a couple of minutes every semester to remind their students of all emergency communication methods.
After all of those tools are in place, I would gather my security chief, my head computer person in charge of computers and phones along with my public affairs team to hold emergency simulation exercises at least three to four times a year. As an Air Force professional who planned these training exercises, I can tell you that practice of these emergency principles helps an executive team improve their response if needed.

Technical haiku can help with password protection

2009-12-05T04:21:00.000-08:00

The other day, I was working with my client, Brian Guinn, the chief executive officer of Prism Technology, to respond to a query from a freelance writer concerning Internet security. From this writer's perspective, it seems a lot of women use something like "password" as their security log on. Others leave their children's full name as a password.
Bryan who helps a lot of his clients develop security practices, came up with some really good ideas for the article. For example, a password should not be a personal name or a state name.
Many years ago, when I was working for the folks at SecureInfo, Steve Spriester came to our company to do a story. With the cameras rolling, we challenged him that we could pick his one word password in under 60 seconds. Sure enough, we found that the KSAT reporter, now anchor, has selected "Nebraska" in honor of his alma mater.
Passwords today, work best with a combination of capital letters, numbers and symbols. Bryan had suggested in our response to the author that customers can take a common phrase like "Mary had a little lamb. Her fleece was white as snow" and convert it to "Mhall.hfwwas" To add a different character, Bryan suggested you would substitute the first L in the phrase to the number one to represent little.
This got me to thinking that computer users could have a little fun with their passwords, especially as they should change them at about the rate of 30 to 45 days or so. And somehow, it got me thinking to sixth grade English with Sister Mary Antonio and haiku. So, for those out there still using password or computer as security phrases, here's a few inspirational if not hilarious thoughts to make some needed changes in those passwords.
SCW%ndnarticoid.bphdylcf?: Sorry Charlie Weiss Notre Dame needs a real tuna in charge of its destiny. Bill Parcells how do you like college football? (Note: the "%" is a good way to put an emphasis in these password haikus.)
Wtmmwh?rtottsyiuud2: Want to make my wife happy. Remember to put the toilet seat up or is it down? (Note: instead of the question mark, I substituted a number for the question mark.)
Tymjc!ytfmwaetisa2: Thank you Mayor Julian Castro! You're the first mayor who actually embraces technology in San Antonio.
Iybiteb,ttfasc,tyrftcctwtwsty!: If you believe in the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus, then you root for the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series this year!

Dear Mr President, here's some advice on job stimulation

2009-12-04T06:26:00.000-08:00

For President Barack Obama, job creation has became the major focus of his administration.
For now.
After reading the Express-News article on "Obama seeks advice on creation of jobs," I have some advice.
First, Mr. President, it's time to focus on programs that fast track those underemployed find new careers. The Rizer School of Technology
, one of my clients, has started a new program for biomedical equipment repair professionals. Bill Bassuk, who also is a chief technology officer for a hospital in east Texas, has built a program that reminds me of the Air Force training programs at Lowry AFB, Colo.
For six years, I worked as the base's media and community affairs manager. In those years, I became impressed with how the Air Force created competent technical professionals from munition loaders to precision measurement equipment lab technicians. Bassuk's program is built on the same principles. Unlike a two-year community college program, there aren't requirements for history, English or physical education. With a focus on the needed career skills to get a job in the industry, Rizer will soon place professionals within medical facilities.
Just as important, Mr. President is the need to help these graduates find a network of influencers who can help people with new skills find jobs. Jobcannon.com, my client in Austin, has done a great job of helping unemployed people there build a base of industry professionals who can find those "hidden" opportunities within a specific industry.
Here, Mr. President, we need to encourage those who are successful in their specific industry reach out to those "newbs" who need advice and guidance on how to find a career that inspires them and helps them advance to higher paying positions. I am sure, Mr. President that you have a lot of talented people working with you on job creation, but please feel free to call me anytime on this issue.

Giving thanks for the network of ESDs

2009-11-28T04:48:00.001-08:00

When I gathered my family for Thanksgiving, I gave a quiet prayer for that network of evil step fathers.
This year, I am celebrating nearly 13 years as an "ESD." When I remarried, I knew my step daughter would be a challenge. And, I was right.
In retrospect, I learned that when a child becomes a teen, they don't care for their natural parents. Somehow, having a new parent in the mix only intensifies the experience.
I am not going to embarrass my daughter with some of her escapades. Just know that there were times that I questioned my decision to marry her mother. And, the network of evil step fathers stepped in to help.
Through the years, my friends at church and in the Catholic ACTS community shared their stories as ESDs. Their simple message was to wait and pray. Step children will grow out of their rebellious teen years and become adults.
My oldest graduates from law school in six months. The guys in the San Antonio chapter of ESDs were right. After she turned 21, she became a normal human being again.
So, to all evil step dads out there, I would say it's hard to parent a step daughter or son. Only time, love, patience and prayer will help.

Jobcannon offering holiday gift alternative for those who are underemployed....

2009-11-26T05:34:00.001-08:00

For those with family or friends who are facing difficulties in their career endeavors, an Austin company is offering an alternative holiday gift idea.
Jobcannon.com, an Austin-based firm, is offering a "Black Friday" special for those who retweet their special holiday offer before Monday. By retransmitting their holiday special via Twitter, the firm is offering a 50-percent discount to everyone who helps promote their services.
Here's what I like about jobcannon.com's product. To me, it's the first online job search tool to help their clients understand that internal change is needed as part of their career retransformation. For most of the unemployed or underemployed, they take the role of a job seeker, taking anything that puts money into their pockets. However, jobcannon.com helps people realize they should focus their employment efforts as a "skill holder."
A retiring military noncommissioned officer, who spent his career as an Air Force munitions loader, knows there isn't a lot of opportunities to continue loading munitions. However, a program like jobcannon.com can help that sergeant realize he has considerable skills as a inventory management professional. Once he or she realizes that she has those skills, it's easier to focus a career search on companies that value those talents.
Jobcannon.com also helps those facing career changes to find their job champions. For someone like the munitions loader, a job champion can advise them on how to tailor their resume or who to contact within the organization. Job champions help those seeking a job get the inside track within those companies by helping them uncover those unlisted positions before they are formally posted.
A year's subscription to jobcannon.com is a perfect gift as well for those who have a job. In these turbulent times, a skill holder can begin the process to transition from a current position into something that has more openings.
For example, a copy repairman knows that more job cuts are possible in his industry. He or she knows they have the skills to move into biomedical equipment repair, an industry that has considerable job prospects. With the help of jobcannon.com, he or she could find someone to mentor them and start the transition to one within that new industry sector.
So, this Black Friday, avoid the long lines at Best Buy or the San Marcos Outlet Mall. Instead, take a visit to the jobcannon web site to purchase a gift that will truly help those in need of career change.
(Important disclosure: While I work as a publicist for jobcannon.com, I believe its Black Friday offer is something every person who knows of someone in need of career transition should consider as a gift.)

Wanting to give thanks for the growth of technology within San Antonio

2009-11-25T16:34:00.001-08:00

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I wanted to take this time to reflect on the changes within the San Antonio tech community. Thanks to the unheralded work of a lot of people, our city is quickly attracting more and more technology firms and talent.
I think it's best to thank Mayor Julian Castro for his support of technology. Just over a month ago, he was featured in an article on information security in the New York Times. Thanks to that article, the rest of the United States and the world now knows how our city is one of the leaders in this area.
Yet, I am also thankful to those in the emerging medical technology as well. With Brooke Army Medical Center and the University of Texas Health Science Center, we have two groups who discover and develop wonderful life-saving processes. At the upcoming San Antonio Innotech trade show, some of the leaders within both the military and civilian sector will gather for a special half-day conference prior to the main event March 4.
Lastly, I want to thank the growing social media community within our city. Thanks to organizations like #bmpr and others, we now bring some of the best and brightest together to share best practices. I have learned more about social media tactics in San Antonio than I have in a more advanced community like Austin. And, as I spend enough time in Austin, I know that there are some more advanced technical firms up there.
So, San Antonio technical types, as you sit down to a dinner with friends, please know that folks like me appreciate what you are doing to improve the growth of the tech sector within our community.

(Important disclosure: I am the contract publicist for the San Antonio Innotech trade show. I also serve on the board of advisors for the Innotech and the Emerging Medical Technology programs.)

With a correct employee handbook, teachers should be able to text studetns and parents

2009-11-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

Hidden in today's Express-News "Texting incident leads to teacher resignation" was the fact that several major school districts have not addressed this form of communication in their employee handbook.
If you are a school board member or a district administrator, I would like to give some insight into texting.
First, it's hard to text with my big fingers, but it's an effective way to reach people. There are several clients who I can only communicate by text or a Twitter direct message. Somehow, a text message via cell phone or Twitter reaches a growing number of my clients and friends.
Second, as the article does note, it leaves a message trail. That way, when school teachers need to reach out to a parent on a matter it documents the call. And, if you are trying to reach someone and leave a message, they either don't get the voice mail right away or their receptionist often doesn't bother to give the message to them.
Thirdly, students could also text their teachers before school to confirm an appointment for a makeup exam or tutoring.
So, I believe the best policy is to clearly document that if a district can prove that a teacher sent risque photos of themselves to students or allegedly said "You suck" in a text missive that those are grounds for immediate firing.
For many who don't use texting as a communication tool, the early assumption is to eliminate it entirely. Yet, for many, it's the best way to reach people. The 99.99999999999 of teachers who use texting responsibly will help open communication channels to parents and students.

Here's hoping that my military public affairs colleagues learn how to use social media tools to help them respond quicker

2009-11-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

One of the things which military public affairs people do very well is adapt and learn from disasters. After reading a Defense Systems article online, I had to chuckle that the Army media relations folks were using Facebook to tell the media that they were inundated with calls from them.

In 1994, I worked as a media relations supervisor in Allied Forces Southern Europe during the Bosnian crisis. After Air Force jets shot down three Serbian planes, our telephones were swamped so badly that one of the telephone operators had a runner come to our office to tell us that the New York Times reporter was frustrated that they couldn't reach us.

With my boss' help, I was able to get extra lines installed within four hours.

Now, Twitter and other social media tools allow crisis public affairs professionals to quickly open up new communication channels. I don't want to become a "Monday Morning Quarterback" with my public affairs colleagues, but I am hoping that when they hold their next conferences that they look at the lessons learned from the Fort Hood tragedy to better the process.

I believe that public affairs professionals can easily master social media channels and learn how to quickly respond to crisis issues like the one at Fort Hood. Here's hoping that the military public affairs senior leadership understand that social media tools allow them to manage the communication process when the next crisis arises.

Why cyber attacks could become the ultimate disaster

2009-11-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

If you love disaster films, John Cusack's latest offering, 2012, is a film that should create a lot of nightmares. However, Hollywood still hasn't addressed a bigger disaster -- the loss of cyber communications.
A Washington Post article, published on the front page of the Express News, documented the potential by Chinese hackers to attack our system.
"I believe that the security industry overall needs to evolve. For years we've had a system based on they knock our wall down, we build a bigger (or more complicated) wall to replace it. Advances in preemptive technologies, and real-time analytics are prerequisites for solving some of the issues we face in cyber-security," said William Hurley, a security and tech analyst .
The move of the Air Force's 24th Air Force demonstrates our government's commitment to protect our information resources and consolidate most of the executive resources to protect our computer systems. And, if you hear a Rotary Club or chamber of commerce speech from the senior leadership at 24th Air Force, I would bet they would mention the threat of cyber attacks from China as a strong possibility.
Yet, cyber attacks will continue to evolve and improve, according to Hurley, a technology leader, who has hacked into a lot of businesses to test their security capabilities.
To test a leading casino in Las Vegas, Hurley, who is known as "whurley" in Austin and online, bought a polo shirt and pants that matched the uniform of the information security department. Noting that the computer protection staff had badges, whurley told one of his client's employees that he lost his badge to get access to the computer hub. With the borrowed ID, whurley was able to gain full access to all the data and the systems.
Bryan Guinn, the president of Prism Technology as well as a client of mine, said he has been able to get into areas storing computer data just by giving the appearance that he was fixing a computer. Guinn said it's rare when someone challenges him when he or one of his repair professionals report to a customer's location to fix a technical issue.
To offset a cyber attack, Guinn said he recommends backing up data every day. He also suggests that businesses adopt policies. For example, a business should tell employees to order products online from a trusted site that uses a Secure Sockets Layer. In many cases,hackers will create a web site that looks like a legitimate site and steal computer card data. As well, hackers will host viruses that will infect their computers as well as spreading them to other systems.
Successful businesses will follow good security practices to mitigate the potential of disaster from a cyber attack. Having excellent training and processes in place can help a firm lower their losses in the event of an attack on their computers.

Selecting the right room can help a person sleep better

2009-11-16T07:46:00.000-08:00

For those of us who are considering a new home or apartment, it's time to consider the location of their next bedroom.
I am working as the public relations manager for the first Brain Wave Expo. My client, Bruce Meleski, the owner of IntellliBED Texas, brought in several experts on how to improve a person's sleep performance.
In the course of meeting some of the Austin sleep experts, we discussed the prospect of moving to a new home. Several days before the event, Meleski recalled how one of his customers had moved from a large home to a condo in downtown Austin. The couple's children had all left the nest, and there was no need to have a large domicile. So, they picked a smaller condo in Austin's downtown area.
With their bedroom facing east, they were awaken with the sun, and it took a considerable amount of adjustment to their new location.
So, here are some things to consider when looking at a prospective home.
First, if you an early riser, having a room that faces towards sunrise is an ideal place to put a bedroom. However, for those who are night owls, it's best to have a room that faces north. If that's not possible, there are other ways to address the issue. The first is to have the rooms tinted with a dark screen. Secondly, dark curtains might help.
Secondly, I would suggest the best thing is to contact someone like Meleski to do a sleep audit of a new domicile, especially before signing a contract to move into a new home. Meleski or one of his associates can make recommendations on interior design and location of bedrooms. In some cases, the buyer could stipulate some specific changes as the condition of a home. In short, a realtor can make specific requests as part of the contract or even the loan. In some cases, the seller can provide specific changes to a bedroom environment as part of the sale. In other cases, a realtor can work with a loan officer to have the sleep improvements amortized within the course of a 30-year loan.
Having a sleep audit will cost a few dollars, but elderly people should especially consider this as a restful night's sleep can help them stay healthy. Until now, most of us overlooked the sleep quality of a new home. Professional sleep transition can help ease the transition for people purchasing a new home.

Why managing your Twitter hash feed helps you listen to your customers

2009-11-16T07:44:00.001-08:00

When I picked up the Twitter hash feed for the San Antonio Rock and Roll marathon Sunday morning from the front page of the online Express-News, I was amazed at how many runners were tweeting their expectations before the race.
For those still new to social media, a "#" on Twitter is what is referred as a hash tag. More and more, main stream communicators are starting to embrace the use of them in event management. The organizers at the San Antonio event used #RnRsa as their official hash tag. Prior to go to church, I was able to read the comments of all the racers by searching for that term on Twitter. I found the one by a runner from a small town that there were more people in the race than his home funny especially when he said the race should have its own zip code.
I recently used hashtags for two events myself. At the Oklahoma City and Austin Innotech, the #innotech hash tag allowed me to monitor the conversations of hundreds of attendees. For the Oklahoma City event, I was able to monitor the conversations from San Antonio. When one attendee questioned the scope of programs, I quickly sent him a response with the @OKC_Innotech twitter account to ask him what he would do to improve the show for next year.
For those new to social media, a hash tag is easy to set up. However, most people overlook the integration of it with other traditional communication tools. For example, an event organizer can put the hash tag on advertisements in trade show brochures. They can also put it on their ads in magazines, newspaper and other publications. Most importantly, they should prominently display them on signs such as the starting point of a race or at a trade show.
What I like about hash tags is that they allow companies and organizers to listen to their customers. Hash tags give people an unfiltered view on what they think about an event. A savvy business manager can use them to learn what his customers are saying in real time about their event or product. Yet, the best ones will quickly respond to both negative and positve comments as well.

San Antonio vets want to help others deal with PTSD with "Walter's House"

2009-11-11T04:28:00.001-08:00

Ask Tres Maddox, a San Antonio businessman, what veterans need today and he'll tell you it's a group of fellow peers who have experienced the horrors of war.
After World War II, Maddox said former soldiers, airmen, marines and sailors came home and build neighborhoods with their VA housing benefits. "These guys came home and lived next to each other," he said. "If someone had post traumatic stress disorder issues, they had someone in their neighborhood they could talk to about it."
Several years ago, Maddox rode his motorcycle to Washington, D.C., to pay tribute to his friend, Walter, a fellow Vietnam veteran.
It was during this ride that Maddox said he had a vision to create a house in San Antonio where veterans could meet with peers and get professional help. Today, "Walter's House" is a prototype that needs financial assistance and professional advise.
John Hartman, one of Maddox' friends, served in the military and has a successful business, thanks to his disabled veterans status. He's one of the volunteers willing to help Maddox build his first house.
For Hartman, it's important that former military professionals have a peer group who can help them overcome the issues associated with PTSD. A recovering alcoholic, Hartman said a fellow vet helped him deal with the issues related to his combat service in the Gulf Region.
As a fellow veteran, I agree with Hartman and Maddox that former military professionals need to build a network of friends who have served in uniform. I am hoping that San Antonio's growing base of active duty military, former military and supporters will help Maddox and Hartman reach their goal of building their first home.

What do veterans want on Wednesday and every other day.....

2009-11-08T04:45:00.000-08:00

Veterans like me will be able to choose six entrees at Applebees Nov. 11 as a tribute to our service. While I want to commend the restaurant along with the hundreds of others who provide discounts to active duty and retired military folks, the care and respect that our veterans deserve is not a one-day publicity event or even a discount on food or services.
In an interview published Friday in the Wall Street Journal, actor and peace activist Woody Harrelson said while he is against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, he totally supports the military who serve there. "It was a good experience for me because it's one thing to consider yourself pro-peace, like I consider myself, and quite another to understand what the soldiers are going through," Harrelson said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal's Michelle Kung.
I was glad to see someone like Harrelson that he supports our troops. In the Vietnam War, many of us remember those hippies who spat on troops as they arrived in San Francisco. Even years later, I ran into some of them while serving at Lowry AFB, Colo., as the chief of community affairs. During one educational summit, one teacher, who told me proudly that she protested against the war, asked me if I was a baby killer like the others.
"No, I am not," I replied. "I am just one of the many who protects your right to free speech."
On Wednesday, veterans are asking for the respect of those who didn't serve. One of the things that we would ask is to have a disability claims process that is fair and easy to understand. Another thing we would ask is that like other federal retirees that if we qualify for disability payments that we get them paid as additional income instead of having the portion of our disability provided to us as a tax free option.
Lastly, we ask that if you learn of our service that you continue to say thank you for our service in the military. And, we would ask that you take a moment of silent on Wednesday out of respect for those who were killed and disabled in the service of our country.

Training is an ongoing process

2009-11-08T04:44:00.001-08:00

San Antonio Express-News columnist David Hendricks' column in today's paper details the life of Javier Palomarez's duties from south Texas to his new duties as the president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
If there was a message that resonated with me in this column, it was Palomarez' focus on education. As Hendricks chronicles in his column, Palomarez was the youngest of 10 children. When his mother emigrated from Mexico as an accountant, she was unable to find work in her field. In time, she became a bookkeeper, but she made sure that her son completed his education.
Yet, a formal degree acts as just the first step in any successful business executive's education. The best constantly look at opportunities to make them better. If you are a small business executive, you should consider participating in programs sponsored by the Southwest Minority Suppliers Development Council. This organization work with small business executives to help them get their certification and to find opportunities. While having a degree will help you in business, successful business leaders know that their training is an ongoing process.
This Tuesday, Bill Leake, the chief executive officer of Apogee Search, and I will present a four-hour program in Austin Tuesday on social media on behalf of SMSDC. If you have heard that email is dead and want to know how to embrace social media tools like Twitter, blogging and LinkedIn, this program will help you understand the basics.

Technology works best when it factor in the change it brings

2009-11-08T04:44:00.000-08:00

Have you ever called a business or a school, bypass their electronic receptionist by dialing "zero," and get someone who wants to put you back into the voice mail system?
And, have your irritated that person by asking them to take a message?
About a week ago, while in the car, I called Madison, my wife's school, got the famed voice prompts and finally got a student. I asked her to see if she could get someone to take a message to my wife to call me. Her response was "I can only put you into voicemail."
When I first married my wife 12 years ago, her school had a receptionist named Edna. I knew that if I reached Edna by phone that she would get a student to take a message so my wife would get it.
However, someone in NEISD took a look at human resources and eliminated Edna's position by embracing voice mail technology. Yet, Madison High School is not the only organization or business I know that has eliminated the business receptionist or operator.
Thanks to our economy, a lot of businesses have cut back on having an administrative assistant answer the phones for them.
Scott Kaeppel, the president of Kaeppel Consulting, said companies are often faced with making strategic cuts in their organization to make them leaner. To some managers, cutting the salary for the receptionist makes economic sense, but it may impact the business more with lost business or bad impressions.
Businesses spend millions on advertising and marketing, but when they drop their receptionists, they create a negative impression with their customers. Instead of dropping the position, Kaeppel would argue that a manager could look at alternatives such as dropping something like ads in the Yellow Page as an alternative to cutting a receptionist.
In time, receptionists like Edna will become as extinct as the dinosaur. As someone who usually embraces the Internet and texting, I understand the change in thinking. However, technology has to work and align itself with those who use it.
In my wife's case, her access to voice mail moved about three school wings over at Madison when the school added its new science facilities. Before the addition, the science faculty lounge was a short walk away. Now, she has to go to either the main faculty lounge or to the science building to check a phone message.
The problem with technology is that people think it's a solution and a way to save money. Yet, a complete technology integration needs to factor in the changes involved. Technology changes work when the executives in charge of it completely think through the processes involved.
(Note: I work as the publicist for Kaeppel Consulting.)

Cell phone fund raising a new way to help nonprofits

2009-10-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

If you have an unwanted cellphone or two and are going to Austin Innotech Thursday, bring them to help Austin Goodwill.
As the publicist for the event, I found the cellphone campaign for a nonprofit program innovative.
While the focus on this campaign is on helping Goodwill, J.C. Otero, the community outreach manager, said his company, Austin-based Sellyourcellular, will work with any non-profit firm to help them recycle phones.
Over 100 million cell phones are replaced, Otero said. On an average day, 350,000 phones are replaced.
If you want to get more information on this program, please contact them at their web site.

The SWAG hall of fame....

2009-10-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

While I don't go to many trade shows, I am always amazed at the swag given by vendors to potential customers. As the publicist for the Austin Innotech, I did an early morning tour of the booths at today's trade show. As usual, there are a lot of folks with chocolate, pens and the other goods.
However, there are three or four that should be included in my "SWAG Hall of Fame." The folks at Eaton would get my vote as the best toy to amuse Bentley my daughter's Visla. If you tap the blue ball on the pen, it will light up with a blue disco ball like effect. That kind of simple technology will keep him amused when he comes to visit his grand parents at Thanksgiving.
Another innovative and cost effective promotional item was the distribution of Lucky Charms bowls by New Horizons Computer Learning Center of Austin to their customers. As a lot of people forget breakfast before they go or work at a trade show, this is a pretty effective marketing tool.
Finally, I have a "use stick" from qlikview,com that is part Lego toy and USB data port. Now when I want to back up something like a simple file, I can use it. It's hard to forget an item like this too.
If you are a marketing person with a trade show coming up, I think the best thing to do is to make sure you label your products with your items. For example, if you were as smart at New Horizon to give cereal as a give away, make sure to place a label or business card with each item.

How can you tell you are a dog owner... just woof

2009-10-30T06:52:00.001-07:00

When Tina Cannon, the chief executive officer of petsMD, made her presentation at the Austin Innotech Beta Summit today, she asked a crowded room to show her if they were dog owners by barking loudly.
Sure enough, the room filled with barks. And, then without any solicitation, there was a large round of meows.
Cannon's company is similar in scope to webMD in that it allows pet owners to ask questions about their pet's health. Her company was one of six firms.
Other Beta finalists included:
When Tina Cannon, the chief executive officer of petsMD, made her presentation at the Austin Innotech Beta Summit today, she asked a crowded room to show her if they were dog owners by barking loudly.
Sure enough, the room filled with barks. And, then without any solicitation, there was a large round of meows.
Cannon's company is similar in scope to webMD in that it allows pet owners to ask questions about their pet's health. Her company was one of six firms.
Other Beta finalists included:

BuzzStream, a social media company that helps companies build relationships with online influencers;
GameSalad, a game development firm that provides a game development tool for nonprogrammers;
Gelato, an online dating site that had one of my friends who is happily married to comment that if he wasn't married he would use the site;
Infochimps, a web site designed to find any data set in the world;
and Spredfast, a social media campaign platform. If you are a small tech business in San Antonio, please reach out to me if you want to participate in the 2010 San Antonio Beta Summit. Last year, thanks to the help of the San Antonio Greater Chamber of Commerce, we held our first event. It's my hope that the chamber will step up and participate in this event again.

Does SA need an "open tech" program?

2009-10-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

His given name is William Hurley, but everyone in Austin knows him as Whurley. And, this tech maverick is a hero of mine.
For the past six months, Whurley and other tech leaders have questioned Austin city government on its web site procurement page. When the city decided to award a web site project to a California company, Whurley and company led the protect movement that got the city to drop the contract.
"I got phone calls from a major contract firm that I was costing them money," he said. However, his disruptive processes have caused the city to rethink its web site strategy and to engage Austin tech leaders to help with a better contract request for proposal.
Yesterday, the Austin Association of Information Technology Professionals presented Whurley their Austin Community Leadership Award at Austin Innotech. Like a true team builder, Whurley accepted the award but called up two to three other team members to share in the recognition.
The city of Austin hasn't awarded its web site, but when it does, it will have a better RFP process.
Here in San Antonio, we could learn from disruptive types like Whurley. For example, I would like to see SATAI, a city and state funded organization, give our tech community an annual report of what they're doing with our tax dollars. And, I would like to see the same kind of input from other civic funded organizations that support tech growth.
I am hoping that this blog will get the executive directors to give me their annual executive report so that I can share it with others. If your organization has nothing to hide, then this is your opportunity to share it with those of us who want to embrace the growth of technology.
In closing, I want to commend SATAI for the work they did in setting up their workshop this week. It's an improvement over the chicken dinner with a senior communications executive from ATT pitching the values of Uverse. But even so, I want to know what is being done with my local and state tax dollars.

I really don't know clouds (computing) at all....

2009-10-22T05:07:00.001-07:00

To someone who doesn't work in computers and technology, the term "cloud security" conjures up visions of St. Peter at the pearly gates checking a person's record. Yet, in the tech space, the term "cloud" means the storage of data. According to the folks at searchcloudcomputing.com, "Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. These services are broadly divided into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The name cloud computing was inspired by the cloud symbol that's often used to represent the Internet in flow charts and diagrams."

I recently did an interview for another blog on the topic with Josh Zachry systems security lead, Rackspace, and Jeff Reich, director of cloud security research, the University of Texas at San Antonio, as part of the publicity efforts to get people to attend the upcoming Austin Innotech, Oct. 29 at the Austin Convention Center. Zachry and Reich will speak at 3:30 p.m. on this topic at Innotech Austin on Oct. 29. As I thought people in San Antonio might learn something from this interview, I thought I would share in this blog.

Question: What are the biggest challenges with cloud security?

Zachry: It really depends on the type of cloud offering (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and the way in which a cloud consumer or potential consumer plans to use the offering. Awareness seems to be a big challenge right now for both cloud providers and cloud consumers. Ultimately, cloud computing is a technology platform that does some things well and others not so well. It's important for cloud consumers to make sure they are using
a cloud computing solution appropriately. It's also important for cloud providers to provide the needed information to consumers so they can make the right decisions.

Question: Is there a need for a single standard for cloud security?

Reich: This is a difficult question right now. I don't believe there is a need for a single cloud security standard at this point in time. The reason for this is due to the differences in cloud computing platforms and the ways in which competing providers deliver and service those platforms. I believe that more discussion should focus on data and information that may be exposed within the different platforms (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and guidelines for protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data in question.

Question: What kind of issues do security professionals need to address to protect a cloud database?

Zachry: It depends on a number of factors. For example, the types of information or data stored in the database (this will drive a number of protection requirements). Also, the authentication solution used (SSL, API, VPN, etc). Again, it really depends on the types of data and information being stored.

Question: Is there anything else we should know about the future of cloud security?

Reich: Cloud computing security will continue to be an important and dynamic topic. Cloud computing promises great capabilities and efficiencies at a reduced price. This naturally compels individual consumers and businesses to leverage cloud computing solutions for needed computing capabilities. What must not be ignored, however, is that cloud computing is prescriptive at this point. It's important that everyone become engaged and learn more about cloud computing capabilities.

OMG..... Has Twitter shortened our words?

2009-10-22T05:05:00.000-07:00

With the addition of texting to our life, are we changing our English language? If you believe a research done by college psychology students at the University of Alberta, we're in the process of changing our language.
With only 140 characters available on Twitter and almost the same amount on your cell phone, shortening words to "BTW" for by the way or "OMG" for oh my gosh is almost essential.
According to an article in the Washington Post, the Canadian students surveyed the text messages of 40 students for their research. The group was working on the premise that parents were concerned that students who use what they termed "chatspeak" would become bad spellers or never learn how to write well are unfounded.
According to Connie Varnhagen, the lead psychologist on the study: "Young people can compartmentalize their language. They have language that they use on the playground and then school language. They know how to speak in classrooms without sounding like goofballs."
I agree with Varnhagen that our young people are probably coming up with a dialect of their own. It's still English but it reminds me of a time I ran into two British soldiers in northern Germany in 1985. In their Welsch-Cockney accent, they spoke to me rather rudely while I was in one of their British "tea" rooms in at their military exchange in Minden.
I looked at them, noted the lack of stripes on their sleeves and pointed to the four I had on my shoulder board and told them I was an American sergeant and I didn't believe they would spoke to their noncoms like they just did with me.
They immediately reverted into a more formal form of English and apologized by offering to buy my tea.
Most of our teens can speak in several dialects of their language, especially if their educators re-enforce the use of formal grammar in school. My wife, the high school science teacher, is the type that will rip a student for using "prolly" instead of probably in a paper. Yet, she admits a lot of language teachers are allowing their students to use the new dialect in their writing efforts.
Still, in time, I believe we will see a shift in language. More and more, as we speak in the 140 characters allowed on Twitter or our cell phones, we'll embrace the use of chatspeak.

Finding the right mix between security and social media operations.....

2009-10-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

If you own a business that has a lot of young people working for you, it's a good bet that you have:
• Banned the use of Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools because of security concerns;
• Grudgingly allowed its use because you fear a mutiny at work among the younger rank and file employers;
• Or, buried your head in the sand and done nothing.
With an upcoming presentation "Social Networks and Security: What Your Teenager Likely Won't Tell You," John Dickson, the principal at Denim Group, will help business owners find the middle ground for policies concerning social media.
Dickson will give his presentation at 11 a.m., Oct. 29 as part of Austin Innotech trade show.
As a longtime security professional, Dickson understands the concerns of security manager. "We have a lot of businesses with widely different interpretations, Dickson said.
"However, you can't turn it off either," he added. "With a tailored business goals and policies in place, a company can adopt a social media policy that allows young knowledge workers to use Twitter and Facebook."
Dickson is part of a contingent of security and technology speakers from San Antonio that will present several seminars on information security next week.
Josh Zachry, systems security lead, Rackspace, and Jeff Reich, director of cloud security research, the University of Texas at San Antonio, will speak at 3:30 p.m. on cloud security.
As the publicist for Austin Innotech as well as serving as a member on the Digital Convergence Initiative, I am glad to see San Antonio technology professionals like Dickson, Reich and Zachry demonstrate San Antonio's capacity as a leader in info security.
Yet, we also have other impressive technologies as well. Austin is only an hour to 90-minute drive away. We need more San Antonio leaders to embrace the opportunity to work with Austin's tech and business leadership so that we can become a super tech cluster like Silicon Valley or the North Carolina Research Trianagle.

Will Navin R. Johnson still be excited about this year's white pages?

2009-10-16T06:42:00.000-07:00

I had to chuckle when I read David Saleh Rauf's article on ATT decision not to ship the white pages to my home. I had visions of Navin R. Johnson, the Steve Martin character in the classic 1979 film "The Jerk" when he ran out of the gas station with the new phone book screaming "The new telephone books are out. The new telephone books are out."
Now, folks like Navin would be using Facebook to post their mug and personal info. And, that gets me to a second story noting the end of email. From a Wall Street Journal article, it notes that a lot of people are passing over this online mail program for tools like Twitter and LinkedIn. The Wall Street Journal is not the first to report this trend. I saw an interesting YouTube video noting that Boston College was no longer giving their students an email address.
However, I am wondering why ATT is still sending me those yellow pages. Just like looking up Navin online, I am now using search tools to find services. As noted in the article, I'll put the delivered yellow pages into the recycle bin as soon as I get them.

Matt Holliday is not a goat for the St. Louis Cardinals

2009-10-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

With two outs and what seemed like a routine line drive to left field, my beloved St. Louis Cardinals were about ready to wrap up their first victory in the National League Divisional Series in Los Angeles.
Then, Murphy's law stepped in. By now, every sports fan has seen left fielder, Matt Holliday, drop the ball. Bolstered by the error, the Dodgers won the game, 3-2. Headlines in the news termed Holliday as a "goat."
What's amazing is how most media and a typical sports fan overlook the contributions of Holliday. Without his play, the Cardinals would have never made the playoffs. National League pitchers would pitch around Albert Pujols until Holliday's arrival. In short, my beloved Cardinals would not have made the post season without him.
The Lords of Statistics note that only four teams have come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a divisional series. Yet, I believe that if any team can overcome a two-game deficit it's the Cardinals.

Apogee Search marketing executive discusses the crossover between search and social media

2009-10-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

As the publicist for Austin Innotech, I get to work with some of the sharpest people in the business. One of my jobs is to reach out to the blogosphere to share some of the upcoming programs for our Oct. 29 event. Here's a recent interview with Ian Strain-Seymour, the director of marketing for Apogee Search.

Q: How can social media and search work together?

A: These two can work together in a lot of different ways. You can use
search (both paid and organic) to help people find your presence in social
media channels or to places where your praises are being sung. On the other
hand deep, rich conversations are one of the types of content that search
engines like, so these can play into your brand's shelf space or if links
are included in the content, even drive your organic search performance
through high value links.

Q: Do social media and search ever work against each other?

A: Absolutely. Social Media drives a lot of content, which can cause one of
two issues. Walled gardens, or websites that can't be fully crawled by
search engines, can close off a lot of the great things being said about
your product or company so that they are never found.

The other issue is the noise that all the volume creates. With the volume of
chatter going on, the search engines sometimes have a hard time deciphering
it all, which can cause relatively poor conversation to float to the top.
Things have improved, but it is not uncommon to see search results that
don't help a searcher find the information they were looking for.

Q: What should businesses do now to address their web visibility

A: This is kind of a chicken and egg question, but at the end of the day, I
think that it makes sense to focus on search first. Get your website well
optimized for search engines, then switch focus to developing a community or
your presence in an existing community bas for your product or business.
This requires continuing, ongoing commitment, not just lip service.

Q: Resources are tight these days. Can the same people (either inside a
company or from an agency) work on both?

A: It depends. What does it depend on? It depends on the people doing the
work and the company and products being focused on. In many cases yes,
because search people that only know search are missing a lot of the
picture, and vice versa. In some cases, where either the community is point
of the business or the product and company brands are very large, it make
sense to split thing out. This however requires the team members to work
together closely.

--

Texas needs to toughen it cycle protection laws

2009-10-06T05:41:00.001-07:00

Reading today's front page story about the death of the two cyclists makes me think of my 77-year-old father who is still riding the back roads of Illinois.
About 25 years ago, I was home on leave. My dad and I went to one of his favorite pubs when a young lady came up to him saying that she wanted to meet him and wanted to give him a ride home once when it was cold and rainy.
For my dad, weather only makes the ride a little more interesting.
Yet, incidents like the one Sunday make me believe that our state laws need strength. More importantly, they need enforcement for both cyclists and automobiles.
Just like our police departments ticket drivers for speed and safety violations, they also should ticket both drivers and cyclists for unsafe driving. I agree with the law that a car should give three feet or more when passing a cyclist who is on the right side of the road. Yet, our police should also ticket those cyclists who run yield signs and stop lights.
More importantly, our city should look at adding more bike lanes. There are some new additions in downtown and south San Antonio, but we could use more of them.
The extension of the River Walk on the south side of downtown will also add more bike friendly passages.
Still, even with bike lanes, tougher laws and police enforcement will keep the "Bubbas" and their F-150s from endangering bike riders like my dad from serious injury or death.

Hoping that Twitter figures out a creative way for blocking spammers

2009-09-29T17:49:00.001-07:00

If you are friendless and want to find them in all the wrong places, consider setting up a Twitter site. As someone who consults on this social media tool, I am amazed as the number of pornbots and multi-level, networking opportunities that pop up every morning on Twitter sites.

I wish there was a way for the folks at Twitter to set up an Internet protocol blocking protocol for those who break these basic rules:

1) Do not offer to show me pictures of yourself even with the line that you're working your way through medical school.

2) If I friend you, please don't send me a direct message to sell me your latest toilet water saving product. (Note: I was interested in water conservation as my wife teaches environmental science.)

So, how can novices or as Twitter people term "newbs" screen out these people? I check out a person's last 20 tweets, Those would be doctors working their way by showing off body parts typically only have one or two word tweets such as "martini." As for those aggressive sales professionals, if every tweet has the phrase "check this out" or "you won't believe this," then it's a good sign that you should block them right away.

Still, I wish there was a way for Twitter to note the IP address of those spammers and block them from their site for a week for a first-time offense. I'm curious too what you might think of ways to block spammers on Twitter so please feel free to share them.

Tags: pornbots, spam, twitter

Fighting unemployment requires the conviction to get help from others

2009-09-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

As the publicist for the company that has created one of the better job customer resource management software programs, a quote in an article from yesterday's Wall Street Journal got me thinking on why a lot of people my age are fighting unemployment.

"It's not part of people's nature to take advantage unless there is someone pushing them," the Wall Street Journal quoted John Kruecher of Human Resources Development, a Michigan job placement firm about why so many people are quitting their job search in a state with 15.2 unemployment. "There is just so much inertia built in. It's easier to sit home rather than go out and pull things together for themselves. They need mentoring, and [the mentors] can't be bureaucrats."

To this, I say "amen."

The world has changed.

It's hard for some people to remain unemployed after losing high paying jobs, but the reality is that people have to retool themselves. Today, things are much better after completing that degree in marketing almost five years ago at UTSA. While in college, I had mentors. Today, I have even more people who help me. And when others need me to mentor them, I am more than glad to help them.

As my friend, Brian Massey wrote in the tome "The Market For Me -- Surviving Job Loss and Building Your Lifetime Career Network," most workers are "job seekers." They'll take anything to put food on the table.

Now, Americans need to rethink this strategy, he argues. They need to position themselves as skill holders. Massey argues these are people with skill sets that have value in the market place. They understand their value statement in even toughest of times.

Still, to be effective, skill holders need a job champion. In my view, that's the person who helps a person get the inside track to those unpublished jobs. And, if a job is published on a search site, they can help the skill holder get the attention of those hiring for a position.

For those of you facing unemployment, here's hoping that you can change your attitude towards your skill set. When needed, there are job retraining opportunity available as well as the mentors to help you understand the best path to success in a new career.

If I was at today's #bmpr meeting, here's what I would have asked Priest Holmes today

2009-09-24T05:19:00.000-07:00

With Priest Holmes scheduled to speak at today's #BMPR meeting at the Holiday Inn Airport today, I was looking forward to hear him speak on how he uses social media tools. Sadly, business commitments in Austin will make me miss his talk today.
Still, I would love to know what Priest thinks about the following topics:
1) Which sports stars are you following on Twitter?
2) Who among the more popular Twitter sports users is actually composing tweets of substance?

The beauty of social media is that I can follow the talk today with the #bmpr hash tag while I am in Austin. I can count on the 100 or so loyal participants in today's luncheon to tweet their impressions by following it on Twitter. Still, I am sorry that I will have to miss today's program.

City of San Antonio should change its Alamo Bowl infomercial

2009-09-21T06:08:00.001-07:00

If you heard screams of joy from north San Antonio yesterday morning, it was me.
I was watching an interview with Julian Castro and KENS 5 when I heard our mayor say he was pursuing ways to make San Antonio more nationally visible.
I should have been writing down his comments, but let me paraphrase what I heard yesterday. "I want to make San Antonio more nationally visible and make it a place where people want to relocate their businesses," is what I heard him say to the interviewer.
For years, San Antonio has built its reputation as a tourism destination. When the Alamo Bowl is played, our city gets a two-minute informercial during the halftime. For year, the city shows its tourist attractions from the golf courses to the River Walk. Meanwhile, when the Citrus Bowl is aired, the city of Orlando also shows some of its leading businesses during its halftime commercial.
So, Mayor Castro, if you are serious about showcasing our city's business opportunities, take a simple look at adding some shots of our city's businesses during those infomercials typically shown during the Alamo Bowl and next year's Texas Open. While we should continue to take pride in our tourist attractions, it's important as well for our city to look at new views to showcase that we have a lot to offer to new businesses.

My birthday wish for the world......

2009-09-17T05:51:00.000-07:00

Today is Constitution Day. It's also my 50-something birthday.
As a kid, I would look forward to this day because it brought presents and gifts.
Today, it's not about the gifts, but it's about the wishes.
I am sure that most of you remember a parent or a grandmother telling you to make a wish when you blew out the candles on your cake.
So, as I woke up I began to think about this year's wish.
I could ask for a repeat of a previous wish -- the continued emphasis by San Antonio professionals to foster the growth of technology. Despite the lack of leadership in some city sanctioned areas, I got my wish. Thanks to a lot of people, we have organizations like "Business, Media, Public Relations" who truly foster the growth of technology in our city.
So, I am not going to waste my precious, birthday wish on this again.
Instead, I am going to ask today when I blow out my candle that we Americans continue the trend towards erasing prejudice. As someone who grew up in the 60s, I remember how some of my classmates would make snide remarks about people who were different than them. My mother, an educator, made me realize at an early age how my Great, Great Grandfather Hagen enlisted in the Union Army while living in New Orleans because he was opposed to slavery.
A 20-year tour in the Air Force continued my beliefs that it was not the color of a person's skin, his or her heritage and religious practices that made them unique. It was their character that truly mattered.
So, when I blow out my candle, I hope that today's generation continue to judge people not by their race, creed, ethnicity, religion or gender but instead on what they do with their lives.

Congrats to Madison Coach Jim Streety on his 300 victory

2009-09-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

When I was reading my Sunday sports page, I am glad that my local newspaper featured Madison coach Jim Streety on its cover after he won his 300th game.
Streety's legacy is not as a coach but as an educator. Ironically, some high school football fans overlook the educational aspect of the game which we Texans (and adopted Texicans) refer to as "Friday Night Lights."
Yet, only one in 40 high school players will play in college. So, the question arises: "What will the other 39 do after they play their last down?"
And that's where Streety's impact will truly be measured. His former football players have been coaches, business professionals and successful in their lives.
My wife is on the Madison faculty with Coach Streety. She's been there long enough that she is now teaching the grandchildren of some of her former students. Her legacy is similar to Streety in that she helped mentor students who have become doctors, scientists and also teachers.
So, it's great that the newspaper recognized Coach Streety for his 300th victory. Yet, while the focus is on the number of victories on the field, high school fans should also revel in the fact that someone like Streety is helping build leaders and winners in other aspects of their lives after they graduate from high school.

Austin Innotech looking for tech startups to participate in Beta Summit

2009-09-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

Tech startups who want to showcase their ideas and prototypes can apply to become part of the Austin Innotech Beta Summit, Oct. 29 at
the Austin Convention Center.
"This is a great opportunity for small businesses in the tech sector to get the input of the Austin investor community as well as the help
of other entrepreneurs who have built a company from a great idea," said Bryan Menell, a managing director of the Capital Factory.
Sean Lowery, the president of Prospera Events and the executive director of the Austin Innotech, said a group of leading tech
advocates will review the application for each entry. Six firms will be named finalists and will be given a six to eight-minute time slot
to present their idea or concept to about 100 or more entrepreneurs, venture capital funding specialists and technology firm executives.
Menell added this is the third consecutive year that the Austin tech community has conducted and held this competition with the annual
technical trade show.
Interested companies should contact Menell via email at bmenell@gmail.com or Sean Lowery, the event director at 503-570-6295. Info: www.innotechconference.com/austin.

When it comes to 'these kids," it's time for every adult to help

2009-09-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

I've gained a lot of valuable insight from these visits, but one I'll always remember is my trip to Dodge Elementary School in my hometown of Chicago. I was talking to one of the young teachers there about the challenges they faced, and she mentioned what she called the "These Kids Syndrome" - the willingness of society to find a million excuses for why "these kids" can't learn. It's the idea that "these kids come from tough backgrounds" or that "these kids are too far behind." And after awhile, "these kids" become somebody else's problem.
Then she said to me, "When I hear that term, it drives me nuts. They're not 'these kids.' They're our kids."

Barack Obama

As Barack Obama is scheduled to speak Tuesday to public school students everywhere, I am amazed at how conservative politicians have made this a hot topic.
Please note I am not a big Obama supporter, especially with his bank bailout program. However, his efforts to speak to our public school students this week is not one that should infuriate those politically opposed to his fiscal agenda.
We Americans should collectively look at the state of our education, not in the context of the quality of education our students are getting today, but what are we doing to help our future leaders understand the demands of the job market.
I am amazed at the many adults who don't speak to their children, their relatives and others who are in school about what is needed for them to get a job that pays well.
As a volunteer, I mentor one 19-year-old who will soon get his release from a Texas Youth Commission halfway house. This young man wants to work on cars, but he doesn't know that to get certified as an auto mechanic that he needs more education after completing his high school degree.
Just this week, I met a waitress who needed two classes to complete her accounting degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She realized that she wanted to work as a graphic designer in her father's business, and she didn't see how having an accounting degree could help. Having a business degree could only help her father manage the business, I told her.
Americans, especially those who have many years of business, government or educational experience, need to help mentor "these kids." It's up to us to guide not only our immediate family - our children, relatives and friends about career aspirations but to reach out to others who need a sounding board and some good advice. In short, we need to become "job champions" for them and to help guide them on the types of college or technical courses that help them achieve their goals.
Instead of criticizing Obama for taking the initiative to encourage our future generation to buckle done, study hard and make something of themselves, America's conservative faction should instead agree with him and spend their time not criticizing him in public for this insightful speech but instead help "these kids" find the career path that will make them productive, happy and successful.

MIA at a PTSD conference -- effective public affairs counsel

2009-09-03T07:33:00.001-07:00

An Austin client of mine was at a Rackspace sales symposium yesterday at the new Hyatt Grand Hotel, so I spent some time with him and then working remotely before going to a funeral for a friend's mother. As I was working on some business after our meeting, I noticed an influx of Air Force people in uniforms. I quickly found out that they were mental health professionals from various U.S. bases to discuss the ongoing treatment of posttraumatic stress disorders.

From talking on one Air Force master sergeant, PSTD is a growing concern in the Air Force with our continued involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. I asked him if there was a public affairs aspect to this conference, and he admitted that there wasn't one.

The inquisitive side of me found an Air Force lieutenant colonel who knew who the public affairs officer was for her command, but she also admitted that he wasn't there. A flag officer or two was on the program, she said, but there was nobody from the public affairs team to help discuss ways to take advantage of their many communications tools.

From what I read in the paper (when I have time to really read them,) there has been a lot written on the topic and the need for intervention for those who are suffering from PTSD. Yet, it's amazing how the Air Force mental health community overlooks the need to use some basic public affairs tools. From writing an article for the base newspaper to working with local media on outreach programs, the uniformed and civilian mental health professionals could reach the centers of influence in their base communities. A military public affairs professional could have helped the mental health community here in San Antonio develop a strategy on communicating the availability of the military, civilian and VA resources available to Afghan and Iraqi veterans suffering from PSTD and traumatic brain injury.

Having worked in public affairs at Wilford Hall before retiring in 1997, I know that some medical types don't understand how public affairs helps them communicate to their client base. Some tried to over manage the communications process by writing things for an article in the hospital newsletter that would impress a thesis committee but would confuse the spouse of a first term airman. Despite our communications styles, every mental health team should now be looking at the many tools available to them from their military public affairs programs so they can communicate the full capabilities of their program to the military, their spouses, their families and their loved ones.

The Air Force spent thousands of dollars on travel, per diem and missed appointments to discuss the issue for this conference. Yet, in the midst of all this strategy formulation, it seems somewhat ironic that their commanders and planning types could forget the need to have professional public affair representation work on helping them reach out to those suffering from PTSD. Here's hoping that if there is another conference on this topic that the mental health community doesn't overlook the need to involve their public affairs professionals as part of their outreach strategy.

Dear Sprint, please add an extra tower in my neighborhood to deal with all the extra texting in my 'hood

2009-09-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

So I am sitting at home, working in my home office and using my Sprint PCS phone to make some calls. In the last three hours, I have been kicked off by my wireless provider at about the same time as when the 800 or so students at Lopez Middle School bombard the network with their texting to each other.

I could write another letter to the folks at Sprint, but I have already gone down that route and had to deal with a snarky customer service person last year when I had similar issues.

So, here's why I am reblogging about this topic. Maybe, the folks at Sprint customer service will read this one, or maybe after four or five of us who have similar issues retweet it and perpetuate the issue through social media channels, someone from this wireless carrier will fix the problem.

When I talked to the reps at Sprint last year at their 1604 and Blanco store, they were very nice and somewhat helpful. Then, I got this engineer who didn't want to believe that I was having phone problems. I realized then that Sprint wasn't going to address the issue then, and so I am going to blog about it again in the hopes that someone from customer service reads this and fixes the issue. As a professional public relations person, I want to hear from someone who can give me an estimate on when Sprint is going to put a new tower in the Stone Oak area.

So, for the purpose of documenting the issue for them, here goes:

1) 9:01: Talking to a possible vendor on how she could help me with a project in Detroit and we were wrapping up the call when I got dropped. It's obviously the end of first or second period at Lopez Middle School.

2) 10:01: I'm dealing with another client as he posts his first blog on MySA (yeah!!) when third period at the local school hits. The call is dropped. My client laughs when I call him back as I tell him that the electronic jammers at the local school are in full force.

3) 10:45: My remote admin diva calls me. We're talking about accounting stuff when fourth period hits. You guess it. The phone call was dropped.

I don't have this problem when I go down to my favorite coffee shop, La Taza. It's only when I am at home that I have the issue of dropped calls.

So, here's what I am asking people who read this blog:

1) Is there a way that I can call my customers with the number engraved on my business cards and use an alternative phone?
2) Are you a fellow Sprint customer who lives and works out of their Stone Oak home with similar issues?
3) Is there any way that I can get out of my contract with Sprint for non-performance? I mean three dropped calls in one morning is a little excessive, doncha think?

Please feel free to share your comments and thoughts on how we Stone Oak small business types who work remotely can address the issue.

Failure is truly an option for those who don't make the grade in public schools

2009-08-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

State Sen. Jane Nelson gets what's wrong with our state education system.
After reading Lindsay Kastner's article this morning in the Express-News, I had to applaud Nelson's effort to reform education.
Her bill makes it easier for educators to not pass students who didn't do the work.
If you can draw an anology, think of going to McDonalds, ordering a burger, fries and a soda and not getting the pomme frites. Would you pay for it? For years, educators have been told to give a student a 50 for work not turned in or if they took a test and got a score like 21. Administrators did this to encourage their students to buckle done and do better work so they wouldn't fail.
For my friends in the education space, if they failed too many students because they didn't turn in the work, their administrators will have a chat about making it easier for their students to pass the course.
That's why a lot of my friends and colleagues have turned to Catholic school or charter schools to help their students get an education. They know that if their kids didn't turn in homework or did poorly on a test that their little darlings will have to work hard to make up a zero or a 21 on their math test.
Standards like this make the transformation from high school to college easier for their children. They understand the value of turning in their homework and doing well on their tests.
I am hoping Nelson's bill gives educators the power to confront those administrators who demand that they raise a grade so they can pass a student to the next level. When this happens, these students are doomed to a life of working in low paying jobs or having to pay their local junior college money so they can reach the basic standards to get an associate or four-year degree.
While Nelson's legislative work makes it against Texas state law to pass students who didn't complete the work, I am hoping that the state will pursue serious legal action against districts, administrators and teachers who pass kids who didn't meet the minimum requirements for passing each course.

Please send my 500,000 pounds to another winner.....

2009-08-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

Today's latest scam comes in an email to me.

"Your e-mail has emerged as a winner of £500,000.00 GBP in our on-going Google Promotion. Your Winning details are as follows: Computer Generated
Profile Numbers (CGPN):7-22-71-00-66-12, Ticket number: 00869575733664,
Serial numbers:/BTD/8070447706/06, Lucky numbers: 12-12-23-35-40-41(12).
Contact Mr Graham Benfield, for more details through the contact below:
Mr Graham Benfield,
Email: promotion.online.winners04@gmail.com"

To Graham, I am not a moron.... Yes, I reported you to the spam patrol at Google, but here's hoping that this blog will help others with elderly parents, new to the web, not believe this bovine scat.

Two things your credit card processing firms don't want you to know....

2009-08-13T18:05:00.001-07:00

If you are a business that accepts credit cards for payments, you probably never have gotten a good explanation about how the interchange rate impacts the cost of accepting them.

After losing some money to customers who didn't pay my fees, I turned to credit card payments as a more effective way to get paid for my work. As one of my friends from church had a credit card processing fee firm, I asked him to set me up with an account.

My friend promised me a good rate despite the lack of monthly volume. For each transaction, I would pay slightly more than 2.2 percent for each transaction. Yet, after I got my first month's statement I noticed that the cost was more like 3-percent after deducting my monthly fee.

It wasn't until I met David Jemeyson, the chief information officer for MerchantZdirect that I truly understood how credit cards rate could charge more for their services. Take that credit card with the Vikings that advertises on every televised major sporting events. When a business takes the "What's In Your Wallet" card, Jemeyson said the rate is higher than a regular card without rewards.

I would surmise that most businesses are never told about the interchange rate when a new business adds a credit card or decide to change it to another provider. Yet, that's the first point of truly understanding the costs of accepting them.

Another important point for any business to understand is the basis points paid to a merchant processing service. When a business understands how interchange rates and the basis points impact the cost of doing business, they can probably negotiate a better rate.

For example, let's suppose that Jane Smith runs an automotive repair business. She accepts a credit card payment of $400 for four tires. If the interchange rate for the card presented to her is 2-percent, a major credit card company like Master Card or VISA will get $8 for their transaction fee.

If Smith's merchant service charges 100 basis points, she would pay $4 more for this transaction. However, if the rate is at a lower rate like 20-basis points, she would only pay eighty cents.

When I first started accepting credit cards, I wish I had truly understood the interchange rate and the basis points I paid for each transaction. Had I known this when I signed my initial contract, I would have probably negotiated a better deal than the one I currently have with my friend from my church.

It's my hope that businesses who want to cut their costs take the time to talk to their merchant processing service rep about the basis points and the interchange rate. If you find a credit card rep that can explain this to you and gives you something at 20-basis points, I would take that over someone who doesn't help you understand these key terms.

SA research firm shows the best time to send out a tweet

2009-08-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

My friend and colleague, Ryan Johnson released an interesting study today about the use of Twitter. Johnson, the chief executive officer of Pear Analytics, released a white paper on "what people are really using Twitter for."

Johnson and his team built six categories for their study: News, Spam, Self Promotion, Total Pointless Babble, Conversational and Pass-Along Value.

Of the six, Johnson found from a data pool of 2000 daily tweets that Total Pointless Babble had over 40-percent usage.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

It seems that most of us think that Twitter is the ultimate place to tell our followers that we are watching Happy Gilmore on Sunday. Yes, I am guilty of that. But, I also got a response from one of my followers that they too thought that it was the ultimate Adam Sandler flick.

However, I have learned through the last 18 months of using this social medium tool that it's also a good place to start conversations with people. I also believe people who use Twitter are smart enough to stop following people who always talk about what they're having for lunch or what they are planning for the weekend.

More importantly, Pear Analytics study has done several things. First, the reaction to his white paper has put San Antonio on the technology landscape. Second, it helps show the best times to send out a tweet, especially if you want someone else to retweet it.

So, if you are someone who wants other to "RT" one of your 140-character missives, make sure it's right before lunch on Monday. According to Johnson and his crew, that's the best time to send out a tweet.

Why there's no such thing as a free trip to Las Vegas

2009-08-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

If you get an offer to attend a seminar on travel opportunities in the mail from a new company in San Antonio take a pass on it. It’s the typical high pressure sales firm which preys on your hope to travel a lot and save money.
In their advertisement, the company promises a free trip with hotel and airfare to Las Vegas just for attending their seminar. If my wife and I showed up on time for our 8 p.m. seminar located at 1102 E. Sonterra, we would have gotten a $50 Visa gift card.
As a marketing and communications professional, I knew that we would get a high pressure sales pitch, and I was not disappointed. This company, which uses two to three names in each presentation, kept asking for nearly $9000 for us to sign up.
First, a junior sales rep named “Dave” captured some information about and where we would to travel in the future. Then, a senior sales rep named “Jere” took over and gave a sales overview of how their travel program would repay the nearly $9000 we would invest in their 10-year travel program.
After their 90-minute presentation, my wife and I passed on their offer despite several offers to lower their membership costs. We were then taken to another sales rep who gave us our voucher for our “free trip.” However, she first offered us a five-year deal for $1995.
When I got home from our seminar, I noticed that there were some extra costs with our free trip in the voucher given to us. First, the Good Times Travel Company would charge us $50 each to process our trip request. We also would have to fly to either Chicago or Orlando to fly to Las Vegas. A quick review of one of those mainstream travel sites showed that travel to Chicago would cost us more than $500 to then fly to Las Vegas.
During Jere’s presentation, the featured hotel in his presentation for Las Vegas was Circus Circus, a hotel I once visited during a business trip. The hotel maid staff never changed the towels or cleaned the room during a 3-day trip.
This travel firm gives a visitor an initial impression of a professional organization. Their office is located in a new building along the Sonterra Boulevard corridor. However, I wondered why the sales reps never gave me their full name, a business card and took my flyer with their offer of a free trip.
I could complain to the Federal Trade Commission or the Texas Attorney General about this firm, but that would take time. Instead, I hope that those who read this blog will pass on their “free” offer to travel to one of their dream trips.

Air Force should burn negatives of Statue of Liberty flyover

2009-07-31T17:25:00.000-07:00

After outraging New York city residents with a scheduled flyover of mockup of Air Force One flying over the Statue of Liberty for a photograph, someone in the military should have burned all of the negatives.

As a retired Air Force public affairs professional who worked with some of the best military photojournalists in the world, I know the thrill of annually getting six or eight boxes of the poster sized lithographs of everything from the F-15 to a B-52.

For me, getting those lithos was like going to the dime store as a 10-year-old to get six pack of bubble gum cards. Like those baseball cards with stars like Willie Mays and Bob Gibson, our public affairs staff would open up just one pack and ooh and ah at the pictures.

And, like any military noncom, I had the job of keeping the lithos in a special place for distribution to friends of the public affairs office. When our office needed a special favor or needed to reward the guys at the motor pool or supply, we would secretly slip them an F-15 litho for their office or classroom.

I believe that the F-16 escorting the Air Force One litho will become a rare collector's item and highly valued among military bases. Still, the best thing for the Air Force photo and public affairs community would have been to burn the negatives and find an alternate location to shoot the photo again.

iPhone dev camps are needed in south Texas

2009-07-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

One of the hottest trends in technology involves iPhone technology development.

Last year, Barack Obama used an iPhone app where his voters could email, text and reach out to undecided voters with their phone. And, that's just one of many uses of the Apple product. During a recent trip to Austin, a client of mine used another iPhone app to find a list of restaurants located on South Congress street for a lunch meeting.

Developers are embracing the open source capabilities of I-phones. Add the full gaming capability of iPhones, and it's easy to see why developers want to focus on deploying something better than Pong.

This weekend, my friends at the Austin TechRanch are sponsoring a sold out IphoneDevCamp this weekend. I am hoping that they will consider a second one at a bigger venue in San Antonio in the early fall as more and more iPhone developers are calling the southern part of Austantonio as their home base.

For most of us, iPhone development is under the radar, but I am seeing a growth of wireless phone apps coming out of our city. By putting our best iPhone development types with the ones in Austin, we can help quickly close the 65-mile gap between our cities.

SBIR coach featured in two different Business Journal editions......

2009-07-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

Fred Patterson, the SBIR coach, was featured in a page-one article in the Austin Business Journal. Patterson also wrote an op-ed piece in the San Antonio Business Journal that appeared in Friday's edition.

Throw in another editorial by LeAnne Carlson at Cook CPAs, and I had a rare trifecta in local public relations. For a one-man PR shop, that's a good days work. Here's the full version of Christopher Calnan's article in Friday's Austin edition:

SBIR idea riles some startups
Many say proposal to award funds to VC-backed cos. not fair
Austin Business Journal - by Christopher Calnan ABJ Staff

Local officials are worried that proposed changes to the Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, funding program — such as increasing fund access to venture capital firms — would put nascent Texas companies at a disadvantage.

Two versions of the bill in Congress are being worked on by a conference committee, but industry observers said fewer small businesses will win grants if the proposals are adopted. And since the changes would add companies that are VC-controlled to the mix, the small number of VC firms and VC-backed businesses in Central Texas could make it more difficult for local companies to compete for the funding.

“It’s no longer a small business program rather than an innovation economy program,” said Fred Patterson, president of the North Richland Hills-based SBIR Coach.

The SBIR program, which was created in 1982, administers a $2 billion federal fund that enables 11 federal agencies to target businesses with new technology. With the program scheduled to expire July 31, federal officials are tweaking the policies before reinstating it. Pundits said it’s not a question of whether such changes will be enacted by July 31, but rather to what extent.

Venture capital firms have been lobbying for their portfolio companies to share in the SBIR program since an administrative court ruling limited their participation in 2003.

Businesses that are owned 50 percent or more by a VC firm are barred from applying for SBIR grants. And that’s the way it should stay, said Gary Mardsen, CEO of Austin-based Trout Green Technologies Inc.

Trout Green, which was founded in 2002 and develops optics and sensors for the military, has received about 90 percent of its funding from the SBIR program — mostly through the U.S. Department of Defense, he said.

In addition to increasing the competition for grants, allowing VC-controlled companies to apply for SBIR grants would relegate small businesses to acting as shills for larger businesses and chill the creative climate for independent companies, Mardsen said.

The SBIR program “really is the engine of technology growth in this country,” he said. “To me, the stakes are high.”

The effort to restore eligibility to VC-backed companies comes after VC investments hit a 12-year low during the first quarter, with $3 billion invested nationally in 549 deals. Venture capital fundraising in the second quarter dropped to levels not seen since 2003, according to the National Venture Capital Association.

“A small business is a small business. It shouldn’t matter how you’re financed,” National Venture Capital Association President Mark Heesen said.

Texas companies have received about $650 million in SBIR grants during the last 10 years, making the Lone Star state the country’s seventh-largest recipient, said Erika Sumner, vice president of public policy for the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber supports loosening the limitations on VC-backed companies because it would improve the quality of the applications, Sumner said.

SBIR awards Phase 1 grants of up to $100,000 and Phase 2 grants of up to $750,000.

The House legislation calls for Phase 1 grants of $250,000 and Phase 2 grants of up to $2 million. The Senate version would increase Phase 1 grants to $150,000 and Phase 2 grants to $1 million. The Senate version also extends the program to 2023.

Patterson said the House version of the bill would be “very damaging” to the funding of small companies.

“The VC community is always trying to reduce risk and let the government take on the validation,” he said. “I don’t think that’s something we should promote. It just goes counter to what I believe is in the best interest of this country.”

To Gidget, sorry that you're heading to the big fire hydrant in the sky

2009-07-25T08:59:00.001-07:00

As I blog this, the number one topic on Twitter is the death of Gidget, the "spokes-canine" for Taco Bell. And, while her death is a sad event, the gazillion of Tweets about it is causing me some credibility issues with some of my clients and friends.

It seems that there are still some folks who are resisting the use of Twitter as an effective way to communicate to customers. Take my wife. She's the kind of person who would note the constant Tweets about the Taco Bell icon and wonder why people spend so much time sending these 140-character messages.

I know that those truly analytical types won't get Twitter because they see Gidget and Michael Jackson's death getting a lot of attention. Yet, I believe it's still an effective way to communicate with friends.

So, Gidget we're sorry that you're going to the big fire hydrant in the sky. The thousands of Twitter posts show that you truly touched a lot of people's lives.

Advice to a Cub fan who is marrying an Astro fan: "Let your children choose their favored team"

2009-07-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

I am feeling my age today, as Katie, one of my former CYO basketball and softball stars gets married this weekend. It seems only yesterday that she was 11 years of age and elbowing her way to rebounds.

Now, she's getting married this Saturday. Like many other young couples, Katie is entering into her marriage with Paul, her beloved in what I would call a mixed sports marriage.

Sadly, Kate is like her father. She roots for the Cubs, while Paul is a lifetime Astro fan.

During a bridal shower, I asked Katie how she and Paul would resolve the baseball loyalty issue. Katie said that if they were girls they would root for the Cubs, and her future sons would root for the Astros.

I have a better idea to resolve this sports dilemma. Why not let their children decide themselves? I am sure that in time they will pick their own favorite team, perhaps something like the St. Louis Cardinals. After all, who wouldn't want to root for a team that has won more World Series championships than any other team in the National League?

Noise at Camp Bullis is the sound of freedom to its neighbors

2009-07-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

The woman on the phone was venting her anger with me. It was 1982. I was stationed at Bergstrom AFB, Texas, and her infant daughter couldn't sleep because RF-4Cs were buzzing her house.

With the growing news coverage about Camp Bullis and its issue with new developments near it, I thought of the many phone calls that our public affairs office got that year (including one from Willie Nelson complaining because he couldn't hear his soaps) as residential areas began to encroach under the base's flying patterns. Like most other air bases, Bergstrom was built 7 miles outside of town during World War II to allow the aircraft assigned to the base to fly over ranches and other uninhabitated area.

Then progress took over.

Slowly, the developers saw a four-land state road with the opportunity to build close to Bergstrom's flight path. As a junior enlisted member, I was never privy to the discussions that our public affairs officers and my commanders had with the community.

Yet, I am sure it went something like this: "We built the base far enough away from the nearest residential area to protect our local community from a possible aircraft accident or noise. Please don't enact a zoning change that will allow the construction of new homes near our base."

Now, Camp Bullis is facing the same issues that we tackled at Bergstrom. Austin city officials zones residential areas close to the base even though the Air Force argued against their development.

Military public affairs professionals create an environment where we encourage our military and civilian staffers to become good citizens. As a group, we do not contribute to election funds for our mayor or city council. When an issue like noise or environmental issues such as the migratory warbler impact our training, we present our story to our local elected officials for help.

In Bergstrom's case, there wasn't an ordinance requiring realtors to inform home buyers of the noise. After answering all those calls at lunch when our office secretary went to class, I secretly wondered why someone who purchased a home didn't do a little research about how much noise came from an RF-4C as it pulled its brakes to land on the runway.

As the woman with the cranky baby said: "My realtor didn't tell me about the noise."

From reading the comments in today's newspaper, especially the one concerning statutory property rights, I believe it's time that we make it mandatory for anyone buying a home close to Camp Bullis to note their close proximity to the base. Because most people purchase a home on a Saturday or Sunday, they won't hear the guns or explosions from the base that regularly occur during the work week.

So, I believe it's only ethical that realtors who sell homes close to Camp Bullis have to disclose the noise issue. While it will make the homes in the area lose some property value, it will also help our city keep the growing medical training mission in San Antonio.

This medical training mission has a billion dollar economic impact on our community as more training cadre and students will come to our city. For our city to lose this military mission because of complaints about noise near Camp Bullis is something not worth the cost of the development near the base. And, it's definitely worthy of some changes in the zoning law and the need to tell Camp Bullis' neighbors that if guns go off at 10 p.m. that it's as an old Air Force RF-4C commander would term "the sound of freedom."

Does Stephenville, Texas, have better dreams than San Antonio?

2009-07-16T15:45:00.001-07:00

Unless you were an advance public relations guy for the Air Force Band of the West, it's a good bet that most San Antonio residents have never been to Stephenville, Texas. But for those of us who follow viral changes that may change soon as the new Twitter and blog site, @Dream_bigger is coming to this Lone Star Community for a 30-day visit.

Journalist (or as some younger folks term journo) G.D. Dan Gearino is already in Stephenville for a 30-day visit. Gearino's blog focuses on the positive vibe that we can find in America.

According to the blog: "This summer, the "Sleep Better. Dream Bigger" project will travel to a small American town where we'll learn about folks' dreams and aspirations."

While the details are not forthcoming, Gearino's blog did not enclose how Stephenville was selected from other small towns. Having grown up in the world's biggest small town, Decatur, Illinois, I can understand the need for communities to publicize their accomplishments. I am impressed that Stephensville and their city leadership stepped up to help Gearino start his 30-day quest.

Somehow, in a city of more than one million residents, we lose sight of our accomplishments. Visit Decatur, and you will soon learn of its reputation as the "Soybean Capitol of the World." When I came home for my parents' 55th anniversary, you could feel the pride of the city in its many accomplishments.

Gearino's blog, after close examination, has the makings of a classic promotion as Carpenter Co, the largest manufacturer of comfort cushioning, is sponsoring his work. As someone who has worked in public relations and new media, I am impressed by this company's vision to sponsor such a social media event.

Yet, the question remains..... What would San Antonio do if its dreams were granted with a visit by this blogger. Surely, we can encourage Gearino to visit us after his 30-day stint in north central Texas for a visit of our River Walk and to meet with dreamers and visionaries. Surely, the folks at Carpenter realize we have a lot of hotel beds where dreams of Shamu and Six Flags are made every night.

Perhaps, if we could reach out Gearino at his Twitter account (@dream_bigger). All every San Antonio resident has to do is go onto their Twitter account and send a message such as "@dream_bigger, please come to San Antonio after your 30 day tour in Stephenville." Perhaps, that will cause him to consider a trip south to our community.

Great recipes can't be conveyed in 140 characters or less.....

2009-07-14T05:57:00.000-07:00

When I read an article in the Christian Science Monitor about twecipes, I had to think what would Karen Haram think. Haram, the Express-News food editor, would probably not publish this online Twitter-based recipe for rhubarb from Martha Stewart in Wednesday's food section: Stewed Rhubard - Cut lb rhubarb 1/2″ +3/4 C sug/simmer 15 min + T corriander &grated orange rind + 2T buttr serve w/creme fraiche
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Or what about this recipe from Rick Bayless for Guajillo Salsa: Simple Guajillo Salsa:toast 2 clnd guajillos n med-ht oil 4 20-30 sec.Blend w 4 rstd tomatillos,3 rstd garlic,1/2c H20. Salt.
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While I truly embrace Twitter, I don't think you can truly convey how to prepare these dishes in 140 characters or less.

Instead, food professionals should consider using text shortening tools such as Budurl to fully capitalize on Twitter's full outreach. For example, that Guajillo Salsa could be listed on Twitter with: "Feel the passion of Guajillo chiles in this great salsa recipe: http://budurl.com/4b8f.

The problem with some social media types is they don't think through the full capabilities of all the tools available to them. While some of us may embrace shorthand code and algebra to cook, I think that I'm a little old fashioned in having the full details of a good recipe when I or someone from my family prepares a dish.

Fanmail from some flounder..... why reblogging one of my blog reader's comment is worth my time and effort

2009-07-11T04:50:00.000-07:00
As a guest blogger for the San Antonio Express-News, I get a lot of comments from people.

This morning, as I logged onto my computer, I saw this email reply to my last blog from someone named "Bleh."

His comment is worth repeating in my personal blog. To paraphrase Casey Kasem, "and he wrote:

"If this was the way to go, the city would have someone updating a
myspace page, a facebook page, a twitter account, their web page.
These tools are for marketers, kids, and the lonely. They are not for
serious government. Maybe you can pay for the salary for this person
to update all these accounts."

So, let me reply to Bleh.

1) How is it that serious politicians like Barack Obama have a web site and a Twitter account? n fact, I believe that when historians look at this election, they'll note his use of social media tools as a major factor in his defeat of John McCain, the guy who has someone read his email for him?
2) Kids, the human type, are the future of government. If our local government doesn't engage them now, how will we get them interested in government?
3) Our city spends millions on communications and public relations. It doesn't do a very good job of it but I'm sure anyone with a little management skill could find a person who is on the city payroll who could take it over.

Finally, Bleh, I'm not sure if you watched TV, but you might have noticed the 100 million of Twitter posts concerning the rigged Iran elections. According to urban legend, our federal government asked the web communications site to forgo maintenance so that it would allow people to comment on this sham of an election.

Despite its growing popularity, city of San Antonio is still not using Twitter

2009-07-09T06:56:00.000-07:00
Despite its growing popularity thanks to folks like Oprah and Terrell Owens, Twitter is still not being embraced by our local government.
An article in today's Austin American-Statesman notes that the city of Austin has a Twitter account with 41 followers.
However, the article notes that the city is starting to put more emphasis on its marketing of its Twitter site and hopes to add more followers.
Here in San Antonio, a Google search of the term "city of San Antonio and Twitter" found the @SAGovernment site. This is a job announcement site, listing open positions within our city.
I am hoping that someone in our city administration realizes that Twitter has become a mainstream form of communication. Furthermore, there's a core group of social marketing experts who could advise the city on how to add more focus on the use of social media sites as a communications channel.
So, here's hoping that @SAGovernment adds more to its site than job openings. There's a growing number of people who are turning to the Twitterverse for information. It's a low-cost communications solution that is pretty easy for city staffers to use when they want to reach out to others.

Building a new home? Get a security professional to help you design a state of art system

2009-07-08T07:52:00.000-07:00
If you're building or remodeling a home this year, now's the time to confer with a home system security expert.

Despite the advertisement from ADT Systems and Brinks Security that promise home security is only a click away, there are better ways to provide security for a home or small business.

Today, home and business owners should build a security system that includes video verification. If you own a small business, and there's a 2 a.m. alarm that goes off in your business, most require you to go back to the business to reset the alarm. With a video system, a owner can verify from the comfort of his home if a burglar had entered the building. If there wasn't an incident, a business owner can reset the alarm from home.

Home owners, especially senior citizens, should ask for a home security system that allows their loved ones to remotely check on them. If you remember that "Hello, I Fallen and Can't Get Up" commercials, then you'll understand why a home verification system would help the children of elderly relatives feel this is a better way to check in on them rather than wait for them to hit a panic button.

The cost for video verification monitoring systems is more expensive than the traditional forms of security. However, in time, the costs will drop to a lower level.

So, if a new home, office or a major remodeling project is in your future, it's time to engage a security specialist at the design phase of your home or business planning phases. It's better to get alternatives from the pre-installed security systems that most builders give to their customers.

How job retraining can go from a crap shoot to a sure thing

2009-07-06T08:37:00.000-07:00
Is job retraining a "crap shoot?

An article in the New York Times details the struggle of Michigan workers deciding on which career to pursue after losing a job in the automotive industry.

Under Michigan's "No Workers Left Behind program, " the state's 78,000 unemployed can begin work retraining programs in a new career. After completing retraining, many still have not found a job.

The problem with job retraining programs is that very few factor in the art of finding job champions as they begin their instruction. According to Joshua Shipsey, the founder of cardboardresume.com, a job champion is someone who can help someone find contacts within his or her industry.

With 1.4 billion in federal stimulus pending, it's time for the managers of these workforce programs to call upon former industry leaders to help build a network of job champions for those who want to enter a specific industry.

Even armed with the latest data from the Department of Labor, workers need a job champion to help them build a network within their chosen industry. There are thousands of these semi-retired executives who want to help people succeed in a new job search. It's time for our government to help connect them.

So what is the dress code for business in Austin?

2009-07-01T08:13:00.001-07:00
For years, I had a pretty easy choice when it came to determining what to wear to work. It was usually the basic blue uniform with a sweater when the weather determined the need for it. About once a week, one of my commanders would determine that a certain day was "Warrior Day," which meant wearing my green or battle dress uniform.

For 20 years, my basic work wardrobe was easy to determine. Now, 11 years later, I am still trying to figure out what appropriate for meetings.

Yesterday, I traveled to Austin to visit with some technical types. Having attended a lot of events with techies, I knew that wearing a pressed short sleeve shirt with jeans would be appropriate. I was right. The folks I met with had on shorts, T-shirts and didn't wear socks.

Having traveled between both Austin and San Antonio, I have seen a interesting difference in what I would ex-military types would call the "uniform of the day."

For example, in San Antonio, it's appropriate to wear a suit jacket with a pair of trousers. In Austin, a dressed up person would sub jeans for the more formal business wear.

But the question arises: "Do clothes really make the person?" I find it refreshing that in Austin, it's not the cut of the cloth, but the passion of a person's brain and heart that truly matter.

Why LinkedIn is not the ultimate search tool for future jobs

2009-06-29T07:01:00.001-07:00

As I was researching the top of job searches through various social media channels for one of my clients, I found this great blog on the Top 10 LinkedIn sites for job searches.   As a big advocate of this six-year-old social media portal, I know that LinkedIn can help in a job search.   Yet, LinkedIn is not the ultimate solution for all for job searches.
The problem with LinkedIn is that it’s only a part of the job search process. It does a great job of housing the resume and it identifies people in a network that can help open doors for a future job.
What makes me really dubious about LinkedIn as the ultimate tool is the long maturation process needed to build a relationship within it. It took me at least nine months before I began to meet potential clients with my LinkedIn profile.
The buzz behind LinkedIn makes novice users believe that it will magically create job openings for them. However, most people don’t have a profile that is completely free of resume speak.   If you have looked at the more than five thousand profiles that have come across my screen, I would say that 95-percent or more have transferred their resume directly into their LinkedIn profile. These types typically cause me to quickly ignore them.
What job searchers need today is a dose of reality.   Yes, a well written LinkedIn profile can raise visibility to your accomplishments but novice users haven’t built their network of trusted advisors or job champions with it.
However, those new to the online search process should develop, according to Joshua Shipsey, the founder of cardboardresume.com, is a group of job champions. These folks have the influence to walk a resume into a decision maker’s office instead of hoping that someone will find a resume from the stacks of them sent to them for a public job posting. Furthermore, a job champion may be aware of an opening that isn’t even posted on the web.
Shipsey would advise people to get out among their friends and associates to let them know they’re looking for a job. He suggests friends from church, the local PTA or other civic groups such as the chamber of commerce. For younger people, that family mafia of aunts, uncles and other relatives also serve as a great resource.
This effort to find a job is kind of like that classic Biblical parable where a farmer sows seeds. Some will land on rocks; others will get eaten by the birds. However, a few of them will actually find their way to good soil.   By using a well established network of friends and colleagues, a person can begin the search for a new job with the hopes of finding some leads.
Don’t get me wrong about LinkedIn. I believe that it’s a great way to network. Yet, not everyone has gotten onto this social media channel to the point that putting a lot of hopes into using it will generate a job interview commensurate with a person’s skill sets.

With a large influx of federal stimulus funding, it's time to capitalize on retraining opportunities

2009-06-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

With a projected $5 billion in stimulus funding, how can the growing number of unemployed Texas workers capitalize on the training needed to help them find a job? According to published resources, the funding will focus on new technologies, infrastructure projects and health care.
A search on the topic "Texas job training" provided two interesting hits from the Dallas Morning Newsand Killeen Daily Herald. Yet, the question arises about where is the rest of the publicity on how someone could qualify for a possible retraining program?
Like some VA benefits for disabled veterans, the programs are well established and in place. Yet like the VA, the state job training organizations don't capitalize on providing information to local media channels in an attempt to help people understand the processes needed to fund training at a place like Rizer School of Technology's new pharmaceutical training program.
If you are looking for retraining options, here's a link for every state thanks to the bloggers at Training and Development. Yet, it's only a starting point.
I would encourage those who go back to school to find a "job champion" at their new school or in the industry to help them understand how they can fast track their job aspirations. Joshua Shipsey, the chief executive officer at cardboardresume.com, said it's important for those changing careers to find their own career advisors. It's not enough, he notes, to get the training without looking at ways to capitalize on a job that can provide opportunities for expansion and growth.
As someone who faced the lack of employment, I can empathize with those who are facing a significant loss of income. Yet, retraining gave me the tools to pull it together. Through the VA Disability program, I found the funding to complete a degree in marketing at UTSA. Before graduating, I knew of two to three job champions who could help me become a full-time publicist. In time, I have helped others begin their start in publicity and marketing positions.
I admit that it will take some time to find the right program, but the rewards are well worth the effort.

Is Texas ready for the fallout from other state's economic woes?

2009-06-24T06:15:00.000-07:00
Is Texas primed for growth and expansion? After reading Richard Fisher's comments in Thursday's Dallas Morning News, I think my adopted state has the potential to expand businesses.
"Texas is one of the few big states not flat on its back from the recession. Using its greener pastures as a selling point, the state should "go out and steal everything we can from the rest of the country," said Fisher, the president of the Dallas Fed said.
I agree with Fisher that our elected leaders should do everything they can to bring the intellectual talent and business to the Lone Star State.
However, I would also be selective in what kind of businesses I want to attract. If you want economic incentives for a business that has low payng jobs, I would pass on helping them.
And, for those businesses that want to come to Texas, I would avoid showing them around the state, especially in the month of August. As an adopted Texican, I learned quickly that the devil liked to play golf here from July to August with 100-degree temps and the high humidity.
While the state has a lot going for it, the weather in the summer can turn into a real detractor.

FTC has better things to do than crack down on blogger endorsement

2009-06-24T06:14:00.001-07:00
After reading the article about the Federal Trade Commission's to monitor and crack down on endorsements on blogs, I was truly amazed. Sitting there over a breakfast with my daughter, Kate, before we headed back to San Antone, I was truly amazed that someone in the "gov" thought those of us who read blogs couldn't figure out that an endorsement was a little suspect.

Maybe, it's the lack of critical thinking in today's English curriculum. Back in the day, my English teachers like Sister Mary Regina, told me that the only non-biased publication was Consumers Report. And, as someone who works in social media, I hope that those who are reading my blogs were smart enough to realize that I don't have the research attributes of Consumer's Report.

If we can turn back the clock to the golden days of English education, we could convince the "gov" that they don't need to to monitor blogs for illegal endorsements. We American consumers should be smart enough to realize that there is a little bias in all forms of reporting.

Why Garry Trudeau should add a second avatar to Twitter

2009-06-24T06:11:00.001-07:00
With a comic strip, the research needed for it and other obligations, how does Garry Trudeau handle all of the tweets for Roland Hedley?
As someone who follows Roland, I admire Trudeau's ability to convey his dry wit. More importantly, I respect his coverage of the wounded warriors.
I am hoping that Trudeau and his staff will add the young soldier with the traumatic brain disorder syndrome as a second Twitter "persona."
America needs to remember the contribution of these wounded soldiers and the battles they face in dealing with the Veterans Administration. Trudeau does an excellent job of showing their struggles in his Doonesbury comic strip and his Sand Box blog, but surely he could add this communication channel to help more people understand the ongoing suffering that our military endure after service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Why San Antonio needs to hire a tech czar

2009-06-11T06:41:00.001-07:00
If President Barack Obama can hire a cyber czar, couldn't our new mayor appoint a special tech envoy?

I was sitting at lunch with my friend, Weston Martinez, another tech advocate, at Jim's Restaurant. Weston, an AT&T executive, and I were discussing some possible tech programs when the subject of technology advocacy came up.

If you have read this blog, you know that I have questioned some of the executive leadership for technology promotion in this city. And, I am not going to rehash that topic now.

However, our city has two organizations -- BioMed and SATAI. Both have a mission of promoting technology within San Antonio.

Yet, I am wondering, like my friend, Weston, why haven't these two organizations cross pollinated their efforts. It has taken outside groups to push the emerging medical technology to meet with the IT types like Rackspace. For example, the last Innotech San Antonio trade show featured a great panel on the emerging technology of San Antonio.

My friend, David Jemeyson, the chief executive of xGates, suggested to the San Antonio Innotech board that they have a program on medical innovations. With the help of Gabi Niederauer, a senior executive at Intrigue, an excellent panel on emerging medical technology was held at this event.
Buoyed by the success of this event, there are plans to expand the program for next year.

So, Weston and I both agree that our new mayor needs his own tech czar who can oversee both organizations and become the Gregor Mendel of our technology efforts. To me, it's sad that we have two excellent tech based industries who are not talking to each other. Here's hoping that our new mayor will find someone who can help advise him on how to cross pollinate our two technology bases.

To follow or not to follow.... that is the question

2009-06-11T06:01:00.001-07:00

When I spoke last night to the San Antonio chapter of the International Association of Microsoft Certified Professionals about social media strategies, a lot of questions were on the topic of following people on Twitter.

To wit, if someone follows you on the Twitterverse, should you follow them back.? And more importantly, should you click on their links.

For example, I recently completed a Twitter profile for a Bush's chicken franchise in Midland, Texas. In the course of setting it up, we had three followers. Sadly, two of them were what I would term as porn bots with such catch phrases as "Do you want to see my pixes?"

Pornbots are not what I would consider as quality followers, so I blocked them right away.

On a typical day, I get about eight to 10 people who want to follow me. When time permits, I look at all of them and if I see someone who has similar interests, I hit the "follow" button on Twitter.

Bryan Guinn, the president of Prism Technologies, disagreed with my policy of following back other Twitter types. He thinks that I should have a more liberal policy of following others.

I see Bryan's point, but I also have seen a large influx of the pornbots and the multi-level marketers who have infiltrated Twitter. The social media company does a great job of monitoring it, and I know they will catch most of them.

However, thanks to the popularity of Twitter due to endorsements like Oprah, the quasi marketing types have found it as a new medium to sell their wares.

And, that gets to the security issue also discussed last night. If you don't know someone like @BunniRAE23, you should click on the pictures links either. That's a good way to catch a virus for your computers.

So, Bryan, please understand the difference between me and you when it comes to following people on Twitter

LinkedIn groups help businesses reach out to other clients

2009-06-11T06:01:00.000-07:00

When my friend Kevin Koym told me that I should embrace LinkedIn nearly 18 months ago, I was like a lot of other newcomers to social media. I arched my eye, smiled at him and said to myself "What could hurt by setting it up?"
Then, Kevin helped me discover LinkedIn Groups. One of the first groups I started was the Dinfos Trained Killers. If you served in military public affairs, you have heard of DINFOS -- The Defense Information School. With graduates like Pat Sajak, Al Gore and even Dan Quayle, the school has hundreds of graduates.
Today, the group is almost at 500 people without much promotion. As a public affairs professional, I have found a lot of former colleagues. It also helped me reach out to others in the profession.
As a communications consultant, I have been helping some of my clients create their own groups. Cook and Associates, a CPA firm with offices in San Marcos and here, just started their first group -- Lone Star CPAs. Steve Cook, the principal for the group, said he wants to share information with other small firms. As well, he wants to build a network of CPAs that can complete a peer review, a requirement needed by all CPAs to maintain their professional designation.
So, if you are a CPA with a staff of 20 or less, please check out Lone Star CPAs on LinkedIn. Or, if you are another professional group or a business that wants to learn more about this, please feel to contact me.

Getting to the ROI of social media takes some time and excellent planning

2009-06-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

As someone who works in social media and traditional public relations, I am often given the "What's the ROI on your work?" On Tuesday, I have been asked by the San Antonio chapter of the International Association of Microsoft Certified Professionals to speak again for the second time in three months. Somehow, I must have wowed them as they are asking me to speak on the "ROI of social media."
For most of us, the term ROI translates into "return on investment." However fellow MYSA blogger, Jennifer Navarette would call it "return on involvement."
And that's the focus of Tuesday's speech. I will be speaking on why people should get involved with social media.
However, "newbies," a term sometimes given to those new folks on Twitter, need to first come up with a plan concerning strategy to truly generate the second type of ROI.
So, for those of you who aren't member of the IAMCP (or have no interest in joining), here's a quick overview of how to create a simple planning strategy.
First, if you have a blog, it's important to determine the mission statement. After completing that, you should start an editorial calendar. Andi Narvaez, a fellow social media and public relations professional at KGBTexas, pointed out about five weeks ago at a San Antonio podcamp that people need to have an editorial calendar. I agree with her in that just like most trade publications, an editorial calendar provides a guide of topics and issues that should be covered.
Another important point to social media is to build a following. One of the most difficult things about Twitter is building a base of followers. However, by using a tool like the one located at search.twitter.com, it's easier to find others with similar interest.
Lastly, social media efforts take time and effort. I liken it to the pioneers on the Oregon Trail. At first, it seems like you're looking at the same prairie and buffalo, but after awhile, you start to see the mountains and then your destination. The return on involvement for a business social media campaign is like taking a wagon train 1500 miles. It will take time and effort, not to mention a few roadblocks, to reach a point that someone will see the ROI for their efforts.
(Note: If you belong to a service club or a business organization and wish to have someone speak on the topic of social media, please leave a response at the end of this blog. I will respond to them in a timely manner.)

Thanks to Budurl and other text shortening tools, social media outlets can provide bloggers with metrics

2009-05-29T10:42:00.000-07:00
Mention social media to a lot of old time advertising and public relations professionals, and many will bring up the metrics issue. Many of my fellow PR "dinos" will say that social media is a great thing, but they question if their client can truly measure the impact of its message.
With a TV ad on the local 6 p.m. news, an advertising firm can tell a client an approximate number of viewers that saw their message. With an article in the Express-News, a public relations professional can look at the newspaper's daily circulation to tell a client how many people may have seen a story in the local newspaper.
Having worked with the Air Force Band of the West in 1995 until1996, I remembered one of my officers coming up with a total of over one million eye balls that saw articles or information about them. For example, we once had a photo on the front page of the San Angelo Standard-Times. featuring the band commander conducting a rehearsal. With a circulation of about 30,000 copies, my deputy commander and I determined that about 55,000 saw the picture. The thinking then was that a typical newspaper had 1.5 readers, give or take a percentage point.
So, through the years, I have often used a metric to tell a client the impact of my efforts for them. In some cases, the effort truly helped publicity and marketing efforts. For example, the front page picture of the band commander rehearsing with the San Angelo Symphony probably doubled the crowd that came to see the Independence Day concert that day.
Yet, despite the "bean counters" in my industry, there really wasn't something that specifically told a public relations professional and his customer how many people really saw that picture. The 55,000 who saw the Air Force Band of the West photo was what I would term "a very educated guess."
But things have changed for the social media arena. One of my clients, Live Oak 360, developed an application named"Budurl." This Austin tech company has created the first metric application that allows me to check how many people read my article if I use the special Budurl tag.
For example, a recent post on automated phones for the MySA web site has created a response of 62 people who saw the "http://budurl.com/vd9t" posted on Twitter and Linkedin. With about 750 people who follow me on Twitter and another 500 plus on LinkedIn, I know that there was a five-percent response among what my friend Roy Braggs, the Express-News "uberblogger" would call "my peeps."
In direct marketing circles, a five-percent response is pretty excellent, unless you're giving away free food or ice cream at a restaurant like McDonalds. Then, professionals will tell you that it should hover at 10-percent.
Today, my client has just announced its first major partnership with AMD. Andy Meadows, the chief executive officer at Live Oak said AMD's marketing team has created a customized corporate brand with Budurl. When the Austin silicon chip manufacturer puts out a news release, completes a blog, or sends a Twitter message, each one is now given a specialized "AMD" moniker for each effort.
So, if someone tells you that you can't provide metrics for social media, I would tell them to look up something like Budurl or to investigate other tools like Hootsuite. Of course, I am partial to the folks at Budurl as they named it after my 77-year-old father. My papa, who is formally known as Eugene Francis has always been called "Bud" by everyone. It's ironic in that my father is like John McCain in that he's never ever surfed the Internet. Yet, if my dad did learn to surf the Internet, he would get the metrics of products like Budurl.
(Note: LiveOak 360 is a client of mine. It's important to note that they pay me for publicizing them. However, the fact that social media now has measurement tools that are better than traditional advertising is something I felt of value to readers of my blog.)

If the rules for the SBIR change, it could hurt American scientific research

2009-05-27T12:57:00.000-07:00
As a publicist for Fred Patterson, it's my job to help him with his ongoing campaign to help those not familiar with the SBIR program understand the challenges of this program. Fred has been helping companies understand the the regulations and procedures for this program. Because of his success with this program, Fred deserves the moniker "The SBIR coach."

My staff and I just completed this op-ed piece for some tradtional news outlets. Still, there are more and more blogs and news portals that I haven't discovered yet. So, I am going to push this op-ed piece out through my growing social media channel in the hopes that others will help Fred get his message out. So, if you have a news portal that deals with scientific or tech research, please consider using this op-ed piece on your site.

By Fred Patterson
One of the most critical jobs programs in the country is weeks away from disappearing at a time when Congress supposedly has job creation and economic recovery issues on its front burner.
    More than 400,000 scientists and engineers in over 6,000 small businesses are in jeopardy of having their livelihood disrupted if the federal Small Business Innovation Research program is allowed to expire July 31.
            In Champaign, Illinois, firms like CU Aerospace, LLC are heavily dependent on this 27-year-old-program for funding.  David Carroll, the firm’s chief executive officer, has done research for NASA and the Missile Defense Agency.
For the U.S. space agency, the organization designed a solar sail flight experiment using cube satellites.  Meanwhile, the Illinois company is helping the Missile Defense Agency build high energy lasers that have the potential to shoot down missiles at long range.
    In its 11-year history, CU Aerospace won 21 research grants through SBIR, a program that sets aside for small business a paltry 2.8 percent of research and development funds among 25 federal agencies with annual R&D expenditures exceeding $100 million.
    SBIR grants have accounted for 60 percent of CU Aerospace's business. That heavy dependency on government set-asides is common among the independent laboratories that perform a substantial amount of the nation's raw research - research that can be years away from commercialization.
    But venture capital and big corporate lobbies want to usurp the funding process.  Years ago, the National Institute of Health tried to allow venture capital funds to obtain funding through its SBIR program.
            However, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the final arbiter of the rules, cracked down on the NIH in 2003 and forbade diversion of funds into VC-captive firms. The venture capital lobby cried foul and found a powerful ally in Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Dem.-N.Y., who as chair of the House Small Business Committee attempted last year to rewrite the rules in favor of venture capitalists.
            Congressional leaders like Representative Velazquez don’t understand that SBIR funds research and development at the earliest stages.  At this phase, there are often unforeseen hurdles that companies like CU Aerospace must address before it’s ready for venture capital funding.
            With their investments, venture capitalists want to have their product ready in a year. When a research and development team can’t deliver the technology, the VC firms lose interest, pull out their money and leave their partners in a bind.

    In 2008, the Senate stopped some of the worst changes to the program, but the prolonged fight over crafting a compromise ultimately died when the international credit crunch diverted Congress' attention.
    So far this year, nothing has yet been done to extend the SBIR program.  Should the program expire, as is becoming increasingly likely, small business startups would not have any way of doing the research that takes an idea to the stage of creating a working prototype.
            We need Congressional leadership to embrace the thought leadership brought by a petition started by the Small Business Technology Council.  Over 50 small business biotech and medical device companies signed the petition opposing pro-VC revisions in the SBIR funding legislation.
            For years, SBIR funding has helped small businesses develop processes and technology that have improved the lives of Americans.  For nearly 30 years, the SBIR process has worked because it allowed researchers like Carroll to fully develop an idea before it was ready for the market place.

            (Fred Patterson, the “SBIR Coach,” works as a consultant for small research and development firms throughout the United States.  Mr. Patterson is based in Arlington, Texas.)



If you love tech and art, make plans to see Sloan Foster's next art show

2009-05-26T06:06:00.000-07:00

When Sloan Foster, the vice president of marketing for HBMG, decided to move to Austin, not only did San Antonio lose a great tech marketer, it also lost an outstanding artist. However, Alamo City techies and art patrons can travel to Austin for Sloan's next major art show. Her outstanding photograhpic work will be shown June 4th at the United Art Authority, 510 W. 29th Street from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
As someone who has worked with her for several years, I have seen many of her images. Sloan is the rare person who can convey the beauty of a flower bud or a dragonfly with her cameras.
Still, it's a loss for San Antonio's tech community in that she left for Austin. Those of us who live in the southern part of the Austantonio region can take comfort in that Sloan is only an hour's drive away. And, when she's not shooting pictures, she is helping the two cities colloborate on technology.

Even as a tech advocate, I still hate automated phones and grocery checkouts

2009-05-25T07:13:00.000-07:00

Without sounding like a retake of Andy Rooney, doncha hate those automated telephone switchboards?

I do. Many would think that as a technology advocate that I would embrace the use of automated phones or grocery checkout lanes.

Nope. I hate 'em.

When I call USAA for service, I typically punch "zero" to speak to a human being. It doesn't always work properly, and it takes me two or three times before I find someone that can understand me.

I recently had someone break into my car, smashing my window and stealing a laptop. Because of the angry tones in my voice, the computer couldn't understand me. It was 85 degrees out and there wasn't a place for me to get to the right person to start my claims process. After two efforts to get to the telephone switch operator to connect me to a claims adjustor failed, I finally got the right person to help me with my two claims.

And, if you listen to USAA phone operators, they always remind you that you could save time by using their web site for assistance. My response is that when they make their web site uncomplicated and easy to use then I will use it more often.

I am not picking on USAA in this blog. Call Time-Warner Cable and you get the same drill of waiting five minutes when you can't watch the latest episode of HBO "the Wire" on that cable channel's "On demand service."

Then, there's HEB. I despise their automated checkout service. I know it saves my grocer money, but it isn't a time saver because you have to wait for each prompt as you pay for your items.

And when you get someone on the phone, especially if they are in the 16 to 24 age demographic, most really demonstrate terrible listening skills. Most will push you right back in some form of electronic queue to punch through other numbers.

Smart businesses owners who want to improve their personal, customer service should look to successful restaurants as the way to listen to people. The best servers are the ones who listen and ask questions to make sure their customers get what they want.

If a business has a young person who is a terrible listener, I would suggest they take them to lunch or high tea at Indigo Joes Restaurant. There, they can observe Daniella or Brandy, two of their 20-something
contemporaries listening and taking orders. More importantly, they can observe how the art of human contact works for a business.

Celebrating a virtual Memorial Day

2009-05-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

With the advent of Twitter and other social media tools, it's easy to overlook that Monday is Memorial Day. Like many other veterans, I will be at Fort Sam for their ceremony.

Yet, with Twitter, Facebook and blogging, it's also easy to share Memorial Day thoughts and experiences. This Monday, I want to honor my great-great grandfather Hagen, a union corporal, with this blog.

Grandfather Hagan emigrated to New Orleans in 1858. As a young man, he met my great-great grandmother in the city, and he was also exposed to slavery. When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the Union Army. By then, he had married my great-great grandmother.

About 18 months later, Corporal Hagen died of dysentery. He's buried in Louisiana at a federal grave site similar to Fort Sam. His military record is not something of note. Yet, his decision to join the Union Army in a pro-slavery state has always impressed me. When my son was born 20 years ago, his mother and I added Hagen as his middle name.

With my son having the same middle name, Grandfather Hagen lives on, However, I am thinking that on this Memorial Day that others who had relatives who served in the military could take a few minutes to reflect with a blog or a Twitter feed about a relative like my grandmother's relative. On Twitter, you could add the hash mark #MemorialDay as a way to recognize those friends, relatives and other loved ones who serve.

Most of us Americans look to this holiday as an extra day off. Yet, we need to take a few minutes to publicly thank those in uniform or those who have served with a prayer or a thought. The many social media outlets, available to us, are a great way to take a few minutes to thank them and reflect on their contributions. If you believe in the power of thanking veterans, take the time to post your thoughts on Twitter with the #MemorialDay hash mark.

Clark alum to appear at Caroline's in New York City today

2009-05-19T13:59:00.000-07:00
Ryan Johnson, a Clark High School graduate, will be one of the "newbies" at an "All Star" Revue at Carolines Comedy Club in New York. Johnson, who worked for several tech firms as a business development director was always a comedian at heart. With the help of his father, Lee Johnson, the chief executive officer at Mindtalent, he headed to New York.

Ryan has been waiting tables at several restaurants, while waiting for his big chance to appear at Caroline's Comedy Club. If you are in New York Wednesday, be sure to check out his show and tell the folks at the door: "Ryan sent you."

Hopefully, he'll be as big of name as Eddie Griffin or Jay Thomas, one of the stars of Mr. Holland's Opus.

Your avatar: the most important aspect of any social media effort

2009-05-19T07:19:00.000-07:00

So what does your avatar look like?

As someone who has watched the evolution of social media, I believe that the avatar is like a business card.   And, like my business, my avatar is like it in that the quality of it says a lot about my business.

Several weeks ago, I was at the Door64.com tech fair in Austin. There was a lot of out-of-work silicon chip manufacturers who had those homemade business cards with the ink stains.

For those who has a cropped family picture at their avatar, it's time to update it with a professional photo. And, like a business card it has to evolve over time.

A year ago, Ruben Barron, my graphic guru, sat me down for a formal shooting session. I have used that photo for over a year, until I met Steve Noreyko, an Austin photographer at Austin Interactive. Steve took my latest mug shoot. I loved his generous use of pancake makeup on what he termed "extended forehead."

Just after getting my photo, I noted Louis Cardenas' ditzy blonde avatar on Twitter. So, I sent Louis my latest mug shot to ask him to see what kind of personality he could create for me. In a day, Louis created an "Andy Warhol" feel to my mug shot.

I am now using Louis' new mugs on my personal blog and my personal Twitter page.   I believe it will help me broaden my marketing efforts.

If you are individual or a business, a professional graphic artist can update an avatar.   For those using a homemade photo or a simple graphic file, it's time to engage somelike Ruben, Steven or Louis to help them get a professional look and feel.

Must love dogs -- the secret of living with a dog person

2009-05-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

After my first dog bit me as a toddler, I was never much of a dog person. It's hard to love any canine when you have memories of this from your early youth.

However, my second marriage to my wife, Jackie, has changed all that. Through the near 12 years that we have been married, she has slowly introduced to me that like the movie, "Must Love Dogs" that not all dogs will bite you.

Maxx, my black lab, is like the big black canine that stars in the movie. He's in the middle of anything. After getting home from a day-long event yesterday, he wants me to drop everything to pet him and scratch his ears.

My oldest step daughter owns a brown Vizsla named Bentley.   Bentley spent half of last summer with us while my wife was taking care of her father in Miami. For me, the experience was harrowing at first, but when my daughter came home, we were the best of friends.

So, Bentley is home with us again for the summer. His mother is going to a legal internship in Washington, D.C., and her apartment is not pet friendly.   So, I have learned to love dogs,
especially if I want to show love to the important women in my life.

Kudos to the 433rd Airlift Wing for their leadership role in using social media tools

2009-05-16T09:11:00.000-07:00
So I am sitting at the San Antonio PodCamp when I hear MSgt. Collen McGee, the noncomissioned officer in charge of the 433rd Military Airlift Wing public affairs, speak on her unit's deployment of social media.

As someone who introduced the use of Internet tools in 1992 (back when Al Gore invented it), I saw the problem with embracing this tool, especially with the communication folks. One of the dumbest things that the Air Force did was turn over the Internet to communicators. I love communicators as a whole, and I know that at the Allied Forces Southern Europe public affairs office couldn't have gotten started with the Internet in 1994 without their help.

Yet, in the early days of the Internet, there wasn't a clear policy on who was in charge of the communication process. However, some communicators saw the problem with allowing public affairs types to operate without guidelines. I remember dealing with the communications types in 1996 to set up processes that allowed us to use the Internet as a communications tool. In 1994, it took some paperwork and a conversation with the Navy guys who ran communications for my NATO organization. Two years later, it took what I perceived "an act of Congress" to get access.

Now, with the advent of social media, it's obvious from Sergeant McGee's talk that the "comm guys" are still are in charge. So, mavericks like this sergeant are challenging the process to get an independent resource to communicate with their internal audiences as well as future recruits.

Hearing this talk makes me proud to have served in the Air Force. I am hoping that the senior public affairs professional leadership in the military can learn from people like Sergeant McGee.
The smart thing for government communicators is to get their commanders or senior executives to pay for the communications tools that operate independently of the main military grid. Doing so will allow communicators to manage their infrastructure and give the freedom to professionals like Sergeant McGee to do their job as well.

Virtual network can help you and others advance their careers

2009-05-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

Sometime today, I hope to speak on the topic of "Paying It Forward Via a Virtual Network" at today's PodCamp San Antonio. Taking the story of the movie featuring Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment, I am going to share with others how to build their network and then share their connections with others.
It takes a while to build a network of any kind, but once you have something in place, what's the point of having one if you aren't sharing it. My friend and colleague, Brian Massey, the author of the new book "The Market For Me -- Surviving Job Loss and Building a Lifetime Career Network" argues that most people with a job should help those looking as much as possible. By being an active networker and helping others, others will help you find a new position or get information about someone when the need arises.
Long before I met Brian, I was a believer in the process of helping others. Now, with the rise of social media channels, it's much easier to help others. You're welcome to attend my talk today or you can follow it by watching for the "#payitfor" hashtags on Twitter. You can also download a copy of my slides by visiting http://budurl.com/payitfor
Note: I am the communications manager for cardboardresume.com, the company that commissioned Brian to write his book. Even though it's my job to help publicize the book and the software, I have always been a big believer of helping others.

Why getting the Cyber Command should not be surprising to those of us who work with the city's large base of retired cyber security professionals

2009-05-15T05:12:00.000-07:00
County Judge Nelson Wolff said in a published article in the Express News Thursday that he was surprised that the Air Force selected San Antonio as the final site to get the newly formed Cyber Command.

As someone with ties to some of the early leaders of the information security arena, I'm not.

Sadly, it's not a well publicized fact that San Antonio has a large influx of retired information security professionals. Many have worked at what is called by insiders as the "Hill." After serving their nation in protecting our country, they have left the military with their special clearances and skill sets to either go back into contracting positions or form new companies. Keith Frederick, the founder of SecureInfo, wrote a master thesis on the need to protect military computers from hackers in 1985. His paper became the starting point for the establishment of the Air Force Computer Emergency Response Team at Kelly AFB in the early 90s. After retiring from the military, Frederick formed SecureInfo.

Now, add the National Security Agency and other operations like it, and it's obvious why the Air Force picked our town for its new operation. For IT businesses with contractors who have the right clearances, this is great news.

Yet, San Antonio shouldn't rest on its laurels after winning the establishment of a new command. I argued nearly a decade ago that UTSA should consider setting up a special short course for information security with the Air Force. Similar to the University of Oklahoma's short course for public affairs, this is a program where the best officers and NCOs attend a 9-week course to study computer security. Perhaps, there is a program in place with CIAS and the military, but I doubt it. With the addition of 400 new positions, it would make sense that UTSA would discuss a program that would provide education for info security professionals throughout the military.

As an industry group, information security types don't publicly share facts or data about their successes, so I can understand why Judge Wolff doesn't know all of the success stories that San Antonio has developed with information security through the years. Still, the city should do more to encourage the development of training and education programs not only with UTSA but with other programs. One of the challenges that the Air Force will someday face is the loss of talented intelligent analysts to retirement.

With the community's help, the Air Force can grow and expand its depth of intelligence professionals.

What do you do when you can't check in at a Marriott property? Why you gripe about in your personal blog....

2009-05-13T20:13:00.000-07:00
I have been blogging often about how businesses monitor social media channels, so here's another test of this capability. Last week, I blogged about a pair of new shoes that had the stitching break after I wore them twice.
I was hoping that someone from the DSW shoes or Giorgio Brutini would contact me. It's been a week, and still there hasn't been a positive response.
So now, I am staying the night in Austin after a long day of business when I checked into the Marriot Residence Inn at 3703 Tudor Avenue at 10 a.m. Instead of someone at the reception desk, there was a sign that said the receptionist was not there and that I should call "zero" to find someone to help me.
After two attempts to call and a 10-minute wait to check in, I finally found my front gate person who said she had to go to a guest's room to give them a new key.
I would expect slow service at a Motel Six but not at a Marriott property. That's why I like staying there, even if it was the result of one of the Priceline.com deals where hotel chains sell their remnant space.
I know from reading the saga of the Marriott family that Bill Marriott would not be happy to hear that I had this kind of service in Austin. I know that the hospitality industry is tightening their belt to cut down on costs, but not having someone close to the reception desk or having a way to contact the person on duty is like a military base not have a security policeman at the front gate of a base with nuclear weapons.
So this blog is both a gripe about lousy service and a test of how well the folks at Marriott monitor the comments about them on social media channels. If the folks at Marriott care about how a business guest like me perceives their performance, I am hoping that they will contact me and either refund my money or give me something else in compensation for their lousy performance.

Here's one email offer that I can easily refuse.....

2009-05-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

Wooooooooooooooohoo!

I have been selected for a prestigious honor by the United Nations.

This morning as I was opening my email, Laurie Vongunten wrote: "You have been choosen By the Board of trustees of the UNITED NATIONS as a winner of $500,000.00. being awarded to you on Monday 06, April, 2009. Contact Dr. Henry Mccartney on email address below to claim your grant."

Sadly, Ms. Vongunten is a hoax.

As someone who has worked with security organizations through the years, I recognized the classic qualities of your basic email scam. First, I don't know her. Second, if it really was a half a million dollars in a grant given to me, I would have had to apply for it. And, I am guessing that the U.N. Board of Trustees, if there was such an organization, would have personally called me with the news that I won 500,000 simoleans.

There were other clues of course. Ms. Vongunten used the "akronlibrary.org" as part of her email address. And, the kicker was that I had to respond to a Microsoft Hotmail account to get my money. Sadly, the deadline to respond was April 6.

It's amazing to me how Ms. Vongunten got my email address as I avoid using my real one to sign up for things. Even on press releases, I use the term (at) to symbolize the "@" that connects my name. As Keith Frederick, the founder of SecureInfo, told me years ago, there are people who are mining everyone's email address to try to involve them in scams like this. If you want to keep your email box free of these distractions, you should also avoid putting them on entry forms for the free car giveaways or the $1000 HEB gift card you see at fairs and other public venues.

More importantly, it's a good idea to help your elderly parents recognize a scam and to not respond. I am guessing that Ms. Vongunten would want to send those who respond a nasty computer virus. I can only imagine the troubles that would cause my mother, who is a longtime computer surfer.

So, Ms. Vongunten, I am on to you. I am hoping that others will send this blog to their friends so that you won't victimize people like my mother or my wife's elderly brother. By using the collective power of social media channels, we can truly impact the progress of your devious intents.

The hottest media platform? Why it's the cell phone in your hands

2009-05-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

Small businesses are starting to embrace social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn as a way to capture customers. However, most are overlooking the use of short messaging service as a way to lure in customers.

Brad Beasley, the chief executive officer of CrossLink Media, will speak Thursday at 7:30 a.m.at Leticia's Mexican Restaurant as the featured speaker for StoneOakInfo.com.

Working with clients like AAFES, Santikos, United Apartment Group and others like them, CrossLink Media has helped their clients reach out to customers on the third most used form of communication.

In an article published in the Wall Street Journal in November, Forrester Research noted that most Americans use their cell phones as a source of information 8.9 hours per week. At a recent Austin Interactive event, another industry expert noted that there are 250,000,000 cell phone users. Cell phones also reach lower income demographics as well.

Small businesses who want to learn more about the short-term and also long-term advantages of short messaging system should plan on hearing Beasley's presentation this Thursday. For more information on the breakfast meeting, you can callKent Kirkman at 210-325-1333.

(Note: Brad Beasley and CrossLink Media are my clients. However, regardless of which short messaging service you decide to use someday, it's important for every "bidness" to start thinking about the use of cell texting systems as part of their marketing mix.)

Jennifer Navarrete: San Antonio's tech den mother

2009-05-12T04:40:00.000-07:00

If you asked me six months ago or even a year ago what a podcamp was, I would have given you a blank stare, similar to the one I give my wife when she yells at me after I leave the bathroom seat up. Yet, after watching the work of Jennifer Navarrette (@epodcaster), I am comfortable with the process.
Jennifer is one of those unsung heroes in San Antonio's growing tech community. She's the den mother and a leader of a lot of informal groups who bring visionaries together. Yet, here's what I love about her. She's patient enough to work with people who don't understand how to use Twitter or LinkedIn as part of their marketing efforts.
This Saturday, Jennifer is organizing the second PodCamp at the El Tropicano Hotel on the new northern part of the San Antonio Riverwalk. If you are new to technology or you are really experienced in social media channels, you should register today at this link: http://budurl.com/wcrv.
Jennifer is modest enough to tell you that there are others who are helping her. Yet, in my view, she is San Antonio's top technology den mother. Like the lady who keeps track of a lot of eight-year-old boys, she has the capability to put it all together without a lot of fuss.
And, when she reads this, she'll respond with a quiet response of "Aw Shucks" or something of that ilk. Yet, I have to be the first to publicly thank her for the great work she has done to build a technology community.
So, if you care about technology and community, you need to plan part of your Saturday to spend it with people like Jennifer and others like her.

Will fewer journalists make it easier for dirty politicians to operate in all communities?

2009-05-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

As I returned home from a round of visiting candidates for the mayor of San Antonio and City Council at their post election parties, I had to think of the comments of David Scott, the producer of the HBO series "The Wire" before a Senate subcommittee hearing on the demise of newspapers.
From one of the many sound bites that appeared on mainstream media this week, Scott questioned the loss of editorial space and what I would term as the bandwidth to cover politicians. To paraphrase Scott, a lot of dirty politicians are happy that there aren't as many journalists around to snoop about their crooked deals.
"I am offended to think," he said in an article published by the Associated Press, "that anyone anywhere believes American institutions as insulated, self-preserving as police departments, school systems, legislatures and chief executives can be held to gathered facts by amateurs, pursuing the task without compensation (or) training."

The business of newspapers has changed for my friends at the San Antonio Express-News. The editorial hole (the actual amount of inches for the newspaper) has shrunk considerably in the past few months. Reporters are losing their jobs due to cutbacks, and the ones still on the job have to do more with less. Add in the requirements to blog, and it's hard for any newspaper reporter to truly get the time to focus on the dirt at City Hall or the local police station.
So, is it up to bloggers like me who can report on the issues at hand? I am thankful that my editors at "MySA" have allowed me the opportunity to blog on issues such as the performance of the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative in promoting technology. As a trained journalist, I tried to report the facts on this organization's performance. The response from one anonymous SATAI patron was kind of interesting.
"Perhaps all readers and commenters should take a look at SATAI's charter, which is NOT technology promotion" was the response to that blog posted several weeks ago. "You tech bloggers are much better suited to promotion."
It's sad when a city-funded organization thinks of me as promoter instead of a concerned citizen who wants to see a more professional deployment of our tax dollars. So like Scott, the producer of "The Wire," consider me one of those bulldogs who will bark and also bite when politicians don't perform to the standards I've set for them.

Will the folks who sold me the defective shoes read this blog and get me a new pair of shoes?

2009-05-08T05:02:00.000-07:00
I can hear my wife snickering as I write this.
Last week, I went shoe shopping at DSW Shoes with her and I had found a beautiful pair of black Giorgio Brutini loafers for $25.
I had thought that the Italian loafers were a "steal," until yesterday.
At the Central Texas Funding Forum, I looked down at my new purchases and my left shoe had split its laced stitching on the top. For four hours, I went around the conference showing everyone my light blue socks.
I haven't told my wife about the shoes as I am in Austin on business as I blog this, but she would say I got "what I paid for."
And, I am guessing that some of you who are reading this are wondering "Why should I blog about this when I can go back and exchange the shoes or get my money back."
It's the principle of it.
Furthermore, by blogging about it and also using "Twitter" to share my thoughts on these shoes, I am hoping that someone from DSW or Giorgio Brutini will read this by searching through the twitterverse and blogosphere for posts about their company and their products.
I am guessing that they're not monitoring these communication channels like my friend, Rob La Geese, a senior manager at Mosso. If someone is writing a negative post or tweet, Rob and his team quickly respond.
So, this is a test for the folks at DSW and Giorgio Brutini to see if they have customer service professionals like Rob monitoring social media channels to see what is being written about them.
If you have a business or a product, it's a good idea to monitor the social media channels to see what's being written about you. Even better, a designated communicator should respond quickly and professionally to all negative as well as positive posts.
Companies of all sizes should get in the habit of searching for these negative and positive posts on social media channels so that they can respond to blog posts like this to resolve them.

Visions of federal funding? Fred Patterson could help

2009-05-07T05:00:00.000-07:00
If you have visions of the federal government providing you with research and development funding, the SBIR program may provide a partial funding solution. Through the years, I have heard of some interesting programs started with a few of our government dollars.
Ever since President Harry Truman investigated major fraud in World War II, the government has seen the need for small business funding and research. Without the levels of management that other bigger government programs need, the SBIR allows a researcher with a vision to try to win a federal grant.
The beauty of small business research is that it could generate some truly innovative solutions to a government problem.Fred Patterson, one of the speakers slated to speak Thursday at the Central Texas Funding Forum, is known as the SBIR coach.
He has helped his clients win over 100 SBIR awards in a 15-year period. Having worked with several San Antonio firms on this program, I can tell you that with an expected 10-percent to 15-percent funding rate, that getting 100 SBIR grants is as impressive as Kyle Busch winning 50 NASCAR races. The success rate for most SBIR grants is that for every 100 submitted, only 10 or 15 get the initial funding of $100,000.
"The key is preparing a well-articulated response to an agency's Request For Proposal. The agency provides the topic area and sometimes detailed project specifications. It is up to you to propose an approach and methodology for solving the problem, verifying feasibility in Phase I and providing proof of a promising concept in Phase II," notes Patterson in a recent online interview that will appear in the Austin Startup blog this week.
If you are considering the SBIR program, you should read Patterson's interview available at this special landing page. Or, you can head to Austin on Thursday to hear his presentation at the funding forum at the Norris Conference Center. The cost is $105 if you mention my name at the door.
(Note: I am the publicist for the Central Texas Funding Forum. While it's my job to promote this event, I also thought that Mr. Patterson's excellent interview would be of interest to technical entrepreneurs who wanted to get some insight into the SBIR process.)

Waiting for a call from my former CYO hoop star "Downtown" on the possible careers available to him

2009-05-03T05:22:00.000-07:00

With local colleges graduating thousands of students this week here in San Antonio, it's my belief that many will just now head down to their career placement offices to finally get help to find a job.
Having gone back to college five years ago at the University of Texas at San Antonio, I was amazed by the number of 20-something college students who believed there was a "job fairy" waiting to point her magic wand and give some of them a high paying job, a company car and a professional clothing allowance.
As a parent of three, ranging from 23 to 17, I have been stressing the need for them to find what my colleague Brian Massey, the author of the recently published "Author at The Market for Me: Surviving Job Loss and Building Your Lifetime Career Network" would term as job champions. Harvey Mackey, the author of "Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive" and "Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt," tells the story of his father suggesting he talk to one of his uncles about finding a job after spending four years as a college student in the University of Minnesota.
As I remember this anecdote from one of the book, Harvey and his uncle became good friends. Like any good relative (such as my favorite, Scrooge McDuck) who cared about his sibling, his uncle would refer him to opportunities and people who could help him move from job opportunity to job opportunity. Massey, who also is the chief evangelist for the recently launched cardboardresume.com, will tell you that relatives and family friends are a good starting point for building an online network of folks who can open doors for those persistent and patient enough to ask.
Today, many young people are afraid to look for their uncles, aunts or other "centers of influence" who can advise them on the job market. Just today, I ram into the father of one of my favorite CYO basketball players at my parish men's club casino night. For six years, I coached CYO girls and boys' basketball and softball at St. Francis of Assisi. I have kept up with a lot of my former players. One of them is someone I still teasingly call "Downtown" for his willingness to never pass up a 18-foot shot while playing for the parish team. This former player of mine had great confidence in his game, and he really listened to me and my assistant coaches. In short, I like the kid as a player, and he was one of my favorites.
When his father told me that his son was kind of not sure what he wanted to do, I told him that his son should call me. Like Mackey's uncle and Massey's champion, I am the kind of guy who has an hour or so to help a former player like mine.
Yet, I know that this kid may never call me. Perhaps, he will be too embarrassed to admit that he doesn't know what he wants to do after college. Yet, having an honest conversation with several people like me could help him find the kind of job that will appeal to him once he completes college.
Here's hoping that he calls, and more importantly that someone with a college kid who is a nephew, niece, former youth team athlete or student will get to read this. It's hard for some young people to admit they need help, but it's best for them to have some honest conversations about the job market and the kind of work that is available for those who complete their education or professional certification programs.
So, "Downtown" call me. I will be glad to buy you lunch or coffee at La Taza and discuss your options. I can already tell you that the NBA market for a short shooting guards with brown curly hair is not good. However, there's always a job for someone who believes in himself or herself.

If you want to hear some of the top experts on angel investing, mark down May 7 on your calendar

2009-05-01T10:30:00.000-07:00
As anyone who reads his local business section or Wall Street Journal, funding resources are getting tighter. As the publicist for the May 7 Central Texas Funding Forum, I am hearing that resources are still there, but not at the same level as before.

If you want to know more about the state of VC funding or to understand the process to get started in this financial arena, here's an interesting "Qs and As" with Hall Martin, the director of the Austin Entrepreneur Network. My friend/colleague Bryan Menell allowed me to post it on AustinStartup.com.

If you want to know more about funding resources, please repost this blog to others who want to attend the day-long event. If you use "bd400" on the web site, you can save a few bucks off the registration fee.

If your employee benefits costs are rising, please contact my friend Stephen Geri for help

2009-05-01T08:25:00.000-07:00
With the emphasis from media sources on why health benefits are rising, I felt it was time to clarify the issue for my friend and client, Stephen Geri, the head honcho at Diversified Employee Benefits . Geri, one of a handful of general managing agents, in Texas, truly knows the nuances of health benefit plans. So based on the many conversations I had with him, I wrote this "ghosted" editorial on the topic for him.

You can find a copy of this article in Stephen's blog, which my team helps manage for him. We are also submitting it to the editor at the Express-News and we're researching some other outlets for him.

David Rose, the patriarch of New York's Silicon Alley to speak at May 7 Funding Symposium

2009-04-28T17:53:00.001-07:00
With drastic results in the stock market and our American economy, is there still venture capital to be found in central Texas? That's the focus of the Central Texas Funding Symposium May 7 at the Norris Conference Center.

Jason Myers, the director of the conference, and Hall Martin, executive director, Angel Entrepreneur Network, have programmed a conference with David Rose as the headline speaker. The buzz for Rose, chairman of the board for the New York Angels inc, from Red Herring magazine is significant as the tech magazine calls him: "a patriarch of New York's Silicon Alley." On behalf of the New York Angels, Rose has helped 100s of tech startups find the early rounds of funding needed to develop their technologies.

However, Rose is not the only significant speaker at the conference. Myers and Martin have put together a heavy hitters list of speakers from Texas and other investor communities. Their purpose is to help the I-35 corridor to find the funding resources needed to help them build their companies

If you are one of many business entrepreneurs in central and south Texas, you don't want to miss this event. If you mention this blog, the $150 entrance fee is lowered to $105. When registering for this event, use the code "bd400" to get the discount.

Austin photographer makes me look "MAHVELOUS!"

2009-04-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

As a public relations professional, I work with a lot of executives who need a mug shot. Through the years, thanks to the help of my colleague, Ruben Barron, I have updated my photo. However, when I was a yesterday's Interactive Austin trade show, I met Steven Noreyko who had a booth there.

After watching Steve work with people all day, I finally asked him if he would trade a new mug shot for a blog mention in my personal blog. Looking at my photo, it's easy to see that he didn't have a lot to work with, especially with the extra forehead of my cranium. Steve used some powder to hide the shiny spot, made me laugh and he made me look professional.

So, if you're looking for the world's best web site guy, don't overlook my friend, Ruben, especially his work for Espada Maritime Services.   Ruben is one of those guys who can do it all, but if you live and work in Austin and you need a new avatar or corporate mug shot, please call Steve.

Like a good suit of clothes, a personality picture can show a potential client your organization's professionalism.    I now consider Steve as the equivalient of one of those $1000 designer suits when it comes to shooting profiles.    As a result of his simple efforts, I look as Bill Crystal would say as "MAHVELOUS!"

Of course, this all could change once my wife or my daughters weigh in with their thoughts. However, knowing them, I think they will approve of Steve's great pix.

Will the government embrace social media in this flu swine epidemic

2009-04-27T09:51:00.001-07:00
With the sudden outbreak of the swine flu epidemic, the question, for techies, is: "When will the government embrace Twitter and other social media tools as a way to reach everyone with real-time information?"

As a longtime, retired military crisis communicator and evaluator for the Air Force, I am wondering when our government organizations will embrace Twitter and blogging as a great way to reach the masses on key communication issues.

As someone with friends in the government public affairs sector, I know their issues and the answers about their use of blogs and Twitter. First, it's hard to track what's being said about you when your government communications providers believe that blogging and other social media outreaches will bring damage to their infrastructure. While that's somewhat true, the government needs to set aside a second portal for public information types and their bosses to monitor what's being said about their organization. And, if you can read about it, there are times when you need to respond quickly about it.

While Barack Obama is becoming the "first communicator" with his special Blackberry, he needs to lead the government to the transformation needed in social media channels. The best thing that Mr. Obama can do soon is to push out a government directive that tells those computer security guys that it's official policy to provide an outside channel to his public relations team members.   With this in place, the proactive public affairs types can then challenge their communications teams to provide them with the capability to blog and to tweet.

Over 30 years ago, President Jimmy Carter created another directive telling the military that they had to respond to media queries within one hour. Some 15 years afterwards, I had to inform a three-star Air Force that he had to give me information on the facts surrounding Air Force and NATO jets shooting down Serbian Galebs.    Once I mentioned the directive, the general backed down on holding back on the releasable information.

As someone who has worked in public relations for years, I have seen the changes from electric typewriters to computers to new media.   With the communication capability of social media, the government public affairs professionals must change his or her beliefs about this outreach capability. The beauty of this is that it would allow someone like an on-scene public affairs professional at a crash site to update information about the crash. For example, if the local police close off a public road, a PA person could blog about it and then tweet it out via Twitter.

I know that changes are coming within the government sector. And, it takes time. However, executive leadership by Mr. Obama could help speed the process up.

Don't go on a diet at an ACTs retreat

2009-04-24T15:42:00.000-07:00
If you are trying to lose a few pounds, going to an ACTS retreat is not a good idea. The meals at the Cordi-Marian retreat house are filling and excellent. However, team members also brought snacks, candy and soda.

Our team director, Cruz, is trying to cut down on the candy for this retreat, but even that was a losing effort as some team members brought the usual bite size version of Snickers and other chocolate products.

Having discussed the menu with my wife, I can only imagine the reaction of the women if someone tried to cut back on their number one comfort food -- chocolate. I think that would cause a revolt among the many, female ACTs alumni type that I have met through the years.

Having gone through a few retreat, I know that if I want to minimize my weight gain I have to cut down on the snacks and the great deserts. Failing that, I can always let my belt out again.

The virtual ACTS: when fathers and son connect

2009-04-24T15:37:00.000-07:00
One of the great things about this St. Rose of Lima Acts retreat is that it allows fathers and sons to connect. While the "river rule" doesn't allow me to truly share all the details, it was moving to see the team's director, Cruz, and his son sharing a good cry.

However, the best father-son moment came when another team member had his son thank his father for sharing his life's story.

If you are a father with a son over 18, an ACTS retreat can help you possibly reconnect with each other.