The over/under on Steve Bartman references

I was in Las Vegas, talking to a potential client's board of directors. After my talk, I went to several sports books to lay down a $5 bet for my brother, Chris. The oddsmakers hadn't given the Cubs any odds because they didn't know who they would play this week in the division series. However, there was one oddsmaker who had a unique bet on how many times the broadcasters would mention Steve Bartman during each game. The over and under on this was five times. It was tempting, but I passed it for some more keno tickets.

Blogging and bidness -- does it work for my clients?

My wife, Jackie, has noted the major increase in blogging as I spend about 20 minutes every morning, updating it with observations and thoughts. Her comment: "Does it help your business?" I answered it yes, because I am hearing positive things from my clients and friends that they're reading it. Sure, it sometimes talks about some personal stuff such as a recent trip to Beaumont to get my son back to college, but there has also been some informative stuff such as how to use social media tools to publicize a speech. And, today, I found this pearl of wisdom from Chris Brogan. Thank to his post, I'll try to do a better job with my blog.

Going back in the wayback machine to the summer of 1976

Reading the work of Carl Hulse, my college classmate at the Illinois State Vidette, and now the capitol correspondent for the New York Times, today made me think of that great slowpitch softball team for our paper. As the sports editor, it was my job to put together the team for the intramural league. Our prospects were rather slim, as it was only Hulse, myself and Jon Perkins, now a copy editor at the Washington Post. So, Hulse helped me recruit some of his roomates who played football for ISU, and we told the intramural department that they worked in circulation or advertising for the newspaper. We made it to the finals of the league championship, but lost it as several players couldn't find the field on time after attending a party the previous night.

Thanks to the ISU alumni magazine, I got in touch with Carl who told me about Perkins whereabouts, allowing me to visit with Jon, my friend and catcher. One thing about Perkins was that he never ever stopped talking when I pitched. There was one monster named "Hank," that Jon somehow got under his skin. Once Hank was on second base when one of his teammates hit a deep single and he came home to face Perkins with the ball. Our Vidette catcher tagged him out, and he would have won the fight that ensued if the umpire hadn't stepped in quickly.

It's funny that an article by Hulse would make me think of all that this morning. Truthfully, I am proud of the contributions to the new industry that both of them have made.

Speaking at an event... don't forget to use these connector tools

If you are speaking to thousands or the local Rotary club, there are now some excellent ways to publicize it. Bill Leake, the chief executive officer at Apogee Search, and the program chair for the upcoming Austin Innotech eMarketing Summit, suggested that all speakers consider these suggestions for creating "buzz" for their program.

So, here's the start of the Scherer Communication checklist for all speakers who want to maximize their publicity for their speech:

1) If you have a Twitter account, be sure to mention the speech about a week before the event. And, the day of the event, you should make sure to use this social marketing tool to publicize it. And, of course, after the end of the talk, a short comment about it would also help.

2) Don't forget the LinkedIn profile update option. If you have a blog or another online press release, you can link to this by saying: Matt Scherer is speaking to the St. Louis Cardinals fan club on why the Cubs will lose the World Series this year.

3) If you blog, make sure to add some background on the talk for your readers. Then, link that blog to your Twitter and LinkedIn account.

4) There are three online calendar programs. By using Zvent, Eventful and the Yahoo calendar, you can increase your visilibility.

And of course, there are traditional public relations programs such as sending a news release to your local business editor. Most have calendars that publish events, especially if the program has value and there is not an excessive cost to hear your speak.

Finally, if you are too busy to handle most of this, ask a trusted administrative assistant or your public relations/communications department to help with this. And, if they need help, they can always call me.

ClickZ editorial consultant to speak at Innotech

Rebecca Lieb, an editorial consultant to ClickZ and the former editor for seven years, is one of the headliners for the Austin Innotech eMarketing Summit Oct. 16 at the Austin Convention Center. I can't wait to meet her at the event's publicist, because I suspect she's in the same age demographic as I am. So, I think she understands the process from the good old days of fax machines and phone to these wonderful social media tools. Her latest blog on ClickZ shows to me why people will want to learn more about the evolution or is it revolution to social media processe? Tickets for the eMarketing are available here.

The traveling Cub hat

Wearing a Cub hat is not something I like to do, but I had to do it to pay off a bet with my brother, Chris. Every time, the Cubs and Cardinals play each, we bet each other what I called a "pride" bet. When the Cardinals lose more than they win in a series, I have to wear a hat with a big red C on it.

So, I was paying off a bet to my brother by wearing it to the Austin Techcrunch event last night. For some reason, the Cub fans came out of the network and commented on the hat.

In all those great exchanges, I might have met a prospective client and impressed one that I was talking to about work for his company. Seems his favorite team resides on the northside of Chicago.

Sarah Palin or is it Tina Fey?

When Michael Hart queried PR types like me about Sarah Palin's impact on advertising via Help A Reporter Out, I had to send a quick retort about the similarity between Sarah Palin and Tina Fey. I can only assume that there will be some reworking of Tina's character on 30 Rock.