Those of you who are early adopters and enthusiastic fans of blogging, podcasting, Twittering, Second Life etc. etc. will be appalled. I had dinner last night with three friends, two of whom had no clue about Second Life. Not one was aware of Twitter. They had little respect or use for blogging and podcasting. (To be fair, they don’t work in the communications field.) And we didn’t even get into all the very many social networks that now abound!

I say this because sometimes it seems that people get so caught up in all the latest web bells and whistles they lose sight of the fact that a very large part of the population just has no interest in it. “They just don’t get it,” you’ll say, and that’s true. They have not “drunk the Kool-Aid,” and the cult-like behaviour that implies is exactly how they see it.

So it rings very true when Twitter is described, as it was in an article in an e-newsletter from MarketingProfs Today, thusly:

“Twitter, till now, has been for the highly engaged, early-adopter, pro-technology user. This is the ‘influencer’ community, meaning they will shape the direction of others. It’s highly likely that these users participate in other forms of online publishing and communication, like blogging, Facebook, and mobile activity.”

Are all your friends drinking the Kool-Aid? Are you the person educating friends and family about social media? Do you consider yourself an early adopter?

A post on Dan Santow’s Word Wise blog says, “It’s bad out there and getting worse.” He’s talking about the increasingly common habit of inserting capital letters where none are required to indicate an Important Word. He goes on to give a comprehensive list of where you do need capital letters, such as proper names, places and events.

I have received quite a few draft articles or pieces of background information that throw capital letters around like confetti, or should I say Confetti. It makes me laugh but at the same time it makes me crazy. (Maybe I’ve been in a home office too long!) But I just quietly remove the capitals and throw them in my overflowing Capital Trash Can.
As Dan says:

“Capital letters – aside from starting sentences, titles, headlines, and so forth – are reserved for proper nouns. ‘Nuff said. End of story. Finis. Now go buy yourself something nice.”

Jakob Nielsen’s latest Alertbox pointed to his June 12, 2006 issue in which he talked about e-mail newsletters. Despite in-boxes that grow ever more crowded, Nielsen says, two years after their last study of e-mail newsletter usability, “Our main conclusion remains the same. E-mail newsletters are the best way to maintain customer relationships on the Internet.”

I agree that e-newsletters are a great way to stay in touch, which makes it all the more embarrassing that I – sometimes introduced as the Newsletter Queen for all the newsletter writing that I do – have not yet launched my own e-newsletter. Oh, I’ve thought about it. Here are some of the reasons for this terrible lack:

• As Nielsen notes, “people are getting extremely choosy about which newsletters they’ll allow into their overflowing inboxes.” That means my own had better provide something of real value, and I’m still mulling over what I have to say that fits the bill.
• I already volunteer time to do a monthly e-newsletter for a networking group I belong to, which eats up time I might otherwise spend on my own e-news. This is a cheap excuse, though; you make time for what’s important to you.
• I have to “one up” Michael Katz of Blue Penguin Development, who writes the warm, witty, funny and useful E-Newsletter on E-Newsletters. A local radio station has a feature called “Damn, I wish I wrote that,” wherein the on-air personality (a musician) plays tunes he wishes were his own. I often read Michael’s newsletter and think, “Damn, I wish I wrote that.” Michael recently started a blog (It Sure Beats Working) with “advice and steadfast encouragement for the first-time, mid-life, solo professional.”

So I’m still thinking it over.

Wow, I just had a completely surprising call. It was from the United Way of Oakville, who checked that I was indeed Get It Write, and then proceeded to thank me for a recent donation. “Your gift makes a difference,” said the thanker. And that was all. No pitch to give more (thank goodness!) or anything longwinded. This has not happened over many years of donating to various charities. It was strange, but nice.

Just back from travelling to New Jersey with my mother to visit her youngest sister. My aunt lives in Freehold, where Bruce Springsteen was born and raised and which is apparently the subject of his song, My Hometown. We drove past his first home, kind of a disappointment in that there is not even a plaque mentioning his name. (If you’re interested, it’s a nondescript white duplex on Institute Street.)

This tale does have a link to communications, and of course it’s related to the lack of same with our friendly national carrier, Air Canada. Trips on AC where my baggage went missing for several hours or a day or simply took an extremely long time (up to a day!) to arrive at the baggage claim have taught me to travel whenever possible with just a carry-on bag. I received a great bag as a gift – the Heys x-case, billed as the world’s lightest carry-on, which it truly is. It also holds everything you need for a long weekend.

My bag is as shiny and red as a candy apple, but to keep that lovely finish, it shouldn’t be checked or thrown in with other bags. So what happened when I boarded my flight? Air Canada doesn’t warn you of this ahead of time, but their Jazz flights are tight for space and they don’t let you bring on carry-on bags other than purses or laptops; they make you leave your bags at the bridge and they stow them somewhere, bringing them back to the bridge at the other end. The lovely finish on my Heys is now scratched and scuffed from the usual treatment bags receive. Had I known about this practice (policy?), I would have brought a different suitcase and checked it.

The latest issue of IABC’s printed Communication World (or CW, which now receives top billing over the full name) reports on the results of a recent member survey about salaries and job satisfaction. Generally, the 3,370 respondents indicated we’re satisfied with our salaries and our current organizations.

Should we be? Reading the details, we find that the median base salary for members in U.S. chapters is $75,000 US, and for those in Canadian chapters, it’s $61,695 US. Hmm. Are we being too nice to demand the raise it appears we’re due?

I also found it interesting that the median self-employed hourly rate was $100 US (the mean or average was $116 US), in sharp contrast to the agency hourly billable rate of $165 US (mean of $204 US). I hope this encourages companies to give talented and qualified freelancers the opportunity to quote on work!

By the way, the summary said four per cent of respondents indicated they were “sole practitioners,” but seven per cent were “self-employed” at the end of 2006. I am not sure what this means!

Making their way around the world lately by e-mail and blog (including Aussie Angry 365 Days a Year and Reluctant Nomad in Amsterdam) are some classic insults from the days when insults weren’t mean and crude, but had wit and class.

Winston Churchill was always good for some gems, including the comment, “A modest little person, with much to be modest about.” Mark Twain likewise is endlessly quotable, with lines such as “I didn’t attend the funeral, but sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” And then there’s Groucho Marx, who offered, “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.”

So if you feel you must insult someone, please remember to be creative.

I ran across a funny comment about Twitter the other day (and I’m sorry, it was commenting on a blog but I can’t remember which one):

“Is it just me or is the Internet becoming more and more like passing notes in 7th grade?”

Not everyone is singing happily along with those Staples Business Depot commercials, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” I hate this time of year.

I’m sad to see the end of summer, my favourite season. It has such a defined end (Labour Day, no matter what the calendar says about Sept. 23 being the first day of fall), whereas winter always seems to go on forever. I love the sun. I love not having to rush out the door in the morning, although there’s not usually much sleeping in – having a dog still gets me up early. I love being able to take rambling walks and still get back in time to shower and get to work for 9 a.m. I love being able to take a break by going for a swim.

With summer fading, there’s less sunlight, and shorter days are already evident. Now it’s back to short, defined walks so we can get Son #2 out the door in time for school. Making lunches or reminding him to make his lunches. Trying to get him to bed earlier (ha!) so mornings aren’t as rushed.

It could be worse. In many states, kids have been back to school for weeks.

Just for fun, I had a look through the 58 spam messages that were in Akismet’s holding pen and was amused to find these attempts to get through spam filters (amid mostly offers for various prescription drugs):

“Very sensible post…”

“Hello! Good Site! Thanks you!”

“Amazing info, and a great blog to boot…”

I love that Akismet has caught 3,687 spam messages for me since I installed it. I love their friendly approach (for instance, the Akismet site says, “We can’t stand spam. Who can? You have better things to do with your life than deal with the underbelly of the internet.”). And I love that they provide Akismet free for personal use.