It’s been a crazy couple of weeks!

I keynoted at Social Slam, took Mr. D to Vegas for his birthday, and co-keynoted (with Jay Baer) at Counselors Academy. And, on top of all of that, Marketing in the Round came out and, those of you who pre-ordered it began receiving it this week and sent in pictures (which we’ve posted on Pinterest).

But I slept for eight hours last night so I’m beginning to feel myself again. Just in time for the big Chicago book launch party on Monday night (are you coming??).

It’s supposed to be a glorious weekend in the Windy City so I’m going to go put air in my bike’s tires and fill my water bottles.

And you? You’re going to check out Gin and Topics. Continue Reading »

Today’s #FollowFriday needs no introduction. And I’m cheating a little bit because I wrote about her this time last year.

But it’s her birthday today so I figured you wouldn’t mind.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LISA!!

Lisa Gerber is our chief content officer. She runs all of the guest posts here at Spin Sucks, which is no small job. She also began doing client work in January and now leads three of our biggest accounts.

About 18 months ago, I was shopping at Nordstrom (and then Sephora) and I called Lisa. I was venting that I needed some help with content on both Spin Sucks and this new project I wanted to launch (which you now know as Spin Sucks Pro). I told her I needed someone who I really trusted. As I stood on the corner of Michigan and Grand, in the dark, she said, “I’ll do it.” Continue Reading »

Friday, Friday, Friday!

I’m off to New Orleans tomorrow for the annual Counselors Academy.

Jay Baer and I are co-keynoting (the brain child of Martin Waxman), which I’m really excited about! If you’ve ever seen Jay speak, you’ll know he’s going to make me look suuuuuper good in front of my peers.

We’re doing something kind of fun and different: We’re interviewing each other on stage. Hopefully there will be video of it that I can post here next week.

In the meantime, check out the fun stories we’ve complied for you in this week’s Gin and Topics. Continue Reading »

Last year, right about this time, I was standing in the grand hall at the conference center where BlogWorld was being held and I finally got to meet the incomparable Lisa Grimm.

After following one another on Twitter for quite some time, it was fun to finally see her. It was too brief.

But one thing I discovered about her then and have seen her demonstrate it every day since then: She really cares about our industry.

She does digital and social media for Mall of America (a job I can’t decide is really cool or super scary – I mean, people everywhere!). I don’t spend much time on mall websites (I’d rather kill myself than go to one, especially the world’s largest), but I’ve spent some time checking out the work Lisa does and, well, I’m impressed! Continue Reading »

It’s the end of April. How did this happen?

I feel like we were just here talking about kicking butt and taking names this year and we’re already a third of the way through it.

Today also marks the day of Mark Schaefer’s Social Slam in Knoxville. By the time you read this, I will have already kicked the day off with the very first keynote about Marketing in the Round.

And, because it’s really early in the morning right now and I’d like to rehearse one more time before I go on stage, I give you Gin and Topics. Continue Reading »

Please allow me to introduce you to Mr. D aka World’s Most Patient Man aka love of my life (well, he competes with Jack Bauer for that title).

It is Kelly’s birthday today. Because he’s not on any of the social networks (bane of my existence), it doesn’t make much sense to #FollowFriday him. But I thought it’d be fun to wish him a happy day anyway.

Kelly and I met 13 years ago in a dance club in Kansas City. He likes to say I picked him up on the dance floor. I’m sure there is some semblance of truth to that story (OK – I did). But I had a boyfriend and he had just gotten out of a relationship and so we became friends. Continue Reading »

I’ve spent all week at 35,000 feet (thank heaven for GoGo Inflight!) so I’m very grateful it’s Friday and I’ll be home in my own bed tonight.

PLUS, my high school bud, Mike Koehler (aka MK), is going to be at my house when I get home AND Michael Schechter (aka Shrek) is coming over for my homemade lasagna on Sunday night.

So I’m very much looking forward to the weekend and hanging out with my boys.

And, to start the weekend off right, I give you Gin and Topics. Perhaps you can even follow Shashi Bellamkonda’s lead and pour yourself a gin and topic while you watch and read. Continue Reading »

I have this friend. Some of you may know him. He’s a trouble causer, pot stirrer, and menacing force of nature.

But I love him…and many of you do, too (particularly if we’re friends on Facebook).

For those of you who don’t know him, allow me to introduce you to Dallas Kincaid.

Dallas is the founder of Xecunet, a company that provides Internet services to businesses. I’m very jealous of him because he’s managed to build a company that doesn’t require him to go to the office every day. I still haven’t figured out how he does that, but he does…and he does it well.

But that’s not why I love him. I love him because he really does cause trouble. A LOT of trouble.

One of my favorite things he does is he’ll randomly announce, on Facebook, that it’s his birthday and he’s disappointed no one has said anything. It’s HILARIOUS to watch his friends stumble all over themselves to wish him a happy birthday, only to learn he’s just screwing with them. He does this no less than four times every year, but it still works. Continue Reading »

For the first time ever, I have way more content to fill Gin and Topics than I have space.

This is a good problem to have, right? It also means I have to prioritize what you see today and what is saved for next week, based solely on my opinion.

I hope I chose correctly!

Let’s see. I have a cardboard arcade, creating drama out of nothing, the world’s biggest dog, a cat opening a freezer and eating out of it, Anderson Cooper can’t say “pussy willow,” texts from my dog, and texting guy nearly runs into a bear.

See a trend? I guess I like animal videos!

OK. I have narrowed it down. The ones mentioned above not included here will be featured next week. Now you have something to look forward to! Continue Reading »

I’d like to introduce you to one of the smartest PR pros I know.

His name is Ted Weismann and he leads the digital practice at Lois Paul and Partners, one of the leading PR firms in the tech space.

When I speak to CEO organizations, I spend some time talking about the role of PR firms today. It used to be you’d hire a PR firm for their already established relationships with journalists.

But then the tech bubble burst and the 9/11 tragedy enveloped our country and then our economy became almost as bad as the Great Depression and suddenly those of us in the profession realized nothing would ever be the same as it was before 2001.

Ted is one of the few communication professionals who truly understands it. Being in tech PR in the late 90s and early 2000s, he lived it. Continue Reading »