I realized last night that today is the first Friday of the month, which typically means it’s book review time.

But, um, well…I forgot. And I promised Erika Napoletano I would do a review of “The Power of Unpopular” the week it comes out (March 20) so we’ll substitute the March review then.

Sound good?

Great!

In that case, I’d like to introduce you to Adam Justice, otherwise known as etelligence.

Adam is, hands down, one of the smartest search and web developers I know. In fact, every time he writes a blog post for us here or content for Spin Sucks Pro, Lisa Gerber and I both say, “Dang! So smart!” Continue Reading »

There is a new kid on the block…at least in the Spin Sucks community.

His name is Tony Bennett.

No, not that Tony Bennett (though one of his life goals is to run for office and I think running on that name is a shoo-in win – talk about instant name recognition).

But, if you hang around these parts, you likely don’t know him as Tony Bennett. You know him as Socially Genius.

You might even recognize him as the guy who wears a green G on his chest. I’m pretty sure he also has a cape. Continue Reading »

There is an up-and-comer in our midst. Someone you need to get to know.

His name is Tyler Orchard and I think he might be oblivious.

He doesn’t blog very often (a couple of times a month), but when he does, it’s full of smart information that really makes you think.  He’s also very self-reflective, which I always respect in people.

He talks PR, social media, and politics, which drives specifically to his experience. He’s not a guy with a Twitter account and a keyboard. He really knows what he’s doing.

A Canadian (or, after Martin Waxman’s Cision panel yesterday, maybe I can claim he’s a fellow Canadian?), Tyler does communication for the Parliament of Canada. Continue Reading »

I’m not going to pretend I remember how I met Krista Giuffi.

I think it was because she kindly linked to a Spin Sucks blog post on her blog, PR in Pink. And, like I do with anyone who is nice enough to link to us, I headed over to her blog house to check things out.

When I got there, I discovered not only a smart communicator, but pink. Lots of pink!

And, let’s be real. Pink is my favorite color so I was drawn to her blog just because of the name.

Anyone woman who is confident in the fact that she likes the color pink is awesome in my book. Continue Reading »

Many of you may not know Kristine Simpson.

She stalks Spin Sucks, but she doesn’t comment often so you wouldn’t recognize her name from there. But she’s someone you need to know!

Other than being an account coordinator at Thornley Fallis, she is the producer of Inside PR, the weekly podcast Joe Thornley, Martin Waxman, and I record. And she freaking rocks!

She got engaged a few months ago and blogged the experience, from her point-of-view…and then had her fiance do the same. Completely innovative and extremely touching, you get a special glimpse into her personal life. Continue Reading »

It’s the first Friday of the month and that means it’s time for a book review!

Let me start out by saying, I receive a ton of books in the mail. Most of them are unsolicited and arrive without a note or a signature inside or any reason to compel me to read it.

Before Brand Against the Machine was published, I knew of John Morgan very peripherally so I wouldn’t have known about his book unless it’d been recommended to me by a friend.

But he did two things really well. He sent me a signed copy of his book. It is written specifically to me and you can tell he did his homework.

I love that.

Then he sent me a personal note (handwritten, none-the-less) about why he thought Spin Sucks readers would benefit from knowing about his book.

Score two points for John. Continue Reading »

For the last two Fridays of the year, I thought I’d do something a little bit different and fun.

With the help of my work wife, Patti Knight, we compiled a list of all of the #FollowFridays for the year.

This week is a list of everyone featured January through June. And next week we’ll do July through December.

But the cool thing? I’ve created both Twitter and Google Reader lists that you can follow at once. Continue Reading »

Alright ladies and gentlemen. I have a special treat in store for you today.

For those of you who don’t already know Ken Jacobs, please allow me to introduce him to you.

I met Ken at Counselor’s Academy several years ago when he walked up to me in the food line and introduced himself. He may have even hugged me right then and there.

A couple of years ago, I was considering not going to Counselor’s and he caught wind of it. He promptly called me and told me exactly what he thought about that idea (it sucked, he said). Continue Reading »

One of my favorite business books of 2010 was, hands down, Les McKeown’s Predictable Success.

In it he talks about the phases a business goes through, from start-up and growth through becoming stodgy and old.

I actually keep my copy on my desk so, when I’m having a bad day, I can refer back to it to see if what we’re going through is normal.

It always makes me feel better.

So, when he asked me if I’d review his latest book, The Synergist, I gave a resounding yes.

This is a leadership book, in the truest sense of the word. Even if you’re not a “leader” by definition inside your organization, but you work with others, this book is for you. Continue Reading »