Social media basics

According to J. Richard Byrd: Social media is about relationships. It's about knowing who you are and knowing who you want to reach. Exactly. Who have you been called to reach? Who are you? What do you do? Why should we care? What's in it for me?

Should be on the front page of your website. Your website is the basis of all your social media outreach.

Facebook is for people that you know. Twitter is for people you want to know. You need to drive everyone back to your website.

Can closure happen?

An open letter to the family of Officer Mark MacPhail family:

I am very sorry for your loss. From what I have read Officer MacPhail was an accomplished Army veteran and an experienced police officer with much to offer to his family, friends, colleagues and community.

I have never lost a family member violently like you. But Bill Petit has. He lost his wife and two daughters to a 2007 Connecticut home invasion. He describes his loss as having left behind "a hole with jagged edges, and over time, the edges may smooth out a little bit, but the hole in your heart, the hole in your soul, is still there, so there is never closure."

Closure. Is that what you were looking for in executing Troy Davis? We already know that the death penalty does not deter crime, but in the past few years, it seems as though capital punishment is being touted as the means by which victims' families find closure. Is that how you feel now that Troy Davis is gone?

Marietta Jaeger Lane has a little different spin and she speaks from experience. Her 7-year-old daughter was murdered and she is quoted as saying, “Our loved ones deserve more beautiful, noble and honorable memorials than premeditated state-sanctioned killings.”

I tend to believe that she is right.

RIP Troy Davis

They know not what they do. 

And the great but not quite as great pumpkin that my husband grew

This one weighed in at 650.5 lbs. Not bad for his first time, I guess. He's hoping it lands him in the top 20 at the Durham (CT) Fair this weekend.

The Great Pumpkin lives at the Durham Fair

A new CT state record, weighing in
at a whopping 1,487.5 lbs.
(PHOTO: digitalamber.net)

Size matters: Grower Ken Desrosiers
of Broad Brook at the weigh-in
tonight in Durham, CT
(PHOTO: digitalamber.net)

Never in my wildest weirdest dreams did I ever see myself attending a giant pumpkin weigh-in. Yet there I was on the grounds of the Durham Fair, watching pumpkins and their people. These folks are intense!

Rejection emails and other forms of humiliation

I take rejection way too personally. My stomach clenches. My back tenses. My cheeks flush. My jaw tightens. 


People have spent a lifetime (mine) telling me not to take it personally. If only it was that easy. I can't even pinpoint exactly why these physical sensations take over at the most inopportune times, but they do. 


That said, here is my latest rejection email. This was for an organization with which I had a 20-minute phone interview yesterday: 

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with <communications consultant> and me yesterday about your prior experiences and interest in (our organization).  After a thorough review of your past experiences and preparation and a reflection on our phone call, we have decided to zone in on applicants that better suit our needs.

We thank you for thinking of us and hope that our paths will cross again. Best wishes in your future endeavors.

This was a tough one, as it indicates to me that my phone interview could have gone better. So, tell me - are you looking for someone who knows Connecticut media? I'm your person, despite hemming and hawing my way through the answer to that question. Honestly, if you gave me a chance, I'd be able to meet your needs better than any candidate on your list. 


Here's another one from an institution of higher learning:

We wanted to let you know that the search process for this position recently concluded.  We were very fortunate to find an applicant who comes with the exact experience for which we were optimally looking.

Why does it seem as though a few sentences are missing from this email?  Like "and that applicant isn't you! HAHAHAHA!!!"


Dang, I hate rejection. 

Death is so...final.

A man who could very well be innocent of murder is just hours being put to death by the State of Georgia.

Troy Davis is accused of killing a Savannah police officer in 1989. Unanswered questions surround the case, raising doubts about Mr. Davis's guilt.

Much of the case rests on the eye witness testimony of nine witnesses, seven of whom have recanted their original testimony. Yet tonight the Georgia Board of Pardons refuses to stay Mr. Davis's execution. 

For a moment set aside the usual anti-death penalty arguments: the fact that murder is barbaric, that the United States is just one of two Western countries (along with Belarus) that continue using capital punishment, that the death penalty is disproportionately kills African American and Latino men (which, under any other circumstance, would be considered a public health issue).

The fact remains that the circumstances surrounding this particular case leave way too much doubt in the minds of most thinking people to proceed with his execution.

The NY Times makes the argument eloquently.