Naked Christmas

Naked Christmas (Story told to the best of my recollection in honor of Eric Lundquist.) It was 1996 and I was pregnant.  Too pregnant to fly to the annual company holiday party. (We kept trying to call it “holiday” party but it kept coming out “Chris-holiday”.)  The morning after, bright and early, I was in the office and my phone rang.  Eric Lundquist from PC Week (eWeek was still PC Week then) was on the line. 

NASA Social Media: Crowdpromoting in Space

Over Labor Day Weekend I received the exciting news that I now possess (temporary) NASA social media credentials and will be going to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida later this month to attend the media events and launch of the SpaceX-4 cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station. 

What Should I Tweet?

This morning I was part of a panel on using Twitter for business.  I always love being a part of these panels because I get to hear people’s problems, concerns and pain points.  (And I always get to learn something from the other folks on the panel.) The Merrimack Valley Sandbox crew always runs a good show and this morning was no exception.  Right off the bat, our esteemed moderator asked the audience for their questions.  Several came down to […]

Potato Salad and Crowdfunding Virality

Kickstarter did a great post on the Potato Salad project, examining how a rather unambitious project goes viral and rakes in more than $55,000.  (And if you don’t know what I am talking about when I say “Potato Salad”, what deep dark dank hole have you been crouching in for the past month?  Here, take my hand and let me pull you up.) The post examined how an Internet sensation gets started.

The Ladies Room – Part Two

I spent some time this week at the Maine Startup & Create Week – which was so well done, BTW — fantastic city/fantastic people and amazing event.  On Monday, one of the panels was called “Women and Entrepreneurship.”  I’m not sure if it was a stroke of genius, or highly ironic, but the panel was held in the Portland Masonic Temple — yes, the fraternal order of Masons which largely excluded women for centuries.

The UP Global Summit: Las Vegas 2014

(As many of you know, I also started Innovation Nights 5 years ago.  In this time more than 600 new products have been launched at our Boston region events and we are currently expanding into other cities. It is in this role that I write here today.) Recently I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in the UP Summit in Las Vegas (100 degrees but it is a “dry heat”.)  The gathering of 550+ startup community leaders billed […]

Dear Las Vegas Tourism Team

Can we talk? I know you are all awesome at your jobs.  I mean, “What Happens in Vegas…” is a true classic, spawning a thousand imitators but I think you missed something.  This is an example of not getting to know your potential customer well enough.

Cast Covers and Marketing

There’s a common argument among PR and marketing people: is the most effective marketing and messaging created by those who use the product? For example, should you stack your dating website marketing team with young singles? Should your beard trimmer PR team be populated with hirsute men? Or can any good marketer come up with the goods?