Category Archives: rants

Free Yourself from the Tyranny of Sharepoint

Sharepoint is a plague upon the American workforce. This ubiquitous piece of collaboration software has taught millions of people that Intranets are destined to be places where you can’t find anything. It doesn’t have to be this way, despite what … Continue reading

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Washington Post, What Happened to You?

Washington Post, what happened to you? You’re the paper of Woodward and Bernstein, a beloved local institution and a veritable fourth branch of government. Coming home after a Saturday night carousing, I used to love to see the trucks lined … Continue reading

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I Wish I Had Tweeted More: Confessions of a Social Media Skeptic

I was there at the beginning. In 2007, Twitter leapt into geek consciousness at SXSW Interactive. Monitors had been placed in the halls of this tech conference, displaying what people were tweeting about. I thought it was an interesting curiosity, … Continue reading

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Books That Are Too Long: Swamplandia!

My favorite books are short ones. The Great Gatsby is a slim 180 pages. That’s all it takes for Fitzgerald to recreate the Roaring 20s and give us the quintessential American striver. Ernest Hemingway is a master of economy, using … Continue reading

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The Parks and Rec Effect

I’m quoted in this AOL Government article on citizen participation. The story makes the point that you can have a much bigger impact in your community than at the federal level. I’ve seen that in DC (the city, not the … Continue reading

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Adapt to Customers or Perish

It doesn’t matter what your business model is as a photographer. It matters what the customer’s buying model is. The above bit of wisdom is by Guy Kawasaki, who is quoted in an interesting article on rethinking photography business models. … Continue reading

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Should You Yammer?

I’m quoted in this article on AOL Government about using internal social networks. Imagine a company-wide version of Twitter or Facebook and you’ll have a good idea of how an internal social network works. They’re non-hierarchical, open environments where employees … Continue reading

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Don’t Outsource Social Media to Interns

I’m old enough to remember the early days of the web. Back then (not too long ago, the 1990s), organizations didn’t take this online medium seriously. The web site paled in importance to the newsletter or magazine, at least according … Continue reading

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Two Americas on the Streets of DC

On the streets of Washington, you will find two competing visions of America. At the Apple Store in Georgetown, a tribute has been erected to Steve Jobs, artist and entrepreneur. Loyal fans have brought mementos celebrating his illustrious life. The … Continue reading

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Steve Jobs at the Intersection of Liberal Arts and Technology

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, … Continue reading

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