Using Social Media to Influence Public Policy
One of the questions that I've heard from people interested in A Bigger Voice is, "How can I influence public policy?" This is an interesting question. I think it requires BOTH top-down (interacting with individuals at the top of an...
Big, Bold Choices
A friend sent me the link to her new blog, part of a "citizen blogger site" set up by the Houston Chronicle. I rarely plug personal blogs (as opposed to ones that specialize in a discipline, like marketing or social...
Online Communities
The ABV pilot has been exploring community-building for the past month. Part of our research and learning has been finding thriving online communities and understanding what makes them work so well. A few interesting communities that we've identified: Rosa Say's...
Simple Missions
In reading this article about Adolph Kiefer, a 90-year old legend among Olympic swimmers, I learned something about mission statements. Kiefer, an Olympic medalist from the 1936 games, has owned a catalog company supplying all types of aquatic equipment for...
Are We So Successful That We’ve Lost Our Way?
In a call with a mentor today, he talked about a company that proactively challenges whether they are drinking their own Kool-Aid. How? By seeking a third party assessment of how they do business, when business is going well. The...
9 Myths About Blogging
I've been blogging since 2005. Blogging has become second nature to me. It's a discipline and a pleasure (yes, it may sound like an oxymoron, but it's not)that continues to provide unexpected dividends. After starting and maintaining three blogs and...
Advice from an Entrepreneur: Do The Right Thing
I was surprised when I received an ezine from my online backup service. The founder of the company wrote a personal note to customers, not about the biz or about a new services. Instead, he wrote about a 1962 movie,...
Encore Study
I recently posted on my other blog about the book, Encore, by Marc Freedman. The subtitle is "Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life." A wonderful community around the ideas in the book is forming at Encore.org....