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It is no secret that nutrition is a hot (and healthy) trend for Americans. Recently, I attended a community Earth Day event in the beautiful suburbia of Westport, CT for a client, World of Grains, new whole grain snacks. As I handed out samples and information to the families attending I was amazed at the detailed questions and comments I received.

- How much sugar?
- Does it have wheat?
- Does it have quinoa?
- I am on a gluten free diet.
- I am on a vegan diet.

It is apparent that Americans have read a lot about ingredients and nutrition and are hungry for more information. You cannot open a women’s lifestyle magazine without a new health food or study featured. The media is in a constant search for the latest “good for you” food and the readers are consuming it.

As a PR professional I really enjoy leveraging the experts I have on hand to deliver the facts to the media and in turn the consumer. Recently, with World of Grains we partnered with the experts at the Whole Grains Council to provide the media tips on how to spot healthy whole grains in the supermarket. The outreach benefits all parties — gets the word out about the healthy product options, highlights the organizations’ mission, sells the magazine, and most importantly gives the consumer the facts to live better.

If you’re paying any attention at all to social media, you know about Twitter. It’s all the rage in certain circles.

In case you’re not yet in the know, Twitter lets you give text message-length updates via the Web or SMS to people you want to communicate with. Simple as that.

Why use Twitter? Some people are still figuring that out. Is it just a waste of time? Granted it can be distracting. Do we really need to know what friends and coworkers are doing every minute of the day? In marketing and PR in particular, people are beginning to use it to get tips on stories from reporters, get quick feedback on ideas, and post links to a site or story they want to promote.

Sound intriguing? Spend a few minutes watching this “Twitter 101″ explanation. Decide for yourself.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OYHUOESHpVk

I’m already convinced that social media will continue to expand in its business applications and value. I find it hard to believe it is just some passing fad - like stone washed jeans. It seems others agree. ClickZ’s Enid Burns wrote a post this week on a report from TNS Media Intelligence/ Cymfony that confirmed that not only are marketing professionals taking social media seriously, but they are preparing to staff for it as well.

Soon there might be some new titles floating around the marketing office like:
- Head of Social Media
- Director of Consumer Generated Media
- Consumer Insights Manager
- Social Media Officer (SMO - yes, another acronym!)

I’m not sold on any of these names, but it’s good to see that people are thinking about making a more permanent position for social media.

Side Note: For those of us who find themselves already deeply ingrained in various forms of social media such as blogging, here is an extra bonus: Blogging is good for your social life! No seriously, Duncan Riley of TechCrunch discussed this phenomenon by posting on the study from Swinburne University of Technology which found Bloggers experience happier social lives due to the social support and friendship networks they establish. He struck up quite the conversation on the subject as well, with the comments still rolling in further confirming his popularity.

For those of us who have WordPress blogs and found it difficult to post over the past couple of days, don’t throw your computer out the window, it’s innocent… this time. In fact, the popular blog hosting service WordPress.com was hit with a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack that flooded the site with incoming data requests and basically knocked out peoples’ access to their own blogs.

I know I had some issues that involved some not-so-kind words to my computer as I tried to post to my blogs yesterday. I believe some others had trouble as well.

My issue isn’t the attack however, I understand these things happen and the folks at Automattic worked quickly to resolve the problems, but I am upset that they didn’t notify all the users. This IDG article claims they let all their users know, but those I spoke with were left in the dark. Hopefully WordPress will be more organized next time (oh yes, I’m sure they’ll be a next time) and won’t leave their bloggers glaring angrily at their computer screens, oblivious to the real reason the post they just spent an hour on got lost.

Being a soon-to-be-graduate, about to enter the job force, doesn’t look as promising as it once did. Just when I was starting to get excited about depositing a biweekly paycheck into my account (rather than watching it ever-so-slowly deplete to double digits due to dinners out and weekends on Marshall Street), it looks like I might have to wait longer than I expected before making my first million. Why? It’s all due to a big scary word – recession.

According to Yahoo, “Economists at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley say the U.S. is heading for its first-blown recession in 16 years, and a recent CNN poll found that 57 percent of the public believe the U.S. is in a recession already.” So what does this mean for recent grads and first-time job-seekers? Not good. Come May, most of us won’t be reveling in our new grey cubicles and starched-collar corporate wardrobes. Instead, we’ll be sporting our orange and blue ‘cuse sweatpants and the top we slept in last night as we aggressively produce cover letter after cover letter from the comfort of our own home and ever-familiar MacBook Pro.

Don’t get me wrong…I’m optimistic us Type-A, Newhouse grads, will be just fine. After all, the people who work at the CDC (Career Development Center) will be out of a job if they don’t help us get one, right? All things considered, don’t fear the R-word. Stick to networking. And if all else fails, become a bartender at Chucks.

So you’re going out tonight, and you’re bringing the digital camera with you! All those great pics of you and your friends havin’ fun at the bar, and plus it’s your birthday, so you’re wearin’ a crown and a sexy top. Great!

The next day you upload all the details of the night to your Facebook page, tag every one of your friends that joined you in the midnight shot of Cuervo, and blog about the ridiculous antics you all got up to. So much fun to share your life online! Right?

Of course it is, and Facebook isn’t the only venue. Blogs, MySpace, Twitter, Flikr, Friendster, Bebo, Gather, imeem, LinkedIn, Jaiku, Meetup, ok you get the point. There are hundreds more. The question is, as we grow more and more comfortable sharing our daily details online, how do we know where the line is when it comes to what is appropriate, and more importantly, what is NOT, when it comes to putting content online?

Maybe we should ask Mark Jen, Ellen Simonetti, or Mike Hanscom. Each was fired for blogging, and they weren’t even maliciously sharing inside information about their companies. In fact, all three were surprised that their company took issue with what they had written online, they were just sharing anecdotes, posting pictures of friends and having a conversation online, but in each case, what they had revealed in the course of blogging was ultimately considered inappropriate for a representative of the company to be talking about online.

Think it’s just blogs? What about that profile picture on Facebook? Or the wall post your friend wrote you? Just ask Charlie Barrow or Zach Good. Your boss might not be your friend, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know someone who is, so assume that everything you put on any social site can be found by anyone, regardless of your privacy settings. With 63 million active users, odds are one of them has a connection to your employer!

So now you have a clean Facebook profile, but seriously, you can’t control what your friends do! No one would ever hold you responsible for who you are friends with, right? Wrong. Just ask Officer John Nohejl, who is under investigation because one of his friends on MySpace has a link on his or her page to a porn Web site.

The moral? What you put online is not just a fun way to share with friends and family, it’s a reflection on you, your company, your family, your friends, your school and any other organization you belong to. In addition, even if you think you’re blogging anonymously, you will probably eventually be found out. (Fake Steve Jobs, for example). Keep this in mind when writing and posting! Follow guidelines for online interaction. And speaking from experience, never doubt how fast what you thought was an innocuous post can be spread to hundreds of people and create unintended waves in your personal and business life. The world of online interaction continues to expand, just be careful how you play in it!

I thought the agency vs. corporation discussion in class was really interesting. Having only interned for a corporation, I think this class will be really beneficial to me as I start to decide which route I want to take when I graduate. I enjoyed my experience so much at Carrier Corporation last summer and like the idea of focusing on one subject. Other past internships have also focused on one topic such as interning for our local congressman?s office, St. Joseph?s Hospital, and Syracuse University?s Athletic Communications Department. I’m interested to see what the agency world is like and from what we discussed already in class, the agency arena holds many opportunities to advance and a more diverse environment.

With all of the advances that social media has to offer, I’ve been a bit concerned by a few recent articles that are highlighting a sheer lack of decorum online. Healther Havenstein’s blog recenty highlighted a research report on the psychology of rude behavior. Bottom line is, if people have a reduced sense of identity, they tend to be rude and act in manners that they typically would not. The biggest issue I see with this is that your online personality can follow you as much as your actions on a day-to-day basis. This can effect you down the road in job interviews or in dating - hey anyone can Google you. That’s why I say - if you wouldn’t do it or say it in real-time, don’t do it online. You don’t want an improper activity to haunt you down the road.

As an avid runner my attention was drawn to Boston.com this morning for the story on “A Running Debate”.
This debate has been in question with runners and race directors over the past few months on whether or not ipods should be allowed during races. Last Sunday, I joined 12,000 other runners for the 35th annual Falmouth Road Race. This was my third year running the race and I did notice a drastic increase in the number of ipods and armbands on runners throughout the race. Nike has even caught on to this new trend in running. This summer the Nike plus running shoe hit stores designed with a transmitter that sends information about speed, distance, and calories burned to a runner’s ipod.

The day before the Falmouth race there were rumors floating around that ipods were being banned this year and taken away at the starting line. Within my charity team of 15 runners about half of us were going to be running with our ipods. Looks of panic came over everyone at the thought that their music would be taken away before the race. We soon realized that we were safe and that it would be virtually impossible to try to confiscate thousands of ipods at the starting line.

Music is a HUGE part of any runner’s training regiment, and when it comes to race day if you need the music that has brought you this far then I say go for it! Possibly it is a generational gap? My father a diehard athlete couldn’t believe that I would be running with an ipod this year. But I say whatever gets you through the hills of Falmouth and 90 degree August heat and if that happens to be your ipod and your favorite song on repeat then the more power to you! Not to mention, I think the Nike Plus will be my next pair of running shoes.

To donate to the charity group I ran for this year - please visit The Genesis Club and help us to “Make Strides for Mental Health”

Does anyone else feel they can’t do anything right?

I flew (or should I say attempted to fly) down to Baltimore via Baltimore/Washington International Airport from Boston’s Logan Airport. I was flying US Air from Boston to New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, then onto Baltimore. My flight was to leaving Boston at 1 PM, arriving in New York by 3:20 PM and then off to Baltimore to arrive by 5 PM. It was imperative I arrive in Baltimore on time. Why, you may ask? Well, me, along with four other friends and family were on our way to watch a three game baseball series - Boston Red Sox vs. the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards – and of course - I had the tickets.

My flight from Boston was about 90 minutes late arriving at LaGuardia so I de-board the plane and start running through the US Air terminal in order to make my connection. Luckily I had carried on my luggage. As a arrive at the gate for my Baltimore connection, the monitors say the flight is delayed until 4:15 PM. Ok – no big deal. I stand in line to find out why and as I am standing there the monitor changes to reflect that the flight will now leave at 4:35 PM – with no explanation.

I finally decide to go to special services to see if there was another flight to Baltimore - either on another airline or out of JFK or Newark Airport. I even inquired about flights to Reagan International Airport and Dulles Airport, both in Washington D.C. I of course have to specifically spell out my request to the counter agent, although I believe it is their job to find me another flight when the delay is their fault. I should not have to spell out the specifics of looking on other airlines and airports.

After the ticket agent insisted there was nothing else she could do for me, I went back to my gate. The flight didn’t leave NYC-LaGuardia until almost 6:00 pm – THREE HOURS late, arriving in Baltimore around 7:30 pm. I was supposed to arrive there at 5 PM. I was over an HOUR LATE to the game which started at 7 PM.

The weather that day was rain. Not thunderstorms, not torrential downpours, just rain. Family and friends who were also coming from Boston to Baltimore had no problems arriving on time using other airlines.

Needless to say, after sending my complain letter to US Air, I do not even want the free ticket they may offer. I will NEVER fly US Air again.