by Daria Steigman on August 3, 2010
Sometimes being a small business owner is easy. You have a To Do list–and you execute it to perfection. Then there are times that remind you to have a sense of humor and roll with the punches.
I have a killer post on my first impressions of the real-time Web. Trust me, it’s really good. But for 3 days (and still counting), WordPress has decided to go all glitchy on me. Apparently the software’s not fond of real time. So WordPress 3.0.1 keeps failing to update. One great post is in limbo. I’m getting random “gnarly 404″ messages.
I’m working on it, and hopefully I’ll have the back-end functionality fully restored soon. Meanwhile, I’m going to make progress on some of the other items on my To Do list. And maybe go for a run.
Photo by Fluid Forms (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Business
by Daria Steigman on May 31, 2010
Memorial Day | Rolling Thunder
There’s a motorcycle parade in Washington, DC, every Memorial Day weekend to honor veterans, and to call attention to the POWs and MIAs who haven’t made it home. It’s a good reminder to stop and remember why the rest of us get a day off.
Have a great holiday. I’ll be back tomorrow with a regular post.
Photo by Runner Alan (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Memorial Day,
Rolling Thunder
by Daria Steigman on May 17, 2010
I was on the receiving end of a push poll on Saturday afternoon involving Washington’s mayoral race. In case you don’t know what a push poll is, Wikipedia describes it as:
A political campaign technique in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll… The push poll is a form of telemarketing-based propaganda and rumor mongering, masquerading as a poll… They are generally viewed as a form of negative campaigning.
The mayoral race in our capital city is shaping up as a two-man contest between an arrogant mayor with an interesting take on ethics and transparency (can you say paid Dubai junket?) and a city council chair who’s real claim to fame is that he’s now “the other guy.”
But I digress. The poll asked one question: Which of the two would I vote for? I said I was waiting to see who else was running. Then I heard, “Vincent Gray for Mayor” and a hang-up. Then I got mad–and immediately called Gray’s campaign office to tell them so.
The problem with push polls is that they assume people are stupid. But we’re not, and the insult makes us mad. That’s poor marketing which will lead to bad PR. Plus, in my case, it has me questioning Gray’s judgment and his fitness to lead. How does that help his campaign?
Photo by Steve Weaver (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Adrian Fenty,
marketing,
PR,
push poll,
Vincent Gray
by Daria Steigman on April 5, 2010
Taking a day away from the office. It’s Opening Day 2010, and I’m off today to worship at the altar of baseball. Me, President Obama, and 44,000 other sports fans at Nationals Park. Have a good Monday, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
Photo by sigckgc (Flickr).
Tagged as:
baseball,
Nationals Park,
Obama,
Sports
by Daria Steigman on March 2, 2010
I was listening to the UStream feed from Hawaii on Saturday. While I was generally impressed with the state’s emergency preparedness planning, there was one piece of advice that I think needs revisiting. When asked where people should turn for evacuation details, officials advised checking the routes printed in the phone book.
With more people ditching their landlines and even more of us relying on the Internet and smartphones for information, just assuming people have a phone book seems out of touch.
Do you have a phone book? And where would you turn first for advice in an emergency?
Photo by Ed Kohler (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Hawaii,
UStream
