Author: TechCommGeekMom

This is a really good article that I found on LinkedIn. The author’s point in this article is that social media is not merely tweeting out advertisements for a company, but rather a true strategy needs to be put in place to create a community and build branding confidence. It seems common sense, but you’d be surprised. Read the article for more details on how this is achieved. 

–techcommgeekmom

This is another great article by Darin Hammond. I understand Darin’s point, but I’m not sure if I agree entirely. I happen to think of myself as one of those people who likes to uphold the "tradition" of correct grammar. The one part of English/language arts classes that I always liked and did well in school was grammar. Grammar also helped me get through countless foreign language classes (I’ve taken courses for five other languages–not counting computer languages–and mastered none of them). Even if I didn’t master any of them (you don’t use it, you lose it), I was always able to do well in those classes simply because I had a good handle on the grammar of my native language. 

That aside, as a blogger, one needs some linguistical freedom to speak–or write, as the case may be. I remember taking a workshop recently about how to write more tightly, and the sample I used from my own work was a blog passage. While we could tighten up the language to be more effective, the end result, while more grammatically correct, was one in which my voice was lost. The corrected passage didn’t sound like me anymore. There was another blogger in the workshop whom I befriended, and he had come to the same conclusion. While one can still apply many grammar rules to a blog–and one should write as professionally as possible using proper grammar as much as possible–some license should be allow for the freestyle methods of bloggers. Allowing bloggers to write freely allows true freedom of speech, and allows the writer’s personality to shine through. 

–techcommgeekmom

Darin Hammond addresses something that is important to me too, which is balancing the time between family and blogging. I wholeheartedly admit that this is a balance I’m still trying to figure out. And no disrespect to Darin as a dad, but being the mom is very different in family duties. And while I do have only one child, his needs are a little different for some things than "typical" kids. (For example, he’s almost 13, and I still have to sit and do homework with him at night.)  Between work, family, and blogging, blogging has suffered for me over the last few weeks, but now that I’m back from the STC Summit with lots to talk about, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make up for that.  My being a regular blogger, even after all this time, is still a work in progress. Even so, Darin has some great tips here, and ones that I need to apply to myself more stringently. 

–techcommgeekmom

This is an interesting article that was brought to my attention by Cheri Mullins on Facebook.  You need to read the whole thing, for sure. Homelessness is more complicated, evidently, than I thought, for sure, after reading this article. Even so, I still give the young programmer and Leo a lot of credit for trying to make a difference. The ball wasn’t dropped–it was just hit in a place that isn’t where they thought it would land. I think it’s great that Leo still wants to learn coding. Imagine if he had learned coding as a kid–would he still be in this predicament of being homeless? We can only guess, as we’ll never know for sure. In the case of the young programmer and Leo, the end is still a good one, in that they are still trying to make the world a better place. The app is still a good idea, the initiative is still appropriate. Even if Leo never collects the money, it’ll still go to help others.  This is truly a compelling story that you must read. 

–techcommgeekmom