Do You Love Me? Prove It!

Because if you do you'll click on this link and vote up the SXSW Interactive '11 panel that I'm a part of with Tim Walker, Aaron Strout and Laura Beck. I've put the description below, hope you enjoy and you'll take the time to sign up on the site and vote (all of 30 seconds). Thanks!

The Steroid Culture of Social Media: You Use?

Ever think about taking shortcuts to boost your numbers? You know, the numb that show the success of all those interactive social media marketing programs. The numbers that decide your end of year bonus. The numbers that make you "important" to all those other social media influencers. I know you have. You know you have. But did you use those performance enhancing social media techniques? Humans are naturally drawn to shortcuts. Even when they are already successful. Take Barry Bonds. Not the Barry Bonds you remember with the bulging muscles in San Francisco. The younger, leaner version. The one who was with the Pirates and on his way to the Hall of Fame. Each day he worked hard on the fundamentals of the game. Then, boom, he was on steroids, a caricature of himself and a tarnished legacy. Why? The numbers competition. We all know the equivalent of a Barry Bonds in social media. Someone who is enhancing their performance the wrong way. Maybe it started with a simple list buy of Twitter followers. But then suddenly they were researching blackhat SEO techniques for a temporary boost in traffic. Then one day they wake up in a cold sweat after an all night Astroturfing session. It's time to get help! Join us for a frank discussion on how the steroid culture has infected the social media realm. We will discuss the signs of a social media steroid user, how it hurts us all and a 12-step program to rehab those that have already fallen down the hole.

Things I Never Saw Living In Boston: "The Town" Edition

Three decades plus was the amount of time I lived in and around Boston. I've called the borough of Southie my home for several years, as well as a stint in Charlestown. In both cases, guess what I never saw? I never say FBI agents running down the streets near Fenway park:
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I never saw anyone wearing a Bruins shirt that was, in any way, in good shape:
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I NEVER saw a nun that looked like this:
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I never saw a fight on the roof of a building:

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I never saw anyone, besides my friend Mike, pull off a purple shirt like this one:

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And I certainly never saw a bar this clean:

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This post brought to you by the trailer for "The Town":