815,282,515 and 1 ways to get the most out of your phone system

Mike Bayer from Select Telecom was our special guest at this month’s BlogTalkRadio spot on the Council Blogs channel. The good news is that there is a lot of choices for telephone technology today. The bad news is there is a lot of choices in phone systems to sort through. An expert like Mike helps you appreciate more of the good news as he can offer guidance through the choices.  In case you missed the show live you can link here for the podcast. If you have a burning question for Mike you can give him a call at, you guessed it, 815-282-5151.

Wiki-way to get up to speed on Social Media

The total impact of social media on traditional marketing approaches is yet unmeasured. For people and organizations looking for a “quick” or “wiki” way to sort through the possibilities there is a solution. The Social Media Marketing Framework (SMMF) class from lept Like A Blog will get you up to speed in a matter of minutes. The basic class is 8 hours segmented into multiple sessions. Whether in Galena, Belvidere or Crystal Lake this is one of the quickest to learn about Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and WordPress in Northern Illinois. Beyond the SMMF class, Council Blogs is a blogging club that meets every week. Members get a chance to interact and share experiences, learn new tips, and get their blog posts PUBLISHED! If you are interested in finding out more you can visit lept Like A Blog.

July 5, Living with Freedom after the fireworks celebration

It’s amazing to see the fireworks industry alive and well. According to the American Pyrotechnics Association industry revenues have doubled from 1999 to 2010. In the U.S. alone, revenues in 2010 steadily increased in those 11 years to $952 million annually. At last night’s fireworks display it was hard to keep up with the multitude of locations lighting up the sky. Every point of the compass seemed to have the rocket’s red glare. What is the fascination with fireworks? One can’t help marvel at the technology and the experimentation of the different patterns and sequences that are commonplace today. A totally different experience from the one by one mortar-like approach remembered from my youth.  But alas, what does it all mean for us bloggers? We have to remember that the freedom that we all enjoy allowed for many dimensions. Not only political freedom but freedom of thought and expression. That freedom paved the way for creative thoughts that capitalized on leveraging technology for a grander lifestyle. That freedom allowed technical expression to launch the internet for instance. That

internet connectivity paved the way for enterprising computer programmers to allow sharing of graphical ideas via the World Wide Web. That platform allowed citizen journalism via RSS and XML. We see RSS as the backbone of the blogosphere. It reminds me of the popular verse that exemplifies the butterfly effect. In terms of the blogosphere I took some poetic liberty:

For want of an expression the word was lost.

For want of a word the post was lost.

For want of a post the blog was lost.

For want of a blog the blogger was lost.

For want of a blogger the blogosphere was lost.

All for the value of freedom of expression!