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Why do I heart Facebook?

Confession: I am one of Facebook’s 225 million or so active users and one of the 100m who actually logs on at least once a day.

Do you care to know why?:

(1) I have used Facebook as part of the communication strategy on quite a few projects with great success. I love the fact that you have access to demographic information to target your message. Some say it’s pricey, but what I’ve seen is higher conversion rates and ROI than with Adwords.

(2) Links on Facebook are responsible for 95% of my personal blog’s traffic. It makes sense if you think that 19% of hits to Huffington Post blog come from FB links, and that they are also the number one driver of traffic to the Perez Hilton gossip site.

(3) I agree with Hala Gorani from CNN: nobody emails these days! Email is turning into the new snail mail. 80% of my emails are work-related. I don’t need to send an email to my friends to catch up; they can learn what I am hallucinating about from my blog and what I am up to ... on Facebook! (that one works both ways, of course – the 'what are they up to', not the hallucinating part).

Facebook is getting more hits these days than Yahoo, and despite the unexpected rise of ‘rival’ Twitter in the last months, FB’s user numbers keep growing quickly (more than half of the users have signed up in the last year!)

Having said all of the above, I have one complaint: Why is 'Facebook' marked as a spelling mistake every time I type it on anything MS and on Blogger, when the word 'Google' is not?!

Archaeology in the 35th century

As part of a project I am working on, I recently did some research on a particular archaeological site in Cyprus known as the Saranta Kolones castle. The name, which is obviously Greek, means “40 columns” and it comes from the many granite columns that were found scattered around the ruins of what is believed to have been a 7th century fortress.

Nobody really knows exactly when Saranta Kolones was built or what for, but it became a UNESCO World Heritage site; I guess mainly because it is about 1400 years old.

So, that got me thinking...

How will archaeology reports of our times read in the year 3400? I can only guess it would be something like this:

“The Holecene Epoch complex of “2000 seats” is located in a vast plain and is believed to have been surrounded by a series of trading outlets where people use to exchange printed paper for goods. It takes its name from the many seats that were found on the site and which probably once formed part of this ancient place of worship.

The complex is believed to have been built at the end of the 20th century AD to perform some kind of ancient ritual. The building consists of a large structure divided in eight rooms which could accommodate a total of about 2000 seats. All the seats seem to have been facing towards one of the walls. No traces of images have been found on any of these very large walls that were about 6 meters tall x 15 meters wide; so it is speculated that the attendants used to worship The Wall itself during sessions that lasted about 2 hours each.

It seems that there was some kind of classification as to who could worship in which room and at what time of the day. Children were not allowed in some of the rooms at certain times and in some cases the sessions were attended mainly by males or females.

A reception area, common to all rooms, is believed to have been used to sort out the worshipers.

One privileged single person, probably a priest of some sort, could worship from a private room. This room was located at a very high level, opposite The Wall, and had a rather small hole through which the priest would either conduct the worshiping ritual or attend it in privacy.”

Now, try to imagine the future archaeological description of DisneyWorld!

The Krabby Kronicle

I miss doing press work.

That’s probably why I especially enjoyed watching The Krabby Kronicle today.

Yes, you guessed right, anything with the word “krabby” in it for sure has something to do with SpongeBob Squarepants. I’ve written before about my fondness for this cartoon character, and watching him pretend to be a journalist was the ultimate entertainment!

I tried to source the video of the show to share it here but Nickelodeon is very protective of their materials ... so I got a transcript of some of my favorite bits of the show:

Mr Krabs decides to launch his own newspaper when he realizes that the newspaper business “sure is easy money”, so he tells SpongeBob:

- Mr. Krabs: Off of your duff, boy. I expect you to wear two hats. 'Cause along with your usual fry cooking duties, you're my new lead reporter for the new Krabby Kronicle!”

But SpongeBob’s first story does not sell newspapers: he decided to write about Patrick Star watching a pole:

- Mr. Krabs: When you write these stories you've gotta use a little imagination, boy.

- SpongeBob: Imagination!

- Mr. Krabs: Yeah. Maybe instead of Man watches pole, you could say something like... oh... Man marries pole. Then you can alter the photo a little to fit the headline and, see? (Mr. Krabs modified it to look like what he said) Now that's a juicy story!

- SpongeBob: Mr. Krabs, isn't that lying?

- Mr. Krabs: Don't think of it as lying, boy. Think of it as... uh... A practical joke. You know. Something everybody can have a good laugh about. The public expects a little embellishment here and there, so I want you to go out there, and get me a lead story that will sell!

See? This is why I miss doing press work. No offense, but characters as entertaining as the ones above are only found on TV cartoons and in certain media outlets!

TheCatalist

I usually get pretty excited when I am involved in a new project and the latest launch I have been involved in has not been any different; especially since it is about my own country and I had the opportunity to work with a good friend from home.

TheCatalist is a fantastic idea from someone who knows the power of creating possibilities, especially possibilities for a positive change. In this case, the aim is to empower the relation between Mexico and the USA through a change in the existing conversation. As simple as that.

I feel very proud to have been invited to be part of a project which has so much potential. My contribution consisted in doing what I love most: advising on the communications strategy and building up the blog that is the core of the project.

I invite you to take a look and contribute with your ideas and suggestions.

The blog is available in English at TheCatalist.org and in Spanish at ElCatalista.org.

How to annoy people in a lift

Annoying people in a lift? Why on earth would anybody bother to do that if by just saying ‘lift’ you already annoy the entire American population?!

Well, if you are a pre-teen girl this seems to be one of the ‘must-know-how-to-do’ things high on your priority list, right next to ‘how to make your own lip-gloss’ and ‘how to make a candle’. This is according to “The Girls’ Book” that my daughter is currently reading.

So, it got me thinking ... if I really wanted to annoy people in a lift (a.k.a. elevator) I would jump in, press all the buttons and jump out of the lift before the passengers realize that they will be stopping at every single floor on their way to their destination.

But no, this is a pre-teen cute girly book, remember? So instead of depicting acts of mid-age cruelty it actually includes some really funny ideas on how to be annoying to others in a lift, such as:

- Say ‘ding’ at each floor
- Suggest that you all join in a sing-along
- Salute and say ‘welcome aboard’ every time someone gets into the lift

and my favorite

- Open your bag and, while peeing inside, ask “Got enough air in there?!”

I might try one of these at work tomorrow.

Or maybe I should just act my age and try that lip-gloss recipe instead.

Places to avoid when you’ve been drinking

So, it’s finally Friday evening and you are enjoying Happy Hour at your favorite place with a couple of friends. Before you know, the time is almost midnight and you are still sitting at the bar enjoying the company. Not difficult after one too many drinks!

Time to decide where to go next.

You might not know where to go, but whatever you do regardless of the state of your mind (probably very liquid), make sure you avoid any of these three places:

1. Anywhere close to a police station
2. Your boss’ favorite hangout
3. The zoo
   

Yes, the zoo. Think about it. You might end up in jail for drunk-driving or lose your job for making a fool out of yourself, but nothing beats being savaged by a tiger!

Tigers, I am told, cannot stand the smell of alcohol and will devour anyone who has been drinking.

I have also heard that you can buy a tiger cub in the USA for a mere $1,000 and that this is why Texas has the largest population of tigers in the world.

So, if you live in Texas or are planning to visit Texas anytime soon you might want to consider sticking to Diet Coke!

Whatever you do ... cheers to the week-end!