It was my privilege today to speak to the Texas Council on Family Violence Executive Directors’ Conference. TCFV is a statewide organization representing a network of domestic violence programs that provide direct services to victims and their families.

Here are the slides from my presentation.

Like 2300 other hopefuls, I have submitted a proposal to present at South by Southwest 2011. This is actually for a dual presentation with Jennifer Wojcik (@TheJenATX on Twitter), co-founder of Pinqued. Here’s the description:

One reason businesses delay entering the world of social media is the fear of swimming in shark-infested waters. Even the most seasoned writer may not be prepared to handle scathing comments or a full-out assault by Internet trolls. This session will include examples from personal experience, case studies, with ample time for Q&A. Attendees will learn: Why every company needs a social media engagement policy and comment guidelines. Why an intern should not be in charge of your company’s social media presence. How to distinguish between snarks–verbal snipers–and attention-seeking trolls who are bent on disruption. Whether to allow anonymous comments. When to moderate comments or suspend them temporarily. How to handle negative comments and help steer the conversation to a positive outcome.

We would appreciate your vote, and I think we’d fall over backwards if you left a comment!

SXSW 2011 PanelPicker – Social Media Engagement Guidelines: Surviving a Snark Attack.

I’m also partnering with Lisa Petrilli on another proposal, titled Resources Roulette: Winning Social Strategies for Shrinking Budgets. The panel will answer this question:

While the low barrier to entry of social networking is attractive to entrepreneurs and small business owners, their resources–which include their time–are quite limited. Can these companies still create an effective social media presence?

Please click on the button above for the full description. Again, we’d appreciate your vote.

But wait … there’s more!

I’m honored to be included in Social Media Club’s panel proposal called Social Media Club: Building a Global Community. I’ve been a co-founding member of SMC since 2006 and co-founded the Austin chapter. Growth over the last few years has been phenomenal: we now have 230+ chapters around the world–every continent except Antartica. Kristie Wells, SMC co-founder, will moderate, with Jason Falls, Serena Ehrlich, Kevin Urie and me rounding out the panel. We’ll discuss how a grassroots organization can become a global non-profit organization. We have so many lessons to share that will help anyone who is organizing a community–online or off.

And, finally, Sheila Scarborough, who has written many popular posts for Every Dot Connects, has a panel proposal that is a must-attend for anyone with an interest in travel or tourism.

Check it out here: Tourism Catches On: Old Industry Meets New Media.

The link below is to a podcast I recorded for the AMA’s series on Toby Bloomberg‘s book, written completely on Twitter. While the book was written one tweet at a time, it’s not just about Twitter; the book covers all aspects of social media marketing.

Listen to the podcast here:

Social Media Marketing GPS: Twitter Tactics – American Marketing Association.

Download the free ebook here:

Social Media Marketing GPS

Public relations specialists were some of the first people to embrace the power of social media, and as a result they are often the ones leading the way in the social space, whether they are consulting with clients from an agency point of view or strategizing on an in-house PR team.

In the past decade, the Internet has had a huge impact on how PR professionals function. As of late, social media is changing the face of PR, as well. We interviewed 14 PR pros on the future of public relations and how they see social media changing the industry.

via Mashable: The Future of Public Relations and Social Media.

I’m honored to be included for the third year as a presenter for the Women Who Tech Telesummit on September 15. I’ll be giving one of the 10-minute Lightning Talks that kicks off the event. My session, described below, is a sneak preview of what Jennifer Wojcik and I will present at Blogworld and New Media Expo in October.

Each year I’ve been impressed with the great roster of presenters that Allyson Kapin and the WWT team puts together for the Telesummit. The cost is only $20 for seven hours’ worth of information from top women — and, yes, a few men — who are technology change makers. Click the link below for the full lineup of speakers and to register.

How to Survive an Online Snark Attack – How do you deal with negative comments, verbal snipers and the inevitable trolls? As women entreprenuers and techies, are we held to a different standard in responding online? Are we afraid of being labeled a bitch? Connie Reece, Founder Every Dot Connects and Co-Founder of Social Media Club International has seen it all and will discuss the best tactics to take on these snark attacks so we will no longer fear “but what if they say something negative?”

via Women Who Tech | 2010 Panels.

A short update I sent yesterday  sparked a small conversation on Twitter and inspired a blog post by Heather Rast, Market Where Your Audiences Are.

I tweeted this after receiving this text message from Jon Johnson, pastor of my church:

Please don’t forget this Sunday is Food Pantry Sunday. Food is running low and we need to restock. Please bring non-perishable foods this Sunday! You all are the best.

The intended recipient list for this text message was probably those of us in leadership known to prefer text messaging or Facebook updates to email. Note that two bits of information are carried in this short message: 1) a reminder of a church outreach that needs attention; and 2) five little words of encouragement: “You all are the best.”

If you don’t have a relationship with our pastor, those words might sound corny or even supercilious. But spend a short amount of time with the good reverend, and you’ll know just how genuine and heartfelt those words are — and therefore, how encouraging.

The Twitter responses and Heather’s blog post made me think of how churches, and other communities of faith, are using new media. Some, like LifeChurch, have thriving online communities and a full library of multimedia resources available for free. Others ignore social media altogether–and risk becoming irrelevant to younger members.

Most are probably like my church, somewhere in the middle. We have a Web presence–not what we’d like it to be yet, but it’s receiving great traffic–and we’re on Facebook. And now we have a pastor who sends text messages. Hurray!

Naturally, I’ve been lobbying for a greater social media presence for several years. We’re a small church and all our efforts are volunteer. But I’ve taught several people how to use WordPress, and I started the Facebook group three years ago–before fan pages existed. Now volunteers are maintaining the Web site and Facebook. Pastor Jon is great at engaging people in online discussions, and he recently learned how to Skype.

What is your church or community of faith doing with new media? Have you encouraged them to start using new communication tools? Better yet, have you volunteered to share your knowledge?

I was raised on General Motors cars; that was my father’s choice of wheels. My first car was a Cadillac–an 8-year-old one that my dad, an automobile dealer, bought for my 16th birthday. it was a behemoth V8 gas guzzler, and I loved to drive it. My current car is a 2002 Ford Focus wagon I bought when it had just over 20,000 miles. It happened to be the best car in my budget range when I went shopping, and it’s been an economic, efficient ride. I figure my late father would forgive me for venturing outside of the GM family.

I’ve been paying attention to Ford’s marketing and PR efforts since my friend Scott Monty was hired to lead their social media efforts. Scott was one of the first people I followed on Twitter, and I’ve had the privilege of meeting him in person a few times.

So I was really intrigued that Ford chose to reveal the new 2011 Explorer, not at a car show, but on Facebook, in conjunction with a live unveiling in Herald Square in New York City and in these additional locations: Toronto, Washington, DC, Miami, Chicago, Dearborn, Dallas, Denver, and Los Angeles.

Check out the Ford Explorer Facebook page, which served as the hub for all the day’s activities and a repository for the reveal videos. Scott was in New York, “manning the Interwebz” as he tweeted.

I watched a few of the videos and learned about the design and safety features of the new Explorer, including inflatable seatbelts for rear-seat passengers. That’s a great feature, and I hope it’s adopted by other automakers.

Oh, and I also registered in the sweepstakes drawing to win one of the new Explorers. Ford had announced that if they got at least 30,000 fans … er, “likes” … on the Facebook page, they would give away an Explorer. They went well over that mark last week, and the page now has over 53,000 likes.

It looks like nearly every post on the Facebook page has gotten over 100 comments, so there has been a lot of engagement with both fans and detractors. I’ll be curious to see reports on the results of the Facebook-driven launch.

What do you think about yesterday’s Explorer launch: was it simply social media hype, or does this signal a new type of interactive marketing event to not only reach but engage the masses?

Please indulge this off-topic post. It’s an important day for me personally, World Sjogren’s Day.

Sjogren’s (pronounced “show-grins”) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes white blood cells to attack the body’s moisture-producing glands. Some four million Americans, 90 percent of them women, are living with Sjogren’s. I’m one of them.

There is no cure. Symptoms can range from mild to debilitating, and the best you can do is learn to manage them.

What’s it like living with Sjogren’s? Well, just imagine ….

• that you are constantly wiping grit from your eyes, and eye drops afford scant relief
• that you can’t swallow foods like crackers because you don’t have enough saliva
• that your dry mouth causes rapid tooth decay and you make frequent visits to the dentist
• that your dry nose predisposes you to sinus infections, nose bleeds and respiratory problems
• that no matter how much water you drink, you can’t replenish your body’s moisture
• that your skin is so dry you use night cream under your makeup
• that you feel constantly fatigued and the doctor simply chalks it up to depression
• that you have episodes of joint and muscle pain with no explanation
• that for days on end you feel as if you have the flu, except you don’t
• that you have good days and bad days, but you can’t predict when they’ll occur
• that you’re sent from doctor to doctor for more than a decade before being diagnosed, and even then specialists disagree with each other

I don’t have to imagine any of these things; I live them.

Yet I’m fortunate. Although this is a systemic disorder, none of my major organs have been affected. I’m still mobile, still able to work, and have never been hospitalized due to Sjogren’s.

Click the graphic below to enlarge; it’s from the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation site, where you’ll find much valuable information for patients and healthcare providers.

I’ve known about this product for a few months and it’s such an exciting idea that it was hard keeping the secret. (But I did!)

As an Austinite since age 3, I’ve grown up in the shadow of the University of Texas tower. I’m also a UT graduate, and a lifelong Longhorns football fan.

So when I found out that the University had licensed a 1:400 scale-model replica of the iconic tower as a container for a bottled water product, I was “hooked” instantly.

It also did not surprise me that the brains behind this idea is Tim McClure, the “M” in Austin’s GSD&M ad agency and the man who created the “Don’t Mess with Texas” campaign — the most successful anti-litter campaign ever. In 2006, the famous battle cry was voted America’s Favorite Advertising Slogan.

Tim McClure, UT President William Powers Jr., and Steve Gurasich

The tagline for H2Orange (and don’t you just love the name?) is “Drink water. Bleed orange. Fund Scholarships.” Approximately 40 percent of the proceeds from bottled water sales will be used to fund scholarships, and the company hopes to create enough sales to fund $1 million in scholarships annually.

Other investors in the venture, University of Texas graduates all, are are golf legend Ben Crenshaw, business giant Red McCombs and former UT national championship quarterback James Street.

The 16.9-ounce water bottles will go on sale August 25, the first day of classes at UT. The suggested retail price of $1.19 to $1.49 is slightly more expensive than generic brands, but less than premium brands of bottled water.

Environmentalists will be pleased to note that the H2Orange tower bottle is 100 percent recyclable, and carbon credits have been purchased through Green Mountain Energy to offset any environmental impact from the manufacturing and transportation of the bottle. And the water? It’s collected from Texas rain water, and is purified and bottled in Texas.

Every Dot Connects’ long-time advisor and friend Brenda Thompson is handling publicity and media relations for the launch of H2Orange purified Texas water. For more information, contact Brenda Thompson Communications, (512) 461-5644, or email info@h2orange.com.

Facebook page: H2Orange – Drink water, bleed orange.™ Fund scholarships.

Austin American Statesman coverage: Fans who bleed orange can now drink orange

KVUE-TV video coverage: UT unveils H2Orange water to raise scholarship funds