E-Life

We will again be hosting a series of webinars focusing on Social Media and how you can utilize it for business. The series will run through July and include the following three webcasts:

July 16 , 2009: An in Depth Look at Twitter @ 2:00 PM EST Only $29
Learn how to twitter effectively.

July 23, 2009: I’m LinkedIn… Now What? @ 2:00 PM EST Only $29
Find out how LinkedIn really works.

July 30, 2009: Using Facebook for Business @ 2:00 PM EST Only $29
Find out the risks and benefits of using Facebook for business.

Register for all three today, space is limited!
Upcoming Social Media Webinars

Who will be presenting?

The webinars will be presented by Bryan Coe, President and founder of Blackbird e-Solutions. Before starting his company, Bryan worked for such well known companies as 1&1 Internet and Google. You can find Bryan and Blackbird e-Solutions online: E-Life, Facebook, Twitter, Bryan’s LinkedIn Profile

Here’s what people are saying about our webinars:

" It was absolutely great and Bryan gave a very clear overview of the various social networking choices. I too, need a little handholding. However, he made it easier to understand the benefits of each and where each of us fits in best." - Diane Meyer of Marketing by DM

I just read an old article (Speak English well, or get a ticket) about a truck driver that received a ticket in Alabama because a state trooper believed that he was not fluent enough to understand what the trooper was asking him. I don’t know that whether this guy was able to understand the trooper or not, as I never heard him speak, but I really I applaud the federal government for requiring people to be able to converse in English.

“Federal law requires that anyone with a commercial driver’s license speak English well enough to talk with police. Authorities last year(2007) issued 25,230 tickets nationwide for violations. Now the federal government is trying to tighten the English requirement, saying the change is needed for safety reasons.”

To preface, I lived in Germany for a number of years and although you can get by with English, at no time did I expect anyone to speak English for my benefit. After all I was the foreigner in their country. It would have been simply arrogant and lazy to not learn the language of the country in which I was living.

There still is controversy about whether English is the official language of the USA, but whether or not it was officially put on the books or not, it is. Many argue that the number of Spanish speakers is ever increasing, but the thing is, the constitution is in English and the laws are written in English. Bottom line you need to know English to fully understand the way the society in the USA functions. You can’t carry an interpreter around in your pocket.

I am a big advocate of internationalism, bi/multilingualism and tolerance, but it is pure arrogance (or laziness) to live in a country/society and expect them to accommodate to YOUR language skills.

So, my message to all those complaining that laws such as this one are unfair: Suck it up and learn English! It’s all around you.

Tuesday June 23, 2009 - 7:30 - 9:00 a.m., the International Business / Global Market Committee from the Lancaster PA Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be hosting a roundtable.

The event is sponsored by Fulton Bank and will feature Rhonda Kleinman, the economic development manager of the Library System of Lancaster County. The topic will be centered around exploring sources for finding information about foreign companies and industries, including economic and business conditions through databases, websites and print resources.

Come join us and learn more about international sourcing as well as the International Business/Global Market Committee. Register on the chamber website. International Business / Global Market Roundtable

-Blackbird e-Solutions is a founding member of the International Business/Global Market Committee.

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I just read a post over on adage.com called Why I Hate Social Media Because Media Itself Just Isn’t That Interesting — Not Even the Social Kind. Basically the guy is writing about how he is sick of “social media” and how people are so enamored by it. You can follow the link above to read the whole post but here’s a bit here’s a taste of what he had to say.

Here’s my response which I posted as a comment.

Tom Brokaw in 1994 talking about “something called the Internet.” Check out the Bill Gates in his appearance.

There has been a lot of talk recently about who owns your content once you post it online. The discussion has mostly directed toward social media and the social media sites. The discussion has been centered around whether you still on the content or of the social networking platform (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, etc.) owns the content.

I just read an article about a family that discovered their Christmas card photo ended up in a billboard campaign in Czech. Kind of crazy, right? Well, if you really think about it is not that far fetched.

The social networking platforms are pushing to have the rights to your content to use it how they see fit. If that is the case, it means they can use your photos throughout their sites and to promote their sites in advertisements, which could appear other places online. Now, in many cases someone could lift the image used from the ad very easily. Simply, right click and select “save as”. They could then use it however they want. They could even sell it as their own. Another scenario is if sites like Facebook start selling the images themselves. They are after all looking for new ways to create revenue.

There is also another thing to think about. What if it that happened to one of the drunken photos people so often post online. I guess part of the lesson is anything online can never be 100% secure. So, be careful what you post online.

In any case the family with the picture in Czech hasn’t discovered yet how their picture made it across the ocean. It will be interesting to see what they find out. Check out the article to learn more. Mo. family Christmas photo turns up in Czech ad

The webinar: An in Depth Look at Twitter that was originally scheduled for Thursday, May 28, 2009, is being rescheduled with the tentative date: June 25, 2009 at 2:00pm EST.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please contact us at 215-371-2957 or info@blackbirdesolutions.com with any questions.

We are so inundated with gadgets these days, it’s hard to imagine life without them. In Los Angeles a group of teens (15 and 16 year olds) decided to see what it would be like without the technology they love. It turns out it was like gadget rehab…