Brad Marley

As usual, there’s no time for small talk.

Let’s do a cannonball into the links.

Go.

Coyotes reach out with Thwapr (ESPN.com) – At first glance, Thwapr sounds like something Sylvester might say. But it’s actually a mobile video-sharing platform that blasts postgame news conferences and locker room interviews to fans who sign up. The Coyotes are the only team using it right now. Just another sign that everything is going mobile.

Zappos.com success is not shoes (Orange County Register) – Zappos is known for their customer service, so we won’t get into that. I’m posting this link because CEO Tony Hsieh shares some great advice: the best market to go into is one where your passion for the work is so strong, that you could work at it for ten years without earning a cent. Heavy.

10 keys to pitching your story and getting publicity (Ragan.com) Well, that sucks. The content was free earlier this week. Leave a comment if you want the tips. They’re smart.

7 Ways a College Student Can Start Becoming a Professional Now (The Spinks Blog) – The proliferation of blogs has given rise to content that I wish was prevalent when I was in college. The class of 2010 and beyond has tons of great information — like this post — at their fingertips to help them succeed. Let’s hope they use it wisely.

Ernie (1918-2010) (JoePosnanski.com) – If you grew up in or around the city of Detroit, chances are good, no, great that you or your Dad or your Grandpa listened to Ernie Harwell announce Detroit Tigers baseball games on those hot, sticky nights that are so common here in the summertime. And if he was as much a part of your childhood as knee scrapes and trips to the zoo, then you may have shed a tear or two at his passing last Tuesday. RIP Ernie. There will never be another like you.

As always, find all of my links on my Delicious account.

There’s not a ton of content in this week’s Grab Bag, but it’s ‘quality’, like a perfectly struck ball off the foot of Didier Drogba.

If I didn’t lose you with that reference, let’s get it started.

No More Kool-Aid (PR Cog) – This is a doozy of a post. Basically, the PR Cog devotes an entire post to calling out a fellow PR professional named Peter Shankman. At first, I was all, “Whoa! Ballsy.” But on second thought, this reads like somebody with a personal vendetta. I’m not sure if it’s wise to air that laundry.

11 simple misspelled words that spell check won’t catch (Present Perfect) – The guy who writes this blog is a colleague of mine. (I have to disclose that, right?) But he’s also a writing machine. I think this post is always relevant because, well, I once saw a contest entry form that awarded a plague to the winner. Take a few minutes to become familiar with this post.

We Have Met the Enemy And He Is PowerPoint (New York Times) – This article caught on like wildfire (it was even on the front page of Yahoo!!) so I felt obligated to post it here. PowerPoint, when it’s not used like this, is a respectable and reasonable business tool. But some people go too far. Like the military. But at least we know they have a sense of humor.

Humor Can Create Engagements (Forbes.com) – In general, the business world is very serious. Sometimes, you need to lighten up and remember that most everyone has a sense of humor. Use it to your advantage when you think it’s appropriate.

That’s all I’ve got this week. As usual, you can read all of my links on my Delicious page.

Now, tell me: what caught your eye this week?

In this week’s edition of the weekly grab bag, we investigate a picture from the 1940′s that may or may not contain a time traveler, the coming PR-mageddon (hah!) that is multiple exclamation and questions marks, and an open letter to PR people who think interviews are all about them.

Please enjoy.

Time Traveler Caught In Museum Photo? (Forgetomori) – Fedoras? Check. Ladies wearing hats? Check. Gentlmen with their hair slicked back and parted to the side? Check. Wraparound sunglasses? Ch — WHAT!?

Touching on !!! and ??? (PRBreakfastClub) - Maybe I should reserve a permanant spot for the gang at the PRBreakfast Club because they always seem to write about the stuff that affects me in my daily PR life. This post is no exception. Are we all really that excited?

Every Team Needs To Embrace This Idea Courtesy of the Cleveland Indians: The Blogger’s Box (Detroit4Lyfe) – This is pretty cool. The Cleveland Indians recently instituted something called the “Tribe Social Deck” that gives bloggers and other social media users a chance to cover the game, which gives the team an opportunity to establish the Indians’ roots within social media channels.

Apple Didn’t Leak the iPhone – and Why That Matters (Gizmodo) – So let me get this straight: Gizmodo, a technology blog that presumably works directly with PR people on a regular basis, is essentially singing the praises of Apple’s PR team for their hardass approach to PR. Am I understanding this correctly? And, if so, what? Are we in some sort of Bizarro World?

Open Letter to Millenials (PR-Squared) – As I’ve read once or twice elsewhere, this blog post is “all kinds of word.” If you’re a millenial who is considering getting a job, you might want to read this. If you’re not a millenial, but are also looking for a job, read this, too.

That’s all for this week. As always see all of these links on my Delicious account.

Oh, yeah, one more thing: What captured your attention this week?

This week we’ll discuss how Twitter has rendered our parents obsolete, and examine business secrets from a fake boss, among other topics.

Let’s get started.

Has Twitter made my Mum ‘invisible’? (The Comms Corner) – I like this post because it raises questions. Just how important is Twitter? Does it seem more important to us because we use it on a daily basis, but, in reality, we represent only a small percentage of the general population? Or, is it important enough to impact our parents? Also, if my Dad signs up for Twitter, does that mean it has jumped the shark? There is a lot to consider here.

The PR Machine (The Flack) – This post examines New York’s Attorney General’s secret to his high approval rating. What is it? Uh, I’m not sure, because it certainly isn’t public relations. Talk about controlling the message.

Reuters Cameraman Dies, Leaves Seven Minutes of Violent Footage Behind (Gizmodo) – I have not watched even the bits and pieces of this footage that they have released, and I don’t think I ever will. But like one of the commenters so eloquently puts it, “…this dude had huge balls…he died so that we can stay informed.” Well said. Once we lose that, what else is there?

Emptying Your Inbox (PRBreakfastClub) – One of these days, we will all behold the power of Inbox Zero. Until then, here’s another post to inspire you to clean it out.

The Forbes Fictional Interview: Michael Scott (Forbes.com) - I don’t know if the brains behind The Office had anything to do with this Q&A, but whomever answered the questions on behalf of Mr. Scott did a bang-up job. It’s worth the five minutes it will take you to read this interview.

As usual, you can find all of my links on my Delicious account.

What captured your fancy this week?

Because it’s Friday I don’t want you to procrastinate any more than you should, so let’s get right to the links.

10 Tricks for Getting Inspired to Write (Copyblogger) – Any blog post that shares writing tips is cool with me. But I really dig the posts that find inspiration in everyday items, like magazine covers. Most of you probably have each of these tactics at your disposal right now. What are you waiting for?

How Ben Folds Sold an Album via Chatroulette (Chris Brogan) – Ben Folds is one of the savviest social musicians out there today, and this only confirms my belief.

18 Ways To Avoid Becoming a Human Robot (The Middle Finger Project) – Let me be the first person to tell you that I would have a hard time bringing myself to tackle any of the items on this list. But if you were looking for a list of ways to give back, I would recommend starting with this one.

At Snopes, a Quest to Debunk Misinformation Online (The New York Times) – Whenever I get a mass e-mail forward from that guy who plays in my fantasy football league, I immediately go to Snopes to determine if President Obama really did get sworn in with his hand on the Koran. It’s a lot of fun to let the air out of the thread.

The Sanity of Plain Language (WorkAwesome) – Like I said in my comment on this post, I believe most of us don’t use plain language because we risk sounding ordinary. Instead, we opt to write extra words that add nothing. How do we stop that? Beats me.

Memo: You Are Not Your Job (Life After College) – The gist of this post is that we do not exist to work, even though most days it feels like that. It’s quite a novel concept.

As usual, you can find all of my links on my Delicious page.

What captured your attention this week?