Address Is Approximate from The Theory on Vimeo.

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Perception is reality no matter how odd it may be. Thanks to Daniel Agee for sharing this video with me a whiles back.

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Thank you to everyone who contributed to my 2011 Movember campaign. I cannot thank you enough, neither can my ‘Stache.

It is that time of year again, you know, the one where grown men grow the elusive mustachio in an effort to raise awareness and fight mens’ cancers. What is this awesomeness you ask? One word, Movember.

For the second year in a row, I will be donating my follicaly challenged upper lip to help fight testicular and prostate cancer along with my MoBros on Team Boston, I am also being joined by the Mustache Kid (AKA Baby Espo). Each day, I’ll take a picture on my MoPage where you can track my progress or mock my foolishness.

To help make the event more fun in my fundraising I am selling the following items for the charity:

• $50 naming rights to the mustache
• $75 naming rights for the Mustache Kid’s pacifier (thanks Rebecca Denison for sending it to me)
• $100 pick the mustache style I grow for the month

Now each week I will be making an update video and the names will be referenced. Just think of t as a running gag joke that pops up each week. In all honesty I understand that times are tough and would truly appreciate any donation that you can afford from $0.25 to $100, as all the money goes to a great cause (did I also mention that I will be making an ass of myself?).

So I know you are asking youself how you can get involved, well for that, please click the giant CLICK ME link below or the Movember icon to the left.

CLICK ME TO DONATE!

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

The Jonses will always be the Jonses.

The Grass will always be greener.

So why fight it?

Why not take a minute soak it all in and appreciate what you have?

Chances are it will be more fulfilling than spending your time pining over what MAY be out there.

This is a guest post from Anne Weiskopf.

Within a two week span this summer, Boston was honored by GQ Magazine as being first in “The 40 Worst-Dressed Cities in America” and by two Michigan psychiatrists as “The Least Friendly City” in the country. So, what’s up Boston? And, is it causal?

Let me start by saying that having excellent sports teams is one of the greatest things about Boston. The downside is that a large swath of the male population does not seem to comprehend that what one wears to see the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots (hats, tee-shirts with stains, shorts, and sneakers with white socks) is not acceptable couture for other occasions. As GQ humorously summarized, Boston is a “Jurassic Park for fashion troglodytes.”

But what about the “least friendly” designation? Mayor Menino, for one, disagrees: “I go to all the events in the city of Boston. People say, ‘gee what a friendly city.’ Ask the cab drivers. They think we have a friendly city also. I don’t know who did this poll. I never heard of it. It’s one of those polls that some people I don’t think there’s
any credibility in it at all.”

Others agreed with the mayor, including Ayla Rosen, a Merchandising Major at Marist College and summer intern at Bostinnovation. In her blog post
Last Week it was Worst Dressed, Now Boston Ranked the Least Friendly City in America, she notes: “Just like the lovely people at GQ, the people filling out the survey might just be jealous that they do not live in Boston. If they think people from Boston they should think about getting out more and perhaps paying a visit to GQ in New York to learn about what it means to be unfriendly.”

Still others mentioned the history of discrimination in Boston as a cause for the “Least Friendly” accommodation.

Having grown up in Westchester NY, and having lived here for more than 30 years, I understand the perception that Boston is unfriendly. The truth is that Boston is both tribal (I think this sums it up much more accurately then ‘discriminatory’ does) and much more conservative and cautious then NYC. It can take years to meet your neighbors, but, once you do – they’ve got your back. And, if you’ve ever driven in Boston, you’ll know that Boston drivers don’t give you the warm and fuzzies.

So – can being the ‘worst dressed’ city actually result in Boston being the ‘least friendly’ too? Perhaps. As I identified in my 5th grade paper on what kind of mother I wanted to be “Looking nice helps because people are more likely to be attracted to nice, neat looking people. Then if you have a nice personality, they will like you. They probably wouldn’t have found out if you didn’t look nice.”

There you go Boston, words of wisdom from an 11 year old New Yorker. And Boston, as badly dressed and unfriendly as you may be, you’re still my home, and the rest of you are just plain jealous!

Anne Weiskopf lives in the Boston area, and has spent many years in the tech media and B2B market. She provides sales and business development services to agencies and companies who are utilizing social media strategies and tools, and will be launching a blog called “Rip Off The Roof” in the near future.
You can find her on Twitter @AnneWeiskopf 

Image - freefotouk

I know that everyone loves to produce infographics, but when it becomes something that you can create for yourself and does nothing but fan the flames of the ME generation, it is safe to say that they have indeed jumped the shark. Looking at these two below, I would be hard pressed to find anyone that could give me a real business value to them.

What do you think?

Sesame Street breaks it down from Wonderful Creative on Vimeo.

Thank you to the awesome Bob LeDrew for passing this along,

While flipping burgers and tossing back brews today, be sure to take a minute and take a minute to remember what we are celebrating today.

If you can’t view the video, please click here.

Be safe and have a great day.

Not the most innocent of themes for the day, but hilarious nonetheless. Enjoy and have a great day.

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This video takes a look at what the Exodus would have looked like in a Web 2.0 world.

Fridays are typically a day where I share the five best articles that I read in a given week. While I would love to continue that tradition this week, I have spent more time changing diapers than sharing and digesting links and articles so I decided to share with you five blogs that you should be reading.

Before you roll your eyes and say sheesh another list post or grumble at adding more real estate and clutter to your RSS reader, take a step back and answer these questions.

1. How many blogs are in your reader?
2. How many of them make you think daily? Note I am not talking the thinking involved with reading.

I am going to guess that the answer to question one is a lot and number two is not too many. This is mainly because a lot of ideas get rehashed and let’s face it with the information overload with number one, you just miss things.

So with that said, take a look at the five blogs below (in no particular order), subscribe to them via email (so they don’t get lost in the shuffle) and see if you find something that stimulates your medulla oblongata.

Personal Cartography - For some reason, I just stumbled on Tamsen McMahon‘s blog after chatting with her for years on Twitter and reading her on Brass Tack Thinking. Her posts are unrelated to most things I read daily, but they are a good swift kick in the pants to get me going.

In Over your Head – You may know Julien Smith as the co-author of Trust Agents, but what you might not know is that he is the author of a kick ass blog. I don’t think I’ve read a post where I can either say that he mailed it in or that I was left without an opinion. The Canadian blogger comes out with piece after piece of mind crack that have you coming back for more.

Geoff Livingston’s Personal Blog – Did you ever have that friend who was never afraid to speak his mind? Well in my online circle, Geoff Livingston is that guy. Now there is a different in speaking opinions and being rude, so I would also suggest checking out how Geoff handles himself with both his opinions, disagreeing commenters and pundits.

{GROW} Blog – This blog from Mark Schaefer is a perfect mix of general social media chatter, business development and personal insight. He is also one of the genuinely nice and helpful folks that I have had the pleasure of meeting on the interwebs.

Danny Brown - Danny Brown is the second Canadian on the list. He blogs on things that touch him on an emotional level and also things that touch on the social industry at large. Danny is also a great conversationalist that extends the shelf life of every post within the comments.

Bonus Blog – Digital Dads – I started checking out this blog/online show when Mrs. Espo found out that we were going to have a baby. I was instantly hooked, but after superstitions, shied away until the baby was born. Well I am happy to say that I am back on the horse and strongly recommend it to any dad or dad in training.

Are you a subscriber to any of these blogs?

Also what are your top blogs that I should be checking out? Please leave them in the comments below.

I also implore you to check out these blogs and let me know what you think at the end of a week.

Image – Student Branding

My buddy Nick Gosselin passed this along to me and I had to share, because it is hilarious. It also seems like a better forecast than we don’t know.

This is a great video that looks at what truly motivates people across the world.

Do you have a social media policy for your organization? Have you written one? Do you want to learn more on the topic?

If you answered yes to any of those three questions, today is your lucky day. Dierdre Breakenridge and Valerie Simon asked me to sit on a panel for #PRStudchat tonight from 8:30-9:30 p.m. EDT to discuss the topic along with Diane Gomez (@gomezdm), PR Manager at the Public Relations Society of America,  and Ryan Gerds, Public Information Officer at Munroe Regional Medical Center (@munroeregional).

For more information on #prstudchat or this specific chat, please click here.

Hope to see you there.

Over the past few months, the popular hashtags Snoloko, Snopacalypse, and Snowmageddeon have been very popular in the social space (editors note, while I hate them, I tagged into one for a foursquare badge. I am an addict I know). The TV news has been on snow watch and schools were cancelled.

Overall you would think that it was the end of the world in the Northeastern quadrant of the United States. This white stuff that falls from the sky was ruining everything. Funny thing is that EVERYONE has missed the point.

If you live in the Northeast from New Jersey to Maine, you can expect to see snow in the winter. It is a fact of life, it is cold and it happens. Kind of like heading to the Jersey Shore and seeing meatheads coming out of the woodwork.

Sure it sucks, but it is not the end of the world.