10 Easy Ways to Super Charge Your Small Business’ Yelp Presence | Hubspot.com I love small business who engage customers via Yelp (and other social media outlets). I like that they go out of their way to participate!

The Missing Google Analytics Manual | FutureNow This is going to be helpful in my Web 2.0 class next quarter.

Location Based Social Networking | Whrrl SlideShare Whrrl presented this at a Social Media Club Seattle event last week. I’m now addicted to their iPhone app!

BUSINESS & RELATIONSHIPS

Exiting a Conversation Gracefully | Harvard Business Review Somebody used one of these techniques on me while I was explaining Twitter to him today! And the technique worked – no offense taken.

Practice Good Business Kharma, You Might Be Rewarded | Puget Sound Business Journal Lynn Parker was a mentor for a group of 1st year MBAs this quarter. What she says in this article is very true.

Be Lucky – It’s an Easy Skill to Learn | Telegraph Yes.

How to Sell New Innovations Without Killing the Excitement | FastCompany.com I love this… A communication tool to keep in mind.

Warren Buffett’s Tip for the Rest of Us | WSJ.com Thanks Warren!

PRODUCTIVITY

Configuring Google Calendars on Your iPhone | Robert Chien Now I can know where Scott is 24/7, not just 18/7.

Easy Scheduling & Meeting Planning | Doodle.com I love this tool – it’s a way to vet meeting times, which is seriously handy among business students who all have different calendaring systems.

GADGETS

Microsoft Courier | Engadget.com I think this is cooler than the iPad! I said it.

Pantone Huey Screen Color Calibration | Amazon.com Mmm. Gift idea! I think the color on my new monitor is funky. This would be really helpful to have.

I was also convinced by the chance to use a new iPhone app called the “Cocktail Compass”. It finds nearby happy hours based on your location. I know other apps do this, but this one in particular was rolled out by the Stranger. And it seems very comprehensive, including an option for calling a cab that also gives you your current location. The app is free so it includes (fairly unannoying) ads.

I went out last night with my friends Casey and Jason… Now that I’m a student, I like to say that I’m “playing with adults” when I’m doing anything non-MBA related. While my classmates are also adults, our conversations are centered on our classes, professors, Spring Break, TGs and Pub Club, and foosball tournaments. We really are students. I like to get out of that space whenever I can for a little perspective.

Our original plan last night was to get food at Txori and then attend Ignite Seattle. Txori worked out and was delicious. Their La Abeja (rum, honey, lemon, thyme) drink is a new favorite. When we made it to the Kat Theatre for Ignite, there was a line out the door and around the corner. None of us wanted to wait. So we changed our plans and went to an art show instead.

I feel especially adult saying that I went to an art show! They are not normally something I seek out, but this show was featuring some artists I know through Scott’s work. Augie Pagan was one of them and had my favorite piece of the show. The tribal theme reminded me of a lot of the imagery we saw in Peru. Afterward the whole group headed to the Elysian for more adult conversation, and then I crashed at about 10:30pm due to all of the excitement!

One of the panelists at the conference, Tac Anderson, called social media marketing a “wicked problem”. Go ahead and click on the link… I had to look it up too. A “wicked problem” is essentially an issue that keeps growing as you learn more about it. This is exactly what I have found in my research of social media marketing. Opening the door to the topic is letting in a fire hose of information about opinions.

The channel is still very undefined, and there are a lot of voices participating, trying to come up with a common language and approach. Another attendee likened the current state of social media marketing to the negotiation phase of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. (I also had to look that up…) “This phase is characterized by several incompatible and incomplete theories.” Yes, exactly.

I really appreciate the topic of how to integrate social media into a holistic marketing strategy. I’m trying to put a stake in the sand on some of these issues, including:

1. Where should the social media function lie in an organization – is it marketing, PR, customer service, or something else?
2. How exactly is social media used in terms of messaging and customer engagement?
3. How is the success of social media marketing campaigns determined? What are the measurements and tool for tracking progress?
4. Are there common practices that can be applied to all businesses? Or, as mentioned today, do businesses just need to try social media to see what works for them?

Let me just say that none of these questions were answered definitively today, but the conversation was good. (Even if my brain still hurts.)

Location: Brisbane, Australia
Date Taken: August 5, 2009

I’m just going to put it out there that Winter Quarter pretty much kicked my butt. I let my guard down after surviving Fall Quarter, and wasn’t expecting the different kind of stress that comes with internship searching, classes that don’t have hard and fast deadlines, and case competitions. Good riddance Winter Quarter 2010!

On a very happy note, I’m going to be the President of the Marketing Club next year! I have a really great team of VPs who are stoked about getting the club more involved in external marketing organizations, putting on creative events both on and off campus, and becoming a resource hub for our members. It’s going to be fun. Are we there yet?

Location: Ayacucho, Peru
Date Taken: June 8, 2009

I’m excited to see them coming out for Spring this year. They don’t exactly cover my walk to school, but there are a few bushes growing by our building that I can visit on my way to the bus stop.

p.s. I don’t really have a favorite flower with a stem. So maybe that makes the rhododendron my favorite flower of all.

Location: Seattle, Washington
Date Taken: August 17, 2008

Zwicklemania Beer Festival: An Oregon Brewer’s Association beer festival. Scott and I only made it to two of the pub open houses because we were distracted by Words with Friends. Portland is a fun city to wander though… lots of pubs within walking distance.

Wanderlust Circus: I keep saying that this show was kind of like Teatro Zinzanni. It was smaller scale though, with better food, and horrible service. Our drinks were comped, which made up for it. And the show was charming.

Japanese Garden: A reminder of how lush the Northwest is, and how close we are to Spring.

We also went to see Avatar on Sunday, along with everyone else who was inspired to see it on Valentine’s Day! The theatre and adjoining mall were packed! After the movie we hit up Ground Kontrol, a mini arcade in downtown Portland. It was full of single men on Valentine’s Day. I’m not sure what to make of that.

Overall, a great breather from the MBA madness!