Facebook, Twitter & Blogging…Oh MySpace! 6-Credit CLE in PA

The ethics of social media for lawyers and judges is a hot topic and continues to evolve. On November 10, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute will host, “Facebook, Twitter & Blogging…Oh MySpace!” The six-credit CLE is being offered in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Gina Rubel will set the stage with an introduction to Social Media and will discuss social media marketing with Kim Jessum, Esq., and Kelly Phillips Erb, Esq. To register, visit www.pbi.org.

Free Legal Clinic for Small Businesses in Philly

Philadelphia VIP Sponsors Free Legal Clinic for Small Businesses Provided by Volunteer Corporate Counsel: http://htxt.it/b96b

20 Must-Read Articles on Social Media Ethics for Lawyers and Judges - The Legal Intelligencer Blog

In my latest post for The Legal Intelligencer Blog, I share 20 Must-Read Articles on Social Media Ethics for Lawyers and Judges. I encourage reading all of them. They are well worth the time. http://thelegalintelligencer.typepad.com/tli/2009/11/20-mustread-articles-on-social-media-ethics-for-lawyers-and-judges.html

The articles come from the ABA Journal, Staten Island Live, The Wall Street Journal, LLRX.com, Lexology.com, MediaPost News, New York Law Journal, Phoenix Business Journal, New York Times, Lawprofessors.com, New Jersey Law Journal, ISBA.org, Robert J. Ambrogi Legal Blog Watch, MSNBC, Lawyerist.com, Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania – Attorney Newsletter, and Law.com.

I added #21 as a comment after speaking with Kelly Phillips Erb (a.k.a. Tax Girl http://www.taxgirl.com)/ Want to Update Your Avvo Listing? If So, Start Policing Client Comments, Opinion Says by Debra Cassens Weiss.

Please let us know if you know of any artiles that should be added to the list.

Cooking Up Justice: Philly Lawyers Share Their Favorite Recipes

Carol Nelson Shepherd of the Philadelphia personal injury law firm, Feldman Shepherd, is not only a great attorney - but she's a winner in The Legal Intelligencer's Cooking Up Justice Best Chef's Competition. For the slideshow, go to http://www.palegalpubs.com/coj2009/

Overused Business Clichés Need to Go

Posted by Leah Rice

In the recent issue of Philly Ad Club’s Ad News, Jack Paolin wrote an article titled, “Cliches: They’re all around us” and I thought we could all benefit from a little refresher on the cliché terms that are used way too often.

Paolin originally got the idea to write this article based on a September 2009 column by The Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, Mike Armstrong, who criticized the use of business clichés. Here are some of the cliché terms that Paolin brought to light in his article:

• win-win situation
• thinking outside of the box
• best practices
• at the end of the day
• going forward
• Web 2.0
• low hanging fruit
• giving 100%
• hitting the ground running
• raising the bar

Paolin said that, “The Encyclopedia of Business Clichés points out that the worst offenders use them to hide. ‘By obfuscating, lying, confusing or just planning avoiding the issue, business people can avoid communicating.’”

The real reason behind these cliché terms is that they help business people succinctly describe a concept. Paolin wrote that The Encyclopedia of Business Clichés states that clichés “are actually quite useful, because they give you precise words to describe things that would be difficult to communicate otherwise.” I agree that these terms often sum up business topics, ideas and efforts so easily and just tend to roll off the tongue nicely.

Are you an offender? I cannot say that I have not been a cliché delinquent in my day, but let’s all work to be more original and to get to the point with our everyday business language. Going forward… I mean… In the future, I am going to make a consorted effort to avoid the use of these terms in my everyday business verbiage and I propose that you do as well.

When Twitter Silence is Golden - From The Legal Intelligencer Blog

Gina Rubel recently posted a great article titled, "When Twitter Silence is Golden" on The Legal Intelligencer Blog. To read the article, click here.

How Corporations Succeed with Social Media

Posted by Leah Rice

Amy Mengel of SocialMediaToday.com covered the October Inbound Marketing Summit led by social media gurus Chris Brogan and Justin Levy. During the summit Mengel picked up five key reasons why corporations are struggling with their social media efforts. But instead of focusing on negative examples of companies doing it wrong – Mengel highlighted a few of the companies that just get it. Below see the tips she mentions in her article titled, “Five reasons corporations are failing at social media.”

1. They can’t talk about anything broader than their own products. Mengel highlighted Kodak’s photography blog that Chief Blogger Jenny Cisney mentioned during the summit. Cisney spoke about how the Kodak blog is about photography and creativity in general, not about Kodak cameras. And I couldn’t agree more with Mengel when she says, “If a company is only talking online about its specific products and not looking for ways to connect to the bigger picture, it’s pretty difficult for people to be engaged.”

2. They listen to customers but don’t take any action. Corporations that are willing and able to make the plunge into the social media realm and ask for customer feedback need to be ready for public responses and to do something about it. Afterall what is the point of asking for someone’s opinion if you really don’t want to hear it.

Mengel uses an example involving Southwest Airlines. In her article she shares that, “Paula Berg from Southwest Airlines discussed how a simple blog post stating the airline was considering assigned seating amassed tons of customer comments showing a lack of support for the idea. This feedback changed the direction of their internal debate and led to a new boarding procedure that maintained the open seating arrangement.”

3. They aren’t calibrated internally with the technology. According to Mengel, a few of the summit speakers rebuked corporate Web sites for being glorified online brochures and that customers expect interaction. Similar to what Furia Rubel preaches to our clients and colleagues, summit speakers pushed the fact that content creation is key to social media success and every company should have a Web site with a content management system that allows for quick, easy content creation.

4. They’re not framing risk accurately. She also mentioned how, “NBC cameraman Jim Long said that often a company’s entry into social media is a clumsy, shotgun blast and that there’s an equal chance of looking foolish by having a ham-fisted marketing department launch a social media presence as there is if a rogue employee ‘goes off’ on Twitter. The risk of social media is not abated by not participating and social media has yet to be the undoing of any company.”

5. Their internal culture isn’t aligned for social media success. Zappos and Southwest Airlines were cited by Mengel as some of the corporations doing it right with a great social media corporate culture. Because these companies have corporate cultures reflective of their core customer service missions, they succeed with building trust and advocacy for their brand through social media outlets.

So here it is – participating in social media is not a life or death choice for corporations. Have a plan; be honest, trustworthy and transparent with your social media efforts; provide interaction with your customers; and be ready to do something about the feedback that you receive.

Thank you, Amy, for providing us with these easy-to-follow tips on bettering all of our corporate social media efforts.

Gina Rubel Seeks Twitter Followers - PR & Marketing

On Twitter @GinaRubel needs 225 followers to be able to follow >2000. If you're interested in PR & marketing - please follow and RT (TX!)