Mike Maney

Author: Mike

  • Turkey for Me and a Turkey for You

    Update: If you’re having trouble with the image link below, please try this one.

    Thanksgiving is a big holiday for me. It’s the one holiday where family — immediate, extended and those you pick up along the way — get together to, well, give thanks for what we have. For me, that traditionally means tons of people crowded around a too small table with kids relegated to a makeshift table in the living room, uncles crashed on the couch and Detroit football on the television. Tradition. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

    Until today. This year, we broke with tradition — and for good reason. Friends set us up with passes to the 34th Street bleachers in front of Macy’s for the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. (Rick and John, thank you once again!). I posted images here.

    We got an early start, lucked out with the weather and enjoyed the floats, marching bands and balloons streaming by right in front of us. The girls even got to see Miley Cyrus and Miranda Cosgrove up close.

    (For the record, I was able to keep some of the tradition alive by crashing on my sister-in-law’s couch after the parade — and after some great turkey — while the Cowboy’s played on the television.)

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  • Let the Flakes Fly


    What better way to get ready for the flying white stuff than with a few shots of yours truly enjoying the deep and fluffy of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

  • Web Linkage: GM + Marquette Basketball + High School Soccer

    It’s a big day on the web for two of my closest friends:

    • First out of the gate is this video on the impact of the auto industry bailout produced by GM’s social media team, led by Christopher Barger.
    • Former Marquette basketball team manager and Cracked Sidewalks blogger Tim Blair penned this piece on the Golden Eagles for NCAA FanHouse.

    Me?  The best I could do this morning was rank 8th on the all-time list of scorers in Hackettstown High School soccer’s history.

  • The Front Fell Off

    There’s usually nothing better than a client who stays on-message.  Take the spokesperson in this video, for example.  Try and guess what message he wants to make sure people hear.

  • Repurpose with a Purpose

    Social Media Killed the Video News Release StarImage by b_d_solis via FlickrOne of the things I advocate to my clients is the concept of content repurposing. To put it more simply: What else can we do with the content we have beyond its single initial purpose?

    For example, in the process of drafting a press announcement, most PR pros ask subject matter experts roughly the same set of 10 questions to get to the heart of the news. They then turn that interview into a press release (I’m being parochial on purpose here). Given the tools we now have at our disposal, why couldn’t we simultaneously do the following:

    • Capture the interview as an mp3 or on camera and post it as a pod/vidcast?
    • Repackage the interview into a Q&A?
    • Tweet good quotes as teasers?

    The idea is to do more, to get more, out of the content we have and the content we generate. For more, check out this post from SHIFT PR’s Todd Defren.

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  • From the crayons of babes…

    I’m thinking it might not be a good thing that I watch and read the news around my children (Image courtesy of my 8-year-old daughter):

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  • All votes are not equal, really

    US Senator Barack Obama campaigning in New Ham...Image via WikipediaThere are people in this country who should not be given the privilege to vote.

    Today’s Wall Street Journal is carrying a page one story about a trend among working class women to support Barack Obama‘s presidential bid. The impetus behind this shift (this demographic supported McCain until recently) is the belief that Obama will do more to help the middle class through the current economic crisis.

    What’s troubling is what these voters believe they have to sacrifice in their new support. A couple of highlights from the WSJ story:

    • “They may have to get over race.”
    • As U.S. economic concerns intensify, ranks of blue-collar females are reconsidering everything from Sen. Obama’s policies to their comfort level with his race.”

    I’m sorry, but if you are an American who still needs to get comfortable with someone’s race, your prejudice and ignorance precludes you from casting an informed and meaningful vote.

    On second thought, I’m not sorry. I’m appalled.

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  • A Tale of Two Women (The difference between Hilary and Sarah)

    South face of the White House.Image via WikipediaAt one time, there was a powerful woman running for one of the highest offices in the United States. I — like many others — held her up as an example of what was possible to my young daughters.

    Today, there is a different woman running for one of the highest offices in the United States. I — like many others — hold her up as an example of all that is wrong with politics to my young daughters.Related articles by Zemanta

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  • The Gray Lady Links

    I recently canceled delivery Image representing The New York Times as depic...of the print version of The New York Times. I did so not because I stopped reading the paper, but because the paper in Web form is so much more accessible and powerful. That accessibility and power is most evident in today’s column by Frank Rich. Rich supports claims in his column by generously linking to a number of past articles and outside sources.

    Why is this important? Because the links allow smart readers to, in essence, fact-check Rich’s claims. By including the links, Rich (and The New York Times) begin to blur the lines ever so slightly between opinion and reporting. And in so doing, begin to reclaim the power and responsibility of The Fourth Estate.

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  • A Smashing Success for Science

    Geeks. Pocket protectors. Propeller heads. Today, all of the playful, derogatory descriptors go away.

    Scientists — explorers, more accurately — fired up the Large Hadron Collider to recreate conditions of the Big Bang. Do they know what they’ll find? They have ideas, but the excitement of what they don’t know they’ll find makes this a brave and important experiment. Teachers from kindergarten to college should take a minute today to highlight this ambitious scientific advancement, to use it as an example of why science is so vital to what makes us human, and to encourage their students to break through the boundaries of the possible to push the boundaries of what might be possible.