Aug 032009
 

This weekend Gabriele and I were in Atlanta, and had the chance to visit one of our favorite restaurants. On Sunday night we had dinner at Canoe, a fantastic place we first visited in 2006 and had a very special meal with our friends Amanda and Russell. Often a place where you’ve had a special […]

Jul 232009
 
National Broadband Update -- the Path Starts to Unfold

This month the country took the first steps down a very important road – the expansion of broadband access to all Americans. Included in the Obama Administration’s $787 billion stimulus package is $7.2 billion for grants and loans designed to expand broadband access in the United States. For the first time our government has, in […]

Jul 172009
 

Recently I participated in a very timely online conversation on the topic of quantifying the success of social media. I’ve been a member of the Ad-Marketing listserv for a long time, originally started by the Morino Institute. Thanks to Mitch Arnowitz for keeping the list alive. This is a very hot topic right now, with […]

Jul 062009
 

Lately I’ve been enjoying a number of GSM wines, sometimes also called SGM. These wines are a blend of the Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre varietals. They are the dominant grapes of the southern Rhone valley of France and the grapes that most often make up Chateauneuf du Pape, the most famous appellation in the area.  […]

Jun 282009
 
A New Wine -- and a New Ride

This is a combination Wine and Wheels post. Gabriele got a new (to us, anyway) car, and in celebrating we discovered a fantastic Zinfandel. First the car. There was only one thing wrong with the white Murano we purchased last year — the former owner had been a smoker. Despite some kind of treatment the […]

Jun 222009
 

Last July I wrote about a serious security flaw in the domain name system (DNS). It was discovered by researcher Dan Kaminsky and got a lot of coverage: It’s Tuesday — Must be Time to Fix DNS There was two parts to the DNS vulnerability that quickly became known as the Kaminsky flaw. One was […]

Jun 142009
 

As I wrote about recently, my firm Strategic Communications Group has helped a lot of clients implement their social media strategies. Many times, this includes the launch of a company blog. But for a blog to contribute to the business goals of the company, it needs to build up traffic fairly rapidly. “Build it and […]

May 062009
 
Pizzeria Paradiso Still Just That

Pizzeria Paradiso has been a favorite of mine for many years. But I haven’t written about it until now, which just isn’t right. The restaurant has consistently delivered for years, and I’m giving it its due tonight.  Maybe the news the restaurant is moving a few doors down P Street to a larger space was […]

Apr 262009
 
Quality Blogging -- It Aint Easy

At my firm Strategic Communications Group more and more of our client work is in the social media arena. Usually a piece of the strategy involves helping the client launch a company blog. This can be a very valuable tool for thought leadership, spurring conversation and awareness and eventually for producing leads that support revenue […]

Apr 102009
 

This Thursday I attended a meet the media event put on by BusinessWire in Tysons Corner. These events bring together local reporters and editors and give them a chance to share their view of trends, how they like to be contacted, and the kind of stories they are looking to cover. While these discussions and […]

Mar 242009
 
A Positive Car Insurance Experience

Last month driving home from Silver Spring on a Friday night I was side-swiped by some guy in a minivan. The hit wasn’t major, he gave me a glancing blow as he cut me off in traffic. But it looked horrible, with damage and scratches down the back two thirds of the driver side. I […]

Mar 152009
 

Last week Gabriele and I enjoyed a get away from the daily hustle and bustle. We rented a well appointed cabin in the Shenandoah valley and brought our own supplies, including of course some wine. We also visited two Virginia vineyards, Rappahannock Cellars and Fox Meadow winery. The big winner of what we brought was […]