I have to admit that in many ways I do fall into the tendency of being addicted to gadgets.  The fact that I am practically counting down the hours until I can get my hands on the new iPhone G4 is testament to my level of addiction.  That said, I have taken very conscious steps in the past couple of months to find a balance and schedule in OFF-time from my various gadgets every day.  Gone are the days when I would sit in a meeting or presentation and check my email, Twitter/Facebook accounts regularly on my iPhone while also trying to focus on what was being said.  I used to think that I could juggle it all, that I was a master multi-tasker, but now if I’m truly honest, I realize that I wasn’t giving my full focus to any of these tasks and that really, in many ways, I was only adding to my stress levels and ADD tendencies (incidentally, I do believe that all of us suffer from some degree of ADD nowadays).  One other thing that I make a point of doing now whenever I have a particular work task to do, is log out of email, Facebook, Skype, Twitter for a couple of others to get the task completed.  Sometimes I also switch off my phone.

Learning to be more mindful and present in the moment is something that we all need to work on if we are going to survive this ever increasing digital information revolution.  I am currently reading this great book that I wish to recommend: “The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems” by Dr. Ronald Siegel.  What I love about this book, is that Dr. Siegel has done a superb job blending in science along with psychotherapy and spiritual tradition into a very easy-to-read format with lots of examples and helpful exercises.

It all started out as a closed group where you could communicate and share information with people you chose to communicate with.  Now, your default privacy settings are pretty much open to the world at large! I have no problem with all the features that Facebook is introducing, in fact, I find it all rather exciting and fascinating to watch.  All I ask is that you give people the choice and ownership over their own privacy settings, or at the very least, when you make changes to the privacy settings have a window pop which informs users about the changes and gives them the option to go and change their settings.

Most people that are on Facebook are not terribly internet savvy and will have no clue that there even is an issue right now with their privacy settings.  Even if they did hear about it in the news, they probably do not know where to begin to change their privacy settings. To go and change your privacy settings, please refer to this article in PC World: Facebook: 5 Privacy Settings You Must Tweak Now.

I followed news of these new features with interest and by Saturday became annoyed at Facebook after reading this article in PC World: Facebook: 5 Privacy Settings You Must Tweak Now.  Turns out that, yet again, Facebook has launched new features to its site and then proceeded to default the privacy settings for these features to being “allow”.  Why can’t Facebook default your privacy settings to being “private” and then give you the option to edit the settings as you see fit? Is that too much to ask? Anyway, best go help my family and friends update their privacy settings.

Please read the PC World post closely and update your privacy settings!

The next time you hear of or get approached about a workshop or services in social media, I recommend that you do a quick check online of these people/companies and their services. See if they are actually running in the race. Are they showing up on the first page of Google searches? Are they active on blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook?   Ask for a portfolio and examples of their work in social media.  If they cannot provide you with this basic evidence, then move on find someone else to assist you with your social media needs.

Social Media Icons courtesy of Webtreats.mysitemyway.com

As the impact of press releases continues to steadily decline, companies and organizations are having to develop more creative means to reach traditional media outlets.  At the end of the day, the most effective way is to build a relationship with relevant reporters. With the advent of Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc, opportunities to access these reporters have increased substantially.  Many journalists are now running blogs, and have Facebook and Twitter accounts.  You just have to do a little research work and keep up to date with their work.

Here are two helpful posts on Social Media etiquette and pitching stories:

HOW TO: Use Social Media in Your PR Pitch Plan – at Mashable.com by Susan Payton, the Managing Partner of Egg Marketing & Public Relations.

Ten Commandments of Social Media – at Noupe.com

I am staying in a gorgeous little converted attic of an old house out in the Co. Antrim countryside outside a town called Cullybackey (the corner of the river bend).  A good friend of mine is in the process of building and opening up a retreat center here.  It is a beautiful house with surrounding outhouses which, for the most part, have now been converted into cottages and event spaces.  Don’t let me start on the garden and lake! oh and wood stove ovens! I am obsessed with those now.  I will be setting up a site for this place, but in the meantime, you can check out some pictures below and at the Facebook Fan Page: The Dreen