How do you define ‘Cloud Computing?’—Seeking video submissions

By Julie Tangen
There is so much hype and confusion around "the cloud." People are talking about it everywhere, but what exactly does cloud computing mean? Our client, Appirio, is seeking the best viral video that explains cloud computing to the masses. The winning videos will be screened on the floor of Dreamforce—the premiere cloud computing event which draws about 12,000 people—and promoted on Appirio's Dreamforce Central site. Oh, and the company is also giving away $5,000 to the winning submissions.

To enter, first create your original "cloud computing" video (no more than 2 minutes in length). Somewhere in the video, you must include "submitted for the Appirio Cloud Computing Video Contest." Second, upload your video to the YouTube group called "Appirio Cloud Computing Video Contest." You need to be a member of YouTube and to sign up for the group to submit it. If you're not already a YouTube member, don't worry, it only takes a second to sign up.

Entries are due November 3rd and finalists will be announced starting November 9. The final prize winners will be announced on Appirio's Dreamforce Central site (dreamforce.appirio.com) on November 18.

For more information please click here.
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Happy National ! ; : ( ) ? . “ - … Day

By Danielle Salvato
Yes, you read it right. Last Thursday, September 24, marked the “6th annual National Punctuation Day.” Each year this day celebrates “the lowly comma, correctly used quotes and other proper uses of periods, semicolons and the ever-mysterious ellipsis.” The goal is to get people to pay attention to not only their p’s and q’s, but also their commas, semicolons and ellipses, parenthesis, apostrophes, exclamation points, dashes and hyphens.

Former newspaperman and copy editor, Jeff Rubin, founded the annual day and successfully bid for September 24 to be listed as a holiday in Chase’s Calendar of Events in 2004. Since then, the Web site has received worldwide coverage. Although the day came and went without a lot of notice this year, even among those working in the journalistic field. It is no wonder given the casual approach to punctuation these days. With Twitter, text messaging, Facebook and other forms of social media, people have taken liberties in forming their own casual dialogue and language, aka slang.

We can all do our part to keep the English language grammatically correct by taking the following vows:

“I will use the apostrophe to show possession, not to pluralize a word.”

“I will promise not to use the apostrophe to show possession in the word its.”

“I will not abuse the use of the exclamation point.”

“I will promise to always put periods inside of quotation marks.”

“I will promise to spell out numbers one through nine, and use figures for 10 and above.”

For questions, please refer to the Grammarians’ bible, “The AP Stylebook,” or test your punctuation skills by taking a quiz. If you are serious about changing your habits and keeping yourself grammatically correct, you can receive newsletters from the Grammar Girl, a friendly way to improve writing skills, every day with her “Quick and Dirty Tips.”

We will revisit this again next year and all take the vows together. Period.
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If it Bleeds it Leads…

By Tanaya Cook
Are we living in a world today where controversy and negativity are the main topics that get the spotlight? President Barack Obama sure thinks so. In a recent interview with political correspondent George Stephanopoulos, President Obama openly shared his disappointment about media coverage of late. “The easiest way to get 15 minutes on the news or your 15 minutes of fame is to be rude. ... That's something that I think needs to change."

But popular tabloid bloggers such as Perez Hilton have made a full time job out of posting negative pictures and rude comments about celebrities, and every day people flock to read his latest rants. Have we really become a society where important global issues are ignored? Has newsworthiness been replaced by surface level gossip? I guess the age adorned saying still holds truth: “If it Bleeds, it Leads.” I’m off to go check out Perez Hilton☺
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Stand up for (insert cause here)

By Robin Bulanti
I’ve always been drawn to volunteer work. I dreamed of joining the Peace Corps but the closest I came was a year spent volunteering as an ESL teacher in China. Today I’m proud to be part of our agency’s efforts to give back, from volunteer hours to a number of charities we support. Volunteering expands the heart, mind and community. And heck, a little outside perspective is always a good thing.

Recently my colleague Tami and I volunteered as media clinicians at the Spin Academy, an annual retreat run by San Francisco’s Spin Project with activists selected for 60 coveted spots. Our assignment was to help train these non-profits in more effective media and communications.

I met some impressive individuals struggling with some pretty familiar challenges: competing for shrinking media attention, doing more with less resources—needing more hands or more hours in the day, sound familiar?—and somehow adding social media to the mix.

I feel strongly that non-profits must engage social networks now, and was surprised how many hadn’t yet jumped in for the cause. In my mind it’s a group that can actually “profit,” not just in mindshare but the real financial sense of the word, from social channels and online community building. Social media can be a way to mobilize people quickly, and a dirt-cheap soapbox.

We’re currently doing our own pro bono work for The Gorilla Foundation, and Koko the Gorilla, famous for her own communication skills. It’s been interesting to watch how this work breathes new life into our team, while all of our clients benefit from the perspective we gain championing a cause.
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Beat L.A.

By Scott Lechner
Here at Kulesa Faul it’s all about teamwork. From building PR plans to changing out the water bottle at the water cooler, I’m part of a company where (like in baseball) everyone comes together to get the job done.

We work together and we also play together. Several weeks back my colleagues and I went to a Giants game—and not just any old game—but a Giants-Dodgers game that had playoff implications. Our home team won on a walk-off homer in the 11th inning, no less. Aside from the win, the best part was bonding with my teammates outside the office, cheering in unison (and paying no mind to the complaining Dodger fans behind us who said we were blocking their view). The cherry on top though was seeing the Kulesa Faul name in High Definition on the Giants scoreboard. I think we all came back to work the next day feeling like a stronger group.

Our company has a pretty unique culture and our clients view us as a "well oiled machine." I believe our team-building trips have helped to strengthen our relationships and have led to a more productive team-oriented group. After all, it's one thing to collaborate on PR projects, and another to trade mustard stains with a colleague at the ol' ballpark. While both are important, the mustard definitely brings more laughs, and probably a few more memories. Go Giants!
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Am I Guilty of Being an Annoying Facebooker?

By Kelly Indrieri
I came across a CNN.com article by Brandon Griggs this week and couldn't resist opening the link and readying myself to judge all of the "annoying Facebookers" out there. Thank God I am not one of them. After all, I never self-promote. Okay, maybe just once or twice, but who hasn’t? While I try not to reveal the mundane details of my life, surely people would be fascinated to know that my brother is coming to visit this weekend, or that I cant sleep. And I never lurk on the pages of people I don’t regularly communicate with. I’m not a peeping Tom, after all! I am bigger than that (unless of course its my ex-boyfriend, but everyone does that, don’t they?).

Okay, maybe I am an annoying Facebooker…but only to a small degree. I am not a chronic inviter, I don't collect friends and I have never been accused of being a crank. At the end of the day, we have all been guilty of one Facebook offense or another, but one person’s annoying status update is another person’s insight into a friend. One person’s lurking is another person’s chance to say, “I’m over you” or “See what you’re missing.” Might not all be great things, but the one thing we ARE all guilty of is the addictive power of Facebook. In fact, I bet its open on your computer right now...if so, feel free to shoot me a friend request at facebook.com/kellyindrieri. I’m thinking about starting a new collection.
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Questioning the Future of Journalism

By Julie Tangen
I did a double take when I saw the San Francisco Chronicle (or what’s left of it) on the newsstand today. Sadly, San Francisco's last paid-circulation daily paper has dwindled down to just a few pages of content. It’s not just our city, though. Across the U.S. we’ve seen circulation numbers plunging, ad revenue dropping, staffs being slashed, papers folding and many others declaring bankruptcy. Why? I believe it’s partly due to the fact that we—as consumers of news—have just become too darn impatient. Today, Facebook, Twitter and blogs give us our news as it happens (for free) and the bottom line is that we no longer need to buy a newspaper to find out what’s happening in our world.

While it’s much easier to follow a favorite blogger or Twitterer, I can’t help but wonder if and how this hurts traditional reporting. A journalist (ideally) has a professional responsibility to verify information, check sources, print facts, portray the story from different viewpoints, and have a pretense of being objective. To this end, what a journalist writes has gone through some sort of peer or editorial review process. If publications continue to cut staff and resources, this level of responsibility will surely change. But will this change be for better or for worse? Do you think this new age of ‘digital journalism’ will provide new and better ways of telling a story or are we trading quality of reporting for instant access?

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