Successful online monitoring with Google Alerts and RSS

Are you using Google Alerts and RSS feeds to track your company's presence on the internet? How about competitors?

Since this blog reflects me personally, I choose to omit specific company names. As the disclaimer says, opinions and thoughts expressed here are my own and not of any employer, past or present.

A few months ago I set up some Google Alerts and RSS feeds to track mentions of the company as well as its other web properties, and the names of key management personnel. Also, at the management's request, I set up some additional alerts for another company against whom the company has taken legal action.

Most of the time I get false positives or results I'm already aware of. Yesterday, however, I saw an article (and several subsequent links to it via Google Alerts/RSS feeds) about that other company and forwarded it to the COO.

I received this email a few minutes ago (emphasis added by me):

Dan,

Your article yesterday on [THE OTHER COMPANY] was great. I shared it with [THE OWNER OF OUR COMPANY] and there was information in that article that our attorney did not know about.

Thank you!

[NAME]
Chief Operating Officer

Rich Palmer recently shared some good thoughts on Google Alerts, too:


For more information, check out the NewPR Wiki: What Should Every Company Be Monitoring? page.

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Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Get That Job!
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Connect on LinkedIn
Interesting Things I've Read

Related tags: daniel+johnson+jr google+alerts rich+palmer pr public+relations

New Media Cincinnati - June Meetup!

New Media Cincinnati meetup:

When: Saturday, June 7, 2008 4:00-6:00 PM EDT
Where: Panera Bread Company, 405 East Kemper Road, Springdale, OH 45246 (map)

This is an informal meetup for people in the Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Dayton areas involved with or who have an interest in new media (podcasting, video podcasting, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, social networking, etc.).

Everyone is welcome to come.

For more information on the store, please visit their local website: http://www.panera-centralohio.com/

The restaurant management has reserved the meeting room for us and politely requests that the group collectively spend at least $25 while we're there. I don't think this will be a problem.

The store has free wi-fi, so feel free to bring your recording equipment (audio and video) and laptops.

** I'd like for us to spend some time share some ideas on where we would like to go with the group. The usual free-for-all conversations will naturally follow.

** If you're unable to make it to this meeting but have some opinions, or if you have any specific announcements you'd like to make, please contact me.

If you have any questions about this event or the group in general, please contact:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
(513) 373-4442
danieljohnsonjr [at] newmediacincinnati [dot] com
http://twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr

Facebook Group: http://www.newmediacincinnati.com
Google Calendar: http://tinyurl.com/2caxxp
Twitter: http://twitter.com/newmediacincy
Jaiku: http://jaiku.com/channel/newmediacincy
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/newmediacincy/

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=17902141371

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Check out my other blogs:
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
Get That Job!
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Interesting Things I've Read
Are we LinkedIn?

Related tags: daniel+johnson+jr new+media+cincinnati cincinnati+meetup

Utterz from the Road - An Epiphany

In this Utterz from the Road, I share an epiphany I've had with respect to how I look at my life and where I fit in. Another burst of deep thinking during the commute. Thanks for listening! Feel free to share any thoughts you have.

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Utterz from the Road - Making your own opportunities

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Wikis and New Media Cincinnati?

I've been thinking about wikis lately, and these two videos have strengthened my interest in them:

Wikis in Plain English



WetPaint in Plain English



I've been thinking about the New Media Cincinnati community a lot lately, especially with respect to some things related to planning meetups. I've been getting a lot of suggestions via email (danieljohnsonjr at newmediacincinnati dot com), Twitter (@newmediacincy and @danieljohnsonjr), IM, Facebook discussion threads, etc. I keep wondering if using a wiki would be an easier and more efficient way.

So I asked the folks who follow me on Twitter, "Are you using wikis in your work/personal life? If so, how so?"

Here are some replies:

• claynewton @danieljohnsonjr I use wikis for work to manage deliverables and specs; in my personal life I use them to build knowledge w likeminded folks
• JeremyLuebke @danieljohnsonjr Recording of tech / design work fro websites
• davesnyder @danieljohnsonjr i use a wiki to store all of my optimization and social media strategies for my site. It is viewable by the company
• clq @danieljohnsonjr I have a personal wiki hosted on godaddy with notes, important usernames I hardly ever use, and anything else I think of.
• winemedineme @danieljohnsonjr my production department uses a wiki for templates.
• SuzyMiller @danieljohnsonjr Planning to use a wiki to develop sustainability policy for my small business.....
• writegirl @danieljohnsonjr I use wikis for both volunteer groups I'm involved in. It's better than exchanging 1000 emails back and forth.
• annezieger @danieljohnsonjr my company uses a wiki to share information not only among coroprates, but subsidiaries too

via direct message to me:
mjenkins We use a Wiki for the online staff at the Enquirer for storing and updating our production processes and best practices. It's helpful.

I asked if I could use her message in this post, and she replied:
mjenkins Sure, go right ahead. We are looking to expand the use of our Wiki across all departments (ads, HR, etc.) soon.

I also noticed some buzz on Twitter via Tweetscan related to wikis and shared that:
danieljohnsonjr Tweetscan twitter buzz about wikis: http://tinyurl.com/5koupw

After all these responses, I asked: "Related wiki question (thx for your help so far): which sites are you using to create/manage your wikis?" Here are a couple of the responses:

• clq @danieljohnsonjr Creating a wikimedia one on any server that supports databases is really easy. I use my own space on Godaddy, Works fine.
• sharemefg @danieljohnsonjr I have used tiddlyspot to manage my tiddlywiki hosting however since tiddlywiki has no server stuff could use googlepages

Do you think we should create a wiki for New Media Cincinnati?

newmediacincy How might @newmediacincy use wikis?

	danieljohnsonjr @newmediacincy Suggestions for meetup times/locations? about 1 hour ago from twhirl in reply to newmediacincy
	SteveGerl @newmediacincy: Contests where people have to post something, perhaps? about 1 hour ago from web in reply to newmediacincy

Should we put together a wiki for New Media Cincinnati? Feel free to continue the conversation in the comments below.

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Check out my other blogs:
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
Get That Job!
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr

Related tags: daniel+johnson+jr wikis twitter new+media+cincinnati

My Virtual Business Card

Rather than try to shove a boatload of information onto a tiny piece of cardboard and paper, I'm taking a feather out of Christopher Penn's cap and putting it here instead.

If you've received a card of mine, this is the page should find. It's all the stuff I wanted to shove on the card.

Daniel Johnson, Jr.

• Lead Developer for a PEO in the Dayton, OH area, specializing in developing Business Intelligence (BI) and Decision Support Systems (DSS)
• Public Speaker, Presenter, and Outreach Organizer, Podcamp Ohio
  
• Founder, New Media Cincinnati
• Founder, Host, and Producer, Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
• Member, Association of Music Podcasting
• Panelist, The Pod 5
• Blogger:
  
  • Get That Job!
  • QuotesBlog
  • Journey Inside My Mind Blog
• New Media Consultant, One Voice Domestic Violence Community Awareness Walk, 2007
• http://feeds.feedburner.com/OneVoiceWalk
• http://myspace.com/onevoicewalk
• http://flickr.com/onevoicewalk
• http://twitter.com/onevoicewalk

Contact Services

• Phone/Voicemail: +1-513-373-4442
• Yahoo: danimal0416
• GoogleTalk: danimal0416
• Email: danieljohnsonjr at danieljohnsonjr dot com
• LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/danieljohnsonjr
• Skype: danieljohnsonjr
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
• MySpace: http://myspace.com/danieljohnsonjr
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=623632641

Websites

• http://danieljohnsonjr.com
• http://journeyinsidemymind.com
• http://getthatjobonline.com
• http://jimmpodcast.com

I don't think this would have fit on a business card.

virtual+business+card daniel+johnson+jr

Let's meet for lunch in Dayton!

Get ready for another social networking opportunity!

We're meeting for lunch at the Subway located just off Miller Lane (I-75 Exit 59) next Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at 11:30 AM. Come meet other folks in the area. Nothing structured, just some good time meeting and chatting with one another. We may already know one another through social media; maybe we don't. In either case it will be great to meetup, learn more about one another, and more.

Can't make it this time around? Be sure to Follow me on Twitter to find out when the next one will be.

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Check out my other blogs:
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
Get That Job!
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
http://twitter.com/newmediacincy
Are we LinkedIn? http://linkedin.com/in/danieljohnsonjr

Related tags: daniel+johnson+jr dayton ohio meetup

New Media Cincinnati - Virtual Teams (20-mins)

At the May 2008 New Media Cincinnati meetup, Kristen Beireis (http://virtualhelper4u.com/) shared some thoughts about building and managing virtual teams online. The discussion lasts about 20 minutes.

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New Media Cincinnati May- iRiver Introductions

In typical fashion, I passed my iRiver around the room and had everyone introduce themselves. I believe this list is complete and accurate. Please let me know if there need to be additions or corrections.

In order of appearance:
1. Daniel Johnson, Jr.: http://twitter.com/…ljohnsonjr
2. Brandon Kilby: http://twitter.com/papstio (correction from what's on the audio)
3. Mike Stanton: http://twitter.com/mstanton
4. Jeff Hertlein: http://twitter.com/feste2, http://linkedin.com/…ffhertlein
5. Matthew Bitter: http://twitter.com/xiero (thanks Jeff H. for looking that up)
6. Neil, Laura, and Mari Smith: http://smithsoccasional.wordpress.com/
7. D.G. Hollums: http://twitter.com/Argon52, http://theguyspodcast.com/, http://praxispodcast.com/
8. Jeremy Laughlin: http://twitter.com/Phlegon
9. Joe Budde, Jr.: - http://joebuddejr.com/
10. Katy and Shawn: http://gameluv.com/
11. Angelo Mandato: http://angelo.mandato.com/, http://podcampohio.com/
12. Barbara Baker: http://kolbemarket.com/, http://twitter.com/BarbaraKB
13. Joe Wessels: http://cindaily.com/, - http://twitter.com/cindaily
14. Ram: http://xearn.com/, - http://twitter.com/ram18
15. Jennifer Griffin: http://twitter.com/jengriff
16. Heath Parks: http://batmangeek.com/, http://twitter.com/hpbatman7
17. Mike Cornett: http://vizmedia.biz/
18. Debba Haupert: http://girlfriendology.com/, http://twitter.com/…riendology
19. Kristen Beireis: http://twitter.com/…enthusiast, http://virtualhelper4u.com/, http://amazingsteps.com/

Facebook group: http://newmediacincinnati.com/
Twitter presence: http://twitter.com/newmediacincy

Other items:
1. We're looking for a bigger meeting place! Discussion at http://newmediacincinnati.com/
2. Podcamp Ohio is June 28, 2008 - are you going? Many folks from this group will be doing sessions. More info at http://podcampohio.com/

UPDATE:
1. Fixed URL for @newmediacincy at Twitter
2. Fixed URL for @xiero at Twitter - i instead of L

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Social Media Dynamics and other local stuff

Talked about blogging vs audio posting and other social media dynamics. <a href="http://webstandards.meetup.com/122/">Dayton Web Standards meetup</a>. <a href="http://newmediacincinnati.com/">New Media Cincinnati</a>. <a href="http://podcampohio.com/">Podcamp Ohio</a>. <a href="http://www.myspace.com/…lassof1988">20-year class reunion</a>. <a href="http://jimmpodcast.com/">Journey Inside My Mind Podcast</a>. <a href="http://thepodfivelive.com/">The Pod 5</a>.

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