For those of us who live in the northern part of the country, this is the time of year when we begin to look hopefully for signs of spring.  Last weekend in NY the temperature went over 40 degrees, the snow from the last set of storms began to melt, and it started to feel like the seasons were ready to change.  And just this past week I've noticed that it is light out in the evening when I head for home, a sure sign that the days are getting longer and that spring must be around the corner. And yet those of us who long for spring but have lived in this region for awhile know that winter has a habit of...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For those in sales and marketing looking to figure out how to use social media in order to boost connections with our customers and prospects, here's a white paper put out by Microsoft's Ad Sales team.  It talks about not only what they are doing with Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc., but also how they measure success and justify the time spent.  http://bit.ly/bIU7Gh Also, you might want to check out the Social Media B2B blog at http://socialmediab2b.com/.  That blog has several hosts who have been posting lots of good ideas for using social media in the B2B environment.  We're at a stage where we need to be actively looking for examples of how others use social media, and not feel like...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few weeks ago I posted a link to a vision for the digital magazine of the future as created by the Bonnier Company.  Now Wired Magazine has posted a video of a new app it has created to work on devices which run Adobe Air.  Presumably they will want it to run on Apple's iPad when that product is released. The point is not, "here's the future".  The point is, if you are involved in editing, writing for, designing, selling, marketing or producing magazines and newspapers, then this is an exciting time.  The genre is being reinvented right in front of us.  We just need to figure out what would work best for the audiences we serve. Anyway, here's how...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 1:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The new Director of the BBC's Global News Division seems to think so.  He's just told his entire staff of journalists around the world that using tools like Twitter and RSS feeds is a part of the job.  It's how journalists in the future will source stories, provide links to related articles, and listen to the voice of the audience.  Read for yourself what he had to say: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/feb/10/bbc-news-social-media I asked in a previous post how we could do a better job incorporating social media into our reporting and editing, to build closer ties to our audience and promote our brands.  It's a discussion going on all over the journalism world.  But I think the trend is becoming clearer....

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Joan Farrell, the National Magazine Group's Design Director, just sent out this note about awards won for art, design and photography in recent months.  Kudos to Joan and all the winners! *** I am very pleased to let you know that the art department has won several awards in three competitions in the past few months. This week we were notified that The American Lawyer has won two awards in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual and has been listed as a finalist for an additional four pieces. This is a national competition with over 7000 entries in eight categories. There were over 1500 entries in the Editorial category, with approximately 300 finalists and only 80 winners. The winners will be...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 2:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This morning American Business Media announced the finalists in its annual Neal Awards competition, which recognizes the best in business journalism.  Our publications garnered 12 finalists from 6 of our publications, a terrific showing.  As Aric Press noted this morning, what makes our 12 finalists noteworthy is that they are spread among six ALM titles and across our print and online platforms.  "Even in a difficult year, or perhaps especially in a difficult year, it's heartening to see recognition of the excellent work that's done daily, weekly and monthly in our newsrooms". Neal Awards finalists can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/ygvy7oy Winners will be announced at an awards luncheon in New York on March 11th.  Congratulations to all of our finalists!  ...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 2:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I realized today that this year I am attending my 12th LegalTech New York.  And while I really can't remember them all, this one does seem to have a special buzz about it.  The crowd has been huge and loud, just like always. And the exhibitors have pulled out the usual bells and whistles to try and catch the attention of those strolling the packed aisles, looking for the newest, latest and greatest in legal technology.  But there are also differences.  For instance, I see some exhibitors have gone back to hiring models to wear eye-catching outfits -- a couple were dressed as nurses, others as angels.  That's a good sign -- shows that those companies are willing to spend extra out...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)