SEPTEMBER 23, AT 1 PM(CT) at  www.briancuban.com/cuban-live/

The Internet is full of those claiming to be social media experts and gurus. They often claim to be able to help you translate their expertise to your social media wealth, often charging significant amount of money for their input. This has been an especially new phenomenon in the legal field with attorneys leaving the practice of law to enter the social media arena as “life coaches”.  What does all this mean if anything?  Are their any true objective criteria for someone to legitimately claim social media expertise in any field of endeavor?

An entertaining panel discussion will try to flesh out the fact and the fiction with regards to self-proclaimed social media experts. The panel consists of:

Lewis Howes (@LewisHowes)

Lewis is a previous two sport collegiate All-American, is also the NCAA All-Division Record Holder for the most receiving yards in a single football game (418 yards, currently an unofficial World Record). Lewis graduated with a Sports Management degree from Principia College, and since his retirement from professional football, he continues to stay involved in the sports industry with his work through founding the Sports Executives Association and SportsNetworker.com. SportsNetworker.com is a site that connects sports professionals in the industry. He also represents sports companies and professional athletes with social media marketing and branding.

Lewis is also co-author of LinkedWorking: Generating Success on LinkedIn the Worlds Largest Professional Networking Website. In addition to this book, Lewis helps professionals and companies achieve greater return on the time they devote to LinkedIn and other social networking through his acclaimed training seminars, one-on-one coaching sessions, and corporate consulting programs. He also creates opportunities for online connections to gather face-to-face through his live “LinkedWorking” events around the country.

Attorney Brian Tannebaum     (@BTannebaum)

A former American Bar Association National Trial Champion, Mr. Tannebaum, managing partner in the law firm of Tannebaum and Weiss began his career as a trial lawyer in the largest public defender’s office in the State of Florida, where he handled hundreds of criminal cases. After entering private practice, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and is one of only two members of the association to have received all three Presidential Service Awards. He is a frequent lecturer, having spoken at statewide and local seminars including The Florida bar Annual Meeting, “Showcase on Sentencing,” “Basic Criminal Law,” “Practicing with Professionalism,” and his own seminars entitled “The Practice,” and “What Every Civil Lawyer Needs to Know About Criminal Law.”

Brian has been especially vocal on twitter with regards to attorney’s who move into the social media arena as “Life Coaches” and the like.

Reggie Saddler(@zaibatsu)

Also known in the social media world as” Zaibatsu” Reggie with close to 100k followers is considered one of the more influential Twitter elite.

Reggie is also well-known for being the #4 Digg user of all time- until he was abruptly and arbitrarily banned last September, along with several other power users.

Reggie is also the co-host of The Drill Down, a popular social media podcast, along with Andrew Sorcini (Mr. BabyMan), Muhammad Saleem and Lidija Davis.

To watch or listen to this entertaining live discussion simply need to point your browser to THE REVOLUTION RANT LIVE on September 23rd  at 1pm (CT)!

Its that simple!

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Is the future of traditional print media hanging on the most basic and vital of  human functions?  Are the futures of The New York Times Company,  The Tribune Compnay and McClatchy, hinging on an uptick in sales of Charmin Toilet Paper?

The toilet is the one place of solitude and self discovery that the information super-highway has yet to penetrate save the occasional toilet tweet, text or phone call for those of us anal enough to fear even the most fleeting loss of connectivity to the news of the moment.  A place where the traditional old school newspaper and magazine dominates.

The average person spends 3-4 years of an average lifetime sitting on the toilet.  How much of that time do we spend reading? What are we reading?  In my house the only traditional print media that is read is done on the toilet.  Right now in my bathroom, magazine holder there are the following publications:

1. Sunday Dallas Morning News.  I only read the daily online.  Never buy the daily print version.

2. The Wall Street Journal. I never access the online version. I only read the print on the can every morning and generally have it finished by the end of the day.( I work at home)

3. Time Magazine:  The only time I read it is on the toilet.  I subscribed  specifically to be read there.

What’s the publication of choice when you take the throne?  People? US? Redbook? Are you seeing a trend here?  Can we monetize this?  While the information highway of my laptop is instantaneous, if I have to choose between “poop or scoop”  I choose poop and the time-delay of  traditional toilet-paper enhanced media every time.  So you do.  Admit it!  Newspapers and other struggling publications are failing to capitalize on this mandate. The mandate is such:

When given the choice of  poop or scoop, people will choose the former every times and gravitate to traditional print media in the  process. People also sit longer and hence read longer if the toilet papers is high quality.  Partner with the Charmin’s, Scotts, and Cottonelles of the world.  You have a a focused captive audience!

In the meantime, I will be waiting for delivery of  my Charmin sponsored Wall Street Journal-FTE (Flushable Toilet Edition).  Can’t wait too long.. gotta go…. gotta go!

Copyright 2009

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About 18 years ago I went on a blind date.  That in itself is not remarkable.  I have been on quite a few of those in my day.  She was very striking in appearance.  She was just a little shorter than I am at 6’2, blond hair and piercing blue eyes. While I can not remember it off hand, I do remember her last name was pure unadulterated German.  There was no mistaking this girl’s ancestry was Rhine wine through and through.

After our third date she offered to cook me dinner.  Being that I never had more than a box of rice and 6 pack of Tab in my kitchen(not much as changed on that front) I took her up on it.

When I entered her apartment what I saw took my breath away.  On her mantle above the fireplace was a Waffen SS Helmet ,Hitler Youth Knife and some type of decorative Swastika. The Waffen SS is a notorious Nazi military unit considered  part of the “tip of the sword” in the planning and implementation of The Holocaust.

I couldn’t breath.  I walked to the fireplace and picked up the Hitler Youth Knife.   Trying to remain clam, and in a steady voice,  I quietly asked her where she got them.  She told me her deceased grandfather had served in the German army and had passed the items on to her.  Breathing a little heavier and in a higher pitched voice I asked her if she knew I was Jewish.  She stated that she had no idea what my religion was and that  she was deeply sorry if the items offended me.  I did not say another word, turned around and walked out.  That was that.

I had no reason to believe she was Antisemitic.  In hindsight 18 years later, I believe the only context around the items was to show off what her grandfather had given  her.  To this day I have no idea if she even knew the “Jewish significance” of the items.  Believe it or not, there are many out there who have limited,if any comprehension of the Holocaust. They are not deniers, just uneducated on the subject beyond the woefully inadequate coverage in their high school history class.

None of that ran through my mind 18 years ago.  As I held that Hitler youth knife, she was Hitler incarnate.  While her background ruled out a compatible future, beyond that, was I being fair?  Context is everything.

I never thought of that incident again until today.   I was jogged back to that evening by reading a series of articles full of accusations, retorts and supposition surrounding a Huffington Post Blogger’s collection of Nazi Memorabilia.

Marc Garlasco, is a former Pentagon intelligence officer, and senior military analyst of Human Rights Watch(HRW).  He has been a harsh critic of Israel, accusing the state of war crimes.

It is now being reported that  that Garlasco is an avid collector of Nazi and American wartime memorabilia. He has also reportedly made what some would consider insensitive and inappropriate remarks on memorabilia collector web sites with regards to some of his Nazi artifacts.

Many bloggers and other critics have tagged him as a Nazi, Nazi Sympathizer etc.  They have called into question his past and future credibility in work that in some aspects by it’s very nature innately carries the specter of Nazi Germany and The Holocaust.

Garlasco responded with an article in the Huffington Post defending his right to collect such memorabilia and providing the context for the collection.

In my mind, understanding the context of such activities is vital in coming to judgment about them and him or anyone who collects controversial historical artifacts that by their very nature offend certain groups.  Nazi memorabilia would certainly fall within that classification.

Context is important because  the collection and display of Nazi memorabilia  can be and often is a form of Anti-Semitic hate speech in itself.  eBay recognized this when it banned the buying and selling of such merchandise world wide.

Would I be offended if someone had a Nazi Swastika framed or displayed on the wall of their home even if I knew he was a collector? Absolutely.  The only context I take from that is at worst Antisemitism and at least, crass insensitivity to who may lay eyes on it and be offended. I would not even ask for an explanation.  I am out of there never to return.

If I walk into that same collector’s home and saw a plaque with various signs and patches of the Axis, including a Swastika, on one side and of the Allies on the other?   That has a different context to me and I probably would not be offended.  I would want to know more. I would at least want more information to gain better context to know what I am dealing with.

Are there some Nazi items that are so closely associated with human suffering as to transcend appropriate historical context for a legitimate personal collection.  I believe so.  If I find out that Garlasco has a Zyklon B canister in his collection my context for his activities will change drastically.

I do not agree with  Garlasco’s opinions and conclusions as to Israel.  I however, am not going to put his personally distasteful beliefs and conclusions together with his Nazi collection and conclude that he possesses pro-Nazi or antisemitic sentiments.  While there is certainly a creepy paradox in someone who reports on alleged war crimes collecting Nazi items, I am unclear as to what this entire revelation is supposed to clarify.  If you believe he is anti-Israel and biased in his conclusions then what does the collection add to the mix?  Is this supposed to be some “final nail” to say  “a ha I told you so”?  His credibility is now more in question?  It’s backwards circular logic that diminishes and detracts from the real issues.

My friends and family know I am fascinated with WWII history, the Holocaust and yes the history of Nazi Germany. I have write on these subjects regularly on my blog.   I have Holocaust history on my mother’s side.  While I would never buy a Swastika,  I have often looked at Holocaust artifacts for sale on eBay.  While I have never bought anything,  I have though about it.  There are those that may find that creepy.   To me it is part of my lifelong search for knowledge ,understanding and personally historical context.

Context people context…

Copyright 2009.

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