marketing in traffic by brian branca » Social Media

Seven Things About Brian Branca

brian — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:18:21 +0000

Meme. Such a funny word (rhymes with seem). Do you know what it is? Wikipedia defines meme as a unit or element of cultural ideas, symbols or practices that transmit from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomenon. The term is derived from the Greek word mimema for mimic. Memes are cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate and are subject to selective pressures.

Yesterday I was tagged by Indra Gardiner on a meme making its way through the interwebs that asks you to post seven things about yourself that others might not know. So, without further ado, here are mine.

I am either graciously patient or horrendously impatient. There is no in-between.
Back when Return of the Jedi was HUGE, EVERYONE wore something related to Star Wars for Halloween. Girls were mostly Princess Leia & boys were either Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. I was Admiral FREAKING Ackbar. Worst. Costume. Ever. I guess I’m just glad I wasn’t an Ewok. This image should be centered…stupid WordPress.

If I had to do the whole education & career path thing over again, I would have gotten into astrophysics. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronomer & aced physics in high school. Nowadays I spend a lot of time watching things like The Universe. If you want to know what happened, refer to number one; the thought of all that schooling kinda freaked me out back in the day.
Sometimes I wish I just did things rather than over-thinking things.
I want to learn to play the piano…like Elton John, or Alicia Keys, or Mike Oldfield…honestly, I’d take Axl Rose or Chris Martin’s skills at this point.
There are times when I look up to my two brothers (who are six & eight years younger than me).
I was probably the only kid who ever wanted braces. Yeah, I got them in my late twenties & provided a ton of entertainment for friends throughout the two years they were glued to my teeth.

Part of this meme is to tag seven other people; here is my list of people’s memes I’d like to read. I’m tagging however many I choose & you probably can, too. Who said seven was the key number here anyway?

Here are the rules…

Link your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
Let them know they’ve been tagged.

Random Posts

Rittenhouse Square – Looking for More Non-vagrants

brian — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:17:54 +0000

If you live in the Philadelphia area & are active on Twitter, you may have recently received an email telling you that @rittenhouse is now following you. While it is fairly obvious what @rittenhouse would be referring to, there is a good chance you were not quite sure what you would find. Further extending their reach into the Social Media space, they have also created a Facebook page that allows members to become a fan.

For those of you not familiar with Philadelphia, Rittenhouse Square is a small park in center city Philadelphia with plenty of open space, trees, park benches, a few statues & the obligatory floral landscaping. It is a popular destination that offers a lot of versatility. Parents with children, artists, musicians, couples, groups of friends, the daily lunch crowd, people watchers; pretty much anything you would expect traverses through the park each day.

The underlying beauty is in the history. The peripheral beauty, literally, is the immediate, surrounding area; fashionable & trendy shops, top-notch restaurants, bars, clubs, even a five-star hotel. Well known to those who frequent Rittenhouse Square, you will also find your fair share of homeless people.

So why the sudden foray into the Social Media space? My guess is that more people who are looking for a place to relax &/or spend money need to come visit; @rittenhouse is lonely & misses you. I love Rittenhouse Square, but admittedly am not there enough. Sure, life happens & you spend your weekends in Avalon; but if I feel I could be in & around the Square more often, there are definitely plenty of others who should as well.

Did I mention they’re also creating buzz around an upcoming potluck picnic? Seriously. What a great way to bring attention to something different that could build a physical & interactive community. Initially the interaction starts online, is strengthened in the real world, & then can continue both online & off afterwards. Should you be looking for a great example of Social Media integration (& something that embodies the real value of it), you’d be well advised to observe what @rittenhouse is doing.

How Connected Should You Be?

How Connected Should You Be?

brian — Wed, 21 May 2008 03:36:29 +0000

If it wasn’t for Facebook, MySpace (zip it, Matt), Twitter & texting, I am not sure how I would keep up with everyone. Used to be things like email & instant message were enough. Now, I check my Yahoo email, Facebook, & Twitter accounts daily, use Yahoo IM for work, AIM for friends, & will occasionally update one or more of them from my Treo. Once in a while I check my site’s email & MySpace account. Add on to that all of my work emails & phone calls &, for some, you’ve got communications overload. However, I sometimes feel like it’s not enough.

How connected should you be? The quick & easy response is that there is no one, right answer. It depends on your wants & needs. But these change over time, thus affecting our habits. Both our professional & personal lives play important roles in this as well.

While connecting people quickly & in ever-increasing ways, is technology really pushing us apart?

As we become increasingly mobile, will our ways become inherently nomadic?

Normally, I’d banter on about this, but I want your opinion.