Archive for December, 2010

This may be the only metric you need. HR execs spend loads of time measuring and analyzing functions and people. Whether its performance reviews, systems, or budgets, the yardstick is always out. Sound familiar? Executive director of human resources for LaRosa’s, Steve Browne, blogs on TLNT.com that most HR leaders are wrongly assessing things like cost of hire, attendance, and weaknesses. He maintains that measuring capacity with development vs. performance and context for decisions is the bett

We can’t say it enough: You need punchy and compelling headlines to entice people to read your blogs, articles, press releases, and newsletters. The blog Pushing Social shared a list of 17 places to help spark your creativity. Ready to nail those juicy headlines? Check out The Huffington Post, The Drudge Report, Copyblogger, and Men’s Health. See the complete list. — Su

If you saw your name among Twitter’s trending topics, would you assume you were dead? On Thursday, Twitter erupted with news that actor Morgan Freeman had passed away. Except he didn’t. He is very much alive. The @CNN Twitter account was blamed for passing on the news — except it didn’t. The network tweeted: “CNN did not report Morgan Freeman death. Rumor is false. CNN will aggressively investigate this

Familiar with Groupon? It’s an online service that offers exclusive discounts — coupons, basically — in various cities. The Chicago-based Groupon, which recently turned down a reportedly $6 billion offer from Google, started in the U.S. and entered Europe in May with the purchase of German company CityDeal, Advertising Age reports. According to Ad Ag

What generation gap? As the number of people adopting social media increases, so does the average age of those online networkers. Case in point: Lillian Lowe, a 103-year-old woman who, aside from staying busy as a grandmother of seven and great grandmother of 13, is also busy keeping track of all her little chicklins on Facebook. The former hotelier told The Sun that she loves Facebook. “It’s very exciting,” she continued. “It’s a wonderful way of finding out about things.” Mrs. Lowe had a mere

The new year is approaching. Maybe it’s finally time to start that hospital blog. If you’re looking for motivation, this blog lists seven reasons to help you get started. Here are a few: It builds transparency, energizes employees, and creates attention for your hospital. Speaking of creating attention, do you want to see your hospital’s blog up here? Send me the link: jessical@ragan.com

Does your boss have the dubious distinction of being “the boss from hell”? HR blogger John Hollon’s post on TLNT.com uses the owner of the L.A. Lakers pro basketball team to share a few important lessons. Hollon describes Donald Sterling as “a mass of contradictions.” You don’t have to know

Social media monitoring company Sysomos released its annual study of the Twittersphere, which explores trends from more than a billion tweets from 20 million users. Sysomos found that 100 million people joined Twitter in 2010. Read more results from the study. This is a great resource if you’re looking for data about the popular social network.

Who knew a wee blue bird could be so valuable? After striking a funding deal with Silicon Valley capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers worth a reported $200 million, the social network garnered more interest from potential investors and a price tag estimated at $3.7 billion. What does this mean for you? Let’s crunch the numbers. Twitter members have sent nearly 30 billion tweets. We’ll round up and divide $3.7 billion by 30 billi

This position will be responsible for setting social media strategy as part of developing new and existing products. Read more about this job.

The Gap responded to reports that a bag it’s promoting as “Made in USA” is actually made in China, clarifying the issue and apologizing for the mistake. Deal is that Gap is selling several bags — they’re called FEED bags and the retailer donates $5 to America’s school-lunch program for every one sold — and one of them is mistakenly labeled, “Made in USA.” That bag is made in China. Two of the bags are made in America, according to a re

This week, Glassdoor.com released its annual list of the Best Places to Work, and Edelman PR ranked fifth. Facebook topped the list, followed by Southwest Airlines, Bain & Co., and General Mills. Google was No. 30. The news came as a surprise — to the Edelman CEO, Richard Edelman. “I am in a state of mind that can accurately be described as ranging between shock and heaven,” he wrote on his blog