After having read this Web site for months now and putting up with its sporadic updates and dubious content, you deserve something in return, don’t you? Of course you do!
That’s what we’re giving away some free music. It’s our first contribution to a mixtape series some of the fine folks at Arkansas Business Publishing Group are doing. “Thank God It’s #Mixday” is being curated at ABPG by Ryan Byrd, and you can download my compilation here and Ryan’s compilation here. Full track listing for mine is after the jump.
Other companies, like CJRW, do this as well. And we hope to make a new Friday tradition here at ABPG.
So go download some decent music, sit back and relax. It’s a small token of thanks to those who’ve so far managed to endure this blog.
Among the seminars, a panel I’ll be moderating on social media and business. “Using Social Media for Business, Nonprofit and Search Engine Marketing” will provide an overview of how businesses and nonprofits can use social media – including Twitter and Facebook – in aid of e-commerce, marketing and charitable campaigns. You’ll learn what tools are available, how to staff social media efforts, how to set expectations and measure success.
So who’s on the panel? Scheduled to appear are:
Ed Nicholson of Tyson Foods, who was kind enough earlier this year to provide some guest posts on social media for this blog
Megan Knight of FLEX360, the Web development firm’s interactive marketing director on search engine marketing expert
They’ll each talk about different aspects of using social media for your business, marketing and charitable needs. We’ll share more details leading up to the seminar. Meanwhile, register now to attend this seminar and others for free.
More
Last year, Commerce Arkansas attracted some greatspeakers. This year, we’ve done it again. Among those on the roster:
Jon Harrison, general manager of Caterpillar’s North American Motor Grader Operations in North Little Rock
Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the Sam Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville
Linda Nelson of the Arkansas Small Business Technology and Development Center
Staff with The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas, the Northwest Arkansas Times and the Benton County Daily Record were told they must re-apply for their jobs with the soon-to-be-formed Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC company.
Rusty Turner and Lisa Thompson, editors from The Morning News were reportedly making the rounds this week among some Wehco properties to interview folks for the new company.
…
On their application, employees must list their top two positions in order of preference, but no one is saying just how many positions are actually going to exist in the new arrangement.
Spencer also raises doubts as to whether the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette will keep its Lowell office.
More
Spencer, of course, is a former Stephens Media employee. He was cut earlier this year from the staff of The Morning News, but has lived to fight another day having launched the online-only Ozarks Unbound about four months ago. He takes stock of his new venture, one of many online-only news sites springing up around Arkansas, here.
A woman is arrested inside the Arkansas Lottery Headquarters Monday afternoon…and KATV’s cameras were there for the arrest. Police say Ruth Dennis, 56, tried to pass a fake winning ticket for the real thing at the claims center. Her friend, John Burch says he gave Dennis and her sister a ride from Camden with a $3,000 ticket.
Lottery director Ernie Passailaigue says the ticket was clearly not real. He says she used the three times lucky scratch tickets and allegedly cut and pasted different numbers to make it appear like a winner.
“There’s no cure for stupid,” Passailaigue said, “And that’s what’s going to happen. People are going to try and defraud the lottery and they’re going to go to jail.”
Remember those phat lottery salaries everybody was so riled up about for about five minutes a few months ago? They’re big enough to put a few lottery workers among the “jocks and docs” on our annual list of highest-paid Arkansas state employees. Lottery director Ernie Passailaigue at No. 9.
Economist Jeff Collins, who headed the Center for Business & Economic Research at the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business, was on the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers and is a partner in Streetsmart Data Services LLC of Fayetteville, isn’t immune from personal financial crisis, having filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy last month. This week, Collins talks to Arkansas Business’ Mark Friedman about what happened and lessons learned.
The local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (the people who brought you this) is taking you bloggers seriously. So seriously, in fact, that they’re ready to help you learn the tricks of the trade in an earnest bid to encourage a new crop of citizen journalists to raise up, start their own WordPress blogs, hopefully do some actual reporting and lure you away from time-wastingvanityprojects like these!
That’s right: This Saturday, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., SPJ is putting on the SPJ Blogging Academy, billed on its Facebook events page as
For any current or aspiring bloggers, an intro to community journalism. We’ll tell you about how to avoid ethical and legal pitfalls, how to get better access to government entities, and how to make the best use of fresh reporting on your blog.
