The Rotary Club speaker today was from Reading Connections.  What caught my attention was a quote from Robin Britt, that “From zero to eight, we learn how to read, and from eight on we read to learn.”  According to the U.S. Department of Education, an incredible 14% of Americans – a whopping one out of 7 and a total of 32 million adults – are illiterate in this country.  To identify with that is like, the speaker said, think about your travels to an Asian or Arabic country where you can’t read the signs, the menu or labels.  Pretty humbling … and disorienting.

Topics: Social Media, Internet Content, Literacy, Reading

Staying focused can be tough with the ongoing demands of seemingly endless emails and phone calls.   Understanding our brain’s limitations and working around them can improve focus and increase productivity.

Topics: Multitasking, Focus, Creativity, Efficiency, Time Allotment

I heard a speaker today who informed us that we should be interested in 4^th grade reading scores because it will impact the pocketbook of all of us.  Really?

Topics: Relevant Content, Inbound Marketing, Communications, Marketing

I was talking with a former neighbor who is under 40 and recently moved to Toronto.  She raved about being able to walk everywhere and rarely drives for her day-to-day needs.  “It’s a progressive city,” she said, “where I walk just about everywhere.” 

Topics: Relevant Content, Inbound Marketing, Communications

New research shows that two-thirds of online American adults are Facebook users, making it the dominant social networking site in this country, above Twitter and LinkedIn. But new findings from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project reveal some interesting insights about the Facebook population, including the fact that 61% of current Facebook users say that at one time or another in the past they have voluntarily taken a break from using Facebook for several weeks or more.

Topics: Inbound Marketing, Social Media, Website Content, Communications, Marketing

 

The social media playing field is awash in a sea of change, as familiar sites such as Facebook and Twitter jockey for position and new sites such as Yahoo! Answers, Tagged and Google+ rapidly gain momentum. For businesses, the big question is: Which sites are the most important to use and follow?

Topics: Social Media, Website Content, Internet Content, Communications, Creativity

A new report from U.K.-based TrendStream says Google+ will soon be the second-largest social media platform globally.

Topics: Relevant Content, Inbound Marketing, Social Media, Internet Content, Communications

 My brother has spent more than 20 years abroad in war zones working to set up new governments, social services, transportation infrastructure, and education and medical care systems. He knows the warlord mentality first hand.

Topics: Relevant Content, Inbound Marketing, Social Media, Website Content, Internet Content, Communications, Marketing, Reading

The Millennial generation has never known a time when the ability to communicate and find information instantaneously wasn’t immediately available. But today, the use of mobile devices to manage all aspects of life spans every generation of women. BlogHer (www.blogher.com), a cross-platform media network and publisher for women, recently released its second annual consumer electronics study. Its findings disclose that all generations are mobile now.

Topics: Social Media, Internet Content, Communications