Today stands as a testament to a troubled part of our history, and part of what I think drives economic development professionals to do their jobs - providing an environment for economic growth and workforce opportunities. We mark two events today that really serve as bookends of the civil rights movement. Daniel Webster's speech to the U.S. Senate on March 7th won over enough votes for the Compromise of 1850 that really was the last gasp to stave off civil war. Over a century later civil rights leaders marcheing from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama were brutally attacked just outside of town in what proved to be a major turning point in the battle for equal voting rights for African Americans. There's some great information from the U.S. Library of Congress on both events at if you'd like to read more about it.
People often point to the progress we have made as a society, as a country, to move away from those troubled years - and there is little doubt that we have made substantial progress! However, it is a mistake to think that we can accomplish anything by resting on our laurels. The bloodiest conflict in American history was waged in part to secure the rights of people who were treated like property rather than people, but over 100 years later more people had to die just to fight for the rights that were "secured" through that civil war.
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Now on to the links!
Economic Development News...
How to save Detroit - Detroit MetroTimes columnist Jack Lessenberry offers his prescription for struggling urban cities like Detroit. He points to cities that adopted "metropolitan" governments as the only solution for these cities. Are larger regional governments the solution to urban decay?
A bill to make economic development in Georgia an official secret of state - Interesting development in Georgia - Economic development matters may become "official secrets" for state and local governments.
Kamenetz wants to spark economic development in Woodlawn | Baltimore Business Journal - Baltimore County's Executive hopes to leverage existing government offices to spur redevelopment in a lagging area. It brings up a good question, can government offices serve as a suitable catalyst for non-retal commercial or industrial economic development?
Online Marketing...
When is the best time to Tweet? - Good tips from Dave Larson from Tweet Smarter for finding the best time to Tweet. This information is a good followup to the Timely service (http://www.timely.is) I posted about this week! There is no "silver bullet" when it comes to scheduling Tweets... understanding your followers and their habits will be the most help for you here.
Trending Twitter Stories for content Strategy, UX, and Web Strategy - A neat resource that was just released by Contentini for those who can't get enough of this online marketing information and want to follow updates on a regular basis.
Three critical mistakes in managing a social media crisis - A few really good tips for managing your online reputation. Just remember social media is a tool, one of many and not dissimilar to other tools you may have used in the past. Just remember good customer service and handling these challenges will not seem daunting.
Metrics Mess: Five Sad Truths About Measurement Right Now - Some really good examples of why social media analytics isn't all about how many people follow your organization or the number of people that like your Facebook page. Advertising Age shows how sometimes these numbers can be turned against you!
Digital Marketing Guide: How Do I Get People to Like My Brand on Facebook? - Great advice on building audience on Facebook. This is a critical platform because it's continuing to grow and to have an impact beyond it's own platform, particularly influencing search engine results pages.
How New Influence Metrics Will Make it Harder for Traditional Web Publishers to Survive - Greg Shove writes in Advertising Age about the changing importance of different online metrics when evaluating the value of social media audeinces. Guess what? It's not ALL about followers!
SocialEyes Adds Videoconferencing To Facebook - How will videoconferencing on Facebook impact productivity? Can this deliver real value to economic development professionals?
Digital Marketing Guide: How Do I Increase My Twitter Following? - Some great, short steps from Advertising Age to build up an audience on Twitter, though the most important tip (and a theme that runs through these tips) is to remember to ENGAGE your audience!
What do Social Media Managers Do All Day? - Great infographic from Tweet Smarter that shows how managing your social media accounts can be a full time occupation (or preoccupation).
LinkedIn for Bloggers – Personal Branding, Authority and Traffic - Kikolani - Excellent primer on how to optimize a LinkedIn profile and what spending time improving the different profile areas means to getting a better return out of your blog. Economic developers are subject matter experts - LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to flaunt your expertise.
Job Market...
Economic Development Director - Portland, Oregon is hiring an Economic Development Director
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