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Social Media Lunch Meat

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Our newly weekly feature couldn’t have hit at a better time, back-to-school, first day of September and just a few short weeks before Social Media Club kicks off the SMC Fall Tour 2010, with Chevrolet Cruze.

You may now look forward to a new Wednesday (to help get over the hump day blues) feature called Social Media Lunch Meat, ::round of applause of my oh-so-creative title::...ok, ok, our friends at Lunch are currently in BETA with their site that caters to different niche communities that allow members to rate and review the leading social media tools, training, influencers and services.

Each week, we’ll be combing Lunch’s social media community to bring our Clubhouse members some first hand reviews aka the Lunch Meat, and hopefully help you to discover new sites to make your social media life more engaging. 

Review of Google Reader by Angelo Dignacio has received 114 compliments, as of today because his very insightful and through review of its features and he goes further to give some suggestions on how to really be most effective with Reader's functionality.  The user based rating system scores Google Reader at a 3.9 out of a 5.  

I love Google Reader! I have no idea what I'd be able to do without it. It keeps me from visiting the same sites day after day, wondering which of them have new posts, updates and announcements. I've got everything in one place, kind of like an e-mail inbox, and I subscribe to my favorite blogs and sites and stay updated throughout the day.

I've used Google Reader for a while now, and I haven't been able to use anything else. I highly recommend it to anybody who browses lots of sites or has favorite blogs that they want to stay updated with whenever they log on. Here are a couple of Reader tips that I've thought of that have really helped me get and enjoy information from the source I love.

I particularly enjoyed Angelo’s #5 Google Reader Tip,

Explore always - I considered Google Reader my excuse to always explore the internet for new content. To not always have my browser posted on Mashable or CNN, and find the smaller guys who may be more entertaining or personal. Use Reader to find more content to follow, and don't worry so much about getting drowned in having so many subscriptions you can't keep up. Just consider it a tool that allows you to keep tabs on the internet's content, without exhausting yourself out by chasing it manually. Remember that if you ever get tired or overwhelmed, there is always an unsubscribe to every feed. Mashable and CNN will never go away, so expand your reading to elsewhere on the communities you're interested in. I personally like to often click the "More Like This" button that instantly gives you recommendations of feeds that are similar to any feed you want more of.

Information overload has caused me to glaze over the same RSS feeds I have had in my Google Reader account since the beginning. This tip has inspired me to really start using the functionality of the “More Like This” button that he suggests. Thanks Angelo!

We encourage our Social Media Club community to visit Lunch.com and add to the conversation and perhaps, your rating, review or tip will be highlighted in our weekly Social Media Lunch Meat blog.

Visit Lunch.com to sign up! 

Photo Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dagwood.JPG

Social Media + Family, A Dad's Perspective

Location

Join us as we kick off the Social Media Club Fall Tour 2010 in Atlanta for this important conversation about Social Media and Family, from a dad's perspective. Leading the conversation will be Chris Heuer, joined by dad who blogs Lamar Tyler of BlackAndMarriedWithKids.com, dad Christopher Barger from GM and two others still to be named.

For the last several years, the majority of the focus has been on how Social Media has been transforming organizations, but at the same time, social media has also been transforming the relationships between parents and their children; between husbands and wives; and between all members of extended families.

The emergence of "The Social Family" is bringing a whole new set of efficiencies to communications between family members, and making it easier to keep in touch across long distances. It is also not without its own set of challenges, from the common "my kids won't friend me on Facebook" to more dangerous issues such as child safety, cyber bullying and online stalking. With every increase in the level of public disclosure we make about our lives, we are at once becoming more connected to our broader community and providing potential evil doers with insights into our homes and our family life.

Where to draw the line and how to be mindful of all these potential challenges takes real effort. So together we will find out what every social family should know. Beyond this, dads have their own unique set of issues as 'modern media men', which are not yet as widely discussed or understood. That's part of the reason we are having this conversation now.

We also want to know if social media is helping keep dads more connected with their families and what sort of services dads would be most interested in seeing developed.

On the evening of Wednesday September 8 from 6:00-9:00pm, we will gather at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel Downtown to discuss this important topic thanks to the support of Chevrolet Cruze, a modern family car which is setting out to change the rules for compact cars. Drinks and light appetizers will be served. Our host for the evening is Chris Heuer, founder of Social Media Club, the world's leading non-profit association of social media professionals and participants, now in over 200 cities around the world.

• 6:00-7:00pm : Registration and Networking
• 7:00-7:15pm : Welcoming remarks about Social Media Club and its future, Chris Heuer
• 7:15-7:45pm : Panel with local Dads Who Blog
• 7:45-8:00pm : Breakout discussion groups with panelists
• 8:00-8:15pm : Breakout discussion groups with panelists (switch groups)

This event is happening in advance of the Modern Media Man Summit from September 9-11, 2010 in Atlanta.

While we are in town, we will also be hosting Dads Who Lunch (as a breakfast in ATL due to scheduling conflict) on the morning of Thursday September 9, 2010.  If you are a dad who blogs, you can request an invite for our hosted/free breakfast on DadsWhoLunch.com

OUR PANELISTS

Lamar Tyler is a filmmaker, blogger, father and husband with over 15 years of IT experience in industries such as Government, Telecomm, Healthcare and Broadcast Television. Along with his wife Ronnie, Lamar has built a social media movement around the promotion of marriage in the African American community. Their blog BlackandMarriedWithKids.com was recently named one of 2010's 10 “Must Read” blogs by Parenting magazine and he has a Facebook fanpage that has grown to over 50 thousand fans in just one year. He currently tours the country screening his documentaries and speaking to large groups on topics surrounding marriage and social media.
 

About Chevy Cruze (our sponsor for Social Media + Family, A Dad's Perspective event series)
Earlier this year, President Obama called the Chevrolet Cruze “the car of the future”, because it’s the car that has something for the entire family. It’s the only car in its segment with a 5-Star safety rating, and it comes with an unprecedented 10 airbags, providing you peace of mind while hauling even your most previous cargo. Its upscale amenities like Bluetooth, turn-by-turn navigation and 18” aluminum wheels let parents and children ride in style. And with hybrid-like fuel efficiency and a headline-making sticker cost of only $16,995, the Chevy Cruze is giving the modern family what it deserves – something that appeals to the entire family

About Social Media Club (the host of Social Media + Family, A Dad's Perspective)
Social Media Club (SMC) hosts conversations that explore key issues facing professionals and organizations as technologies transform the way we connect, communicate, collaborate and relate to each other. SMC’s primary missions are focused on promoting media literacy, promoting standards based technologies, championing ethical behavior and sharing our collective knowledge and insights with each other and the world. As the world’s largest organization of Social Media Professionals, we reach leading influencers and social media enthusiasts in face to face meetings held in over 230 cities around the world. As part of our dedicated efforts to improve media literacy, our SMCEDU.org program is striving to improve the quality of social media education in universities. Please consider joining our effort to professionalize social media by joining as a professional member today.

RSVP HERE: http://bit.ly/smf2010atl