Back in July I made a blog post called Buying and Selling Safety.  This post was about a craigslist transaction I made and how people seem to feel safe when dealing with strangers through the screen.  It goes on to ask why we feel that this is ok and why people are willing to do this much more readily than a few years ago.

On last Thursday morning a 24 year old Minneapolis woman, Katherine Ann Olson, was found dead in the trunk of her car and it is apparent that she was murdered after answering an ad asking for a babysitter on craigslist.  This tradegy is being dubbed the “Craigslist Murder“  Craig Newmark, the creator of craigslist, believes this is the first time this has ever happened through his site and states that they do a lot of work to protect from this type of thing.  So if they are working to protect the users on the site, why aren’t we working to protect ourselves and our families?

Remember to always make transaction in a public and people filled place, do not use your actual email address by opting to only be contacted through craigslist, never use your name, and remember that some things just should not be done through an online basis unless the site is known for it.   

My heart goes out to the family and friends of Katherine and it is truely unfortunate that something like this had to occur.  Hopefully this will make people realize how easily a person’s safety can be jepordized online and nothing like this will occur again.

Shared these with the agency yesterday, but why not share them with the world

1.  Get to know the culture of the site you plan to target

2.  Digg it

3.  If you blog it, they won’t necessarily come

4.  Bloggers=Influencers

5.  It can work and it can work well

…..and to add a 6th

Search Marketing is a bit of a boys club, but they better watch out for a female takeover ;) 

A recent study came out in the UK describing Social Media sites as too risky for business.  However, a large number of the people surveyed stated that they use Social Media daily.  This study raises a few questions:

1. Isn’t the UK supposed to be far advanced in terms of Advertising when compaired to the US?

2. How can so many UK marketing professionals be using the sites, but think they are “too risky”?

Any thoughts? 

On a plane ride yesterday I was sitting next to a man who hade never been to Minneapolis before.  He was very excited about the Mall of America, but had no clue what else he wanted to do here.  Not that the Mall of America is not something to see, but Minneapolis has a lot more to offer than just that.  Here is my top 10 list:

1. Sunday Jazz Brunch at the Times Bar and Cafe

This is one of my favorite activities in all of Minneapolis.  The eggs benedict cannot be beat and the house Jazz band The Wolverine Trio is unreal.  They play from 11 am to 2 pm and there is not a bad seat in the house.  A different lead singer is featured every month and all are sure to impress. 

2. Bowling at Bryant Lake Bowl

The old-school feel of Bryant Lake is always inviting and trendy.  The food is great and the staff is always helpful.  Bryant Lake Bowl is also often frequented by celebrities when they are in the Twin Cities area.  A personal favorite here is Monday Night Cheap Date Night which happens between 6 p.m. and 12 a.m. and includes: 2 entrees, a bottle of wine, 2 shoe rentals, and 2 games for $25 dollars.

3. Going to Acme Comedy Club

Acme Comedy Club has been described as one of the top comedy clubs in the nation.  With a vast array of comics on a variety of topics, Acme is always a delight.  Every Monday night there is a comedic open mic night which brings more than a few giggles from the crowd.

4. Lawn Bowling at Brit’s Pub 

This is a true Minneapolis Tradition.  During the warm summer months, the Brit’s rooftop is an Oasis for the Downtown Minneapolis working crowd.  Get there early or make reservations because it fills up fast.

5. Visit the Sculpture Garden

Nothing says Minneapolis quite like the giant Cherry and Spoon.  This is a beautiful spot in the city that truly shows how well Minneapolis has integrated city and nature.  So pack a picnic and a camera and enjoy the view.

6. Going to a Minnesota Wild Game

Hockey is not just a sport in Minnesota, it is a passion.  Every Wild game sells out and the fans are passionate and knowlegeable.  This is sure to impress any person who loves sports.  If you can’t get Wild tickets, the Minnesota Gopher Hockey team is a good option if you can handle some crazy college fans.

7. Head to the WaterPark of America

Minneapolis boasts the largest indoor waterpark in America.  This is a great activity when the weather outside is not so great.  The weekends can get pretty busy, but the weekdays are always a bit lighter.  You can stay at the hotel or simple just go to the waterpark for a day of wet and wild fun.

8. Visit the Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Minneapolis Institute of Art is a great place to a get a feel for the artist culture of Minneapolis and admission is always free.  Spend a few hours or a whole day looking at all of the beautiful art it has to offer.

9. Walk across the Stone Arch Bridge

The Stone Arch Bride connects Downtown Minneapolis to the area known as Saint Anthony Main.  In the wake of the 35W bridge collapse this is one of the best views of where 35W once stood.  The Saint Anthony Main area also boasts a beautiful view of the city and some great sites such as Pracna on Main, the first bar in Minneapolis.

10. Check out the Guthrie 

The new Guthrie is a beautiful theater with a lot to offer.  See one of many productions that they have to offer, dine at one of their great reasturants, or even take an acting class.  Minneapolis has a huge theater following so if the larger theater is not for you, there are numerous smaller theaters across the metro that will fit your bill and offer this type of entertainment.

These 10 things are obvously just a small taste of what Minneapolis has to offer, so feel free to comment on any places/things you think deserve to be on this list.

Well

After day 1 of SMX Social Media I have simply one word….DIGG.  This social content discovery tool is where it is at and through numerous tricks and techniques the visibility of a specific site can skyrocket.  It is pretty amazing what one website that is primarily participated in by what people in the industry call, angry teenage boys, can do from a marketing stand point.

Can you Digg it?

Hello All

Coming to you from the SMX social media conference in NYC (But not after a few wrong turns).  I will be posting over the next two days with some fun facts and happenings.  Get excited and happy reading! 

Petfinder helps companion animals of all kinds get rescued via the internet.  In the past week a new feature has been added to the site: Videos!  With the popularity of YouTube, it will be interesting to see if this new feature helps more stray pets be saved.  Plus who doesn’t want to watch videos of cute little puppies.

Hopefully there isn’t a correlation, but you have to wonder. If you look at what the top search phrases over the past two days are from Yahoo’s Buzz Index, here are your top 5 right now.

#1 Brittney Spears

#2 Jessica Simpson

#3 WWE

#4 NFL

#5 Jennifer Lopez

At least when I got to #6 I found something that made sense… Halloween Costumes.

Seriously, are Americans really this… I don’t know, what would you call it? Study after study has shown that Americans have a different view of the world, that we may be a melting pot for it but as a collective we don’t pay attention to the rest of the world on the same scale as folks in most other places.

But back to the point… do you think there is a correlation between what we search for and what we actually care about?

At Risdall… we won’t do Black Hat. Sorry. But…

What would you do if you got a random email tomorrow from an essentially anonymous person that told you your search engine optimization company was using “black hat” techniques? Follow the link for the definition.
Recently we came across a competitor who was obviously using black hat methods and was having some good success with it. We, through proper channels, informed the engines what was going on, so we’ll follow up on this if we see any positive results from that. Should we feel bad for other company’s clients who find out that their sites are being removed from the search indexes because their search vendor was using black hat methods?

Below is currently (It changes pretty fast) the number one viewed video on YouTube

This video has been viewed 207,500+ times in one day. The video is promoting the book release of the blog called PostSecret. The premise of this blog is a community art project where people mail in homemade postcards that anonymously reveal secrets. Some are very simple, some a bit disturbing, some very honest, some kind of silly, all intriguing in their own unique way.

Do you ever think about blogging or internet videos being art? Is this art at its finest or marketing at its?