The German solar panel company SolarWorld has installed solar panels on the roofs of the Vatican. The Pope switched to the system earlier this week and is expected to announce drastic plans to expand on the project. The solar panels are placed on top of the massive roof of the Vatican's Nervi Hall, where the pope receives general audiences. A total of 2,400 photovoltaic panels have been attached to this 5,000 square meter roof. They are not noticeable from the ground below and can provide all of the energy for the hall and a few other buildings ...

It appears that global warming has finally created its own version of the Wounded Veteran. Sitting in a puddle of himself in Buenos Aires’ Plaza Francia, a young man from Red Cross Argentina issued pleas to passers-by: not for spare change, but for action against climate change.

In there era of the Social Web, transparency, engagement, and an unequivocal commitment and adeptness to candidly connect people to your story are pervasive and also critical elements to practicing successful and meaningful Public Relations. Concurrently, the socialization of media is creating new communities and communications channels that are empowering journalists, bloggers, analysts, as

I told myself I wasn’t going to chime in on the Motrin Moms marketing fiasco, but I just couldn’t help myself. However, rather than simply weighing in on whether or not I think the ad aimed at babywearing moms was offensive, I would rather examine how this marketing debacle validated the simple fact that social [...]

The Dunbar number is the supposed cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable social relationships. Traditionally stated as "150" individuals, the Dunbar limit was never much of a problem. You'd only stay close to a few friends from high school, then only a few friends from college, a few colleagues from that previous job. But through the power of social media we are now hanging onto all of our previous relationships in some form, while also making completely new connections. We are socially overwhelmed on a daily basis!! Just imagine for ...

Yesterday, I posted my Q&A with Scott Monty from Ford and his responses to a pile of questions about how they are approaching social media. And I promised that I’d share with you my takeaways, so here they are. Will you share yours with us too, in the comments? Strategy First. The tools don’t matter a fig. [...]

Source Businesses, individuals, and organizations will, from time to time, make honest mistakes or in some unfortunate cases, intentionally support unethical decisions to dissuade or conceal something significant from its public. Whether it's an oversight or a matter of deception, savvy companies usually employ and deploy a crises response team to prepare for, manage and attempt to positively

This post follows up a post yesterday that explored Why Asking Questions on Twitter is a Powerful Technique. OK - so asking questions is important - but are any questions OK on Twitter? What kind of questions work best? Photo by Macarena C. Here are a few tips for asking questions effectively on Twitter. Keep Questions Relevant The types of [...] Related posts:

1. WHY asking Questions are a Powerful Twitter Technique
2. When Tweeting Less Can Help You be a More Effective Twitter User
3. How to Make Twitter Less Like Listening to One Side of a Phone Call for Your Followers

There is a fix to G.M.’s dance with disaster. Call it a government-sponsored bankruptcy.

Here's one thing that people all over the world will continue to need even in the worst of recessions: food. And while there are many places you can go to if you want to discover great recipes for home cooking, Cookstr is launching a website later tonight at a press event in New York City that takes a different route than all the cluttered and user-generated content sites out there: it's all about the top chefs and cookbook authors, baby. Cookstr has managed to sign up over 200 star chefs, cookbook authors and publishers who contribute to a ...

I was reading Mitch Joel’s blog the other day and he had a link to an article that I wanted to share with you.  The article was posted on Mediabuyplanner and is titled: “Marketers Still Face Steep Web 2.0 Learning Curve.”  I’m not too shocked to read that, are you?  I still think social media [...]

A recurring question I get from Twitter users shortly after I follow them back is, “How can you follow xx,000 people?” (the number on November 11th is 16,928, with 19528 following me.) It’s not easy. Twitter, for most people, is the chance to engage with like-minded people, or geographically similar people, or otherwise to [...]

One of the most common definitions of Information Architecture is that it's the "structural design of shared information environments." It defines information structures to answer the question "how does a user find the information they want?" Today, the Web is certainly not just a hypertext system of pages and pages of information linked to each other, but a complex software interface for online social interactions, interactive animations, processes, applications and much more. While most Web IAs still call themselves Information Architects, and while IA is still an important part of what they do, it's really only a part ...

I see such potential in BrightKite, after using the iPhone application. The website is nothing nearly as nuanced and obvious. In fact, it’s fat and bloated. I’d strip it now that I’ve used the iPhone app. I’d make it closer to the experience that is so simple. (I understand the difference. The iPhone, by [...]

At 10:15 pm I discovered that I had not brought a Macbook power supply on the trip. I was in a hotel on Coronado Island, and early the next morning I was flying to an aircraft carrier off San Diego...

All of the personal brand noise in the echo chamber amazes me. Why? Because it’s not good marketing. We are in a recession, and telling people they need personal brands infused in their marketing - while important - will not help companies close transactions. Yes people do business with folks they like, but that’s [...]

On the date of this historic election, I am reminded in a very personal way how far we have come as a country and as a society. Recently, I was copying my Michigan birth certificate (more on why below) when...

Now that the dust has settled between the candidates, we should keep an eye on the President’s promises he made to the technology community. Never before have we seen a president give this much focus on Technology (let alone use new technology in addition to old for his campaigns) and it’s important we remember [...]