City Of Oakland's Social Media Strategy Is A Joke

This blogger just received an email that added up to an unfortunate joke. The email consists of a press release that starts out like this:

City of Oakland Launches Social Media Strategy with a Twist
New Oakland Facebook Page an Instant Hit

And then goes on to read: "The City of Oakland, CA has ventured into the world of social media by launching a new Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/kJsg2B) “where people who live or work in Oakland connect with each other to discover and share all that makes our city great.” After just a few weeks, the page is already nearing 2,000 fans who are eagerly sharing commentary on topics ranging from arts, culture and family fun to expressing support for local businesses and standing up for Oakland when overlooked or maligned. The result is a robust community dialogue emanating from legions of fans passionate about Oakland.

If a "social media strategy" consists of one Facebook page, then there are millions of social media strategies, just because some Joe Blow started a Facebook page. The main problem, to cut to the chase, before I continue, is that a social media strategy is much more. I've talked about this before:



And even though the video's geared toward the individual, the rules can be easily adopted for any municipal business like The City of Oakland.

What's really sad is that my friend Samee Roberts, the City of Oakland's Marketing Director, went out and put her name on this really, really, tearfully terrible approach. Well, I guess I have to get after a friend, so be it, but Samee informs is that the City spent time and money conducting a survey to tell them they needed a Facebook page!

I'm not kidding, and I'm really disappointed in Samee here. And Karen Wertman, of the consulting firm "Indelible Branding" had the never to make this statement:

"We wanted to make sure that every decision about how to proceed with social media was informed by what matters to people who actually live and work here. We found that as a whole, Oaklanders are incredibly passionate about their city and feel bonded by that appreciation."

It took a survey to learn that?

Oakland's social media strategy is a massive sham if this is all it is.  Samee just emailed and said it was a start; that's good.

Just the other day, I looked for Oakland's Twitter page, and that photo on the left shows what I found.

That's right, the photo reveals a Twitter page with zero tweets, and no followers. An apparently someone had started the thing recently, because the page has one Twitter account followed: that of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan. Other than that, the page reads:

@cityofoakland hasn't tweeted yet.

Then, when I checked Twitter Grader, I learned that the City of Oakland's Twitter page has been in existence for 2 years, 2 months, and 2 days.

So someone at the City of Oakland started this Twitter page and basically never maintained it, except for following Mayor Quan.

Wild, man.

I am not going to spend this space giving the City of Oakland free consulting work, and there are those within the City walls who think that when I give advice I'm telling them everything I know, or so other friends hace told me.

Heck, I remember Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty saying to me "thanks" for the "free" Coliseum website advice he thinks I gave the County way back in late 2001. Then, on the urging of then-Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb, I applied to be the Coliseum Executive Director, even though, given the players involved, I didn't expect to get the job.

I saw Scott at the Coliseum box during an Oakland Raiders game that year, and of course the Supervisor couldn't resist being a Smart Alec to me at the time. I didn't have the heart to tell him he got very little out of what I wrote, because he was being so nasty to me at the time.

Sorry, no love from me - I've been around too long - just the truth. We have to do better.

And that something better should be a task force. There are so many people in Oakland who already DO social media well, why hire a consulting firm? A task force is better.

And in closing, something else.

Since the World discovered Twitter and Facebook, I've seen an alarming number of old media-oriented organizations send out press releases on their "social media strategy" only to be hammered by the tech community, of which I'm a part - even have a CrunchBase Profile.">CrunchBase Profile.

The one rule is, if you're new to tech, and don't know what it means to be "disrupted," then stick your neck out to say "Look at me. what do you think?," get ready to be disrupted.

City of Oakland, you've been disrupted.

Of course, I expect the attacks from "anonymous" using whatever they can come up with; so be it.


Stay tuned.

Whitey Bulger, Subject Of The Departed, Arrested By FBI

James "Whitey" Bulger, subject of Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning movie The Departed, was arrested in California on Wednesday, along with his girlfriend Catherine Greig, by the FBI and after 16 years on the run.

Bulger's due to appear before a Federal judge in a Los Angeles court room on charges of of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, narcotics distribution, extortion and money laundering, according to RadarOnline.com.

Here's the ABC World News Now video from YouTube (as a note, ABC thankfully allows bloggers to embed their videos, and is a YouTube Partner, which means they gain revenue from the additional views from the embeds):



The FBI went around the World in pursuit of Bulger and at one point thought they had him in Europe, only to have taken in a German couple.

Not In Good Health

When The FBI finally caught up with Bulger, he was said not to be in good health, according to the Boston Globe - he's 81 years old and his girlfriend, who faces a charge of "harboring a fugitive" is 60 years old. Bulger reportedly didn't put up a fight with the FBI and confessed on the spot.

Reads like he wanted to get caught.

Played by Jack Nicholson

James "Whitey" Bulger was played by legendary actor Jack Nicholson in the 2006 Oscar Best Picture-winning movie The Departed, with Leonardo DiCaprio. Here's a scene from that film:



Stay tuned.

Cal Baseball News: Virginia Rematch, , David Esquer Coach OF The Year, New Video

After defeating Texas A&M 7 to 3 on Tuesday in the College World Series, Cal Baseball continues its amazing storybook season today, with a rematch game against Virginia. The two teams played Sunday, with Virginia getting by Cal 4 to 1; today's game starts at 7 PM EST on ESPN 2 and ESPN 3.

Cal goes into today's revenge, er, rematch game starting right-hander Dixon Anderson (4 - 3, 3.90 ERA, 41 SO/23 BB in 67 IP), a six-six junior who was drafted by The Washington Nationals.

Cal Baseball Coach Gets Coach Of The Year

According to the California Golden Blogs, Cal Baseball Coach David Esquer was named Coach Of The Year by the National College Baseball Writers Association, and will likely get a contract extension.

Here's the video from Bear Territory:



A New Cal Baseball Video!

Finally, and as you can at the top, Cal Baseball has a new video!

You can still donate to Save Cal Baseball at their website here: Save Cal Baseball!

GO BEARS! BEAT VIRGINIA!

Glen Campbell Alzheimer's Disease, Memento, And You

Famed Country Music Singer Glen Campbell has Alzheimer's Disease, it was announced today. The sad news was communicated during an exclusive interview with People Magazine and with his wife Kim by his side.

Campbell told People Magazine that he wanted fans to be aware of his condition and that he plans a farewell tour around America.

What a sad bit of news, but here's praying for Mr Campbell. Even if you're not a fan of country music, at least give some of his works an ear, particularly my favorite "Rhinestone Cowboy."

And let's hope we find a cure for Alzheimer's Disease.

On that note, Alzheimer's is more than just "memory loss," and People Magazine's webpage has a link to the 25 symptoms that go with it.

Just because you, or your parents, may forget something doesn't mean they have Alzheimer's. But if they forget the same thing several times a day, indicating no short-term memory, that's a sure sign of a problem of this magnitude.

One pop-culture representation of extreme memory loss was shown in Christopher Nolan's 2001 classic Memento. In that movie, Guy Pierce plays a man who's short term memory is non-existent. That does not stop him from trying to find the killer of his wife - a journey that leads him to one person. Himself.

Also, losing any idea of the correct time or place is another symptom.

If you see these problems start to develop with your loved ones, work to get help for them as soon as possible.

A Memory Question

In the video, I ask this question: do you remember being born?

I will explain the reason for this query later.

Stay tuned.

San Francisco News: Transbay Transit Center Meetings Today

This important San Francisco News update is about an today's Transbay Transit Center-related meetings. As you may know, the San Francisco Transbay Transit Center is currently under construction, replacing the demolished Transbay Terminal.

Part of the new development, with a 1000-foot skyscraper at its center, includes a giant, dramatic rooftop park. The park has always been a focus of discussion and debate, shown in my video, below, from the design competition:



On today, Wednesday, June 22nd there will be not one but two meetings on the design vision for the rooftop park. In this community meeting, you can meet the renowned landscape architects Peter Walker and Partners. The first of the two meetings was held at 12 noon, and the second will be at 6:30 PM this evening, and at the offices of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, at 201 Mission Street, in San Francisco, in Suite 2100.

And to RSVP to this event, please email Stephanie Reichin at Stephanie@Singersf.com

A reminder folks, that there will be a six-acre park, and have the overall design presented, is a done deal. The best time to issue objections was when my video was created. To get some idea of what the finished product will look like, take time to review this video, below, narrated by Peter Coyote:



Whatever your view, please attend this evening's meeting!

Oakland Broadway Shuttle To Run Until 1 AM Starting In July

Broadway 'B' Free Shuttle, a photo by Pushcart Design on Flickr.

Oakland Broadway Shuttle extends operating hours!

That's the Twitter tweet from @BroadwayShuttle I just saw, and was posted about 15 minutes ago. Here it is:

@BroadwayShuttle Broadway Shuttle
It's official! Broadway Shuttle will run Fri & Sat nights until 1am beginnning in early July. Stay tuned for more details.
19 minutes ago via web

This is GREAT news for Oaklanders, like this blogger, who have asked for a service like this for some time, if only to have a real inexpensive alternative to the car after a night out bar-hopping (I use the cabs).

Back in September 9th of 2009, I called for a late night shuttle service that would ideally ring around Lake Merritt. While the Broadway Shuttle doesn't do that - it stops at Webster and Grand Avenue, just two blocks from the Lake - at least the 1 AM time stop is a massive move in the right direction.

What would it take to extend it? Money.

I know the owners of The Lake Chalet would welcome such a move to extend the Broadway Shuttle around the Lake, and help pay for it in some way.

In fact, if we count merchant heads, of those businesses that may be interested in helping pay a percentage of their sales toward such a shuttle extension, we have The Lake Chalet, The Ruby Room (not far from the Chalet), Disco Violante, Baggy's Bar on East 18th, Room 389 on Grand, Round Table Pizza on Grand, Heart and Dagger and Kwik Way on Lake Park, Gold's Gym (which is open until midnight) The Grand Lake Theater (it's owner, Alan Michaan's got to want this), Lanesplitters Pizza, Easy Bar on Lakeshore, Colonial Donuts on Lakeshore (open all night), and The Alley on Grand Avenue, as well as Smitty's Bar, Kingman's Lounge, The Boot and Shoe Restaurant.

That's 17 establishments in total, and just paying for what realistically should be a weekend route extension, for Friday and Saturday. I don't know what that cost would be as of this writing, but what if each business contributed four percent of their monthly gross income to that shuttle service?

If that came to $600 per month per establishment, a low guess, that would be $10,200 per month, or $222,400 per year. That should be enough, perhaps more than needed, just to run a two-night route extension.

Indeed, looking at the original operating grant that called for $997,000 for a two-year shuttle program, it's more than doable.

Now What About The Lake Merritt Library?

Some Oaklanders reading this will be livid that part of the money could not go to save the local library, and they would be correct. So, why not have a program where any money raised over a ceiling of need would go directly to the operation of the library on El Embarcadero, next to the Lake.

Just throwing out some ideas, just showing what's possible to do.

Got off track, but the good news is the Broadway Shuttle hours are extended. That's a great first start!

eHarmony Video Bio Parody, Breakdancing Gorilla On YouTube? Blame Oprah

Sorry that Zola the Breakdancing Gorilla's the latest YouTube viral video?

Upset that there are hundreds of eHarmony Video Bio Parody copy cats littering the YouTube website?

Blame Oprah.

That's right: Oprah!

Oprah Winfrey's emergence onto the YouTube stage starting November 1, 2007 , is to blame for the proliferation of shows and "lowest common denominator" video clips. And all of this frenetic activity culminated in the eHarmony Video Bio, which was posted two weeks ago, and reached 8 million views within just six days.

And the Breakdancing Gorilla, a video featuring Zola, of the Calgary Zoo, who repeatedly spins on one foot while splashing water in the 40-second clip that has been the focus of 132 news articles on Google News today.

Here's Zola, breakdancing:



What Oprah did in 2007 was open the flood gates for videos that didn't feature people talking about something and to each other. When Oprah came on YouTube and, in refusing to take comments and response videos and getting front page positioning, effectively pushed aside the YouTube Community.

What followed on the days after Oprah's YouTube debut was a hue and cry from the video-blogging community. Understand that prior to Oprah's arrival, videos that featured a conversational thread often got the most views on the video - sharing site. And that dynamic made vloggers like Paul Robinet AKA "Renetto" YouTube's first home-grown stars.

Oprah was seen as the death of YouTube as vloggers knew it.

A video-blogger by the name of "Paperlillies" said it best in 2007. In fact Paperlillies accurately forecast the evolution of the YouTube site we enjoy today, when she observed that "as a result of corporate identies and corporate entities coming on to YouTube, there's a completely crazy playing field now.

Whereas it used to be that videos that were really creative and really well made - it was the good videos that got views. Now, it's the videos that are the most sensationalist. It's the videos that are the lowest common denominator (that get the most views and attention).

Zola The Breakdancing Gorilla and eHarmony Video Bio are the best examples, but the eHarmony Video Bio is particularly troublesome because it has spawned parody after parody - what seem to be hundreds of them.

Its' one giant reason vloggers and friends Renetto and Kenrg started Vloggerheads in 2008, to have a place for the conversational vlogger. Now, Vloggerheads has over 20,000 videos and a fiercely loyal base of contributors and viewers.

There's still a place for the conversational vlogger on the Internet, even as YouTube has been taken over by shows and clips of either violence or silliness. The advertisers can and should weigh in here, as their money can help redirect this playing field toward the kind of simulating content produced by classic vloggers.

Maybe Oprah will contribute a vlog to Vloggerheads? She's certainly welcome to do so.

Stay tuned.

Deanna Santana Returns To Oakland To Become City Manager

Deanna Santana, who came to the City of Oakland in 1995 and worked in what was then called the City Manager's Office and is now called the City Administrator's Office under the Oakland / Jerry Brown version of the strong-mayor system, was unanimously approved as Oakland's new City Administrator, replacing Interim City Administrator P. Lamont Ewell.

Ms. Santana started in the City Manager's Office when Craig Kocian was held the title, then remained as Kocian left for Colorado, and gave way toward then-Interim City Manager / Economic Development Director Kofi Bonner. When Robert Bobb was hired as City Manager in 1997, and Bonner returned to his role as head of the Community and Economic Development Agency that year, Santana remained in the City Manager's Office, but had the primary assignment of the Police Department.

In 1999, Deanna left for San Jose and has remained at the City Manager's Office as Deputy City Manager for 12 years. Her most recent assignment that gained media attention was as San Jose's point-person for the 2010 Census, and as the main policy formation contact regarding medical marijuana, including the development of a tax collection structure and a ballot initiative called "Measure U."

It passed in November with 73 percent of the vote, and San Jose collected its first revenue from it, $291,000, in May.

That may very well be why the Oakland City Council approved Santana: her experience with medical marijuana policy - in addition to her past experience in Oakland.

But I digress.

Ms. Santana earned her B.A. from Cal (Berkeley) in 1992, and Master of City Planning from MIT in 1995.

How do I know all of this? I was Economic Adviser to Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris from 1995 to 1999, and we share 22 Linkedin connections in total (I have over 2,600 of them). Deanna and I never had reason to cross the same work paths, but she was known for driving a cool Acura, as I recall. Deanna was very quiet at work - got the job done.

But Deanna also was always "low profile," operating, as Mayor Elihu Harris would put in, "just below the radar," and not known for a desire to be in the public eye - so something had to change for her to come back to Oakland.

And I would speculate that in Oakland she saw the perfect place for an opportunity to advance and yet not really get out of what she perceives as a comfort zone. That's another way of saying she knows Oakland and its problems and can dive right in and get to work.

Deanna, who's social media platform has been largely thin - no website, twitter page, or other markings except her Linkedin and Facebook pages - will experience a massive shock to her online profile an hour after she's introduced to the press Wednesday at 10:30 am at Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 4.

Green Lantern's Angela Bassett On Blacks in Comics

The legendary Angela Bassett, who plays Dr. Amanda Waller in the much-anticipated Green Lantern movie, starring Ryan Reynold's and Blake Lively, sat down to talk with Jamal Finkley, a YouTube Partner who's Blacktreemedia channel has really produced great video interviews with some of today's top talent.

In the interview, Ms. Bassett explains that she took the role in the sci-fi movie because "as an actress you always want to expand your roles," and not get stuck in one kind of movie genre.

Green Lantern was a brutal movie on her, and it's too bad Jamal didn't have more time to ask about the stunts in it. There's one particular scene that left this blogger wondering how they got her up there.

You have to see Green Lantern to understand what I am referring to. (Here's my review, below.)



Bassett really didn't talk about "blacks in comics" in this video, but it seems that we've only got one part of a longer conversation. My guess is that whatever she said was edited out.

Win A Green Lantern Ring

And while we're on the subject of Green Lantern, you can win your very own Green Lantern Ring. All you have to do is follow Warner Bros at @wbpictures on Twitter. Jamal has the info:



Stay tuned.

Jon Huntsman Called Weasel, Runs For President

The definition of "weasel," aside from reference to the mammal described as a "small, active predator," is of a person who is a "deceitful or treacherous person," and by action "Achieve something by use of cunning or deceit: 'trying to weasel my way into his affections.'"

From the looks of videos and accounts, former Utah Governor and former U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman has been called a weasel, and now that person's running for the Republican Presidential Nomination.

Typing "Jon Huntsman Weasel" in Google yields an interesting set of findings.

First, there's a YouTube video that gives the former Utah Governor the 30th "Weasel Award," because Robert Evan Howard, the Salt Lake City man who created the video and the award, blames Huntsman for "people being taxed out of their homes in Utah" while he was Governor.

The video is not new, but hasn't been seen much at all over the past three years: 72 times total, or about 24 times a year, or about once every other week. That's about to change:



The other interesting "Jon Huntsman Weasel" search result on Google is this one:

"Looks like a weasel to me. Just sayin'."

And comes as a comment after a Huffington Post blog article with the title "Jon Huntsman Praised By China Vice Premier." The article by Huff Po staff ads:

"A fluent Mandarin speaker from his time as a Mormon missionary, Huntsman has won praise from the administration for his work as ambassador. But White House aides have been less than enthused by his interest in exploring a Republican presidential bid next year."

Which caused this blogger to wonder what kind of, as they say on the street, shit, Huntsman was plotting against President Obama while "serving" as U.S. Ambassador to China.

Anyone who can speak "fluent Mandarin," serves the American President in China, then turns around and announces he's going to try and run against that same American President, and is praised by the Chinese on the way, certainly places his very character into question. Did Huntsman throw his own boss under the bus while serving as Ambassador in China?

Fair question.

And all that on top of the finding that the blog "Weasel Zippers" has several pages devoted to the "Republican In Name Only" (RINO), Jon Huntsman.

If President Obama can't trust Jon Huntsman, why should the American people be asked to trust Jon Huntsman? Huntsman might sell us out to China more so than we're already economically on the hook for.

Just saying.

Oh, in case you're wondering.  I searched for a photo of Former Governor Huntsman to put up here, when I typed "Jon Huntsman Weasel" in Google, but that cute little critter kept popping up. 

Stay tuned.

Green Lantern and Super 8 Movie Review

Over the weekend, this blogger saw both much-anticipated films Green Lantern, and Super 8. Here's a quick review, as I head out of the door.

The Green Lantern movie wasn't as bad as a number of critics would have you believe, and the problem with their takes, is they didn't explain how the movie could be fixed. I will here.

I give it a 6.5 out of 10, and because the script took four story lines - Hal Jordan, Jordan / Green Lantern (Ryan Reynolds), Carol Harris (Blake Lively), and Hector (Peter Sarsgaard), and spent about 40 minutes of a two-hour film explaining them, then getting to the point.

By contrast, what marked Jurassic Park and Mission: Impossible Screenwriter David Koepp's success, was that he grew to understand the importance of getting the explanation done quickly, because everyone wanted to see the main event - in the case of Jurassic Park, the dinosaurs.

Having someone like David Koepp do the screenwriting would have made for a much better Green Lantern.

But there was that other problem: the CGI.

The flying bleed lines were evident in the 3D version, as Hal Jordan came in to meet Carol Harris as he was The Green Lantern for the first time. The audience grumbled.

How Warner Bros allowed that obvious error to get by is the question of the day.

For Super 8, such issues never popped up, but then it was a 2D movie!

What I liked about Super 8 was that J.J. Abrams obviously tried for a film that was a kind of homage to Steven Spielberg and he almost nailed it.

I don't know what the deal was with the use of grainy film, but other than that, it was a tight movie that wrapped you in its story and didn't let go. I would be surprised if it didn't get an Oscar best picture nomination.

Stay tuned.

Is “Queers for Avalos” Offensive? - SF Mayor's Race

Over at Able Dart's Bathroom Wall, the premier forum for online discussion of San Francisco political issues, one SF man who goes by "Chrysippus" took issue with the naming of a recent "John Avalos For Mayor" event called "Queers for Avalos," asserting that the term "Queer" was offensive, and that a straight person should not use it.

In the SF Mayor's Race, every meeting counts, including how it's named.

Frankly, the idea that the term "Queer" was offensive never occurred to me, but then I don't use it, and perhaps I don't have the sensitivities that a Gay person would have in this case. Plus, I grew up with such elements of pop-culture like the TV show Queer Eye For The Straight Guy.

Chrysippus states:

Gay supporters of John Avalos, mostly Milk Clubbers, have formed a group called “Queers for Avalos” (link below).

The use of the term “queers” to refer to gay people is offensive. The term implies that there’s something queer about being gay.

In fact, however, homophobia is what’s queer. Being gay is part of the natural spectrum of human experience. Hostility to people’s ability to love other members of their own gender is queer.

The term “queer” in reference to gay people is especially offensive when straights use it in this sense. And even more offensive, when straight politicians do so. And most offensive all, when done in the name of progressive politics.

I’ve been a gay activist since the 1960s, arrested nine times in gay liberation demonstrations, attacked and beaten.

I’m not queer. I’m not LGBT. I’m gay and proud.

Shame on John Avalos for being a party to this internalized homophobia on the part of the Milk Clubbers.

Here’s the link:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=220413784644475

The blast from Chrysippus started a healthy debate over at The SF Wall, here's some samples:

westside progressive: Get with the times. The term "queers" has long ago been turned into a positive term by the queer community. I guess you're just grumpy because you weren't invited to the party.


Able Dart: I do believe from the above that the term "Queer" is in fact offensive to LGBT persons who prefer to see their identity as part of a larger society as opposed to those who wish to emphasize identity politics. Unless of course Westie want to venture down Queer Street again and claim that Wikipedia is a global conspiracy...


el Greco SF: What I find offensive are just plain "citizens" for Avalos.

From the looks of things, it appears the people who formed the event are Gay, not straight, and elected to use the term. That's there choice.

I don't think John Avalos should be held responsible for an event he did not form himself, or at least this one. Not to say any person running for office should attend every meeting that's formed for the person, no. I'm just saying that in this case, I don't see the big deal.

But then that's why I presented it, to learn if it was, indeed a big deal. After all, the use of one wrong term can impact the SF Mayor's Race.

I dated a wickedly brilliant woman for several years who, even with our sexual component, if you will, consistently called herself Lesbian, not Gay and certainly not "bi."

I never asked her why that was, perhaps because I was having too good a relationship with her at the time and didn't want to blow it with a philosophical argument. Lord knows we ended because of a much more concrete one!