Posts byJohn Byrne

Why Are We Working on the Weekend?

No study that I could find yet points to causation, but there are a lot of theories, most of which come back to technology. It’s now so easy to do work pretty much anywhere, especially from home, that we find ourselves not only tempted to squeeze in some work (even checking email counts) but also planning to do work on the weekends.
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Proof That There Is Now Too Much Content on the Web

Is this another sign of the coming apocalypse?  Hands, please.  How many people knew that the New York Times was publishing a haiku blog on Tumblr, and that the snippets of Japanese-style poetry are generated by a robot? Yep, that’s what I thought.  Me neither.  But more terrifying is that it’s been doing this for more than a year!  How could
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5 Tips to Catch Typos and Avoid Spellenfreude

Nobody’s perfect, right? Tell that to the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University.  This past weekend, the hallowed home to some of the world’s best media minds — and my alma mater — handed out some diplomas with a typo in the school’s name! It was a big boo-boo. A huge oopsie. A face-palm-combined-with-a-sad-sigh-and-slumped-shoulders kinda mistake.
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Continuing Ed

One thing of value I find in blogs I follow are quick hits and/or recurring features.  So, in a blog about communications, what better regular feature than sharing new words that I’ve come across — new to me, that is.  Here are three: Hipsterical.  Found this while perusing the comments in an interview with a woman who says that the
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Forgetting the Tip

When it comes to writing about writing, especially on the Interwebs, there is this tendency to start giving advice, like some latter-day Dear Abby:  Do this, don’t do that.  You’ll look stupid if you don’t use “educated-sounding” words.  You’ll look dumb if you do.  Every time you use passive voice, a puppy dies.  And so on, and so on.  You’ve read
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My Tags Are Showing

I have a confession to make:  All this time that I have been (and have not been) blogging, I have not tagged any of my posts.  They have categories, yes.  But tags?  Not a one.  That is, until now. Why am I sharing this?  Well, first it is news, if only for this blog.  Additionally, part of communicating with others is
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Rough Drafts and Drafting Drunk

How do you start writing?  For a lot of people, staring at a blank screen is terrifying, even paralyzing.  Most people would rather do just about anything but write, it seems.   This is a phenomenon that author Stephen King has noted about writing:  “The scariest moment is always just before you start.”   As a result, during my many years in the workplace I have
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What’s New?

Apparently, what’s new is this post — and maybe this blog.  Yes, after a four-year (!) hiatus, I’m going to take another run at blogging.  Only time will tell whether or not I have something to say.  It appears that this blog — like so many, many others — is akin to a fad diet:  you pay a lot of
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Speaking of Social Media

I’m very excited about the opportunity today to talk at the ACC Chicago Chapter event on “How Social Media is Changing the Way We Do Business” being held at Drinker Biddle’s conference center in Chicago.  It features three sets of panelists from both Drinker Biddle and top companies discussing a variety of topics, from how social media is transforming intellectual
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It Goes Without Saying

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been marveling over the experience I had during and after the Legal Marketing Association’s annual national conference.  It was obviously an honor to be invited to speak about how law firms are using social media from an in-house marketing/communications perspective.  The presentation itself went very well — it was even SRO (thanks in part
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Here’s a Story About Social Media…

Now that I’ve returned from the Legal Marketing Association’s annual conference, where I spoke on the topic of social media, I can report that many, many law firms (and their lawyers) find that social media is still something to be regarded as not worth the time or effort.  As evidence, take a look at my survey of AmLaw100 firms using Facebook
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AmLaw 100 Firms on Twitter

As promised, here’s the results of my survey of AmLaw100 firms who have a presence on Twitter.  As I did  my research, I was reminded how lousy the search function is on Twitter.  I also came up against a search limitation after about 25 (or so) searches… I would have to wait until the top of the hour to try searching
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AmLaw 100 Firms on Facebook

At a presentation yesterday at the Legal Marketing Association’s annual conference, I discussed a survey I did of how many AmLaw100 firms have a Facebook presence in the form of a fan page.  For reference and posterity, I am sharing the results here on the blog, too.  I also surveyed the same firms’ presence on Twitter, results of which I
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And Now, Something (Somewhat) Completely Different…

With apologies for those readers, friends and family with absolutely no interest in legal marketing, per se, I will be using the blog in the next few days to support some of my communicating at the annual national conference of the Legal Marketing Association in Denver.  My participation on a panel, unsurprisingly enough, will include discussion of the nexus between traditional
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Signs of the Times

I came across this article in Sunday’s Chicago Tribune that nearly perfectly juxtaposed the old world that seems to be falling away quickly with the new world that has arrived.  The story is about the closing of a once-successful Chicago dairy — McDonald’s was a customer, buying supplies for its milkshakes — that fell victim to the classic economic squeeze play of
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From the Department of Redundancy Department

I gave a presentation yesterday on “The Brave New World of Social Media” to folks from small and large businesses that were attending a program at my firm’s Chicago office.  Not surprisingly, my program title’s days are numbered, as more and more businesses take the plunge into social media. Note that I didn’t refer to “social networking” in my title.  In fact, during
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Bored much?

Every Sunday when I open my New York Times, sifting through the various sections, I have a momentary pang of guilt when I come to the Book Review.  I glance at it and feel the same as when I’m grocery shopping and fail to buy broccoli.  Mind you, the feeling is fleeting, but the aftertaste lingers for much longer.  There’s just something
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Writing and the “Empty Backpack”

During the holidays, my wife and I got a chance to see the latest George Clooney vehicle, “Up in the Air.”  It is a fine flick with terrific acting and captivating, if not occasionally predictable, storylines and characters.  I definitely recommend seeing it, if you haven’t already.  I don’t intend to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn’t seen it,
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Be Careful What You Wish For

So, the Supreme Court has decided that the First Amendment has some teeth still left in it when it comes to political speech (the whole reason it mentions the “press” in the first place).  It may come as a surprise to some who know me, but I actually agree with the majority view, which bears a resemblence to my “marketplace
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