Like that scene at the end of “Independence Day” when Randy Quaid flies into the alien mother ship to save the earth, I’m baaaack.

I found out yesterday that I have been nominated to an adjunct faculty teaching position at my alma mater, the University of Maryland University College.  Beginning next Spring semester, I’ll be back to teaching, most likely for a PR techniques class.  I’m returning to a wonderful place where I got my Master’s degree a long time ago – and began my teaching career as a TA even longer ago.

I am absolutely thrilled to be going to back to the classroom.  I missed it because of all of my wonderful Georgetown students whose own intellect and wit challenged me to be at my best each and every week.  I miss you all terribly but am lucky to keep in touch with so many of you.

Thank you Theresa and Julie for bringing me home!

W00T!

Mark

P.S. -  This will be a part time gig, so SEC colleagues:  don’t start eying my office furniture just yet.

I have been mulling over this post for some time, but yesterday, crystallized it finally in my mind.  I think there are many who believe that if you are on Twitter, Facebook or [insert social media tool here] that somehow, you live in your Mom’s basement with the curtains drawn and screech like a ferret when someone introduces light into the room. Not true. I am lucky to have integrated social media into my life.  In so many ways.

So I have compiled a list below of how social media, in one form or another, has impacted my life.  Sorry for the long, post, but if you get tired of reading it, you can always click here to read about SEC Interim Temporary Final Rules.

You’re back?  Good. Here’s my list:

Friends Whom I Have Not Yet Met

Ike Pigott really got me thinking a couple of weeks ago when he CALLED me.  How about that?  As usual, Ike is smart and funny, but he has this great idea.  How about, once in a while, we take the online world over to Ma Bell and call each other?  Ike, as usual, you are dead on, so you highlight this list.

Matthew, who, despite being a Yankee fan, you are an ok guy – and responded to a then desperate blog post from me about recurring pneumonia with sound advice about taking some herbal medication.  And in that year or so, I may have had one cold.  What a difference.

Thanks Jonathan, for the wonderful comment you made on my blog last year about my children. Thanks. Julia, you noticed my posts and offered immediately to donate to my little girl’s campaign to raise money for the children of Haiti.  We share a lot in common on parenting, and I can’t wait to meet you one of these years. Tim, we’ve done a Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable together and tweeted, but your posts and tweets and both funny and insightful.  I love reading your stuff. Neville, I feel like I already know you and am certain that in 2010, we’ll finally get to meet in person.  And I am grateful for the opportunity to be whom David Wescott calls “FIR Boy.”  And Shel, in my mind, you literally wrote the book on online public relations and I am so grateful to be part of the FIR community.

Kami, we too have done a Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable together, I feel like I know you and am 100% sure that you are going to kick ass in your new venture with Geoff.

And speaking of Geoff, I can’t leave out our recent Twitter conversation about the fun night you, me, Larissa, Mark and Shel had, celebrating his birthday.  And Mark – it was so awesome catching up between speeches at the PRSA event yesterday.

Friends I Have Met Because of Social Media

Jason, you top this list.  Not only are you smart as hell, you are funny as hell and I am lucky to call you a friend.  So I’ll start with a “BlogWorldExpo 2009 list” and mention how much fun I had connecting with Shauna, Tac, Eric, Shannon, Ed, Jen and many, many others last October.  I think that it was a contact high just meeting each other. I was in the speaker ready room with Guy Kawasaki, for Christ’s sake.  And as I was doing the Garth and Wayne “I’m Not Worthy,” Brian Solis took a few moments to chat – and was funny and down to earth. And Dave – I’ll be getting that speaker proposal in soon.  2009 was one hell of a good time.

Kate, you too are special, not only for the “Keep Austin Weird” person you are, but also for the kindness you displayed when you responded to my daughter’s Haiti drive -and emailed her.

And special shout-out to Doug, who is not only funny and smart, but did the Pan Mass Bike Challenge to raise money for the Dana Farber Institute – and mailed me (old school) a handwritten thank you for my little donation.

Eric – meeting you last week was a blast.  And I am beyond psyched to be working on stuff in the future.

You are a real friend. Shonali, although we are geographically close, we don’t get together enough.  That needs to change in 2010 as well.  You are smart, funny and one hell of a networker.

Academic Mentions

Robert, you have set the academic social media standard for others to follow.  But what is so clear is that you care enough about your students to push them to have REAL LIFE experience with it.  To dare to try while they learn.  PROpenMic is brilliant and I constantly see you pushing for job opportunities for your students.  As an instructor myself, I can tell you that that particular part of teaching is not in your job description;  it’s in your character. Barbara, I am dying to meet you via Skype video or however I can learn more about what you teach.  And (Robert, too) count me in for a guest appearance at computer screen near you.

Really Special Academic Mentions

This is for my Georgetown peeps.  Not only was teaching seriously one of the greatest joys in my life, the fact that so many of you have kept in touch me with me, asking advice (educational of life advice) is just plain flattering – and humbling.  And as we have transitioned from professor/student to friends, I am so grateful to know you, Lill, Megan, Anne, Kristen, Shannon, Jessica, Claudia, Mike, Sunaina, Georgi, Raquel, Laura, Sherice, Jolie, Joe, Shilpika, Alma, Tarun, Anca, Aimee, Becky, Catherine, and Josie (please move back – mid term elections are soon – heh).  A couple of you have moved out of the country since you finished, but still keep in touch,  It means a lot.  And what was even more meaningful was watching several of you walk across that stage and get your diplomas.  I was like a proud pappa.  And I know that I suck because I know that I have left someone out completely by mistake, but that’s why they have the “edit” button on blog posts.  And yes, I could have died a happy man after that picture.

People From the Past

Most of this comes from former employers (I have a lot of them).  I firmly believe that if you are real friends, the friendship transcends the term of employment.  So David, I have watched you go from an agency newbie to someone who has completely mastered the art of social media – and regularly kicks my ass in the stuff you write.  Hillary, I will never forget that you were there for me when my mom was dying. Never.  Same for you, Maura, Jess and Layle.  Spencer, it’s great that I still get to see you from time to time.   I love reading about your life, too, Oona.  Jaselle – I miss our completely off-colour (with a nod to the British spelling) jokes and still remember our pub night out in London (BC for you;  Before Children).   All of you remind me of the times when APCO was a FAMILY – not a soulless corporation.

Cheryl, you and I are polar opposites in just about everything in life, but still good friends. And that is so awesome.  Monica, I so love that we can still keep in touch – and now that you have climbed the corporate ladder of success, you have not forgotten this little person.  And since it’s just the two of us reading this, how about getting me a corporate gig in Miami?  Winter sucks.

And Tom – we pretty much started in the whole “Internet thing” together in the late 90’s.  Fun times, those.  And yes, it was randomly generated.

What Got Me Hooked

Chip, the friendship that we developed over the years and has grown was the spark that helped ignite my passion for social media.  And Jen, it’s been zillion years since I last saw you, but I have loved working with you on articles or podcasts and you always have smart and funny things to say either on my blog or my Facebook page.  And you are real friend – a Prince says “ruff” to Ralph.  Sarah, we both suck for never meeting face-to-face now that we live 10 miles apart.  I would really like to correct that in 2010 as well.

And thank you to Lourdes and Laurie for finding me after all those years.

This post is too long, but, for a long time, I have been thinking that when I tweet something like “I’m sick,” or “at the vet,” or “today blows,” I will, at some point hear from one of my social media/online/offline friends.  And I have never really said “thank you,” because when I get that little Facebook message back, or that tweet saying “What’s going on?” it makes all of the difference in the world.

Thanks, social media.

Mark

P.S. – As a demonstration of my thankfulness and devotion, I got carpal tunnel syndrome inserting all of these links.

P.P.S. – For those of you who know my, um “irascible” personality, NO this post does not mean that I am dying and this is my epitaph.

P.P.P.S. – There are so many outbound links in this post that I fear that I will disappear from Google all together, bleeding links.  Linkey love, anyone?

Because of my day job, I try to keep politics of out this blog as much as possible, but occasionally, there is a rare example of a time at which the two coincide – in telling fashion.

The most recent case is that of Van Jones, the now-ex White House environment adviser, or “Green Jobs Czar.”

For those of you who are thankfully non-political, Mr. Jones was appointed in February to a “czar” post (no Congressional vetting nor approval needed) – a job in which he would advise President Obama about environmental issues.  By the White House’s own admission, “He was not as thoroughly vetted as other administration officials,…It’s fair to say there were unknowns.”

Then — enter Washington hardball.  Without going into political specifics, suffice it to say that Mr. Jones, prior to his appointment, had some unkind things to say about Republicans as well as having signed a petition in a prior life accusing the prior administration of having known about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

That’s not what matters here – what is the watershed moment for me is that this may, in fact, be the first time that YouTube has undone a presidential adviser and provided the “smoking gun” when the “mainstream media” has remained mute.   I stress social media because, as conservative outlets have pointed out, while YouTube and the online political right screamed all last week, ABS, NBC, CBS and CNN remained largely mute on the controversy.  Nada.  Zippy.  Zilch.

Mr. Jones twisted in the political wind for a week last week, issuing two separate apologies.  The political right smelled blood in the water and the political left, for the most part,  largely ignored the controversy.

In the meantime, a quick search reveals that there are 231 different videos on YouTube if one searches for “Van Jones” + “republicans.“  On the other hand, Mr. Jones’ hometown major newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, only began mentioning the story on September 4th- last Friday.

My point is not political;  it is related to the power of social media.  I suppose the lesson for Mr. Jones is, even if you have a friendly audience, if there is one guy in the room with a video camera, assume that that video can end up on YouTube one day and bite you in the rear end the next.  If you sign a petition that is casually put in front of you, read it. The same goes for both ends of the political spectrum.

I am old enough to remember when the “Big Three” networks basically told us what to think.  Now, we are seeing the political divide and when the “Big Three” choose to largely ignore a story, you better do a Google search as well.  Oh – and by the way — the “duh” rule – if you are vetting a political candidate, you might want to Google the person as well.  All presidential appointees are required, as part of background checks,  to answer a simple question: “Have you done anything that could potentially embarrass the President?”

Mark

P.S. – the video is below.  Use the “earmuffs” rule if kids are within earshot.

For those of who not from New England, you may not be familiar with the Jimmy Fund.  The Jimmy Fund is an annual fundraising drive for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston – an institution that treats — and cures — children with cancer.

I was fortunate enough to be at the Jimmy Fund game two years ago when a cancer survivor, Jordan Leandre, bravely and spontaneously ran the bases on two legs that, years before, were ravaged by cancer.  There was not a dry eye in the house.  If you want to see an emotional video, give this click – and have some Kleenex handy.  The lump-in-your-throat moment is at about 1:58 in the video.

At the game, I distinctly remember a barrage of emotional sights like a little girl held up a sign that said, simply, “Today, I am 8 years old.  Thank you.”

I have a variety of emotions about this issue.  First and foremost, I am beyond grateful that I have two healthy children and have not had to endure every parent’s worst nightmare.

On the other hand, In 2003, my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer.  We were were incredibly fortunate to have her treated at the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown Hospital.  When you are caring for cancer patient, the nasty secret that you are not told is that your biggest, demonic opponent is waiting – waiting while your loved ones are in treatment, waiting for test results, waiting to see is the latest course of therapy was effective.  Waiting.

This ties into the above because the main waiting area at the Lombardi Cancer Institute is directly across an atrium from the childrens’ cancer treatment center.  While waiting — there’s that word again — I cannot tell you how many bald, sickly children I saw being carried in for treatment by a parent anguished by facing a nightmare of unspeakable proportions.

My mother did not survive, but in a strange way, people who are older and smoke their whole lives are, in cosmic sense, supposed to die. Children, who are programmed to laugh, to love unconditionally, are not.  Ever.

In the past, I have been involved in the St. Balrick’s Foundation as well as Doug Haslam’s recent PanMass bike ride challenge.  But everything is second fiddle to me to the Jimmy Fund.

I won’t drone on about giving a donation;  that’s up to you.  But what I can say is that the telephone donation line is 877-738-1234 and the Web site is here.  This year’s goal is a whopping five million dollars.  As of this morning, they are at $1.6 million.  That’s a lot of ground to make up.  But as I write this, people with buckets are in position all over New England.  WEEI and NESN, the Red Sox flasgship stations, is broadcasting non-stop.  Generous people from all over the country are making whatever donation, small or large, that they can.

And you can too.

Mark

I debated what to call this post because it is an “open letter,” but calling it a letter to my “former students” seemed too, well “formal.”  With graduation happening on Saturday and I will have the immense honor and pleasure of handing you your Master’s Degree diplomas – and I will do so with a sense of pride that I feel the need  to express.

Since many of you who are graduating were in my first class, we all began this journey together,  I feel a deep bond with you.  And there are a few thoughts that I would like to express to you, the Class of 2009, and for the rest of my wonderful group of students.

Many of you may remember that, each semester, I reminded you that, although this was hard, we all were on a journey — together. And it was occasionally time to stop worrying about the grades and start thinking about the journey.  I did some thinking to, and here are just some of my thoughts.

Teaching many of you has been one of the greatest joys in my life, but it was I who learned from you.  Through your intelligence, intellectual curiosity and honesty, you made me better.  You pushed me to work harder. You challenged me to be at my best, each and every single class.

I have also had the distinct pleasure of staying in touch with many of you and providing career advice, life advice and basically anything that (I hope) was of value.  That too, is an honor;  it lets me know that ours was not just a temporary relationship, but a bond that was forged through tough work and sometimes, tough love.

For the class of 2009:  I feel an immense surge of pride and cannot wait to see you on Saturday.  Teaching with you, working with you, learning from you has been an immense pleasure and joy.

I was there for many of you on Day 1 — and I will have the honor of being there on the last day.

I thank you all humbly for this wonderful experience.

Mark