Photographers and fans use social media to develop new community Over the past year or so, I’ve learned a thing or two about building communities through the use of social media. Armed with that knowledge and a lifelong enthusiasm for photography, I recently established the Westchester Photography Facebook page. The response has been great, and I’m now wishing I’d gotten it started much earlier. The purpose of the Westchester Photography page is to provide a place where local photographers and fans of photography can share their common interest. Continue reading →

For the past 24 hours or so, Lohud.com has been using social media to track down leads on the police shooting of a Pace University student early Sunday morning outside Finnegan’s, a Thornwood bar. Using Twitter, Lohud has been seeking responses from friends of the student who was killed, as well as witnesses to the shooting or the events that led up to it. Lohud has obtained video taken by a Pace student shortly after the shooting, and they have been able to interview numerous Continue reading →

Today as I was looking for a photo to post on the Westchester Photography Facebook page, I remembered an image I recorded early one morning while on vacation this past August. I’d gotten up at 5:30 am to take photos of the sunrise, but by the time the sun had risen over the horizon on this hot and humid morning, things were looking pretty unimpressive. Don’t get me wrong — every sunrise is a sight to behold, but this particular one just didn’t seem as Continue reading →

There are many reasons why businesses avoid taking the plunge into social media, but I’ve started to believe that one of the biggest (and unfortunate) reasons is that they are afraid of what they might learn. Many businesses would rather continue slogging along they way they have for years, rather than listening to what their customers have to say. Or they are actually afraid to drive traffic to their website or through their doors — because of what their customers might see. The website will Continue reading →

Zig Ziglar quote rings truer than ever During an early morning  meeting last Friday with Knowtorious Deals founder Sandro Ore, we were preparing ideas for a podcast series we’ve been planning for several weeks. Near the end of the meeting, we decided to tape a trial segment, in order to get an idea how it might look. We had no script, but Sandro had compiled an informal list of ideas, so we used that to keep us on track. At one point, Sandro unexpectedly announced that we Continue reading →

As the owner of Cornell Gallery (a picture framing business in Pleasantville, NY) I had always aspired to get onto the Westchester Magazine “Best Of” list which is published in the July issue every year. Well, in 2008 those aspirations became a reality as Cornell Gallery was named “Best Framer in Westchester”. It was quite an honor and we aspire to win it again. Last month, I received an envelope from Westchester Magazine that was unexpected. It informed me that I had been named to Continue reading →

You don’t have to look very far to see that social media is simmering throughout the Westchester area. Businesses, organizations and individuals are broadcasting their messages through Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other forms of this new technology known as social media. It is my belief that the time is right for a web site that has as its goal to promote the use of social media for the benefit of those who live and work in the Westchester area. A couple of weeks ago, the Continue reading →

Anyone looking for proof of the power of social media needed to look no further than the third Westchester TweetUp, at the Jacob Burns Film Center’s Media Arts Lab in Pleasantville on Jan. 21. The event brought together more than 80 people interested in learning more about how to communicate their message through various forms of new media. It also featured a keynote address by “Be the Media” author David Mathison as well as networking opportunities for guests. This was the third event organized by Continue reading →