Some of my favorite words ended up on this list of 15 “Unusual Words That Make Writers Swoon” featured in this PR Daily piece: (You can click the post title for the article link…)

From PR Daily: Put that jargon to good use: play “Word Quest” in your next meeting! http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/9866.aspx

Of course, it’s generally best to AVOID using jargon when talking to people outside your specialty area, but this lets you have some fun with it when you’re not at risk of making your listener (or reader) feel uninformed!

There is a free Webinar 1/18/11 at 1 p.m. EST entitled 9 Companies Doing Blogging Right and What You Need to Know with Rick Calvert, Dave Cynkin, and Michael Stelzner. You can sign up here–and even if you won’t be available at the time of the Webinar–they’ll provide you with the link to the content.

This no-obligation Webinar is a precursor to their 2011 Blogging Success Summit–but it’s open to everyone with some great content regardless of whether you opt in for the full summit. I’ve participated in one of Stelzner’s other Summits–the Social Media Summit–and it featured some of the world’s top experts and users and also granted you access to an incredibly proactive community of fellow participants through their special LinkedIn group.

Here’s a link to a helpful piece from Susan Friedman, CSP, @tradeshowcoach describing what’s key to know in assessing your competition even if it seems pretty comfortably yours now.

One of her recommendations includes the use of Alexa [found at www.alexa.com], which she describes as “An easy way to determine the biggest movers and shakers is to head over to Alexa and enter in your keywords. Alexa enables you to see an in-depth view of what your competitors are up to, based on the rating of popularity that they are enjoying through individual site visits. They also offer the ability to view analytic data about specific sites, including the countries from which sites’ main traffic sources come from and number of other sites linking in. It’s an extremely powerful tool that you don’t need to pay for!”

Read more by following the link: http://bit.ly/a1UU6M

It’s always interesting to get the day’s word (sometimes it’s a phrase) of the day from the extremely diverse Urban Dictionary. Today’s seems particularly apropos for a holiday as many of us may find ourselves working on a day that is supposed to be a day off from labors and appreciation of the labors of others. For those of us in the communications realm, I actually recommend you check out any words or phrases you may have any question about on the www.urbandictionary.com site as you may be surprised at some of the street/urban meanings for things you thought were pretty innocuous!

Here’s the definition for today:

<snip>

September 6: workweek creep

1) Constant connectivity via your smartphone and computer blurs the boundaries between your work life and your personal life.

2) Constant connectivity at work via e-mail & chat, results in so many interruptions that you cannot get blocks of time to do any thinking, resulting in you catching up on your work at home on nights and weekends.

<end snip>

Here’s an interesting piece from AdvertisingAge: http://bit.ly/9GdgTA

“A World of Inspirational Problem-Solving, Savvy Brands and Smart Marketing. Sure, the Global Economy Is Challenging Right Now, but These Companies Have Found Ways to Make Their Brand Messages Work Harder to Reach Consumers”

The legendary Ruth Reichl recently wrote a great post entitled “The Meaning of Ludo’s” in which she talks about her experience with the sought-after LudoBites, which transcends the typical excitement associated with a new dining opportunity as it has no fixed location. As the theater and romance of restaurants has always intrigued me and working with clients in the foodservice industry has long been a love of mine, this entirely different perspective on what makes a restaurant a “go-to” has a new level of intrigue.

The success of LudoBites shows that it is often not just about the decor, the setting, the food, table linens, service–as this restaurant picks new locations and on the night Reichl visited it was inhabiting what she described as “a little sandwich shop in a grungy part of town – it is the ultimate statement about the supremacy of food over ambiance.” Read more here:

According to Facebook, “Starting today people will be able to connect with your Page by clicking “Like” rather than “Become a Fan.” We hope this action will feel much more lightweight, and that it will increase the number of connections made across the site.”

Please note that this may also impact the language in some of your marketing materials where you may have invited prospective followers to become “Fans.”