+Jess + Scott + You guest +Miles Austin, “The Web Tools Guy,” says technology simply can’t replace common business sense. Join Miles, +Scott Scowcroft and I for a show emphasizing to first become an effective decision-maker; only then can technology make your company #BetterFasterStronger. http://ow.ly/tS2hb

Breaking News: President Viktor Yanukovych Official Statement
From the Presidents Official Website:
Dear compatriots!

In these tragic days, when Ukraine suffered such heavy losses, when people died on both sides of the conflict, I consider it my duty to the bright memory of the deceased to declare that there is nothing more important than human life. There are no steps that we must not do together to restore peace in Ukraine.

I declare steps that must be done to restore peace and avoid more victims of the confrontation.

I declare that I initiate early presidential elections.

I initiate the return of the Constitution of the year 2004 with redistribution of powers aside parliamentary republic.

I call to begin the procedure of establishing the government of national trust.

As Ukrainian President and Guarantor of the Constitution, I fulfill my duty to the people, to Ukraine and to God for the sake of preservation of state, for the sake of saving the life of people, for the sake of peace in our land.

http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/30116.html

#Ukraine   #ukraineprotests   #kyiv   #freedom  

Engagement: Task and Relationship

Engagement is what brings tasks and relationships together. Engagement is the process of building relationships with people and putting those relationships to work to accomplish some goal.

http://goo.gl/iLzh3B

Successful Brand Marketing on Google Plus...
The summary report is in and You helped make this quite successful!
Thanks to you, the active members on Google Plus, our #KraftyCooking  campaign was a grand success. The Detailed Report written by +David Amerland explains the details (linked below). Learn about how the entire effort brought massive exposure to the campaign.

David, Myself, +Chef Dennis Littley, +martin shervington & +Jim Shankle initially Krafted ;-) a Brand Marketing campaign and the Google plus world helped prove its worth to the world. Many other influencers were brought into the effort and it worked.

The campaign generated over 6,000 pages, and in the broadest sense generated 3.5 million views on Google+ alone! 

I'll pull out one incredibly important point from the report's summary area: Brand marketing cannot happen in a vacuum where the brand tries to go it alone. It really needs to develop a network of trusted influencers that will help it spread its message. This requires work in order for the relationship to really work. {emphasis mine}

And then the salient final summary point:  Key to all this, of course, are the values we have always known drive Google+ and, really, the semantic web: Trust, Identity, Authority. They made the whole thing possible in the first place and we could argue that a brand that does not have them in place will fail to engage even when its strategy is valid...

If Marketing on Social Media (particularly Google Plus) is important to you, I strongly encourage you to read the report and pass it along to others that you know are/should be interested.
=== ===
#SocialMediaMarketing   #BrandMarketing   #GooglePlusTips  

Join me for this weeks episode of Good Day Google+ with my very special guests

+Adam V. Barnes  Photographer, Television Producer, Creative Director and half of the team responsible for +Picture-Perfect Meals 

+Clayton Pritchard  Marketer, Entrepreneur, Student at UCF, Writer and Marketing Director of +Google Plus Daily  , Google Glass operator.

+Jessica Dewell  Digital Marketing Strategist, Owner of  Elastic Rock and Red Direction, Naturally Caffeinated wife and mama.

+Charlotte Pierce   Indie publisher, network builder, peeragogue, daytripper, kiltmaker, soapmaker and blogger.

+Good Day Google Plus  is the perfect way to wind down your work week with some great conversation in a relaxing atmosphere where you'll come away with new friends and quite a bit of information.
 
You won't find any controversy just some of your favorite plussers interacting and engaging as real people.

Bring your lunch or bring a friend just don't miss the best weekly HOA on Google+!   Sit back, relax and enjoy the show, TGIF!

Friday, February 21st at 10am PST | 11am MST | 12 pm CST| 1 pm EST  
Check your time zone here-->http://goo.gl/sa8CdP  

Watch our show here on the event page where you can leave your comments and ask your questions live during the shows broadcast.  But if you can't watch it live don't worry you can always watch the replay on my YouTube Channel: http://goo.gl/3iukbR

#gooddaygoogleplus   #varietyshow #rockthegplushouse   #askchefdennis 

Amazing News! Some real progress was made today in Ukraine
This is what happened today (please share to inform all):
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Today, after the morning massacres had calmed down a little, opposition politicians began calling for MP's to gather in Parliament at 3pm. Deputy Lyashko and others pronounced guarantees to Party of Regions MP's that no demonstrations would be held near the building during this special session - apparently some government MP's had expressed concern for their own safety in the wake of that morning's violence and deaths.

The session did not start until around 5pm, and MPs gathered very gradually. Initially, only 227 registered (minimum quorum: 226), but as the evening wore on, more and more MP's from the Party of Regions and nominal independents arrived. By 10pm, 238 had registered to vote.

The key test came just after 10pm when the speeches ceased and a draft document was put to a vote. In the end 236 voted in favor of the "Postanova" that orders the following:
1. All Interior Ministry troops currently in Kyiv are ordered to cease fire and return to barracks.
2. All live ammunition and lethal weapons that have been issued to government forces are to be returned immediately.
3. Blocking roads and rail lines for the purpose of limiting the movement of people is to cease.
4. All anti terrorist operations currently undertaken by the State Security Service and Interior Ministry are to be stopped immediately.
5. Circumstances that have led to deaths and casualties are to be investigated and the guilty brought to trial forthwith by the Prosecutor General.
6. The Cabinet of Ministers is ordered to provide financial compensation to all victims of the recent violence and their families.
7. Activists arrested for their participation in protests are to be released and all criminal cases against them closed.
8. It is now the exclusive right of parliament to declare a state of emergency.

All of the above was passed as a "Postanova" - a one time legislative order that has the force of law, but according to Ukraine's Constitution, and unlike other laws, need not be signed by the President. Postanova's are signed by the Chairman/Speaker of the Parliament, or in his absence, by one of his Deputies. Tonight's session of Parliament was chaired by Svoboda MP Koshulynsky, and he has signed the document making it legal.

Two points of significance:
1) Parliamentary Speaker Rybak and First Deputy Speaker Kaletnyk (Communist Party) were not present at tonight's session; neither were 167 deputies from the Party of Regions, nor any of the Communist MP's. Nevertheless, a temporary majority was assembled with all members of the 3 opposition parties and most independents in attendance together with 20+ Party of Regions MPs who have now effectively defected from the government camp. According to rumors many Party of Regions MPs left the country today - including (according to some reports) Speaker Rybak. Does this signal a permanent end to the pro-Yanukovych majority in Parliament? If so, it signifies the beginning of the end of his regime.

2) Although a Postanova is a legislative order that has the force of law, and cannot be vetoed by the President, it is unclear what happens if Yanukovych issues a Presidential Decree cancelling the Postanova. Furthermore, it is unclear which should take precedent: the Law on Counter-Terrorism which has been the formal document used to authorize the use of lethal force and abrogation of civil rights during the past 2 days, or the one-time Postanova. Finally is highly unclear whether Interior Ministry forces will obey this Postanova at all.

After passing their document, Ukraine's 3 opposition leaders immediately left Parliament for the Presidential Administration building where, reportedly, they were joined by 3 visiting EU foreign ministers. Apparently they will attempt to collectively convince Yanukovych to accept the need for constitutional changes - these are to be voted on tomorrow. Whether enough votes can be gathered, and whether Yanukovych will budge are all open questions...

(written by Prof. Mychailo Wynnycky, Kyiv Mohyla Academy)

Handwritten list of MPs registered tonight at the parliament. We will remember the names of each and every one. Thank you.

#Ukraine  

Greatness Comes in Many Packages

Below is a picture Lou Tredeau.  He was an English teacher at a small private high school in Framingham Massachsetts.  He taught there for 36 years.  He was also a softball coach, and served as a member of the Central Mass Baseball Umpires Association.  He also served as Director of Guidance at Marian, which means that he helped kids make great college choices for themselves, and he helped them get into those colleges.

I went to his wake yesterday, and with many others I stood in line for an hour and a half waiting to pay my respects to him and his family.  While in the line I spoke with one of the people who used to umpire together with him who talked at length of his commitment to the kids.

I also chatted with parents who told stories of how Mr. Tredeau got their children to believe in themselves, to believe that the school work mattered, and that they could do it.  There were stories of the outstanding work he did to get kids into the colleges they applied to.  For the record, Marian has had an outstanding record of getting its graduates into some of the best schools in the country.

As I got further into the line I saw about 100 student testimonials on post cards.  These were from current and past students re-affirming what I had heard from the parents. "You helped me believe in myself", "I never thought I could succeed at that school", and so forth.

As a workaholic geek, it is moments like these that help me remember what really matters.  Lou Tredeau made a difference in his life.  He impacted the lives of thousands of teenagers over the years.

Remember greatness comes in many packages and sometimes not where you expect it.  The nature of his work may have seemed simple to a casual viewer from the outside, but the reality of what Lou Tredeau accomplished tells a very different story.

Rest in Peace.

Join +Moz Senior Content Astronaut +Cyrus Shepard and I

We are going to take on a variety of ways that you can use data science to help drive your SEO.  Among other things we are going to talk about keyword related research, how you should use anchor text, and a lot more.

Just say yes to the invite and you will be notified when it goes live, or can pick up the YouTube link later.  Note that we will also post the YouTube link here about 15 minutes before showtime.

Please feel free to share the event or invite others, as this is open to the public!

PS - revised theme will be posted tomorrow one +Carter Elkin-Paris is back in office!