I would like to thank the Academy…

July 13, 2010 thdpr

Not really...

But I do want to thank my friend Matthue Roth for his kind words! He blogged here and here about his article on The Future of Judaism at Patheos.

And in the process... said this about me:

A few weeks ago, Talia Davis wrote to a bunch of Jewish techy and thinky folks and asked us what we thought about the future of Judaism. Talia is the force of nature behind the religion blog Patheos.com’s Jewish site, and when she chops down a tree, we hear it.

Aww! :) I feel special now. Thanks Matthue!

See:

Capstone – Now I Need YOUR Help!

June 9, 2010 thdpr

Hello! So I am in the data collection phase of this capstone and I need everyone's help.

I told my advisors that I have pretty good digital reach and a nice online network, now I have to prove it. I need at least 100 responses to this survey or my data isn't really valid.

PLEASE take this survey and have your friends do it as well. It isn't very long or intrusive, I promise!!! Please take it asaps!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TaliasCapstone

Thanks!

Social Media Experterie…

May 11, 2010 thdpr

Yeah, I know that isn't a word. :)

I have been working on my Capstone proposal for the culmination of my Master's degree lately. It is do super soon... and I am just about to wrap up the proposal process. (Now I just have to cut 1000 words... yeah, I'm wordy, we know that right?)

I came across this article on Twitter. I was initially attracted to it because I am a HUGE Sarah Evans fan (I started following her years ago and was very impressed by her ideas). But the other really interesting thing about this article was that I was writing about this very topic.

Too many people calling themselves Social Media _____ (insert platitude here) - guru? expert? ideologue? evangelist?

Fact of the matter is... we are all still trying to figure out the best ways to use social media and inbound marketing. You can have it all figured out and then Myspace becomes "dorky" and Facebook is the new hot thing. Social media and inbound marketing is fluid and ever changing. None of us can really call ourselves experts yet... especially people who were tapped to be the social media point person BECAUSE they have a Facebook profile. Now, nothing against those people (because I was one of them and innovated SM for my organization because I was the only one familiar with it) but it take more than that to understand SM and how to use it.

In completing my Masters in PR & Marketing, one thing that surprised me was job definitions of PR people... one book said 50% of our job is research. There is an impression that you aren't working if you aren't typing press releases or making phone calls, the reality is that we must spend time on the internet and on these tools to innovate.

Here is the article that I was talking about - Is your social media expert really an expert?

I love their bullets... what do you think? My SM professor liked #24 particularly...

Facebook Censorship

April 8, 2010 thdpr

I use Facebook daily. In fact, I am on Facebook pretty much all day. That is my job. I post to Facebook for Patheos and I keep my eye out for best practices and new ideas.

Today, I got a HUGE fail whale. Facebook wouldn't let me log in this afternoon because of "site maintenance." In the middle of the day? That's weird.

But then I saw this blog - On Facebook Deactivations

That makes me nervous, people. I post regularly about religion (granted, it's mostly mine and then the Patheos content on the Patheos page but still...) I like the fact that users have the power to get rid of abusive users or hate groups (like these - Hatred of Jews on Facebook, Does Facebook Hate Israel, or "ALL BIG NOSED JEWS DIE I HATE YOU ALL!!!!GAS SHOWERS FOR ALL JEWS!!!!!HITLER YOU ARE GOD!!!DEATH TO ALL JEWS BURN BURN BURN" - kinda messed up, right?) but to take off users because there is a collective of people out there that are mad because some people have left their faith?

This is an issue near and dear to my heart as a Community Manager. I had to develop processes and terms of use for Patheos when I first came on board so I could manage the community functions on the site. I know things get heated on CNN or ESPN forums but on a site dedicated to providing a balanced view on religion and spirituality... yeah, we were pretty sure it would devolve into nasty. Thankfully we haven't had too much of that, yet, but Facebook needs to evaluate how they are going to manage complaints without stripping a ton of people of their FB accounts or letting people be abused.

Something is just wrong here. And there is a fine line between expressing your opinion or belief and being hateful. You can express your faith or belief without using hate speech. When censorship dips it's quill into a scary inkwell and starts eliminating innocents along with the guilty, people start to get more mad.

What a sad world when you have to defend from hate with one hand and hold off big brother with the other.

Ever feel like you were born at the wrong time?

August 2, 2009 thdpr

I have... I have a passion for the advertising of the 1950's & 60's. Well, needless to say, my favorite television show is Mad Men.

So when I heard that Banana Republic (one of my favorite stores) and Mad Men were hosting a contest, I knew I had to enter! The prize? Priceless! A chance for a walk on role on Mad Men but the Banana $1000 gift card doesn't hurt! So I got a good friend of mine who is an incredible photographer to take some great pics of me wearing my favorite 50's style (Banana Republic) dress all around Denver! They came out amazingly!

So how does this work? Well, I need all of you to go to this website (AdGirl Talia) and vote for me (you don't have to register). Everyday! :) Please give me 5 stars. The competition is interesting, I would say most of it is headshots and wedding pics, a lot of snaps taken on a night out but there are some die hard Mad Men fans (we call ourselves Maddicts) that have done a good job. The public vote gets you through the first round. Top 10 women and top 10 men. Then the creator of Mad Men makes his choice - 60% on Mad Men style and 40% on creativity. Well, I really hope to win so I need your help! Please vote often and high! :0)

Thanks!!! Oh and here is the link to the other pics from the photo shoot - Photo Shoot (pics by Ben Barefoot)

And here are some pics from the new season (you just try to tell me that I don't look like I fit right in! :)) - Mad Men Season Three

A new spin on comparative religion

May 17, 2009 thdpr

SO, in my last blog (almost a month ago... yeah, sorry about that) I spoke briefly about my new job at Patheos.

Background - Patheos is a comparative religion website with a fantastic interface. It is a fabulous resource for anyone who is studying religion, wanting to know more about their own traditions, or has questions that have plagued them for years. The site launched on May 5 and it has been SO exciting! We have had some great coverage on the launch. See our Time.com article here. Leo and Cathie (the founders) are really passionate about the site and incredibly articulate about it!

Okay, so my role - I am the Community Manager for the site. You can really break the site into a few sections. There are the Gateways and library where the worlds traditions are cataloged and serve as a great resource. The Public Square is a place where the leaders of the faiths who are chronicled as Gateways can weigh in on some of the hottest, most controversial and thought provoking topics in our world today. And then there is the community section. That is where I come in. In the community, we have groups, blogs, and discussion forums. I have been hard at work creating the governance documents for this community. Leo and Cathie, in fact, everyone at Patheos is really committed to making this a safe place to express beliefs and learn about others. It has been a really cool and interesting and hard process for me but I have created some documents that I am really proud of and I think serve this community really well.

In addition to that, I have been learning about the back-end management and how to use the software that we are utilizing for this website. It is Pluck software and it is just so versatile and awesome. I have to say, I was partial geek before but now I am going into full geek mode! It's a lot of fun. Not only do I do the governance but I have also been charged with the social media aspect. Twitter and Facebook and all that jazz. My specialty! I have been learning so many new techniques and measurement ideas.

So that's the new gig. Really enjoying the co-workers, bosses, and the work. I am very happy I made this decision. On to Chapter Five in The Life of Talia. :)