Pithy Title Here

I have a lot of opinions on ratings-dependent 24-hour news channels. It's an election year and you'll be able to read any number of blog posts about how one network or another is biased toward the left or right. This post isn't one of them. At least there are several 24-hour news channels. In sports, it took the launch of NBC Sports Network (the converted Vs.) in January to provide the latest alternative to ESPN. I say alternative here because it really wouldn't be accurate to say "competitor." ESPN is not a cable network anymore. It is a brand name (it licenses lord knows how many products, a smart business move that probably rakes in millions every fiscal quarter). It's branding was so strong it was enough to eliminate ABC Sports in favor of ESPN on ABC. The Sportscenter theme is probably more recognizable to the population than any Bon Iver song. You cannot compete with ESPN. But, if you're a sports fan, at least one that doesn't focus on

This week, I am heading to Vegas for the 5th Annual Social Media Conference put on by Ragan Communications. This will be my third trip to this event. I keep going because social media is evolving so quickly. There is always something new to learn. I also like this event because, on two previous trips, there were few pat-yourself-on-the-back presentations. Not a lot of "look how good we are at social media." Instead, it has tended to turn into a forum... lots of discussion that turns out to be constructive. A lot of people realizing that while many have established best practices, we all still have a lot to learn from one another. Since last year's event, we've seen the launch of Google+. We've also seen Pintrest come out of nowhere and, seemingly, take all the buzz G+ hoped for. And this little thing called Timeline launched from Facebook. While I am sure the discussion will hit on all of these, the topic I am hoping to bring up - either in a session when it&