I’m not sure if everyone knows my history with the Lowcountry and Coastal Empire.

You see back in the day, like 17 years ago that is, my dad worked in Savannah several days a week, and mom and I came down to visit a couple of times over the years.

I used to joke that I was the only kid in my New York high school who had read “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Well, now almost two decades later, I’m going to be working in Savannah.

July 6 update: Just an update that Entenmann's also put its donut (errrr foot) in its mouth by Tweeting about Casey Anthony. 

To be honest I'm not sure which was lamer, the Tweet or the apology claiming not to know why #NotGuilty was trending. 

Read up on the Entenmann's botch here.

(A side note, Entenmann's chocolate donuts have got to be my favorite thing in the world, and that's been passed down to my kids. My nanny used to bring them to me whenever I was sick. Why did you have to do me like this, Entenmann's?)

July 5: So some of you may have heard that there was that whole Casey Anthony verdict thing today.

While I don't really care about that all too much, the phenomenon did present a teaching opportunity.

While checking my Facebook feed around 2 p.m. I noticed that a Kentucky-based chain of convenience stores with more than 10K Facebook fans posted "Casey Anthony verdict is coming at 2:15."

What followed was several comments from fans surprised that this fan page would post this information. And they were correct in voicing their surprise. Ten minutes later the post was taken down. 

City Java & News is a small, Beaufort-area coffee shop that I am lucky enough to work with. 

Recently my friend Ken Hawkins suggested that the shop commemorate the umpteenth day of 90+ degree temperatures in the Lowcountry by offering a $9 gift certificate to someone who posts why they love City Java on the biz's Facebook page.

I would hazard a guess that those $9 might be the best and most efficient advertising money the coffee shop has spent.

In the 24 hours that followed the call for entries the Facebook page received 40+ interactions and picked up some 15 fans. Startiing with a fan base of 530 the new fans gained through the promotion resulted in an increase of almost 3%.

If you follow me on Twitter, are my fan on Facebook, read this blog, see me in the street, or well, know me at all, you probably  knew that a few weeks ago I was stressing out about a talk I was to give at TEDxCreativeCoast.

Well that has come and gone, and I think it went real well.

Check out the video below and let me know what you think.

I sometimes get frustrated. You're shocked, I know.

And what's more, I sometimes voice that frustration on Twitter.

So when I today received yet another lackluster attempt at utilizing Constant Contact I lashed out on Twitter with: "If Constant Contact were the product it should be it wouldn't allow people to screw up their email blasts as badly as they do."

Was that right of me? Of course not. Am I a huge fan of Constant Contact? No, not really. But while there are certain aspects of CC  that I don't like, my distate is more about me not being a fan of a constant barrage of email blasts from brands that are worried more about the frequency of their blasts than the quality and engagement they spur.

But to its credit Constant Contact's help account on Twitter responded within minutes of my tweet with "Was there something I could help with?"

A friend of mine recently pointed me to Eli Pariser's TED talk regarding how Facebook, Google, Yahoo and others are filtering what we see online.

To be honest, the talk struck me as a tad naive in terms of its plea for openness in the online world. As I commented in a Facebook string regarding this talk, Facebook and Google owe us nothing and it's up to us to identify the slant and then expose ourselves to ideals and opinions different than our own.

On Friday, May 13, 2011, I was honored to be part of TEDxCreativeCoast and present my ideas on why I feel Facebook has become a hindrance when it comes to the free flow of ideas and efforts to change opinion through respectful debate.

I had an incredible time at TEDxCC and appreciate all of the feedback I received and the hard work that went into putting the event together.

Every now and then people need to hear a real simple story on how a social media presence translated into a tangible ROI.

So here's one that I'll share.

9 a.m.: I get a call from a friend who had a small business in Beaufort and has relocated to Jacksonville. He tells me he's looking for some Drupal CMS help and a photographer to shoot his product. I recall that I'm connected via Twitter and Facebook with a cool co-working group in Palm Coast, Fla., less than an hour away from my friend. 

For those who have seen my business card, Facebook page or even just spoken with me you know I enjoy using the term 'evangelist' to describe myself. 

I like how evangelist allows me to relay that I am someone who gets ideas across and advocates for a product or belief.

I stole the term, yes stole it, from Guy Kawasaki, who at one time was an 'evangelist' for Apple. Today's he's a consultant, author and marketing coach.