A Very Merry Unbirthday to You

As February draws to a close each year, I always check the calendar to see if it's a Leap Year. Somehow the last few lines of the rhyme for remembering the number of days in each month doesn't really give a good rule of thumb for figuring out leap years. As a child, the last line or two always seemed a bit sketchy as there was, to use another old phrase, no rhyme or reason to them.

In fact, here are two "official" versions of the poem:

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November:
All the rest have thirty-one,
Except for February,
Which hath twenty-eight days clear,
And twenty-nine in each leap year.

Or

"Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November,
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
Which has but twenty-eight days clear
And twenty-nine in each leap year.

No wonder I'm fuzzy about leap year. Who could remember those last two stanzas? And it still doesn't say it has to be a year that is divisible by four...

Julius Caesar or rather Sosigenes, his astronomer, invented leap year in 45 BC. At that time the Roman Calendar had 355 days. So in order to keep the seasons and festivals even with the calendar, a 22nd or 23rd day was added every second year. Eventually, Pope Julian refined the calendar making leap day occur in years that are divisible by four. And Leap Day, is just a day to "leap" over.

So, for all of you "leaplings" who will have to celebrate on either February 28th or March 1st, here's a little ditty to help you celebrate.

Check back in 2012, when I get to recount how Leaplings celebrate their actual birthday.

by Karen Sutter

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TechTalkin’ Social Media for Business

I recently attended the Chesapeake Regional Technology Council's InfoMixer in Annapolis and was fortunate enough to be asked to be the TechTalk speaker for the evening. I gladly accepted, and put together a quick talk about how smart businesses are using social media to engage their consumers in new and meaningful ways-and in the process, achieving any number of business objectives.

I talked about The Sutter Group's use of social media as a tool to build awareness and establish thought leadership among our peers, our work on behalf of the BMW Car Club of America to engage BMW fans that are "on the fence" about membership or already members, and Dell's status as one of the best case studies out there for the power of social media engagement. They've used social media to take customer service to a new level, disseminate corporate news, cultivate innovative ideas and even to hawk hot deals on Dell products. As I told folks at the CRTC event, Dell has made as much as $6.5m on Twitter alone according to analysts.

Now all that said, you'll often hear me note that social media isn't the end-all, be-all in the marketing world (like HERE). As students of the power and importance of integrated marketing, we truly believe that social media needs to be a part of an overall marketing strategy. Working hand in hand with other efforts and mediums, it can be wildly effective in helping businesses connect with its consumers (and even increasing revenue).

Still think it's hype? Check out this article from AdAge about businesses using social media and reaping the rewards. And of course, don't hesitate to give us a shout if you're feeling lost in the woods. We've got you covered there!

by Garret Ohm

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