A recent compilation of research on eMarketer shared that – surprise! – people don’t like being ignored by brands on social media. I mean, people don’t like being ignored in general, but when it comes to business-to-consumer offenses online, it can have some noteworthy repercussions: research firm Conversocial found that more than a quarter of survey respondents would no longer do business with a brand if their questions went unanswered on Facebook or Twitter. And let’s not forget the ripple effect: only 11.7 percent of survey participants said they wouldn’t care if they saw other user questions ignored online. Almost half said they would be far less likely to buy anything from that brand in the future, and the remainder said they would think twice (but recognized that there are other factors to consider).

That’s a big angry chunk of the pie. I know that I’ve had both positive and negative experiences with brands on social media that continue to influence my willingness to give them my money. And yes, some of those negative experiences have been when I had a problem and no one on the brand side ever acknowledged it (*cough*cough*Southwest Airlines*cough*cough*). While I’m a huge advocate for brands being on social media, they need to know that “getting a Twitter” just isn’t going to cut it. Once you go social, you need to be social; there’s no private office to hide from customers. While it’s not possible to respond to all feedback, questions and complaints merit timely acknowledgements – even if it’s a request to redirect the conversation to another, more manageable channel. Otherwise, it becomes worse than being on-hold for 20 minutes, because at least there, it’s initially a private frustration – until the angry customer blogs about it later, anyway, but that’s another story.

How’s that for alliteration? This week, Google began incorporating Google+ content into search results naming it Search Plus Your World – poetic, I know. Said Amit Singhal, a Google fellow who oversees search: “What you search today is largely written by people you don’t know; we call that the faceless Web. Search Plus Your World transforms search and centers it around you.’’

I’m not sure I like this idea. When I want to find my friends and their content, I’m going to go to the online source, be it their blog, YouTube page, Google+ profile (rare as that may be), or Facebook page. When I go to Google, I want the faceless Web. I want Google to provide me with searches that are as unbiased as possible, with most relevant/popular links showing up first – not some exchange I had with my second cousin on Google+. A real-life example: I like to periodically Google my name to see where I stand in the World Wide Web. Which blog posts come up, tweets, event attendee lists, competitive ballroom dance results and convicted doppelgangers are going to make their way to Page One (and yes, all of those things have been or are on Page One)? Today, I saw a whole bunch of my own posts via Google+. Not exactly useful to me.

Google did say that Google users will be able to toggle between integrated posts, just personal posts and just standard, but unless Google suddenly gets access to Facebook content and can cache the entire social web in search results (which will likely never happen, because why would Facebook and Google cooperate, and if they did, how much of  a privacy fit would that cause?), I still don’t see the point.

What do you think of Google social integrating with Google search? Good? Bad? Huh?

For all two of you who don’t already know, Paula Deen has Type 2 diabetes. Sounds like a stretch, I know. All those deep-fried Twinkies could not have possibly had anything to do with it. What’s drawing even more attention though is that not only has Ms. Deen been tucked away in the diabetes closet for three years (more on that below), but she has also timed her announcement with a deal to promote a diabetes medication. In the words of Ad Age contributor Eric Webber, “the irony has not been lost on the public,” and while this may result in some bad press for Paula, it’s also bad press for the industry. Webber does a great job explaining why this is bit of a booboo for all of us PR kids (so read the article), I wanted to highlight a few particularly good points.

Bad timing Deen’s claim that her limited knowledge of the disease kept her from going public says one of at least three things: 1.) Her doctors lied and told her she has something WAY more exotic than diabetes, 2.) she doesn’t know how to use Google (in which case, I have a great site for her friends to check out), or 3.) she had plans to time the announcement so that she’d be a prime candidate for a lucrative spokesperson deal.

Two steps back The do-gooders of the branding industry are fighting a seemingly endless battle against the stigma that people in PR, marketing and advertising are all soulless spin doctors who are only after dollar signs. Admittedly, there are folks who are only in it for the bottom line, but it certainly isn’t standard. As Webber put it, it gives the industry a black eye.

Celebrity endorsements “But, of course, I’m being compensated for my time,” we hear from Deen when asked about how she’s benefiting financially from the partnership. “That’s the way our world works.” Again, with the making us all look like money mongrels, especially when it comes to celebrity partnerships. There’s a common assumption that celebrity spokespeople are sell-outs, but Webber reminds us that not all of them are about the contracts. Some, like Michael J. Fox and Christopher Reeve, may not have agreed with Deen’s perspective.

Not sure if Deen and her team have been sitting on their hands in the three years that they’ve had to plan for these announcements, or if they thought that the Boy Scout motto of always being prepared didn’t apply to them. I’m guessing at least one person involved in this strategy (or lack thereof?) is scratching his head saying “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” What do you think was going on during the planning stages?

Brewery Ommegang Adoration If there was a “Best of Jubilee Award,” Adoration deserved it, hands down. I love Belgian dark strong ales, and – I can’t help myself here – I adored Adoration. It was the perfect beer to warm you up on a cold winter’s day, with the perfect blend of coriander, cumin, mace, cardamom and grains of paradise. Ales like Adoration make me tolerate all the crappiness that can accompany a New England winter.

Long Trail Double Bag I actually wouldn’t have gone to Long Trail’s booth had my friend not insisted we go. It’s not that I don’t like Long Trail – I’d just never had it and had other breweries I wanted to visit. But, not being one to turn down something new, I gave it a shot. Double Bag is another strong ale with a notable alcohol content (7.2 percent abv) that you don’t notice when you’re drinking it. Good for drinking at home without having any plans to go outside.

Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA The kids at Sam Adams hold a special place in my heart because the first beers I really started drinking were the Boston Lager and the Octoberfest. If you’re friends with me on Untappd, you’ll see that I still drink more Sam than anything else. It’s a brand loyalty thing. Anyhoo, back to Whitewater IPA. I’m actually not crazy about IPAs and usually lean toward maltier beers, but there were apricot notes that softened this beer enough for me to drink and even enjoy. Well done, Jim and co.

Staropramen Premium Lager Holy yummy, Batman. Owned by Spaten, who also makes my beloved Franziskaner and of course, Spaten Premium Lager, this is simply a very solid lager. Nicely balanced, it goes down easy and may be the lightest beer on this list (but don’t you dare confuse this with a light beer). In short, it’s just a bottle of satisfaction. I might even suggest it to my dad, the world’s pickiest beer drinker.

My only regret about Jubilee is that I didn’t make it to all the booths I wanted. I missed out on Notch, Backlash, Peak Organic and some other great breweries, but on the bright side I tried some new stuff, too. And really, isn’t that the best part of a beer summit?

Beantown Social, January 16 – Boston
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2536095530/esearch?srnk=8
A free mix-and-mingle for social media folks at Sonsie, in Boston’s Back Bay. 21+. UPDATE: This event is booked, but there’s a waiting list. Who knows? If I don’t go maybe you’ll get my ticket.

Bruins Pre-game Meet-up, January 19 – Boston
http://bit.ly/xwQw1F
The Social Media Club of Boston and LPP are partnering up at the Greatest Bar for a little pre-game networking in advance of the Bruins/Devils game. Go B’s!

Boston Media Makers at NIGHT, January 22 – Boston
http://bostonmediamakersatnight2012.eventbrite.com/
Back at Sonsie for some schmoozing, pizza, and an optional regifting-tastic Yankee Swap extravaganza.

BostInno Meet Up, January 24 – Boston
https://www.eventbrite.com/register?orderid=64380364403&ebtv=C&eid=2557144488&client_token=noqueue
Like beer, networking and BostInno? Of course you do. Swing by, rub some elbows and have a good time.

Boston’s Media Best, January 24 – Boston
http://www.pubclub.org/upcoming-programs
Details TBA from the Publicity Club of New England.

3rd Annual #MegaTweetup, January 24 – Cambridge
http://megatweetup3.eventbrite.com/
A tweet-up celebrating tweet-ups. This thing is probably going to be monstrous, taking place at the Microsoft NERD Center.

How to Use Rich Media to Create Winning Campaigns, January 24 – Cambridge
http://prsaboston.org/meetinginfo.php?id=10&ts=1324659383
Head over to the Microsoft NERD Center to hear about how important it is to liven up content with media to tell a compelling story, courtesy of PRSA.

Where will you be this month?

It’s that time of year when the majority of the world is either looking back and/or forward, and the rest are drinking themselves so stupid that they can’t remember which is which. I’m impressionable, so of course I eventually started to wonder what the heck I did this year.

Blog more. Yes, I think it’s safe to say I managed to do that in 2011, compared to the, what, five?, posts I wrote in 2010. Still not up to a post a week, but I’m working on it. Speaking of blogging, I began contributing to RaceTalk, my agency’s blog about media, communications and PR. It’s off to a slow start, but hey, it’s a work-in-progress. I’m still most proud of my Twitter-sourced interview with @BostonTweet (thanks again, Tom!), and would like to do at least one more similarly formatted interview in 2012 with another Tweeter (maybe two?). Other blogs that saw inaugural postings from yours, truly, include Health Care 3.0 (health care trends with a social media twist) and Girls Pint Out (women with a love for craft beer – my people, if you will).

I changed the name of my blog. The weblog formerly known as And Here, We Have My Musings is now what we all fondly refer to as bmfalc: Beyond 140. The goal of the name-change was to move away from some random college student’s blog and to tie it to my stronger online presence in the Twittersphere. Beyond 140 serves to cover the stuff I tweet about in, well, a few more than 140 characters. Like my tweets? Then there’s a chance you may find my blog amusing, or at least interesting.

Brittany Falconer, assistant account executive. Yup, celebrated my one-year anniversary at Racepoint Group and got promoted. It would appear that I’m doing something right over there. Weird, right?

Smartphone-equipped, at last. No longer dependent on a phone with special needs, I have joined the ranks of those who will never get lost again, have the potential to work 24/7 (I’m fighting it though), and lose hours of their lives to Angry Birds (I didn’t fight that so much). I did not, however, jump on the Apple bandwagon and purchase an iSomethingorother (Sorry, Siri). Instead I’m rocking the Samsung Infuse, which has a screen the size of my face. Its size is the perfect setup for a plethora of “That’s what she said” comments.

Joined the gym, quit the gym. There really isn’t more to that story.

Started running, wanted to quit running, ran 5K instead. After the failure at the gym, I knew I would eventually grow to the size of a small U-Haul if I didn’t do something to pace my beer and bacon calories. On a whim, I ran my first mile – slowly – late in the summer. Once the feeling of seemingly imminent death eventually passed, I very gradually worked my way up to running a mile and a half, two miles, two and a half miles, and, as of yesterday, just enough more than three miles to discover that I could survive a 5K. Given my distaste for running, this is a huge accomplishment for me, and I’m actually looking forward to registering for my first race in 2012 – mostly just to prove to myself that I can do it, but whatever.

Won the lottery, received an honorary degree from Harvard, cured cancer. Okay, maybe not, but there’s always next year, right?

Best wishes to all for a happy and healthy new year!

Best Regards,

[Named withheld out of pity]

Memorable? No. Cliché? Oh, yes. Terms I never want to see violating my inbox include “I came away” (or “I am came away,” whatever that means), “utilize” (ugh, it just sounds so dirty), and “best regards.”

At least my name was spelled properly, as was my company’s name, and I received the note within a reasonable amount of time following the interview (I received another thank-you for an unrelated interview more than a week after the fact, and it took me a while to pair a face with the name). However, neither spell check rectifies the fact that 1.) I have no idea what we talked about that may have been of interest, 2.) there wasn’t so much as a question or call to action that might encourage me to respond, and 3.) she actually sent the exact same Email to at least two more of my colleagues (we literally compared notes) – really?

We all know how lousy the job market is. Generic materials (résumé, cover letter, thank you note, et al.) aren’t going to catch anyone’s attention, and I think in PR, being genuine and memorable in your own unique – and workplace appropriate, I suppose – fashion is crucial in getting the vote of approval from your interviewers. I may be screening you for what I think is necessary to thrive in an agency environment, but more importantly, when I’m having a conversation with you, I’m deciding if you’re someone worthy of being called “my colleague.” Are you someone I can work with every day – not only professionally, but socially? Hint: a thank you note like the one posted above did not come from that someone.

Along with a little re-branding, the artist formerly known as VillageVines, now Savored, is in Boston at last, currently offering insider pricing at 16 area restaurants. As a refresher, in case you don’t feel like reading my original post, Savored partners with restaurants to give diners solid discounts during off-peak times. In most cities, the discount is 30 percent, but due to Boston’s laws against discounting liquor, the discount is 40 percent on food only. After paying a $10 fee to reserve your table, just show up, remind your server you booked through Savored and enjoy your budget-friendlier meal. Pretty rad, right? Oh, and if your discount doesn’t cover the reservation fee, Savored refunds it for you. Win!

Restaurants Currently on Savored
Artbar
Blu Boston
Central Kitchen
Da Vinci Ristorante
Gran Gusto
Lumiere
Mantra
Mumbai Chopstix
Nubar
Skipjacks (Both Newton and Back Bay)
Temple Bar
Tomasso Trattoria & Entoteca
Tremont647
Woodward

Check it out and sign up. Or if you’ve already signed up, let me know what you think in the comments!

I used to worship Domino’s cheesy bread. “Party in my mouth” was just one of many, many happy ways to describe how I felt about the carb-heavy, cheesy, garlicky calories. Oftentimes when I called for delivery, I’d only order the pizza so I’d meet the minimum charge required for delivery. Sometimes I didn’t even try to kid myself and just ordered two boxes of cheesy bread. Given that I was still dancing during most of my Domino’s era, I could afford to enjoy this diet and not grow to the size of a house. Yes, life at BU was good.

Then I moved deep into the heart of a Brookline neighborhood, no longer a stone’s throw from BU’s campus. And the Golden Age came to an end.

It was my first night in my current place, where I’ve resided for more than a year, now, and I had no internet, little furniture, and little to no interest in cooking my own dinner. I didn’t worry, however, knowing that approximately 35 minutes were all I’d need before I could enjoy some of my beloved cheesy bread. I called up my local Domino’s and placed my order. When they went to confirm my address, I corrected them with my latest place of residence.

“Oh, uh, we don’t deliver that far.”

“Okay, can you connect me to a store that does?”

“It doesn’t work like that. You have to look it up online.”

“Well, I don’t have internet access. Is there another number I can call to find out who does deliver to me?”

“You could call corporate…”

Fine. I was hungry and still determined to not cook. I called corporate, gave them my address, and took down the number they gave me. I hung up and dialed the number… to find myself back on the phone with the original location who claimed to not deliver to me.

“Hi, I’d like to place and order for delivery, please.”

(After taking my number and address) “I’m sorry, we don’t deliver to that address.”

“I just got off the phone with corporate, and they said you do.”

(A mildly uncomfortable pause) “Okay, well, it’s going to take us, like, 80 minutes.”

“That’s fine” (it wasn’t, but what was I going to do?).

I placed my order – cheesy bread (natch) and a small fancy-pants pizza that was being advertised at the time (tried to see if it still exists, but the Domino’s website wasn’t cooperating) – and sat back and waited. Sure enough, after an excruciatingly long hour and 20 minutes passed, I heard the buzzer. I paid the delivery person, took the boxes and skedaddled inside to feast. I shelved the pizza box, focusing my salivating attention on the smaller box, sure to contain my cheesy bread. I opened it, and -

Let’s take a moment. Do you remember that customer complaint letter to Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines? Let me pull out a particular excerpt with which I identify all too easily, following the experience I’m recounting to you now:

Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it’s Christmas morning and you’re sat their with your final present to open. It’s a big one, and you know what it is. It’s that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about. Only you open the present and it’s not in there. It’s your hamster Richard. It’s your hamster in the box and it’s not breathing.

Buffalo chicken kickers. Buffalo [expletive]ing chicken kickers. After all that back-and-forth and waiting with bated breath, I had, in front of me, a box of food that I couldn’t even eat (buffalo wings are too spicy for my tender palate). To say I was livid would be polite. I called the store back immediately, as the delivery man had already gone, to demand a remedy to this outrage. After being asked what I wanted them to do about it (really?!), I said that I wanted a delivery of cheesy bread – and that I wanted the next cheesy bread purchase comped (this was not the first time my poor culinary delight had been forgotten). I was promised both, and once again I found myself sitting and waiting for my dinner.

Not 30 minutes later, I had company. Before letting the delivery guy go, I confirmed that he had indeed brought me cheesy bread. At last, somewhere between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m., after a long day of moving, I had my dinner. I opened the box, finally beginning to relax knowing that I could still get my fix.

Only the cheesy bread had been rushed through the oven: the top looked like it had barely been heated. Even my trophy for all my efforts was tarnished and I couldn’t enjoy that. I should have called to complain again, or at the very least written my own letter of complaint that would have made Sir Richard think that he had it easy, but I was too exhausted and hungry. Defeated, I sat in my apartment, alone, eating crappy cheesy bread – oh, and that pizza wasn’t great, either. I never ordered that comped cheesy bread. I was done. To this day I still refuse to order it.

So Domino’s, good luck with your new gourmet cheesy bread. Maybe I’ll hear how it turns out through one grapevine or another, because I sure won’t be ordering it – or anything else on the menu – for myself.

The munchables ranged from octopus to foi gras to borscht to frozen custard to bagels – no palate was left unsatisfied. I wish my phone battery hadn’t been drained at the event I attended earlier that evening, as educational as it was (thank you, PubClub), because it’s impossible for me to connect every noteworthy morsel to its respective restaurant, but at the very least, I can give you a list of the restaurants that participated in this fancy-pants event.

• 80 Thoreau, http://www.80thoreau.com/
• Alma Nove, http://almanovehingham.com/
• Asana, http://www.mandarinoriental.com/boston/dining/asana/
• BABYTRAIN barBARque, no link found
• Bambara, http://www.bambara-cambridge.com/
• Bergamot, http://bergamotrestaurant.com/
• Bistro du Midi, http://bistrodumidi.com/
• Blue, Inc., http://www.blueincboston.com/
• Catalyst, http://www.catalystrestaurant.com/
• Dante, http://www.restaurantdante.com/
• Eastern Standard, http://www.easternstandardboston.com/
• El Centro, no link found
• Grill 23, not linking because they pissed me off – post to come
• Harvest, http://harvestcambridge.com/
• Island Creek Oyster Bar, http://islandcreekoysterbar.com/
• Legal Seafood – Boston Harborside, http://www.legalseafoods.com/restaurants/boston-legal-harborside
• L’Espalier, http://www.lespalier.com/
• Market, http://www.marketbyjgboston.com/
• Myers + Chang, http://www.myersandchang.com/
• O Ya, http://www.oyarestaurantboston.com/
• Ole Mexican Grill, http://www.olecambridge.com/
• Pigalle, http://www.pigalleboston.com/
• Post 390, http://www.post390restaurant.com/
• Posto, http://www.pizzeriaposto.com/
• Rialto, http://www.rialto-restaurant.com/home/
• Sel de la Terre, http://www.seldelaterre.com/
• Stella, http://www.bostonstella.com/
• Storyville, http://www.storyvilleboston.com/

It’s okay to be green with envy. It was awesome. My only advice for next year’s event is to add high-top tables, because balancing a drink and a snack in a pair of heels is difficult without some assistance. Other than that, a pretty killer event, thanks to Boston magazine and for me, the magic of Twitter. God bless the Interwebs.

*Atlantic Fish, I don’t care if you weren’t there. I still love you.