Questions for Edge workshop on Twitter

If you use Twitter, I could use your advice.

As I noted in a post last week, I am leading an Edge Business Magazine Twitter for Dummies workshop Tuesday morning. Unlike last week’s webinar for the American Society of News Editors, this program is not focused on journalism. This is for people from a variety of businesses or professions who might use Twitter for a variety of purposes.

I have recruited a few local Twitter veterans to tweet some advice during the workshop, but I welcome advice from others as well. If you use Twitter in your work, please feel welcome to tweet answers to the following questions (along with other advice), using the hashtag #Edge.

1.       How has Twitter helped you connect with people in the community?

2.       How have you or your colleagues connected with clients or customers or made other business uses of Twitter?

3.       What other business or professional use have you made of Twitter?

4.       What has been your biggest problem or concern using Twitter for business or work?

5.       What’s the best fun you’ve had using Twitter?

The workshop runs from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 14 (tomorrow), and I will be sharing the tweeted advice at the end, so please tweet your advice by 8:15 a.m. CDT on Tuesday. Thanks.

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Gazette flood coverage wins Sigma Delta Chi Award

I hope you’ll pardon some boasting as I note that The Gazette today won the 2008 Sigma Delta Chi Award.

Our coverage of the floods of 2008 won the deadline reporting award for newspapers under 100,000 circulation.

This continues a terrific run of recognition for our outstanding staff, which has previously won awards for our flood coverage from the Inland Press Association, National Press Photographers Association, Iowa Newspaper Association and Iowa Associated Press Managing Editors (and maybe something that I forgot).

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“Tax Freedom Day” beats tax deadline

I wish I had planned this timing.

I wrote my Death and taxes post thinking that my time peg was that it would run in The Gazette on Monday, April 13, just two days before the April 15 deadline for filing income tax forms. What I didn’t realize (but just learned) was that today is Tax Freedom Day, the day that the Tax Foundation and other anti-tax people highlight every year to emphasize how much of our income goes to paying taxes.

Actually, with the federal stimulus package cutting some taxes and with income falling along with the economy, Tax Freedom Day comes eight days earlier this year than it did last year and two weeks earlier than in 2007.

I remember when this day came in early May. Now you’re supposedly free of taxes before you even pay them (if you’re a procrastinator).

Amusing (to me anyway) update: Just 10 minutes after I tweeted a link to this post, using the phrase “Tax Freedom Day,” the Tax Foundation started following me. Boy, are they going to  be disappointed.

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