Archive for January 2011
- Jan
- 28
Posted on January 28, 2011 by Nora DePalma
Social media turns out to be one place you can’t fake it until you make it.
About six months ago, I decided to create a fake online persona. As a creative person, I wanted to stretch beyond the everyday. I wanted to tackle topics of personal interest. (I also wondered if I could get paid for writing great content, until I remembered that is what I do every day.)
The problem was the “stretch beyond the everyday.” There is the sticky situation of my “personal brand.” As the owner of a growing public relations consultancy, I became more and more purposeful about my online presence, sharing content as a publisher, rather than a person. I avoided expressing opinions on politics, religion and every other deadly sin of polite conversation, worrying that it could not only impact my family’s financial and personal security, but potentially those of everyone else who chooses to do business with me.
So I created a fake social media presence in order to be the real me. At first, it was fun and cool. My Twitter influence scores soared as a fake, but started swooning as a real person. Which was not only bad for business, it was a little weird. Turns out, the only thing worse than offensive is boring.
Furthermore, just like my real social media activities, I was quickly meeting friends as a fake. That’s the point of social media.
Then my stepson almost died in a road accident. And I found out I really couldn’t fake it.
Read What I Learned as a Social Media Fake: Part 2
- Jan
- 21
Posted on January 21, 2011 by Joel Williams
Mechanical Contractor Al Warren overcame the lack of drainage and long sewer line in a historic 19th century industrial building by using an innovative system from SFA Saniflo to pump and process waste without digging.
The project’s challenge was to tie the 1897 plumbing system into the municipal sanitary sewer system. Making matters worse, contamination was found nearly everywhere, so digging to install new sewer lines and plumbing wasn’t possible either. Plus, the Remington Rand building is 950 feet long – more than three football fields – so the project needed a solution for moving plumbing waste across this expanse plus another 100 feet or so beyond its walls to the sewer main.
The result was the installation of five duplex grinders, positioned at intervals on the ground floor, along the length of the building. This created a “stair effect” that achieved the right pitch in the pipe to accommodate the extreme length of the sewer line.
The duplex grinders are installed right on the floor – there is no need to dig. They can handle waste matter from multiple plumbing fixtures, without storing sewage, as sewage ejectors do. Each one pumps effluent up through small diameter pipe into the main and out to the sewer. They work in concert, handling cumulative waste for the entire two-story building.
The case study was featured in the Middletown Press.
- Jan
- 18
Posted on January 18, 2011 by John OReilly
Professionals looking to expand their knowledge in radiant heating and cooling, plumbing and fire sprinkler systems can visit www.uponorpro.com/training to review the new 2011 factory training schedule and register for classes online.
• This year, in addition to the popular radiant heating and controls classes, Uponor is offering an updated Geothermal Design and Application course that offers accreditation by the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA).
• Additionally, Uponor is combining the AquaSAFE™ Level I and AquaSAFE Level II classes into a two-day course, so professionals can get trained in the classroom as well as on a simulated jobsite in the academy’s state-of-the-art applications lab — all at one time.
Click here to read more and download hi-res images.
- Jan
- 18
Posted on January 18, 2011 by Nora DePalma
“Moms trust other moms,” says Carol Flammer, president of Flammer Relations, quoted in this great Builder magazine article on how websites, social media and blogs help women home buyers make decisions.
Read more, including 13 great website suggestions on Builder’s website: the International Builder’s Show 2011.
What Women Home Buyers Want - Sales, Marketing - Builder Magazine.
- Jan
- 16
Posted on January 16, 2011 by Nora DePalma
Daily 5 Remodel is calling all bathroom remodeling professionals to show how they solved America’s Ugliest Bathrooms. The top three vote-getters will win an American Standard 5-Function Shower System and professional public relations assistance to spread the word locally.
Almost immediately, a deer head came in.
A professional remodeler was clearly needed.
Unbelievable change by Craig Deimler, Deimler & Sons Construction, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. See more at America’s Ugliest Bathroom Solved.
If you’ve got a winner, email no more than two “before” pix — and no more than two “after” pix, along with a brief caption in your own words before January 31. In your subject line, write “ugly bathroom.” No purchase necessary to participate.
Thanks to Leah Thayer who challenged American Standard Brands to come with a fun contest that enables pros to show off their stuff.
- Jan
- 16
Posted on January 16, 2011 by Nora DePalma
January 2011: IBS 2011 marked our debut with new client, Hy-Lite®, a U.S. Block Windows Company. Below, Laura Sikes and Tom Rachfal from Hy-Lite show off their awesome new booth . Click any image below to launch the O’Reilly/DePalma slide show.
- Jan
- 10
Posted on January 10, 2011 by Joel Williams
Builder Magazine and A Concord Carpenter highlighted the trend of builders and remodelers increasingly turning to operable acrylic block and decorative glass products from Hy-Lite, a U.S. Block Windows Company, to help add more value, decorative appeal and natural light to a home or apartment renovation.
As the housing market continues its slow recovery, the residential new construction market is seeing a shift in strategy for window openings. Hy-Lite is providing the ideal solution for builders and remodelers nationwide by offering multi-purpose acrylic block and decorative glass windows that make the most out of the ‘less-is-more’ home designs that feature fewer window openings. With these products, builders can preserve the elements that buyer’s value – privacy, natural light and cross ventilation – in high-density-housing configurations without compromising privacy.
- Jan
- 5
Posted on January 5, 2011 by Nora DePalma
Mr. Steam has announced that senior vice president Michael Pinkus has succeeded Charles Monteverdi as president, responsible for all company operations, including its Mr. Steam and Sussman Electric Boilers divisions. Pinkus received his degree in Industrial Design from Syracuse University and was contracted by Sussman-Automatic in the early 1990s to develop its first series of towel warmers.
Describing his economic outlook as “optimistic, but subdued,” Pinkus anticipates a mild rebound in 2011 in the markets Mr. Steam targets. He cites three specific factors that bode well for Mr. Steam: environmental concerns, the downsizing of homes, and accessible design within those smaller spaces.
View the complete press release for more information about the appointment and Pinkus’s projections for Mr. Steam.
