I'm an Auntie, Times Two!

My brother and sister-in-law delivered a new baby boy on Sunday morning: Andrew Thomas Vlcek.

He’s premature---9 weeks early---but both Momma and baby seem to be doing very well! He weighs 4 lbs 0 oz and is 17 in tall.

From what I heard, he will be in the nursery for the next month and a half (until about his scheduled due date) but the doctors seem confident that he will do well. Fingers crossed for his speedy growth!

Unfortunately, I haven't seen the little guy as everyone needs to rest after the last few stressful days, but I do have pictures.

Andrew's first picture

 (bath time!)

Andrew and Mommy

(Amber's smiling after an early delivery

through c-section? Incredible!)

Andrew with his big sister, Ava, and Daddy

(what is Ava staring at? maybe she pondering how to

terrorize her baby brother in the near future)

Not to be left out, here's a picture of my neice, Ava:

Ava in the pumpkin patch

(the pumpkin hat makes this complete)

 
Now this may speak to our generation, or it may be that my family hates talking to me, but I first found out that Amber was in labor through Facebook. Yes, Facebook. Too funny.

Congratulations, Graham and Amber!

Companies and Social Media

I work for an academic publisher. Academics+books = small (and somewhat irrational) fear of technology. This is not speaking for everyone, of course, but it does speak to our fearless leader and some of our most beloved authors.

A friend/coworker in our marketing department and I have been debating on whether or not our company should get involved in social media. Facebook, blogs, twitter, MySpace, etc. Is it useful? Will people actually follow us? Do we even have something to say?

This seems to be the debate for anyone considering the social media scene.

I have to admit that Facebook doesn't seem to be a very strong option (and no one uses MySpace anymore). I am commonly annoyed by "fan requests" for people or businesses. I may own a pair of Keen shoes, but not everyone has to know about it. For example, the company who prints our letterhead and business cards has a Facebook page. Cute? Yes. But their fans are probably husbands/wives and close friends. I'm just sayin'.

Twitter, however, seems a more viable option. I admit that I originally joined just to see what all the hooplah was about (see my account here). Am I following more people than are following me? Absolutely. I guess I'm not that popular. I haven't really gotten "into the conversation" of Twitter and am trying to improve that now. My good friend, however, said that she has met some genuine people through Twitter, and has even come to call them friends. My other friend got hired into her public relations job in San Francisco through Twitter. All I can say to this is, Wow! But will it have the same effect with our company?

Some big-name publishing companies that have Twitter accounts:

Alfred A. Knopf

Pantheon Books

Doubleday

Ecco Books

Some academic presses are also on Twitter. A helpful listing is here. A few presses also have blogs. Did I know about any of these twitter accounts or blogs? No. Did I have to google them? Absolutely. Something is wrong here...

Some academic press twitter accounts:

Yale

Oxford

Toronto

U of California

Now that many companies have a greater online presence (webpages, etc.), is social media still worthwhile? Is it worth the time put in? Maybe, maybe not. But in this process a company can learn about technology, get a couple new "fans," and, if anything, make a friend or two.