Author: Benson Hendrix

Benson Hendrix, APR has been called everything from a “social media zen warrior” to the ” ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper of Public Relations,” and from a “behind the scenes powerbroker,” to “the loudmouth PR love child of Henry Rollins and Anthony Bourdain,” but doesn’t really believe any of it (except maybe the “Rowdy” Roddy Piper part). Hendrix is the Digital Media Manager for the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and loves helping organizations and people tell the stories that are important to them. He is also an adjunct social media instructor at the University of New Mexico, and the Social Media Strategist for TEDxABQ. In the few minutes a week he calls "spare time," he relaxes with his wife and chases his dream to be a better photographer.
Technology

A Reminder to Write Down Your Passwords

Posted on by Benson Hendrix

In this age of advancing technology and Google’s growing hegemony in your online life, this is just a quick reminder to say that if you have a Google Account (Gmail, iGoogle, etc) then you might want to try out this old-school method of account security.

Write your password down on this thing called paper.

Before you scoff at this reuse of old technology, please hear my tale, it’s sad but true… about a girl that I once …er still know. (OK, cancel the “Runaround Sue” pun.)

Recently I bought a new laptop for my fiancee.  It’s pretty sweet, a new Dell XPS 1530, and I’ve been transferring data from her old laptop to this one.  But we didn’t get the passwords moved over from her old computer’s Firefox file to this one, and she couldn’t remember the password for her account.  No problem, you might think, just have Google send the password to her backup email account.  That would work great if the company hadn’t unknowingly shut down (since she used her Gmail account for everything there was no need for that email).

What about the backup question?  I’d like an answer to that one as well, because after typing in the answer, and any possible permutation of the backup question and that little cheesy captcha file, Google still would not let her reset her password.

So we finally found a way to contact Google, because being the big web company they are, they don’t actually want people to contact them when their stuff goes haywire (unless of course, you are a big consumer account, which being only two people, we aren’t).  We filled out the form with all of the information we had on the account and sent it in, only to get a response from Google telling us they can’t send her information because she didn’t have enough information to send in (aka, she’s not using enough of their services and she’s screwed, again we’re not a big corporate account).

The end result of all of this?  Well, my fiancee has another Gmail account for backup (that I created for her) and she still can’t access her Gmail contacts, or the businesses (bank, car payment, etc) that contact her through that email address and she’s getting stressed about all of this.  So thanks Google, it’s such a great plan to give stress to someone with a heart condition.

And the lesson learned from this little weekend debacle?  Just use some retro tech and remember to write your passwords down someplace safe (Dad, hint hint)

P.S. and if anyone from Google ever stumbles across this, a little help here?

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media

Wow… RIP Tim Russert

Posted on by Benson Hendrix

Oh man, I came back from a meeting to find out that Tim Russert, one of NBC’s iconic journalists, died in the NBC offices today.  I’m still processing it now, I grew into my political maturity watching Russert, a fellow Buffalo Bills fan (one reason I liked him I think), on Sunday mornings, and later, with the advent of technology and my inability to get up on Sunday mornings after a 5 a.m. crash time the night before, downloading “Meet the Press” to my iPod, spending part of the day walking Pickles (my dog) and listening to the show. Sometimes arguing with him or his guests, like any political junkie does I guess. (my neighbors must think Pickles and I had the strangest arguments)

I never understood a lot of the vitriol thrown at Russert from partisans on the right and the left.  To me, he always tried to call it straight down the middle, being fair, yet tough, to the people he had on the other side of the table. To me that was the epitome of fairness – when both sides were attacking you for your “bias,” that usually meant you were doing something right. Watching Russert, I tried to learn how he was able to dissect a complex issue and present it to his viewers, and his guest, in a way that was to the point. I can fault him slightly for not having the biggest BS-O’meter in the world, but on a personal, and a professional level, I respected his candor and tenacity.

Being a political junkie himself, Russert will at least be able to enjoy this election from on high, sharing a drink, and debating the presidential election with people like Edward Murrow.  (Not to mention trying to get that post-death interview with Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.)

The interview table got a little smaller today.  Via con dios, Tim.

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Uncategorized

I Am Spartacus…

Posted on by Benson Hendrix

As I mentioned a few blog posts back, I was debating whether or not to give up the pen name and start writing under my real name. After receiving an email from my friend Mark, he reminded me that I have already been blog outed in cyberspace. A while back Mark referenced one of my posts on the David Iglesias firing case, where I asked where the piles of evidence that Republican operatives out here claimed Iglesias was ignoring.

Without rehashing my post or the Iglesias case right now (I’m swearing off politics for the summer, hopefully) I realized what Mark was saying. Why be worried now? Plus I’ve been referring to this blog from my Facebook and Twitter accounts for a while now, so quite a few of you already know who I am. So why not just rip the bandage off and get it over with?

Here goes…

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From the Archives

Turning Up the Voltage

Posted on by Benson Hendrix

I was reading Chris Brogan’s blog this afternoon (where anyone interested in getting better with social media should go) and found this post interesting.  Chris talks about ratcheting up your ability to get through information, especially when dealing with social media, faster and faster (think Ben Johnson on steroids, then crystal meth fast).

The problem starts up when you don’t know where to look for information.  Like me, sometimes I finally find out what’s going on only to turn around, write a brilliant masterpiece you have all come to know and love ( 😉 ), get something online and find out I’m still behind the curve.  It’s like the saying goes, sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you.  It’s just a matter of not getting caught off guard too often.  Two questions are, how can you get the information synthesized fast enough, and in this day and age of instant online media, how can you get faster?

P.S. Chris, if you have any ideas on staying up to speed, I’d love to hear them. 😉

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public relations

Turning Up the Voltage

Posted on by Benson Hendrix

I was reading Chris Brogan’s blog this afternoon (where anyone interested in getting better with social media should go) and found this post interesting.  Chris talks about ratcheting up your ability to get through information, especially when dealing with social media, faster and faster (think Ben Johnson on steroids, then crystal meth fast).

The problem starts up when you don’t know where to look for information.  Like me, sometimes I finally find out what’s going on only to turn around, write a brilliant masterpiece you have all come to know and love ( 😉 ), get something online and find out I’m still behind the curve.  It’s like the saying goes, sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you.  It’s just a matter of not getting caught off guard too often.  Two questions are, how can you get the information synthesized fast enough, and in this day and age of instant online media, how can you get faster?

P.S. Chris, if you have any ideas on staying up to speed, I’d love to hear them. 😉

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albuquerque

Crickets!

Posted on by Benson Hendrix

(We break into your regularly scheduled PR and business news to give you… crickets!)

Good morning ,at the crack of 121 in the am.  I was finishing up reading a couple of blogs before bed and suddenly stopped to realize that, for the first time in a very long time, the sounds of crickets are dancing through the air.

Between the crickets chirping, and the cool breeze cutting the 80-degree heat out of the house, I’ve just realized that spring has firmly ensconced itself in Albuquerque.  Now let’s see how long it lasts before the 100-degree days hit this year. (“Gee there’s no such thing as global warming…” My ass!)

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public relations

Is There a Future in Blogging?

Posted on by Benson Hendrix

Earlier today I was listening to NM political blogger Joe Monahan as part of a media roundtable. He was a decent member of the panel, making a few good points about social media, but at the end he really blew it. He was asked about the future of blogging and he said that blogging had reached its heyday a couple of years back and that blogs would start to fall by the way, much like some of the mass media outlets that have shuttered their doors in the last decade – the market would decide which blogs will survive.

Joe’s looking at the story of blogging as an independent source of revenue, he had discussed advertising on blogs, or blogging independently as a career – like he does. He’s not thinking about the use of blogging and other social media in a business setting. That’s the future of non-independent, non-hobbyist social media use.

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