Introducing a new blogging addition

Natalie Black is joining me here on the NTM blog, posting her unique insights into marketing and new media. Natalie has been working with us for about six months, and is a PR and social media expert with experience working with major national brands.

I'm glad to have her help keeping the blog up-to-date (especially as my due date nears!). Natalie has a sharp mind and oodles of energy (oh how I envy that!) and will be a great addition to the blog. Enjoy!

Use Twitter to Find Gas Stations

Looking for gas in Atlanta? Here are some online sources to help out. (By the way, it's fascinating how the web connects people on subjects like this, and how everyday folks are using web 2.0 tools to help one another out.)

Twitter has a group of folks posting gas station updates here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23atlgas

This fuel price map is updated with times so you know what time someone got gas there:
http://rrtexternalweb.wrightexpress.com/neo_ww/site_locator/list.action?sortByValue=PRICE&sortDirection=ASCENDING&latitude=33.995788&longitude=-84.469766&mapType=Hybrid&mapZoom=3&sorting=undefined&address=&city=&state=&zip=30062&fuelType=Unleaded+Regular&radius=5

Listen Up Gas Stations

So you may have heard that we are experiencing a gas shortage here in Atlanta. Yesterday, my husband and I went to about twelve stations in the area and none of them had gas. There is a QT (Quik Trip) nearby that had gas the other day, and a long line, but it was very orderly. They had an employee directing traffic and everyone waited their turn.

That got me thinking. That QT is across the street from another station, and a block away from several others. When the gas crisis is over, people will fall back into old habits and pull in to which ever station has the cheapest gas and is on the right side of the road. But does it have to be? That QT has an opportunity to capture me as a customer right now. They have a captive audience waiting in line for 15-30 minutes at a time. Why not take advantage of that? What if they had an employee bringing bottled water out to the cars (complimentary, or heck, go ahead and offer it for sale). Or samples of the food they would like to sell inside? What about passing out coupons to get us to come back when the shortage is over?

Can you imagine the buzz this would create if, in addition to being the orderly station with gas in the neighborhood, they were also the station that was handing out free food, drinks, and coupons? That would engender enormous good will and word-of-mouth, and create new customers for that station.

What do you think? What else could the station do?

Fun on a Friday -- Top Five Awful Yoda Cakes

Why is Yoda singing Karaoke? That's the question on my mind. This blogger can't answer, but he does list the top five most cringe-inducing Yoda cakes, with appropriate sneering commentary. Hilarious. (You should check out his Top Five Awful R2D2 cakes, also.)

(I know I just blogged about CakeWrecks. It was her blog that led me to this post, so you have her to blame/credit.)

Social Networking for Spooks

The government has found a way to use social networking: they have created a MySpace for spies, an online social hub where spies can hook up and share classified data. Social networking in this arena is really a fancy way to say "online collaboration," but it's an interesting marker of how widespread the acceptance of Web 2.0 tactics has become.

Read more here: CIA, FBI push 'Facebook for spies' - CNN.com

Google set to introduce its own Web browser

Google continues its plans for world dominance with its own browser, available for download Tuesday. Google contends that web surfing has moved beyond text and graphics and that browsers need to work better for video and other interactive applications. We'll definitely keep our eye on this.

Read more here: Google set to introduce its own Web browser - Yahoo! News