Yesterday, I took part in something special.

The Women’s Fund is an organization that fund different projects and organizations that support domestic violence programs here in the greater Birmingham area as well as the state. Yesterday, they partnered with NBC 13 HD to sponsor a “blog-a-thon”. They made an open call to bloggers in the area to come in and talk to those on the front lines fighting domestic violence. Judges, survivors, officers, directors and fundraisers all gathered together not only to raise funds for the Women’s Fund but to raise awareness about Domestic Violence.

Having all these resources together in one place was a great because you could trace the progression of domestic violence as it escalates through the system. From disputes to investigations, judges to rehabilitation, survival to prevention, there were many stories told in the NBC 13 conference room. Here are just a few that I was able to capture…

Officers Kareem Easley and Coleecia Cainion – These officers are just a couple of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day. Domestic Violence accounts for over 70% of all police calls, which are the most dangerous calls that are received. Why? Sometimes, remorse turns to reaction and causes the accuser to lash out. Going into a strange environment, officers must be aware of hidden weapons and bring no less that 2 officers to any of theses calls. If the dispute has escalated to bodily harm, the aggressor is arrested and is held for a minimum of 12 hours. This is enough time for the victim to gather enough belongings and leave the scene. Once charges are pressed, they cannot be dropped. These officers prepare a “docket”, consisting of incident reports, photos, and a body chart describing the physical harm that is turned over to…

Investigators Kenneth Walton, Kieron Floyd, and Chris Lampley – past and present members of the Birmingham Domestic Violence Unit – These investigators do the followup interviewing the witnesses and getting warrants for both misdemeanor and felony cases. Each individual see over 90 cases of domestic violence a year. The work that they do is the groundwork for…

Judge Locke Donaldson, Jefferson County Family Court – Judge Locke is just one of the many judges in the Birmingham area that deal with domestic violence cases. While he deals exclusively with cases involving children, he has the ability to issue PFAs and restraining orders, which he never orders without actually meeting with the victim. He reads the body language and the physical look of the victim. He recalled one woman who asked for help and followed through, saying that she looked 2,000% better from when they first met. She simply said to him, “I feel safe”.

Wes Goodenough, Gateway Family and Child Services – Some offenders are ordered by the court to seek help. Gateway provides a program called the Violence Intervention Program. This program is designed to hold offenders accountable for their actions, not just the abuse. Depending on the type and severity of the abuse, there are programs ranging from weekly meetings to on-site rehabilitation.

Tahiera Brown, survivor – I don’t want to speak too much for Tahiera because I promise you her words are much more moving than mine. The fact that she is alive is living proof that there is hope for those who feel like helpless victims of Domestic Violence.

Joan Sulzman, Alabama Coalition against Domestic Violence – Having worked in just about every facet of advocacy for Domestic Violence for the last 25 years, Joan is currently working to inform employers and their employees about domestic violence in the workplace. It’s esitmated that employeers across the country lose about 3-5 billion in revenue each year because of absences, medical costs, and distractions during hours. Building a culture of safety at work is just the right thing to do.

Please head over to NBC 13 and read more from the other local bloggers about domestic violence and consider making a donation to The Women’s Fund.

Personally, I’m not a big political guy. I know just enough to know who I like and for who I could care less.

Now, since way before our last presidential election, I knew that social media would have a big impact on who would be elected.

Why? Because it was the ultimate way to engage “the” audience… The people of the United States. Getting people involved and interactive gets results. The fact that we are saying “President Obama” is proof of that.

So, I was checking my Google Alerts the other day, when I notice that some “political” organization was planning on holding a social media event in Montgomery. A big “I’ll pass” rolled through my head, after quickly breezing though the speaker list.

But looking at it today, I did notice that Paul Chaney was going to speak. Again, I wasn’t planning on going. But I feel that after meeting Paul at #soso (and having to miss his talk to go see my ol’ buddy @JasonFalls) I felt it was worth the $25 pricetag.

So, you’ll be seeing me down in Montgomery for the event. Though, I’ll probably stop by @FullMoonBBQ in Alabaster on my way back for some ribs.

Wow! What a weekend of Social Media goodness. I honestly wish I could have done more (not that 2 conferences isn’t enough), but alas, I’m only one person. So, let’s get to it, shall we?

New Media Atlanta – For Social Media People, Not By Social Media People

Friday morning at about the butt-crack of dawn, I jumped into the car with @briancauble, @andreafwalker, and @joshgrenon for a little road trip goodness. As the anointed driver of the group (voted most awake and most caffeinated), I navigated us (via GPS) to GaTech for New Media Atlanta.

First think I must say about #nmatl is that it was well organized. But from the time that I walked into the lecture hall it was being held in, I knew it wasn’t going to go well. It immediately reminded me of a quote that I had recently hear from one of those big named social media folks…

The difference between an audience and a community is which direction the chairs are pointing.

Now, having been to #soso in August, (not nearly as well organized as #nmatl) I realized that while the people who ran #nmatl may use Social Media, but I seriously doubt that they are Social Media people.

#soso focused on interaction, not just lecture. Granted we grouped together to hear @ajkeen and @mideastyouth, but most of the conference were tag-team sessions that promoted more discussion than lecture. One great example was where @jasonfalls and @RichardAtDell discussed creating a Social Media strategy and asked the audience the question while guiding the conversation. Kudos to those guys for a great session and the organizers of #soso for using that format.

Now I realize that most of the people in attendance were marketers (a live pole was done via text) and that marketers are used to the “bullhorn”. But, social media is about interaction, discussion, networking, etc. And I quite frankly feel that I didn’t get that kind of value from #nmatl. The biggest takeaway from the conference is that I won’t be back next year if they don’t change the format.

With the exception of Brogan. Hearing Brogan was worth the price of admission. Just wish I had known that a week ago, and I would have planned to go listen to him in Nashville.

Now, don’t think I’m spiteful. I think that #nmatl is a great idea and would benefit from some tweaking of the format. I’m hopeful that the organizers will listen to the feedback (hopefully they are hearing the same feedback that I have been) and change the format of the conference. Atlanta has a great deal of marketers, PR people, companies, conference space, etc. Essentially, all the ingredient to make #nmatl nationally recognized as the place to be for Social Media Pros.

I think a lot of people will be interested to see what happens next year.

20)@MarkusAD – Birmingham Radio Personality

19)@aldotcom – AL web presence staple

18)@AllAboutAlabama – Alabama History via Twitter, thanks to the Encyclopedia of Alabama

17)@bhamfolkfest – Folk Festival in October that’s tweeting NOW. Gotta love it!

16)@GovernorRiley – even the ‘Gubna twitters…

15)@ArturDavis – Not to mention one of the other candidates for ‘Gubna… He is still running, right?

14)@Urban_Standard – Coffee/Cafe downtown, I heard the name before…

13)@BottletreeCafe – Great bar. Great Drinks. Great People. And Free wifi. Bug ups for the free wifi

12)@ParcHDVideo – He Shoots. He Edits. He makes cool things. Follow. Now.

11)@theVT – Great to see more food places on Twitter. They are even advertizing twitter only spcials. Big points from SMB for that one…

10)@UABGangGreen, @UABAthletics – I <3 UAB. No way they don't make this list. Sorry, UA/AU peeps... At least I admited it, and they are 10...

9)@ZoomOutNews – Ole’ college buddy of mine. We took Narritive Filmmaking I together. Trust me people, she knows of what she speaks…

@BarberMotorPark – I found them just before the 45th Mustang anniversary Party. So cool to see twitters about Mustangs Across America and The Swedish renting ‘Stangs

7)@barcampbham – the un-conference that is totally rocking this year…

6)@willblogforshoe – Wife, mom, recovering shoe addict. – Her twitter profile says it all…

5)@WadeOnTweets – Late to twitter, early to blogging. If you like to read blogs at all, time to follow him and read his blog. And haiku.

4)@PepperPlace – Every year, I get a jar of Alabama Honey from this place… speaking of which, I’m outta honey…

3)@sheconomy – Female Marketer and Blogger in Birmingham with great perspectives…

2)@docartemis – Birmingham Podcaster, ER Doc, and avid twitterer…

1)@pubinfo – City of Birmingham’s Twitter feed. Yes, the City of Birmingham has trouble playing the dog catcher, but they have time for a twitter feed…

Honorable Mention – @rossthe8oss – buddy of mine that I accidentally offended by showing him this list and leaving him off…