tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10666403585766870542012-02-16T07:10:07.094-06:00Kicking ass and taking usernames.Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-12794323648563170612012-01-25T13:57:00.006-06:002012-01-25T17:48:19.827-06:00

When I first donned the title in early 2008, "Community Manager" was still a relatively new term -- so new, in fact, that when I asked for a job description prior to accepting the position, my soon-to-be-boss had to do quite a bit of research before he could formulate a cohesive definition. It isn't that the community management didn't exist until that point; it was simply known by other names,

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-35315032641947388332011-11-01T14:31:00.002-06:002011-11-01T14:42:03.509-06:00

This morning, I logged in to an email from Clipper warning me that the credit card I use for auto-load is expiring in December. I might appreciate the gesture, given all the crap I went through trying to change my billing information earlier this year, except for one thing: the email addresses for the other 1700+ customers who received this email were all plainly visible.This is a huge security

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-65160139951570658322011-10-18T14:29:00.012-06:002011-10-18T16:06:45.858-06:00

Forget artificial intelligence. When I worry about technology taking over the world, I worry about artificial self esteem.Gen Y has been called the "self esteem generation," and for good reason: a recent study found that we prefer receiving self-esteem boosts (such as compliments) over sex, food, and money. Maybe that's a good thing, considering many are broke and living at home. A feature on

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-70668834982622347902011-10-10T11:40:00.005-06:002011-10-10T12:07:55.359-06:00

Today, Netflix customers received an email recanting CEO Reed Hastings' announcement that they would split DVD and streaming products into two separate brands: Netflix and Qwikster. According to the email, "...for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs."My first instinct was to write a

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-78756590433204490882011-10-05T11:15:00.004-06:002011-10-05T12:26:39.200-06:00

I don't get out much. No, really. Chronic pain puts a serious damper on your social life... and work life... and just life in general. Last night, three of us braved two sardine-style packed BART trains and a picnic in the rain to see California Shakespeare Festival's "Taming of the Shrew." We were in pretty good spirits. The land on which the Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre sits is a watershed,

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-36953943752701417512011-09-19T13:55:00.008-06:002011-09-19T15:34:27.335-06:00

Just when you thought they couldn't get any more stupid...NFLX stock plummeted after the announcement in July that Netflix would separate streaming and DVD into two separate plans, effectively charging customers more for their existing subscriptions. Once at almost $305/share, by close on Friday, NFLX was worth about half of that -- a mere $155.19. As of this writing, it's dropped further to

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-90612462199684950922011-09-16T14:29:00.003-06:002011-09-16T16:04:32.686-06:00

I love art. I love museums. But I do not love your average museum-goer.Yesterday, my sister published a piece on museum admission prices, the very day that I took in the Picasso exhibit at the De Young, where general admission is $25 a head. While the exhibit itself was stimulating (though I have a few bones to pick with the curator), the gallery crowd got on my nerves, and not just because of

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-45556692833501510952011-09-08T14:01:00.007-06:002011-09-16T16:03:05.472-06:00

Over the last few years, paying for public transportation in the Bay Area has become easier and simpler -- or so some would have you believe. We went from cash fares on buses and paper tickets on BART to auto-loading (but separate) cards that scan upon entry, to the unified Clipper Card, which can be used on AC Transit buses, BART, and SF Muni buses and trains. For regular riders like me, this

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-28921662760471345482011-08-12T16:26:00.012-06:002011-08-12T17:49:33.849-06:00

I cannot get enough roller derby. Originally, I was sucked in as a fan, and before my chronic pain worsened, I joined the rec league attached to the Bay Area Derby Girls. While the higher level of pain has kept me off skates for the last few months (pain => nausea, nausea + skates => clean-up on Aisle Maddie), my enthusiasm is anything but dampened. In fact, there have been weeks where the

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-67784014928614379022011-08-09T17:20:00.004-06:002011-08-09T17:37:05.308-06:00

When I first wrote my blog post on TOMS rip-off Bobs shoes, my other half expressed some doubts about the claim that I see upwards of half-a-dozen pairs around the streets of the Bay Area on a daily basis. Yesterday, I had a chance to prove him wrong. BARTing from our home in Oakland to downtown San Francisco, and then taking Muni into the Sunset District for a doctor's appointment, we must

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-45604584402084148402011-07-29T15:19:00.009-06:002011-08-09T17:50:06.453-06:00

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, TOMS shoes are ubiquitous--a favorite with hippies and hipsters alike. I probably see upwards of half-a-dozen pairs a day, strolling the City or the streets of Oakland. That's the marketing genius of TOMS: they are instantly recognizable, and owning a pair not only helps a child in need, it identifies you as a member of the do-gooder club to everyone around

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-92172949972451974422011-07-14T13:41:00.007-06:002011-07-27T17:23:54.947-06:00

Let's first state the obvious: this blog has been dead for quite some time. (If, indeed, it was ever alive. Does the life of a blog begin with conception, or...? But I digress.) It was in contemplating the revival of this particular venture that I started to think more carefully about the history--and future--of blogging.It struck me recently that the life path of the blog has echoed the

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1066640358576687054.post-22282507315832337502010-10-07T15:09:00.008-06:002010-10-07T16:29:39.550-06:00

Up against massive customer backlash over their new logo (which was only unveiled yesterday), Gap has already made a swift about-face, announcing in a Facebook status update that there will shortly be a crowd-sourcing project to design a new one. This has got to be some of the fastest backpedaling I've ever seen.Being the Community Manager of a user-generated content site, I'm very familiar with

Maddie Ruudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078541102981794521noreply@blogger.com0