Bloggers and advertisers beware: New FTC rules impact you

Whoa! Before you ask Janet in Accounting to blog about the firm’s terrific service or you give a sample of your miracle product to cousin Ernie in the hopes that he will post an oh-wow comment on Facebook, pay heed to the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines.

Don’t let the regulations catch you by surprise or the FTC could slap a $10,000 per day fine if it finds you making and not immediately yanking unlawful claims. What the FTC considers “advertising” may be a surprise.

Gem Show Here to Stay; How to make the Most of It

The Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase, which will bring thousands of buyers, sellers and treasure hunters from around the world to Southern Arizona through Feb. 14, will remain a Southern Arizona tradition and economic rainmaker.

Fears that the Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show, commonly referred to as “the gem show,” will leave Tucson are “unfair” and “unrealistic,” said Kimberly Schmitz, director of communications and public relations for the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau.

One of Tucson’s premier events, the showcase packs an annual $100 million wallop into the local economy. On its heels: Accenture Match Play Championship, La Fiesta de los Vaqueros (the Tucson Rodeo) and Spring Training. (The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies leave Tucson for a new spring training facility east of Phoenix in 2011.)

The iPad is the New VHS

Remember Betamax? Not many people do.

In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Betamax, commonly known as “Beta,” was a hot technology that allowed people to watch and distribute recorded video content at ease. Other similar formats, such as the more widely used VHS tape, were developed that held a similar role. In a few years, one format reigned and Betamax went into the history books as another piece of meaningless trivia.

This week, Apple announced the iPad, a tablet device that combines the best elements of a laptop and a smart phone. It’s today’s VHS – a piece of innovative technology that will turn its competitors, such as Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook, into the next Betamax.

TucsonSentinel.com covers news without paper and ink

Last week’s launch of The Tucson Sentinel illustrates two news and information delivery trends: the inkless, paperless “newspaper” and the nonprofit business model.

Dylan Smith and a handful of former staffers from the Tucson Citizen, the 138-year-old newspaper paper that ceased print publication in May, launched TucsonSentinel.com in the wake of newspapers and media outlets nationwide slashing staffs and shutting their doors.

Tucson Sentinel content and format resembles online versions of traditional print newspapers. Professional reporters and editors and a cadre correspondents will cover local topics and promote community conversations on issues that affect Tucson, according to TucsonSentinel.com. It also has national and international news services.

Facebook’s Audience Booms, Hesitant Companies Left Behind

comScore, an online measurement firm, recently released a staggering report on the significant increase of visitors to Facebook. Between December 2008 and December 2009, the social network more than doubled its U.S. audience from 54.5 million visitors to 111.9 million. Facebook is now the fourth most visited online property, right behind institutions such as Google and Yahoo!.

Facebook is where people are going to communicate and get information. Every demographic has a presence on the Facebook network and each is rapidly growing.