3 Things Edition 6!

Welcome to the sixth edition of The Three Things, brought to you by Michael Schechter, Gini Dietrich and myself.

Before we get started, everyone send well wishes to Shrek. Because he’s in New York, he’s had to work from home all week, plus he’s creating a big new writing project as part of NaNoWriMo. He’s a little busy, flustered, and probably a bit ADD from all the extra stimulation.
For those of you new to this series, The Three Things is ppublished every Sunday so you have some extra time to spend perusing the obscure content we’ve curated for you (and one another) before your week begins and deadlines, meetings, and work takes over.


Squarespace: Sandy Updates

Michael on Dedication. This week has taken its toll on many of us here on the east coast. While my family and I were more than fortunate, there are many who have not been so lucky. Through all of the stories of pain, there have also been tales of triumph. While there are many to choose from, I’ve been particularly impressed with the efforts that the team at Squarespace have taken to keep their service up and running. If you want to see what doing right by your customers and your service looks like, especially in the face of serious logistical and emotional adversity, take some time to read through their regular updates.
Disclaimer: Squarespace is a frequent sponsor of Michael’s podcast.

Fake Storm Reports

Howie on Citizen Journalists. I blog often about the limits of social media due to the platform’s short comings. That any tweet or Facebook post will be seen by maybe one to three percent of your network, due to the high volume of posts and size of your network. Typically, individual content never goes viral but topics do, such as updates on Hurricane Sandy. This article covers the recent discussions about whether speed is more important than accuracy and how often it compromises the quality of reporting. Obviously this one tweet got lucky that it was picked up by the right accounts and reshared. Even the Washington Post admits being duped and it cost someone his job.

When a Daughter Dies

Gini on Medical Care. I’m not going to lie. This father’s story about his daughter’s 20 day battle with cancer made me cry. Told on the Freakonomics blog, Steven Levitt’s dad (who is a doctor) tells the story of how his 50 year old daughter had an unsteady gait and went to the doctor only to discover she had brain tumors. During the next 20 days, she goes from being healthy and active to needing ice chips and morphine. While the blog post is written in highly technical medical terms, I think it will affect you the same way it did me. Near the end he says, “In this era of molecular biology, the most valuable medication was morphine, a drug that has been available for almost 200 years.” Amen, Dr. Levitt. Amen.

Now it’s your turn. Is there a podcast, video, or article you think we need to see?