My colleagues and I rocked pink outfits in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s an honor to help promote annual detection and screenings for women who are over the age of 40.

My family like millions of others has been touched by breast cancer.

KWTX News 10 shows its’ support by hosting a big on air event allowing viewers to call in or join an online chat with experts answering questions about breast cancer.

I dare you. If you think are you are man enough – show your support for the fight against breast cancer by wearing your pink.

[Jay F. Hicks (l) Rusty Garrett (c), and John Ghazzagh (r)]

I recently attended a Project Tornado session taught by News 10 colleague Rusty Garrett, to see what has Central Texas elementary students so fired up to learn.

Garrett said the kids are “giddy” since KWTX partnered with Region 12 Education Service Center several years ago on Project Tornado – to kick things up a notch as Emeril says.

I arrived to find the use of voice over the internet protocol (VOIP), and other new media tools on the education project saving time and gas, while reaching thousands of elementary students throughout Central Texas each year.

The News 10 weatherman and students are able to see one another and talk, creating a collaborative environment during the 30-minute tornado safety class via web cameras installed in classrooms.

Project Tornado Gear:

-Two 60 inch flat screen monitors

-Classroom web camera

-Green screen technology

-Interactive Software

During this session, Rusty demonstrated the science behind tornadoes, talked to students about what to do when tornadoes are spotted, shared tips on how to keep their families safe, and answered questions before signing off the web.

As an added bonus, photographs of each class are featured on air during the 6 P.M. evening news to reward their learning.

It’s a reminder that students learn when they are engaged.

Proving a return is crucial to advertisers and Nielsen is hoping its’ new tool called Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings, for advertisers and media firms helps improve accuracy in measurement.

Television ratings has along been the measuring stick for over half a century and now it’s coming to the web. It’s the reason why Law & Order was cancelled by NBC. Advertisers depend heavily on television ratings to make the right investment.

In this digital world, head count is crucial. Television isn’t the same as the 1980s. Networks such as CBS have already expanded to multi-platform campaigns to reflect the landscape.

Not to be left behind, the Nielesen company is offering advertiser and web publishers a new measurement metrics to track how well a cross platform campaign is doing.

Clicks and impressions are not big favorites of advertisers and agencies when it comes to measuring effectiveness.

Powered by anonymous data and gender buckets reports the Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings will use reach, frequency, and Gross Rating Point (GRP) to measure the return of online advertising campaigns.

Basically, it is tv style rating for online venues such as Facebook and Yahoo.!

Here’s how it works. At the request of an advertiser, Nielsen requestests a pixel to find out how often a  display or video advertisement is displayed in a browser. If a user goes to a Nielsen partner such as Facebook and then visits another Web site where an ad that Nielsen is tracking is shown, Nielsen will put a pixel in the ad that will prompt Facebook to send Nielsen the age and gender of the user who viewed the ad.

Nielsen insists that the data will be viewed in the aggregate and not on an individual basis. According to Nielsen, third parties will not know what site the user came from or the identity of the advertiser.

Privacy is a touch subject. The Nielsen company has addressed privacy concerns saying users can opt out of participating and have vowed to not pass along any user information, nor will users be tracked from one site to another.

The online realm has sold its’ self as a different type of medium than is consumed differently. So while marketers applaud the announcement, it is to be seen whether using tv measurements of reach, frequency, and  (GRP) model will work well for the Internet.

The product will begin testing in the United States in the fourth quarter and will be available for commercial use in 2011.

I was invited to be a part of the Big Ten Top 50 Icons by the Big Ten Network featuring #19 Suzy Favor Hamilton – one of the most decorated female athletes in NCAA history.

This past summer, it was an honor was to be asked as the Senior Editor of PreRaceJitters.com, an elite track and field blog, to put into perspective the accomplishments of a once-in-a generation athlete such as Favor Hamilton.

Legendary broadcaster Keith Jackson hosts the Big Ten Top 50 Icon’s episode spotlighting the Wisconsin Badgers’ nine-time NCAA champion and 14-time All-American in track and field and cross country.

The Big Ten Network series counts down the top 50 student-athletes in Big Ten history.

Thanks again to Ashton Campbell, the Big Ten Network for the invite, and Suzy Favor Hamilton.  The Big 10 Top 50 Icons series includes household names such as #48 Drew Brees, #18 Jack Nicklaus, #20 Charles Woodson, and #34 Desmond Howard to name a few.

When you work on the web or in the computer industry it’s all about your whip.  I call my computer a whip because it’s all about speed, style, and size while working.

Although I have not thought much about a Mac Mini – it more than gets the job done. It was ready to go after wiping down the hard drive and loading up some of my favorite applications such as FireFox and TextWrangler, along with setting up iChat with my contacts.

Now you’ve seen my whip – what does your looks like?

For a good part of my career, I was marketing banking solutions that help families and individual power their dreams.  Desiring something more, I started slowly building websites and stayed up till the wee hours learning web code.

I recently started a new position as Director of New Media at CBS affiliate News 10 On Your Side (KWTX) serving Central Texas and KWTX.com.

Sometimes in life you find an opportunity to make a difference in something you care about, and it feels like even though you didn’t know it at the time, that the last few years have just been practice giving you the background, skills and ability to help.

My new role at News 10 kind of feels like that.  I returned to college earning web design and development degrees while working clients building online brands and communities and working heavily with content management systems (CMS).

For me, joining News 10 brings a lot of things together.  I had become interested in open source and using technology to build bridges to under-served communities.  My experience in blogging, journalism and producing on the web all come into play.

Along the way I learned about open source, coding, and the web. I was inspired by my experiences to create Code U Web Camp the summer of 2010, which uses open source methods while teaching area high students how to build websites and how to express themselves using social media tools such as Twitter and blogs.

So I joined up at News 10, because I care about the web, user experience and providing products to serve the community.  The web is the single greatest creation in our lifetime.  In my new role, I will be overseeing all of the station’s efforts in new media involving the station’s multiple-platforms, advancing the station’s social media strategies, establishing policy and developing best practices for all of KWTX’s properties.

News 10 is more than just another television station. A long time pillar in the community, the CBS affiliate helps solve community problems such as the recent 10 On Your Side  Stop Bullying Now!  News 10 brought together local educators and mental health experts to help develop community strategies to stop bullying.

A series of bullying packages examining the bullying issue preceded an on-air and online chat where in studio experts answered community questions and offered tips both online and on the telephone about stopping the widespread bullying issue that touches so many.

I feel both very excited and very fortunate to find myself in this spot, and am looking forward to doing what I can to help News 10 continue to make the web a better place to experience news while staying informed.

It no secret that celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and other well known figures use the Internet to raise large sums of money for their causes.

Web educator, and speaker Denise R. Jacobs tore up the tried and true method of raising funds to present at next months Future of Web Design Conference in London.

Jacobs took to her blog, Twitter followers and Internet community asking for help in raising the $2,500 needed to help realize her dream of joining her peers as a presenter.

I received a direct message asking for a retweet of the donation request, to which I happily obliged.

In a mere seven days, the author of “The CSS Detective” has raised $655 by asking for $5 donations from friends and family members to make the transatlantic voyage.

How strong is your community?

Her first foray into viral campaigning is gaining momentum because it is taps into Jacobs’ personal connections and relationships.

Boosted by a 40% surge, reports indicate that for the first time ever, the Interactive part of the festival surpassed attendance of SXSW.

Relationships. Relationships. Relationships.  Nearly a week later and new friendships were developed.   Before you know it good-byes turn into Twitter follows and Facebook adds.

Location-based services really stick out as the big winner in Austin, outshining Twitter at one of the biggest tech conventions.  Foursquare and Gowalla went head-to-head, throwing parties nearly a few feet from one another.

SXSW is a wise place for the location-based services to jump off.  Attendees tend to be early adopters and influences that can help to create product buzz.  Every where I turned around, attendees were checking in with either location-based service along with tweeting and checking in with Facebook.

Don’t get it wrong.  Twitter managed to steal a moment in the sun announcing the launch of @anywhere.  The new program is a framework allowing developers to integrate Twitter into their sites.

An overrall success.  The conference helped create new friendships, which in the end is the most important thing you ever get out of any conference.

What experience did you have?  Will you be checking in?

The true star power of open source is the collaboration aspect that brings people together to rise above the status quo.

The Internet gives those without a voice an audience and platform. That story is continuing to be written. The largest barrier to education is access. These nine apps both provide educations and access.

9 Software Applications to Die For

1. Open Office

The free and open source software, Open Office has been downloaded an eye popping 300 million times. It has developed a strong legend of followers by delivering an alternative to closed source commercial software. The Open Office Suite offers spreadsheets, presentation, and much more.

2. FileZilla

The open source FTP client software with lots of features and intuitive face.

3. Audacity

This free, open source can handle most audio projects that you taken on. You can splice audio, edit, and change pitch and much more. Did I mention that it is cross platform?

4. WordPress

WordPresss just happens to be one of the most popular content management systems for blog-type sites. And forget the notion that open source is for users with a small budget or none at all. Millions of websites are powered by WordPress including Jay Z, CNN, MTV,  Duke University, and too many to list here. Most notable about WordPress is the thousands of free plug-ins available including some for twitter and Facebook.

5. Firefox

This open source web browser is a great product. The success of this open source browser is further evidence the open source success and potential in the future. An estimated 400,000 users millions travel the internet using Firefox.

6. Gimp

Look no further for an open source image editor. This program allows users to create and image almost any image.

7. Firebug

Firebug integrates powerful web development tools into Firefox. It allows users to editor and monitor HTML, CSS, and Javascript on live websites.

8. Miro

Many internet video players and podcast aggregators rely on proprietary technologies. Looking for a cross platform tools for video aggregators, then look no further. Watching high def on the internet is made easier by subscribing from channels, managing your videos or downloaded videos, along with strong search function.

9. Mozilla Thunderbird

Mozilla Thunderbird is jam packed with features for email and it most notably has a strong spam filter.

My website will cover the topics of: new media, marketing, branding, and other subjects related to the Internet.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.