From the expansion of Craigslist to the debut of Facebook and Twitter and on to the presidential elections in the U.S. and Iran, it’s chock full of moments that helped define the current (but ever evolving) landscape of digital communications and social media.

What do you think of the list? Is there anything missing you think was worthy of consideration? Please share your thoughts in the discussion area.

You can see some of her pictures on our Flickr pages and you can read more about the Grove Park Inn’s great holiday tradition over at Stirring the Pot, Mary Constantine’s food and cooking blog at the Knoxville News Sentinel.

If you are a member of the Volunteer Chapter of PRSA, you can hear Katie speaking about digital strategy tomorrow at the organization’s monthly luncheon. This month’s luncheon will be at the Orangery.

UT journalism and communications students with a desire to learn more about the role of digital communications and social media in public relations firms like Ackermann PR can hear Katie speak to the student staff of the Tennessee Journalist Network tomorrow on campus at the Haslam Building at 6:30.

It’s a great opportunity to hear from an entertaining and energetic speaker.

Last night’s premiere of Twilight: New Moon raised more than $400,000 for the local philanthropic organization Variety of Eastern Tennessee. Second Harvest is among the organizations who benefit from Variety’s support.

The News Sentinel also reported today on the gift of a refrigerated truck and food from Walmart to Second Harvest. (We also reported on this on the Ackermann Wire.)

Finally, the Humana Foundation granted $25,000 to Second Harvest, according to a separate story in the paper today.

That’s a wonderful avalanche news as we enter the Thanksgiving season. To learn more about Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee and the valuable work they do for our neighbors, you can visit them online at http://www.secondharvestknox.org/ or on the Second Harvest Facebook page.

You can sample chili from 30 different teams, enjoy live music, and take part in (or just watch) the chile pepper eating contest. Proceeds from the event help fund Second Harvest and put food on the table of East Tennesseans in need. Tickets are $10 at the gate, but available in advance for $8 if you purchase them online by Friday. The event will be held 1 to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Come on down, but be warned– some of the entries can be a bit “warm.”

In her thoughtful post (which she promises to be the first in a series) she compares the effective use of social media to the “valuable face-to-face networking that takes place at civic clubs such as Rotary and Civitan…” It’s an interesting comparision.

Do you see the use of social media in the same way as a professional networking tool? Or, do you have a different opinion you’d like to share in the comments below.

Jake understands that his company’s success is built on listening to the needs and wants of the audience and providing a real benefit to its community. If it fails to engage the community and serve its needs, they’ll go elsewhere. Or, in Vaudeville terms, they’ll give Threadless “the hook.”

Funny girl Fanny Brice knew the value of engaging the audience from her days on the Vaudeville stage. Fanny, who was born on this day 118 years ago, could have written the social media mission statement when she said, “Your audience gives you everything you need. They tell you. There is no director who can direct you like an audience.”

Fanny and other vaudeville stars of the era were quite familiar with the concept of building community as they traveled the circuit. They also understood the importance of taking the feedback from their audience to improve their act and build a more successful brand. If they ignored their audience or failed to engage them, they knew their career in the footlights would be a short one.

It’s a brave thing to step onto the stage and risk the catcalls and rotten tomatoes and “the hook.” But, it’s undeniably exciting, too, because the potential is also there for applause and ovations and the rush of laughter and community that washes over you like a wave when your onstage performance is connecting with the audience.

Fannie understood that there was and is a place for the director and stage manager in her theater world, but she also knew the audience played a significant role. A well-directed performance that does not engage its audience is not a successful performance. Fannie — like Jake at Threadless and other success stories from Tara Hunt’s book– understood the role of performer, director, and audience in building a successful brand.

Here at Ackermann PR we are staying busy on a variety of projects for our clients and– on occasion– for ourselves, too. Among our personal projects, we’re working on reconfiguring our web site and blogs a bit. Moving the Ackermania blog to its own home on the internet is one such project.

As you can imagine, a few items will get jostled and damaged in the move, so you may see a few oddities today as we work on getting the new house in order. An image or two might go missing, or a link might lead down a dead-end. We’ll be working throughout the day to make sure everything is back in good order, but if you see something you think we’ve missed, please feel free to send along a note in the comments or to me at srhyne@ackermannpr.com.

Thanks for reading Ackermania. We appreciate the chance to share in the conversation with you.

Elvis Presley, the future King of Rock and Roll, strode onto the stage to perform his rendition of Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” While the crowd certainly would have been familiar with the bluegrass classic, they were completely unprepared for the new interpretation. The audience was shocked and applause was light. Opry manager Jim Denny is reported to have told the young singer, “Don’t quit your day job.”

Though disheartened by the response and criticism, Elvis did not take the advice. Happily for millions of music fans around the world, Elvis sought out new audiences better suited for the type of music he was creating. He also found more suitable audiences in the masses of teenagers across the country who were not gathering around the radio to listen to the Opry, but were sitting in front of the televison watching Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and Ed Sullivan.

It really just goes to show you that being the best at what you do doesn’t count for much if you’re not doing it in front of the right people.

The same could be said for many social media campaigns. It is too easy to simply establish appearing on the largest stages as a measure of success. As Elvis and Col. Tom would tell you from their own Grand Ole Opry experience, this isn’t necessarily true. The success we’re seeing here at Ackermann PR is based on the idea that we want our clients to find their best audience wherever they may be. It takes a little extra work, but the rewards are measurable.

When you look at the career path of someone like Elvis, it is easy to get caught up in the stories of an instant rise to fame and fortune. But, it’s important to remember that the path from driving a truck to moving into Graceland was built on hard work, a quality product, a good marketing plan, and some hard lessons learned by singing on a few wrong stages.

What steps are you taking to make sure you’re campaign is singing on the right stage? With all the stages to choose from, how do you know which ones are the best for you? How will you stand out? Once you find the audience, how will you convince them to listen…and come back again? Perhaps we can help you find the answers to these questions.

This is my first post on the Ackermania blog. I hope it’s the first of many. My name is Shane Rhyne and I just started working here only a few days ago as Ackermann PR’s new digital communications associate. I’ll tell you all about the new job soon enough. In the meantime, I’d like to tell you what I did on my time off on the first weekend after starting the new job.

I spent Labor Day weekend at my family reunion. The descendants of my grandparents have made it a tradition for the past ten years to get together regularly and spend some quality face-to-face time with each other. Each reunion brings an opportunity to get reacquainted with old friends who happen to be cousins, to mourn the loss of those who have passed on, and to greet the newcomers.

While the new babies have an easy time making acquaintances at the reunion (they get passed from lap to lap for the duration of a three-day weekend), what of the other newcomers? The new in-laws, spouses, significant others, and other fresh adult faces can sometimes find themselves on the outside of a noisy, 100-person chorus sharing old jokes and familiar tales. Having played a role in organizing a family reunion or two, I find the key is to help everyone stay busy. Give people a task and they’ll likely find a way to shine and gain some ownership in the community.

Of course, it helps to also make an effort to ask for input from the new cousin. Do they think a fish fry would be more popular than grilled burgers and hot dogs? Would they like to help pick the movie for the kids to watch under the stars? Do they have a particular talent to share? We don’t know until we engage them in conversation– and I mean a real conversation. You remember those, the one where you listen while other people talk?

After that, we try to remember to thank them for the effort– even the surly teenage newcomers who didn’t seem particularly thrilled to wander the yard with trashbags picking up picnic litter. It’s important to let them know, you appreciate the effort. From my experience, it helps turn a lot of surly teenage litter collectors into smiling busboys come dinner time. The next thing you know, they might even volunteer to help with breakfast.

These tips on social integration are as old as the family unit itself. It’s not groundbreaking news, but its amazing how often we try to reinvent the process outside of the family. Happily, as I settle into my new job here at Ackermann PR, I see that Cathy Ackermann and her team have adopted a lot of those “welcome to the family” lessons as part of their working culture here. Everyone has gone out of the way to make me feel like a part of the team. They’ve certainly not been shy about finding tasks for me to do! I’m delighted to work in a place where even the new guy’s input has value. With the rapid growth in the digital media division, I’m sure I’ll have no shortage of opportunities to jump in with my own thoughts, experiences, and ideas.

It probably won’t surprise you if I use my family and their reunion as a guidepost in working with our clients in their social media needs. The same rules apply in social networks as at the homestead or the workplace: make newcomers feel welcome, let their voice be heard, let them take on tasks and activities that give them an ownership in your success, thank them often, and be nice.

By the way, if you’re a fan of using social media to make organizing tasks and communicating easier (and why wouldn’t you be?), you might consider using a web site such as Ning to organize your next family reunion. That’s what I did for this year’s gathering of 100+ family members. The photo accompanying this post is from my family’s 2001 family reunion. I’ll eventually post photos from the 2009 reunion on my Flickr pages.