Tag Archives: Facebook

Social media update

This is just a friendly reminder that you can find much of this blog’s content on the official Off the Kuff Facebook page, which I hope you will like. I was asked recently what the purpose of that page was, … Continue reading

Posted in Administrivia | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Ten years after

I don’t know how many people are actually reading blogs today, but if you’re one of them then I’m happy to tell you that today is the tenth birthday of this blog. It started as an exercise to see if … Continue reading

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged , | 15 Comments

“Draft Nick Lampson”

As things stand now, there are basically two Congressional seats in Texas that Democrats have a shot at taking away from Republicans in 2012. One is CD23, which is drawing a fair amount of interest. The other is CD14, thanks … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Sanchez files paperwork to run for Senate

And he’s in. Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who rose from an impoverished childhood in the Rio Grande Valley to become a three-star Army general commanding multinational forces in Iraq, filed the paperwork Wednesday to seek the Democratic nomination for … Continue reading

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Saturday video break: We Three Kings are totally on Twitter

If the Christmas story were happening today, this is how it might go down: Thanks to Harold for finding this.

Posted in Society and cultcha | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Facebook mail

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about this. On Monday, Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the world’s largest social network plans to launch an updated version of its messaging service that will allow users to send emails … Continue reading

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The case for using social media in the schools

Sounds good to me. A year after seventh grade teacher Elizabeth Delmatoff started a pilot social media program in her Portland, Oregon classroom, 20% of students school-wide were completing extra assignments for no credit, grades had gone up more than … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The social network campaign

Governor Perry won’t show up at a debate, but he is a presence on the Internet. The list of things that Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Bill White, his Democratic opponent in November, disagree upon is long. But on the … Continue reading

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School social media policies

The DMN has an interesting look at how Dallas-area school districts handle social networking by its employees. [S]chool districts and teachers trying to reach and engage students and parents find that using the latest and most popular technology is faster, … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The city of Houston’s social media guidelines

I received the following email from Justin Concepcion, who manages social media for Mayor Parker’s office, in response to the questions I asked in this post about how the city of Houston handles social media: We are in the process … Continue reading

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Social media guidelines in San Antonio

Interesting. There’s no standard policy or set of procedures governing how public entities or their employees should use social networking sites. Agencies are in various stages of evaluating what constitutes proper online conduct. Bexar County is writing a social media … Continue reading

Posted in Websurfing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Win a date with Karl Rove

Desperate times and all that. The Perry campaign is offering supporters who submit 11 names of registered voters for the campaign to contact a chance to win prizes in a raffle. The gifts include a jogging lesson from RunTex founder … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Join Senator Kirk Watson & Bill White in Online Video Town Hall, Monday July 12

State Senator Kirk Watson will host an online video town hall with Bill White on Monday, July 12th at 5:30pm. You can join the conversation yourself, submit questions, and enjoy a high-tech, low-key campaign chat with two of Texas’ most … Continue reading

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Being Hector Uribe

There are days when I truly love being a political blogger, because they give me a reason to take note of stuff like this. Somewhere in Indiana, a man needs a date. And he’s using Democratic land commissioner candidate Hector … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Is the Big XII in UH’s future?

Now that we know the Big XII will survive, one question that now arises is whether it will try to replace defectors Nebraska and Colorado, and if so with which teams. Already, there’s a drumbeat for UH being included. Richard … Continue reading

Posted in Other sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Sixty thousand and counting

In March, the Dallas Morning News wrote about how Rick Perry was running a new kind of campaign. Rick Perry’s campaign has a radical approach that eschews traditional voter turnout efforts in favor of extensive use of social media networks … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Still trying to save the Dome

Nancy Sarnoff reports. A new page has sprung up on Facebook called Save the Astrodome. It was created by the Houstonian behind www.AmnesiaHouston.org, a Web site aimed at bringing attention to the city’s disappearing landmarks. The creator compares the Astrodome … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

No Staples for the Alabama Theater

Some news from Swamplot, from a commenter there named Andrea: “After writing to Staples PR this is their canned response: ‘While there has been speculation about Staples in connection with the historic Alabama Theater, we do not have a lease … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Alabama Drafthouse Theater idea gains momentum

With the revelation that Weingarten has plans to demolish the interior of the former Alabama BookStop so that it may get turned into a Staples or something like it, more people are expressing the wish that something be done instead … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

McGuff interviews the Mayor

Mayor Annise Parker discusses her social media strategy with Mike McGuff: Interesting stuff. Among other things, the Mayor mentions that a new and improved City of Houston website is on its way. I can’t wait to see it.

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on McGuff interviews the Mayor

No texting while deliberating

If you get called in for jury duty in Harris County, you can now get free WiFi in the Jury Assembly Room. But once you get into a courtroom, and especially if you get empaneled, you should expect to have … Continue reading

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Boycott us, please!

Now this is something I can really get behind. If you think the folks in Haiti are having a rough time, just wait until Houstonians feel the economic effects of Pastor David Grisham’s boycott against our city of sin. Launched … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Quan will be in for County Judge

We knew former City Council member Gordon Quan was strongly considering a race for Harris County Judge. It would appear that he has made up his mind, because today I received an invitation via Facebook to attend an event called … Continue reading

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Spending on voter outreach: District Council races

I’ve taken a look at spending on voter outreach in the Controller’s race and in the At Large Council races, and was working on a similar post for the district Council races for the 30 days out reports, but never … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Endorsement watch: Republicans (very quietly) for Roy

The Saturday edition of the Chron the past couple of weeks has had a feature in the City & State section called Campaign Watch, which is a blog-like collection of short items relating to the 2009 elections. For some odd … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Today the HCDE, tomorrow the world!

Remember those Cy-Fair school board candidates I mentioned last week? Turns out they each have Facebook groups supporting their candidacies. A brief look at them reveals a couple of interesting things. One is that spelling, or at least spell-checking, is … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Spending on voter outreach: The Controller candidates

We know that this has been, relatively speaking, a low-dollar, low-profile election. I’ve been curious as to what the candidates’ strategies for doing voter outreach have been. We’ll probably know more when we see the eight-days-out reports, but for now, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

City of Houston social media

The City of Houston is doing it in the Facebook with the Twittering, plus some bonus YouTube action as well. Follow BARC, various Community Affairs offices, the George R. Brown Convention Center, and more, some of which update more often … Continue reading

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Three candidates so far for HISD Trustee in District I

We know that Natasha Kamrani, the incumbent Trustee in HISD District I is not running for re-election. One candidate to replace her is Alma Lara, who was in the race before Kamrani announced that she was stepping down. According to … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Parents call on HISD to keep promises Saavedra made

With the revelation that HISD may have chosen its new superintendent, this Chron story from yesterday about how parent groups who were promised certain specific actions from outgoing Superintendent Abe Saavedra relating to the bond referendum, and the Board of … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lisa Gray on the closing of the Alabama Bookstop

Lisa Gray writes about the impending closing of the Alabama Bookstop, to be followed by the opening of the new Barnes & Noble and the rest of the remade River Oaks Shopping Center, and what it means for the Bookstop’s … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Roy ‘n’ TJ

Together at last, as Huntley says on Facebook. To all of my loyal supporters, I want to say thank you. Thanks for being behind me and standing in the gap for the things this city lacks. We all know that … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Let’s do the time warp again

Businesses try to restrict Internet access for employees, employees diligently try to find ways around these restrictions. What year is it again? It’s a common complaint from young people who join the work force with the expectation that their bosses … Continue reading

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Doing it in the Facebook with the Twittering, HCRP-style

Lisa Falkenberg checks in on the Harris County Republican Party’s efforts to bring social media skillz to their masses. It’s easy to make fun of them for this – okay, it’s easy to make fun of them in general – … Continue reading

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment