Last week I was musing about the social media performance of the big automakers, Ford v. GM, and in particular, Chevy’s social media presence and publicity successes at this year’s SXSW (for additional perspective on their differences in strategy and social media best practices, read Jeff Bullas’ recent blog post, “Who is Winning at Social Media, Ford or General Motors?”).

This discussion of social media and competitive advantage turned to trajectory and how social media tools and platforms allow for, and in fact encourage, new and different kinds of competition. As we’ve witnessed, trajectories that may have been flat can quickly turn upward on the wind of raving fans and buzz. SXSW was a mega-mall of ideas and innovation, social media and apps, big brands and startups. But as fast as trajectories can rise, companies, programs, products, apps, etc., can become roadkill, which reminds me of armadillos (seeing as we’re discussing SXSW in Texas!), but I’ll come back to that a little later.

Where Ford has its best practices right out on the web (slideshare, scribd, etc.), GM has been a little quieter. But don’t let that fool you. In terms of trajectory GM has put its pedal ...

Last week while web surfing, I stumbled upon a local professional sports  team’s website and clicked their Employment page. I quickly noticed all listed jobs were in fact internships with this disclaimer, “All MoCoSo* internships are unpaid and do not provide any living accommodations.”  Interesting.

The summer is upon us. Jobs are tight and a growing number of young people may be seeking internships as a way to “do something constructive” (i.e. keep their parents off their backs), get real-world experience and build their resume. Internships can be a true win for everyone. They can allow young people to learn about their chosen profession in a nonthreatening way, apply theoretical knowledge in a practical setting, gain school credit, get introduced to the world of work and potentially build relationships with long-term mentors. It can be a win for supervisors,  professions and organizations, as well, through workforce development, public relations, etc.

At the same time, as this University of Maryland’s Diamondback publication (and many others) reported recently, more students than ever are working internships and some ...