Brad Rourke

Brad Rourke’s Blog

  • Orgs: Back Up Your Twitter Strategy

    Some of my friends and colleagues in a number of organizations have continued to ask me about using social media, and specifically Twitter, in real ways that actually help the organization fulfill its mission. As I said in a recent post, executives don’t need fancy, shiny tools that are neat — they need things that…

  • My Remarks On Leaving Cub Scout Leadership

    On Monday night, the Cub Scout pack of which I have been Cubmaster for the past four years held its annual Blue and Gold banquet. We’re a large pack, and when all the families get together it’s about 200 people. This was my last meeting with the pack, as my son has grown and is…

  • Journalism — How Expensive Must It Be?

    There is a lot of angst within the journalism (and journalism-curious) community lately, as there have been a controversial suggestion that the best way to reinvent journalism would be to make it a nonprofit, charitable endeavor. One organization, the Voice of San Diego, gives a glimpse of what hard-hitting journalism can look like under a…

  • Is The Future Smart?

    In “The Smart Growth Manifesto,” Havas Media Lab’s Umair Haque points to a wholesale collapse of “old” things: Obama is stimulating. Davos is deliberating. C-levels are eliminating. Wall St is recriminating. Welcome to the macropocalypse: no one, it seems, can put the global economy back together again. He asks: “It’s time to reboot capitalism. So…

  • Electric Bicycles: Their Time Never Came

    Some of my friends know that, hidden in my dim, dark past, I used to do something involving electric bicycles. I’m here to tell you that, yes, it’s true and it was a colorful period of my life. While I was working for then-California Controller Gray Davis, I met up with a charismatic man who…

  • Peer-To-Peer Higher Education

    My friend Sutton Stokes drew my attention to this from Ars Technica: Internet connection + English = college degree. The University of the People wants to bring online education to anyone who can speak English and access the Internet, and to do it for as little as $15 a course. The goal? A real college…

  • Sorry Somehow: How To Apologize

    Like many Americans, I have kept a weather eye on two public figures’ recent fall from grace. Of course I am talking about Michael Phelps and Tom Daschle. Each had to apologize for having been caught being less than perfect, engaging in behavior they should not have. Most of what I have read about these…

  • Finding Talent

    Yesterday I wrote about the idea of using a portfolio instead of a resume when jobsearching. That got me to thinking. If I were hiring, how would I approach hiring differently than the norm? The answer: I would not wait for people to apply. I would continually be on the lookout for talent. There are…