Weekend read: My weekly share on Twitter, with 2 new workshops

Let's hope there's good fortune ahead for your weekend. Many weeks, Twitter's my fortune cookie, waiting to be opened up with surprises inside (though no winning lottery numbers, so far). I'm @dontgetcaught on Twitter and here are the best of the reads, tips and finds I discovered there this week. And at the end of the post, some save-the-date info for new workshops coming in early 2012 on social media and on working with experts.

• Now, can you use this for clippings? Maybe not, but journalists are excited about Cuttings.me, a way to showcase their published online work.
• Mobile online video explodes, plus new video analytics: YouTube now gets 400 million views of video just from mobile devices. Every. Day. Wrap your mind around that one. And YouTube's insights are now analytics, with even more useful data about the vids you post.
• 800 kinds of wrong: A teenager with 65 followers tweeted rude things about a governor, whose communicators went all ballistic on the kid--who now has thousands of followers, hundreds of articles' worth of press coverage and finally, an apology from the governor. A cautionary tale for the heavy-handed in social media.
• Around the world, foreign policy leaders are using Twitter to communicate. This list is from Mashable.
• Two of my favorite topics, food and the environment, collide in this new reporting network. 
• Trying to live by this one: Seth Godin's post on "Your competitive advantage" hit me in the forehead with this line: "When you expose yourself to opportunities that scare you, you create something scarce, something others won't do." For me tonight, that means the opening reception for my first art show as a member of a professional gallery. The opening reception is tonight from 6-8:30pm, so stop by if you're in town. What's scaring you, lately?
• Two words: Treasure trove: If you like museums and social media, Museum Analytics compiles social media metrics for museums and lets you subscribe to them. More than 3000 museum's data are included.
• Data rules: Google announced new data journalism prizes with big money. Big money. Newcomers welcome. Meanwhile, the Pulitzers stopped requiring paper entries and altered the breaking news category to include more real-time reporting, leading some to wonder whether live tweeting qualifies. 
• Meet the next metric that equals "household word:" Facebook issued a list of the most-shared 2011 topics, with parenting and the Japan earthquake topping the list. Is your topic on this list?

Now, about those dates:  In Washington, DC, I'll be convening two workshops in early 2012. Save these dates and stand by for details, or email me at info[at]dontgetcaught[dot]biz to get on the list for an invitation. And please do share with your colleagues who might be interested:

• Your 5 best social media resolutions for 2012: On Tuesday, January 10, an inexpensive lunch-and-learn session to help you focus (or re-focus) your social media strategy, based on the latest trends and smartest tactics. Plenty of time for Q&A and a hearty lunch included, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.
• Be an Expert on Working with Experts:  The popular workshop for communicators, fundraisers, government relations and other pros who work with scientists, engineers and other subject-matter experts returns on Wednesday, February 1, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. You'll get insights, tools and tactics you can use again and again. 

Both workshops will be in a downtown DC location close to public transportation and parking. Let me know if you want more information, and have a great weekend.

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