Workin’ for tips on this Labor Day weekend…

• If you live in the UK and don’t have enough people telling you what to do, you can sign up for an online service called The Nag, which will send you an email once a month with a quick and easy thing you can do to help the environment. Companies or community groups can sign up and track the impact made by their collective efforts. Even if you’re not a Brit, visit the site as a good example of a fun web design with attitude. (via PSFK)

• Playing off of George Carlin’s seven dirty words you can’t say on TV, Jordan Ayan came up with 100 dirty words that shouldn’t be used in email subject lines. If it reads like spam, it will get deleted. In addition to anything having to do with sex, viagra and debt consolidation, the list includes innocuous words and phrases like “act now,” “dear friend,” “free offer,” “opportunity,” “teen” and “your family.” And even if someone has actually won something from your organization, don’t use “You’re a winner!” as the subject line. Make sure your email can be identified easily as coming from your organization and be consistent in the wording of your email subject lines.

• As part of the Ad Age Power 150 list of marketing and media blogs, I was recently profiled by creator Todd Andrlik with an interview on his blog. You can find out more about my media consumption habits and favorite social marketing tactics, as well as what celebrity I’ve been told I look like. Interestingly, out of the 150 top marketing bloggers, only 20 are women, a fact that launched something called the W List around the blogosphere (I point this out only as an curious fact – I don’t put much store by the glass ceiling of oppression/celebrate sisterhood mindset.). But if you’re just looking for some new blogs to read, the Power 150 and W List are both good sources to explore.

• Scenarios USA has announced its annual scriptwriting contest for young people ages 12-22 (in New York, NY, Greater Cleveland, OH and the Rio Grande Valley, TX). This year’s theme is “What’s the REAL DEAL about Masculinity?” One winner from each region works with Hollywood filmmakers to turn their stories into professionally-made short films. Last year’s films focused on AIDS prevention. The website offers a useful manual on the basics of making a movie for the young filmmaker (and is a great introduction for the rest of us as well). Look in the box entitled “Resources” on the left side of the linked web page for the pdf links.

• Researchers are studying the health effects of Ramadan on the bodies of those observing the month-long Muslim holiday. Because adherents fast daily between sunrise and sunset, and feast into the night, their circadian rhythms are disrupted. This can lead to sleep problems, hormonal changes and mood impacts. It’s an interesting opportunity to do longitudinal research exploring how these religiously based behaviors affect health and social outcomes.

• The National Cancer Institute is offering paid six-month internships in health communications (presumably including social marketing-specific opportunities) to current and recent graduate students. This program always looked so appealing to me when I was a grad student, but I was in such a hurry to get through school that a 6-month internship didn’t work for me. But were I to do it over again, I think I would reconsider (what do you think, grad students?). And if you’re a German student, consider entering this social marketing competition.

• A couple of interesting health behavior stories here… Human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cervical cancers, may also cause mouth and throat cancer. Though the drop in smoking prevalence has slowed the rate of most head and neck cancers, the rate of certain throat and mouth cancers have not changed; researchers suspect they may spread through oral sex. The HPV vaccine may therefore be indicated for males as well as females… A study in Uganda found that men who wash their penis immediately after sex have a greater risk of becoming infected with HIV than those who wait at least 10 minutes – a fascinating counterintuitive result that demonstrates the importance of behavioral research.

• In a bit of good news, the FDA has announced its approval of seconds, with the USDA revising the old food pyramid to reflect the new guidelines. They claim that “an additional plateful of food with every meal can greatly reduce the risk of hunger as well as provide an excellent source of deliciousness.” (hee hee)

• After the big study that showed that obesity spreads through social networks, we find that it may not be solely social after all. A cold virus may actually be a factor in weight gain in some people. Almost one-third of obese people are infected by the virus, compared to about ten percent of lighter people. So a cure for the common cold could also lead to a cure for some types of obesity – potentially huge news.

• Another social networking site for social change has launched called Razoo. They are conducting a contest for nonprofits, with a $10,000 prize to be awarded to an organization that creates a Razoo Group with at least 100 members. On a related note, the Wall Street Journal did an interview with Ben Rattray of Change.org, where you can see behind the scenes of this start-up site.

Last week I was at the CDC’s conference on health communication, marketing and media. I was not able to write up my notes from the sessions I attended, but the presentations are supposed to be posted on the website eventually. And I hope the live webcasts will be available to download, because I missed the opening and closing plenary sessions due to my flight schedule. In any case, I enjoyed meeting lots of you who read my blog, and spending time with old and new friends.

Photo Credit: SimoneDamiani

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