Social networks, blogs and other communication technologies make it possible for almost anyone to influence how other people perceive your brand and products. Some companies have already begun to use these technologies — the practice we call collaboration marketing — while others are actively debating the wisdom of jumping into the fray. How much should you invest? What are the [...]

Selectmen are objecting to proposals to spend money received from the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe for the proposed casino on redesigning Everett Square and inspecting the town’s rental units. The board met with Town Planner Ruth McCawley Geoffroy this week to discuss ways to spend the planning money the town receives annually from the tribe. Geoffroy told selectmen there was a [...]

In a move to raise additional revenue, a town official wants the local tax on hotel rooms increased by 50 percent. Town Manager Charles J. Cristello recommended selectmen ask town meeting to raise the tax from the current 4 percent to 6 percent, as allowed under the new state budget. Cristello estimates the increase will bring in an additional $84,000. [...]

During last night’s BOS meeting, there was a discussion on the article to pay for the cleanup of an oil spill at that Green School. After the official discussion, former selectman Lincoln Andrews announced that he had started raising money, starting with $500 of his own, to pay for some of the costs and had received over $9K in pledges [...]

During Monday’s Selectmen meeting, Town Manager Charles Cristello’s report included the date of the fall Special Town Meeting was set for Monday, September 21, 2009 at the High School. This will be subject to the availability of the school. The Selectmen voted to open the warrant for the STM and will close it on August 21, 2009. Cristello mentioned that [...]

I actually discovered this book by accident a couple of weeks ago and found it to be really interesting. It was also very helpful in my research about a specific location/property in Middleboro. History buffs should be glad to know the “History of the Town of Middleboro” by Thomas Weston has been digitalized and is available online. The 1906 edition [...]

IF THE INTERNET is regarded as a “worldwide conversation,” blogging and social networking applications are, increasingly, the language in which that conversation is spoken. These sites wield enormous influence, as evidenced by their role in the election of President Barack Obama. The Obama campaign’s “new-media strategy,” inspired by social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter revolutionized the use of [...]

Clients increasingly are reading blogs and participating in social media because they can find important industry information more quickly and with less time investment than with traditional media — partly because of a less rigorous process of editorial review and shorter articles. According to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008 report, the number of American blog readers grew to 60.3 [...]

Following a more than hour-long debate on the merits of a proposed rental housing inspection and certification program, the Resort Advisory Committee voted last week to recommend that Health Officer Jeanne Spalding be allowed to hire a part-time person to free up time for the health officer to further develop the program and write rules and regulations that would define [...]

Historian hired by Halifax disputes Wampanoag ties to Middleborough casino site – The Boston Globe. A historian commissioned by the town of Halifax has concluded that the Mashpee Wampanoag have no historical or cultural ties to the tribe’s proposed casino site in Middleborough, one of the requirements for placing the 539-acre property in federal trust. Halifax paid Connecticut-based historian James [...]