98 percent of the people using social media do not know what they are doing, but the 2 percent who do know what they are doing are rapidly expanding their businesses and making money. That’s the message from, Patrick Schwerdtfeger, an author and new media marketing guru, who spoke this week to a group of about 40 small business people at the Sacramento Speakers Network. “Most people practice trial and error and fail their way to Success,” Schwerdtfeger says. The ground floor method is to attempt campaigns, and see what happens.” Schwerdtfeger, 40, a native of Ottawa, Canada now based in the Bay Area, spoke to the group the very day his new book – titled “Marketing Shortcuts for the Self

Sacramento's PRIDE 2010 kicked off with Dyke Night, an evening of music and entertainment on the west Capitol steps to lead into the new location of this year's festivities on Sacramento’s Capitol Mall near between the Tower Bridge and the Capitol building. Here are some moments: Two women in the audience respond to the performers on stage. Allyn Pharo and her dog Sterling. The crowd filled the lawn in front of the west Capitol steps. Aurora (top and bottom) played to the crowd. Emcee and Organizer Hilary Hodge keep the pace going throughout the evening. Tina Reynolds, Equality Action Now, gave folks an update on Prop.8. Dancers from Hot Pot Studios (above) moved their bodi

With an iconic new location--Sacramento's scenic Capitol Mall, expanded marketing efforts and a growing roster of prestigious corporate sponsors and exhibitors, the 26-year-old Sacramento Pride Festival is expected to break attendance records on Saturday. The June 19 Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., attracting an estimated 10,000 visitors and bringing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of economic benefit to Sacramento’s downtown area. Festival admission is $10. After a number of years at South Side Park, the Festival will move to Capitol Mall in 2010, where a street-festival layout sandwiched between the Tower Bridge and the State Capitol dome is expected to add novelty

This is not your daddy’s Sacramento Pride! Sacramento Pride is making big changes in 2010, all aimed at transforming the annual regional celebration of LGBT culture and accomplishments into an event worthy of its new tagline, California’s Capital Pride. The list of changes begins with the day-long Pride Festival’s move this year to Sacramento’s Capitol Mall. The Festival will be held Saturday, June 19, from 10 am to 5 pm. Sandwiched between the State Capitol dome on the east and the golden spans of the Tower Bridge on the west, the Festival’s move to the scenic city gateway is intended to raise visibility and emphasize the important role of the LGBT community in Sacramento and statewide.