BFG's Content Department is growing and we're looking for some top caliber content creators. Current openings include a Content Manager and a Content Strategist to join our team in lovely Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Both positions require social media know-how and the writing chops to make an impact online. Our Content Managers actively manage and write for the digital communities of top tier brands, and on occasion can be found doing live content coverage from the likes of South Beach Wine and Food Festival and SXSW. Our Content Strategist will help drive bigger picture digital planning and should have a good handle on what's new and up-and-coming when it comes to the Interwebs. 

If either of these job openings sound like the gig for you, we want to see what you can do. Note that we don't go the typical cover letter and resume route. We'd like to see what you can do with social media content so please Tweet your application to @BFGCom and be sure to include #CM for the Content Manager position or #CS for the Content Strategist position.

This application process has proven to be very effective in the past. Please be sure you're not just Tweeting us a link to your LinkedIn profile. Creativity definitely counts in this exercise. You've got 140 characters to catch our attention. Make them count.

With the year coming to a close, it feels like the right time to reflect on the things that happened in 2012 and more importantly the things that can be learned. When it comes to social media, 2012 showed that many brands, including very high profile ones, are still approaching things the wrong way. They're not thinking about social media as a place for conversations. They're thinking about it as another channel for pushing messages. This flawed thought process yielded mistakes and five ways to learn from them.

1. You Don't Control The Message

This summer, McDonald's invited a very public critique of its business on Twitter with a campaign promoting #McDStories. The brand intended to get a very positive message out there and have consumers chime in with their own upbeat stories. Instead, people Tweeted on everything from McDonald's and weed to getting sick and the sourcing of food.

This wasn't how McDonald's thought things would go but how could they not have seen it coming? There had been a previous (but not as well-publicized) incident that took a similar path for the brand on Twitter. Instead of making the second attempt, McDonald's should have realized it can't control Twitter. If it's important to have engagement with the community, then make that engagement real. Take suggestions from the community. Answer questions.

2. Would You Spam Your Friends?

Toyota took to the Twitter airwaves during this year's Super Bowl...

Geekend, the annual interactive conference proudly presented by BFG (and yours truly), is back. Following in the tradition of past Geekends, there's also a new ensemble of robot characters (or geekbots).

This year, we did things a little differently with our friendly geekbot mascots. They've come to life in the form of papercraft projects for anyone to download, print and assemble. The BFG team took some out this week to get crafty, taking our Geekbot on a stop motion journey to space. Enjoy and hope to see you at Geekend November 8-10 in Savannah!

Geekend Geekbot in Space from Geekend on Vimeo.

Special K opened up the first ever Tweet Shop in London this week. It's a spot where the brand is promoting a new line of chips (or crisps as they're known across the pond). Visitors pay for a bag of these crisps with a Tweet.

The approach is of course meant to be a way to reach a mass market about the new products. "The value of positive endorsements on social media sites is beyond compare so we’re excited to be the first company to literally use social currency instead of financial currency to launch this new product in our bespoke Special K shop," said Sarah Case from Special K.

The Tweet Shop isn't just a new marketing gimmick. In an era where so many are asking about ROI, this is noteworthy for another reason. By turning a Tweet into currency, Special K is also demonstrating that consumer content has value.

If you're in London this week, the Tweet Shop is open for business through Friday.

For those of you not hip to the fun and exciting world of alternative holidays, today is National Cheeseburger Day. Certainly a holiday this foodie can get behind.

It's also a holiday Kraft is getting behind - and for the greater good. In honor of National Cheeseburger Day, check-in on Foursquare at any Five Guys Burger & Fries and Kraft will make a donation to Feeding America, a non-profit that runs food banks across the country.

The promotion is lasting longer than the one-day holiday. Just connect your Foursquare account to Kraft online and your check-in at Five Guys over the next two weeks will count toward the charity.

This is yet another good example of linking location-based networks to cause marketing, something that has been taking hold on Foursquare and SCVNGR this year. BFG has been working with Auntie Anne's this fall on a SCVNGR-based promotion with proceeds going to Alex's Lemonade Stand, an organization that fights childhood cancer.