The answer is easy: their kids. A perfect example of this was evident last week as I waited with baited breath to receive my new iPhone 4 via FedEx on Wednesday. Because the release of my new favorite gadget came just a few short days before my daughter’s 13th birthday, I promised to hand down [...]

As the Director of Social Media at tax giant H&R Block, Scott Gulbransen recently returned to the tax business after previously spending 1o years at rival Intuit working on the TurboTax & Quicken brands. He brings 16 years as a marketing communications professional, and 11 tax seasons, with him to H&R Block and was responsible for the launch of many key social initiatives at Intuit before leaving in 2010. A strategic thinker and business problem solver, Gulbransen has worked for some of the world’s top brands including TurboTax, Sony Online Entertainment, and Applebee’s. In 2010, Gulbransen became the first Director of Social Media & Digital Content for Applebee’s, creating the first-ever social media strategy for the world’s largest casual dining chain. While at Applebee’s, Gulbransen lead a small but nimble team responsible for creating a robust and far-reaching social engagement channel for Applebee’s and its franchise community. In addition to his professional accomplishments at the corporate level, Gulbransen is also a prolific blogger recently named as one of the Top 50 Daddy Bloggers in the US by Cision. Gulbransen was ranked #21. As a member of the TurboTax communications and social media team for 10 years, Scott helped the TurboTax team launch and sustain the brand’s social media platform. He also drove and was responsible for the launch of TurboTax’s successful content strategy, including the launch of the TurboTax Blog. Recently, he launched one of the most significant social media campaigns in the brand’s history with the @TeamTurboTax Twitter project. Gulbransen was instrumental in reinvigorating the Quicken brand almost entirely through the use of social media and, particularly, Twitter. By engaging with customers and influencers who talk about personal finance on Twitter, he and his team helped Quicken Online grow from just 200,000 users in October 2008 to over 1.4 Million in just 10 months. This led to a more focused look at the personal finance space for Intuit and, ultimately, the acquisition of Mint.com. A former print journalist, who, after realizing his paychecks from the newspaper industry weren’t going to get much bigger, turned to the Dark Side – public relations. After working in both college athletics and inside mid-size agencies, he joined Intuit in 2000 and Applebee’s in 2010. He is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and is the married father of five kids. Despite his busy personal and professional life, Scott is a digital native who never strays far from social networking. To hassle Scott, or to tell him how great you think he is (or not!), email him at scott@scottgulbransen.com, add him to your Circles on Google+, or ping him on Twitter at @sdgully. Scott also is an editor and writer for Technorati.com.

This morning I got up at 5am, like any other day of the week; schlepped down stairs; got my cloths ready; showered and shaved. That’s my routine (less the shaving part as I’m lazy and don’t need to hack at the mug everyday). As I’m getting out of the shower, I hear the pitter patter [...]

Not all of us run out and pick up the latest and greatest video games. For those of us who do, it’s often difficult to find the time to fully explore the entire game for days on end the way gaming reviewers do. With that, I bring you the inaugural installment of “99 Cent Reviews”. [...]

David is a Partner at Large Media and the proud father of three boys. He's a guy's guy that's into sports, the Catskills, raunchy comedy, beer and gaming.

Will the iPad change the world and how it uses computers? I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s very cool and we’ve enjoyed using it.

As the Director of Social Media at tax giant H&R Block, Scott Gulbransen recently returned to the tax business after previously spending 1o years at rival Intuit working on the TurboTax & Quicken brands. He brings 16 years as a marketing communications professional, and 11 tax seasons, with him to H&R Block and was responsible for the launch of many key social initiatives at Intuit before leaving in 2010. A strategic thinker and business problem solver, Gulbransen has worked for some of the world’s top brands including TurboTax, Sony Online Entertainment, and Applebee’s. In 2010, Gulbransen became the first Director of Social Media & Digital Content for Applebee’s, creating the first-ever social media strategy for the world’s largest casual dining chain. While at Applebee’s, Gulbransen lead a small but nimble team responsible for creating a robust and far-reaching social engagement channel for Applebee’s and its franchise community. In addition to his professional accomplishments at the corporate level, Gulbransen is also a prolific blogger recently named as one of the Top 50 Daddy Bloggers in the US by Cision. Gulbransen was ranked #21. As a member of the TurboTax communications and social media team for 10 years, Scott helped the TurboTax team launch and sustain the brand’s social media platform. He also drove and was responsible for the launch of TurboTax’s successful content strategy, including the launch of the TurboTax Blog. Recently, he launched one of the most significant social media campaigns in the brand’s history with the @TeamTurboTax Twitter project. Gulbransen was instrumental in reinvigorating the Quicken brand almost entirely through the use of social media and, particularly, Twitter. By engaging with customers and influencers who talk about personal finance on Twitter, he and his team helped Quicken Online grow from just 200,000 users in October 2008 to over 1.4 Million in just 10 months. This led to a more focused look at the personal finance space for Intuit and, ultimately, the acquisition of Mint.com. A former print journalist, who, after realizing his paychecks from the newspaper industry weren’t going to get much bigger, turned to the Dark Side – public relations. After working in both college athletics and inside mid-size agencies, he joined Intuit in 2000 and Applebee’s in 2010. He is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and is the married father of five kids. Despite his busy personal and professional life, Scott is a digital native who never strays far from social networking. To hassle Scott, or to tell him how great you think he is (or not!), email him at scott@scottgulbransen.com, add him to your Circles on Google+, or ping him on Twitter at @sdgully. Scott also is an editor and writer for Technorati.com.

I have two daughters. When the first was born I was thrilled that I was going to be a dad. I didn’t care what the sex was, though having a boy would have been cool. Then my wife and I had our second. I was convinced that Jordan, my daughter, was going to be a [...]

Alas, Google Voice’s voicemail transcriptions often miss the mark. “You’re bringing it like a letter in the bye bye colossal of alright,” one Google-transcribed voice mail message in my inbox reads. But who cares what the caller was trying to say — this stuff is poetry!

Recently a high school friend of mine opted to delete his Facebook account. His reasoning for doing so was never explained and he announced the move well in advance, leading to that inevitable barrage of “Oh no! Please don’t go! Facebook won’t ever be the same without you!” comments and wall posts. This was actually [...]

I found the new generational divide this holiday break. It’s not music; it’s how we play Super Mario Brothers. Instead of my annual jigsaw puzzle, I decided to take up the challenge of conquering Super Mario Brothers for the Wii.  I had been dabbling here and there for a couple weeks when my eight-year-old son [...]

When my six year old minivan can keep pace with our nation’s only “bullet train,” you know there’s a problem!

To paraphrase Chris Rock “they don’t grade life decisions, but if you have the chairman of an adult video company telling you that you’ve got some hot clips and that he wants to do business, you ****ed up.” But what can parents do to help their kids avoid former Miss California Carrie Prejean’s dilemma? A good grounding in the new Birds and Bees, including thinking twice about what you send out in an e-mail, SMS or Facebook post — and no pictures, please!

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