In case you have been living under a rock:

Google Alerts: Email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Facebook: A social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them.

Twitter: A real-time information network powered by people all around the world that lets you share and discover what’s happening now.

HARO: A social media service that brings reporters and bloggers, news sources and small businesses together to tell their stories, promote their brands and sell their products and services.

Others I like (in alphabetical order because I can’t pick favorites):

Addict-o-matic: A search tool that uncovers the best live sites on the web for the latest news, blog posts, videos and images.

Alexa: A Toolbar and web site provides information about websites including Top Sites, Internet Traffic Stats and Metrics, Related Links, Online Reviews Contact Information and more.

AllTop: A search tool that collects all the headlines of the latest stories from the best sites and blogs that cover a topic and groups these collections — “aggregations” — into individual web pages. It is a good place to start a research project.

BackTweets: A simple tool that shows your tweets linking back, shortened too, to a particular URL.

Bit.ly – A URL cruncher with metrics enabling measurement of number of clicks, countries clicked from, conversations around URL, etc.

BlogPulse: An automated trend discovery system for blogs. BlogPulse applies machine-learning and natural-language processing techniques to discover trends in the highly dynamic world of blogs.

BoardTracker: An innovative forum search engine, message tracking and instant alerts system designed to provide relevant information quickly and efficiently while ensuring you never miss an important forum thread no matter where or when posted.

Compete – Compares and reports competitor site traffic but estimates only of monthly visitor data. Best used on large high-traffic web sites but produces nice looking graphs.

Social Mention: A social media search and analysis platform that aggregates user generated content from across the universe into a single stream of information. You can set up alerts too.

Wordle: is a ‘toy’ for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. Plus, word clouds are pretty as you can see for yourself with the cloud of this post.

There are plenty more like Delicious, Pitch Rate, HowSociable?, TweetDeck, etc. These are just a few of my go-to free tools but they might not be the sharpest in the shed, so please comment with your favorites and why!

Most people associate publicity stunts with incidents like Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, Speidi‘s (Heidi + Spencer = ridiculous nickname) countless exploits or other celebrity-centric controversies, but hardly anyone thinks of the icon that started it all. Edward Bernays is reputed, and self-proclaimed, as the ”father of public relations,“ but he is also the first publicity stuntman as well. In 1929, the New York City Easter Parade included a group of young women marching to liberate all women with their cigarettes held high billed as ”torches of freedom.“ The event caused a stir, as it was taboo for women to smoke in public at the time. These marchers were symbols of women’s rights and equality as stories appeared in newspapers across the nation.

Little did the public know, it was a well-crafted publicity stunt. Bernays hired the women, mostly young models, to light up Lucky Strike cigarettes at his command in front of the awaiting press. Bernays capitalized on the lingering spark of women’s suffrage to ignite a movement. His client, the American Tobacco Company’s Lucky Strike, had a new crop of impassioned consumers.

To learn more about Bernays and public relations’ beginnings, I recommend watching the BBC’s documentary, ‘Century of the Self.’

Public relations, marketing and advertising have certainly changed since Bernays’ heyday and the changes seem to only accelerate with time and technology. Unconventional stunts or marketing aim to break through the estimated daily 600 – 625 promotional messages Americans experience. They have to be creative, interactive and unexpected to have us talking, thinking and wanting more.

Below are a few infamous stunts that I particularly enjoy and I think, in keeping with their purpose, you will too.

A Publicity Wiener –

In 1936, Oscar Mayer drove into the history books and America’s heart with the debut of its legendary Wienermobile, which still travels around the country and rides out its almost-guaranteed media coverage.

Famous but a Fugitive –

Sprung from one United Press article on the FBI’ most wanted and the positive publicity that resulted, the bureau established its Most Wanted List in 1950 in conjunction with the nation’s news media. It has aided the apprehensions of 152 fugitives as a result of citizen recognition.

You Have to Hand it to Them –

More than seven million people joined hands for 15 minutes for Hands Across America raising $20 million to fight hunger and homelessness on May 25, 1986.

A few stunts closer to home…

¡Yo quiero Taco Liberty Bell! –

As a prank on April Fool’s Day in 1996, a full-page ad appeared in six major American newspapers announcing that Taco Bell had purchased Philadelphia’s historical Liberty Bell to help reduce the country’s debt and it would be renamed the Taco Liberty Bell. By noon, the company owned up to the hoax.

Pin Down a Hit –

In 2008 a Guinness World Record-breaking piñata, which was six-stories tall, filled with 8,000 pounds of candy and located in South Philly, generated a lot of media stories and excitement.  The creator, Carnival Cruise Lines, held an event that was full of giveaways, music and food.

Killer Publicity but no Love –

Showtime’s ‘Dexter’ put on a show in 2007 when the fountain in Love Park was turned a deep red. Many Philadelphians saw red after spotting the gruesome promotion.

Here are some great sites where you can check out more celebrated stunts and marketing…

PR Week’s ’10 PR Stunts that Would Make PT Barnum Proud’

WebUrbanist.com’s ‘15 Dramatic Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns’

Taylor Herring’s ‘Top 50 Publicity Stunts‘

CreativeGuerrillaMarketing.com’s ‘The Best 80 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas I’ve Ever Seen’

My Favorite: Nikon's billboard in subway station

Please share your favorite publicity or marketing stunts below in the comments!

The tournament raised more than $200,000 this year with over 400 guests attending. Media highlights from the event included all major local broadcast affiliates including CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and Comcast Sportsnet; The MLB Network on Sirius/XM; Philadelphia Magazine; and the Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News. Check out two of the Maven ladies in Philadelphia Chit Chat and Philadelphia Magazine. The media coverage in the Metro is featured below along with some photos from the event.

Media coverage secured in the Philadelphia Metro

Megan, Rebecca, Jessica & Sarah working hard at the event

Jimmy takes questions from the media

Guests are welcomed to the event sponsored by Maven