By now I’m sure that most people who read this post already know that I’ve started my new job as one of the Social Media Coordinators at AutoNation in Fort Lauderdale. The Miami Herald and I have amicably parted ways, and while there are quite a few things I miss about working in a newsroom, this change was welcomed with open arms.  So far I am nothing short of delighted and excited to be doing what had always excited me most about my job at the Herald in the first place — social media — which, ironically enough, is how I got this gig.

I’m finding out quickly that moving from a newsroom to a corporate marketing department means using social media in a completely different way.   The whole point of this social media thing is to (excuse the cliche use of a buzzword) “engage” and “participate” and join in discussions and be a part of our own online communities, that’s all well and good.  But when the overall objectives of the company go from reporting the news quickly and accurately to selling you an automobile, you can see how the strategies for engagement start to part ways.

We’ll be working on expanding social media programs into the regionalized dealerships, which are all branded independently, so that they may take their own reins and embrace their local online communities at the dealership level. It will be a challenge for the team (and what an awesome team I’m working with, by the way) but one that everyone at AutoNation is looking forward to put in motion.

It’s the start of a new adventure. I don’t like to think that I abandoned journalism. No sad violins please. After a year in the newsroom of a big metro daily it’s hard not to get a little bit addicted to that buzz. The buzz of high-paced energy and news bits flying around you every minute. There’s a natural high that comes with it, but there’s also a stress level that I will not miss.

As I go fourth and fill my head, laptop and iPhone with knowledge, notes and apps, I hope to also keep filling this blog with experiences and afterthoughts. Stay along for the ride, won’t you?

I want to point anyone who subscribes to this blog over to the live blog for today’s CrisisCamp Miami event. It’s awesome how many people have showed up here at The Miami Herald building to build technical relief projects to aid non-government organizations working in Haiti. You can follow the event, which is happening all over the world in different cities, by searching for hashtag #ccHaiti on Twitter or on our live blog on the Web site.

CrisisCamp Haiti Introduction, Miami from Lori Todd on Vimeo.

There you have it. It’s OFFICIAL. #HeraldTweetup is a GO.

I’ve been to some stellar tweetups in South Florida. We really want to make this something meaningful to the community. Come meet Herald twitterers, feel free to ask questions and mingle. Come early. Stay late. Sure beats going straight home after a long day at the office!

Seriously. We’d love to see you all come out and host more of these in the coming months!

I’ve been slacktastic in keeping up with my tweeted playlists of the day.  My fresh music supply has been low, but that’s mostly my fault for not being a better music hound.

Here’s my playlist from yesterday, songs that improve a bad mood. Stay tuned for more. Especially now that Grooveshark is working on this sweet new widget and easy-playlist-posting capabilities. Hat-tip to them! (@Grooveshark)

Hi all.

Just doing a test run for some embedded Flash code into a WordPress post for a fellow Twitterer (@arthurb1955). He’s looking to make the switch from hosting on WP to hosting on his own, and he’d like to see some of the perks in action, such as embeds. So here you have it, Arthur. Looks pretty good I’d say!

Real post coming soon: Trying out Twitter apps for iPhone; what I like best.