• There’s a chicken at our tweetup! @vicequeenmaria says she’ll take it to a bird sanctuary - Photo: http://bkite.com/02GQE #

• Cuban lunch with parents at La Carreta. One of our waiters is 92! - Photo: http://bkite.com/02Gll #
• For Miami peeps, today’s tweetup is going on now at Monty’s Raw Bar South Beach at 300 Alton Road. #

• I’m thinking Twitter should open a stats and backlinks dashboard, or allow us to include Google Analytics. Hello? #
• Posted an open letter of gratitude to those who’ve added so much to my life this year http://is.gd/9p13 #thanksgiving #
• Talking about creating a tech incubator here. Working out shared vision of what it would look like and which objectives to set. Early days. #

This has been a turbulent year by most accounts, so I spent Thanksgiving remembering those who stuck by me through thick and thin:

Brian Breslin has been a constant friend as well as a partner in organizing RefreshMiami, BarCampMiami and building StartPR. When I struck out on my own earlier this year, Brian lent me office space: thank you. Whether it’s to bounce around an idea, startup something new, evangelize the South Florida new media community, or just chew the fat, he has been a welcome and much appreciated source of support. Yvette Ferry is another friend who also always present with good advice and great cheer through the best and the worst of this year, and I could not have made it without her either.

BarCampMiami was held in February 2008 just prior to FOWA, the Future of Web Apps Conference. About 16 sponsors and partners chipped in to make our BarCamp possible, where 300 people attended. People who had travelled from across the US, Latin America, and even Europe for FOWA, took time out to attend BarCamp. We could not have held the event without the help of Mel Kirk, who was with FOWA at the time, and from Nick Dominguez, Michael Montgomery, Yvette Ferry, Brian Breslin, Chris Saylor, and our local community (RefreshMiami) who helped spread the word about both BarCampMiami and FOWA.

We hope to three-peat BarCamp next February, now with a WordCamp organized by Alex Harris. A number of people are heping this year, including the already mentioned and Agustina Prigoshin, Christine Adolf, Ulisses Orozco, Michael Castilla, George Drage, and Christian “Fanless” Calzadillas.

The RefreshMiami community is a regular source of inspiration, motivation, and friendship for me, and I appreciate all that this passionate community of technologists and new media practitioners does throughout the year. They have enriched my life in ways untold. Thank you also to our great sponsors, including Ali and Eduardo at Brikolodge coworking, and the Yahoo! Latin America team.

Paul Kruger: thanks for your support and your advice.

Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells championed the Social Media Club and it is an honor to work with them at the national level as well as in organizing the new chapter of Social Media Club South Florida with Yvette Ferry, Christine Adolf, Agustina Prigoshin, Ulisses Orozco.

The Knight Center for International Media and the University of Miami School of Communication (UM SoC), where I teach social media and work on new media projects: in particular, I appreciate the help, encouragement, and friendship of Kim Grinfeder, Lelen Roberts (retired), Sanjeev Chatterjee, Christiane Delboni, Lauren Janetos, and Trevor Green. In addition to their support, they also push my limits and I’ve learned alot from them.

UM SoC students involved in the Knight Center, including Greg Linch, Walyce Almeida, Andrea Balloch, Matthew Byrnes, and Shell Jun Zhu. Among other things, they recently successfully petitioned to have a class on social media taught at the university, based on my syllabus. I am deeply honored by their collective action on my behalf and I look forward to great things from them. They are absolutely brilliant!

Mark Krupinski of Rasmussen College and Doterati in Orlando. He’s organizing a quickly growing and very active web/tech community in Central Florida and it’s been a real pleasure to work on some joint projects with him this year.

Mobile Monday Miami is a budding community of mobile phone professionals in South Florida, and my gratitude goes to Michael Tangemann and Jeffrey Sass as we get this started. We appreciate Nokia’s support with their sponsorship and hosting.

Alfredo Sanchez of QoS Labs, Victoria Edwards of The Collins Center for Public Policy, and Melissa Raulston of Florida State University, who included me on discussions about statewide digital divide issues with the objective of setting up a Florida 2.0 social network. It’s an ambitious task and a work in progress, but the interaction has opened new possibilities for all of us. I also appreciate Alfredo’s collegiality and the new doors he has opened for me.

Pat M., Laura V., Susan K., and Bill R.: thank you for looping me into your projects whenever you get the chance.

Shel Israel, Tara Hunt, Leah Jones, Fred Pullen: thank you. You know why.

It’s been amazing to work with such talented and motivated people throughout the year on such diverse projects. More than just colleagues, they have motivated me to see things in new ways and to learn new skills.

A huge word of thanks goes to the those who interact with me on Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook. Individually and collectively, they have propelled me forward and have propped me up. I can only hope that I am adding to my connections’ lives as much as they are adding to mine.

I am also thankful for my family and friends that I have not named here; I would have been toast without them! They know it, and they know who they are

Note: I apologize for any omissions, they are not intentional.

Quote attribution from the post title: “La reconnaissance est la mémoire du cœur.” -Jean-Baptiste Massieu, French ecclesiastic (1742 - 1818).

• In addition to the senior-level social media class, we’re considering a core freshman course for new media storytelling through social media #
• Air France training flight with 5 on board crashes in the Mediterranean Sea #
• CNN got it wrong at first. it’s an Air New Zealand jet that went down, not Air France. Seven on board, not five. #
• Graph of 2008 bailout vs. big historical government projects, adjusted for inflation. Wow. http://ping.fm/cH7Ny via @RonKJeffries #

• Further to UMiami student petition, social media will be taught starting next Fall! Thanks to @greglinch @walyce @ballock http://is.gd/97OG #

• Are you in Miami or South Florida for Thanksgiving? Join our Tweetup 4pm Sat Nov 29 at Monty’s South Beach, 300 Alton Rd #
• 32 Univ. of Miami Comm. students have signed a petition for a social media course http://is.gd/8YtA via @greglinch (disclosure: my course) #
• Ouch! A few of these awkward defriending tales ring close to home http://tinyurl.com/6×8l4k (by @dspark on Mashable) #
• RT @brbreslin: interested in sponsoring BarCamp Miami in Feb please click this link http://barcampmiami09-tw.eventbrite.com details there #

• The $500M Twitter-Facebook whale, a tale by @karaswisher http://is.gd/8LyS via @dough #
• The WordCampMiami website is live! http://wordcampmiami.com/ Congrats to @wordcampmiami @alexdesigns @michaelcastilla #
• @dimensionmedia Thanks, David. Sponsorship is here http://barcampmiami09-tw.eventbrite.com/ and you may also email me at alex[at] alexdc.org #
• @deansguide That sounds interesting … do you have a description of that online? #
• @modulist I’m thinking a souped-up Twitter + Facebook application/channel would be a powerful new platform for media and citizen journalism #
• @gesses I agree. FireEagle may be a better fit. #
• @gapingvoid you could recycle all your blogger cartoons into “social media specialist” ones http://tinyurl.com/6hrfbf (via @thinkjose) #

• Mashup of layoffs and buyouts at U.S. newspapers shows 13k jobcuts this year http://graphicdesignr.net/papercuts/ #

• Mashup of layoffs and buyouts at U.S. newspapers shows 13k jobcuts this year http://graphicdesignr.net/papercuts/ #

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