I've been studying the email habits of the Republican candidates for president as they campaign for votes and money on the road to the Republican National Convention in August, and overall they are doing reasonably well. Here are some specifics:

Facebook has announced that it is moving all brand pages to Timeline at the end of the month, leaving marketers with only a few weeks to rework, redesign and otherwise recast their existing Facebook presences. So far, the brand feedback on Timeline is largely positive, though the new design does present some challenges to email marketers. Some new opportunities do present themselves, however -- not just for the branding and engagement opportunities that promises to one day justify Facebook's $5 billion valuation, but for resourceful email marketers as well. Here is how email

It's the age of the customer survey, or so you would think given the sheer volume of them cropping up in my email lately. The need for feedback and customer validation in this customer-centric era of marketing seems to have resulted in a rash of surveys, every time I turn around. Surveys follow purchase, hotel stays, air travel, customer service calls -- you name it. If a customer had an experience, there is likely a survey to follow. But in the attempt to solicit feedback, are we turning the customer off -- or worse, creating an annoyance?