John F. Kelley learned the hard way that Twitter takes its “no impersonation’’ rule seriously.

Here’s how the tangle went down.

The CEO of Boston startup CoachUp joined the social network soon after its debut, snagging the handle @JFK (his initials) back in 2007 when short handles were still readily available. Since then, Kelley has received thousands of mistaken notifications. Some were salutes to the late president. But most were quips and complaints about New York’s John F. Kennedy airport.

For years he resisted the temptation to respond. Until this summer.

It all came about, as so many things do, over a beer. Kelley was vacationing on the Cape when he decided to issue a few cheeky retorts.

“I saw one of these notifications come through and just decided, ‘Hey, I’m going to respond with a little snark,’ ’’ Kelley said.

To one complaint about a long walk to the taxi stand, Kelley responded by saying @JFK is just trying to help people stay in shape. To another, he tweeted, “we don’t take complaints, only compliments.’’

Someone at Twitter HQ in San Francisco was not amused. Kelley was notified last month that his account was suspended. He tried to appeal, but was told the decision was final. So he wrote a blog post on Medium, titled “Why Twitter suspended the only thing that made me cool.’’ And, of course, he started a new account, the aptly named @FormerlyAtJFK.

Twitter’s response, he said, seemed like overkill: “I assumed they would have been like, ‘Hey dude, stop with the jokes.’ ’’

But maybe that Medium post tipped the scales in his favor: On Wednesday, he received a surprise message saying that he could restore his @JFK account if he clarified his identity. His full name, John F. Kelley, now appears. And his bio? “NOT the airport.’’ — JON CHESTO

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s bright shining gig

Quick: you’re organizing a convention of electrical contractors and you need a subject-relevant keynote speaker with mass appeal. Who do you choose? Tim Allen? Bob Vila?

Wrong. You book Doris Kearns Goodwin.

At least, that’s what the National Electrical Contractors Association did as it prepares for its annual convention next month in Boston. Why Goodwin? The group said in press releases that Goodwin — the well-known presidential historian and political commentator whose book “Team of Rivals’’ was the basis of the hit 2012 film “Lincoln’’ — was “the perfect person to turn to during a presidential election cycle.’’

A representative for Goodwin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, so it’s not known what topics she intends to discuss in her remarks to the contractors. Perhaps she will regale them with the history of electricity in the White House: Did you know that electric lights were installed in 1891, but then-President Benjamin Harrison refused to touch them for fear of being electrocuted?

Or maybe Goodwin just has a sticky light switch in her Concord home, and agreed to speak on the condition that one of the contractors makes the 30-minute drive out Route 2 to fix it. — DAN ADAMS

On sale: Bogaerts’s kicks

Anyone watching a Red Sox game probably can’t help noticing shortstop Xander Bogaerts’s distinctive footwear: bold red, white, and blue cleats, with a gold “N’’ for New Balance. The All-Star shortstop custom designed the shoes, which are a far cry from the standard black.

And now high school athletes and anyone else who wants to pay $145 and up for a pair can custom design their own too.

Bogaerts and Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano, who have endorsement deals with the company (for undisclosed amounts), are the faces of a New Balance ad campaign that it hopes will attract high school athletes. On Instagram, Bogaerts has touted the custom styling of the cleats, which were made with his input in a short video that has already been viewed more than 12,000 times.

Embroidered on the tongue is Bogaerts’s nickname “XMan.’’

“Players that play now are no longer traditional, they want to stand out while fitting in,’’ said Ian Walker, an associate brand manager at New Balance. “Xander embodies that.’’

The shoes were made at New Balance’s manufacturing facility in Lawrence, just 40 miles from Fenway Park. — MEGAN WOOLHOUSE

At Paul English’s Lola, an Echo heard

What does Amazon’s Echo, the voice-activated home assistant gizmo, have to do with travel agents? If entrepreneur Paul English has his way, plenty.

English is building a new travel software company called Lola, which aims to help travel agents reclaim some of the ground they lost to online services over the past 20 years.

The idea is to give agents a better behind-the-scenes software program for booking travel stops, while also using artificial intelligence-powered smartphone apps to help agents answer questions and refine itineraries for their clients.

That’s where the Echo comes in. Lola recently hired a new artificial intelligence director, Bryan Healey, who previously managed a group of more than 20 data scientists working on the gadget. Now, he’s heading a five-person team at Lola.

In a blog post, English said his new hire was prompted in part by the entrepreneur’s fascination with the Echo, a canister-shaped speaker and Internet-connected computer that can command music playlists, read the weather report, and more with its voice-activated service known as Alexa.

English, who has at least one Echo installed in the Lola office, called Echo “the best consumer electronics product in the last five years.’’

“When I recently learned that Amazon has more than 120 machine learning data scientists working on this platform, I knew we had to find one of the strongest leaders on the team  — and convince them to leave Amazon,’’ English wrote. — CURT WOODWARD

Can’t keep a secret? Tell us. E-mail Bold Types at boldtypes@globe.com.