Marketing 2.0 Member Blogs

My Not-To-Do List for 2009

Kat — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:45:49 GMT

RealSimple: I shamelessly absconded with your idea. - thx, kat.

Here are a few things I (hopefully) wont be doing this year:

1. Eat Oreo cookies with white wine. I almost got through all of 2008 without learning this little life lesson. Ah, well.

2. Wait till Im so stressed Ive developed a facial tic to tell Chris somethings bothering me.

3. Fail to keep the drama on the page by letting personal stuff keep me away from my writing.

4. Read spoilers for the season finale of Lost. Yeah, Ive done it the last two or three seasons running. This year, I really, truly will not spoil the finale for myself.

5. Pretend Im not going to read spoilers for every other episode of Lost this season.

6. Plan to write a novel for NaNoWriMo on the same month Im spending a week in Vegas.

7. Play Parental Angst Poker on Twitter with other web copywriters.

8. Update my status on Facebook without considering potential double entendres. (Nope. Not linking to that one.)

9. Wish for an opportunity to practice the Japanese I picked up while living in Tokyo, and for more opportunities to practice my HTML skills. Because Gods idea of a joke is to drop me in the middle of a project where I have to use both Japanese and HTML, simultaneously. Im still having brain cramps.

10. Get emotionally attached to a vacuum cleaner. Or a silk flower arrangement. Or a coffee mug. (Okay, I dont think I can honestly promise that last one.)

So what about you? What are you NOT going to do in 2009?

Great Commission Companies: The Emerging Role of Business in Missions

compassioninpolitics — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:22:56 GMT

Resources for Great Commission Companies by Steve Rundle and Tom Steffen

Here are some fantastic resources from Great Commission Companies. You can also find Great Commission Companies available for free on Google Books.

You can also check out their Great Commission Companies (a 6 page article in PDF form) which helps guide growing christian entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, and those passionate about micro-enterprise development:

1. Evaluate the business opportunity
2. Evaluate the missions opportunity
3. Assemble a management team
4. Build an advisory network
5. Develop a business plan
6. Develop a Great Commission plan

Here is an initial list of 15 business as missions resources:

Business as Missions Network

Caleb Project

~~Centre for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development~~ (Google results dont display it)

CIA World Factbook

Connecting Business Men to Christ (CBMC)

Country Commerical Guides (USA Trade.Gov) [note: government websites have apparently reorganized since the publication of Great Commission Companies)

Fellowship of Companies for Christ

Global Mapping International

Global Opportunities

Human Development Reports

Intent

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

Joshua Project II

National Trade Data Bank

People Teams

Scruples

Great Commission Companies

Great Commission Companies Author Bios
Steve Rundel is associate professor of economics at Biola University. He has been a pioneer in researching and advocating the intersection of business and missions.

Tom Steffen is a professor of intercultural studies at Biola University. He was a mission in the Philippines for fifteen years is the author of several books on missions and cross cultural ministry.

Why I love My Life

Katie Paine — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:53:24 GMT

A repost from my Coos Conversations blog: Why I love My Life.

Mygazines is Back From the Dead, Now Trying to Make a Buck

Martin Ferro-Thomsen — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:50:47 GMT

I'm pretty sure I was one of the first to note that Mygazines, the dirty and thus popular magazine sharing site, was dead. Now, I came across this 22 days old random tweet, and curiously followed the old URL to see what was up. Yes, indeed, Mygazines is back.

[Update: Digging around a bit more, I found this post by Dylan Stableford on Folio that reveals who the mysterious Pierre is, mentioned in the tweet above.]

As I noted in my previous post, their technology was great, but their approach less than great. Or it may have been just that, as traffic soared. There has been more than one P2P sharing site and similar services, that took a shortcut to fame, and then went legit, so maybe it wasn't all that bad altogether.

But I hardly think this is the case here. In their last statement as they entered the deadpool, Mygazines blamed the financial situation, and to my knowledge that hasn't changed much, except for the worse. Now they seem to focus solely on an enterprise model, without community and all that jazz (I haven't signed up for it yet, and to be honest I probably won't). My guess is, and this is purely speculation, is that someone with a big wallet saw potential in their technology, known brand, and large user database (when they were live).

One would think that their somewhat obscure past would be less than ideal in establishing credibility in the world of enterprise. I mean, you have to pay to publish now, using the same document viewer that was once free. But at least it seems they have worked a little more with transparency, e.g. adding a phone number to the sales department and changing the legendary 'John Smith' domain owner record. The domain is now registered to

Flyp Technologies Inc.
10 Bellair St. #1604
Toronto, Ontario m5r3t8
Canada

Technical Contact:
Schwartz, Yoav

Mr. Schwartz's email address is under the domain 'flyptech.com', which redirects back to Mygazines. A few name searches didn't find much conclusive information, but of course anyone from the Flyp team are welcome to drop me an email to enlighten us all.

Once again it will be very interesting to see how this goes down. With their new enterprise approach they are entering an extremely crowded space. One would argue that after the deadpool they nothing to lose. But to convince me, and probably anyone else who've read the news, to pay up more than just a few dollars, they would certainly need to show their faces much more clearly than they are just now. And although I'm no expert on best pricing in this space, I'm pretty sure it doesn't help that they are charging a whopping $300 per document, especially since there a quite a few free services out there that are still very much alive.

As an exit of this post, and a beginning of what might be another chapter for Mygazines, I can't help myself but quote first entry in their new FAQ:

How long can I keep my Mygazines digital publications up for?
Forever and ever and ever.

But of course, in the lightning fast webspace, even forever might be over before you know it.

Our next CMO 2.0 Conversation - a conversation with Kodak’s CMO Jeff Hayzlett

francois — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:29:11 GMT

As part of our ongoing CMO 2.0 Conversation series that we are hosting in the Marketing 2.0 Community, we will have our next one this coming Monday from 2-3pm ET with Kodaks CMO Jeff Hayzlett.

Jeff is pretty active in the social media marketing space, both as an individual and as a marketing leader - which should make for another interesting conversation.

We hope you can join us for this event. The format will be similar to other CMO 2.0 Conversations - I will first have a 10-15 minute conversation with Jeff after which you can join in and ask questions directly from Jeff.

To attend, please register here (https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/253084364)

Social Media Intelligence for B2B Sales

Nathan Gilliatt — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:46:19 GMT

The usual starting point for social media analysiswhether you're more interested in the monitoring or measurement variantsis to ask, "what are people saying about us?" That's a reasonable starting point, but if we take a few steps around to other parts of the elephant, we discover other applicatons. Today, for example, I talked with a marketing exec at a capital equipment supplier who was interested in consumer intelligence as a major account sales tool. I can think of quite a few companies who could do what he described, but I couldn't think of any who have.

The idea is simple. Use a common snapshot report to generate insights about a major customer account, based on what their customers have to say about them. Package the results for your major account team. You could also use a more general view of your customers' industry for your entire sales force.

What are my customer's customers saying?
Start with a typical reputation snapshot reportvolume, sentiment, leading topics, trends. Instead of focusing on your own company, focus on your customer (bonus points for finding trends that mention both your customer and you or a competitor). It's a simple keyword substitution away from the traditional question: "what are people saying about them?"

When you get the report, the first benefit will be in growing your understanding of your customer's business. But the eye-openers will probably be in a leading dissatisfiers list (top issues filtered by negative sentiment). How would your sales team like to know about your customer's issues with:

Problems associated with your products
Problems associated with competitors' products (bonus!)
Problems your products can help solve
Emerging opportunities for your customer supported by your products

It does present interesting possibilities, giving your sales team consumer insights on the customer's business, doesn't it?

I did a lot of this kind of demand-chain analysis in my previous careerlooking at consumer trends and their impact on customer demand for my products. This is valuable intelligence for any company whose customers use their products to deliver their own products or services. If you do this for sales, just remember to share the results with your marketing and product groups.

Nice theory, but who's doing it?
I suspect I could dig through my files and find examples of vendors who offer this type of report, but off the top of my head... nothing. The usual, $1015K report is overkill, but a package of basic customer snapshots focused on identifying sales opportunities might have potential. Is anyone doing this with clients now?

I'm also curious what this topic does to your comfort meter. Does the thought of running analytics on your customer's market make you uncomfortable?

For those of you in the business, this came out of a casual conversation, but if it were a live request from a client, it's the kind of question I would send out on my new mailing list for vendors. If you don't have your invitation, drop me a note and I'll add you. And yes, I do plan to follow up on today's conversation with what I learn.

ON AIR

Christopher Carfi — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:56:58 GMT

Ill be talking to Chris Dorobek on @fednewsradio 1500 AM at 3:05p ET / 12:05 PT today about the change.gov iPhone application. More here: http://tinyurl.com/928z74

UPDATE: An MP3 of the conversation is now available here.

Flow Measurement Accuracy Impact on Profitability

Jim.Cahill@Emerson.com (Jim Cahill) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:55:53 GMT

A common theme found in my 2008-blog posts was energy efficiency. Given the state of the global economy, 2009 posts will likely have a common theme on ways to improve profitability through cost savings and productivity increases.

Just before the holidays, my email spy service found a new flow measurement paper written by Emerson's Bert Konings. The paper, Accurate Flow Measurement Improves Profit, describes flow measurement and its direct impact on the profitability of process manufacturing plants. He sums up the importance of flow measurement:

Get it right, and the plant is more efficient, produces less waste, minimizes rework and lowers maintenance costs. Get it wrong and the consequences can be significant. Inaccurate measurement in fiscal applications can lead to a plant being overcharged for raw materials or effectively giving away the product. Inaccurate meters used to measure utilities can also add to costs. Meters used to provide a mass balance across the plant need to be accurate or technicians will either spend time chasing product losses that aren't there, or they will set the tolerance so wide that product losses are not identified early enough.

As I've discussed in earlier flow measurement posts, the technology choices are plentiful. Bert describes the pros and cons of many types including differential pressure across an orifice plate or venturi, positive displacement (turbine meters, oval gear meters), ultrasonic, vortex, and Coriolis mass flow.

Bert describes Coriolis measurement as being:

...based on the principle that when fluid is moving through an oscillating tube, forces are induced which causes the tube to twist. The amount of twist is directly proportional to the mass flow rate of the fluid flowing through the tube.

What has made the Coriolis measurement technology popular is its high accuracy and lack of moving parts. High accuracy helps the quality, throughput/productivity side of a plant's economics. Maintenance costs are helped by the lack of moving parts. As Bert notes:

By selecting the right materials for an application, the effects of erosion and wear can be avoided and maintenance reduced to virtually zero.

Other advantages include direct mass measurement, online density measurements, high repeatability, and low pressure-drop across the meter.

A drawback to retrofitting other flow measurement technologies with Coriolis measurement has been the need for four wires (or up to 9 based on automation supplier.) Running additional wires and conduit is often an expensive proposition, $20 USD / foot according to one U.S. Chemical manufacturer. The Micro Motion team addressed this in 2008 by releasing a 2-wire Coriolis flow and density measurement meter. I discussed some of the applications for chemical manufacturers in an earlier post. Other industries and applications Burt lists are:

...suited for use in the chemical, petrochemical and refining industries, and for continuous process and mass balance applications.

Give the article a read if you're weighing flow measurement options.

MP3 | iTunes

Christian Charities, Non-profits, and Philanthropies

compassioninpolitics — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:54:59 GMT

Faith-based Causes for Social Justice : Nonprofit Organizations, Charities, and Philanthropies

Ive assembeled this list of Christian charities, non-profit organizations, and philanthropies in an attempt to help out lesser known Christ-centered organizations which are pursuing social justice, missional, and compassionate giving to the poor and disenfranchised. Im particularly interested in the work of the Mocha Club, Blood Water Mission, and Hands and Feel who all happen have Nashville ties and do their work with great return on investment. (even if that in Kingdom terms is still a pretty messy term)

• World Vision
World Vision YouTube Videos

• Blood Water Mission
Blood Water Mission Video

• Mocha Club
Mocha Club Videos on YouTube

• Bread for the World | Bread Blog
Bread for the World Video on YouTube

• Hands and Feet
Hands and Feet Video

• Compassion International | Christian Charities

Chrisitan Organizations, Religious Non-profits, and Charity Resources
• Christian Charities on Yahoo

• Charity Navigator

• Campus Crusade for Christ

• Christian Charities rank high in Top 100 Non-profits

• Christian and Religious Nonprofits on DMOZ

Fantastic Christian organizations that put missions and service into Christ-centered action

What Christian Charity or non-profit would you add to the list?

Help with 42 Rules Book

David Coleman — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:38:19 GMT

I am currently working on a new book called "42 Rules for Successfull Collaboration." I have written many of the rules but I think the collective consciousness around collaboration is of value and I also know a lot of people who are experts on Collaboration and I hope they will also choose to contribute to this book project.

So what is a rule? It is limited to 650 words. 42 Rules books are short, sweet and to the point. They use examples to reinforce the rules and bring in as many outside anecdotes, statistics, and stories as possible. Each rule is a complete idea.

Rule titles should be stated in the positive and be an action. Each rule should contain a story, anecdote, statistic or similar proof-point; these can include quotes from other experts,colleagues, etc. statement; try not to use Dont or to ask questions in the rule titles. Each rule needs a pull-quote, which is used in the left-hand margin; this quote should come directly from the rule copy (and does not need to be a 3rd party quote as referenced above.) Keep track of your references and cite them as endnotes.

An example rule that I wrote is:

Rule 2 Trust is not enough!
For many years I thought trust was critical for collaboration or for distributed teams to be effective, but after attending the NewWoW symposium in the summer of 2008 which looked at the effects of culture, I began to understand that trust was just not enough. Also, I can easily think of situations where people on a team or committee did not trust each other yet worked together for a common goal. Just look at any standards committee for a good example of this.

From Wikipdia: Trust is a relationship of reliance.

It does not need to involve belief in the good character, vices, or morals of the other party. And it does not need to include an action that you and the other party are mutually engaged in. In fact, trust is a prediction of reliance on an action, based on what a party knows about the other party.

What I came to realize is that for collaboration to be successful, trust does help, but understanding the local context of your team members was even more critical. What I mean by local context is knowing about the other team members, the organizations they are in, the country culture and the individual characteristics. Without an understanding of this local context poor communication, and missed meanings run rampant on distributed teams; especially teams with members from high context cultures (like Japan)1 when they are intermixed with team members from low context cultures (U.S.).

A good example of this occurred when I did some classes on collaboration in Japan a few years ago. The classes went well and when I got back to the U.S., I e-mailed my main contact in Japan to discuss some unresolved issues from the training. I also wanted to introduce them to others in the U.S. who I thought could benefit their business. I made an online (e-mail) introduction and assumed everything was proceeding.

But that was not the case. My contact in Japan was not even replying to my e-mails. Finally in frustration I called my contact in Japan and asked what was going on. Now, I come from NY and have been told I can be rather straight forward, part of being part of a low-context culture. However, my contact in Japan was from a high context culture and one that also avoids conflict. He had enough trust in me to tell me that the introduction was being ignored because it had gone to the wrong people, and they lost face by it. Once I sent the e-mail to my contacts boss, and asked permission for the introduction, things went a lot better. The boss saved face my contact was allowed to e-mail me again, and the introduction was made.

How many times has something like this tripped you up when working on a geographically distributed and cross cultural team? Although I almost always recommend to my clients that the first team or project meeting should be in person (then it is much easier to do the electronic collaboration that follows) because it helps all the team members understand the local context for each other. This in-person visit, although expensive, should have some social experiences thrown in, as they help to speed up understanding (and possibly trust) of the other team members.

I found that taking the time in the beginning to learn about and know each of the other team members paid off in spades later on. Also the agreement on clear team processes and interactions at the beginning of a project also really paid off. Yes, both of these help to develop trust, but more than that, they give you an understanding of those you are working with, which is even more critical when you work at a distance.

Pull Quote: What I came to realize is that for collaboration to be successful, trust does help, but understanding the local context of your team members was even more critical.

I am finishing up the book in the month of January, so get me your rules as soon as possible at davidc@collaborate.com

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Noemi Pollack — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:50:42 GMT

Years ago, while at The Juilliard School as a student, there was an anecdote that circulated over and over again about how to get to Carnegie Hall. The answer clearly was not about directions, rather – “practice, practice, practice” with the implication that you will get there and make a career. Now it has resurged, this time on YouTube, with composer and organizer, Tan Dun, chanting the “same tune.”

Just imagine … a budding violinist or clarinetist or tuba player, in a remote village or town in India or China or Bolivia, practices a specially composed piece, then, when well-prepared, submits a video of their performance to the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, who will offer the first ever virtual performance. Apparently the worlds first collaborative online orchestra will perform the new work with the player’s compiled videos.

It’s worth noting that built into this concept is also a road to Carnegie Hall. Young talents can send a video performance from a list of recommended works and finalists will be chosen from the pool of submissions by a judging panel, to travel to New York City in April 2009, to participate in a performance of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra under the direction of famed conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas.

Leave it to the arts medium to be the first to tap global social media platforms to find young musicians to participate in both virtual concert performances and live on stage. The convergence is audacious and brilliant. Social media breaks down the geographical barriers that would otherwise make this collaboration an impossibility. Moreover, in the days of much anguish as to what the future of classical music will be and where will new audiences come from for that musical genre, along comes an innovative and compelling idea that will surely ignite the imagination of young talents and reverberate worldwide.

With all the persuasive concert marketers, publicists and promoters that abound, wouldn’t it be something if it turned out that YouTube found the “golden ticket?”

tonka toys and ball chasing

Jen — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:02:36 GMT

Super quick visit today. Lots to do, so we have very little socializing time for me or the dogs. We ran to the end and back, and then back to the car. Of course, Riptide made it a challenge by stopping for anyone with a ball and/or Chuck-it in their possession.

[Believe it or not, this is actually Riptide's ball. He was chasing it when the other dog found him of interest. He would catch him and try to dominate him. I had to take the ball out of Riptide's mouth so he could protect himself. He was so proud to have that ball, he wouldn't give it up. Even with another dog humping him. Geez.]

[The recent storms of wind and rain have left the berm sandless. So, the guys and their very large Tonka Trucks were pushing sand back in to a pile for us to enjoy.]

Buy Our Way Out

Contact me — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:51:09 GMT

The Consumer Electronics Show this week in Vegas is a sure answer to our economic woes. We humans are hell-bent on communicating... our paying for this privilege is a crucial source of much-needed cash flow.

So gadgeteers - Buy Buy Buy!

How will you tap into the antics at CES?

Try:
CNet Coverage
ZDNet CES Unveiled
Engadet
Gawker's Lazy Hack Guide

Here is NBC's intro:

NBCU at CES 2009
by nbcagency

Macworld Expo 2009

JD Lasica — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:21:10 GMT

Here's a small Flickr photo set from the tradeshow floor on Tuesday's opening day of Macworld Expo. I edited this photos late last night with Aperture and didn't do a very good job — just beginning to learn the program. (In fact, I spent Monday and Tuesday at an Aperture class taught by Derrick Story thanks to the generosity of IGG.) I'll add IDs and probably re-edit some of these later.

• San Jose Mercury News: Apple announces new iTunes prices.

What's more important than the new tiered pricing at the iTunes Store was the news that DRM (digital rights management) in the music world is dead.

• Macworld Keynote video

not even the rain

Matthew Hurst — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:04:11 GMT

Chris Riccomini pointed me to a visualization he has worked on with his sister, Alex Riccomini, of ee cummings work.

The visualization shows the complete work. Starting at the 12 oclock position, each bar at the edge of the circle represents a poem. Poems progress in a clock-wise direction. Each ray represents a line in the poem. The coloring of the bar represents the theme of that poem. The thickness of the bars represents the word count for that poem.

Id be interested to know more about how the themes of the poems were determined and if an automated approach would lead to even more interesting presentations.

Digital Signage Networks to Be Used to Reach Largest Audience Ever for Short Film Festival

Lionel Tepper — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:02:36 GMT

ART BY CHANCE is unique because the selected short movies will be presented to the public through digital signage screens instead of movie theaters.

The Digital Signage Universe is the most complete global news source and link directory available for the digital signage marketplace

Vegas baby, Vegas!

Dan Shust — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:20:14 GMT

Vegas Baby. Vegas.

Fellow blogger/co-worker Dennis Bajec and I are heading to Sin City for the International CES conference tomorrow. Fresh off our successful live Black Friday shopping documentary and hungry for more, we’ll wade through the sea of humanity, mobile phones and giant LCD monitors to share our key take-aways from each day of the show. 2,700 exhibitors/ 20,000 new product introductions. How hard can this be?

But we aren’t all business. (How can you be in Vegas?) Look for a constant stream of bonus twitter candy including celebrity sightings, unique exhibit design, best tchochkes and much more.

Follow along here at our blog and on twitter: getshust and dbajec.

Communityishness

Contact me — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:58:31 GMT

Francois at Beeline Labs is sharing a very helpful report on what makes an online community. They have looked into what works and why.

(Hint: it is the same as what we like about our real world).

Below is their SlideShare. Below that is a summary of the report.

Now go and make nice!

2008 Tribalization Of Business Study Quantitative

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: community social)

THE MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

#1: Communities are about Delivering Game-Changing Results

Communities can increase revenue per customer dramatically, i.e., 50%
Communities will increase product introduction success ratios
Communities amplify everything you do- increasing effectiveness and decreasing costs

#2: The Rise of the CMO 2.0?

Communities should be an important part of the CMO’s toolset (but for many large companies - there is an under-investment and scale problem)
Companies should evolve the role of the CMO into Chief Community Officer (but that will require drastic changes in attitude and approach to marketing)
If done properly, communities will transform the way marketing works (reduced costs, improved effectiveness, new opportunities)

#3: The Need for New Management Thinking

Mismatch between community goals and associated investments
Major gaps between Community Goals and what is being measured
Communities have yet to combine with major talent initiatives
Communities will transform most business processes

#3.5: The Worst Practices Enjoy Wide Adoption

The “build it and they will come” fallacy
The “let’s keep it small so it doesn’t move the needle” phenomenon
The “not invented here” syndrome

COMMENTARY + CONTEXT

We have been writing extensively about the study and communities in general over the past few months as we’ve conducted interviews and gathered data. A sampling of recent articles:

Top Albums of 2008

relaxedguy — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:54:13 GMT

Hype Machine

Pitchfork 50 Best Albums of 2008

Pitchfork 100 Best Track of 2008

Driving old school ignoring the dashboard?

David Alston — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:50:06 GMT

So I took my 2003 Civic Hybrid into the shop this morning because the indicators on the dashboard were lighting up like a Christmas tree. It started with the DRL indicator, then came the SRS one, then Maintenance Required then yesterday, the engine light. Ugh, this will no doubt mean money out of my pocket today.

But it got me thinking. What if I just ignored the dashboard. I mean, yes the indicators are on but the car sounds fine to me. In the old days (yeah, when I drove a 1978 Delta 88 to university) there wasnt a collage of of sensors on the dashboard. You just drove the car until, well, it broke down on the side of the road - and trust me I got more than my share of that back in the old days. But todays cars, especially hybrid versions, are fine-tuned machines with computer controls and lots of whirlygigs that make sure I brake to a stop faster, I dont get as injured in a crash, I get way better fuel mileage and so on. Yes, I probably still could go it old school and drive like a cowboy of days gone by and ignore the dashboard, but at what cost?

Whats the cost of breaking down on the way to the airport and missing that flight to give a presentation on the other side of the country? Whats the cost of an inefficient engine burning more expensive fuel? Whats the cost of me flying through the windshield because my airbag system is turned off because of a malfunction or my ABS breaks are disengaged? You get the picture.

So whats the cost of a brand driving it old school in todays high speed, quick to react, snowballing-crises-friendly, twisty-turny social media world that we all live in today? This isnt the 1978 Delta 88 world of our youth.

What dashboard indicators should brands be paying more attention to today?

Facebook Firefox Toolbar Not Working Anymore

relaxedguy — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:40:28 GMT

I hardly ever visit Facebook directly, if someone does something like friend me or invite me to something, the Facebook toolbar lets me know about it. Ever since I upgraded to Firefox 3.0.5 for Mac, my Facebook toolbar doesnt work. Ive emailed a developer I know at Facebook and am hoping they can fix the issue.

Chris Brogan: Master Mavennector

Author: Barbara Heffner — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:39:51 GMT

It's little wonder that Paul Gillin cites Chris Brogan as the best new face in social media in his post on the Best of '08. Chris is not exactly a new face in social media - he's a social media pioneer who pulled way ahead of the pack last year. As Paul notes, he became "...one of the world's top bloggers last year thanks to his prodigious output." He's got a whopping 16,400 subscribers to his blog.

But it's not just volume that's put Chris on top - it's his thoughtful, useful, insightful posts. He's either a Connector or Maven in Tipping-Point-speak - perhaps a Master Mavennector - in the best possible sense. If you need to connect with someone with a specialized skillset in social media, Chris is the man to call. If you want fresh thinking about the social media landscape, Chris's blog is a must-read.

Take this January 1st post on setting annual goals (so action-oriented and millenial!) versus New Year's resolutions (so '90s). Chris says:

Basically, I come up with 3 or so keywords that tie to goals and work from that. In 2006, my three words were “Ask. Do. Share.” Everything I did, I tried to filter through the mindset of asking people for help, or asking if I could help them.

I've pondered this approach over the last few days and decided to give the approach a test drive this year. Ta da!

My Three Goals in Keywords for 2009

Focus -- I work hard, but I am easily distracted. I am the quintissential multitasker, a student of continuous partial attention. Why just watch TV when I could be reading email as well? Or better yet -- doing email, watching TV on closed caption and talking on the phone. Heaven!! The problem with this lifestyle is that I start many projects and finish some, but in my manic multitasking, projects often take longer than they should, or I commit the time management sin of picking the easy projects first. And so it be resolved - I shall truly focus on tasks this year, and actually try to get them done one at at time.

Community -- We can lead rather isolated lives these days - married to our PCs and B-berries, tapping away, making virtual connections but not real ones. But whether it's been through my professional work at CHEN, raising funds for Room to Read, attending political events or business networking events -- I'm reminded of how kindness and helpfulness and support come full circle. I want to continue to build my various connections and tribes this year, contributing good juju to the karma chain.

Kids -- Most of my work outside CHEN focuses on helping kids get a better deal in life. It's easy to sweat the small stuff in life. So while I'm improving my focus, I need to ask myself more often if I'm meeting my goal of spending at least some energy each week to meet goal #3.

And Chris - I'll report back next year on how I'm doing! Thanks for the inspiration.

As an aside, in case you somehow missed it, Chris was in the middle of a blogostorm at the end of last year, when he wrote about accepting $500 from Kmart to tackle one of their stores and then write about the experience. (He took his two little ones - a review squad of three for the price of one!) BusinessWeek recaps the ensuing ethical teethgnashing here.

Ning trudges along unnoticed

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:23:04 GMT

(Pictured above is Finance 3.0 a social network on the Ning platform. It has 18,000 members and is growing everyday).

We spend a lot of our time thinking about Facebook and MySpace and how they're changing how people communicate and socialize online. Often the Ning communities get left out of these conversations even though collectively they have nearly 7 million visits a month. That's why I was psyched to see a guest piece in the NY Times by Gina Bianchini the CEO of Ning recently.

Some interesting factoids - Ning works because the two founders (Marc Andressen of Netscape fame and Bianchini) bring very different skills to the table. She's focused on advertising and finance and he on technology. The platform has approximately 600,000 networks on it on subjects ranging from Britney Spears to raw food enthusiasts. Ning expects to be hosting some 4 million social networks by 2010. Ning uses Google for its ad serving though in the future it sees itself creating its own ad network.

For more on Ning read this excellent article in Fast Company from May 2008.

You should pay me ...

Andy Sernovitz — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT

I just got charged $3.50 to buy a gift certificate from a store. Thats not right.

They should be paying me and thanking me instead.

When someone gives a gift certificate from your business--they are doing your marketing for you. They are doing you a favor by bringing you a new customer, and even paying for their friends first purchase.

You should consider how much you saved in getting a new customer--and REWARD the person who brought them to you. Lettuce Entertain You restaurants in Chicago gets it right. They give you a $25 gift certificate when you buy one for a friend.

Lesson: How can you encourage your customers to bring their friends? How many gift certificates should you give away?

(A similar story from Ben and Jackie)

John Chambers, CEO of Cisco at MIT on Enterprise 2.0

Jon Husband — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:36:32 GMT

Hot on the heels of our several posts on the article about Cisco in Fast Company, I just ran across this video from a presentation and Q&A he carried out at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Thanks to Martin Dugage of Frances Boostzone Institute, who provided the following commentary on the video clip.

My emphasis below I am reminded of Euan Semples classic post about implementing social computing (The 100% guaranteed easiest way to do Enterprise 2.0?), and I dont doubt that one of, if not the, the hardest part is senior managers and executives getting used to the idea of less or different control.

Cisco is undoubtedly a lab for E2.0, and Chambers is definitely in the pilot’s seat. His point about collaboration revolves around productivity and speed.

My attention was drawn by a couple of things he said, such as the new ability of the company to pursue 26 top priority projects at the same time instead of just one or two last year; or the fact that Chambers meets more customers now but less often face-to-face and more often virtually, less often one-on-one and more often as a group; or the fact that he had to get rid of 20% of his staff composed of control freaks who didn’t get it.

Chambers believes that communities are the very core of E2.0, and he admits that he had a hard time getting used to it.

-[ Snip ... ]

Based on Cisco’s own experience in the past several years, organizations will completely restructure around these new capabilities. Indeed, he offers up his company as a paradigm of this vision. Once a hierarchical, command and control-based organization, Cisco is now much flatter, a company running “off of social networking groups.” Councils with cross-functional responsibilities suggest and take on many more projects (from emerging markets, to video, and smart grid boards); from one to two major ventures per year, to this year’s 26 launches.

The next generation company is “built around the visual.” Cisco employees do non-stop teleconferencing with collaborators around the world. The company hosts 2500 such virtual meetings per week. It also employs Webex, Wikis and blogging to move work along.

With this kind of communication and carefully managed process to match, “operations can be turned on a head,” says Chambers. It’s the recipe for market-dominating speed and scale. Chambers is “loading the pipeline” with projects that assume other companies will want what Cisco has and makes.

“If we’re right, we’re developing a huge wave of revenue opportunity.” Perhaps this is one reason why he’s “an optimist on global productivity, global economy and our ability to handle the challenges.”

.

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Social Media Series: Toby Bloomberg on Bridging New & Old

noreply@blogger.com (C. B. Whittemore) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:31:00 GMT

I can't imagine a better way to start out the new year than with this week's guest for the Social Media Series: Bridging New & Old: Toby Bloomberg.

Toby Bloomberg, author of Diva Marketing Blog and principal at Bloomberg Marketing, embodies social media marketing. She is the 'marketing diva.'

Here's why. Any time spent with Toby will have you thinking differently about marketing, social media, your marketplace, connecting with customers... She does it in the most amazing way: through conversation, asking questions, listening for answers, and then building on that. She makes you feel as if you were entering into her living room for a cozy chat or discussion.

What's so amazing about that? It's the same whether you visit with Toby virtually or in person. She is gracious beyond belief, an amazing listener, intuitive in her marketing and practical to boot! Not to mention really fun.

Toby's constantly on the lookout for successful social media examples. You'll see those highlighted in Diva Marketing Blog posts, in her Blogger Stories, her Biz Blog Profile series [see Toby's right sidebar for companies included] and her amazing Blogger Relations Series. Her latest venture is DivaCafes on Facebook. It's "the cafe society for the digital age that celebrates and supports amazing woman over forty flying solo ~ and like minded people." It also captures Toby's love of community. Definitely check it out.

Toby stays fully grounded in the challenges between new and old media through American Marketing Association workshops on how to leverage blogs as a marketing strategy and her management consulting class for Goizueta School of Business at Emory University. [Here's where you can learn more about Toby!]

C.B.: Toby, how/why did you get involved in social media?

Toby: I wish I could tell you that I became involved with social media because I understood immediately that it would bridge the communication gap with customers in ways that extended beyond traditional advertising messaging. In bloggy transparency I launched Diva Marketing (blog) in 2004 because Dana VanDen Heuvel told me I couldn’t talk about blogs (we didn’t talk about “social media” then) if I wasn’t actively involved in the space. At the time I was advising small business owners to create blogs instead of spending thousands of dollars on a formal website. Not only could they develop a free web presence but by the way this cool “comment thing” allowed customers to talk to them also.

C.B.: What do you like most about social media?

Toby: Initially it was the ease of creating web pages without knowing how to code. As I began to explore the blogosphere I quickly realized what I was writing were not simply static pages but the openings to conversations that would lead to valuable relationships. Those digital relationships, ours included (!), brought extended knowledge, a global network, business opportunities, speaking engagements and more. What was unexpected and surprised me were that many of the associations I developed turned into true friendships.

C.B.: What do you like least about social media?

Toby: My least favorite aspect is that many marketers consider social media a hip, new play toy and not a serious business strategy. Including social media without a strategy that includes goals and success measures dilutes the effectiveness, as well as, the credibility. Management then has every right to perceive, what should be powerful communication tactics, as cocktail party games.

C.B.: What 5 suggestions do you have for companies to implement so they can more effectively bridge old media with new media and connect with end users?

Toby:
1. Begin with a plan that includes goals and success measures. Don’t be afraid to include success measures that are outside the box of traditional metrics. As you build that plan consider how you can use social media to support current old media/traditional strategies. For example can you extend an article in an eZine with a blog post to carry on the conversation in greater detail?

2. Develop a budget that includes dollar and people resources. Build your programs to take into consideration human capital to support the implementation. If you don’t, not only will you be frustrated, but you will fail before you hit the publish key.

3. Understand the limitations and the benefits of the tools, or tactics, before you consider implementing. Listen and watch the rhythms of the social elements (blogs, vlogs, social networks, Twitter, etc.) you are considering before you create your social media strategy.

4. Determine if your target audience is involved in that specific platform. Then if they are listen to their conversations within each of the new media avenues that you want to explore. How are your customers using the platforms? The best Facebook strategy will fall flat if your community is not involved.

5. Bring all the people who will be involved in the project around a table for a strategic “red flag” conversation. The up front investment will save you dollars, time and tears.

C.B.: Toby, any other thoughts to share about the effectiveness of social media in forging stronger relations with customers?

Toby: By its nature, social media is changing the way business, internally and externally, is conducted. Listening to the on-going, multi faceted conversations of our customers demands now that we explore new ways to bring that information to employees who can provide solutions. Frequently that entails developing new communication processes that cross silos. While there may indeed be some turf challenges there are great benefits including building stronger teams.

As critical to “listening” to our customers is responding back. Interacting with our customers in a public community where the conversations are overheard by thousands is becoming expected. Organizations who do not respond will be perceived as uncaring, not innovative, and may loose competitive advantages.

Many organizations have “trust” concerns regarding how employees will answer blog posts, tweets or social networking discussions. Response by committee is no longer an option. However, great companies are built with people who share common goals and values. If employees’ values are aligned with the big organization’s high level objectives and the over riding goal is to serve the customer I believe we may find that social media is a catalyst to building more great organizations.

Thank you, Toby!

Comments? Reactions? What about having to working across silos? Any suggestions on how to facilitate such a process? What has listening to your customers in these new ways brought to your business? What about responding back? Is it as scary as many think?

Previous posts in the Social Media Series: Bridging New & Old include:
+ Steve Woodruff
+ Ann Handley
+ Mack Collier
+ Social Media Series: Bridging New & Old

Technorati Tags: Diva Marketing Blog Toby Bloomberg Bloomberg Marketing social media Bridging New & Old media series marketing Del.icio.us Tags: Diva Marketing Blog Toby Bloomberg Bloomberg Marketing social media Bridging New & Old media series marketing

Christian Business Networking for Professionals

compassioninpolitics — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:48:13 GMT

Christian Professional Networking Organizations

Business as Missions Network

Christian Professional

Christian Chamber of Commerce

International Christian Chamber of Commerce

C-12 Group: Christian Business Owners

Christian Business Organizations for Professionals in Nashville, Brentwood, and Franklin, TN

CEO Fellowship at Brentwood Baptist

Nashville Christian Business Network

Suggest Linked in Groups for Christian business professionals???

Other Christian Resources:
Christian Business Networking

Christian

Christianity Today: Education and Jobs

Bible Gateway

Oh My God, There’s a Baby In There

Leanne Heller — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:15:28 GMT

Ive started to get to the point where I can no longer pass the pregnancy off as a fondness for Christmas cookies and beer.

Since I didnt eat much the first four months, up until last week I hadnt gained any weight.

But apparently, Baby Beast is making up for lost time, and hes chowing down.

In fact, this week he has this new thing where he repeatedly punches my stomach if hes hungry, until I feed him or else become nauseated from lack of food. Today, this resulted in eating something small every hour or so to avoid being pummeled.

Possibly, it is an advanced form of baby-communication, like some prenatal version of Morse Code, and I should be impressed.

Although, judging from his interests thus far, he is probably just spelling out C-H-E-E-S-E-C-A-K-E-N-O-W or something similar. Or, hes inherited his fathers stellar sense of direction and is giving me detailed instructions on how to get to the nearest Outback Steakhouse.

Actually, Outback sounds pretty good right now.

25 Best Movies for Kids

compassioninpolitics — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:35:54 GMT

25 Top Family Movies and Videos

Here is a list of some of the best movies and videos for young children and families. I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to add to the conversation and add your own favorite kids movies in the comments section below.

1) Finding Nemo
2) The Incredibles
3) The Kid
4) Toy Story
5) The Lion King
6) Monsters Inc
7) Finding Neverland
8} Shrek
9) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
10) Shrek 2
11) The Iron Giant
12) Toy Story 2
13) Fanatasia
14) Star Wars
15) Charlotte’s Web
16) Dr. Seusss The Cat in the Hat
17) Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone
18) Field of Dreams
19) The Little Mermaid
20) The Rookie
21) The Sound of Music
22) Swiss Family Robinson
23) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings
24) The Princess Bride
25) Raiders of the Lost Ark

Whats your favorite kids or family movie?

Some of What Happens In Vegas Will Not Stay There

Bill Ives — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:52:00 GMT

I am looking forward to Fast Forward 09 in Las Vegas, February 9 to 11 at the Mirage. I will be there with my fellow Fast Forward bloggers. We are certainly to going to blog the event, do video podcast interviews, and some other stuff. I hope to see you there and further the conversations on this blog and the Fast Forward blog.

Speakers include Charlene Li, Clay Shirky, Don Tapscott, Pekka Vijakalnen, and more. Elton John, Donnie and Marie, and a number of Beatles tribute bands will also be in town, along with a Frank and Barbra tribute concert. Do you need to know more?

The volcano at the Mirage is now active. You can see the video at their site, Mirage Volcano.