Web 2.0 Button generator - yeah, I thought it was gonna be lame too, but this little thing is fun and practical. I guess not everything with a Web 2.0 in front of it is old news..;). Thanks Pete.
And last but hopefully not least, a self-promo link:
Continuing on the theme of transparency, I am officially Clue Unit #15 - [yeah!] courtesy of the podcast interview I did last week with Jake McKee, Lee LeFever and Christopher Carfi. The three amigos and I discuss the implications of transparency between company and customer. I really respect these guys and was honored to be invited. [Note: in future I will fine my self $1 for each "um"]
[Yeah, I could just use my automatic posting with delicious for the above links - but then there would be no real context. Note to guys at delicious - i got some feature requests]
Listening to Seth Godin at PDF Conference
on Friday, I was reminded again how good he is at cutting to the heart
of the issue with great metaphors and images. In Seth's words:"Don't
be a hunter, be a farmer."
Old marketers behave as hunters with their sights on unsuspecting me.
New marketers behave as farmers, focusing on sustainability, feeding, attention and care.
I don't like feeling like I have a bulls eye on my back - do you?
Unfortunately, I cannot be in NY today - but DFJ Gotham [nepotism pause: Managing Patrner is my big bro Dan Schultz ] isabout to anounce the winner of the first ever East Coast Venture Challenge up at Columbia B School. If you are in NY and want to get a jump start on who folks will be talking about in the next 12 months - head on up to 116th Street pronto! I am sure there area bunch of interesting start-ups in the room.
The winner gets $250K and free office space. Sheesh, in today's market they could flip to one of the big tech or media guys in 6 months for a cool $20 million...;)
Plus, anything that debunks the myth that there are no creative start-ups coming out of the East Coast, is just fine by me
"no
amount of fear can stop the rise of free media, or free software (they
are the same, after all). The community is vastly more innovative and
powerful than a single company".Jonathan Schwartz
The "Starting the Conversation" Workshop in San Francisco on June 11th is less than a month away and the Social Media Club team have struck a deal with each of the speakers. The first FIVE people who register from my site get a $100 discount.
In the spirit of competitive fun, I'd like to beat Shel at his own game and sign up five participants ASAP. So go ahead - click on over. Not only will I personally thank you - I will buy you a drink..;)
It's easy just click on the registration page, choose your option and enter DEB in the Code box type. Your credit card total will be reduced by $100.
It's always interesting to see how different communities of interest intersect and connect. During my recent trip to Israel, I was ask to visit the team at Egloomedia and get a sneak peak at their new social aggregation application - 8hands. It's a neat product - think of it as one window to manage all your online social connections and communities - flickr, twitter, facebook etc.
What I like about 8hands is that it starts to address what I call "Continuous Partial Community". The brilliant Linda Stone first coined the term Continuous Partial Attention to address the information overloaded many of us live in today. In Linda's words,
We manage our time. We don't manage our attention.
Managing
time is all about lists, optimization, efficiency, and it's TACTICAL.
Managing attention is all about INTENTION, making choices as to what
DOES and DOES NOT get done, and it's STRATEGIC. Managing time is an
action journey. Managing attention is an emotional journey.
I think we are currently going through Rev 2 of this challenge. Many of us are linked through a vast spider web of connections, communities and applications (both online and offline). At times we weave through this network efficiently but most often we do not. As a result, we are spread very thin and what we end up with is nothing like a traditional idea of 'community' but more of being partially connected continuously to a number of hubs through a variety of complex spokes. It is no wonder that so many smart people are addressing the issues of attention, flow and "edgework" these days. It begs the question(s):
What is our intention with all these communities?
How do we interact in a meaningful way with all of these connections?
What is "meaningful" in this landscape?
What is the definition of Community when affiliations are so loose and easily coupled/uncoupled?
How do we build applications to maintain a good flow between clusters?
What is the role of attention in the Relationship Economy?
The model for many online communities is to be The Hub (aka a portal), but I live out at the Spokes more and more these days. I weave and flow (or not) between them. Unfortunately, the business models built on PV ad models and demand for corralling users into one sign-in location is simply not the best model for the individual going forward.
Which brings me back to my visit to 8hands. I liked what 8hands was trying to do enough that I agreed to advise the company if they would get a Mac version out the door ASAP. I am a Mac user and I can't rightly agree to test a product without using it myself. Additionally - a lot of my friends and colleagues who live in the Social Media space are Mac users as well and I just knew they would want to play as well. Alas, Apple has never done a very good job at penetrating the Israeli market. Opening my Mac at a cafe in Tel Aviv brought envious stares and small talk along the lines of "Cool, a Mac, can I play with it".
So - surprise - two days after my meeting in Tel-Aviv, I receive an email from Ron Shelly, who informs me that the Product Manager of 8hands told him I was in town with my Mac and would I be willing to be interviewed for his documentary film on the cult of the Mac (which includes an interview with the original community evangelist - Guy Kawasaki!) How cool! So, here is a small snip of the interview and my thoughts on connecting the cult of the Mac to today's world of Social Media and Marketing.
Note: I am stuck with the YouTube thumbnail and some out of sync audio for now. Also, before you click, I thought it interesting to point out that Linda worked at Apple back in 1986 - it all comes full circle in the end, doesn't it.
I think I want to swim with the dolphins back and forth between the Sea of Culture and Subculture with ongoing respites at Flickr and the Island of the Compass Rose.
If you've got the world of Social Media embedded in your DNA and you've joined Twitter-aholics, you can stop reading now . If however, you have no idea what the such a big deal about Twitter and the idea of getting public uncontrolled feedback from your customers makes you break out in hives, hope is near.
The gang at Social Media Club and Shel Israel have put together a series of workshops entitled: "Starting the Conversation". This series will be a practical guide to getting you comfortable with rules of the road and the tools to get your there. I am honored that they have asked me to present and participate in the Silicon Valley event on June 11th. Shel and I have a fun history of ribbing each other on stage - so it should be entertaining and educational. I am looking forward to it.
The Relationship Economy is forcing a need for
new standards and new metrics in how companies engage with customers. If you are a start-up you benefit from the ability to build a community groundswell and start at the grassroots level. But what if you are a major brand and mass marketer? How do you engage and interact in this new landscape in a way that is smart and efficient. Jeremy Liew smartly points out the need for new advertising standards.
I whole heartedly agree that standards are needed. But I would like to see us go a step further. I'd like to see networks develop opportunities for brands to engage and interact in ways that are more integrated than slapping on some banner ads.
Check out this screen shot from IAB's standard units page. What does this Filemaker ad do for me here? If I have clicked on this page I am in "solution seeking mode" and buying Filemaker is NOT on my mind.
