Deborah Schultz

Some friendly competition AND a discount: Starting the Conversation

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. 

But be quick - they are going fast!

But how do I get started?

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.

Here is the  agenda and registration info.  If you are in New York, Boston or Austin make sure to check out the schedule and additional presenters including David Parmet and Connie Reese.

What the other presenters have to say:

Shel Israel
David Parmet - New York
Connie Reese - Austin

Community Evangelism Workshop

As promised - here are the slides from the workshop Anil and I ran at Web2Expo. Some of the meaning will be lost on those who were not in the room, but we hope it provides some guidance and food for thought

I have also started a new del.icio.us account - username Relationship_Economy - specifically as an umbrella for all things community, social media and new marketing related.  This way folks who are always asking for tools, blogs to read etc can just subscribe to the feed to keep up.  I have to thank Niall Kennedy for this smart idea that he shared with me as he does the same thing for feed related stuff.

At the moment the account is a good start and contains a bunch of bookmarks to blogs, books and tools.  It is by no means meant to be all inclusive,  So, please I invite you to add your own, just tag em with "relationship_economy" and share the wealth.

Note: Jerry MIchalski [ aka mr. relationship economy] is back online!

Measurement and vulnerability

Two words I never thought I would string together and yet that is exactly what seems to keep cropping up lately.

Chis Carfi has some great liveblogging posts from the Economics of Social Media conference today, [wish i could be there but alas I am networked out].

The topics and posts highlight  that although marketers are trying to 'get' the new landscape they are struggling.  Once again Rishad calls it like it is.

Three important points that I never get tired of reiterating:

• Control is an illusion
• Being vulnerable is essential
• New metrics & measurement are still elusive
  

Focus is the new ADD

laser-focus, originally uploaded by andreinafrica.

Last week's Web2Expo conference was a definite success - smart people, good networking and not too much hype [buzz is fine, hype is not].  David Hornik and Richard McManus have some good wrap-ups  and observations for those who were not able to attend and did not catch any of the live streams. Sean Bohan and Mario Sundar are two of the worlds fastest live bloggers.  Check em out for the line-by-line stuff.

Sean actually referred to the week as "hanging out with my aggregator". I really like that.  Nothing really does replace face to face for cementing previous relationships or bonding with new.

My take away percolating in the zeitgeist is that it is time to FOCUS on getting it done.  Whatever it is for you - go out and make it happen and try not to get too distracted by the noise. 

 

Blogher: Where the smart gals are

Unfortunately, I will not be able to participate in Blogher Business 07 this week in NYC as I am still abroad but you can.  These are smart ladies putting together a fab event to educate and evangelize the brilliance that is social media.  Why a separate event for women is always the question -  wrong question.  This organization understands the nature of 'niche markets', community and authentic marketing these are ubiquitous.  The question is why NOT go?

Straight from the gals' site:

BlogHer Business '07 will strip away the hype and hyperbole and answer some questions that most businesses are still asking about social media:

    -Should my company blog? How do we decide and then identify the best people to do it?

    -OK…I get we're supposed to be “authentic”. What are the boundaries?

    -Do I have to allow people to say anything they want to about us on our business blog?

    -I hear a lot about blogger “outreach” and how it has to be done just right. Can I get some specifics please? How do I find the right bloggers? And how do I avoid offending them? Why can’t I just ask the Technorati Top 100 to blog about my product and be done with it?

    -Are blogs a religion or a tool? I just want to be able to measure results in some way…is that so wrong?

    Does the cost of social media ever outweigh the benefit?

Technorati Tags: blogging, community, communitymarketing, newmarketing, blogher, socialmedia

Live from Jerusalem - the "Open Source City"

Sitting in Jerusalem at the world renowned Mishkenot Shananim guest house and conference center.  I am attending the Jerusalem Open  Source City Digital Society, Policy & the Internet conference. The conference is  the last day in a week of fascinating meetings with interesting companies and  The project is being organized under the auspices of Pitango Venture Capital, the California Israel Chamber of Commerce and the Jerusalem Foundation.

On the stage at the moment kicking off the first session are:

Yossi Vardi, 'larger than a single title", Moderator
Nic Fulton, Reuters
Loic LeMeur, Six Apart
Dan Dubno, "blowing things up"
Yair Nitzani, Yair Nitzani Music
Izhar Ashdot, Ishar Ashdot Music & Studios
Ami Giniger, Taya Communications
Amnon Dekel, Hebrew University

The session will for sure delve in to some deep topics but first some humor:

Technorati Tags: digitalsociety, internetpolicy, israel, kinnernet, kinnernet2007, newnewmedia, randomthoughts, socialmedia

Off to Israel & Kinnernet

Finished up a whirlwind participation at Community 2.0 and now I have landed in Israel where I will be attending Kinnernet and participating again in the TheMarker conference.  I am really looking forward to some interesting conversations and fun events.  It looks to be an exciting couple of days, kicked off last night with an event hosted by Jeff Pulver.  I will be hosting my own shindig with yedda, netcraft and CICC on the 20th to wrap up the week.

So, I am behind on posts - but will have plenty of time to catch-up in next week.  Thanks for your patience and stay tuned! 

In the meantime there will be plenty of photos up on flickr.   

Missed opportunity - at the intersection of SXSW and Community2.0

I am in the midst of giving a worskhop with Tara and Kathleen at the Community 2.0 conference in Vegas. We are in a room of 50+ smart corporate folks who are passionate about the opportunity to engage with their customers (why else would they be in a dark room at 9am on a Sunday morning).

I just finished leading a favorite exercise of mine that demonstrates community building by shaking up the room a bit. Basically - their is nothing like a room full of people all arriving with a blank slate in a room to demonstrate how our individual and collective  tacit and explicit theories drive assumptions about community. 

Now that Kathleen has the floor, I am catching up on some blog posts from SXSW.  Unfortunately, I am not there live this year, as I am prepping for a big trip to Israel.  However, thanks to the 'always connected nature of the gang at SXSW - I am watching from afar.  Almost as good as being there (without the parties and beer of course). 

The fact that these two conferences are in separate cities is a HUGE missed opportunity.  I had noted this before arrival, but now that I am here in the flesh it frustrates and saddens me.  There is much learning that both groups could gain from each other - especially the corporate folks from the SXSW crowd (although the issues of public/private/legal are bigger for the corporate folks)

There is nothing like seeing vibrant passionate individuals who are building cool stuff in action to really understand the power of the individual.   Granted, I am always trying to spread the gospel of the new stuff, so it may not be that important to others.  But to me the fact that these two conferences are happening in parallel universes amplifies the chasm of top down, bottom up approach to 'community building'.

Maybe next year - some "corporate guinea pigs' will be entrenched enough in the new universe to sneak into SXSW and visa versa.   

Thanks  to Jeremiah, Chris, and all my twitter friends for keeping me up to date from afar.

   

Was on my way to DLD when...

I learned that my favorite Uncle had passed away at the age of 86.  I usually limit my personal blog posts to my personal blog, but life changing events often force us to stop and reflect and find meaning in ways that our day to day life does not often allow.  So, I thought I would take a moment to reflect on how differently my Uncle Benny and his generation led their lives as compared to how we of the "social media" generation lead ours. 

My uncle Benny was a classic representative of the Greatest Generation - a man who grew up in the depression and fought in WWII. He won numerous medals in the tank corps and even used yiddish to assist the allied troops by translating both with german POW's and Jewish refugees. He was the consummate salesman, always with a quick smile and a strong handshake.  By today's standards of assessing wealth he was not wealthy in the traditional sense, but he was rich with friends and loved ones.  He was loyal and humble and true.  He had a smile that would light up a room.  For as long as I can remember he and my Dad checked in with each other on a daily 11am phone call.  The call may have only lasted a minute - but it took place - daily, for well over 40 years. That is an amazing track record.

What stands out the most to me is that men like my Uncle (and my father) were humble and modest - they were men of action and little chatter.  They had a strong sense of self and right and wrong.  They knew who they were and where they stood.  They were grounded. They were not after glory or fame, they left legacies in their actions and deeds.  They led by quiet example.

In a world that is increasingly externally facing and ego-driven it is a sharp reminder that our actions, friends and the communities we contribute to are what lasts and define us in the end. It is what we give not what we take that is most treasured.

[Note: I am sorry that I was not able to participate in DLD this year.  To all my friends who have been pinging me wondering where I am, now you know.  Thanks for all your condolences and thoughts.]

Technorati Tags: DLD07, randomthoughts