May

30

Change or Die: The video

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Heh…Microsoft released this that really illustrates the ‘old marketing’ philosophy of customer . It reinforced the point I was trying to make in this post.


The Break Up
Uploaded by geertdesager


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May

29

How to select the right social media network(s)

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With the recent launch of Melcrum’s new social media site for communications professionals, I’m beginning to really start evaluating which networks I associate myself with. There are many, and to fully participate in any of them does take time. And, like you, I’m a busy guy. Evaluating each site based on my needs will show me where I should be spending my time.

I’ll get into the rest of my evaluation criteria in a moment, but let me talk for a moment about what I think is the key evaluation criteria: a site’s reputation — because by association and extension, that reputation can rub off on you. I’m thinking carefully about my network associations because using a particular network can colour how others perceive you as a communicator, or as a member of society in general

We’ve already developed some stereotypes: Slashdotters are tech-heads. Diggers are malcontents, 2nd Lifers are just plain weird, Twitters, nobody gets..etc. Heh, these aren’t my personal opinions, as I dabble in all of them, but they’re comments I’ve heard from others.

So, by using a particular network, as much as when you choose your clothing for a /networking function, you are projecting a particular persona, a particular character, so you’d better be careful which one you choose. are already making up their minds about these sites, and about you.

Other criteria I’m using to evaluate my networks:

  • Who’s there. Is there a group of and thought leaders actively participating in discussion? Then I want to be there. Odds are, if they’re talking about something, that ’something’ will soon be in my world and I’m better off knowing about it now.
  • A large . Bigger can be better, especially if they’re participating, and you’ve got a particular issue or you’d like opinions about.
  • Smart . Having that easily enable network building and maintenance is key. Allow me to import my address , out all my other sites and allow me to invite friends to this one. Make it easy for me to find, add and communicate with friends, and you’ll have sold me.
  • Site theme or purpose. Why are you networking and connecting? How does it support your strategy? these questions and you’ll understand why an economics professor wishing to extend his professional network wouldn’t sign up to a -oriented site (unless he’s interested in too, but then that’s not professional interest, as I see it). Basically, it’s not where his is, nor is it where he would get any reciprocal value — ie, what’s in it for me.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, there are many sites now, so strategically selecting where you spend your time is key. I think I’ll settle into two or three sites professionally, but I’ll keep trying others, and may migrate from one to another depending on my needs.

That’s the beauty of this , new and better ways to communicate are being developed every day. I’m looking forward to a great ride.

So, these are my key criteria, what are yours? What networks do you use and why? Or why not?

FYI: This post started as a comment to Dan York’s Disruptive Conversations item: “Melcrum’s Communicators’ Network makes its debut - another social network for communications professionals”. Then it grew, took on a life of it’s own, and now resides here. Thanks for the inspiration Dan!

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May

28

One new Wordpress plugin adds tons of new blogging goodness.

Filed Under Blogging | 1 Comment


At the bottom of this, and every other post on this site, you’ll now find a ‘Sphere: Related ’ link.

Click it, and a friendly little popup will ping the Sphere servers, and display headlines from the most relevant that Sphere knows about… ‘eh?

So give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Run a blog? Then check out the plugin.

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May

28

Taking the ‘Chris Brogan’ challenge

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Well, not really a challenge, but more of an opportunity to flesh out my About page a bit by adding to it in a format that Chris suggests.

A Quick Sketch Biography of

The thing most know me for is…
likely my passion for things technological. Yeah, I’m a bit of a geek; I must be if I’ve hacked my Xboxen into media centres, have built my wife a new computer, and am managing a Ubuntu server farm as a hobby. And some know me from the two cute girls I often hang out with :-)

The I associate the most with are¦
my wife, the neighbours, my group, clients, past/present coworkers

who have influenced my life are…
parents, wife, and a few select coworkers/mentors

One challenge I took on and overcame was…
setting up and managing an E3 booth for a local games developer — and winning awards for it.

My early years, before you probably got to know me were¦
filled with , , television (on the tech side). Go figure.

You might not know this, but ¦
I like air planes - warbirds.

I’m passionate about¦
. It’s so when can extend the conversation, enabling new perspectives and allowing participants who wouldn’t normally be part of the conversation.

In the next year or two, I hope to¦
get better at & , expand my client base, have more !

All right, that’s my bio…what about yours? Post yours and like Chris, I’ll read it too…I’m always curious who reads this stuff :-)

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May

28

My ‘I might be crazy’ goal: wake up at 5:00

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I’d read this post on the 10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It, and, after carefully reviewing the section on how to do it, thought I’d give it a chance.

Don’t make drastic changes. Start slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.

Today is Day One…set the alarm clock back 15 minutes. We’ll see how that goes :-)

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May

25

Another great example of networking and self promotion via Twitter

Filed Under Social Media | 2 Comments


Earlier this month I listed 5 reasons why your boss will let you use Twitter at work, and here’s an excellent example of item one - Networking.

Heidi Miller, Podcasting Princess - host of the podcast Diary of a Shameless Self-Promoter, is one of my friends on Twitter.

I follow her, and a number of other professionals to see what they’re up to, what they’re thinking and what’s new in their world — odds are it may enter my world someday soon so a heads-up is a good thing.

Earlier this week, she ‘tweeted’ that she was attending a presentation by marketing guru Seth Godin on his new , The Dip.

Returning from the event, she posted her thoughts (which I haven’t read yet — my current connection is heavily firewalled), and also announced she was giving away four copies of The DipAnother great example of networking and self promotion via Twitter (image: ) — via .

Naturally, I piped up and said ‘Hey Heidi — over here’, and now I’ve got a copy of the coming in the mail (Thanks Heidi!)

So, what really happened here that we can learn from? What did enable that a regular blog or podcast couldn’t?

  1. Reducing the activity timeframe. Heidi made the announcement and concluded her ‘give away’ within minutes. The same kind of process would have taken a day or two to conclude with a blog.

  2. Increased attention. is the new kid on the block, so to speak. By utilizing this channel, she drew attention to this offer within this new channel.
  3. Increased awareness. Heidi increased awareness of her brand, her offerings (podcasts, consultation, etc) and positioned herself as a , cutting edge practitioner who understands how to use this new . Quite effectively.

Now this got me thinking, what else can do for you? How else can we use this micro-format to create and grow conversations? What do you think? Interested in what I’m doing? Follow me on Twitter or Jaiku (a competitor).

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May

24

Fast, free and effective Palm Pilot backup with NVBackup

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Fast, free and effective Palm Pilot backup with NVBackup (image: P1010542_150)Earlier this morning I had despaired; my Palm Pilot had fallen and couldn’t get up. It had crashed. Hard. I had to force a Hard Reset to even get it back to the factory default condition.

I’d lost my ebooks, , contacts, everything. Sure, it was backed up on my computer, in a folder, but a manual restore requries an hour or two of reinstalling.

I was bummed, until I remembered that in one of my ’smart’ moments, I ‘d installed a ‘fire and forget’ utility to my SD Card: NVBackup.

This little sucker fired up, restored, and bam, I’m back in . Everything was where it was supposed to be. A complete restore.

In five minutes.

Recommendation: if you do nothing else for your Pilot today, read this review, then and install NVBackup.

Then forget about it, until you need it.

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May

23

Change or Die: How web tech is killing organizations

Filed Under Photography, Social Media | 3 Comments


Change or Die: How web tech is killing organizations (image: 66u8ydk)Many dinosaurs roam the organizational landscape, complacent in their daily routine, unaware of a new threat to their existence, one that will wipe them out if they don’t figure out a way to evolve and adapt to embrace it.

Hyperbole aside, I’m talking about , new , communities, or even 2.0, whatever you want to call it.

Three recent items caught my attention and touched on this idea:

“Take Your PowerPoint And” — BusinessWeek
“Unconferences turn the plodding, predictable gathering inside out. They’re a hybrid of a teach-in and a jam session, with a little show-and-tell mixed in, and they are attracting hundreds…”

“Craigslist Founder: People Who Run Printing Presses ‘Screwed’”  — Editor & Publisher
Newmark told an all-too-knowing that this is a time of “ destruction” and that he has a “great deal of sympathy for who run the printing presses. They are screwed.”

Frequent recent discussion in For Immediate Release podcast — Neville Hobson & Shel Holtz
Discussion about professional organizations, and the of communities (MyRagan.com, , LinkedIn, etc) as networking alternatives.

So what I see here is three examples of organizations that serve a particular . Three groups that are being challenged by one external force, the rapid adoption of easy-to-use . 2.0 if you will.

It makes sense, to me as a user. Heck, why would I pay thousands of dollars to attend an educational / networking / professional conference when I can attend an ‘unconference’ for ? Would you? Why join a professional network when you can get much of the same value, again, for ?

I’m looking at this and thinking that the value provided by these and events compete with any value delivered previously by traditional organizations and communities.

This is a logical evolution. services have already changed the shape of many brick-and-mortar businesness, and invented many new models too! I had my last set of business cards printed by moo.com. I visit bookshops and stores less as I order more from sources, and am continuing my education by taking courses through an accredited university. Physical presence is not necessary to meet my needs.

But that’s old hat now. What is new is the of communities and services that leverage the power of the crowd. Some call this ‘crowdsourcing‘.

I think of it as active communities of committed , creating new value in a way that disrupts the traditional model that organizations have used to provide value to their members.

This diminishing value will result in declining memberships (I may not be joining some organizations), unless these organizations recognize that someone has moved their cheese.

To quote from that esteemed tome on , Who Moved My CheeseChange or Die: How web tech is killing organizations (image: ):

Happens
They Keep The Cheese
Anticipate
Get Ready For The Cheese To Move
Monitor
Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old
Adapt To Quickly
The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese
Move With The Cheese
Enjoy !
Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!
Be Ready To Quickly And Enjoy It Again & Again
They Keep The Cheese.

So, these organizations will have to figure out how to to remain relevant to their audiences or members. Or they risk becoming extinct.

They must , and that’s where the grand adventure lies. Exploring the facets of , discovering the new ways an organization can serve its publics.

There lies the challenge, and the . Yes there are risks, but they can be managed with due diligence.

Given that, how would a newspaper make itself relevant in this new age of citizen journalism, where stories are developed by citizens with a blog, and no traditional journalistic credentials. What happens when photographs are freely available with Creative Commons Attribution licenses on flickr, what happens to the staff photographer and his trade association? Do they lose relevance?Change or Die: How web tech is killing organizations (image: 4u0j6ms)

What about other organizations, what about yours? Do you work for a Dinosaur?

** Update **

Just saw this lovely Diesel Sweeties cartoon that eloquently sums up.

Title courtesy afterfate via flickr

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