MattDickman.com

links for 2007-10-31

• visualcomplexity.com | A visual exploration on mapping complex networks
  Interesting collection of visual studies in mapping complex networks.
  (tags: analysis analytics visualization maps networks)

Separation of work and play

One of the most talked about points of contention in social networking to date is the idea of separating personal and professional networks. I've heard this from friends in the industry as well as from non-marketing friends. My industry friends all have an opinion. They, mostly, have all moved to Facebook and have limited interaction with LinkedIn. I don't, however, think this speaks for the majority of people as evidenced by my non-marketing friends who work in a variety of fields from non-profit, office equipment and financial services. They're just starting to connect with LinkedIn (the social networking primer?) and Facebook is a buzzword about as far away from them as the moon ("It's for kids").

Single Network with Overlap

Like I said, I have heard both sides of this story. Facebook, for example, is betting on the fact that you will consolidate all of your contacts (professional and personal) into one network. Further, they're releasing a way for people to group their contacts into personal and professional groups to aid you in this separation. (Note that it would be impossible to use LinkedIn as a social network in the way Facebook operates.)

The question with the consolidated network idea, in my mind, is the overlap. How do you deal with a co-worker, client or other contact who you know outside and inside the office? Do you want the client (no matter how close you are) seeing your weekend party images or images of "your friends" going back to homecoming and doing keg stands? That is the real trick with segmenting the overlap.

Separate Networks with Overlap

On the other side of the coin sits LinkedIn. They don't want to be your social network, they want to be your professional network. LinkedIn is betting that a physical separation between social and professional is how people want to keep things. LinkedIn is very professionally focused, image-light and keeps out-of-office banter to a minimum.

The main issue with this segmented approach is, again, the overlap. If you have professional friends on Facebook who you have professional contact with, you have to go to LinkedIn and invite them there as well. The same thing happens in LinkedIn where you have to go to Facebook to invite those you have social contact with.

In the end, I don't think this is an either/or situation. I think that this plays out at the individual level. Personally, I keep these two networks in sync manually and, in the end, they blur together for me. I don't post anything too personal on Facebook so I'll connect with anybody. LinkedIn is set up to do more with my information from a professional point of view. I can search companies, see who is connected easily, etc. Facebook needs to build these tools in to truly compete at the professional level.

The next generation of professional may use their Facebook network as the end-all, pro/social network where they do everything.

So how do you distinguish between the two? Do you actual patrol the people who you connect with on each and keep them separated? Do you keep em separated?

Technorati Tags:
Facebook, LinkedIn, Matt Dickman, social networks, tagging, Techno//Marketer, trends

Buzz Friday for October 26, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across social media and new marketing this week. If there is anything that you would like to see in this post or if you have something you think is Buzz-worthy please drop me an email or leave a comment on this post. I want to make this as beneficial for you as I can.

Buzz Friday is also available as part of the Techno//Marketer Podcast on iTunes. Click here to subscribe and take the Buzz to go.

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]

Inside the video:

• Apple is going to air a commercial created by an amateur fan after the video was found on YouTube. No real details have come about to say if the person is truly an amateur or a pro trying to break in.
  
• Many top blogs got hit with a Google Page Rank penalty this week. The details are still flushing out, but Andy Beard has a good take.
  
• Amazingly Apple's market cap value passed that of IBM this week. Will IBM start running 1984 commercials now that they're the little guy?
  

And in other news:

• ComScore says social networking is two times bigger outside the US. Check out this post on Mashable for more info. Networks also don't translate from country to country. Orkut, for example, is the largest social network in Brazil. Which do you think will become popular in China?
  
• Joel Spolsky has a great post on managing timelines in IT projects. If you are involved please do yourself a favor and read this post.
  
• Rohit has a great summary from the Nielsen CGM Summit. Lots of interesting information here. I love when people live blog and recap conferences. Big value if done right.
  
• There is speculation that LinkedIn may go the IPO route. With so few companies going public, it's tough to tell how the market will receive them.
  
• David Armano questions if digital agencies should be blogging. I absolutely think they should for a number of reasons including thought leadership, experimentation, team engegement and most importantly social media participation. Make sure you add your vote.
  
• Valeria points out that a lot of people are asking the wrong questions in this marketing2.0 world. The question is about control and how companies can keep it. Bottom line is that you cannot and the smartest thing you can do is participate and make sure your voice is heard. Nothing worse than a silent party.
  
• Image digging is coming to Digg.
  
• Facebook is building a mobile platform (is the Facebook mobile OS coming to life?) and is soon to come to Blackberry.
  
• Mozilla's new Prism product will allow the company's online apps to work offline.
  
• The Red Cross used Twitter to keep people updated on the California wildfires.
  
• Iain points to an excellent site by Mini Cooper that allows you to learn during your lunch break. Cool way to keep people engaged through the day.
  
• David Berkowitz put together a great slide to show how he received communication on his birthday this year.
  
• CK gives some great resources on making inroads in social media easier.
  
• Guy Kawasaki re-posts an excellent list of 17 ways to find your passion for anything.
  
• Ticket-text is a company looking to get rid of paper tickets once and for all using QR codes with mobile devices.
  
• Notes from the Microsoft-Facebook conference call announcing their deal.
  
• Google and Nielsen are partnering to measure TV ads.
  
• How do you know when you see good design? Steve Jobs noted recently that "You know when a design is good when you want to lick it." Well put!
  
• Nokia and Reuters are developing an N95 mobile journalism toolkit. More and more phones are becoming powerful publishing platforms.
  
• I liked this list of 11 questions to ask before you design by Johnson and Johnson.
  
• CrispyNews has been sold to Salesforce.com as they target the enterprise.
  
• Google has begun using their own translation service.
  
• On the wings of Radiohead's independent sales success, more and more artists are going straight to digital and skipping the usual channels.
  
• Clearspring announced a syndication service for mobile widgets. This could be huge if the devices can standardize on formats.
  
• Facebook is now providing more data on applications. \
• New service hellotxt messages Twitter, Jaiku, Yappd, Meemi and more all at one time.
  

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. StumbleUpon
   
2. Flixster
   
3. Last.fm
   
4. Upcoming
   
5. Skype
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden

1. Seth's blog
   
2. Duct Tape Marketing
   
3. Search Engine Guide
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Daily Fix
   
6. Diva Marketing
   
7. What's Next
   
8. Drew's Marketing Minute
   
9. Brand Autopsy
   
10. Converstations
    

View the top full top 25

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Wake up cat
   
2. Information R/evolution
   
3. A vision of students today
   
4. Absolutely hilarious mirror prank
   
5. Web 2.0 the machine is us/ing us
   

More

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter the myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes. Get updates in real time when new videos become available.

If you use another podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

You can watch this and other Techno//Marketer videos on your video channel of choice:

   
   

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Attention-casting

There has been a lot of talk about the idea of "life streaming" lately. The term, however, doesn't sit right with me. Life streaming is defined as the use of one online web service to collect RSS feeds and aggregate them into chronological order. The problem I have is that it's not life-streaming. Justin.tv is true life streaming. If you want my life-stream you'll have to follow me around with a camera (which would be pretty boring most days).

What you are streaming is your attention and so I am re-terming this attention-casting. My attention-casting locations look at what I post on this blog, what I bookmark on del.icio.us, the videos I add to YouTube, the items from other people's feeds (350+) that I think are important, photos I take and add to Flickr and items I digg on Digg.com. All of these feeds, when combined in chronological order, tell you what has my attention at that moment and lets you see trends as they happen.

The latest stream that I've created is on Twitter under the username TechnoMarketer. This feed is the best way to see what I think is important in the world of social media in close to real-time. If you decide to follow me there you'll know within 30 minutes when I:

• Share an item in my Google Reader account I think is valuable (this is how I build my Buzz Friday posts too)
  
• Post a video on YouTube (way before I blog about it)
  
• Digg something on Digg.com
  
• Bookmark something on del.icio.us
  
• Add a photo to Flickr
  
• Add a new blog post here on Techno//Marketer
  

I do this through the service Twitterfeed.com which looks for updates from each service every 30 minutes and creates a new Tweet at the TechnMarketer account. Even if you don't use Twitter, you can subscribe to the feed from that account or you can subscribe at one of the other services I use for the same purpose (Jaiku and Tumblr).

One problem with this, and my biggest point of contention, is that this is one-way communication. Because these are aggregated from other services, there is little chance of feedback unless you come back from the original source. I do, however, think that there is value here is being able to see what I think is important almost immediately if you want to stay up to date on news and trends in new media and marketing.

What do you think? Is it valuable to you? Do you like to get information in one big chunk like my Buzz Friday posts?

Technorati Tags:
marketing, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, attention-casting

links for 2007-10-24

• Marketers Explore New Virtual Worlds - WSJ.com
  The WSJ looks at the other virtual world options being explored by marketers.
  (tags: WSJ virtual worlds secondlife)
• Tubemogul.com - Why should Video Marketing be included in your marketing mix?
  A great video marketing best-practice guide from the team at TubeMogul. If you create or are thinking of creating video you need to read this.
  (tags: video resource howto marketing)

New MySpace profile design; too little too late

I received an email from the MySpace crew the other day informing me that they were working on a new profile look-and-feel. I've had a lot of issues with MySpace's design, which I've noted before. Namely I think the advertising encroachment upon the user's personal space is out of hand. The result is that profile pages look cluttered and corporate.

The new version makes a step in the right direction. You can absolutely see a bit of Facebook UI influence and the advertising real estate has decreased by around 30% (in my estimation). The page uses more white space and puts more emphasis on making it feel more my own. The advertising is still way too prominent across the entire site, there is a complete lack of balance that I believe is one element of the exile of people from MySpace to Facebook.

Here are the old and new designs side-by-side. I've highlighted the personal space on the pages.

Old version

New version

MySpace is still the king of traffic at almost 4 times that of Facebook, but Facebook is growing much more rapidly. I think one of the ways that MySpace could try to stop the flood is to focus more on the users. Whether that is in NewsCorp's plans is doubtful.

So what do you think?

• Is MySpace still relevant to you?
  
• How could they bring you back?
  
• Most people have an account, why don't people use it? Is there any going back?
  
• If you could sit down and tell Rupert Murdoch one thing about what he should do with the site, what would it be?
  

Technorati Tags:
marketing, Matt Dickman, MySpace, social networks, Techno//Marketer, User Interface Design

Whiteboard//Session: How Digg works

My latest MarketingProfs Whiteboard//Session video looks at how Digg.com works as a community to add value and filter news.

Last Friday I took an Inside//Out look at social news community Digg.com by showing you what it looked like and went over the key functionality. In this edition of whiteboard session, I want to dig (pun intended) into how the system works as a community to add value to the users.

This functionality has been copied by many sites (Netscape.com was and recently shifted away from it) and is a good model to keep in the back of your mind for the future.

If you know of any topics, acronyms, technobabble or other sites you would like to see covered in a future post, please drop me an email.

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter the myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes. Get updates in real time when new videos become available.

If you use another podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

You can watch this and other Techno//Marketer videos on your video channel of choice:

   
   

Technorati Tags:
Digg, marketing, MarketingProfs, Matt Dickman, social media, Techno//Marketer, user generated content, whiteboard//session

links for 2007-10-23

• Influential Marketing Blog: 6 Smart Agency Rules for Winning Presentations
  An older post from Rohit that I just came across. Still holds up today.
  (tags: agency pitch presentation)
• Advertising Age
  Ad Age's top Indy digital shops.
  (tags: adage agency digital)

Inside//Out: Digg.com

My latest Inside//Out video covering social news site Digg.com is up and running now over at the MarketingProfs Daily Fix.

From MarketingProfs:

This video is geared to give you a visual overview, tell you why you should (or shouldn’t) care about Digg, and give you broad analysis of how the technology could help in other situations. You don’t have to sign up for 50 different networks, just let me do it and guide you through the latest, hottest options around.

I am sure that many of you have heard the name or see the tags around the internet and at the bottom of every blog post. Digg is a social news aggregator that relies on the community of “Diggers” to filter, share and vote on the top news. The site is categorized, but remains largely geared toward technical audiences.

Users of the site submit content by clicking on the Digg icon or submitting it through the site itself. Users add a description of the content along with the URL and tags for reference. Freshly "Dugg" content filters to an “upcoming” area where other users vote it up. Content that has a lot of diggs in a short amount of time move toward the home page at a faster pace (diggs*velocity=popularity).

Here is an Inside//Out look at Digg.com:

Key takeaways for marketers:

• The Digg community is very active and can drive a lot of short-term traffic (MarketingProfs has seen up to 10 fold increases).
  
• Digg, like any social network, has its own policing system to control content.
  
• It’s advisable that marketers not Digg their own content.
  
• Blogs, newspapers, magazines and video sharing sites leverage Digg to share content with a wider audience.
  
• Malicious companies do set up fake accounts to Digg things for clients. This is not advisable to any marketer anywhere.
  
• Adding Digg code to your site is easy. Just head to this page and use any of the pre-built options provided.
  
• Digg also has a cool visualization toolset if you are interested in seeing how active the community is.
  

Look for a new Whiteboard//Session video Monday where I cover how Digg actually works. If you have anything you would like to see featured in the future send me an email.

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter the myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes. Get updates in real time when new videos become available.

If you use another podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

You can watch this and other Techno//Marketer videos on your video channel of choice:

   
   

Technorati Tags:
Digg, Inside//Out, marketing, MarketingProfs, Matt Dickman, social media, Techno//Marketer, technology, user generated content

Buzz Friday for October 19, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across social media and new marketing this week. If there is anything that you would like to see in this post or if you have something you think is Buzz-worthy please drop me an email or leave a comment on this post. I want to make this as beneficial for you as I can.

Buzz Friday is also available as part of the Techno//Marketer Podcast on iTunes. Click here to subscribe and take the Buzz to go.

It's been a couple of weeks since I did a proper Buzz Friday post so here it is. Enjoy!

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]

Inside the video:

• Joe Jaffe is bumrushing the charts to try to get his new book into the Amazon best sellers list. Click here to see how you can help.
  
• Mack Collier writes a great post on the Spirit Airlines fiasco they've created. Long story short, blogger gets hosed, asks for refund, company CEO replies to all saying they don't care and PR person says they don't respond to bloggers. What a mess. Josh picks it up as well here.
  
• Gavin Heaton is holding a contest for marketers to use their smarts and help a small business. You can get more details on his blog here.
  

And in other news:

• Flickr is making more changes to their geotagging/mapping area. Phones and cameras with GPS are making this more and more easy to do.
  
• Valeria Maltoni e-introduced me to Geoff Livingston a couple weeks ago. He's put together a monthly "most influential bloggers" list. Check it out.
• David Reich has issues with PRSA and a change may be underway there. What would they have to lose with being more open?
  
• Traffic to Facebook is still gaining on MySpace according to Nielsen. Still has a long way to go to pass them.
  
• Firefox just released a new update for Mac users to prep for the upcoming Leopard OS release.
  
• Joost, in my opinion, is completely irrelevant as a standalone app. I've argued they should have been browser-based from day one. It looks like that change could be on the horizon.
  
• Karl Long writes on the debate over Facebook vs. the web as the platform. The web is the platform, but as Karl notes, the most open, secure option will win short-term.
  
• The lifesteaming service Tumblr is ramping up for a November 1 relaunch.
  
• C.B. Whittemore has a nice write up on the MarketingProfs B2B conference I attended in Chicago.
  
• Valeria has a great post on the three trends and top ten reason to work with a smart agency. Kudos Valeria! Agencies are you listening?
  
• Branded wikis are all the rage. Wetpaint (a service I've used in the past) is running the Discovery MythBusters fan wiki. Look for more shows to join in.
  
• Idris looks at the platform strategies that abound and digs in to "widgetnomics".
  
• Nokia's new N810 internet tablet launched this week to a lot of fanfare. I am not sure where this fits in to my device menu, but it certainly does look cool.
  
• Eat kosher food? Always on the run? How about a Kosher dog from a vending machine?
  
• Google has released a mobile version of their Documents suite. Would be cool to have the Powerpoint option for mobile as well to present on the go.
  
• First mover into the online HD space goes to Vimeo. Check out the video it's certainly cool. (Time to get a HD camcorder?)
  
• Love this. Airlines have agreed on a bar code standard for checking in by cell phone. Anything that could save time would be awesome.
  
• Apple's iTunes has lowered DRM-free tracks to $.99.
  
• David Berkowitz's company 360i is using his personal blog URL on his business cards. Brilliant move by them to showcase their talent.
  
• Darren Rowse has some outstanding tips on launching a blog network. You can really apply these to launching nearly anything.
  
• YouTube India could come as early as Q1 2008.
  
• Learn where Koreans are as far as cell phone usage is concerned. Wow!
  
• Current TV is going Digg.
  
• BBC is *finally* opening their player to the rest of the world (non-Microsoft that is) with a new Flash player. It's about time.
  
• Steve Rubel on why he thinks there is a pay-per-click recession on the way. He makes some good points.
  
• Thomas Hawk reports on his recent Apple hardware repair.
  
• CK's disappointed with NYC's new marketing campaign. What do you think?
  
• Facebook's targeting LinkedIn with new user groups. Will people buy this? Do we need separate networks or can you filter people out? What is somebody spans both? LinkedIn is counting on there being a need for two.
  
• David Armano rounds up his prolific coverage from the Forrester Forum. He was *everywhere*.
  
• Dave Winer thinks Facebook sucks. Do you care what he thinks? Is he right?
  
• The New York Times has added reader comments to their home page.
  
• Henry Lambert looks at Nike's new Supersonic campaign and compares it to more gritty spots. I agree on the passion the latter shows.
  
• LinkedIn is opening up (kind of). Is it too little too late?
  

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. 9rules
   
2. zefrank.com
   
3. Instructables
   
4. Lulu
   
5. Tagworld
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden

1. Seth's blog
   
2. Duct Tape Marketing
   
3. Search Engine Guide
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Daily Fix
   
6. Diva Marketing
   
7. What's Next
   
8. Drew's Marketing Minute
   
9. Converstations
   
10. Influential Marketing
    

View the top full top 25

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Star Wars trumpet
   
2. Blog action day 2007
   
3. A vision of students today
   
4. SNL: Andy punches
   
5. Sony Bravia Play Doh
   

More

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter the myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes. Get updates in real time when new videos become available.

If you use another podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

You can watch this and other Techno//Marketer videos on your video channel of choice:

   
   

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Live blogging from Kent State Media Mindsets Conference

I am attending, and live blogging from, the Kent State University Media Mindsets Conference today. Nice speaker list on tap today. Among them Joshua Green from the MIT Convergence Culture Consortium, Hollis Towns the Executive Editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer and Bill Stewart of IBM Digital Media. I will be updating this post through the day and cross-posting it to my agency's blog here. They're streaming this live as well.

You can get real-time updates from this conference at my Twitter account.

---

Welcome from Robert Frank, KSU Senior VP and Provost
KSU has created their communication college to merge mass comm, journalist, comm, etc. to one curriculum to get students to hit the ground running. Creating partnerships with technology companies to conduct research.

Keynote from Bill Stewart, IBM Digital Media
"Creative destruction - trends and directions of new and traditional media companies"
Devices drive innovation through history. These devices + the internet are breaking through walls. iPod in Music, World of Warcraft in video games, Netflix downloads in movie rentals and IM/VoIP in communications.

This is leading to a user-centric fluid media lifestyle. Barriers to entry are lowering and will continue in next 3-5 years. Media companies will see an upheaval. New media companies must drive new strategies. Divergent paths will be forged.

Drivers of change. Devices, access, content innovation and buyer and consumer behavior shifts. These are predicated on the devices. The next inflection point will be around 3G+ mobile and broadband, connected devices.

As far as broadband is concerned, cable-to-home has the most US capacity. WiMAX has the most capacity in wireless, but is slow compared to the wired options. A song download from iTunes on wired access is <1 minute. The same song would take 33 minutes on WiMAX.

Primetime TV shift to digital is opening doors for other media. Outcomes include show willingness of consumers to pay, increase total consumption, creates piracy alternatives, shift downstream demand, challenge funding models (PPV) and opening service providers. YouTube traffic bigger than MTV.com. New models are shifting the revenue streams. iTunes = more revenue to the creator, YouTube = 100% to creator.

Business models and leading players are shifting to user contributed open platforms. traditional media is stuck in professional, proprietary quadrant. MySpace uniques in January 2007 close to Super Bowl viewership. Spending is not following the shift to new platforms.

Four prime business models:

• Walled communities (user contributed, proprietary) - Apple iLife, Apple podcasts, Current TV
  
• Traditional media (Professional content, proprietary) - BBC, ABC, EMI
  
• New Platforms (user contributed, open) - SL, YouTube, Google, Facebook, MySpace
  
• Hyper content syndication (professional content, open) - Amazon video, BBC player
  

Proprietary networks can either open up or shift to include more user generated content to move models. This shift can lead to more attention, first-hand learning and user intimacy and refresh their brand. Traditional creators need to figure out how to leverage these changes to capitalize on the changes from a strategic perspective. Music industry prime example of waiting and doing nothing.

Ad spending will change as well. TV spending will take the biggest hit by 2010. Internet spending will continue to grow. Newspaper and magazine will shrink, but not as quickly.

Current.tv model. 1 minute of TV programming costs between $1000 and $10000. Same cost on Current is around $500.

10 recommendations for media companies in the new media world:

1. Put consumers at the center of the business
   
2. Convert knowledge of user behavior to competitive advantage
   
3. Give control to consumers to get share
   
4. Deliver experiences, not just content
   
5. Leverage virtual worlds
   
6. Innovate business models
   
7. Invest in interactive, measurable ad services and platforms
   
8. Redefine partnerships while mitigating fallout
   
9. Shift investments from traditional business to new models
   
10. Create flexible business model
    

---

Keynote from Hollis Towns, Cincinnati Enquirer
"Gannett and the Enquirer's response to it"
News media is shifting. Content is being created faster and looking at new platforms. Community conversation is very important for the Enquirer. Feedback through message boards, etc. is the new engagement strategy. Using moderated boards (why?) instead of open boards. Cincinnati.com is one of the top traffic sites in Ohio. 226 community web pages on the site now. Moving into digital in every way possible.

Moving to "total audience reach" instead of circulation. Community + web + print. Heavy focus on boomers. Abandoning the young reader print reach and trying new models of outreach (Cin Weekly). Readers are skewing a bit older than they'd thought.

Reaching out to local communities. Using "get published" platform to allow local officials and residents to publish hyper-local content.

CincyMoms.com site is hugely successful. Attempted to inject experts and other content, but was rejected by the community. Unfiltered community where the users are the subject matter experts. Self-policing area with a single, known moderator to look for libel or slanderous content.

Big push into video. Partnering with Scripps TV station. Have installed editing suites in the newsroom. Doing a daily webcast that is unpolished and unscripted - getting highest page views on the site. Have hired three full-time programmers to integrate 3rd-party data sources. Creating a community-centered resource for residents.

Created a boomer focus group. Reading styles are different. Boomers lean back and read, younger readers lean forward to read. Subtle differences, but important. Reporters are mobile working in Starbucks and Panera looking for new stories and rarely coming into the office.

---

Keynote from Joshua Green, MIT
"Losers, users and producers: what happens to the audience in a participatory age"
Consumer value chain is shifting. Where, what, how, who are all shifting. Loyalty is shifting as well, could be there today and gone tomorrow. Measurement and categories are changing quickly. Terminology is outdated and tired.

"Convergence Culture". Old and new and merging, shifting in unpredictable ways. Social, cultural and technological shifts = convergence. Transmedia texts - flow across multiple platforms. Conglomeration and cooperation of multiple media sources. Strategic cooperation growing. Media audiences are migratory; consume what they want when they want.

Living in a networked society, growing knowledge communities -> collective intelligence. Participatory culture is emerging as people rework content to be personal. Acquiring skills through play that are applied toward more serious ends. CSI driving interest in science, drives education down the road. Non-linear roadmaps to success.

Four ways to think about consumers:

1. Old consumers were compliant, new consumers are resistant (GMC UGC ad example)
   
2. Old consumers are predictable, new consumers are migratory
   
3. Old consumer isolated, new consumers socially connected
   
4. Old consumers silent and invisible, new consumers noisy and public
   

Convergence altering distinctions between platform, medium, audience, channel and "content". Fans are not on the edge any more. Watching Sopranos on DVD through Netflix is still watching TV content, just not as part of the audience. The relationship between content and form is shifting. Content is being dis-embedded and re-embedded as consumers like.

"Viewser" - combines viewing and using content in ways not intended by creator. Watching shifting to interacting.

"Produser" - audiences are becoming content creators, making the flow of information easy to reverse.

"Collaborative media creators" - Wiki applications allow groups of users to great joint content.

Fan production operates in a different economy than the professional production. It's more of a gift economy than transactional.

Measurement. How to measure expressions vs. impressions. Hard to measure and compare.

Ideas changing. Control, value, reward, niche (collective niches).

---

John West, KSU
LCD: the Next Generation
KSU was the originator and is a top innovator in LCD technology. Industry is moving toward flexible technology and making HD fit smaller spaces. Display technology has kept up with science fiction. Technology is changing design patterns in major industry including automotive.

Kent Displays is introducing flexible LCD into small, commercial applications. Kent is using small, continuous improvements vs. introducing the killer display. Switchable LCD technology (used on glass windows) is moving to consumer products like ski goggles.

New displays will be printed/sandwiched, not in high-tech manufacturing facilities. The material is getting more like cloth and less like molded plastic. Interestingly, LCD technology is born from molecules in cholesterol.

---

Thoughts from afternoon student panel discussion:

• News is coming to them, not having to go find it
  
• News is coming from non-traditional sources
  
• Using mobile to gather and read news
  
• Top media option they'd give up is overwhelmingly newspaper/magazine, then radio and then TV
  
• iPod is the new radio
  
• Using MySpace for music
  
• People's friend counts don't mean anything, more about quality
  
• Using Facebook to communicate (shift from email/IM is massive)
  
• Limited use of virtual worlds
  

Technorati Tags:
Kent State University, event, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer

So you want to go viral eh?

So I was going through the Q&A over on Gooruze (where I am a founding Gooru) yesterday and came across a question by a member wanting to know what to do when a client asks for something "viral". I've seen this question a lot and I've weighed in on it before, but I have refined my thinking over time and wanted to share where I am right now.

The very first thing you have to do is collectively work to define viral. Viral is a goal, not a tactic. Asking the client what their campaign goals are is crucial. You can even ask them "what would be viral success for you?". Get as detailed as possible (400 pass alongs, 50 comments, etc.). As an agency, you have to decide if their expectations are realistic and make a go/no-go decision.

People have delusional dreams that millions of people clamoring for their content. The part that really matters is the engagement that a piece of content creates with your brand. So if something is watched 1,000,000 times and only 10 of those people know who you are and act on it, you have to ask if it's worth it. Alternatively, if something is seen 10 times and the same number know/learn who you are and act on it, your outcome is better. Which is viral to you?

Content that has the goal of becoming viral needs to hit a few key requirements no matter what.

• Uniqueness - viral usually only happens once. Subservient chicken was great, but tell me one of the copycats who followed it up. You can't. Viral happens once and it's done. You have to be the first.
  
• Resonance - things that go viral resonate with their audience so much that they feel a need to share. Could be comedic, cool or dumb, but it has to resonate.
  
• Easy, multi-modal pass-along - should be email-friendly, embeddable, hooked into social networks, IM-friendly, etc. I've seen people make things hard to forward and that kills the idea in its tracks.
  

If a client still doesn't get it, doesn't have goals or won't listen then you should run the other way. They'll never be satisfied, the product will suffer and they'll take you down with them.

Also, check out Seth Godin's take on viral vs. word-of-mouth. Yes, there is a difference and it's important to know.

Are there any other requirements that you set when creating a new campaign? Have you ever walked away from a project or later realized that you should have? What successes have you had and what made people see the value and pass it along?

Technorati Tags:
Gooruze, marketing, Matt Dickman, Seth Godin, social media, Techno//Marketer, viral

Virtual worlds colliding with traditional ones

I was watching a little primetime TV last night and saw a spot by Toyota for their Tundra line of trucks. The 30 second spot features the virtual world/video game World of Warcraft (WoW), but even if you're not familiar with the WoW you can pretty easily follow along. I think it's very progressive of them to use this concept and I'm sure it's reaching the younger male audience that they're targeting. Here it is if you have not seen it.

Another example of virtual worlds coming to mainstream is the October 24 episode of CSI: NY. In the episode a parallel Second Life experience will allow users to interact in a whodunit of unprecedented proportions. Users will be able to log in to SL and walk through the crime lab, process evidence and try to catch the killer.

Both of these endeavors by such large companies show me that they believe virtual worlds are at a tipping point for their target audiences. I imagine this type of integration will become more common in certain audience demographics as the technology gets easier to use and the experience becomes more easily accessible.

This definitely appeals to a pretty narrow audience, but it's a very hip, young, connected, tech-savvy one. Have you seen any other examples of this type of virtual world integration? What other brands lend themselves to this type of hook given the audience?

Technorati Tags:
innovation, interactive marketing, marketing, Matt Dickman, second life, Techno//Marketer, technology, trends, world of warcraft, Toyota

New social marketing community launches

Gooruze, a new people-driven marketing network, launched yesterday and I am proud to be one of the Founding Gooruze. Founders include Andy Beal, Duncan Riley and Brian Solis among others. The site has picked up a bit of press and is already at 413 members.

The idea behind Gooruze is to allow the community of members to create content, share news, rate each piece of content and filter the information that's out there. It's the democratization of marketing thinking. The site runs on the same rock-solid social platform as Minti.com, the much lauded parenting community.

Andy has the best take on the launch so I'll point you over to him to learn more. Definitely sign up when you get a chance and add me as a friend.

Technorati Tags:
marketing, Matt Dickman, social networks, Techno//Marketer, Gooruze

Whiteboard//Session: What is RSS?

Don't you hate when a new acronym arrives on the scene? RSS is a term that is confusing to most non-technical people, but when you break it down it's very simple. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

This is also the first video that I am doing in association with the great folks at MarketingProfs. My goal is to reach as many marketers as possible to evangelize new media and demystify technology. MarketingProfs provides an outstanding platform to do this. You'll notice the new title screens on these videos and you can look for more in the coming weeks and months. Also, Ann Handley informed me that I have the distinction of being the first person (not clipart/stock photo) to grace the home page of MarketingProfs. I am really honored!

Key takeaways:

• It really is simple
  
• RSS allows news to be delivered in near real-time
  
• Eliminates the need to go out to sites to see what's new or changed
  
• RSS drives blog feeds and podcasts (video and audio)
  
• RSS readers aggregate multiple feeds in chronological order to make consumption easier
  

If you have any topics or technobabble that you would like to see me cover, drop me an email or leave a comment!

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes and get updates in real time.

If you use another reader/podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

You can always watch this and other Techno//Marketer videos on your video channel of choice:

   
   

Technorati Tags:
marketing, MarketingProfs, Matt Dickman, RSS, Techno//Marketer, web2.0formarketers, whiteboard//session

Through the marketing lens; which do you use?

Before you ask, no I have not transformed this blog into a photography blog. I want to share a simple little metaphor that I use to shift my thinking from strategy to implementation and back again on a daily basis. I hope that it helps you in your day-to-day.

If you look in the gear bag of any professional photographer you will notice one thing right off the bat. They carry multiple lenses all the time. To the amateur observer, it may look like overkill or waste. Quite the contrary though, each lens is slightly different to capture a unique angle (wide angle vs. telephoto) or work in a specific condition (sports photography vs. super-close, macro photography). Changing your lens changes your mindset. One day you have a huge, telephoto lens to shoot a sporting event and the next day you're crawling around on the ground taking shots of bugs.

That metaphor of the physical changing of the lens is something that I use to adapt to situations in my job and while writing for this blog. If you have a hard time shifting from 30,000 foot view to 3 foot view, this post if geared toward you. Here are the lenses that I think about and what situations I use them in.

The tactician - telephoto - This lens gets you right in the action. It blocks out everything else in the environment and just focuses on one main object. The images that come off this beast are extremely sharp and can freeze even the fastest action. The tradeoff is that you miss everything that happens on the periphery. Most photographers that use this lens also carry an entire other camera with a wide angle lens to get close up action.

Tactics live here. The idea of the telephoto lens is very useful when trying to get things done. I use it to focus on implementing a specific tactic when I need total focus. It comes in handy when evaluating a new social network or reading through RSS feeds. The problem with this lens is that you have to remember to take it off, it's very easy to forget and stay too focused. It's a short-term option and should be used as such.

The generalist - zoom - This is the all-purpose lens. It's wide enough to capture most of the action, but still lets you get pretty close. A photographer could use this lens full time, but they would miss the really wide angle shots and they can't get close enough to the detail.

This is a good way to look at most client situations once the overall strategy is decided. This is the lens I use when I am looking for tactics that are on-point for the client and their industry. It lets you keep the strategy in mind and make sure that the implementation will work. Getting stuck in this lens will not allow you to see broader trends that are emerging, nor will you be able to anticipate the implementation challenges before they arise.

The strategist - wide angle - This is the strategist's lens. The wide angle lets you see everything that is in the environment and how it impacts the subject. You can capture more real estate

This is the lens that lets me look at services like Twitter and Facebook and see their limitations and possibilities. This is client-neutral, but it then lets me operate with what I know about my clients and their industries. That combination is where strategic recommendations come from. The struggle for many who use this lens it to get stuck in this view. The challenge is to take the learning here, shift to the zoom lens with a bit more focus and then finally to the telephoto for implementation.

Real World Examples:

Here is a visual example from one of my photos. Each is of the same scene, but with a different perspective.

This is the view through the telephoto lens. Seeing this image you can tell this is a weathervane on the top of a structure. The focus is on the bird shape and little else is known about the surroundings. This could be in Utah, Maine or right next door. It could be on a barn, garage, house or castle. Not much else can be divined by this image, we need more information.

Here is a wider view of the same scene. We can tell a bit more here right? The building is colonial and the weathervane sits high atop a round area with windows. We can't really tell the full environment still at this level, but we can see some shadows from nearby trees for some clues. The house is painted white and there are quite a few windows in the main part of the structure. This could be a house, large horse barn, office building, etc. We need more information.

Viola! Here is the full image. If you don't recognize the house it's Mount Vernon, George Washington's house near D.C. This is the full scene, you can see the entire house, the trees around it tell you the season is summer, the shadows tell you it's mid-afternoon. The weathervane is but a small spot as the environment takes over.

This really does help me to shift from one view to anther and allows me to catch myself when I get stuck in one view. With all of the information bombarding us on a daily basis, it's more crucial than ever to switch lenses fast and often.

Have you ever been stuck in one view? How have you shifted yourself out of it?

Technorati Tags:
marketing, Matt Dickman, strategy, Techno//Marketer, trends

links for 2007-10-13

• CPG Consumers Trust Online Reviews - eMarketer
  Interesting study from eMarketer looking at the perception of user reviews for CPG products.
  (tags: CPG reviews UGC)

Social media and the 2007 Chicago marathon

I spent this past weekend in the great city of Chicago cheering on my wife and our friend in their running of the 2007 Chicago marathon. We had a bit of a challenging start to the weekend (flight delayed, missed dinner with friends, long lines at every turn) that served as a foreshadowing to what was in store for them later on Sunday.

If you're not living in the midwest, let me give you an idea of the weather this past weekend. It was FREAKING HOT! So hot that you didn't want to go outside and this is not normal for this time of year. It should have been 55 degrees and it was 85. So translate those temperatures to trying to run 26.2 miles in the middle of the day. A recipe for disaster.

The race started great. 35,000 people shuffling over the start/finish line meant they didn't get into their normal stride until 20 minutes after the leaders started. That's a LOT of people. A group of friends and I stood at mile three to cheer them on. Everybody looked good for the most part, but that didn't last long. We didn't see them again until the 12 mile marker and they looked strong, but definitely feeling the heat. People started falling and sitting down. Only later did they tell us that there was no water until the fifth mile. That's a long time to be running in 85 degree weather. 300+ people were taken to hospitals and 1 runner tragically died.

Needless to say (if you didn't know) they cancelled the race at the 3 hour 30 minute mark. My wife and friend made it to the 18th mile and they were told to start walking back to the start/finish line. There was a lot of confusion and some people kept going (without medical or water support). They got their medals, but felt cheated as they were definitely strong enough to keep going. I am super proud of them both for running strong and dealing with the situation better than I would have.

Race directors denied the fact that water was a scarcity. They claimed that there was plenty of water along the way and all stations were well staffed. But I saw something interesting watching the people run past me. Some carried cameras. They were documenting their runs along the way. Taking photos and videos of the crowds, the empty water stations, people standing in line at gas stations buying water, begging spectators for their water and the neighbors who came to their aid. Kudos to the people of Chicago, but shame on the race organizers.

Here are some of the videos from YouTube:

Here are more videos from YouTube. Here are blog posts about it and Flickr photos too.

I find these videos, photos and blog entries really compelling. You can see the frustration on the faces of people who trained for months only to start running with a lack of support. This situation is playing itself out in other events, in stores and on the street.

Who do you believe? The race organizer or the runners with the cameras? Who will you believe, your customer with the camera or the store manager? This is a movement that's just getting started.

Technorati Tags:
Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, user generated content, video, YouTube, 2007 Chicago Marathon

Inside//Out: Jaiku

Jaiku is a service that has been on my radar screen for some time now and I've been meaning to do an Inside//Out post on them. So why do one now? Simple, Google acquired the company yesterday (10/9/07). That alone has sent a deluge of marketers to the web trying to learn more about this presence application.

To keep it simple, Jaiku is on the same principle as Twitter (see my earlier video on Twitter here) or Pownce. You have 140 characters to tell people what you're doing, promote something of interest or communicate with colleagues and friends. Communication is one- and two-way through the messaging system. Here is the video with a more in-depth look.

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video]

Similarities to Twitter/Pownce:

• There are 140 characters to each message
  
• Brands can participate by creating an identity in the system
  
• Users are added to each profile to receive updates
  
• There is a developer API to pull information from the system
  
• You can send and receive messages from a mobile device
  
• Both services allow users to create a badge widget to post on their blog or website
  
• Both allow updates from IM
  

Differences:

• Twitter lacks the channel functionality to target messages to users of similar interests
  
• Jaiku messages are threaded so that people can reply to an individual message and create a new, focused conversation
  
• Jaiku can act a a life streaming repository to pull content from multiple places into one feed
  
• Jaiku allows icons for each post to add visual context
  

[Extra:]
Robert Scoble did an interview with the founders of Jaiku on Podtech.

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes and get updates in real time.

If you use another reader/podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

You can always watch this and other Techno//Marketer videos on your video channel of choice:

   
   

Technorati Tags:
Conversations, Inside//Out, interactive marketing, marketing, Matt Dickman, mobile, social media, Techno//Marketer, trends, Twitter, user generated content, Web2.0, Jaiku

The Radiohead experiment; a fan's view

I am sure that if you read this blog, or other blogs with a similar focus, you've doubtlessly heard about British band Radiohead's new, open pricing experiment. If you have not, here is the overview. There is no price for their new album "In Rainbows". You as a user choose the price that you are willing to pay for the album and there are no limits. If you want it for free, it's yours. If you want to pay $100, they'll take your money.

While this has been covered by every newspaper and blogger from here to Timbiktu, I want to add a slightly different take on things. I want to tell you about my viewpoint as a FAN. I love Radiohead. I've seen them in concert 5+ times (they don't tour a lot) and I own every album they have produced. When this situation came up, I immediately thought about my valuation of their album using past experience and emotional connection to the band.

So what am I going to pay? $25 (USD). That's more than I've ever payed for a single release album. Why am I paying so much? Here is my thinking. The band has provided me countless hours of enjoyment over the years, set memories to music and given it their all from the CD to the stage. I also know that in the past when I purchase one of their albums, the band gets completely hosed. I remember reading at one point that only about $.50 from each album sale goes to the band members, so this is a chance to make sure they get what they deserve.

I think there are a number of loyal fans that will pay top dollar for this release, but I know there are many who will pay less or take the album for free. (Not sure how it will pan out financially for the band or how they'll be tracked on the charts.) Free isn't necessarily bad though. I guarantee the next time they come to town a lot more people will know who they are and will attend the show, because they'll have their music on their iPod.

Radiohead is a fairly broad-reaching band, but they're not in the mainstream like a U2 or Dave Matthews Band. That would be the ultimate social experiment...can this open pricing model work on a mass, global scale?

This could signal a fundamental shift in the music industry where the content will be the giveaway/promotion as bands make their money touring? What's more profitable, making $.50 a copy or introducing millions of people to your brand?

[UPDATE:] Check out Mack's post with some results and more thinking on this topic.

Technorati Tags:
innovation, marketing, Matt Dickman, social media, Techno//Marketer, Word of Mouth, Radiohead

Starbucks song of the day and physical artifacts

If you haven't been to a Starbucks in the last week or so, you may have missed a cool new promotion their doing with iTunes. Each day for a month, Starbucks is giving customers a small card (business card size) away with a new artist on it. On the back of the card is a code to redeem the song in the iTunes Music Store.

This is not only a good continuation of the Apple + Starbucks relationship, but a way to simultaneously drive traffic to the physical store (you can only get them in person) and to iTunes. This plays well with the iPhone and iPod Touch relationship that's already been formed between the two companies and shows Starbucks' continued move into the music retail space.

I love this idea on a couple of levels. Not only is there a big benefit to the end user (around $30 in free music), but it most likely will drive the incremental revenue to Starbucks to cover the expense a number of times over. The program also solidifies the music push to Starbucks customers who (most of which) have not ever purchases a CD or other DVD inside the store and it reinforces the position to people who have. Starbucks is also promoting new artists on a national level, the majority of whom I have not heard of.

The other piece of this that I think has hooks into MANY marketing plans is the idea of a physical artifact that ties the offline to the online. This physical card is easy to hand out at the register, easy to shove into a pocket or purse and just as easy to redeem online. These physical ties to the online world are powerful physical reminders and bridges to take offline customers into the online experience.

This strategy is one of the reasons that I love what Hugh MacLeod does, taking artwork on the back of business cards and using them as digital and physical artifacts (or "social objects" as Hugh calls them). Hugh has grown this into work with Stormhoek winery and Microsoft (pictured here), creating elements that drive users to engage with the brands on- and off-line.

I am not talking about tchotchke. These items have intrinsic value, they are not throw-aways with a web URL.

What could you create today that could take your current customers or visitors to your website or location on the social network? Is it art on the back of your business card? Is it a USB drive with cool content on it? The possibilities are endless.

Technorati Tags:
Apple, marketing, Matt Dickman, Starbucks, Techno//Marketer, Promotions, itms

The future of social, mobile networks

Greg Verdino is away on vacation, but he asked me to guest blog on a topic of my choosing while he was gone. On top of being honored to be included with other great bloggers, like Doug Meacham, Ryan Karpeles and Jonathan Baskin, I knew I had to push myself to keep up with Greg's high standards.

The post that I wrote is a press release from the future (2009 to be exact) where Facebook releases a mobile operating system. It's where I think that the mobile, social web could go to truly bring value to the users and leverage mobile technology.

So, if you get a chance, head on over to the post on Greg's blog and check it out. Would love to know what you think.

Technorati Tags:
Greg Verdino, marketing, Matt Dickman, mobile, mobile devices, social networks, Techno//Marketer, technology

Whiteboard//Session: What is AJAX?

Not a day goes by when I don't see complex technical terms thrown around in media press or on blogs. I often wonder if the average marketer knows what half of these terms mean. This new series is aimed at graphically illustrating (this is where the whiteboard comes into play) complex terms in ways that normal, non-geek people can understand.

In this installment, I take a look at AJAX. This is a huge Web2.0 buzzword that you hear all the time, but do you really know what it means? It's actually quite straight forward from a marketing point of view.

AJAX Stands for Asynchronous JAvasript and XML. As a marketer you don't need to know about Javascript, which is a programming language, nor do you really need to know about XML, which is a data storage standard. The Asynchronous part is what is interesting. This allows web pages to behave in a more dynamic, application-like manner. Google's Reader, Mail and Documents all work with AJAX to make them work more fluidly for the end user. Data is transmitted and stored via XML behind the scenes to enable this process to happen.

This is also responsible for the so called "death of the pageview". Pages don't need to reload to get content thereby eliminating impressions. Check out the video for a tutorial on what AJAX is from a 30,000 foot, marketing centric view.

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]

Key takeaways:

• AJAX allows technology to get out of the way of the end user
  
• UX is improved through more dynamic, application-like interfaces
  
• This idea is a driver behind Web2.0, but has been around for a while
  
• Microsoft has their own version of AJAX called Atlas (same principle behind it)
  
• AJAX bridges the design/UI field and the technical/integration field to make the users happier
  
• Less pages to load means less impressions hence the death of the pageview
  
• Major companies are using AJAX to design more responsive, rich interfaces than is possible in Flash
  

Is there a term that's confusing you? Do your tech guys like to show you up and you want a little revenge? Email me or leave me a comment with the terms/ideas/buzzwords that you would like to see explained in a future post. Also, let me know if you have ways you think I can improve on this concept.

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes and get updates in real time.

If you use another reader/podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

You can always watch this and other Techno//Marketer videos on your video channel of choice:

   
   

Technorati Tags:
marketing, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, technology, video, Web2.0, AJAX, whiteboard//session, whiteboard

Blogging from the Marketing Profs B2B Forum 2007 - Day 2

Yesterday was my second day attending the Marketing Profs B2B Forum in Chicago. I met a lot of blog friends and made some new ones. The panel I attended on emerging media and its implications on B2B marketing was a great one and had the audience truly engaged. Here are my takeaways (videos will be coming later).

[From left to right: Chris Yeh, Todd Andrlik, Mike Gamson, Phil Gomes, Matt Lohman and David Armano]

David Armano (moderator) | Critical Mass

• B2B is made up of people
  
• People demand good experiences
  
• Technology is an enabler to deliver experience
  
• Site progression has gone from Useful -> Usable -> Desirable -> Sustainable -> Social
  
• 25% of social media content on the top 20 brands comes from social media
  
• Dell example - Direct2Dell for blogging, Ideastorm for crowdsourcing, DellOutlet on Twitter
  
• SalesForce example - Merging platforms with Facebook to create FaceForce
  

Todd Andrlik | Leopardo Construction

• Social newsroom at Leopardo powered by Wordpress blogging software
  
• Appears traditional, but has built in social media hooks
  
• Search, RSS, tagging, categories are all built in
  
• Looking to niche audiences to create blogs and show thought leadership (green building)
  

Matt Lohman | Knowledgestorm

• Knowledge storm syndicates popular, topical blog content and surrounds it with related white papers and research
  
• Engagement is over a longer sales cycle
  
• Leveraging RSS to aggregate and disperse information
  
• Bringing experts to the customers as a service and surround them with content
  

Phil Gomes | Edelman me2revolution

• Demonstrated his Bloglines account live (750+ feeds)
  
• Segments the information topically
  
• Uses this network of nodes to process raw information
  
• Looking at small programs that are more cost effective and add up to big benefit
  

Chris Yeh | Ustream

• Video equipment is cheap and available
  
• Youtube proves the demand for video is in place
  
• Ustream does live video over the web for free
  
• The interaction is 2-way
  
• Chat is built in so feedback is real time
  
• The content is embeddable and therefore portable to other networks
  
• There is a sense of urgency with live video (if you miss it you lose out)
  

Mike Gamson | LinkedIn

• LinkedIn empowers users to solidify offline relationships
  
• Use on new biz pitches to leverage connections
  
• The platform is evolving, but is professionally focused
  
• Facebook is much more social and should remain separate
  

Related: You can see the MarketingProfs event photo pool on Flickr here.

Technorati Tags:
David Armano, marketing, MarketingProfs, Matt Dickman, social media, Techno//Marketer, Phil Gomes, Chris Yeh, Mike Gamson, Matt Lohman, Todd Andrlik

What have you found when you Google yourself?

I am at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum in Chicago. During the networking hour last night, Ann Handley and I took my video camera around and asked people "What have you found when you Google yourself?". The responses from David Armano, Christine (C.B.) Whittemore, Chris Yeh, William Arruda and others are thought provoking and hilarious.

Check my first post on the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog. Here is the video from the event.

Technorati Tags:
David Armano, marketing, MarketingProfs, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, video, C.B. Whittemore, Chris Yeh, William Arruda, Ann Handley