::HorsePigCow:: marketing uncommon -- a blog by Tara Hunt

This Week’s Links on Ma.gnolia

December 28, 2008 – 12:02 am

Some stuff I’m reading this week…

2) GIFTS & GIFTING | Eggnography.com - 12 Days of Xmas

Halcyon explains the gift economy in a very awesome way.

The Human Brain - Sleep and Stress

Every animal sleeps, but why the brain needs sleep has remained a mystery. Neuroscientists now believe sleep is not only crucial to brain development, but is also necessary to help consolidate the effects of waking experience – by converting memory into more permanent and/or enhanced forms.

How to get or lose or not get Twitter followers | Broadcasting Brain

Let’s (re)examine Twitter. It’s a running stream of Tweets: messages, comments, links, and other communication that you can see on the Web or by a mobile computing device. You can view the general stream of information (the public timeline) that everyone contributes to. Most people see a personalized stream created by the people they have chosen to follow.

Being followed can be a compliment because it means that someone chose to listen to you out millions of other Twitter users. This is important because several months ago Twitter put limits on the number of people that you can follow. Some people have amassed a grandfathered follower list of tens of thousands of people. Now, you can’t follow more than 2000 people, so being followed is a bigger deal than it used to be.

Nice Translator - The fast, easy to use online translator

NiceTranslator is a fast, easy to use online translator that allows a user to translate into multiple languages as they type. Nice Translator was designed with simplicity and functionality in mind.

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

By miss rogue | Posted in stuff | Comments (2)

Kisses to HoHoTO Tonight

December 15, 2008 – 4:51 pm

I made this little video for my friends, Duarte DaSilva and Ryan Taylor, some of the organizers behind HoHoTO:

Hello HoHoTO! from missrogue on Vimeo.

If you are in the Toronto area and you haven’t already gotten dolled up to head to this, do it now!

By miss rogue | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (16)

This Week’s Links on Ma.gnolia

December 14, 2008 – 12:01 am

Some stuff I’m reading this week…

Cory Doctorow: willing science fiction into fact | Books | guardian.co.uk

“A society that doesn’t protect unpopular ideas is one that is probably doomed.”

Lessons from India in gender politics. - By Ray Fisman - Slate Magazine

In a study currently under review, Anderson and Flynn report that while both Howard and Heidi were rated as equally competent (they were the same person, after all), students described the female version of the character as overly aggressive, and were much less likely to want to work with or hire her. So the decisive, assertive traits that are often valued in leaders are received very differently when observed in women than when seen in men. Howard was a go-getter. Heidi was unlikably power-hungry.

The Feminine Critique - New York Times

Catalyst’s research is often an exploration of why, 30 years after women entered the work force in large numbers, the default mental image of a leader is still male. Most recent is the report titled “Damned if You Do, Doomed if You Don’t,” which surveyed 1,231 senior executives from the United States and Europe. It found that women who act in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes — defined as focusing “on work relationships” and expressing “concern for other people’s perspectives” — are considered less competent. But if they act in ways that are seen as more “male” — like “act assertively, focus on work task, display ambition” — they are seen as “too tough” and “unfeminine.”

Is There Anything Good About Men?

First, culture relies on men to create the large social structures that comprise it. Our society is made up of institutions such as universities, governments, corporations. Most of these were founded and built up by men. Again, this probably had less to do with women being oppressed or whatever and more to do with men being motivated to form large networks of shallow relationships. Men are much more interested than women in forming large groups and working in them and rising to the top in them.

Bias Study Sees Few Gains for Female Leaders | workforce.com

Multiple research studies show that men and women exhibit similar leadership styles, according to Catalyst. Another “double-bind” dilemma, the group says, is that female leaders face higher standards than male leaders and are rewarded with less. Then there’s the “competent but disliked” quandary, Catalyst says.

“When women exhibit traditionally valued leadership behaviors such as assertiveness, they tend to be seen as competent but not personable or well-liked,” Catalyst said in a summary of its report.

DDN Headline: European women more internet savvy than men, EU report shows

European women have overtaken men in their Internet take-up, a report published on 14 February suggested

En-gendering the next great Web Retail revolution? - broadstuff

Women represent a good half of the number of users of the web and even more on social networks.

They make over 80% of all real world consumer purchases and according to a recent survey conducted by Mastercard run across 7 countries recently, women now shop more online than men – though they spend less. Some of the reasons for this being security issues and bad website design.

Anger in the office: Its effect could depend on your gender | View from the Cubicle | TechRepublic.com

Guess who was rated significantly less competent than all the others? Yup, the angry female CEO. Brescoll noted that the group said they viewed angry females as significantly more “out of control.”

“Prop 8 - The Musical” starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more… from FOD Team, Jack Black, Craig Robinson, John C Reilly, and Rashida Jones

A star-studded cast turns out for “Prop 8 - The Musical.”

Cowork Utah - Orem business provides office for people who work from home

Millions of people across the country work from home. For many, the freedom of being their own boss and working their own hours sounds like a good deal. But there are some downsides to that, and a Utah County man has a solution.

Jack Hadley
“It’s kind of the alternative to putting a laptop under your arm and heading to Starbucks and meeting your friends there. This is a place where you can come and go,” explained Jack Hadley, owner of Cowork Utah.

The Bailout. Coming this January.

Hilarious Ad for the Auto Industry.

8 Experts Predict How Web 2.0 Will Evolve In 2009 | Radical Tech | Fast Company

2008 was the year that Web 2.0 became more mainstream. More ad agencies, businesses, and non-profits used Web 2.0 tools as a way to build community and relationships, cross promote products and issues, and integrate their online and offline marketing strategies. Some like Zappos were extremely successful and nailed their Web 2.0 strategy while others like the makers of Motrin were burned by mommy bloggers for not doing proper research on their target audience.

The power of Twitter and how it can save your reputation. - Ecademy

Meet @missrogue , a contact from from Twitter connections. She was waiting yesterday for a delivery from UPS. Waited all day, don’t you know. Heard nothing. Throughout the day she posts her experiences and growing frustration on Twitter. It is

TrackThis: Track FedEx/UPS/USPS/DHL Packages using Twitter (or Email or SMS)

Just send a quick direct message to TrackThis and we’ll send you a direct message any time your package location changes.
Depending on how your account is set up, you can get the updates for your shipment on the web, through email or SMS. We support FedEx, UPS, USPS and DHL tracking codes.

Events - Equality California

Now it is important to for everyone who cares about this issue to harness our energy and focus on next steps. What can all of us do to advance the cause of full equality for LGBT people? What should the strategy be in California for regaining the fundamental right to marry? What can we do in California to promote equal federal recognition of same-sex couples? What resources can each of us bring to bear to get this work done? We need your best thinking in order to take action on these very important issues.

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

By miss rogue | Posted in stuff | Comments (2)

Whuffie in Action: the UPS story

December 10, 2008 – 11:56 pm

Waiting for UPS Bunny by Max Estes

First…the timeline.

September 2005. I meet Thor Muller at a Techcrunch party.

September 2007. Thor and others get funding for GetSatisfaction.com

October 2007. I get a book deal for The Whuffie Factor. Time to start researching!

Late 2007. The folks at GetSatisfaction.com announce a conference they are throwing, Customer Service is the New Marketing. Tony Hsieh from Zappos is on the roster. I ask Thor for an introduction so I can interview Tony for my book.

January 2008. I fly out to Las Vegas to meet Tony and his team and totally fall in love with everything about Zappos. They become a bigger part of my book and Tony and I continue to talk. He gets interested in Twitter.

March 8, 2008. Tony starts tweeting.

March 8 - November 26, 2008 - Tony picks up Twitter like second nature, gains over 23,000 followers, gets featured in national magazines and we keep in good touch.

November 26, 2008. I order a lovely new storage unit from Target.com to help me de-clutterize my home. Estimated delivery date: December 10, 2008.

December 7, 2008. I return from a trip to New York City to find two attempted delivery notices on my door from UPS from Friday, December 5, 2008. 1st and 2nd notice. I logon to UPS.com with my tracking number and request a re-delivery of December 10, 2008, a day I have already set aside to work from home. I also call to confirm. All set.

December 10, 2008. 7:30 a.m. - I wake up early to walk Ridley (my dog) so that I can be home and ready in case the package comes first thing in the morning (8:00 a.m.).

December 10, 2008. 9:30 a.m. - my friend, Seth, comes over to take away the table where the storage unit is going to go later that day. Excited. I run downstairs to put some sticky ‘heart’ notes on the door to let the UPS delivery person know I’m upstairs and waiting.

December 10, 2008. 12:00 p.m. - I haven’t heard anything, so I logon to UPS.com and see that the tracking hasn’t been updated. I call the 1-800 number to find out more information and am told that the package is on the truck for delivery, but they can’t give me a specific time. I wait.

December 10, 2008. 1:00 p.m. - I tweet that I’m at the mercy of UPS delivery.

December 10, 2008. 2:00 p.m. - I ask my roommate, Jen, who has a migraine if she can watch for UPS while I shower, then walk Ridley and instruct her to call me as soon as they arrive and I’ll rush home.

December 10, 2008. 4:00 p.m. - I call and reschedule a meeting I have with potential clients to the restaurant downstairs from my apartment at 6:00 p.m. so I can watch for the UPS truck just in case.

December 10, 2008. 5:00 p.m. - I tweet a suggestion to UPS to add text aheads or GPS tracking to their service so that people don’t get stuck waiting all day like I have.

December 10, 2008. 6:00 p.m. - I have a terribly distracted meeting, constantly looking out the window for the UPS truck. I’ve left more little sticky ‘heart’ notes with the information that I am downstairs in case I missed the delivery with my cell number on it.

December 10, 2008. 7:00 p.m. - I go back upstairs. Still nothing. Sticky notes still there waiting. I tweet again. Then I call and a hold recording tells me that, due to holiday deliveries, I may receive packages after 7:00 p.m. Others tell me they’ve received packages as late as 10:00 p.m.

December 10, 2008. 9:15 p.m. - I’m getting really upset. No UPS. My tweets are getting agitated.

December 10, 2008. 9:17 p.m. - Tony direct messages me asking me for some of the delivery information and I send it back to him.

December 10, 2008. 9:26 p.m. - Tony direct messages me to tell me the President of the Pacific Region for UPS is on the phone tracking the package down for me.

December 10, 2008. 9:40 p.m. - Tony tells me that UPS will be calling me soon.

December 10, 2008. 9:41 p.m. - I get a phonecall from Lorraine, the Regional Security Director for UPS. She gets my story and hangs up to find out what happened and get the package to me asap.

December 10, 2008. 9:46 p.m. - While I’m on the phone with Lorraine, Jerry, the President of the Pacific Region leaves me a voicemail. He’s actually having dinner with Tony and is on the case.

December 10, 2008. 9:50 p.m. - I call Jerry back, who apologizes perfusively and tells me to keep his number on hand for ANY issues I ever encounter with UPS.

December 10, 2008. 9:55 p.m. - I tweet out thank you’s to Tony and finally take Ridley for his nightly walk. (he was so patient)

December 10, 2008. 10:53 p.m. - Lorraine calls back. She says they are tracking everything down and it should be able to get out to me tonight. I tell her as long as it’s delivered before 10:00 a.m. on the 11th, I will be fine. Time to write this blog post.

UPDATE:

December 11, 2008. 7:45 a.m. - Lorraine calls. The delivery is ready to come out. She asks me what time would be convenient for me? I tell her 9:00 a.m. I take Ridley for his morning walk.

December 11, 2008. 8:55 a.m. - My doorbell rings and I run downstairs. I see not only ONE but THREE UPS delivery men standing on my doorstep. One with the delivery. One with flowers and chocolates. And one with treats for Ridley! They bring everything up and Michael, the security manager, tells me he brought tools and is happy to help me assemble the unit. I don’t have time this morning, but I may take him up on it later.

What a saga! But the saga is filled with Whuffie lessons.

#1. If I hadn’t met Thor, who introduced me to Tony, who I forged a friendship with over time, who hadn’t been dining with Jerry, I probably wouldn’t have had this level of awesome attention. These are amazing connections (combined with a little bit of luck). This is the importance of being part of that community you serve as a participant.

#2. If Tony and I hadn’t been such Twitter addicts - watching our networks, spending time following people and getting to know people - he wouldn’t have seen my distressed tweets about the delivery and couldn’t have had that conversation with Jerry. This shows the importance of turning the bullhorn around…listening…watching for feedback…watching for ways to help out.

#3. Because this happened in a spectacular way, loads of people watched and were delighted by the story. This going above and beyond gave Zappos a load of Whuffie. UPS Whuffie for turning things around. And even gave Whuffie to Thor and myself in indirect ways. Definitely all achieved through creating an amazing customer experience (after a not so amazing one).

#4. This couldn’t have been planned better. How was Tony to know the night he was to have dinner with Jerry that I’d be in UPS distress? How would Jerry have ever known? How would I have guessed? Pretty awesome ‘chance’. Almost the perfect storm. This is definitely the benefit of embracing the chaos.

#5. And finally, without Tony’s own commitment to customer service and dedication to giving back to the community, he wouldn’t have been there checking his tweets and listening to what people are talking about. Tony’s dedication to the higher purpose of Zappos - the 10 core values - makes him the type of CEO who wields his influence for good, bringing loads more Whuffie.

And the really important thing to note here is that I see this type of thing happen all of the time. This is the one of the few that I’ve documented so closely, but it really does happen more and more as my own Whuffie grows. And these are stories that people repeat and get picked up by even the traditional media (just like Frank at Comcast who was on ABC News for a similar story with a friend of mine, Tracey Lee Wallace), which then gets spread further. As you can see, Whuffie is a powerful enhancer for word of mouth. Which is exactly why it’s at the core of the power of online communities.

By miss rogue | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (35)

Validation

December 10, 2008 – 9:08 pm

This is an awesome little movie. If you have 15 minutes, it’s really worth watching end to end. It covers a topic that has been near and dear to my heart this year as I’ve spent the past 11 months now working on releasing the shackles of external validation.

How am I doing with that? Well, 11 months doesn’t undo nearly 35 years of living for it…I still have a long way to go. And my participation online - blogging, tweeting, flickr-ing, etc. - makes for feeding the external validation junky in me. And really, it does feel good to get a nice comment or an email from someone saying that you’ve said something poignant to her or that you give him hope. It feels great…even when we brush it off with an ‘aw shucks’. And, of course, the feedback helps let us know we are doing something right in the world and to keep it up or step it up. But there is a downside to it, too. When I started to rely too much on the external validation to shape the way I felt about myself and what I was doing, I became way to susceptible to the ebbs and flows as well as the negative feedback that came my way. My moods were controlled by external forces. Not a great thing.

It was also the downfall of many of my relationships. I got to the point that, if I wasn’t getting the feedback I needed, I would demand it. Then, of course when I got the validation, it felt empty. I had asked for it. Was it real? I was a mess.

Not to be too poetic about it, but I really do think we’d all be happier if we relied less on external validation. The movie is feel good and cute, but there is an underlying message. Hugh, the main character, gives others the validation they need, and, in return, he gets validated with making them smile. When he encounters Victoria, who won’t smile, it drastically affects him and his ability to function. Meanwhile, Victoria’s ability to feel good is affected by another outside source. It’s kind of a metaphor for the way we live in America and I see this all the time. People around me are constantly waiting for something or somebody outside themselves to change their moods. Much of it is consumed. It makes me happy for a couple of hours or even days when something remarkable happens or I get a compliment or I buy a lovely new Coach bag (my ‘junk’), but then I go back to my set-point again.

All of this rambling, of course, reminds me of the idea of Happiness as Your Business Model, where three out of the four pillars to happiness rely at least somewhat on extrinsic signals: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Autonomy relies on the fact that outside forces aren’t controlling you (if they are, you are miserable). Competence relies on whatever you are challenged with to be just the right level of challenging and do-able. And relatedness relies strongly on the presence of others. (the fourth being your set-point or natural level of self-esteem)

I think my ultimate goal in life is to achieve a level of autonomy from the external validation, itself. I’d love to get to that place where compliments are good signals that I’m going in a positive direction and critiques are just points to ponder for improving my performance, but neither have much of an affect on my disposition.

Either way, I wanted to share the movie and see if it provided food for thought on the cult of external validation that we are part of. People in this movie are, in a sense, buying it. Where do you buy it? Is it something you think about? Do you think people would be naturally happier without relying on it? Does this affect consumerism? Marketing? Food for thought…

By miss rogue | Posted in happiness, insight, personal, research, spread love | Tagged validation | Comments (10)

This Week’s Links on Ma.gnolia

November 30, 2008 – 12:01 am

Some stuff I’m reading this week…

Digital Domain - The Forces Driving Women Out of Computer Science - NYTimes.com

When one looks at computer science in particular, however, the proportion of women has been falling. In 2001-2, only 28 percent of all undergraduate degrees in computer science went to women. By 2004-5, the number had declined to only 22 percent. Data collected by the Computing Research Association showed even fewer women at research universities like M.I.T.: women accounted for only 12 percent of undergraduate degrees in computer science and engineering in the United States and Canada granted in 2006-7 by Ph.D.-granting institutions, down from 19 percent in 2001-2. Many computer science departments report that women now make up less than 10 percent of the newest undergraduates.

ColorFlip.com by Rafaël Rozendaal, collection of Sébastien de Ganay

This is pretty gorgeous. And insanely addictive.

Op-Ed Contributor - Have You Driven a Bus or a Train Lately? - NYTimes.com

The Obama administration should ask the companies, as a condition of financial assistance, to begin shifting from being just automakers to becoming innovative “transportmakers.” As Barack Obama’s new chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, recently said: “You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do important things you would otherwise avoid.”

msnbc.com video: Cubicle haters find new home by ‘coworking’

Awesome news editorial for Conjunctured Coworking out of Austin and a great description of the benefits of Coworking.

TwitterCounter: How popular is @missrogue

Twitter stats - fun

Op-Ed Columnist - The Formerly Middle Class - NYTimes.com

In times of recession, people spend more time at home. But this will be the first steep recession since the revolution in household formation. Nesting amongst an extended family rich in social capital is very different from nesting in a one-person household that is isolated from family and community bonds. People in the lower middle class have much higher divorce rates and many fewer community ties. For them, cocooning is more likely to be a perilous psychological spiral.

Horoscope - Moon in Capricorn - What is your moon sign?

So, found out today my moon is in Capricorn, which is one dimension of why I suck at romantic relationships. And, it is in direct conflict with my Cancerian self as well as my romantic idealism, represented by something in my relationship house. The hardest part of this is that…well…it is true.

Set Editions

A stationery line of letterpressed cards, foil stamped postcards, and other little stuff.

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

By miss rogue | Posted in stuff | Comments (1)

What I ‘Do’ For a Living

November 16, 2008 – 2:15 pm

The most common conversation I have when I go to an event goes somewhere along these lines:

New acquaintance: “Tara, I see your name everywhere, but I still don’t quite understand what you do.”

Me: “Well, I make a living as a marketing consultant, specializing in online communities and strategy, but I spend more of my time these days as a community organizer and armchair economist. I also have a book coming out in April of 2009, which also makes me an author, and I travel around the world speaking at conferences on the online marketing and strategy work that I do.”

That’s sort of it in a nutshell. But my background is varied and so are my interests, so I believe that leads to a great deal of confusion for people as to what exactly I ‘do’ for a living. Even though my ‘about’ section as well as my resume outlines my experience and expertise in the area of marketing strategy (both online and off in less ‘traditional’ types of marketing), I admit that I spend more time reading, thinking and writing about a much broader array of subjects.

I’m deeply interested in social issues and how economics underpins much of our social world. That is what got me into the study of social capital. The current understanding of economics tends to be pretty simplistic and focused on personal wealth - that is, what is in my bank account at any given moment and what the damned government is taking out of it at the end of each year. I think this is a most unfortunate situation as economics is complex and cash money isn’t the only wealth we accumulate or distribute over our lifetimes that is of value. Certainly, we cannot pay our rent or eat if we don’t have cash money in the bank, but how we get it in there and how it supports us is what interests me a great deal. I also think it’s changed over the years, especially with the advent of the internet.

So, what I ‘do’ for a living - marketing consulting - is made possible because of my social capital, which is the culmination of my:

connections
reputation
influence
bridging capital - the number of connections you have across to different industries, social strata, etc.
bonding capital - the depth of your close connections (how close and how much you could ask of your connections)
access to ideas and talent through your connections
access to resources through your connections
“potential” access to further resources (more distant, but very legitimate)
saved up favors (reciprocity is huge - which is why doing good stuff matter alot with social capital)
accomplishments (slightly different from reputation, it is the more fungible form of SC - resumes, awards, etc.)
and the Social Capital of those who you have relationships with (Bordieu’s ideas on the French elite talk about this)

Added to this is my accumulation of cultural capital, which “is the knowledge, experience and or connections one has had through the course of their life that enables them to succeed more so than someone from a less experienced background.”

Both my social capital and my cultural capital are intimately woven into my economic capital. All three types of capital support and foster the growth of one another. I meet people (social capital) and learn things (cultural capital) which help me meet potential clients who see my experience as an asset (social capital) and hire me (economic capital), which produces more experience (cultural capital) and, if I do good work, opens me up for new lucrative relationships (social capital), which turn into more work (economic capital).

I think it may be tough for some people to understand the diversification of work, but I know very few people who can sum up their careers in a single word. Personally, I don’t believe humans were designed to be singularly focused, I believe we were designed to be innately curious and questioning of how the world around us works. And those of us who push the boundaries around the definition of work help innovate and pioneer new paths for new job definitions.

In regards to what I do NOT ‘do’ for a living…well, I don’t consider myself a social media consultant, the new term for someone who uses the online tools well and helps spread buzz through online communities (I think that’s accurate). Of course, that is part of my function, but I consider myself more of a strategist. When setting up Citizen Agency, I thought long and hard about how to define what we offered and came up with the idea of the tripod of strategy: environment (that’s where research comes in - understanding the market well), product (product development, innovation and designing for what you know about the market and where it is moving) and community (mostly the customer community, but also how you fit into the wider business community). Once again, all three of these, like the legs on a tripod, have to be balanced and working together towards a solid strategy. So what does Citizen Agency do? An organic strategy. I won’t take on projects where I’m asked to come in and slap together social media band-aids. I won’t advocate for a client until I believe they will be beneficial to my community of followers and friends. But I will help them get to the point where a social media strategy and community advocacy is part of the overall plan.

So, what do I ‘do’ for a living? Well, mostly I think too much about stuff and produce loads of content that, I hope, helps others come to positive conclusions and helps create a smarter marketplace. But if you want to boil it down to a pitch, I am a marketing strategy consultant.

By miss rogue | Posted in How to be a Social Capitalist, citizen agency, consulting, social capital | Comments (14)

This Week’s Links on Ma.gnolia

November 16, 2008 – 12:01 am

Some stuff I’m reading this week…

Renamed WiFi Networks Guilt Freeloaders Into Buying Coffee » Adrants

This is truly brilliant.

Daily Kos: Prop 8: The legal challenges are beginning

I still can’t believe that millions of total strangers who have never so much as laid eyes on me had the right to vote on my rights and equality at all, let alone that they voted against them. If this was, in fact, an unconstitutional proposition, it means they did not have that right. It won’t change the fact that they voted how they did, but it will take some of the pain away.

Cupcakes Take The Cake: Barack Obama in 1240 cupcakes

Artist Zilly Rosen of soon-to-open Buffalo, New York bakery Zillycakes has made this piece of art using 1,240 cupcakes to display Senator Barack Obama. 1,240 cupcakes, people!

Obama’s Seven Lessons for Radical Innovators - Umair Haque

Barack Obama is one of the most radical management innovators in the world today. Obama’s team built something truly world-changing: a new kind of political organization for the 21st century. It differs from yesterday’s political organizations as much as Google and Threadless differ from yesterday’s corporations: all are a tiny handful of truly new, 21st century institutions in the world today.

Obama’s historic election « Social Capital Blog

The election of Saguaro’s Barack Obama as 44th, and first African-American president marks itself as a truly historic election.

Highlights: Newsweek’s Special Election Project | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008 | Newsweek.com

WOWOWOWOW:

“The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, “I don’t consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, ‘You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.’ So when Brian Williams is asking me about what’s a personal thing that you’ve done [that's green], and I say, you know, ‘Well, I planted a bunch of trees.’ And he says, ‘I’m talking about personal.’ What I’m thinking in my head is, ‘Well, the truth is, Brian, we can’t solve global warming because I f—ing changed light bulbs in my house. It’s because of something collective’.”"

hypebot: Russell Simmons On Creativity

There has been a major pr run-up to the 12/1 launch of Talenthouse.com - “a new entertainment company that gives artists a global online home to share their work and have the opportunity to be discovered by the best minds…

The Obama presidency: ‘It’s the network, stupid’ | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone - CNET

“The tools have changed,” Trippi said. “It’s Web 2.0. (Obama) did it due to these tools.”

Gore says Obama’s election overwhelming - San Jose Mercury News

Former vice-president Al Gore says he was overwhelmed by Barack Obama’s victory in the presidential election, and says he believes it could not have happened without the Internet.

The trouble with bailouts

That’s also why, during the postwar period, the British government protected its auto manufacturing sector with tariffs, bailouts and government-backed mergers. In the process, what had once been a country with four of the world’s best-known car companies now has no domestic automakers at all.

Contributing to New York Coworking and New Work City « Life as Sanford

Last night, I was proud to be a member of the community who congratulated Tony Bacigalupo for the launch of New Work City. As a member of the team for these past few years, last night, a couple of people ask me what had happened to my involvement in coworking and New Work City.

Better Place

Better Place is a venture-backed company that aims to reduce global dependency on oil through the creation of a market-based transportation infrastructure that supports electric vehicles, providing consumers with a cleaner, sustainable, personal transportation alternative.

Tesla Motors

The official site for Tesla Motors, makers of the Tesla Roadster, the high-performance electric sports car. Electric cars from Tesla Motors are developed with an emphasis on design, performance, and efficiency.

Aptera

The first Operating Prototype achieved over 230 Miles per gallon!
Five years ago, Aptera’s founder Steve Fambro endeavored to design and build a passenger vehicle that was safe, comfortable, and more fuel-efficient than anything ever produced. This aspiration, combined with his background in engineering, led him to an intensive study of aerodynamics, and composite aircraft construction. He hypothesized that a low-drag, aerodynamic body shape could be achieved without sacrificing comfort, drivability or safety.

Op-Ed Contributor - The Climate for Change - NYTimes.com

Here is the good news: the bold steps that are needed to solve the climate crisis are exactly the same steps that ought to be taken in order to solve the economic crisis and the energy security crisis.

Economists across the spectrum — including Martin Feldstein and Lawrence Summers — agree that large and rapid investments in a jobs-intensive infrastructure initiative is the best way to revive our economy in a quick and sustainable way. Many also agree that our economy will fall behind if we continue spending hundreds of billions of dollars on foreign oil every year. Moreover, national security experts in both parties agree that we face a dangerous strategic vulnerability if the world suddenly loses access to Middle Eastern oil.

New Appreciation Of the Complexity In a Flock of Birds - New York Times

NOTHING in the motion of a single bird or a single fish, no matter how graceful, can prepare a scientist for the sight of 10,000 starlings wheeling in formation over a cornfield, or a million minnows, threatened by a predator, snapping into a tight, polarized array.

Obama’s Victory: the REAL foundation of success « OnRamp101

It would be easy to hand some of the credit for the Obama victory over to social media–in fact, a number of industry voices have already done so. But to look to social technologies as a, or even THE, reason that the campaign succeeded would be to shortchange both the campaign and the technologies behind it. Obama gained leadership because he believed in the power of people to create change–and he harnessed the right social tools to mobilize this power toward a shared vision and goal.

Bailout Main Street | not Wall Street

The wealthy and corporate interests who dished out billions of dollars this election season will be swarming over Washington to get their agendas passed. The energy giants will demand “clean coal,” nuclear power and offshore drilling. More big corporations facing bankruptcy because of their corruption and greed will demand taxpayer bailouts.

Obama launches Web site to reach public - CNN.com

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Barack Obama starts doing a weekly YouTube video and also fireside chats for the 21st century by allowing people to filter up questions to him that he might answer.”

The president-elect already has said he’ll have a five-day online comment period before signing any nonemergency legislation, so Americans can be part of the process.

Obama Vs. McCain Search and Social Media Showdown | Adult ADD Strengths

I got the idea for this as I was surfing the US Presidential candidates websites late Monday night, looking for ideas for online ADHD advocacy from my last post. As an Adult ADHD coach who has ADHD, I wanted examples to help raise awareness of Adult ADHD.

Battle Plans. How Obama won - The New Yorker - Ethiopian Review

Behind the scenes look at the strategy behind the Obama Campaign.

Lexington Living - Kentucky Living | Lexington Herald-Leader

When Charlie Kratzer started on the basement art project in his south Lexington home, he was surrounded by walls painted a classic cream. Ten dollars of Magic Marker and Sharpie later, the place was black and cream and drawn all over.

Interview with key architect of Obama’s ground strategy « Social Capital Blog

Well in my mind people place too much stress on the Internet and other new technology. It is very useful – but as tools placed in the hands of skilled organizers, not as a substitute for them. It made it easier for people to alert the campaign that they wanted to help and easier for the campaign to plug these individuals in to ongoing efforts.

George Bush flashes the shocker

Really. This is wild. He mustn’t know….

The Karaoke Channel

Stingray Media Group, the ultimate karaoke experience!

Charter For Compassion :: home

By recognizing that the Golden Rule is fundamental to all world religions, the Charter for Compassion can inspire people to think differently about religion. This Charter is being created in a collaborative project by people from all over the world. It will be completed in 2009. Use this site to offer language you’d like to see included. Or inspire others by sharing your own story of compassion.

Barack Obama: How He Did It | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008 | Newsweek.com

Obama understood that he had become a giant screen upon which Americans projected their hopes and fears, dreams and frustrations. Maybe such a person never really existed, couldn’t exist, but people wanted a savior nonetheless. As a bestselling memoirist he had created a mythic figure, a man named Barack Obama who had searched and quested and overcome travails, who had found an identity and a calling in public service. Obama recalled that he often joked with his team, “This Barack Obama sounds like a great guy. Now I’m not sure that I am Barack Obama, right?” He added, pointedly, “It wasn’t entirely a joke.”

Obama v. McCain – Online! | BNET

“An effective Web site design conveys brand and presents information with a clear hierarchy,” says Mendell, who has led several award-winning site redesigns, including BNET’s. “A functional site creates intuitive access to all the content.” Here’s Mendell’s take on Obama v. McCain online.

Op-Ed Columnist - How to Fix a Flat - NYTimes.com

How could these companies be so bad for so long? Clearly the combination of a very un-innovative business culture, visionless management and overly generous labor contracts explains a lot of it. It led to a situation whereby General Motors could make money only by selling big, gas-guzzling S.U.V.’s and trucks. Therefore, instead of focusing on making money by innovating around fuel efficiency, productivity and design, G.M. threw way too much energy into lobbying and maneuvering to protect its gas guzzlers.

John Gabriel’s Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory

Normal person + anonymity + audience = total fuckwad

Samuelson: The Attack on American Affluence | Newsweek Business | Newsweek.com

The bad news is that recovery, though boosting employment, may prove unsatisfying. Our new economic era may lapse into a state of “affluent deprivation.” That’s an unfamiliar term. It doesn’t mean poverty. The United States will remain a wealthy society. Rather, “affluent deprivation” signifies a state of mind. People feel poorer, because their sluggish income gains get siphoned off into higher taxes, energy costs and health spending. Though these all involve benefits, they don’t pay everyday bills or cover people’s routine pleasures. There’s an approaching collision between private and public wants—government spending for everything from retirement benefits to defense to the repair of roads and bridges.

Obama to take new media to White House - Politics AP - MiamiHerald.com

It’s the first visible result of a major transition-team effort to make Obama’s conversations with the electorate more direct. In addition, members and supporters of the White House media upgrade want more input opportunities for the public.

Many of the changes, if adopted, also would curb the power of a traditional but often unpopular middleman between presidents and the populace: the mainstream media.

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

By miss rogue | Posted in stuff | Comments Off

The True Value of Social Media Consultants

October 22, 2008 – 6:21 pm

The other day, I was in a meeting with a group of very smart people and we were talking about how to discern a ‘great’ social media consultant from a ‘mediocre’ social media consultant. I’ve never really considered myself a social media consultant, though. I’ve always thought of myself in a more integrated way, since I’ve spent my marketing career working online AND offline and being part of product development as much as promotional campaigns. Even the term ‘community marketing’ that I usually use to describe my practice falls short.

Even so, I believe the job of Social Media Consultant entails using the online social media tools available to spread the word - much like PR does for traditional media - to pick up steam for the brands they represent. This, of course, is a very smart business to get into, especially during these turbulent economic times. Social media tools are inexpensive and are quite easy to measure impact for. I particularly like tools like HubSpot and Google Analytics for measuring impact of social media campaigns, as well as tracking word of mouth through Twitter’s search and Google Blogsearch. There are many other tools available, as outlined here by my colleague, Jeremiah. This makes a Social Media Consultant a sound investment as an adjunct to any other form of marketing you are embarking on. It’s also a safe bet when budgets get cut back as it is more cost effective than many other types of marketing.

Still, how does one know who is a ‘good’ consultant and a ‘mediocre’ one? I think it all comes down to Whuffie.

Much like a PR person worth her weight in gold has many contacts and a good reputation in the traditional media circles, a social media consultant (SMC) worth her weight in gold has many contacts and a good reputation in online communities. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the SMC has the MOST contacts, either. It’s how people talk about her, how she interacts and how the things she posts are spread around. A good SMC will have high Whuffie on the web. People will trust her opinion. Other influential people will value her expertise. The reason that quality is as important as quantity is that her Whuffie will rub off on her clients. If she is trusted for what she talks about, her connections will be more likely to check out who she is representing.

Anyone can be a SMC, really. There are millions of people of all ages using the online tools and hundreds of thousands of them use them effectively. But to be a kickass SMC, you need to be an influencer yourself. This isn’t much different from PR. And, in both cases, it matters who you represent.

Social media, just like any other type of marketing, is only as good as the response you get from customers. A good SMC knows her stuff and understands what the market will respond to. She will be honest with you in early meetings if she knows your product needs work to delight potential customers. You deserve that. You don’t want to spend a bunch of money and energy on a campaign that goes nowhere. You should be spending that time and money on building a really awesome product. And, a good marketing professional, social media or not can help you in that realm as well. I’ve actually spent more of my career working on product development and innovation than I have on the promotion of it. The truth is, great products need less promotion and ’stick’ when you do promote.

Lastly, an SMC you want to hire practices ethical marketing. Much related to the point about having influence in a community, ethical marketing practices maintain and build integrity within communities. Anything that smacks of lying or tricking people will be found out and both your company and your SMC will pay the price Whuffie-wise. Future campaigns will be looked upon as suspect and time and money spent will be for naught.

I take great care in working with clients - who I’m working with and how I’m promoting them. I make sure that what I’m delivering is of value and that my connections won’t feel spammed or get tired of the type of media that I’m sharing with them. If my own quality slips, the interest from my connections slips and I become less useful to current and future clients who deserve the positive word of mouth. There are clients I have taken on who have potential, but were not ready for promotion - so we focused on product and getting to the point where we could both be proud of what we were sharing with our connections. Other potential clients who wanted the promotion, but wouldn’t do the work to make sure people I introduced to their products would be delighted, had to be passed over. In today’s competitive landscape, I was sorry to see them pass up the opportunity.

Thus, if you want to have your SM campaigns go further, assess your SMC on these three measurements:

How much influence does he/she have in online communities?
Does he/she understand market trends? What kind of feedback does he/she give on your product? Are there good ideas in there?
Does he/she practice ethical marketing? If he/she suggests that you can pay people to digg up an item, probably not.

Other than that list, an SMC has to understand how to use the tools, know how to measure impact and how to get creative to get through the noise that is the thousands of campaigns already inundating people in online communities. But it isn’t necessarily getting through that counts. It is how that message is received on the other side. That outcome is going to mean results or rejection.

By miss rogue | Posted in community, consulting, social capital, whuffie factor | Comments (14)

This Week’s Links on Ma.gnolia

October 18, 2008 – 11:02 pm

Some stuff I’m reading this week…

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Stop sending mail you later regret

Sometimes I send messages I shouldn’t send. Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together. Gmail can’t always prevent you from sending messages you might later regret, but today we’re launching a new Labs feature I wrote called Mail Goggles which may help.

What is Responsible Business, Really? Perspectives from Stonyfield Farms and Clif Bar Founders ( Gary+Erickson, Gary+Hirshberg, Kit+Crawford, Clif+Bar, Stonyfield+Farms, Good+Business+Network, CSR, Corporate, Social, Responsibility, Kellie, McElhaney, Haa

Hirshberg’s company (stonyfield yogurt), too, pays it employees to volunteer and “that kind of stuff” but philanthropy can’t dilute the focus of a truly great business, he argued. He compared check-writing and volunteering to cutting the leaves and branches off a tree, where the heart of the business and its ability to impact the world positively is the tree itself.

The Social Capital Divide in MySpace | Dr Shock MD PhD

Researchers found evidence for a social capital divide on My Space based on age. They did a study of user profiles among teenagers and older users of MySpace. MySpace is one of many online social networking site, but one of the largest.

Zazengo - Welcome to Zazengo

Actions speak louder than words
Turn awareness into action around causes that matter to you. Record your social impact and watch it grow across your community.

Delancey Street Foundation - Home

At our site we hope to show you a little about our model, our successes and our struggles. We’re considered the country’s leading residential self-help organization for substance abusers, ex-convicts, homeless and others who have hit bottom. Our average resident has been a hard-core drug addict for sixteen years, abusing alcohol and multiple drugs and has dropped out of school at the 7th grade and has been institutionalized several times. Many have been gang members; most have been trapped in poverty for several generations. Rather than hire experts to help the people with problems, we decided to run Delancey Street with no staff and no funding. Like a large family, our residents must learn to develop their strengths and help each other. It’s an approach to changing lives that is “against all odds”.

Analyst: Half of ’social media campaigns’ will flop | The Social - CNET News

There’s obviously no universal solution to social-media advertising and marketing, because every company is different. But Sarner offered a preliminary tip: to make sure that there’s a clear reason why such a campaign is instituted, and “get people talking” isn’t enough. “Are you discovering what’s going to be the new black next season?” he suggested as an example of a trendspotting-focused strategy.

Wall Decals: Toronto Transit Series | Walloper

A collection of decals featuring the iconic modernist design and typography of the Toronto Subway system. Wall decals are easy to apply and remove so you can reimagine your space as often as you like

25 Ways to Build Your Community | chrisbrogan.com

Good tips from The Broganmeister.

Superstruct: The world’s first massively multiplayer forecasting game - Massively

Forget what you typically expect from your average client-based MMO. In fact, the title you’re going to read about here differs markedly from the type of game we normally cover at Massively, but that makes it no less interesting. Superstruct is truly something different

Scroll Magazine | Scroll Number 1

Welcome to Scroll Number 1: | virtual…physical | . You’ve journeyed between worlds to be here today. How was your trip? It’s one we take for granted as we

50 Ways Marketers Can use Social Media to Improve Their Marketing | chrisbrogan.com

Social media isn’t always the right tool for the job. Not every company needs a blog. YouTube worked for BlendTec, but it might not work for your company. And yet, there’s something to this. Over the last three days, I’ve spoken to four HUGE brands in America that are considering social media for one project or another, and there are many more out there working on how these tools might integrate into their business needs. Here’s a list of 50 ideas (in no particular order) to help move the conversation along. Note: I mix PR and Marketing. They should get back together again.

globeandmail.com: The class of 2012: Mr. Google’s children

The class of 2012: Mr. Google’s children
They’ve been called shallow, over-entitled, self-absorbed social-network addicts. A few experts predict instead that they’ll be the next ‘hero generation.’ But what do they say for themselves?