The Social Media Marketing Blog: This One's a Lulu

Today is the big day! The Age of Conversation has officially launched and you order your copy online. You can select from hardcover, paperback or eBook - or any combination of the three.

Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton are to be commended. This is a project they initiated and shepherded through, toiling long hours beyond their day jobs.. I've perused the book, which I just purchased (authors did not receive free copies) and here's why I think you should consider buying at least one copy for yourself, a friend or a colleague:

Content
Great content is what it's all about these days. It's not about 15 minutes of fame any longer; it's about the amount of quality content you can deliver. Well, this book delivers on quality and quantity.

Over 100 authors and a singular topic: conversational marketing. In one location, you've got some heavy-hitters of the blogging world. Some people I 've been following for a long time are included: David Armano, Mack Collier, Mark Goren, Ann Handley, Karl Long, and my fellow crayonista Greg Verdino, to name a few. And there are a rash of new names who have some really great things to say about conversational marketing.

If you're still in doubt (you shouldn't be), you can take a look at the authors' qualifications for yourself. Arun Rajagopal has assembled a brief but comprehensive set of bios.

The Cause
From the very beginning of the project, Drew and Gavin were determined to make this a non-profit effort that would support a particular cause. All proceeds from the book will be given to Variety, the Children's Charity.

Variety was founded after a little girl was left at a theater in Pittsburgh on Christmas Eve of 1928, with the following note pinned to her:

"Please take care of my baby. Her name is Catherine. I can no longer take care of her. I have eight others. My husband is out of work. She was born on Thanksgiving Day. I have always heard of the goodness of show business people and pray to God that you will look out for her.” (signed) ‘A Heartbroken Mother’

Eleven people in the theater industry banded together to underwrite the child's support and education and the goodwill spawned an outpouring from the entire city. With more toys and clothing than Chatherine needed, other ophans benefitted from her situation. From this, the Variety organization was formed, so that now their mission statement reads:
Variety the Children's Charity is dedicated to improving the lives of children around the world.

Here's the breakdown of pricing / charitable contribution:
e-book: $9.99 ($7.99 going to charity)
paperback book: $16.95 ($8.10 to charity)
hardback book: $29.99 ($8.55 to charity)

Between great content and a great cause, what more do you need? Get your copy now!

Labels: age of conversation, books, conversation, New Media, news, social media

About Scott

For hi-res, click here

Ranked by Forbes as one of the top 10 influencers in social media, he has been called "an unstoppable force of nature," "the best corporate social media lead on the planet," and Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, called him "a visionary."

At Ford, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.

Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon and spent a number of years with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique BtoB agency specializing in health sciences & high tech.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog and also writes The Baker Street Blog and cohosts I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, two literary undertakings. Scott has been featured in hundreds of news and business publications in print and on the web, in nearly dozens of books, and on a variety of mainstream media, including NBC, NPR, CNN and The Wall Street Journal. Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events.

Scott received his Master's in Medical Science from Boston University's School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU's Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the Oxford Dictionary of English-accepted term "tweetup."

You may download a headshot here, courtesy of Rosh Sillars; a PDF version of Scott's bio is here .

Books in which Scott or his work is featured:

The Social Media Strategist

Social Business by Design

Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications

Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Real-Time Marketing and PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now

Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web

Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business

Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements

Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead

MicroMarketing: Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting Small

Spend Shift: How the Post-Crisis Values Revolution Is Changing the Way We Buy, Sell and Live

Power Friending: Demystifying Social Media to Grow Your Business

The New Rules of Marketing & PR

by David Meerman Scott

Twitterville
by Shel Israel

Six Pixels of Separation
by Mitch Joel

Monkeys with Typewriters
by Jemima Gibbons

Read This First
by Ron Ploof

World Wide Rave
by David Meerman Scott

Get Seen
by Steve Garfield

Disclosures/Relationships

Scott is on the board of the Social Media Advertising Consortium

Scott has been named to the Advisory boards of Pivot, SavvyAuntie, Business Smart Tools, The Hive Awards,
Scott is a judge for the SAMMY Awards

Named one of iMedia's 25 Top Internet Marketing Leaders & Innovators

Humongo occasionally does web work for me and designed this site

No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

Scott Monty Bio

Speaking Events

Scott speaks on social media at events, seminars and conferences around the world. His topic generally focuses on corporate use of social media, becoming an online spokesperson, and specifically on the progress that Ford has made in the recent past. If you're interested in booking Scott to speak at your event, please click here to submit a speaking request for Ford-related purposes or email me at speaking [AT] this site's URL (if you know what I mean) to send a general email request.. Scott's bio and headshot can be found in the "About Scott" tab above.

Who is Scott Monty?

Hi, I'm Scott. I'm the global head of social media for Ford Motor Company. This is my personal blog, where I share my perspectives on social media - the convergence of marketing, advertising and PR on the Web - for marketers, agencies, the enterprise and the individual. This blog contains my personal views. My bio is available here and my headshots can be found here.