Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Honored to Be 1 of 237

As you may know, The Age of Conversation 2 is going to be published at the end of the summer. As you can see, even the kids are getting in on the act.

If you're not aware of this project, it's a collaborative effort led by Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton that comprises the work of 237 individuals from across the globe - marketers, communicators, bloggers, and interested citizens who have something to say about the state of "conversation" in the business world today. It follows the very successful first edition, which had 103 authors.

This time around, the overall theme is "Why Don't People Get It?" and consists of subthemes such as My Marketing Tragedy, the Accidental Marketer, a New Brand of Creative, Moving from Conversation to Action, Keeping Secrets in the Age of Conversation, Manifestos, Business Model Evolution, and Life in the Conversation Lane.

There are bound to be some real gems in there, not only because of Gavin's & Drew's able guidance, but because the list of authors is so impressive. You'll see some familiar names here, but I urge you to check out those you're not familiar with. Who knows? You may find a new favorite blog.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Photo credit: Kris Hoet

Labels: age of conversation, Drew McLellan, Gavin Heaton

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:10 AM

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

This Saturday Only!

Almost a year ago, I was approached by Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton - two very inspiring marketers - and asked to be a co-author of The Age of Conversation. Naturally, I jumped at the chance.

The resulting effort was a book with 103 chapters, one from each author, on a single topic: conversation. The bonus was that when the book went on sale as an e-book, paperback and hardcover, the proceeds went to Variety, the Children's Charity. It was a huge success.

As we begin to prepare for The Age of Conversation 2, Chris Wilson has done something extraordinary. Without the benefit of having authored the first volume, he has suggested that we do one final push for AOC this Saturday, March 29 and bum-rush the book on Amazon.

If you'd like the full story on the plans, please read Chris's post about how you can help. In short, please buy the book this Saturday on Amazon (using this link) and tell everyone you know to do the same - use whatever tools you'd like to spread the word. The goal is to get the book to the top of the sales chart for the day (and to continue to raise money for Variety).

Note: if you're buying more than one copy of the book, please be sure that you order each one separately. When computing rank, Amazon counts orders placed, not individual copies.

Special thank/full disclosure: the term "bum-rush," while not original to the social media space, was first used in these parts in conjunction with a promotion that Christopher S. Penn was doing between the band Black Labs and his employer, the Student Loan Network.

Update: Chris Penn tells me (via his comment below) that credit for the origination of the concept goes to Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff and Mike Yusi, hosts of Pacific Coast Hellway. I knew they were involved in some way - thanks for clarifying that, Chris.

Labels: age of conversation, Drew McLellan, Gavin Heaton

Posted by Scott Monty at 10:13 PM

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Friday, November 23, 2007

Let Us Count Our Blessings

The other night, I was listening to a simple, yet moving piece: Aaron Copland's suite from Our Town. The 1940 movie brought to life Thornton Wilder's classic play, which highlighted the importance of appreciating the little things in life and demonstrated that even a small town isn't completely immune from the influence of the rest of the world.

"It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another."
The quote is from "Our Town," but it can apply to social media (or life) just the same. With so much happening, we should remember to take stock of who we are, where we came from, and who helps us be the people we are in our respective communities. And to recognize that our communities are far-reaching - well beyond our geographic location.

It's entirely appropriate then, that a meme is circulating with an underlying theme of giving thanks to those in our past and present. In particular this latest meme is "Who had a big influence on you and how did that affect the direction of your life or career?" and it was begun by Kami Huyse and Rob Lagasse. I've been tagged by Kyle Flaherty, who paid me a very fine compliment in his post. [Aside: thank you for that, Kyle. I hope I continue to live up to your expectations.]

Andy Ferrara was my biggest influence, only I didn't know it at the time. It's only as my career has blossomed that I've had the opportunity to reflect on Andy's advice and example.

My first consulting gig was doing corporate development on a 3-person team for Boston Healthcare Associates. I was still young and a bit unsure of myself, as I had never done that kind of work before and was responsible for the strategic and financial well-being of my clients.

Andy had an open-door policy and even when he was extremely busy, he always took a few moments to welcome me into his office and make me feel as if I was the most important thing on his agenda. I was talking with him about some doubts I was having, and he said something that sticks with me still:

"Just tell yourself 'I have arrived.'"

That's it. Plain and simple. It's the premise behind The Secret. But it takes a bit of self-confidence before you can really embrace it. And until this year, I didn't really appreciate that.

The other thing that Andy taught me was the importance of listening. One of the main tenets of joining a social network or community is that you must listen first. Andy would sit in a conference room with clients or employees and would let everyone speak. He only offered his opinion at the end of the meeting, and it always seemed that his comments were the most insightful and comprehensive. He didn't open his mouth just to hear himself speak, he really had a reason for speaking.

In the spirit of keeping the meme alive, I'm going to tag a few folks - people that I'm thankful for this year. I've many, many people in mind, but I do want to keep this succinct. I'll be sharing another post shortly about my recent experiences meeting so many wonderful social media mavens in the Boston area.

Julia Roy - no, I'm not tagging Julia because she's been after me to put her on my blogroll, but rather because she is one of the shining examples of someone who combines passion, intelligence and humor to great effect. Her personal brand is sassy yet serious, playful yet intelligent, and always engaging. She uses Seesmic to her advantage and has great boots. I'm very sad that Boston is losing her to New York, but thanks to new media, we'll still be able to benefit from her uber-presence.

Len Edgerly - Len is one of my surprise friends this year. He's half Denver, half Cambridge and entirely cool. I think we became acquainted over Twitter and we found a common interest in the arts, particularly in literature. In his Video Pod Chronicles episode with NewMediaJim, I recognized the Colony Hotel in the background and mentioned it. What has resulted is a kind of mutual admiration society and a new friendship that I hope to nourish.

Joseph Jaffe - How could I not mention the Interruptor? No, not this one. I'm talking about the founder of the company I work for, crayon. Just a year ago I was only a fan of crayon, but earlier this year, Joseph enthusiastically welcomed me to the team (what were you thinking, Joe?). My time with crayon has been exhilarating and exhausting, but incredibly rewarding. I really feel like I'm part of something big, and I have Joseph to thank for that.

Drew McLellan - Probably one of the nicest guys in the blogosphere, Drew tapped me as one of the original core group to write The Age of Conversation, a groundbreaking book that took the work of 103 authors and resulting in over $10,000 raised for charity. Drew's insights into marketing and branding are always eye-opening for me, and his approachability and encouragement always make me smile.

Thank you all, for being a unique and special part of my social media world. You make it a more interesting place and you inspire many others in your own way. I hope you continue the meme and share your thanks with your own communities.

Labels: age of conversation, crayon, Drew McLellan, Joseph Jaffe, meme, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 2:03 AM

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Saturday, July 14, 2007

This Could Be the Start of Something Big

We're closing in on the launch of The Age of Conversation. This amazing project, the brainchild of Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton (or Drewvin, as I like to call them), is a result of over 100 marketing authors banding together for a great cause.

The book will be available on Monday, July 16 in three formats:
Hardback $29.99
Paperback $16.95
E-book $9.99

And in addition to the power of 100 bloggers, the book has begun to receive mention in some of the trade publications: Advertising Age and Social Computing Magazine have both done pieces on the project. Add to that an Age of Conversation Contributors + Friends group on Facebook, and we're off and running!

The Age of Conversation - Teaser from mindblob and Vimeo

Labels: age of conversation, blogs, books, conversation, Drew McLellan, Gavin Heaton, New Media, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 12:03 AM

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Monday, July 09, 2007

Everybody's Talking About It

"It" being The Age of Conversation. Back in April, I made one of the smartest decisions of my blogging career - I accepted Drew McLellan's & Gavin Heaton's kind invitation to be one of the authors of a book about conversational marketing. And that project, with over 100 influential marketing authors behind it, is now a reality.

On Monday, July 16, you'll be able to purchase your very own copy of the entire volume. While I'm only familiar with one of the chapters, I can assure you that you won't be disappointed with what my colleagues have to say. I plan to buy at least one copy.

After a lot of debating and deliberation, the organizers decided to price the book as follows:

Hardbacks $29.99
Paperbacks $16.95
E-book $9.99

All of the proceeds from the publication will go toward Variety, the Children's Charity and you'll have the opportunity to give more to the charity if you so desire. Keep your eye on this space for developments.

And just in case you wanted a refresher as to who the contributors are, here you go:

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Mindblob (Luc)
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Bob Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Krishna De
Kris Hoet
Kofl Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Polinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman
S. Neil Vineberg