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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

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

What I Saw at Streaming Media East
I was lucky enough to be invited to speak on a panel at today's session of Streaming Media East by Chris Brogan. The topic was "Lifecasting: The New Broadcasting Platform," and I was seemingly the odd man out, as I was joined by the likes of Sarah Austin of Pop17.com, Steve Garfield of SteveGarfield.com and Sariq Reichert of Flixwagon. I was the only one on the panel who wasn't livestreaming from a Nokia N95, so I felt a little bit out of my league.

But I like to think that I added a bit of reality and business sense to the proceedings, as there were quite a few people there who, in addition to wanting to learn about lifecasting, also wanted to understand how it applies to businesses. I had a few key takeaways about lifecasting that I'd like to share with you here.

Trust
A question out of the gate was, "Why would advertisers be interested in this?" It's a good question that plagues a lot of social media tools. Invariably when customers are asked whom they trust most, the answer is "Someone like me." The 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer Bears this out (visual below). When citizen journalists take to the airwaves with their videos, it's inherently more credible than any scripted, edited piece by a company.

Engagement
The next (predictable) challenge was when some audience members seemed to be dismayed at the number of viewers for some livecasting shows. Numbers in the low thousands were quoted, for frame of reference. But they were missing the point that all of the viewers watch these shows because they want to; they're actively seeking out the content.

My take is that, as a marketer, I'd rather have 100% engagement from 1,000 people than 1% engagement from 1 million people.

Measurement
I'm sure you're following the progression here. The next issue up was: "How can you tell if your viewers are engaged?" I think we all admitted that the jury's still out on this, but that the real innovators would be able to develop metrics for length of views, which content in videos is most compelling (including using embedded comments), etc. There's a lot of room for growth in this area.

Content vs. personality
One of the problems that I noticed is that there seems to be an abundance of data/information out there, much of which is just not that interesting. How often do I need to see someone sitting around their living room, or doing a talking head video? Puh-lease.

The truly compelling content - and I'd argue verticals are key here - is what's going to be of the most interest to advertisers. This means consistency and quality.

Final note
When asked for our final thoughts on the future of lifecasting, I closed with what is a sneak preview of my chapter in the Age of Conversation 2:
When you think about it, the human race can be divided into two camps: exhibitionists and voyeurs. Between these two groups, there'll be enough fuel to keep lifecasting going for some time. Taking Andy Warhol's famous phrase and turning it on its head, "In the future, we'll all have 15 minutes of privacy."

Do you have any thoughts on the prevalence of lifecasting/livecasting? I'd love to hear what you have to say on the future of this nascent activity.

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Monday, March 31, 2008

Conversation is Like the Weather
"Everybody talks about the weather,
but nobody does anything about it."
- Mark Twain

Well, that's not entirely true - there are a committed group of marketers, writers, citizens, and passionate people who are not only talking about conversation, but they're doing something about it.

Last year, I was among one of 102 other individuals who were hand-picked by Drew McLellan & Gavin Heaton to co-author The Age of Conversation. If you haven't bought a copy of this book yet, I highly recommend that you do. Just last Saturday, through the enterprising Chris Wilson and the support of the community, the book managed to rise to #262 on the Amazon.com charts. We'll soon know how much money was raised for the book's cause: Variety, the Children's Charity.

After that successful (but stressful) venture, the pair are at it again, but this time, they've outdone themselves. Not only have they gotten a majority of the original authors to return for Volume 2, but they've recruited almost three times as many: 275 people will be putting fingers to keyboard to crank out The Age of Conversation: Why Don't People Get It? (that is, why they don't get the concept, not the book - we hope they'll get that)

Now you can imagine that with nearly 300 cats to herd authors to organize, asking them to write on a single topic might be a recipe for disaster. Instead, there's been a bit of self-organization that Drew & Gavin foisted upon us. We've each been asked to select one of the following sub-topics:
  • Manifestos
  • Keeping Secrets in the Age of Conversation
  • Moving from Conversation to Action
  • The Accidental Marketer
  • A New Brand of Creative
  • My Marketing Tragedy
  • Business Model Evolution
  • Life in the Conversation Lane
I'm very excited about this - there's some really great potential here, between the topics and the authors, new & old, who have signed on to the project.

What's more, I'm looking forward to developing a kinship with my co-authors, as this is a very special initiative that bonds us together. If nothing else, the Age of Conversation has the ability to get us all talking with and learning from each other.

My fellow Conversationalists:

Adam Crowe, 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 Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, 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, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, 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, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, 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, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, 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 Cribbett, 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, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, 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

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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.

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Monday, February 25, 2008

Social Media for B2B Marketing: Don't Monkey Around
As a former classical studies major, I’m fascinated with etymology, the study of linguistics. The word that is the focus of so many marketing books – conversation – has its origins in the Latin word conversari, which means "to dwell, to keep company with." And this is entirely appropriate in the name of social media marketing, since having conversations requires spending time with people – namely, customers.

Too often in B2B marketing, we see the definition of the more personal "customer" devolve into the distant and cold "decision maker." Decision makers are relegated to the sales cycle, engaged in research and in need of information and education. The prevalent attitude seems to be that marketers develop the message and decide which information to share with decision makers. This is command and control, with unidirectional messaging at its core.

Is it any wonder then why B2B companies are slow to adopt social media as a marketing channel?

It's not that B2B customers are steering clear of social media. On the contrary, they use blogs, message boards, podcasts and online communities in their research for business solutions as well as in their personal lives. But B2B marketers don’t seem to be aware of – or worse – care about conversations that are taking place within the social media space about their brands.

Brands are being discussed, both positively and negatively; now marketers can follow the conversations and join in. Ignoring it won’t make the problem dissipate; indeed, businesses that continue to put off the decision to join the conversations will find themselves at a disadvantage.

But – to return to our etymology lesson – marketers need to spend time with their prospects and begin to embrace bidirectional conversation. A simple way to start is to listen. Keep listening. And listen some more. Take the time to explore the sites. Look around. Follow the conversations with RSS feeds.

Above all, resist the temptation to jump in until you understand the context. Businesses that attempt to harness the power of social networks or new media sites without realizing the generally accepted etiquette will find themselves unwelcome. It is only by listening and learning that B2B marketers will be able to start talking with their customers.

Note: this post originally appeared as a chapter in The Age of Conversation.

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Friday, November 23, 2007

Act Now! Last Chance!
One week. That's all you've got to buy The Age of Conversation at its original price.

As of December 1, the book will no longer be available on Lulu in hardcover, paperback and e-book formats. Instead, Drew & Gavin are moving it to Amazon in an effort to broaden the reach. But with broader reach comes a higher price ($30), as we still need to meet our obligation to the charity we're supporting and also give a cut to Amazon.

If you haven't gotten a copy or two yet, please click on this link to buy yourself or a colleague a copy of the softcover at $16.95 before next Friday. If you would like to place bulk orders, please get in touch with me privately.

And while you're at it, you might want to check out the blogs of my fellow co-authors, to get a sense as to their collective insights and perspective on all things conversational.

Gavin Heaton, Drew McLellan, CK, Valeria Maltoni, Emily Reed, Katie Chatfield, Greg Verdino, 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, Luc Debaisieux, 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, Robert 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, Kris Hoet, G.Kofi Annan, Kimberly Dawn Wells, Karl Long, Julie Fleischer, Jordan Behan, John La Grou, Joe Raasch, Jim Kukral, Jessica Hagy, Janet Green, Jamey Shiel, s, 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, Amy Jussel, AJ James, Kim Klaver, Sandy Renshaw, Susan Bird, Ryan Barrett, Troy Worman, S. Neil Vineberg, C.B. Whittemore, Mack Collier, Andy Nulman


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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.



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Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Where Does the Time Go?
Happy Birthday, Social Media Blog! I can't believe it's been a year - almost to the minute, as I look at the clock - since I started this little project. And to think that I had the foresight (?) to choose the bland but very distinctive title "The Social Media Marketing Blog."

A lot has happened in a year - a new job, being asked to co-author a book, being ranked one of the top 150 marketing blogs - in some ways it feels like I just started last month, but in other ways, so much has changed that I feel like it's been much longer than a year.

What's kept me going when the times were rough was the knowledge that I've had the support of fellow writers and marketers out there. Your comments and email have been an inspiration and I thank you for participating in the conversation here.

My only hope is that I can continue to create and discover content that resonates with you. If I'm failing you in that regard, please tell me. If I'm succeeding at it, I wouldn't mind hearing from you, either.

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Friday, August 03, 2007

Want a Free Marketing Secret? Listen Up!
One of the key tenets behind my contribution to the Age of Conversation book is that in order to make a start in social media, marketers must first start by listening. Like so much of marketing, it's not rocket science, it's common sense.

Everyone probably has an older relative who at one time told them something like: "You were born with one mouth and two ears; use them in that proportion." Well, the same applies to marketing. Just think about how you can create brand loyalists by listening to your customers - and demonstrating to them that you heard what they had to say.

When I began reading my co-authors' contributions I began to see the word "listen" crop up a number of times. Since this is the more passive portion of conversing, I wasn't expecting much. Out of sheer curiosity, I took my e-book version (you can buy it as an e-book, paperback or hardcover) and did a quick search for the number of times "listen" was used.

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I found that this book about conversation by 103 authors contains 90 instances of the word.

But really, I shouldn't be surprised. These are 102 other people who get it. Now let's see if we can get the rest of the world to listen in with us.

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Monday, July 30, 2007

Getting to Know You
The days of the blind taste test are over.

When you're considering an online purchase, it's a huge leap of faith to simply buy anything without knowing much about the people, the company or its customers. In this case, I'm thinking specifically about books. After all, that's what the entire Amazon model is built on - knowing what you're getting, what's similar, and what people are saying about it.

There has already been a remarkable and enthusiastic response to The Age of Conversation, but I can understand the hesitancy in hitting that "buy" button without more information. Even though we live in a fast-paced hyperactive society that rewards quick action, it's still going to take more than saying "trust me" to drive sales - on this book or on any product or service marketed online.

With that, I'd like to give you some samples of what to expect from the 103 authors of this tome (listed alphabetically by authors' last names):

A taste from A-D

A taste from E-J

A taste from K-R

A taste from S-Z

Have you read it yet? Do you have a favorite?

Thanks to Steve Woodruff for the links and synopses.

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Thursday, July 19, 2007

Crazy Eights
There must be something in the air. It seems to be meme season again already. The last one I forced upon my unsuspecting digital friends turned out to be moderately useful, in terms of getting to know our own content a little better.

The latest craze is instructive as well, but in the shadow of the great Age of Conversation, this meme is designed to build or deepen relationships we have with each other as we reveal 8 Random Things About Me. I was tagged by Ryan Barrett.

I'm struggling to come up with really good ones, because I feel like I've shared some already in various contexts online. Well, on the off chance that people haven't been paying attention, I'll repeat myself.
  1. In graduate school, I won a student book collecting contest sponsored by the Friends of the Libraries at Boston University. I subsequently joined the group and attended many cocktail receptions, lectures and dinners where I had the opportunity to speak with celebrities at length, including Angela Lansbury, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Claire Bloom, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Roddy McDowall, Saul Bellow, Anna Russell, Michael Chiklis, Dan Rather... At the event with Prince Edward, Lauren Bacall approached me and my wife, saying she wanted to hang with "the younger people."
  2. I was trained classically on the accordion. Yes, I can play polkas, but I choose not to. I competed at the state and national level and took home many prizes over the years. I stopped lessons after high school - there's only so much ridicule a guy can take.
  3. My range of vocal impressions is fairly exhaustive; I'd be doing voice-overs on the side if anyone took me up on it (see the right column under "About Me").
  4. I am a clothes horse - I own over 300 neckties and 50 bow ties. In order to make it through the "rotation," at my last job, each week I celebrated "Bow Tie Monday."
  5. You know Booger from Revenge of the Nerds? His real name is Curtis Armstrong and he and I are friends. If he were here he'd want me to point out that he was also in Ray, Akeelah and the Bee, Moonlighting, Better Off Dead and Risky Business, he's a P.G. Wodehouse and Washington Irving scholar, and he never gets tired of being called "Booger."
  6. Growing up in rural Connecticut, before I was of legal age to work in typical high school jobs (supermarket, fast food joints, etc.), I spent two summers working on tobacco farms that produced cigar tobacco. The first summer was broad-leaf (the wrapper) and the second summer was shade (the filler). My parents thought it built "character." I think it made me realize I never wanted to do manual labor.
  7. I was a Resident Assistant on duty the night Warren Towers had to be evacuated due to toxic fumes venting up from the sealcoating of the parking garage beneath. Over 1,500 students were displaced over October 11-13, 1991, as genius contractors thought the building would be at low capacity for Columbus Day weekend, and decided to use the toluene-based chemicals.
  8. I am an investitured member of the Baker Street Irregulars, a literary society whose members have included Rex Stout, Christopher Morley and Isaac Asimov, and I serve as business manager of the Baker Street Journal.
I showed you mine...now you show me yours. Eight people I'd like to know more about:
Paull Young
LaSandra Brill
Mike Sansone
Todd Andrlik
Lewis Green
Tom Clifford
Ed Cotton
Mark Goren

Consider yourself tagged!

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Posted by Scott Monty at 12:08 AM
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Monday, July 16, 2007

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!

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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

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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

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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Book Me, Danno
Earlier this month, I mentioned an eBook project with which I am associated. The Age of Conversation is the brainchild of Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton and I'm happy to say that it has really gained some steam. Articles are due to the editors by April 30, and the book is due to be published in early May. Look for more details here.

In the meantime, here's the roster of authors who originally committed to the project:

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

Think that's impressive? Now take a look at the rest of the crew:

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
Mitch Joel
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 Pollinchock
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


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Posted by Scott Monty at 11:36 PM
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About Scott

For hi-res, click here

The best way to describe Scott is "Renaissance Man." Friends and colleagues that know Scott from one facet of his life are very frequently surprised to learn of his interests and talents in other areas.

Scott is a marketing and communications professional focused on the digital industry — specifically on social media. His career spans a number of industries such as healthcare, pharma, biotech, travel, automotive, tech, and communications, and includes a wide range of clients, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

Currently on the staff of corporate communications in Ford Motor Company, 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 consulting and agency background, 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, a literary undertaking. Scott has been featured in numerous news and business publications, on a variety of podcasts, and on national television. 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 term "tweetup."

You may download a headshot here, courtesy of C.C. Chapman and a PDF version of Scott's bio here.


Books in which Scott's work is featured:
The New Rules of Marketing & PR
Twitterville
Six Pixels of Separation
Monkeys with Typewriters
Read This First
World Wide Rave
Get Seen

Disclosures/Relationships

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 send an email to speaking [AT] scottmonty [DOT] com. Scott's bio and headshot can be found in the "About Scott" tab above.






Some previous engagements include:

BlogWell - How Big Companies Use Social Media - Minneapolis - August 13 Keynote at OMMA Global Sept. 21, 2009

MIMA Summit

Brand Camp '09 "I am Speaking at" Widget 135px Direct Marketing Association International conference, Oct. 18-22, 2009



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Who is Scott Monty?

Hi, I'm Scott. I'm the 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.

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