Scott Monty

A Project for My Community

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2349/2116285078_f4695e5fee_m.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2349/2116285078_f4695e5fee_m.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" /></a>In December of 2007, I slipped down my driveway, which was coated in 1/2" of pure ice. I foot-skied down the driveway, probably getting up to about 20 mph before I hit the bottom and was thrown into the street. <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/sets/72157603472928154/">Here's a shot of the scene</a> after a recent snowfall, for perspective. I injured my ribs & back pretty severely - but it's all soft tissue damage, no breaks - and I've been trying to recover. Since then, we've had three significant snowfalls and another one is looming. There's been little time to allow for the healing process in between. Shoveling that monster has been a series of grueling tasks. Because of a variety of circumstances, we haven't been able to afford a snowblower (a previously purchased used Toro was a debacle) and the setup of our driveway makes hiring a plow impractical and impossible. As a result, it's all shoveling for me. And it's really taking its toll on me physically (and often mentally too). I am not usually one to ask for help or to try to get anything out of my social media networks. So you can imagine that the circumstances - both financially and physically - must be pretty dire to warrant me asking for assistance. Seeing how the community <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2007/12/social-media-takeaways-6.html">has rallied around many other members this year</a>, I thought that maybe - just maybe - there might be a little charity left for me this season. So I've <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.chipin.com/contribute/id/4f8644617a3b2162">started a ChipIn</a> to help reach the goal of buying a snowblower that can handle the hill. If this angle doesn't work out - and I have very low expectations - perhaps <a href="http://www.toro.com/">Toro</a>, <a href="http://www.sears.com/">Sears</a> or <a href="http://www.lowes.com/">Lowes</a> are paying attention. It would be an interesting project for them to be involved in. From a personal perspective, you don't know how hard it is for me to ask for help. I'm really opening myself up to my extended network here, and I feel completely vulnerable. But if you can spare anything that could help me to clear my drive way and allow my injuries to heal this season, I'm sure my vulnerability would be replaced with humility, sheer gratitude and awe at the power of social networks. <center> <object height="250" width="250"><param name="movie" value="http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/4f8644617a3b2162"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed allowscriptaccess="never" src="http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/4f8644617a3b2162" flashvars="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="250" width="250"></embed></object></center>

A Project for My Community

In December of 2007, I slipped down my driveway, which was coated in 1/2" of pure ice. I foot-skied down the driveway, probably getting...

Going Truly Digital This Holiday Season

I don't know if you've heard, but Queen Elizabeth II is going digital, as <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140799-page,1/article.html">she releases her annual Christmas message on YouTube</a>. What's more, the Royal Family has even established <a href="http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TheRoyalChannel">its own channel on YouTube</a>. Not bad for an institution that 10 years ago was being thought of as potentially irrelevant and extinct. I addressed my share of holiday cards this year (well, truthfully, I used mail merge and address labels, but there was manual labor involved), but I thought what a great time to start integrating some digital messaging as well. Here's one for you: <div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="b-hbp-video b-uploaded" frameborder="0" height="266" id="BLOGGER-video-d0667e5a6e952379-7170" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyQ5GwoSAyBZ7hsCnhdNeQ82gRkqSckThxMtv5ElyZ1aSswKS3P8cKOk2TzgmBY_ge9vA4nwAFFHk3tCDqMEWEfe0sQjmGhnzlQY5H-Xmb-5HBAgktCBZ2dhNNQrq_IvOrbuP4" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe> </div> While I recognize that not everyone on my list is able to send/receive electronic messages, odds are the percentage will grow higher each year. Which is why it's cool that I can record a message like this with <a href="http://oovoo.com">ooVoo</a>, <a href="http://www.seesmic.com">Seesmic</a>, or any number of applications. If I really get my act together, I can do the ultimate cool thing: connect with up to 5 people at a time on a video chat via <a href="http://www.oovoo.com/download">ooVoo</a>, which could make for some fun holiday interaction. Whatever you're doing for the holidays, be safe and enjoy. And I look forward to hearing from you in whatever manner you choose to communicate. Disclosure: ooVoo is a client of my company, <a href="http://www.crayonville.com">crayon, LLC</a>.

Going Truly Digital This Holiday Season

I don't know if you've heard, but Queen Elizabeth II is going digital, as she releases her annual Christmas message on YouTube . Wha...

Social Media Takeaways #6

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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0RgHKNtQJWg/UuhBM4M_TOI/AAAAAAAAP80/ZspKDPlz_M4/s1600/takeout+box+man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0RgHKNtQJWg/UuhBM4M_TOI/AAAAAAAAP80/ZspKDPlz_M4/s1600/takeout+box+man.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
 
It's been a little while since I've posted a set of Takeaways... The past couple of weeks have been busy (what with 3 snowstorms and a set of bruised ribs to slow down my shoveling), not to mention plenty of work. 
 
This installment is really only a single takeaway, but it's inspired by a number of selfless activities that I've been watching on Twitter over the past 3 weeks or so. During that time, we saw Twitter used for a variety of public service announcements: 
 
Helping <a href="http://savemanessa.wordpress.com/">a young girl who ran away</a>(Courtesy of <a href="http://pistachioconsulting.com/blog/">@Pistachio</a>) 
 
News of a BlogNation editor who <a href="http://us.blognation.com/2007/12/03/marc-orchant-suffers-massive-coronary">suffered a massive heart attack and later passed away</a> 
(via <a href="http://www.micropersuasion.com/">@steverubel</a>) 
 
Public call for <a href="http://www.disruptiveconversations.com/2007/12/my-own-open-let.html#comment-92437682">reinstatement of a post</a> about said editor 
<a href="http://www.disruptiveconversations.com/">via @danyork</a>) 
 
Computer algorithm <a href="http://digg.com/health/Never_ending_kidney_donation/share">matches donors and recipients</a> to kick off transplant chain 
(via <a href="http://www.everydotconnects.com/">@conniereece</a>) 
 
Fundraising to support <a href="http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php">One Laptop Per Child</a> 
(via everyone) 
 
Collecting information on <a href="http://twitter.com/santacause">companies that share their revenues with charities</a> 
(via <a href="http://www.providentpartners.net/blog/">@AlbertMaruggi</a>) 
 
A number of tweets have promoted goodwill gestures for the troops, such as sending care packages or messages. <a href="http://www.utterz.com/">Utterz</a> has even gotten into the swing of it (via <a href="http://web-strategist.com/blog/">@jowyang</a>) 
 
And finally, one of the most significant: there has been an outpouring of support for <a href="http://susanreynolds.blogs.com/boobsonice/">Susan Reynolds</a>, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She took to using bags of frozen peas in lieu of ice packs, and Twitter turned out in force, updating their avatars, joining <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/frozenpeafriday/">a Flickr group for Frozen Pea Friday</a>, creating a <a href="http://www.frozenpeafund.com/">fund for breast cancer research</a>, and sharing links through <a href="http://twitter.com/PEAple">an aggregated account</a>. 
<ul>
<li>SMT: Twitter can be used for any number of purposes, but it's encouraging to see folks using it for public good as well as <a href="http://twitter.com/juliaroy/statuses/458671472">just for fun</a>. I hope that ths is not simply a side-effect of the holiday season, but something that wil continue throughout the year.</li>
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Image credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/41218664@N02/4935614128/in/photolist-8w9j8j-bxJnMH-99zQRk-8jZWPu-7JtH1b-d7j1v1-913emx-91kkDh-hK3knk-hK2fWF-hK3kt2-9qar23-dVh4Lt-8e3RkP-iL8di9-iL65Cb-iL5zSz-iL8ew1-iL4e8c-bvgJwn-bi8VGn-bh9JYn-9Ja3Uk-bsEo87-bFzgUx-7ZdWQT-c6jgNy-8Hhe29-8hvDYs-c6jgwY-8RFfyv-7KgCWV-7KkyXY-8He6rX" target="_blank">EvanHahn (Flickr)</a></div>
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Social Media Takeaways #6

It's been a little while since I've posted a set of Takeaways... The past couple of weeks have been busy (what with 3 snowstorms ...

Can a Commodity Be Entertaining?

It had sure as hell try to be, if it needs your attention to succeed. We're tired of interruptions. We want entertainment. But how do you provide entertainment when you're dealing with a commodity? How do you make people thing a little differently about something they know as if it's a part of them? How you you make them care enough about your product that they'll want to share it with others? The guys of Straight No Chaser came up with the perfect solution. Or so thought 3.3 million (and counting) viewers on YouTube (click through if you can't see this in a feedreader). <center><object height="373" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2Fe11OlMiz8&rel=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2Fe11OlMiz8&rel=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="373" width="425"></embed></object></center> While a capella singing may not be your thing, you have to admit that these guys really got your attention. They took the expected and made it unexpected. They transformed the familiar and mundane to humorous. Is this effective? What are you doing to stand out from the crowd? Let me know your thoughts.

Can a Commodity Be Entertaining?

It had sure as hell try to be, if it needs your attention to succeed. We're tired of interruptions. We want entertainment. But how do yo...

The Best Pitch I've Received

You've probably heard me rant over some bad pitches from time to time. As a matter of fact, they inspired me to create the section in my sidebar titled "Before You Pitch Me," which contains posts from a number of PR, marketing and social media colleagues, as well as from me. So it was with great relief that I opened a pitch email this morning and was greeted with a comparative ray of sunshine. The message, from Julie Szabo, was simple: <blockquote>Subject: We made this 2-minute video for you </blockquote>Okay, good. I know I'm dealing with a video, and I know it'll only eat up 2 minutes of my time. And then the body of the email: <blockquote>Hi Scott, Our video says it all. It's on this page that we made just for you. [Link to the video] </blockquote>That was it. Plain & simple. Naturally, curiosity got the better of me and I clicked through to the video to see this: <center><object height="373" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uSd0V5MxdRQ&rel=1&border=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uSd0V5MxdRQ&rel=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="373" width="425"></embed></object></center> You'll note that in the video, Julie & Darren: <ol><li>Addressed me by name</li><li>Made a note of where I'm from</li><li>Acknowledged that they read the section of my blog about how I like to be pitched</li></ol>The rest of their message was a broader one about their new ebook, <a href="http://www.socialmediaready.com/">Getting to First Base</a>, a social media marketing playbook, and who it's for. I'll be reviewing it in a future post, but I can tell you that if the authors are following their own advice as they <a href="http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/12/how-to-get-the.html">reach out to busy people</a>, then it's going to be a very positive review.

The Best Pitch I've Received

You've probably heard me rant over some bad pitches from time to time. As a matter of fact, they inspired me to create the section in my...

Another Productivity App

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R1Yn4hDo-SI/AAAAAAAAAkg/mM9bUJ9Yrkw/s1600-h/jott_logo_beta.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5140339876589795618" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R1Yn4hDo-SI/AAAAAAAAAkg/mM9bUJ9Yrkw/s200/jott_logo_beta.gif" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a>Are you using <a href="http://www.jott.com/">Jott</a> yet? In <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2007/10/my-podcamp-boston-2-presentation.html">my PodCamp Boston presentation</a>, I reviewed a number of Web 2.0 applications that could actually make your life more productive (rather than <a href="http://www.moola.com/">less</a>). It's a simple voice-to-email system that allows you to be productive while you're mobile. It's probably just the thing for realtors, road warriors and robber barons alike. You call (866) JOTT-123 to leave a message for yourself, another individual or even a group and things start happening. But where it really gets interesting is when you use <a href="http://jott.com/how-to/jott-links/">Jott Links</a>. Every time I turn around, I see that Jott has integrated itself with another cool application. For example: <ul><li><a href="http://twitter.com/scottmonty">Twitter </a>- you can Jott a message that will appear in your Twitter stream. </li><li>Blogger, WordPress and Typepad - you can Jott directly to your blog</li><li><a href="http://www.zillow.com/">Zillow </a>- for all of you realtors, you can look up Zestimates in the car</li><li>Google Calendar - make appointments on the go</li><li><a href="http://www.rememberthemilk.com/">Remember the Milk</a> - add to your to do list while you're thinking of it</li><li><a href="http://www.xpenser.com/">Xpenser </a>- keep track of your expenses while you're out </li></ul>The list goes on and on. It's really worth checking out and adding to your arsenal.

Another Productivity App

Are you using Jott yet? In my PodCamp Boston presentation , I reviewed a number of Web 2.0 applications that could actually make your life ...

I'm Virtually Working

[Note: the following is a feature that I originally wrote for <a href="http://www.mediabullseye.com/">Media Bullseye</a>. If you don't subscribe to this unique e-magazine of the communications field, I strongly suggest you check it out. And while you're at it - you do subscribe to my blog, don't you?] One of the realities that we face in this increasingly online world is that more of our previously "analog" activities are now becoming digital. From shopping and banking to project management and document retrieval, there are more Web-based applications that make our lives easier to manage from in front of the screen. Which begs the obvious question: if apps can be Web-based, then why can’t workers? With so much focus on work-life balance, flex time and family-friendly workplaces, more companies are discovering that non-traditional working environments may benefit their employees and their company. In other words, "flex" might very well apply to place rather than time - and "work" doesn’t necessarily mean a fluorescent-lit cube farm. I think there’s a unique confluence of events that occurred beginning at the close of 2001 which got us to where we are today. Part technological, part sociological, these situations have led to the same inevitable conclusion: we’ll be seeing many more jobs that do not require physical relocation, and even more that encourage part-time work from home. <ol><li>September 11, 2001. The business travel market shrank significantly after the terrorist attacks, for a couple of reasons: less free cash flow meant reining in expenses, and travel budgets were an easy target; and Americans were a little hesitant to step back on airplanes after seeing what had happened, preferring rather to stay close to home and hearth. Organizations began looking into more virtual presence applications, such as video conferencing and Web-based presentation software, to substitute face-to-face client and departmental meetings.</li> <li>The rise of universally available high-speed access. First it was DSL and cable that became mainstream. Now FiOS is quickly following suit and wireless network cards for the real road warriors are about as cheap as a cell phone plan. Any way you look at it, there is ubiquitous high-speed access wherever we go. Good riddance, dial-up!</li> <li>Web-based software becomes endemic. The ability to share photos, files, and other data online has nearly made boxed software disposable – especially when you consider many of these are free.</li> <li>"Soft" benefits are being sold by HR. Driven mainly by the FMLA, paternity leave is becoming more of a norm, HR departments have realized that allowing workers the time to participate in their childrens’ activities will make for a happy, more productive workforce. And let’s not forget the growing number of commuters out there on the roads each day. The traffic isn’t getting any lighter. By allowing work to be done off-hours and from home, the enterprise can still thrive while encouraging employees to lead fulfilling and less stressful lives.</li></ol> So, combine less frequent business travel with online access and software improvement, add to it changing attitudes about when and where we work, and you’ve got the perfect storm for the rise of the virtual employee. My own company, <a href="http://www.crayonville.com/">crayon</a>, is a virtual company. We are scattered around the Northeast and work from home offices, but we use new media technologies to stay in touch and hold meetings – from <a href="http://www.skype.com/">Skype</a> for our primary phone and IM service, to <a href="http://www.oovoo.com/">ooVoo</a> for up to 6 people in a video chat, to <a href="http://www.crayonvillesecondlife.com/">Second Life</a> for open houses and large presentations, to <a href="http://www.basecamphq.com/">Basecamp</a> for project and client management, we don’t need office space. ABC World News Tonight even <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2007/08/abc-news-waxes-futuristic.html">did a feature story on this</a>. Now, that’s not to say that we eschew face-to-face meetings. On the contrary, we believe they’re an essential part of how we do business. We check in with each other regularly and have monthly meetings in person. But we know that each one of us has the freedom to work how he or she chooses, and it means that our families are happier, our clients are satisfied and we have the opportunity to build the business of the future. Everyone wins. I fully expect that more companies will embrace this type of workforce in the near future. In this age of information and conversation, it’s the knowledge workers who will be most sought after - and it’s a seller’s market. Don’t expect them to uproot their families just so they can come to work at a generic-looking office park in a nondescript suburb. A top-notch hire will be able to work wherever he or she wants and will likely choose the company that reflects those values. The question is: are you virtually prepared?

I'm Virtually Working

[ Note: the following is a feature that I originally wrote for Media Bullseye . If you don't subscribe to this unique e-magazine of the ...

We Know Why You Use Social Media

<a href="http://www.aadvantagemilefindermap.com/map" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142437482782587202" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R12bpRDo-UI/AAAAAAAAAkw/PNZkzsQTYGg/s200/AAMilefinder_logo.png" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a>At <a href="http://www.aa.com/">American Airlines</a>, the tagline is "We know why you fly." Sounds a little spooky, in a Big Brother-ish way at first. But really, it's a matter of AMR listening to their customers and being able to act accordingly. Well, now they're using social media to let customers know about each other - more like "We know why we fly." 
 
AMR's <a href="http://www.aadvantage.com/">AAdvantage</a> unit - their frequent travel program and one of their most profoundly successful business units - has <a href="http://www.aadvantagemilefindermap.com/map">forayed into social media</a>. While it's nothing as sexy as a social network or a new Facebook app, it is nevertheless a way that AMR is letting its most loyal members interact with each other. 
 
 In late October, under the guidance of my company, <a href="http://www.crayonville.com/">crayon</a>, they launched the <a href="http://www.aadvantagemilefindermap.com/map">AAdvantage Milefinder Map</a>, a mashup of the Google Maps API and AAdvantage partner data. If you log on to the map, you can see hotels, restaurants, car rental agencies and other partner information, sorted around 11 city centers. At this point, it's just a pilot program (I know, sorry!) and AMR may expand it to other cities based on the response. Users can use the standard social media sharing functions such as Digg, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, etc. to share their findings. But most importantly, they can submit reviews of each vendor, in order to better inform other AAdvantage members of places to visit or avoid, based on their experience. The comments are monitored for off-topic rants, profanity, or any other untoward activity. But in their commitment to keeping the experience as transparent and authentic as possible, AMR is leaving any negative posts up. I give them full credit for doing so, for it's not easy for a large brand to let go of control. Finally, I'm happy to see that this approach - using online tools to help steer offline decision making - is gaining traction. ComScore and the Kelsey Group recently found that <a href="http://blogs.mediapost.com/research_brief/?p=1590">offline purchase behavior is influenced by online reviews</a>. In fact, percentage of people who consider online reviews in the top 3 categories match the major AAdvantage Milefinder Map categories: 
<ul>
<li>Restaurants - 41%</li>
<li>Hotels - 40%</li>
<li>Travel - 27%</li>
</ul>
 This is good news to other brands that may be a little hesitant to try some online experiments, knowing that their purchases are really done offline. The line between online and offline is continuing to blur in a very interesting way. One flows into th next and information is collected, analyzed and acted upon an a variety of ways. Are there any industries that you typically research online and then purchase offline? What are they?

We Know Why You Use Social Media

At American Airlines , the tagline is "We know why you fly." Sounds a little spooky, in a Big Brother-ish way at first. But really...

Is It Viral or WOM? What's the Difference?

I've been having a really interesting Twitter debate (Twitdebate?) with <a href="http://www.financialaidpodcast.com/">Christopher S. Penn</a> and <a href="http://www.providentpartners.net/blog">Albert Maruggi</a> about the difference between word of mouth (WOM) and viral marketing. You can follow <a href="http://twitter.com/cspenn">Chris</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/AlbertMaruggi">Albert</a> on Twitter as well. Albert was wondering what to call the spread of a commercial like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJJL5dxgVaM">Swear Jar</a> and Chris chimed in with "<a href="http://twitter.com/cspenn/statuses/475703892">word of mouth</a>." I disagreed, saying there's an inherent difference between WOM and viral. I would have elaborated, but you know, <a href="http://twitter.com/scottmonty">140 characters</a> and all... <object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EJJL5dxgVaM&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EJJL5dxgVaM&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object> So I'm opening it up here to a larger debate. I think that WOM is a one-to-one or one-to-few methodology with an influencer asking for the listener to try / look at something. The expectation is that the listener will then start using a product or service. There's a specific call to action. Viral, on the other hand, is much more about creating something that is dependent upon network of people to pass it along. It's a one-to-few-to-few-to-few.... model. If a campaign / site / video goes viral, it does so by virtue of being worthy of being passed along and without a specific call to action (albeit the unspoken CTA is "pass this along"). I guess I'd sum up my position as follows: WOM is tied to making people try/buy things and if done well, results in a long-term impression. Viral, on the other hand, is tied to making people pass things along and is more or about creating a quick buzz. My Parthian shot: people create viral videos, not WOM videos. For more information, the <a href="http://www.hmtweb.com/blog/2006/10/difference-between-bzz-marketing-viral.html">Internet Marketing Driver</a> had a great post on this subject. Update: here's <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/10/is-viral-market.html">a post from Seth Godin</a> that stuck with me and influenced my position above. So now the fun begins. What do you have to say about all of this?

Is It Viral or WOM? What's the Difference?

I've been having a really interesting Twitter debate (Twitdebate?) with Christopher S. Penn and Albert Maruggi about the difference be...

Great New Portal Hits the Spot

<a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R1ZDxhDo-TI/AAAAAAAAAko/i8yAgWxqNsE/s1600-h/Bullseye.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5140370542656289074" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R1ZDxhDo-TI/AAAAAAAAAko/i8yAgWxqNsE/s200/Bullseye.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a><a href="http://www.pardonthedisruption.com/">Chip Griffin</a> is a visionary. He keeps churning out start-ups that are simple in concept, yet elegant in execution. <a href="http://www.customscoop.com/">Custom Scoop</a> was an idea whose time had come - a new media clipping service, catching the best in blog and podcast content; and <a href="http://www.corkandknife.com/">Cork & Knife</a> is a e-magazine for foodies. That appeals to my <a href="http://www.nothingcouldbefinerdiner.com/">inner diner</a>. 
 
Yesterday, he launched his latest - <a href="http://www.mediabullseye.com/mb/">Media Bullseye</a>. Put briefly, Chip publishes it "to provide media, public relations, and marketing professionals with news and commentary about the modern communications landscape." But the cool part is that it combines video, audio, feature commentary and aggregated content, presenting it all in one slick interface. And naturally, it's completely RSS-able. It's definitely worth checking out. 
 
And here's Chip himself to tell you about his vision. 
 
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I'm honored to be <a href="http://mediabullseye.com/mb/2007/12/im-virtually-working.html" style="font-weight: bold;">one of the early contributors to the site</a>. Joining other social media greats like Chris Brogan and Chris Thilk is an honor (I'm lucky I got in, seeing as my given name isn't Chris). We'll see if I can turn this into a regular feature. 
 
What do you think? Is this an idea whose time has come? Any suggestions for Chip?

Great New Portal Hits the Spot

Chip Griffin is a visionary. He keeps churning out start-ups that are simple in concept, yet elegant in execution. Custom Scoop was an ide...

100 Posts, 100 Reasons to Follow

<a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R1WAJRDo-RI/AAAAAAAAAkY/I95bXBTIX24/s1600-h/100.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5140155446399138066" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R1WAJRDo-RI/AAAAAAAAAkY/I95bXBTIX24/s200/100.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a>If you don't know <a href="http://www.chrisbrogan.com/">Chris Brogan</a> yet, where have you been? Chris is one of the founders of <a href="http://www.podcamp.org/">PodCamp</a>, does some amazing stuff with text, audio and video, knows how to build communities, and on top of that, is a genuinely nice guy. 
 
Chris is forever asking great questions, partly out of curiosity and partly out of a desire to drive his community to action. I've seen it happen many times, when he blasts a question out to Twitter and gets <a href="http://chrisbrogan.com/twitter-literati/">a wealth of responses</a> that help him make a decision, find a location, or achieve clarity. 
 
This time, Chris is dedicating <a href="http://chrisbrogan.com/my-next-100-posts/">his next 100 posts</a> to giving back to his community. As he puts it, he'll be "helping you grow the value of your social media and social networking efforts." 
 
Bookmark his site and follow along as he'll surely provide a lot of value and introduce you to some really smart people in the process.

100 Posts, 100 Reasons to Follow

If you don't know Chris Brogan yet, where have you been ? Chris is one of the founders of PodCamp , does some amazing stuff with text, ...

For You, and for the Children

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R1OZCxDo-QI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/_3vO9EGE4k0/s1600-R/SEMsyndicatedcover.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139619872567261442" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Wgi7DTsDt2g/R1OZCxDo-QI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/Vu6RHQobwgw/s200/SEMsyndicatedcover.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a>I've been receiving <a href="https://www.searchmarketingstandard.com/">Search Marketing Standard</a> for the better part of a year - and if you don't subscribe, you should really consider doing so. To my surprise, they've been around for a little longer that I thought; this month, they're celebrating their 2-year anniversary as a matter of fact! And as part of their celebration, they're giving a discount to readers of the Social Media Marketing Blog. If you would like to subscribe, you can receive a 67% discount off the normal rate, bringing the U.S. cost down to just $4.95 a year! In addition, SMS will donate $1 for every new subscription to the <a href="http://www.toysfortots.org/">Toys for Tots Foundation.</a> Just use the coupon code HOLIDAY67 when you <a href="https://www.searchmarketingstandard.com/subscribe.html">subscribe to Search Marketing Standard</a> between now and December 10th and you can begin receiving a top-notch publication related to search for a great price and you'll be making a difference in the lives of children for the holidays.

For You, and for the Children

I've been receiving Search Marketing Standard for the better part of a year - and if you don't subscribe, you should really conside...

Scott Monty - Strategic Communications & Leadership Advisor