Say It Like You Mean It

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/17/91847052_06ef9648b4_m.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/17/91847052_06ef9648b4_m.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 232px; height: 240px;" /></a>I get a lot of unsolicited email. People looking for information, people with interview requests, people who are selling things. I try to be generous with my time, but it's the last group I don't have patience for.<br /><br />Let me tell you why.<br /><br />If I'm trying to make a good impression and I only have a limited amount of space or time to do so, I would think it's important to have my act together. While I certainly understand and can forgive nervousness or lack of polish, when I come across sloppy errors or blatant incompetence, it's the delete file for you. I have a very limited amount of time and I need to focus meeting goals. I'll give you an example of something that put me over the edge.<br /><br />An email arrived in my inbox with the subject: <b>Targeted Emailing List</b><br /><br />I thought: "Okay, I'm not directly responsible for email marketing, but this might be interesting for some related reason."<br /><br />I was quickly disavowed of that notion when I read the body of the email, which began:<div><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"></span></b><blockquote><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;">Dear Customer: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">[<i>emphasis not even added - they were dumb enough to make it bold</i>]</span></span></b><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;">We are a list compiler and a dominant player in the List Business Industry with over 40 Million B2B contacts and 200 Million B2C contacts. We have all varieties of business records that come with complete contact details including working business email addresses.</span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"></span><br />Aside from the annoyance of being called "Customer," (which I'm not), the very service they're selling is "complete contact details" of 200 million contacts. I guess I didn't make it into the database.<div><br /></div><div>If you're going to convince someone of your ability, please be sure you've demonstrated it effectively. Physician, heal thyself.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you had any similar experiences?</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Photo credit: </i><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/steev/91847052/"><i>detritus</i></a><br /><br /><br /></div></div>

Say It Like You Mean It

I get a lot of unsolicited email. People looking for information, people with interview requests, people who are selling things. I try to be...

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A Year @Ford - Part 1

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/4265912802" title="2012 Ford Focus - front by Scott Monty, on Flickr"><img alt="2012 Ford Focus - front" height="480" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2710/4265912802_e19880c208_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /> <br /> Today marks exactly one year since I joined Ford Motor Company to head up social media efforts. You'd be surprised at how much has happened in such a short period of time.<br /> <br /> The last year has marked some of the most turbulent not only in our economy overall, but in the entire history of the global automotive market. Since last December alone, we've witnessed bankruptcies filed, quarterly and annual losses not seen in decades (if ever), and emergency government support of some of our most iconic brands.<br /> <br /> And I decided to move my family to Michigan just before it all began. Exciting times, huh?<br /> <br /> I've written occasionally here about my Ford experiences, wanting to keep this blog as wide-ranging as possible for my readers. But more than a few people have asked to hear a little more about some of our activities. I thought my one year anniversary was the appropriate time to reflect on what's happened during that time.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-style: italic;">This is the first part of a multi-part series - and it's rather long. I beg your indulgence.</span><br /> <br /> <span id="fullpost"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/2680401102_d883e32fa4_m.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/2680401102_d883e32fa4_m.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 189px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 240px;" /></a></span><span id="fullpost"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">The Beginning</span><br /> <span id="fullpost">I announced my intention to join Ford <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2008/06/why-im-blue.html" style="font-weight: bold;">a little over a year ago</a>. In re-reading that post, I notice that I spent time thinking about what I was leaving behind rather than what was in front of me, which in retrospect (do you sense the irony?) didn't really give much of an impression of what lay before me. The job opportunity with Ford was pretty </span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost">exciting - running social media for a Fortune 10 company and an American and global icon. Enough to get any social media </span><span id="fullpost">strategist excited, right? Well, the notion of moving to Detroit didn't really sit well with me (chalk it up to an East coast elitism) and I wasn't totally convinced.<br /> <br /> It wasn't until I started doing my research and understanding where the company was headed that I started seriously considering it. After all, the company <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/business/25ford.html">turned a profit in April 2008</a> - a year ahead of <a href="http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=24203" style="font-weight: bold;">Alan Mulally</a>'s plan to turn the company profitable, and based on the product lineup I saw, this wasn't the Ford that I assumed I knew. Cool designs, interiors that rivaled foreign brands, hybrid technology, and an engine in the works </span><span id="fullpost">that would boost fuel efficiency across almost the whole fleet - not to mention a commitment to being leaders in digital communications - this is the Ford I discovered. And when I paid a visit to the company, every person I met - <span style="font-style: italic;">every</span> person - was intelligent, dedicated and passionate about Ford.<br /> <br /> In short, my perceptions were the only thing holding me back - something that Detroit and Ford experience on a daily basis. And - now that I've lived here for a year - I can say my long-held perceptions were incorrect.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Early Progress</span><br /> Typically when a leader assumes a new role, he or she is judged based on how much they </span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost">accomplish in the first 30, 60, or 90 days. And I knew that our lofty goal at Ford - to be become a leader in digital communications in four years and to become the world's leading social automotive brand - was one that would require a lot of teamwork. So, I quickly set out to meet as many people as I could, understand the processes in place, and start to work on our social media strategy.<br /> <br /> <span id="fullpost">I should mention that in addition to my social media responsibilities (my title is officially Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager), I also manage a team of people who are responsible for our TV & radio broadcast coverage, as well as our digital publishing team that maintains our <a href="http://media.ford.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Media</a> site, among others. These teams really do a great job in keeping Ford in the spotlight. [<span style="font-style: italic;">I should note that I lost the only social media person on my team last August and still haven't replaced her - that's about to be rectified.</span>]<br /> <br /> Some of the assets that we had at our disposal early on included:</span></span></span><br /> <ul> <li><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><a href="http://ford.digitalsnippets.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Ford's Social Media Press Releases</a> (SMPR) - our social media agency - aptly named the <a href="http://www.socialmediagroup.com/">Social Media Group</a> - created 15 separate SMPRs dedicated to corporate and product issues, updated regularly, built on WordPress with RSS feeds, fed by Flickr photos and </span><span id="fullpost">YouTube videos.</span></span></span></span></li> <li><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/fordmotorcompany" style="font-weight: bold;">A Flickr channel</a> - one in which we used a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 2.0 Generic license</a>, meaning that our photos are free to be used as long as we're attributed and they're not used for a profit-making venture.</span></span></li> <li><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/fordvideo1" style="font-weight: bold;">A YouTube channel</a>, mostly used for b-roll, but creating content that generally wasn't available elsewhere.</span></span></li> </ul> <span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost">The early <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/scottmonty/setting-content-free-at-ford-web-20-expo">results were impressive</a>: SMPR material used in over 5,000 posts and articles, Flickr photos viewed over 120,000 times, and over 500 subscribers on the YouTube channel with over 1.2 million views of 140 videos.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Expanding the Activity / Strategy Development</span></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/3444327465_6e39273c5b_m.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/3444327465_6e39273c5b_m.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 160px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 240px;" /></a></span></span></span></span></span><br /> <span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost">While we were fine-tuning the strategy (and I had a pretty good instinct as to what it</span></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"> was going to look like), we expanded our presence: we developed a number of Twitter feeds (<a href="http://twitter.com/ford">@Ford</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/forddrivegreen">@FordDriveGreen</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/fordmustang">@FordMustang</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/fordcustservice">@FordCustService</a>, to name a few), we got more active on <a href="http://facebook.com/ford">Facebook</a>, and we interacted on blogs. These activities were intentional, for I knew as an outsider to the industry that Ford didn't have a face to the general public and we needed to begin humanizing the company by getting faces out from behind the Blue Oval. I went so far as to leverage my own personal brand - not because it was convenient, but because I believed so firmly in the direction of the company, and because that's the network I had build up before I came to Ford. It seemed natural to extend it.<br /> <br /> Twitter made a lot of sense for Ford because it did a number of things for the company: it showed that we were listening; we were able to have 1:1 communication with consumers - but also in the very public setting that Twitter provides (i.e., everyone else is watching it happen); and it showed that Ford understood social media and was hip & cool.<br /> <br /> As we developed the strategy, we spoke to people around the company, from managers to senior executives, in offices from all over the world. In the end, we realized we had to have a strategy that was flexible enough to:</span></span></span><br /> <ol> <li>Allow us to speak to customers, employees, retirees, dealers, enthusiasts, shareholders;</li> <li>Apply to whatever department within the organization would like to use social media (HR, communications, IT, marketing, product development, customer service, etc.);</li> <li>Change according to the regional differences in social media adoption and technology saturation.</li> </ol> <span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost">Ultimately, Ford's social media strategy looked something like this:</span></span></span><br /> <blockquote style="font-style: italic;"> <span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Humanizing the company by connecting Ford employees with our stakeholders, allowing them to connect with each other when appropriate, and providing value in the process.</span></span></span></span></span></blockquote> <span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost">At about the same time that we created the strategy, the company was engaged in the hearings </span></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost">in Washington - not to ask for funding ourselves (Ford had wisely borrowed against its own assets some two years earlier) but to support the industry. We quickly found out that we were lumped in with our crosstown rivals, despite our intentions. I spent day and night defending our position on blogs, forums and on Twitter</span></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost">, until <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2008/11/how-you-can-use-social-media-to-help-us.html">I finally created a post of my own</a> to help the cause. We realized that a scattershot and one-off approach wasn't sustainable; a better solution had to be created.<br /> <br /> </span></span></span><br /> <h4> The Ford Story</h4> <br /> <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3722122261_22308a644d.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3722122261_22308a644d.jpg" style="float: left; height: 353px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 500px;" /></a><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost">So, in a massive flurry of activity and cross-departmental coordination, in the five days over Thanksgiving weekend, we created <a href="http://www.thefordstory.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">The Ford Story</a>. </span></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"></span></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost">It was a huge win for us, as it demonstrated the <a href="http://www.ford.com/about-ford/company-information/one-ford">One Ford mission</a> that drives the company, and it got a lot of coverage and attention for its design and good content. We wanted to ensure that we were true to our strategy, so we led with faces on every page - our executives speaking unscripted and plainly (albeit staged) about what Ford stood for. And because we had a number of documents to share - our comprehensive plan, a number of fact sheets - we decided to use an innovative site called <a href="http://www.scribd.com/FordMotorCompany" style="font-weight: bold;">Scribd</a> for document sharing. And because we <a href="http://wordpress.org/showcase/the-ford-story/" style="font-weight: bold;">built it on WordPress</a>, it resulted in an easy to understand and robust site that can be easily changed over time.<br /> <br /> Since we seemed to be enjoying more media attention than before, I decided to have a little fun at an event I was attending with Alan Mulally. On a whim, I got a few moments of his time <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2008/12/fords-ceo-takes-to-twitter.html" style="font-weight: bold;">and took live questions via Twitter</a>. However, just to show you that it's important to stay focused on what matters and to not get overly optimistic, during that time there was a little digital crisis communications effort that we had to deal with. I've covered that before - <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2008/12/case-study-social-media-for-crisis.html" style="font-weight: bold;">you can check it out here</a>.<br /> <br /> One bright spot, though: at the end of 2008, according to <a href="http://vitrue.com/blog/2009/01/29/the-vitrue-100-top-social-brands-of-2008/" style="font-weight: bold;">Vitrue's ranking of the 100 Most Social Brands</a>, Ford managed to snag the <span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;">#12</span> spot - the highest rank of any automaker on the list. It was safe to say that we were on our way.<br /> </span></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span style="font-style: italic;">Stay tuned for Part 2, in which I'll talk about some pitfalls along the way, our 2009 progress to date, as well as plans for the future.</span><br /> </span></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Is there anything so far that I didn't cover </span></span></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span style="font-weight: bold;">you'd like to know?</span></span></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span id="fullpost"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /> <br /> Special thanks to: <a href="http://socialmediagroup.com/">Maggie Fox</a>, <a href="http://johnbell.typepad.com/">John Bell</a>, <a href="http://leonahobbs.com/">Leona Hobbs</a>, <a href="http://www.catchupblog.typepad.com/">Kaitlyn Wilkins</a>, the entire Communications and Marketing teams at Ford, <a href="http://blog.stroutmeister.com/">Aaron Strout</a> (for spurring this post on), <a href="http://blog.agencypja.com/">Phil Johnson</a> for his cheerleading and for setting me free, <a href="http://www.jaffejuice.com/">Joseph Jaffe</a> for his inspiration, and <a href="http://www.cc-chapman.com/">C.C. Chapman</a> for his friendship, as well as the following people who were kind enough to acknowledge my anniversary today:<br /> <a href="http://twitter.com/prblog">@prblog</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/nadhiyamali">@nadhiyamali</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/cloudspark">@cloudspark</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/elliotschimel">@elliotschimel</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/eileen53">@eileen53</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/clairecelsi">@clairecelsi</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/PingTweets">@PingTweets</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ChrisCree">@ChrisCree</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/AdeleMcAlear">@AdeleMcAlear</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/nmalin">@nmalin</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/DougMeacham">@DougMeacham</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/HotLabRescue">@HotLabRescue</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/Gvision1">@Gvision1</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/bschestnutt">@bschestnutt</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/KelByrd">@KelByrd</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/cspenn">vcspenn</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/BiOH4ALLjk">@BiOH4ALLjk</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/woodlandalyssa">@woodlandalyssa</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/SandyspringFord">@SandyspringFord</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/KellyeCrane">@KellyeCrane</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/LionelAtDell">@LionelAtDell</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/LindaJacobson">@LindaJacobson</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/pfanderson">vpfanderson</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/tamaratam">@tamaratam</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/bigguyd">@bigguyd</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/MikeDriehorst">@MikeDriehorst</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/Girlfriendology">@Girlfriendology</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/tvdeegan">@tvdeegan</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/paullyoung">@paullyoung</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/jlicciardi">@jlicciardi</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/sgetgood%3C">@sgetgood</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/TdRamsey">@TdRamsey</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/Jen_Harvey">@Jen_Harvey</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/Military_Mom">@Military_Mom</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/theartofimpact">@theartofimpact</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/billgilliam">@billgilliam</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/Tiggr">@Tiggr</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/BryanPerson">@BryanPerson</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/russu">@russu</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/DanaSingleton">@DanaSingleton</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/JulieeSmith">@JulieeSmith</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/robgt2">@robgt2</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ayat">@ayat</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/chatterboxapp">@chatterboxapp</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/KyleRohde">@KyleRohde</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/jak2rocks">@jak2rocks</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/FordThunder">@FordThunder</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/DIRTFORGE">@DIRTFORGE</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/MustangMatters">@MustangMatters</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/Jericles">@Jericles</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/CMajor">@CMajor</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/gradontripp">@gradontripp</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/BethHarte">@BethHarte</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/Armano">@Armano</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/tomob">@tomob</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/eperry">@eperry</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/defcon_5">@defcon_5</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/DutchieDude">@DutchieDude</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ischafer">@ischafer</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/stlfordguy">@stlfordguy</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/kbuczko">@kbuczko</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/GeekMommy">@GeekMommy</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/rhappe">@rhappe</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/Stealx">@Stealx</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/JonBurg">@JonBurg</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/acowboyswife">@acowboyswife</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/DJLitten">@DJLitten</a><br /> <br /> You - and many others like you - make a difference every day. Thank you for being part of what inspires me.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-style: italic;">Photo credit: </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fordmotorcompany/11999819686/in/set-72157639870041874" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Ford Motor Company (Flickr)</a><br /> </span></span></span>

A Year @Ford - Part 1

Today marks exactly one year since I joined Ford Motor Company to head up social media efforts. You'd be surprised at how much has hap...

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Facebook Age Demographics

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s279246823.onlinehome.us/images/youngwomanoldlady.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://s279246823.onlinehome.us/images/youngwomanoldlady.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 345px;" /></a>"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety"<div><div style="text-align: right;">- <i>Antony & Cleopatra</i>, Act II, Scene 2.</div><br />It's pretty easy to fall into the trap of assuming that Facebook is a young person's game; after all, it was created by a college student and was only available to individuals with .edu email addresses originally. But ever since it <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/09/26/facebook-just-launched-open-registrations/">opened to the general public</a> in late 2006, the age demographic has been expanding.</div><div><br /></div><div>According to <a href="http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/03/25/number-of-us-facebook-users-over-35-nearly-doubles-in-last-60-days/"><b>a report in March of 2009</b></a>, Inside Facebook noted that there were more Facebook users 26-44 than 18-25 today. And in a separate report, they also noted that Facebook is seeing massive increases in adoption among users 35-65. In fact, <a href="http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/02/02/fastest-growing-demographic-on-facebook-women-over-55/"><b>the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is still women over 55</b></a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Fast forward to today - looking at the 70 million-plus users from the U.S. on Facebook - and you've got a remarkable statistic: over one-third of Facebook's users <i>are over the age of 35</i>. And about half of that group is in the 45+ age range.<br /><br /></div><div><img alt="" border="0" src="http://s279246823.onlinehome.us/images/facebook-demographics-3.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 377px; height: 449px;" /></div><br />Personally, I can attest to the number of people who are using it for reconnecting with old high school and college friends. I've heard from my fair share of people from times long past. [Side note: it's kind of ironic that Facebook is somewhat returning to its college roots.]<div><br /></div><div>I would imagine that the older demographic is also using it somewhat for work purposes; I'd be interested in seeing a breakdown of data on how each age group uses the tool - what percent for work, what percent for personal, and which use it for both. I have a strong suspicion that there'd be a spike in the third category.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of the recent growth, some of it is <a href="http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/06/college-students-facebook-use-easing-up-over-the-summer-while-parents-logging-on-in-record-numbers/"><b>attributable to more activity from parents</b></a>, relatively speaking, since the kids are home from college. It will be interesting to see if that level of activity is just a summer anamoly or if it continues.</div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s279246823.onlinehome.us/images/facebook-demographics-1.png"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://s279246823.onlinehome.us/images/facebook-demographics-1.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 468px;" /></a><br /><br /><center><object height="224" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/234513010483"><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/234513010483" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="224"></embed></object></center><br /><br /><div>What do you think of these numbers? Any surprises here for you?</div><div><br /></div>

Facebook Age Demographics

"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety" - Antony & Cleopatra , Act II, Scene 2. It's pretty easy ...

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Talk About Transparency!

<p>When you've flown, how many times have you ignored the safety instructions? We've all heard the same boring routine over and over, and let's face it - if you don't know how to fasten a seatbelt, you probably shouldn't be flying alone.</p> <p>Air New Zealand has done something to ensure they'll have your attention: they've made a safety video where the flight attendants are wearing nothing but body paint. See if you pay attention to the entire announcement <em>now</em>.</p> <p> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"> <object height="295" width="480"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7-Mq9HAE62Y&hl=en&fs=1&"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7-Mq9HAE62Y&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="295" width="480"></embed> </object> </p> <p>That's what Seth Godin would call <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/youre-boring.html">remarkable</a>. How is your company being remarkable - and most importantly - making it easy for people to remark about it? Air New Zealand could have kept their video locked up on their planes, but they put it on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Mq9HAE62Y">YouTube</a>. Why? It's not like people need to watch an airline safety video at their desk. But people do have the power to tell everyone they know about this cool airline and what it's doing.</p> <p>And that's how great content is spread.</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com/">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://scottmonty.posterous.com/talk-about-transparency">The Full Monty</a> </p>

Talk About Transparency!

When you've flown, how many times have you ignored the safety instructions? We've all heard the same boring routine over and over, a...

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