1. Expand Media Literacy
2. Share Lessons Learned Among Practitioners
3. Encourage Adoption of Industry Standards
4. Promote Ethical Practices through Discussion and Actions

There are several reasons why I accepted Mitch Baldwin and Eric Weaver‘s invite to be part of the organizing committee of Social Media Club Vancouver. The first one, quite obviously, is because I really like both Eric and Mitch. The second one, quite obvious as well, is that I knew I’d be joined by a bunch of very talented social media folks who work in a variety of areas.

My involvement with Social Media Clubs isn’t new. I spoke at Social Media Club Victoria in April of 2009 (almost a year ago now!) thanks to an invite by Catherine Novak and Paul Holmes (both of whom have grown to be good friends of mine). My intent was to galvanize the Victoria social media community to move and effect change, and I shared my experience of co-organizing Mental Health Camp with my dear friend Isabella Mori (my highest achievement of 2009, hands down).

For the past couple of years, I given numerous talks about social media for public policy, sustainability, marketing and non-profits. I’ve explored the use of social media in politics and public policy and in non-profit & health. But more importantly, I pride myself in having challenged my readers, the attendees of my talks and my fellow social media practitioners to think beyond the use of social media tools. To explore the high-level discussions on social media, the Internet and its impact on the composition of the social fabric we are embedded within.

I know I have asked the tough questions and I want to continue to do so. I am, after all, an academic. I’m slowly moving from educating ON social media to educating WITH/USING social media. That is precisely the reason why I am involved in the Social Media Club Vancouver. I want to continue to challenge my peers to think beyond “how do I use Twitter” or “how do we create a Facebook fan page” to questions of privacy vs publicness, of the challenges to achieving diversity in social media, to the realities of crowdsourced rules within social networking sites to the evolution of norms and etiquette in social media.

I am delighted to be joined by the talented group of people who are participating, and more importantly, I’m delighted that the group is inclusive. So if you want to change the way social media is done in Vancouver, be part of the change. Join us. Feel free to contact Eric, Mitch or even me should you want to get involved.

Related posts:

1. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria
2. Vancouver Bloggers Meetup and Social Media Club Vancouver Event March 18th
3. Upcoming speaking engagement – Social Media Club (Victoria, B.C.) May 2009

Credit: Robert Scoble

I do believe in the power of Twiter as a tool to raise awareness and I advocate its use as part of a comprehensive social media marketing strategy (clients will buy your product if they can find you), but I’m also well aware that there are many people on Twitter who feel annoyed by the fact that some businesses aren’t using it in a way that is perceived as effective.

Recently, Twitter itself launched a Twitter for Business 101 guide. I believe it’s a good stepping stone, but I am not sure it replaces real solid advice from consultants. I asked on Twitter:

Does the fact that now Twitter has a Twitter 101 for Businesses put out of business some social media consultants? What do YOU think?

Several friends responded with very insightful thoughts, reproduced below.

As always, I love to open the discussion on my comments section. What do YOU think about the Twitter 101 for Business guide? Do you think it’ll put pressure on social media consultants to provide more/better value? Will it be a good stepping stone? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Related posts:

1. My 125,000th tweet: A newbies and oldies guide to Twitter
2. Twitter has officially become mainstream – my civilian friends know all about Twitter
3. Twitter as an online social space to hang out virtually and enable offline interaction

Every so often, I come across yet another attempt to measure of influence in social media and (geeky and academic as I am) I go and test it out. The most recent one I’ve tried is the Klout score. I recently received an email indicating that my score had suffered a reduction (the graphs you are seeing are from the previous time I checked my score) and that they willing to help me try and become more influential. I have been named as an influential social media before (thanks Nate Elliott from Forrester Research!) but frankly, I don’t really pay attention to whether people in the community perceive me as influential UNLESS my influencing activity has a specific goal, like when I wanted to co-organize Mental Health Camp with Isabella

For example, if I want to ensure that my objectives for social change are well-heard and well-known, and widely spread, then I use ALL of the tools I have at my disposal. I use my (yes, very, very strong) social network to disseminate my ideas. I am well connected to many people who are considered social media and tech stars not only in Vancouver, Toronto, or Canada and the US, but even worldwide. These social media powerhouses do trust me in what I say, but that’s a bi-directional, long-time-established trust that has emerged from actual interaction, both online and in many cases, offline.

Does it upset me that my Klout score goes down or that my Twitter Grader score doesn’t rank me in the top 10 (as I’ve consistently been ranked for the past year or so)? Um, no. Not really. Real influence comes from behavioral change that is effected through the creation of long-lasting, trust-based bonds. One example – does my opinion influence other people and do they listen to what I have to say in regards to water governance? Probably. And why is that? Well, because I have built a credibility around my research (both pre- and post- my PhD). Same with social media.

If somebody comes to me and tells me “I’m in the top 10 for Twitter Grader” and I don’t know them I actually probably will giggle (since, well, I’m the organizer of the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup so chances are, I *should* know them). Why? Simply because I would argue that this is just one of many measures of influence. But I’d be curious to see what other people think about influence.

Have your say, as usual, in the comments section.

Related posts:

1. Is measuring real influence in social media possible?
2. Measuring influence Part I: Social media
3. The Walk Score

This preconceived idea of mine (i.e. the Peter Principle) was shattered this past Saturday. Even though I’ve closely followed the careers and social media insights of Erica Hargreave, Gillian Shaw, Monica Hamburg, Megan Cole, Alexandra Samuel, Rebecca Bollwitt, Maura Rodgers and Victoria Revay, I gained a substantial number of new insights at CWC ’09. For example, this is the second time I’ve heard Maura Rodgers (Strutta) speak about venture capital, investors and fundraising. Given that I have (most of my life) worked either for a university, a research centre, a consulting firm or for myself, I had rarely thought about having to meet with investors, “angels”, sharing a percentage of your business. Like this little tidbit, I was amazed at all the new things I learned from Rebecca, Megan, Alex, Gillian, Erica, Maura, Victoria.

I told Colleen Coplick too (as she made a few good points as well at the conference) that it was interesting how we have evolved in the space. Even I threw a few ideas of mine, findings that I’ve gained while spending time testing the platforms, the tools and sharing the same online space. For example, one of the things I shared is how my writing has shaped my readers’ behaviour as well. People who read my blog know what to expect, know what I’m going to let through and what I won’t tolerate (like bigotry, hate or aggression).

I couldn’t help but reflect on the notion I wrote about earlier on the networked production of social relationships

using social networking sites as mediating spaces that build bridges amongst individuals at the nodes of the network.

(although I’d now like to explore now two intertwined concepts = the networked production of social spaces and the evolution of each individual within the online social space).

I believe that as time has gone by, each one of us (the folks in the Vancouver social media/tech/PR scene) have evolved within both the physical space (we have gained more insight into the actual platforms) and the online space (we have tested the tools and created the online networks that then translate into the physical inter-relationships). I’m still not 100% sure how to tease out the main insight that I’m trying to draw here, but I firmly believe that there is still space for us to evolve even within our own physical spaces. Even if we are still hanging out with the same friends, attending the same events, there’ll be a turning point (a punctuated equilibrium) where the next evolutionary stage of ideas in social media in Vancouver will take place.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Please drop a comment on the blog.

Related posts:

1. The space/time continuum in social media
2. Twitter as an online social space to hang out virtually and enable offline interaction
3. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria

While I am very definitely NOT impressed with the Participation Guidelines I think asking for the public’s input is at least one step in the right direction. I’d be delighted to talk with Translink about ways in which they can improve their social media strategy (although I am not sure how receptive they will be). I also know many local members of the social media community whose opinion would be very valuable to Translink’s communications and public consultation team (Stephen Rees, Erika Rathje, Paul Hillsdon and Karen Quinn Fung come to mind).

More importantly, be part of the plan!. Get involved! Speak up about the issues you think need to be addressed! I would also encourage you to attend one of the public consultation events that Translink has planned for the Transport 2040 Plan. It’s YOUR future. Provide feedback on it!

Related posts:

1. The @bepartoftheplan @translink community consultations schedule (Broadway rapid transit corridor)
2. Translink, social media and the issue of instantaneous updates on Twitter
3. It’s cheaper for me to buy a monthly @Translink bus pass

I’ve used Cover It Live for the majority of my liveblogs (although I’ve tested ScribbleLive and also used the normal WordPress platform (updating as the liveblog went by). When the internet wireless connection has been down I have used BlogDesk.

David Plouffe’s speech at Cossette Convergence ’09 was widely live-tweeted. My notes combined with the integrated Twitter stream ended up being pretty much a complete, full-on liveblog.

Credit: Miss604 on Flickr

As Plouffe spoke (and even before) several participants wondered why video and recording and photographs of Plouffe could only be captured during the first five minutes. Well, the answer may be found here – Plouffe is exclusively represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau. This organization, by the way, offers web-based services that feature their speakers (as you can see in their description here). This may explain why the WSB might not want to have their speaker be full-on captured on video streams. They may fear that they’d lose opportunities for revenue (I haven’t contacted the WSB so I can’t say for sure, but it would seem that way). If that’s the case, then I am wondering why would they think that, given that recording labels and even emerging artists are putting their full content out there on the web and revenue streams keep coming!

Coincidentally, I was reading an article by Mathew Ingram from the Globe and Mail about how liveblogging is transforming traditional journalism. At Northern Voice and again yesterday at Convergence journalists were reminded of the fact that the new normal is having your audience co-create, re-hash and mash-up your content. Nancy White wrote an excellent post where she referred to the way in which now geek conferences are live-tweeted, live-blogged, live-streamed, and it’s perfectly acceptable. Nancy also did a phenomenal analog, visual thinking map of Rob Cottingham’s Keynote at Northern Voice ’09 which you can find here.

The problem that seems to have arisen from the Plouffe speech is that giving a talk about the use of social media and not having video of yourself recorded (regardless of the legal implications) will make your credibility to (predictably) go down. For example, I am giving a talk at Social Media Club in Victoria on May 26th. I suspect (and I expect) that it will be live-blogged, live-tweeted, videographed, etc. Does that worry me in terms of loss of expected/potential revenue for speaker fees for future events? Not in the least.

What I have learned in my years of giving talks and presenting papers and giving keynote addresses at conferences is that, regardless of how many people record your presentation, and how broadly and widely distributed it is, if you are a good speaker, people will want to come and listen to you. Even better, they will want to talk to you AFTER you have given your speech. And they might even book you for their next event. Several of my good friends, including Shane Gibson and Tod Maffin, are frequent speakers and they have had video recorded of them rather frequently. And their speaking gigs are still in high demand.

Much of the value of attending a conference is not listening to the wisdom of individual presenters, it’s talking to them and to other attendees during the breaks and after the event itself. For example, I was delighted to meet both Susan Ormiston and Sean Holman in person. Had I not attended Convergence, I would have missed that opportunity.

I would hope that the WSB and other similar organizations may get on with the program, jump on the bandwagon and understand the implications that a globally wired world has for the delivery of key messages. The scalability property of information flow was exploited by the Obama campaign, it is just a tad ironic that the Plouffe speech at Convergence ’09 will not reach a much broader audience simply because of out-dated policies.

I hope to make it clear to everyone what I said a few weeks ago:

technological change and the evolution of our information society fast out-paces the speed to which people can adapt to said change

That doesn’t mean that we can’t adapt. We are a resilient species. We should be able to.

Related posts:

1. David Plouffe Keynote (Convergence ’09) liveblog #cvg09
2. Journalist 2.0 Panel Liveblog (Convergence ’09) #cvg09
3. Review – CoverItLive as a tool for liveblogging

David Plouffe Keynote at Convergence ’09

(05/11/2009)

  

Close

9:41	hummingbird604:  I’m undecided on whether to liveblog David Plouffe at Convergence ’09 or not – I have the platform set up but I’m also exhausted #cvg09

9:41	breebop:  Sitting in the back row at #cvg09, excited to hear Plouffe’s keynote

9:42

LiveStream:  David Plouffe (Social Media Strategist of Barack Obama’s campaign) David was asked to speak specifically about how they used digital media and strategy in their campaign. Feel free to ask anything, you probably followed the campaign quite closely. Looking back on it, at the very beginning of the campaign they were a big underdog. Barack Obama had only been a senator for 2 years.

9:42	ianiv:  @hummingbird604 for once, just lean back and relax #cvg09

9:42	PatrickLok:  David Plouffe: Sarah Palin was our best organizer and fundraiser during the campaign (ha) #cvg09

9:43	Raul:  Did he think that he had something unique to offer? (Obama). The issue was could we put together a really credible campaign. They needed to run a grassroots campaign where technology was at the core of the campaign.

9:43	Miss604:  Plouffe opens up with a Palin joke … awesome #cvg09

9:43	trevorturnbull:  Watching David Plouffe speak at Convergence 09 #cvg09 http://yfrog.com/0oztjj

9:44	PatrickLok:  Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe talks strategic issues prior to writing the gameplan: #cvg09

9:44	hummingbird604:  @ianiv You’re completely right. I will write down a few notes but not a direct liveblog – will publish summary post later #cvg09

9:44	RyanLejbak:  David Plouffe jokes Sara Palin was the biggest fundraiser for the democrats in the election. #cvg09 http://tinyurl.com/r995yd

9:44	GusF:  Listening to David Plouffe at #cvg09 who was part of Obama’s online campaign. http://twitpic.com/4zhun

9:45	PatrickLok:  DP campaign fundamentals: 1) Fundraising 2) ORganizing 3) Delivery of message #cvg09

9:45	Miss604:  Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe keynote at #cvg09 http://twitpic.com/4zhv8

9:45

Raul:  1. Fundraising 2. Organizing 3. Delivery of message. One of the reasons why they were successful of the campaign. Two main pillars: a) The message – and the elements and issues that underlie the message. b) Your electoral strategy. – (business model, growth model). Their belief was – we will commit to adjust tactics, but not strategy. It’s an important lesson – if you flail around, you *will* flail. You have GOT to have a strategy and a message.

9:46	breebop:  Plouffe: “what is your theory of victory?” Nice. #cvg09

9:46	PatrickLok:  DP: Succeed on 2 pillars: 1) Message for offering and 2) Winning strategy? #cvg09

9:46	Raul:  Their budget in 2007 ($ 50 million dollars) by June of 2007 they had already raised $ 58 million dollars. They were able to out-raise Hillary Clinton. it’s how they raised the money what was important.

9:47	GillianShaw:  Listening to David Plouffe at #cvg09, for biz and pols, have your strategy and stick with it, adjust tactics, not strategy.

9:47	PatrickLok:  Keynote speaker David Plouffe explains building the most powerful fundraising machine in the world for Obama campaign: #cvg09

9:48	Raul:  Social media and their social networking site allowed that to happen. Joiners of the campaign would donate and THEN they became fundraisers themselves with the social networking sites. Barack Obama would call and thank them personally. $ 500 million were raised online.

9:49	Raul:  Half of the people who gave money were people who never had given them money before .

9:49	PatrickLok:  Fundraisers who gave $25 would get other friends to donate $25 – tens of thousands grassroots donors to Obama campaign #cvg09

9:49	hummingbird604:  @kirklapointe Kirk, hashtag for #Convergence09 is #cvg09

9:49	hummingbird604:  RT @kirklapointe: #cvg09 Plouffe talks about building campaign: funds, organizing, message. Path was so narrow, 9 of 10 times Hillary wins.

9:49	brodiedavid:  David Plouffe at #cvg09 “social media and social networking let us build the most succesful political fundraising campaign in history”

9:50	Raul:  Politics is a lot like chess (and sometimes like boxing). You are trying to arrange your pieces so that you can dictate the campaign. They dictated the campaign of John McCain.

9:50	PatrickLok:  Email campaigns, houseparties – ppl took ownership of fundraising. Over 4 million donors made it possible to compete in NC&Virginia #cvg09

9:50	Miss604:  Plouffe messaging re: fundraising is that it’s all about grassroots campaigns & how every single bit helps #cvg09

9:50	Raul:  The financial muscle of the suppliers made it possible to win the red states. They (Obama’s campaign) had determined the playing field.

9:51	PatrickLok:  Plouffe: going in, 16 of 50 states were going to decide the presidency – like Ohio, North Carolina (not Cal. or Ala.) #cvg09

9:51	Raul:  The supporters of Obama’s campaign lived their lives online. So they set up very early to encourage them to organize themselves online if they chose to do so.

9:53	hummingbird604:  RT @kirklapointe: #cvg09 Plouffe talks about building campaign: funds, organizing, message. Path was so narrow, 9 of 10 times Hillary wins.

9:53	theotherlondon:  Everybody running for office in our country raises money online. What was different was the method – individual fundraisers. #cvg09

9:53	PatrickLok:  Plouffe: Supporters in each state/community organized themselves w/o staff help – via social networking site. Never done before. #cvg09

9:53	Raul:  The supporters had a very strong, supportive machine. If they had not had the grassroots supporters, on their own, organizing their own states, they wouldn’t have made it in the states that were traditionally Republican.

9:54	AspaPhoto:  @Miss604 pardon my ignorance but what is #cvg09

9:55	PatrickLok:  DP: “If we did not have grassroots supporters organizing themselves we would not have won” #cvg09

9:55	trevorturnbull:  Obama social media campaign engaged voters to join in the fundraising efforts. 91% raised from individual voters. #cvg09

9:55	hummingbird604:  RT @trishussey: RT @M2O: M2Oblog, Convergence 09 Keynote: David Plouffe – http://blogm2o.com/OJ -Liveblogging now. #cvg09

9:55	rtanglao:  Call me a political junkie but I have heard all of plouffe’s stuff before. More analysis & insight please! #cvg09 #vdw09

9:56	Raul:  Demographics is destiny. They had to get independent voters. It was hard. A Republican had to go to a Democratic party and sway the vote.

9:57	Raul:  Months and months of organizing. They put huge premium on getting the people to participate. Technology was the gateway through which they communicated with each other.

9:57	theotherlondon:  It was people on their own using their own motivation (online activity) to give us head start. #cvg09

9:58	greggscott:  Obama’s 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe is speaking now in Vancouver. #cvg09 Twittercast: http://tinyurl.com/oq53rb

9:58	PatrickLok:  DP: “We put a huge premium on getting younger people to participate-tech was gateway”- campaign organized every high school in Iowa #cvg09

9:58	Raul:  They changed the electorate because they were texting, emailing and organizing themselves online. Convincing themselves that they could achieve something. It taught Obama’s campaign that they could change the electorate.

9:59	PatrickLok:  DP: “We changed the electorate to become favorable to us… made it younger, more African-American… technology was a part of that” #cvg09

9:59	theotherlondon:  …as many people under 30 turning out as their were over 65. We changed the demographic. We could change the electorate. #cvg09

10:00

Raul:  Technology is a big part of that. They were dependent on people who had neither or just spotty history. They did a lot of simply informational advertising (radio ads, online ads, texting, etc.) – they reminded people – here is where you vote, here is where you caucus. 25-30% of the people who participated The value of technology – people may write down but they don’t keep it. Information was a real driver. Voter registration – they spent tonnes of focus just on that.

10:02

breebop:  ”We did not accept the electorate as it was” – Obama win depended on attracting new voters: Plouffe #cvg09

10:02

PatrickLok:  Plouffe: Caucus lookup tool helped organizers track voters – 2 way resource-spent hundreds of millions telling ppl where/how to vote #cvg09

10:02

hummingbird604:  RT @kirklapointe: #cvg09 Plouffe: Our approach – bring new voters in, not same group, Iowa was key; get Repubs, Indies to declare. Tech key.

10:02

b_radley:  technology was the driver so education and how-to also played a key role -Plouffe at #cvg09

10:02

breebop:  @rtanglao I was thinking the same. Obama campaign has been so widely analyzed – hoping Plouffe will reveal new insight #cvg09

10:03

brodiedavid:  David Plouffe at #cvg09 ” 71% of first time voters voted with us”

10:03

PatrickLok:  Plouffe: “We tried to know how every human being in the state was going to vote” #cvg09

10:04

Raul:  ”I registered 7 voters today” – with technology, they (the Obama campaign) knew who they were. They knew the profile and demographics. They sent people out to talk to people directly, registering millions of voters. They used their grassroots organization.

10:04

Raul:  THE MESSAGE An important element that is frequently under-appreciated.

10:07

kk:  Plouffe is polished & articulate but not sure he actually has anything interesting to say re: the internet or digital media *shrug* #cvg09

10:07

PatrickLok:  Plouffe: we used technology to register voters, volunteers ran the initiative face to face- this won us Florida, Virginia, NC #cvg09

10:07

b_radley:  focus on individuals who did not trad register to vote, iPhone app used at the end as well in Obama campaign- plouffe #cvg09

10:07

hummingbird604:  @trishussey asks – isn’t it a tad creepy that the Obama campaign knew the profile and demographics of their voters? #cvg09 – I agree

10:07

breebop:  Plouffe is credited with creating a phenomenon yet sounds more like his genius was in seeing & responding to opportunity #cvg09

10:07

blandcouver:  BREAKING: Vancouver Social Media douchebags form choir at Convention Centre, get preached at. More news as it, ah fuck who cares? #cvg09

10:08

theotherlondon:  In the world we live in today, people don’t trust the media anymore. What they trust is the people they live their lives with. #cvg09

10:08

Raul:  Video(content) really is king these days. People were more prone to opening and absorb it and they did a lot of internal examining. It was enormously important because the supporters became more involved with the campaign. It wasn’t just giving them part of the story and allowing them to create history along.

10:09

breebop:  ”what people trust are the people they live their lives with” not institutions: Plouffe #cvg09

10:09

PatrickLok:  Plouffe: voters said ‘I want to understand why my friends/family is voting for Obama/McCain.’ so we built a message army of people. #cvg09

10:09

hummingbird604:  @breebop I agree – he seized the opportunity BUT also to his credit, he had the vision to seize at the *right* time #cvg09

10:09

m_candy:  RT @hummingbird604 – isn’t it a tad creepy that the Obama campaign knew the profile and demographics of their voters? #cvg09 – I agree

10:10

theotherlondon:  Just having people going through their everyday lives, consuming our message, moving our message, would be enough. – David Plouffe #cvg09

10:11

PatrickLok:  Plouffe-we used DM,video,text.pressured our volunteers. got BOLDER- showed our whole email list and Florida budget, got huge response #cvg09

10:11

b_radley:  ….. and w pressure on the volunteers, they could understand thier role in the Obama campaign -plouffe #cvg09

10:11

hummingbird604:  My interpretation of key message by Plouffe – success based on recruiting new voters – enabling with socmed them to write history #cvg09

10:11

PatrickLok:  Plouffe: supporters needed to understand how critical they were to our success” – made them productive (rather than pat on the back) #cvg09

10:11

breebop:  I’m next up at #cvg09, moderating The Twitter Effect with @starbucks, @nowpublic & @vancouveropera

10:11

Macully:  David Plouffe at #cvg09 – “video is king these days”. Speaking about transferring messages and high levels of absorbtion.

10:12

socialsignal:  Can’t connect to wifi at #cvg09, but will post notes soon

10:13

b_radley:  president still sending msgs to supporters saying “this is what I’m doing on energy, healthcare…” #cvg09

10:13

kk:  @breebop wish i could make yer twitter panel but i gotta go buy grocieries & make my panelists lunch while we prep our session #cvg09 #vdw09

10:13

AprilFilms:  #vdw09 and #cvg09 @w2woodwards and ellectrabelle vj performance

10:13

breebop:  @jengerald yes looking forward to Plouffe Q&A – hopefully will dive a little deeper #cvg09

10:14

hummingbird604:  Plouffe seriously believes that socmed campaign was what enabled Obama to win the election. I disagree. It was ONE of many factors #cvg09

10:15

PatrickLok:  Plouffe: power to talk to ppl not sexy but got results person by person, condo by condo delivering the message. being in every space. #cvg09

10:15

hummingbird604:  Had American voters and grassroots movements NOT believed in Obama, no matter how much technology they had, election lost #cvg09

10:15

rainzine:  #cvg09 is what I have been talking about.

10:15

Miss604:  ’It’s about pol taking ownership of the campaign & that wouldn’t be possible w/I tech’ Plouffe #cvg09

10:16

Raul:  The real drivers were old school (Twitter NOT in vogue at the beginning of the campaign). As new technologies emerge, you gotta be in that space. You got to marry your technology strategy with your strategic objectives. The internet and email were central drivers that supported their strategic objectives.

10:16

breebop:  #cvg09 Twitter questions encouraged during #Twitter Effect panel. Send ‘em to @cossette_west or our livetweeter @patricklok

10:16

PatrickLok:  @hummingbird604 – don’t think knowing your demographic is creepy, simply essential research for any successful business #cvg09

10:17

b_radley:  email and Internet were still key, don’t fall in love w the new shiny object… #cvg09

10:17

Miss604:  Should have worn my Hawkeyes shirt, lots of talk about Iowa’s importance #Plouffe #cvg09

10:17

trevorturnbull:  RT @breebop Plouffe is credited with creating a phenomenon yet sounds more like his genius was in seeing & responding to opportunity #cvg09

10:17

hummingbird604:  Yes, tailoring the campaign based on analyses of grasroots is understanding your demographic – but raises concerns of privacy #cvg09

10:17

AprilFilms:  #vdw09 @w2woodwards and @fearlesscity at #cvg09 at convention

10:18

Raul:  The power of people and the power of technology. In politics in America – you will see a lot trying to emulate. The tactics, the strategy, all are available. What is NOT replicable is the passion between a group of people and the cause.

10:18

ibarr:  Plouffe – Real drivers that drove obama online campaign were “old school” email and internet #cvg09

10:18

PatrickLok:  rt @kirklapointe-Plouffe: real drivers were email/text/Internet not Twitter/Facebook. Didn’t get distracted by new, shiny tools. #cvg09

10:19

rainzine:  And a lot of corporate support. #cvg09 #c buddy #c

10:19

hummingbird604:  Hehehe. I am a mind-reader. Plouffe *just* made the point I made earlier – w/o Obama galvanizing, campaign would not have been won #cvg09

10:19

breebop:  Tactics are replicable, what is not is the passion that drove the Obama campaign #cvg09

10:19

Miss604:  @hummingbird604 you probably know almost as much just looking at Google Analytics #cvg09

10:19

theotherlondon:  ”Real time message guidance” at time of Obama campaign mainly through email and Internet, less Facebook and text messaging #cvg09

10:19

ibarr:  Plouffe – What cannot be replicated in obama campaign is connection between people and the cause #cvg09

10:19

hummingbird604:  @PatrickLok Important research but bear in mind – it *does* raise concerns as to privacy of data #cvg09

10:20

Raul:  The campaign wanted to know whether they were serving their constituency.

10:20

GillianShaw:  @hummingbird604 Plouffe just named the difference: Obama. is what’s missing in rush by politicos to leverage socmed. #cvg09

10:20

bensmithinc:  Feeling left out for not attending Convergence…. what is the official hash tag so I can follow along? #cvg09 #convergence09

10:20

hummingbird604:  Agreeing 100% w/ @Miss604 – @hummingbird604 you probably know almost as much just looking at Google Analytics #cvg09

10:20

b_radley:  technology is available to all to use and copy, what is not replicable is the passion and belief that makes a campaign work…. #cvg09 – Pl

10:20

jengerald:  #cvg09 Plouffe: you must play in the digital space but don’t fall in love with the latest shiny technology. Stick with your strategy.

10:21

trishussey:  @gillianshaw @hummingbird604 The key, imho, is knowing which tools work for which tactic. Data analysis, I think, won the day #cvg09

10:21

hummingbird604:  @bensmithinc the hashtag (official) #cvg09

10:23

rainzine:  Nothing new not inspiring.#cvg09

10:23

PatrickLok:  @bensmithinc – official tag for CONVERGENCE 09 is #cvg09 – thanks for following!

10:23

Miss604:  Word of mouth from regular ppl/sources you trust make all the difference #cvg09

10:23

hummingbird604:  @gillianshaw @trishussey Data analysis plus a VERY galvanized constituency. Obama’s supporters were incredibly supportive #cvg09

10:23

theotherlondon:  When someone who’ve never spoken up about politics before does so, people listen a little bit more carefully – David Plouffe #cvg09

10:23

trishussey:  @gillianshaw @b_radley @hummingbird604 @kirklapointe I’m thinking I should put him on the spot & ask why no video here #cvg09

10:24

PatrickLok:  Plouffe: Blue State Digital was our social media/tech firm – they did a very good job for us after initial challenges #cvg09

10:24

blandcouver:  we just saw a blogger fellate himself in the back of the room, no shit #cvg09

10:24

trevorturnbull:  Word of mouth from regular ppl/sources you trust make all the difference #cvg09 (via @Miss604)

10:26

nate_elliott:  i might be the only one in vancouver not at #cvg09 today. which is odd, since i accepted an invitation to speak there, then never heard back

10:26

GillianShaw:  @trishussey livestream video and regular video and photography usually not blocked at socmed conferences. #cvg09

10:26

Miss604:  How did I know that @hummingbird604 was going to ask a question #cvg09

10:27

trishussey:  @nate_elliott whoops conference fail #cvg09

10:28

blandcouver:  This is too much excitement for us all. We’re going to need to take TWO photowalks just to cool down a bit. #cvg09

10:29

PatrickLok:  Plouffe: this campaign blossomed during the Democratic primary – focused on Obama background and msg as a Washington outsider #cvg09

10:29

hummingbird604:  RT @gillianshaw: @hummingbird604 points out people were sick of Bush + suffering tough economic times – other factors leading to win. #cvg09

10:31

knitterbee:  Anyone else out there attending #Convergence09 #cvg09?

10:31

AprilFilms:  @hummingbird604 hello to you from @w2woodwards and @fearlesscity here at #vdw09 and #cvg09

10:31

PatrickLok:  Plouffe: how you change electorate so ‘consumers’ are more favorable to you? we wanted “surge”/new voters & registration was key. #cvg09

10:31

stephen__harris:  Thanks @Miss604, @kirklapointe, and others for live-tweets from #cvg09, #Convergence09.

10:32

Raul:  I (Raul) made a clarification about the fact that the campaign’s success was also highly a result of the political atmosphere and the decline of Bush’s popularity.

10:32

GillianShaw:  Question to Plouffe on how effective in getting vote out – parties here have <24 hours to get that going if not already lined up. #cvg09

10:33

Raul:  Young people got involved in historic numbers. One under-appreciated elements – older voters who voted for Barack Obama simply because it meant so much for their children/grand-children. It was deeply impacted.

10:33

blandcouver:  I wouldn’t want video taken of me speaking either if I were planning on selling the same talk to another half dozen conferences #cvg09

10:33

stephen__harris:  RT @Miss604 Word of mouth from regular ppl/sources you trust make all the difference #cvg09 #bcelection

10:33

GillianShaw:  As someone who loses that little voter card long before election day arrives, Obama campaign text, etc. reminders makes sense. #cvg09

10:34

mrstephenbeck:  Finnally heading over to #cvg09

10:35

theotherlondon:  David’s Plouffe’s keynote address Q&A is wrapping up..next up the ‘Twitter Effect’ with Brad Nelson, Michael Tippett and Ling Chan. #cvg09

10:35

culturite:  @gillianshaw Especially given how little the BC populous knows about the election, let alone when/where/how to vote. #cvg09

10:36

kk:  RT @blandcouver: I wouldnt want video taken of me speaking either if I plan on sellin the same talk to another half dozen conferences #cvg09

10:36

hummingbird604:  It’s true – Hillary Clinton *did* have a strong supporter base. The margin for maneuvering/error was larger #cvg09

10:37

ameetjohal:  David Plouffe engaging and informative! #cvg09 http://twitpic.com/4zl3e

10:38

GillianShaw:  @kk no Creative Commons here. #cvg09

10:39

PatrickLok:  #cvg09 Twitter questions encouraged during #Twitter Effect panel – if if you’re not here, send em my way

10:39

hummingbird604:  Another element that I think Plouffe didn’t mention – Americans more involved in politics (or at least, that’s my belief #cvg09

10:40

andrewmcintyre:  The #cvg09 conference sounds pretty cool from the tweets I’m reading.

10:40

trishussey:  RT @blandcouver: wouldn’t wnt vid taken of me speaking either if I wr planning on sellin the same talk 2 another .5 dozen conferences #cvg09

10:41

PatrickLok:  Plouffe: big frustration in campaigns – breaking strategy for political reasons #cvg09

10:43

GillianShaw:  @KontentCreative Good question. @hummingbird604 asked a question – was it pre-selected? #cvg09

10:44

theotherlondon:  David Plouffe’s address was an inspiration. #cvg09

10:46

hummingbird604:  @gillianshaw @KontentCreative Nope. I am just fast and I know that if I don’t move fast, I won’t get to ask my question #cvg09

10:47

PatrickLok:  John Hall @Cossette_West sums up-picking a strategy and sticking thru times of unpredictability & change, challenging business models #cvg09

10:47

trishussey:  Irony: The organizers intro-outro speakers more profound than the keynote #cvg09

10:48

vortexmobile:  It will be interesting to see the tweets that start streaming in from #cvg09 during the Twitter Effect presentation. Trending topic anyone?

10:49

vortexmobile:  Can anyone tell me which hashtag is better – #cvg09 or #convergence09?

10:49

hummingbird604:  Is David Plouffe actually a social media guy or is he a PR guy who negotiated the integration of socmed? #cvg09 – anyone?

10:52

PatrickLok:  Sandy Fleischer (Fjord) @pescatore: Mac vs PC comes down to iPOD success. like radio – we love being tapped into the community #cvg09

10:52

flatcat:  Wishing he was at Convergence ’09 #cvg09

10:52

hummingbird604:  An interesting experiment would be to wait and see if Plouffe responds to the participants of #cvg09 ‘s reactions to his keynote

10:52

kk:  @hummingbird604 you were fast to the mic but didn’t actually ask a question. *wink* #cvg09

10:52

kevrichard:  @vortexmobile #cvg09 the smaller the hashtag the better. It’ll be more memorable and allow for longer messages.

10:52

GillianShaw:  Times Colonist ceasing Monday publication. http://tinyurl.com/paqrpf. As #cvg09 pointing out online changing everything.

10:52

trishussey:  @hummingbird604 I think the later. #cvg09

10:54

michaelallison:  If you want to talk social media on political campaigns, I am speaking May 26th. RSVP at Meetup.com: http://is.gd/x4NL #cvg09

10:55

vortexmobile:  @kevrichard PPL are using both, so I wanted to see which one would be better to track. I agree on the small hashtag #cvg09

10:55

shanegibson:  @gillianshaw I think the brand of the individual journalist will become even more important. #cvg09 (you will do fine!)

10:55

bensmithinc:  Agreed. RT @shanegibson: @gillianshaw I think the brand of the individual journalist will become even more important. #cvg09

10:56

petequily:  RT @shanegibson: @gillianshaw I think the brand of the individual journalist will become even more important. #cvg09 (you will do fine!)

10:58

sparklytosingle:  i’m with @peechie on the #cvg09 posts. may unfollow you guys today, will refollow once it’s over. please don’t take offense.

11:03

greggscott:  @Miss604 @Hummingbrid604 I created a FriendFeed with aggregated Tweets tagged #cvg09 and #vdw09 http://bit.ly/fTxXs

11:03

vortexmobile:  @ColleenCoplick I’d love to hear why – what is it that you don’t like about the phrase? We have so many overused words in marketing #cvg09

11:06

PatrickLok:  up next: The Twitter Effect panel w/ Brad Nelson (Starbucks), Ling Chan (@VancouverOpera), Michael Tippett (Now Public) #cvg09

11:06

theotherlondon:  The “Twitter Effect” is just about to start. Looks like a pretty young panel. 3rd row seat this time! #cvg09

11:06

vortexmobile:  RT @greggscott: @Miss604 @Hummingbrid604 I created a FriendFeed with aggregated Tweets tagged #cvg09 and #vdw09 http://bit.ly/fTxXs

11:07

hummingbird604:  RT @greggscott: @Miss604 @Hummingbrid604 I created a FriendFeed with aggregated Tweets tagged #cvg09 and #vdw09 http://bit.ly/fTxXs

11:08

GusF:  at the Twitter Effect panel at #cvg09. Found an outlet and have the netbook hooked up

11:08

bikehugger:  If I was at Convergence 09, I’d sponsor an effort to Shepherd Fairy the speaker photos and plaster them around social media style. #cvg09

11:12

PincGiving:  #cvg09 attending widgets smidgets

11:12

brodiedavid:  At the Twitter effect panel at #cvg09 – looking forward to hearing about Starbucks and Twitter

11:12

trishussey:  The Twitter panel…Twitter eats world #cvg09

11:12

blandcouver:  The “Twitter Effect” seminar is packed, like a Facebook seminars from 2 years ago. Quick somebody let us know which bandwagon is next #cvg09

11:12

tinaferan:  Yay – made it to #cvg09!

11:12

hummingbird604:  @breebop is moderating the “Twitter effect” panel at #cvg09 – I love the layout of the panel – everyone sitting in comfy couches, casual

11:12

stephendyrgas:  #cvg09

11:12

adamkillam:  #cvg09 I just got online! Front row at the Twitter session

11:12

enishiate:  David Plouphe’s speech was friggin amazing! Very inspiring! #cvg09

11:12

GusF:  I’m not sure why, but I have free wifi and I don’t need a code. Granted you only got the access if you had a media pass. #cvg09

11:13

leftcoaster:  Where the heck can one get a comprehensive agenda for #cvg09?

11:13

socialsignal:  #cvg09 At the Widgets Shmidgets session – John Horodyski intro’d, Christine Gasiorowski from Ronald McDonald Charities is speaking

11:13

hummingbird604:  @enishiate Do you think the success of Obama’s campaign can be replicated elsewhere? #cvg09

11:14

carolsill:  #cvg09 thx @gusf I was wondering if there was a hashtag

11:14

socialsignal:  #cvg09 @patricklok will be livetweeting from the Twitter session

11:14

hummingbird604:  @greggscott I think you meant hummingbird604 #cvg09 #vdw09

11:14

trishussey:  @GusF Hmm, missed getting that code, no matter. I can haz EVDO #cvg09

11:15

PatrickLok:  whew! connection went down. back up at The Twitter Effect panel #cvg09

11:15

hummingbird604:  @vortexmobile The official one is #cvg09

11:15

ljmabouttown:  #cvg09 is twitter a meme incubator or a breeding ground for uninformed panic?

11:15

SteveTan:  #cvg09 @cossette_west Where can we find a copy of the powerpoint?

11:15

socialsignal:  #cvg09 RMHC global fundraiser every November. Serve 3.7M children/year.

11:15

PatrickLok:  Twitter up to over 19 million users #cvg09

11:16

blandcouver:  we’re going to livetweet taking a dump now, excuse us #cvg09

11:16

brodiedavid:  @cossette_west – why do the panelist think we have recently seen so many users try out Twitter, but then quickly disengage?#cvg09

11:16

socialsignal:  #cvg09 RMHC widget goals: raise awareness, kickoff entry into soc med, encourage participation, extend reach of in-restaurant fundraiser

11:16

adamkillam:  @PatrickLok #cvg09 Could you ask the panelists what their strategy is for using Twitter and how it integrates with their other marketing?

11:16

hello_again:  Hello world. #cvg09 #twitter #cossette_west

11:17

PatrickLok:  @adamkillam Definitely! #cvg09

11:17

danzarrella:  #cvg09 is the hashtag for convergence

11:17

famouskid:  #cvg09 is sounding amazing so far, should have gone, need to learn twitter

11:17

trishussey:  @brodiedavid Ask and ye shall receive! #cvg09

11:17

justinyvr:  Where do you see Twitter going? #cvg09

11:18

Related posts:

1. The Convergence ’09 aftermath – liveblogging/streaming speakers #cvg09
2. Journalist 2.0 Panel Liveblog (Convergence ’09) #cvg09
3. Marc Gobé Keynote Liveblog #CVG10 Convergence VIDWEEK

Related posts:

1. Congratulations to Tris Hussey and Sheila Christie on their engagement
2. Weekend Players – 21st Century (Transfer Club Mix)
3. WordCamp Whistler – Tris Hussey on How to Use WordPress as a Basic CMS for Your Website

I am really glad that the theatre folks are reaching out to social media types, as I firmly believe that this method of spreading the word out to potential audiences will prove really effective. I’ve been invited to review several local productions, including The 21st Floor and Metamorphoses. I love theatre. I used to act on stage, and I have dated actors before, so I know a substantial bit about theatre as an artistic expression. Sadly, I left theatre to concentrate on my dancing. But that’s another story.

Back to the show… the synopsis offered in the Wikipedia entry is pretty telling, so I’ll offer a short excerpt.

tick, tick… BOOM! is a musical written by American composer Jonathan Larson, best known for creating RENT. It tells the story of an aspiring composer named Jon, who lives in New York City in 1990. Jon is worried he has made the wrong career choice to be part of the performing arts.

While I am going to admit that I wasn’t sure about what to expect, I was very pleasantly surprised. The three actors who play the main characters, Jon, Susan and Michael, were extremely good. Very agile, nimble, and with great voices. I’m not going to say that there aren’t elements that can be improved (which I’ll share privately with the production themselves) but I should definitely highlight the high notes. I found the musical and dance performances extremelly well staged. For the size of the theatre stage (Jericho Arts Centre) I was kind of expecting less of what I was offered, so again, a very pleasant surprise. The acoustics worked relatively well, and the actors really gave their 110%. Kudos as well to the musical ensemble that backed them up.

I will definitely support Fighting Chance Productions in their efforts (they plan to put together a production of RENT), and if you have time between tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday, I’d seriously recommend to come down and check the show. Go support a local, engaged and hard-working theatre troupe. Thanks to Fighting Chance Productions for inviting me to the show!

Fighting Chance Productions’ Facebook page is here.

Related posts:

1. Rent (Musical) by Fighting Chance Productions – Theatre review
2. The Temperamentals (Fighting Chance Productions) [theatre review]
3. The Wiz (Fighting Chance Productions)

What follows is an unedited crib of my talk. I am also including my slides on SlideShare. As usual, the Creative Commons License is Non-Commercial, Attribution, Share-Alike. Please include a link to this blog post AND to the SlideShare site if you use my concepts/work/ideas. Thanks!

The crib starts here.

Good evening everyone. I am very honored to be sitting in a panel with excellent colleagues, who have accumulated substantial business savvy. It’s hard for me to speak after Shane Gibson, who is a phenomenal speaker. He is a hard act to follow. I was hoping I would be the last, but since I am in the middle, I just need to hope that you enjoy my talk, as I am 100% sure you WILL enjoy JP’s.

I will admit that my research has focused primarily on environmental issues and environmental public policy. I took up blogging as a hobby, and since I started (2006) I have experimented with social networking sites and social media tools enough that I now give consulting and advice on social media. I give this advice from the perspective of an academic who is very interested in human behaviour, not only in environment and sustainability, but also in regards to the impact of the Internet in society.

Slide 2 – As I was thinking through and finding the elements that connect my scholarly research with my social media consulting, I found a key insight. I am primarily interested in networks and the actors that comprise these networks, the flow of information amongst the nodes (or actors) and the ultimate outcomes of networked behaviour. I have in my research studied networks of environmentalists, as well as transnational coalitions of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs). Therefore, since I recently found out that the basic framework of my interest is the networked society, I have begun to study business networks and public policy networks. As a side note, I am very familiar with the literature on polycentric governance and policy networks, and with social network analysis (both the quantitative and qualitative elements).

Moreover, realizing that I was interested in the networked society has been on the back of my mind for over 10 years. I just hadn’t realized until recently how it connects both of my interests (environmental policy and social media). As Slide 2 shows, we live in a networked society, where we are no longer isolated, and we don’t live 9am-5pm lives. Nothing is purely private, and the boundary between private and public lives blurs. Given that business is all about networking, why not use the networking tools the right way?

Slide 3 – As this slide shows, and aptly within the fact that I am giving this talk on Easter Monday, I can show you how well connected Jesus was in this social network of the New Testament. Everything in society is networked and everything now is connected by electronic means. We are ALL connected to The Matrix.

Slide 4 – Coming back to what I mentioned before, the flow of information in social networking sites has 4 important properties:

1. Reciprocity
2. Durability
3. Traceability
4. Scalability

If you think hard about the implications of each one of these properties, you can very well apply them to your business setting. You need to be reciprocal. If somebody talks to you, answer back. Remember that the information that you put out there, stays on the internet for a really long, long time. So think before you hit “Publish”! Remember that the information you put out there can easily be traced back to you, and that once information flows publicly, it may escalate and you will never be able to put a lid on it, ever.

Slide 5 – These are some quick-and-dirty lessons for you on how to make the most of the properties of information flow in social networking sites for business. Apply some of these lessons to your own business and let me know how it went.

Slide 6 – The following six rules are the basics of what I call Social Media For Business 102. That is, once you’ve mastered the basics of blogging, Twittering, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, etc., you can move on to these lessons. In short, here are my top 6 rules of applying social media to business:

Rule # 1 – Not everything that is on the internet is true, so don’t follow every single online social media fad. Anybody remember Plurk? No? Neither do I.

Rule # 2 – Not everything that is on the internet is false, so beware of social media mistakes that may affect you negatively. Monitor your brand, and make sure that whatever statements people are making about you are actually true, otherwise, be quick to debunk them. And if they are true, and you made a mistake, apologize and fix it!

Rule # 3 – Be a human out there, even if you are behind a corporate brand. Don’t just push your own agenda, give people something to work with. Make sure that people know that people know that you are a Brandividual (as I mentioned in a previous post, referring to Kate Trgovac‘s excellent talk where she described the concept of Brandividual and spoke about a few excellent ones). I indicated a local example of brandividual with the folks of Build Direct (Rob Jones, Jeff Booth, and mostly, everyone at Build Direct ). I mentioned a Canada-wide example with Bryan Cox, Fergie Devins, Tonia Hammer and Adam Moffat from Molson (whose work in Brew 2.0 was very well enhanced with the amazing expertise of David Jones and Meghan Warby from Hill & Knowlton). Shane mentioned Zappos as an example of a global group of brandividuals.

Rule # 4 – Give back, give a little, get back a lot. Sponsor events, give out gift certificates, demonstrate loyalty to your customers and a genuine care for them. This will pay off handsomely, trust me.

Rule # 5 – Don’t be a one-night-social-media-stand. Just… don’t. If you are going to delve in social media, commit to it. Don’t romance bloggers and then ditch them. This is a really bad idea. Hell hath no fury like a blogger scorned. Trust me. I KNOW. As I mentioned already, Molson did a fantastic job with Hill & Knowlton on Brew 2.0 and it was a winning case study in blogger relations!

Rule # 6 – Be a good business through-and-through. No matter how good your social media marketing is, if you are not providing a good product and/or service, you are definitely going to fail. Good customer service and great products and services are the key to success. Engagement is key.

Slide 7 – You can read my recount of Brew 2.0 (and those of my fellow bloggers, all of them are linked on my post) for a quick-and-dirty of why it was so successful and why they remain successful.

Slide 8 – A local example of good brand monitoring and reputation management is Doolins (who by the way is a client of Shane’s). They followed up on my complaint and made me feel valued as a customer. Brownie points to them!

Note – during my talk I spoke about #amazonfail – I have a blog post about it so I won’t repeat what I said (Slide 9). Just know that it’s a good example of the importance of brand monitoring and crisis management. People should have learned the lesson with the case of Motrin Moms (although, of course, and as I have mentioned before, not every issue galvanizes public opinion thus launching mobilizations and activism – see the case of net neutrality!)

Slide 10 – These are some quick and dirty suggestions on how to use Twitter for business. Simply put, offer your audience information about your business in a way that is engaging and valuable. Don’t make Twitter etiquette faux pas. On that topic, next month’s Vancouver Blogger Meetup will be about etiquette. Join our meetup. It’s fun. Also, if you want to learn a lot about social media, join the social media meetup, Third Tuesday. You can contact my good friend Tanya Davis if you need more information on Third Tuesday.

Slide 11 – So, a few quick, last minute thoughts. I know I’ve already over-stayed my welcome, but I want you to know that if you do social media, you should go multi-platform. Only blogging won’t do you much good unless you use some of the other platforms. Ensure that you monitor your brand, there is Google Alerts and Summize/Twitter Search. Be bi-directional and reciprocal. I have preached this very, very frequently on my blog. I even touched on the importance of bi-directionality for Canadian politicians!

Most importantly, don’t be afraid of testing and experimenting with social media. Skittles failed miserably in their experiment, and see… they are still in business! So don’t worry about it. Just try it! And, as I mentioned in my talk, even if you live your life online, take it offline. Engage. Be real. And if you have questions – ASK!

EDIT – I had come across this report before, and JP just tweeted recently about it, so I am linking to it – a report on social media marketing.

Related posts:

1. On the need for higher-level, philosophical, theoretical social media discussions
2. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria
3. Measuring influence in social media (the Klout score)

The feedback on my presentation was great and people seemed quite happy with the content of my speech. I think people were also taken by the fact that I presented the social network of the New Testament in a very cool visualization.

Thanks to AHA Media for providing documentation through videography/photography/live-tweeting and to Darren and Joe, respectively, for MC-ing and organizing/inviting me.

The liveblog/live-tweet is inserted below (or you can click in this link) and my presentation slides are hosted in my research blog and on SlideShare.

I’d be very curious to hear people’s reactions to my talk on the comments section. One thing I noticed is that people had a lot of questions that I really couldn’t address right there and then as we had very limited time, so if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a comment on my research blog or here.

Related posts:

1. My talk at @BCIT on Social Media, Politics and Public Policy
2. My interview with David Berner on The Power of Social Media in Public Policy
3. At the intersection of social media and sustainability

Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post. (CC) JD Lasica, socialmedia.biz.

The guide is an absolutely enjoyable read. But as I told Ianiv and Arieanna, I wish that this book had (a) been written one or two years ago, and (b) I had read it then. I’m going to start with a disclaimer. I’m not a newbie blogger anymore. Admittedly yes, it has taken me a while to get to where I am (I’d say that a solid year – my blog really took off during 2008, I would say). But I no longer need the basic suggestions. At this point in the game, I feel confident enough to help newbie bloggers and/or total strangers to blogging launch their sites. Heck, I do a LOT of my own techie stuff (of course, I am always appreciative of my friends’ help when it comes to CSS editing and issues of website management and maintenance).

I have learned a lot of the stuff that the editors of HuffPost suggest just by virtue of learning by doing, listening to other amazing bloggers speak about what they do and absorbing their best tips. I’ve learned from some of the best social media people in Vancouver, many of them recognized beyond the frontiers of the maple leaf country. So, really – for me, a vast majority of this book’s content was pretty much, a repeat of what I already knew. [UPDATE - At VIFF '09 Bridget mentioned this book and I fully endorse that this book is worth acquiring and reading]

But fear not. Whether you are someone who is just starting to blog or a total blogstar, this book is for you. I couldn’t stop reading it today. I speed-read, as most of you know. Well, I had to stop myself, and read passages again and again so that I could savour again the page I had just read. It was like sipping a good glass of wine. The editors of the HuffPost have done us all a great service by virtue of compiling, distilling and publishing some of the best blog tips out there. Particularly relevant – the whole discussion on the future of traditional (mainstream) media vis-a-vis the rise of new media. I’ve written about the topic here, here, here and here. I’ve also liveblogged other speakers who have discussed the topic (here and here and here)

Would I love to have the HuffPost’s traffic? Maybe, maybe not. But one thing is for sure. I am sure as hell happy to have a copy of the Huffington Post’s Complete Guide to Blogging.

Disclosure – This review wasn’t paid. Nothing I have expressed has been influenced in any way, shape or form by external entities

Related posts:

1. Book signing w @miss604 at @LondonDrugs
2. Northern Voice 2011 Communities That Rock Panel and E-Book
3. Becoming Canada: Our Story, Our Politics, Our Future (book review)

To read the liveblog live, just press “Watch Now” in the window that CoverItLive shows. After the liveblog is over, I will download the content locally (as HTML) and you can embed it in your own sites, darlings (trackback and attribution of course, very much appreciated). The liveblog is incorporating the Twitter feeds tagged with “wiff09″.

Women in Film – Social Media Panel

(03/04/2009)

  

Close

10:56

Raul:  Erica Hargreave is presenting the panel, with Gillian Shaw (The Vancouver Sun), Carol Sill (Broadcaster extraordinaire), Monica Hamburg (Consultant and social media artist magnifique)

10:58

shawnk:  @AprilFilms @hummingbird604 @bcfilmmaker @themarina Lots of Poptiq buzz! #wiff09. Feel free to ping me with Qs, or http://www.metranom …

10:58

hummingbird604:  The #wiff09 ‘Social Media How To’ panel is starting with @EricaHargreave talking about community building. The panel will be interactive.

10:58

bcfilmmaker:  social media means community #wiff09

10:58

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 watching the social media panel on how to and is about community!! @)?#?

10:58

bcfilmmaker:  find out where you’re audience is and bring your content to them #wiff09

10:58

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 @peterdavies and i are here for @fearlesscity and @w2woodwards

10:58

kateleg:  Listening to Social Media How To panel. #wiff09

10:58

b_radley:  at #wiff09 new media day, social media panel starting

11:00

Lilylulay:  RT staying for the next panel. I LOVE this! So many great people in one place Thank you for everyone who watched! #wiff09

11:00

danudey:  Open Source Spirit, a video blog about people sharing their spirituality, Christians, Buddhists, and even athiests. Cool stuff. #wiff09

11:00

bcfilmmaker:  listening to the “Social Media How To” panel now at wiff #wiff09

11:00

AprilFilms:  #mosimpson is now here with @peterdavies livestreaming for @fearlesscity and @w2woodwards here at #wiff09

11:00

bsundby:  Check out live tweets from the wiff New Media Day #wiff09

11:00

hummingbird604:  It seems my CoverItLive liveblog is taking its sweet time to pull the Twitter streams, so don’t worry, they’ll show up (eventually) #wiff09

11:00

themarina:  Ooo. “Lost Zombies”? Will have to scope this out #wiff09

11:04

Raul:  Erica is now introducing the Social Media Team

11:04

trishussey:  If my phone goes off, it’s because I’m waiting for the call from Molson for the #wiff09 New Media Day beer! Thx @MolsonBryan

11:04

hummingbird604:  @dale42 We are also talking storytelling and tech at Women in Film Festival #wiff09 – follow liveblog if you want

11:04

hummingbird604:  @antLeah is showing now the TwitterFall stream for #wiff09

11:04

Miss604:  #wiff09 twitterfall is now up on the big screen at the social media panel at the wiff New Media Forum

11:04

bsundby:  RT @AprilFilms: poptiq would be an interesting thing to use and learn at #wiff09 can help monetize for content creators

11:04

hummingbird604:  And you can see that the last top three tweets are mine #wiff09

11:04

AprilFilms:  glad to here just listening to our great panel at #wiff09

11:04

zchamu:  subverting panel via working #wiff09

11:04

tjbuffoonery:  Is everyone else getting all the #wiff09 updates? I see that they’re happening but man is it slow?

11:04

trishussey:  You know the geek row here in the theatre, it’s the one with three power bars, laptops, and cameras #wiff09

11:04

x5315:  RT @Miss604: #wiff09 twitterfall is now up on the big screen at the social media panel at the wiff New Media Forum

11:04

hummingbird604:  My liveblog of #wiff09 – http://is.gd/lNhF – remember to play “Watch Now” on the Cover It Live window to watch liveblog

11:04

carolsill:  @themarina Hi from wiff09, and hi all the rest of the social team

11:04

GillianShaw:  Our social media how to panel is starting at #wiff09. tweeting now reminding me of Jon Stewart very funny Twitter video from this week.

11:05

AprilFilms:  now introducing our social media people at #wiff09 here with #mosimpson our dtes filmmaker in res to @fearlesscity and @w2woodwards

11:05

Miss604:  #wiff09 shout out to @AprilFilms and @FearlessCity during the panel at the New Media Forum

11:05

danudey:  I think @ericahargreave was flirting with me, but I mean really, who wouldn’t? Mrowr™! #wiff09

11:06

trishussey:  Note only two non-Macs in the whole Social Media Team #wiff09 Course only @danudey and I have unibody MBPs

11:06

AprilFilms:  hello to the rest of our social media people at #wiff09

11:06

nalei:  Just saw a link to’Yarn bombers’ at #wiff09- Wondering if bombers are the new indi-mobers. http://ow.ly/Dmx

11:08

itsaboutus:  #wiff09 lots of twittering going on here!

11:08

dale42:  @hummingbird604 ur in my feed! #wiff09 peeps welcome to Orality 2.0 (http://bit.ly/u4WSK) if they want to hear more about story & tech

11:08

themarina:  Hello @carolsill & social media gurus in the house! #wiff09

11:08

mtippett:  The glass ceiling has finally been lifted. My work is being exhibited at a Women in Film event: http://tinyurl.com/cc5nyv #wiff09

11:12

bcfilmmaker:  let the community be part of your story #wiff09

11:12

danudey:  Looking forward to the panel with @gillianshaw, @monicahamburg, @carolsill, and @ericahargreave. Nothing funny to say yet. #wiff09

11:12

b_radley:  #wiff09 correction on that mention it’s just “m2o” and url www.media2o.com ; )

11:12

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 just wished @peterdavies a happy birthday while he is livestreaming for @fearlesscity and @w2woodwards

11:12

bcfilmmaker:  I like your poka dot shirt Erica #wiff09

11:12

hummingbird604:  RT @dale42 #wiff09 peeps welcome to Orality 2.0 (http://bit.ly/u4WSK) if they want to hear more about story & tech

11:12

mc_marketing:  #wiff09 doing social media panel. this is so cool!

11:12

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 hello to @trishussey and @hummingbird604 and @gillianshaw

11:12

trishussey:  @b_radley Is this where I get to tease you again about the @m2o name? #wiff09

11:12

raincoaster:  RT @AprilFilms: #wiff09 just wished @peterdavies a happy birthday while he is livestreaming for @fearlesscity and @w2woodwards

11:12

Raul:  Gillian Shaw is starting with a conversation about bridging the two worlds (traditional media and new media). Sometimes she feels as though there is a chasm in between. It’s exciting because new media has brought changes to our business. If you can’t get up and do something new, then your life is a bit dull. Her life is most definitely NOT dull!

11:13

Raul:  In traditional media, we’ve done everything the same way for many years. Social media has changed that for everyone. We’d like to think that it wasn’t that we weren’t wanting to listen. Gillian couldn’t at any given moment talk to about a thousand people about what she was working on.

11:14

Raul:  Now Gillian can talk to a lot of people. It plays a part in how we tell our stories, and a part that Gillian wouldn’t trade away. She would feel a loss if her connections were taken away.

11:15

Raul:  The interaction with the people in the community (the people we cover and the world around us – that is definitely the very biggest change). Deadlines would be very definite. Now, the monster has to be fed at all times and is always hungry.

11:17

Raul:  There is room at the table for everyone, and we all benefit from the much richer mix, having all the voices heard, the traditional ways of getting content and new content. The new ways of distributing and re-hashing and mashing content. Now Public and Fearless City are two new channels of creating content (citizen journalism, video streaming)

11:17

trishussey:  @danudey no way! @EricaHargreave is flirting with me! #wiff09

11:17

bcfilmmaker:  listening to @GillianShaw at trhe wiff New Media Day #wiff09

11:17

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 now listening to @gillianshaw speak about learning new media and social media

11:17

Miss604:  ”It plays a part in how we deliver the news and how we tell our stories” @gillianshaw #wiff09

11:17

bcfilmmaker:  new media allows you to talk to a lot of people and get their feedback instantly #wiff09

11:17

trishussey:  @gillianshaw An “old media” journalist who gets it #wiff09

11:17

Wildfirejane:  #wiff09 How overwhelming and informative thanks panel(s) I feel like a digital spunge.

11:17

hummingbird604:  People can comment directly on my #wiff09 liveblog by playing “Watch Now” and typing your comments in the window http://is.gd/lNhF

11:17

mercurycomm:  Viewing liveblog at #wiff09 RT@gillianshaw Our social media how to panel is starting at #wiff09.

11:18

Raul:  Gillian has always been a bit of an early adopter. One of the things she hears a lot from women. There is a grain of truth to that notion of “women want to be perfect before doing anything”.

11:18

Raul:  The best advice in the online world -don’t worry so much about what you are doing and the mistakes you are making – just get out there and DO IT.

11:19

bcfilmmaker:  in the social media world, everyone now has a chance to tell their own story #wiff09

11:19

hummingbird604:  @danudey @trishussey Sorry kids. @EricaHargreave was actually flirting with ME #wiff09

11:19

danudey:  @gillianshaw is talking about how, with internet media, there’s no ‘deadline’ – there’s always a story to write. #wiff09

11:19

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 how do we reach the audience? we benefiit from people

11:19

danudey:  Good points about media – it’s not about reporters anymore. Individuals can get to the news before ‘reporters’. No more divisions. #wiff09

11:19

hummingbird604:  @GillianShaw is right – just get out and DO things – experiment with the technology #wiff09 – create content and GET IT OUT

11:22

Raul:  Gillian ends her participation and now Erica jumps into the social media sites very briefly. Now she moves to Carol Sill. Carol Sill is going to show the various social networking sites. She starts with Power Point in SlideShare. Storytelling 24/7 – watching the water flow by – jumping in – entering the stream. The internet doesn’t allow you to stop, really. You jump in, and it flows. All you can do is jump in, and learn to swim.

11:23

Raul:  Blogging – blog is dead, long live the blog. Blogging can be your home. More than just ecogasting – active website – completely in your control – addd and change as you need to.

11:23

hummingbird604:  @antLeah is very skillfully jumping amongst all the windows and showcasing all the various ways in which we’re producing #wiff09 content

11:23

kateleg:  Take a risk and go for it! #wiff09

11:23

Miss604:  @CarolSill is up next and through her site, and the magic of the big screen, a SlideShare.net pres. is now up #wiff09

11:23

trishussey:  @carolsill but you have the coolest machine on the panel! #wiff09

11:23

themarina:  The internet is a stream. Learn to swim by interacting with others #wiff09

11:23

gracibelle:  @ollielindsay Great to have a face-to-face to talk ideas. Tell Meghan to check out #wiff09

11:23

bcfilmmaker:  As filmmakers, we want to tell compelling stories with believable characters. With New media, we can now show them to the world #wiff09

11:24

Raul:  It’s tough to have the time. You don’t have to blog every day. If you don’t have a blog now, you can just jump in.

11:25

If you have a blog, do you feel overwhelmed about blogging every day? Yes, I need a 72 hr day  ( 0% ) No, I blog 7 times a day  ( 75% ) Erm. What is a blog,y’all?  ( 25% )

11:26

Raul:  Where to enter the stream – go WordPress.org (self-hosted) – understand proprietary blogs like in myspace only viewed by members.

11:27

Raul:  User your blog to connect with people, find who is linking to your thoughts and ideas, remember that your blog can include all the media that you can possibly stuff it with. Blogs are hardly using ONLY text.

11:28

Raul:  Carol suggests that you should think about engaging and creating the conversation. LinkedIn – one of the first social media networks for professionals. You find about your professional qualities and who can give you jobs.

11:29

Raul:  Now comees with added zing, more like Facebook, status updates, groups, connectivity, apps. Personal page (tip: edit URL on public profile – use your name – company page).

11:31

zeitguy:  @gillianshaw Why is Vancouver so hip to social media? Canada in general? #wiff09

11:31

trishussey:  @carolsill Go Carol! Encouraging people to build their sites on blog sw-WordPress of course #wiff09

11:31

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 blogging long live the blog!!!!!!

11:31

Raul:  You can amplify your presence using the social media platforms.

11:33

bcfilmmaker:  Listening to @carolsill talking about blogging #wiff09

11:33

themarina:  @carolsill sharing how easy it is to blog. The main theme here: JUMP IN! #wiff09

11:33

Miss604:  @CarolSill is my hero #wiff09

11:33

danudey:  ’Don’t use WordPress.com’ if you’re doing anything professional. Great advice. It doesn’t look or work as well. Go big or go home. #wiff09

11:33

AprilFilms:  #wiff listening to great tips for making blogs better big photos and smaller texts maintaining presences

11:33

bcfilmmaker:  Linkedin is a social media network for professionals #wiff09

11:33

bsundby:  Five R’s of relationship building: raising capital, relationships, reach, recognition revenues http://tinyurl.com/aemtvo #wiff09

11:33

hummingbird604:  @CarolSill is speaking about #LinkedIn – she’s giving very useful advice – @shanegibson, you’re right I need to get on it #wiff09

11:33

tjbuffoonery:  Are people twittering while you’re presenting? http://snipurl.com/ci6w7 Useful! #wiff09

11:33

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 @carolsill speaking about peggy olson

11:33

Lilylulay:  RT @themarina Poptiq looks like a great tool for sharing & monetizing the content http://www.poptiq.com #wiff09

11:33

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 the huffington post complete guide to blogging

11:33

nalei:  Social media: Finding and trusting your voice as a storyteller. #wiff09

11:33

danudey:  @monicahamburg is talking about YouTube, which I think is one of the ‘series of tubes’ the Internet is made of. #wiff09

11:33

hummingbird604:  @chrislemay @monicahamburg is right now speaking at #wiff09

11:34

Raul:  Monica Hamburg is now going to talk a bit about YouTube. You can obviously upload your films there too. Work on the marketing while you are doing the film. Have a media kit that you’re putting together as you go along.

11:36

bcfilmmaker:  Lots of talk about SEO at the Woman in Film New Media discussions! What a wonderful world! #wiff09

11:36

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 now talking about uploading videos and publicizing the film

11:36

themarina:  Start marketing while you’re shooting your film #wiff09

11:36

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 creating a media kit documentation during the process

11:37

Raul:  Not many people use Video Responses to videos. Let’s say that someone has had a really bad day. The key in a lot of ways is – a very hard line. The balance between being a total cheeseball and market yourself. You don’t want to have these natural games to it.

11:39

bcfilmmaker:  during the making of your film, document everything & upload clips from behind the scenes, create a daily journal on your blog etc. #wiff09

11:39

alliecine:  RT @bcfilmmaker: Lots of talk about SEO at the Woman in Film New Media discussions! What a wonderful world! #wiff09

11:39

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 @peterdavies and i are livestreaming for @fearlesscity and @w2woodwards with #mosimpon

11:39

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 i am twittering on a htc touch phone sponsored by @fearlesscity and @w2woodwards

11:39

Raul:  Use video as a call for action. You can use the video as a response, or a directive to people (go to my site, drop me a comment, read my blog, make a video in response to this video). Use colors. You can choose the video that always shows in the mainframe. You can also customize.

11:41

themarina:  Post your most interesting behind the scenes videos on YouTube to build interest #wiff09

11:41

danudey:  A great example of new media + TV – @greggrunberg of #Heroes is on Twitter, and talks about the show with fans. #wiff09

11:41

bcfilmmaker:  good marketing is about creating a “call to action” on your videos or blogs – tell people to do something #wiff09

11:41

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 customizing your youtube channel

11:41

themarina:  Be sure to customize your YouTube page #wiff09

11:41

bcfilmmaker:  @monicahamburg is talking about her YouTube channel #wiff09

11:41

trishussey:  RT @rachaelpachel: @themarina here is one of my backstage vids….http://tinyurl.com/decvry #wiff09

11:41

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 must put our @fearlesscity and @w2woodwards on tubemogul

11:42

Raul:  Crosspost on various platforms. Several things that can be cross-posted to Vimeo, Viddler. etc Tagging is really really important. Sometimes we forget that people search for tags, and we want the higher ranking in Google. This is kind of interesting. When Monica started putting her content out there. You want to control what appears first on Google.

11:43

Raul:  Erica Hargreave She is going over the platforms. Twitter is actually a web application. You don’t have to have a text on the phone nor a smart phone. Think of it as another vehicle to access Twitter, but not the main one.

11:44

Raul:  You don’t have to let Twitter go to your cell phone.

11:45

themarina:  Tubemogul lets you cross post your videos to various video sharing platforms #wiff09

11:45

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 must tag to increase google placements

11:45

trishussey:  @monicahamburg “I always tag with my name, because I’m conceited ” Actually it’s a great idea & important for SEO #wiff09

11:45

bcfilmmaker:  use the new media to find people with similar interests #wiff09

11:45

themarina:  TAG YOUR VIDEOS! #wiff09

11:45

raincoaster:  @trishussey But if you do it on a WP.com blog you risk getting left off global tag pages. I’ve seen it happen. #wiff09

11:45

Miss604:  @GillianShaw “You don’t have to have text on your phone to Twitter” explaining it’s on web as well (Twitter basics) #wiff09

11:45

themarina:  @monicahamburg “I always tag with my name, because I’m conceited ” Actually it’s a great idea & important for SEO #wiff09 (via @trishussey)

11:45

bcfilmmaker:  @GillianShaw is now talking about Twitter. Over 1/2 the people in the audience do not use Twitter #wiff09

11:45

mc_marketing:  #wiff09 I was completely twitterilliterate a month ago. now I have twitterfon on my iPhone, and do stuff like this! thx wiff!

11:46

raincoaster:  @themarina I’d urge caution on that, cuz I’ve seen WP.com blogs get left off the global tag pages for that. #wiff09

11:46

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 @gillianshaw is teaching us about twittering

11:46

danudey:  She’s rambling, but I think @monicahamburg told us if we google her we get lingerie pictures. Not sure what the message is here… #wiff09

11:46

trishussey:  @gillianshaw reminds people that you don’t need a cell phone or a smart phone for Twitter It’s web-based #wiff09

11:46

tofufighting:  doing #wiff09 via tweetdeck group/search, liveblog @ hummingbird604.com, watch @ http://www.blogtv.com/People/Lilylulay (all while in bed!)

11:48

bcfilmmaker:  RT @mc_marketingI was completely twitterilliterate a month ago. now I have twitterfon on my iPhone, and do stuff like this! thx wiff!

11:48

itsaboutus:  So glad I came to #wiff09!

11:48

trishussey:  @raincoaster That’s a great point. #wiff09

11:48

raincoaster:  @danudey The message is, she’s trolling for hits, of course! #wiff09

11:50

Raul:  Gillian and Leah are walking people through signing up for a Twitter account. Great tip from Gillian – email + 1 @ site.com – to use the same email for several Twitter accounts.

11:50

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 yay at @gillianshaw and @wiffy09

11:50

trishussey:  @gillianshaw is giving a quick how to on how to sign up for Twitter. Gonna be a lot of new Twitter people soon! Yay! #wiff09

11:50

Lilylulay:  #wiff09 Do you blog? The Huffington Post Complete Guide To Blogging http://ping.fm/EJdaq

11:50

Dxckie:  At home wiff my hunnycakes : ] Watching Secondhand Lions.

11:50

Miss604:  @GillianShaw’s basic Twitter tips at #wiff09 fill in profile, don’t protect updates

11:53

Raul:  Taking control of your brand – pick your Twitter account, and ensure that you won’t be impersonated.

11:55

Raul:  Twitter drives a lot of traffic to your site.

11:57

Raul:  Erica Hargreave is showcasing now Flickr as a tool for storytelling.

11:58

zomgitshannah:  Going to eat wiff my sister.

11:58

Miss604:  @wiffy09 is the account @GillianShaw just made #wiff09

11:58

themarina:  When you protect your updates on #twitter, you limit your reach #wiff09

11:58

JBMovies:  RT @bcfilmmaker On Twitter, do’nt put protect your updates. You’lll have no followers and defeat the whole purpose of social media #wiff09

11:58

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 saying hello to new @wiffy09 from @fearlesscity and @w2woodwards yay @gillianshaw

11:58

danudey:  @gillianshaw Of note: if you want a specific Twitter name & the person who has it hasn’t used it in a while, they’ll give it to you #wiff09

11:58

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 erica now talking about flickr

11:58

hummingbird604:  @EricaHargreave is now showcasing #Flickr and the whole use of characters in storytelling in social media #wiff09

11:58

themarina:  Twitter drives massive traffic to your site #wiff09

11:58

danudey:  Aw, dissed #wiff09

11:58

mc_marketing:  #wiff09 I prefer to promote my brand AND then use my real name in my profile

11:58

bcfilmmaker:  Upload your photos on http://www.Flickr #wiff09

11:58

sean8412:  chris neal aboot 2 sing wiff attawa he likely wont bee traded lol

11:58

trishussey:  New Media Day after party update: The beer is on its way! Woo hoo! #wiff09

11:58

showbizzle:  @EricaHargreave Erica, thanks for inviting http://www.showbizzle.com to #wiff09

12:01

trishussey:  @danudey no kidding, I’m heart broken #wiff09

12:01

bcfilmmaker:  for your film publicity stills, upload to Flickr.com and then link back to your blog or website #wiff09

12:01

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 @fearlesscity and @w2woodwards here with #mosimpson @peterdavies and myself at social media panel

12:01

themarina:  Awesome Flickr tip for filmakers: use site to post publicity stills & set photos #wiff09

12:01

trishussey:  OMG @EricaHargreave said “ass” #wiff09

12:01

hummingbird604:  @antLeah Thanks SO much for all your hard work helping with maneuvering the equipment, and all your support. You rock!! #wiff09

12:01

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 livestreaming for fearlesscity and @w2woodwards

12:01

danudey:  Sad that @leahmbancroft wasn’t able to come to #wiff09 – but her mother is here. Unsure of the protocol here. Should I say hi? #awkwardgeek

12:04

wthashtag:  #wiff09 is now trending http://wthash.com/wiff09

12:04

themarina:  Though you may not enjoy it, a lot of the audience is still on Facebook so it’s important to keep that space active #wiff09

12:04

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 facebook’s audience is not as sophisticated as it was

12:04

trishussey:  Wow still misconceptions about Facebook, Social Media, etc. Hoping we can chat with folks during lunch #wiff09

12:04

RealTimeTrends:  #wiff09 – is now the #10 trend on twitter. Follow here: http://idek.net/3~A – twIRC Channel: http://idek.net/3~B

12:04

trishussey:  @gillianshaw “If you don’t want to see it on the front page of the paper, don’t put it online” #wiff09

12:04

themarina:  A great tool to update Facebook from a distance is friendfeed #wiff09

12:05

hummingbird604:  It’d be helpful to have a few commenters on my liveblog so that when it’s downloaded people can see versatility #wiff09 http://is.gd/lNhF

12:05

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 facebook and its qualities

12:06

themarina:  Beauty of social media is that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be yourself #wiff09

12:06

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 using friendfeed

12:06

trishussey:  Imperfection is endearing in social media. Be yourself, but know where to draw the line-@EricaHargreave #wiff09

12:06

bcfilmmaker:  TIP: don’t put anything on the web that you wouldn’t want on the front page of the newspaper #wiff09

12:06

amyknapp:  RT @themarina Beauty of social media is that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be yourself #wiff09

12:07

themarina:  @gillianshaw “If you don’t want to see it on the front page of the paper, don’t put it online” #wiff09 (via @trishussey)

12:07

trishussey:  Oh @SookieBonTemps I think this is your moment of fame here #wiff09

12:07

bcfilmmaker:  The TV show “Mad Men” uses Twitter to engage the audience. #wiff09

12:07

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 building and supporting your characters

12:10

Lilylulay:  RT trishussey Imperfection is endearing in social media. Be yourself, but know where to draw the line-@EricaHargreave #wiff09

12:10

bcfilmmaker:  Check out http://www.supportingcharacters.com #wiff09

12:10

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 using twitter to represent yourselves

12:10

trishussey:  The Mad Men cast are on twitter via www.supportingcharacters.com. I love chatting with everyone from Bon Temps, LA. #wiff09

12:11

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 using the surround experience and work ethically

12:11

trending:  Now Trending: #wiff09 http://tinyurl.com/bg3o75

12:11

themarina:  Expand the experience to create something imersive using social media #wiff09

12:11

tweet_trends:  #wiff09: [twitter] http://tinyurl.com/bg3o75

12:12

Raul:  Erica and Carol are talk ing about the characters on Twitter. Pushing Daisies, True Blood, etc.

12:17

trishussey:  @hummingbird604 It’s about freakin’ time #wiff09

12:17

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 listening to erica speak about the responses from people

12:17

themarina:  Guys, we’ve done it! #wiff09 is now trending on Twitter (via @hummingbird604)

12:17

trishussey:  @SookieBonTemps you’re getting lots of love here! Your fans love you! #wiff09

12:17

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 @ericahargreave good job demonstrating twitter tips

12:17

emilytakeflickz:  out wiff corey then seeing KALIN for the first time in WAY too long! <3

12:17

bsundby:  RT @danudey: A great example of new media + TV – @greggrunberg of #Heroes is on Twitter, and talks about the show with fans. #wiff09

12:17

akaSPH:  Checking supportingcharacters.com from the killer #wiff09 *crush* @betty_draper

12:17

hummingbird604:  @sookiebontemps Sookie, @EricaHargreave is now talking about you at #wiff09 – please respond with an @ reply thanks!

12:17

trishussey:  @TiffanyStrobel mostly around IP & copyright, but nothing that can’t change. #wiff09

12:17

twinfo:  #twopular: @AprilFilms is now the top ‘#wiff09‘ trendsetter: http://twopular.com/trend/_wiff09

12:17

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 using social media people to help your story telling

12:17

katykat:  RT @themarina: Though you may not enjoy it, a lot of the audience is still on Facebook so it’s important to keep that space active #wiff09

12:17

hummingbird604:  RT @SookieBonTemps: @hummingbird604 Thanks for the sweet, sweet love. Come on by Merlottes. Drinks are on me. #wiff09

12:17

trishussey:  Great point about potential backlash against characters online. Disclosure is key. Make it pretty clear that it’s fictional #wiff09

12:19

Raul:  We are now talking about @EmmeRogers – the character is a creation – you can create a backstory – you already have followers, supporters, fans that are going to help push your story forward.

12:21

laura_l:  RT @trishussey Imperfection is endearing in social media. Be yourself, but know where to draw the line-@EricaHargreave #wiff09

12:21

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 social media panel talking about building audiences by twittering

12:21

nalei:  Do you feel more insecure or secure after sharing online knowing it could face criticisms? Does your community override those fears? #wiff09

12:21

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 using twitter to help launch your work

12:21

whatthetrend:  Why is #wiff09 trending? Help explain why at What The Trend? http://wttrend.com/777

12:21

themarina:  You can start building characters & stories before you start filming. I’m letting the cat out of the bag – one eg. @emmerogers #wiff09

12:21

AprilFilms:  #wiff09 thanks to everyone on the social media panel

12:22

Related posts:

1. Women in Film Festival ’09 – New Media Day – Monetize Your Content Panel
2. Women in Film Festival – New Media Day – Panel # 1 – Getting Your Feet Wired
3. Women in Film Festival – Digital Media Day warning – I’ll be VERY noisy :)

Today (Monday) I woke up to some blog posts and tweets not liking what the PR people in Skittles did (try to make the site more social-media-like by including a Twitter search when clicking on ‘Chatter’, Flickr for photos, etc.). I am not in the PR business, but I always praise organizations that jump on the social media bandwagon for at least trying. That’s what I tweeted earlier – that I didn’t understand the backlash about the Skittles social media campaign. Even Ian Capstick (whose ideas I like quite a lot) didn’t like the site (as indicated on his blog).

For the naysayers, I’d like to say – how about phrasing your writing in such a way that when the Skittles social media monitors and finds them, they can learn about what they did wrong? Admittedly, as Ian indicates, the Skittles insertion of a Summize search stream doesn’t add much value. I agree. Conversation and bi-directional interaction are key, I’ve said so before. I am not sure the PR team for Skittles has trained enough in social media to understand this. But I’m guessing (and this is just a guess) they are getting there.

For the time being, as Steve Jagger indicated, people are talking about them, and as Shane Gibson mentioned, the early adopters may be trying to dictate rules as to how social media should be done. If that’s the case, then the social media gurus should be providing advice to Skittles RIGHT NOW on what needs to be changed. The truth is, they are achieving things that I’m sure they were trying to achieve (get people to talk about them). Below are two graphs that show the TwitScoop searches for Skittles: As you can see, lots of attention in the last three days.

I don’t foresee the same backlash with Skittles than Motrin had a few months ago, so let’s see where this goes. On my part, I’m quite interested in monitoring what comes out of this.

Related posts:

1. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria
2. What’s your Social Media Profile
3. Complexity, self-organization and social media in 2009

The concept of influence in social media has gained relevance lately, particularly as marketing budgets and profit margins shrink. Social media has been touted as one of various strategies to successfully engage with potential customers and consumers. Since undertaking social media strategies wasn’t my day job (it isn’t yet, but I’m doing more applied work now), I didn’t pay a lot of attention to whether I was being influential in social media or being seen as “an influencer“. I will completely disclose that I am human, and sometimes I play along with the popularity contests along the lines of “measure your Twinfluence” or “you’re in the Vancouver Twitter Elite“. Heck, I sometimes even worry about how long I’m going to be able to hold on to my #1 ranking on UrbanSpoon. Ok, end of disclosures. My point is, I don’t claim to be a social media expert nor an influencer.

My perception is (and I could be proven wrong, but this is what my intuition tells me) that influence in social media is a very complex concept and there are very few reliable, quantitative metrics to measure it. As someone who has been trained to have a researcher mind, I find this complexity rather fascinating, but awfully disturbing. Given how much praise has been given to transparency in social media, and how important it is to be fully open and disclose everything in this realm, it comes to me as a bit of a surprise that methodologies to rank individual’s influence (be it on Twitter, on Facebook, across the country, etc.) are quite subjective.

I recently came across the website of Web Analytics Demystified and their analysis of Twitter Influence. When I first saw the site (hat tips to one of my followers who tweeted about my position on the rankings – at the time he informed me, around 4.30pm, I was ranked # 88 and only one of three Vancouverites on the top 100). By the time 1.45 am of the next day came, I was already # 91. My estimation is that this tool to calculate Twitter Influence will be rather influenced (pardon the cacophony) by individual followers and the early adoption of the tool to calculate your favorite social media degree of influence. That is – the more people use it and calculate their own Twitter Influence, the more the results will change. Now, will those additions affect the end result? Maybe. It could very well happen that, as more people know about the WAD TwitCal tool, more people will follow those who are in the top 10, 50 or 100 Twitter influencers in the world.

When I saw the results and came to the conclusion that WAD did a quantitative analysis of a variety of elements to calculate a particular score, quite frankly was somewhat taken aback. I highly doubt that it is possible for me to compare myself in degree of influence to people who actually DO social media for a living.

As a way of an example, several of my friends were nominated, ended up being semi-finalists and finalists in the Profection list of Canada’s most influential people in social media, and four friends whose work I know and admire ended up in the top 10 (Kate Trgovac, Kris Krug, Darren Barefoot and Rebecca Bollwitt).

These friends of mine certainly influence ME, and I am sure they influence a whole lot of other Canadian social media people. And their ranking in the Canadian influencers list came from a quantitative analysis. There are a number of challenges to using quantitative, crowd-sourced data as proxy for influence in social media. I’ll outline off the top of my head a few below.

1.- What happens if the person does NOT do social media for a living? Does he/she have high influence? I read a lot about it and write a lot of blog posts, and I use Twitter and numerous Web 2.0 tools. On a good day, I’m in the top 10 Twitter Elite. Does that make me a social media influencer? Not sure. Admittedly, I am capable of analyzing social media strategies and well, recently I did just that with my talk at Northern Voice 2009 on “How to Use Social Media Strategies to Increase Environmental Awareness”. I argue that influence in social media is more of a “reputation” game than a “numbers” game.

2.- What happens if the figures are crowdsourced? They become skewed towards who has more followership. That was my primary criticism of the calculation of Canada’s most influential figures (and I told this to David Forde from Profection). When influence figures are crowdsourced, the popularity contest begins. WHO you know and HOW MANY you know and how many KNOW YOU are all relevant variables.

The quote below comes from the Profectio site on the methodology.

# Voting was then done by the community for here and here and a score of 0 – 3 was given.
# Postrank rang a report on both list to determine their engagement, and a score of 0 – 3 was given. [Profectio]

The question that remained in my head was WHO is the community? I saw people whom I absolutely deem very influential in social media completely absent from the list. They probably weren’t nominated. AND people who are very influential didn’t end up in the top 10. The problem is always – the rankings game. It is, indeed, a zero-sum game. For every influencer who lands in the top 10, one influencer (legitimately influencer) is left out.

3.- Are we using the right metrics of engagement as a measure of influence? According to Dave Forde from Profectio, they used PostRank, which hypothetically measures engagement by virtue of analyzing how engaged you are in the Web 2.0 world. Truth is, I argue that nobody can really measure engagement in an objective way. For example, according to PostRank you are more engaged as a blogger if you write a blog post in reply to other blogger’s post. But what if I don’t want to link to that blogger’s post because I may have higher traffic and I don’t want to drive traffic to said blogger’s site? This is quite a real possibility.

I have previously written asking the question of whether we are losing the bi-directionality that is supposed to characterize the Web 2.0 landscape. I fear that it’s happening at least on Twitter. In fact, my thoughts on bi-directionality resonated a lot with what Ian Capstick presented at Northern Voice 09 arguing that Obama hadn’t really won thanks to social media (because well, Obama wasn’t bi-directional on Twitter). Heck, Canadian politicians really didn’t do much in terms of bi-directionality! But I digress… back to influence.

At the end of the day, I have to agree with what Nate Elliot said at his Northern Voice ’09 talk – there is a shift in the way influencers behave (Nate calls someone who pro-actively seeks to influence people a ‘new influencer‘). In his slides (which he generously shared with me) he indicates that a new influencer proactively seeks to influence people by providing advice. Nate kindly mentioned me during his NV ’09 talk making reference to me as a trusted advisor in regards to food (thanks Nate! I hope you enjoy the restaurant reviews!).

One point where I don’t agree with Nate (and we’ll have to discuss this in person) is that new influencers “broadcast” their recommendations. I think that, (assuming that people do perceive me as an influencer), the way in which I influence people is through engagement, beyond broadcasting. One of the reasons why I get unfollowed frequently is because I am way too chatty on Twitter. But I find that if I don’t engage with my readers and my followers, the value of the conversation diminishes.

So, am I an influencer in the social media realm? Maybe, maybe not. But one thing is for sure, I certainly am proud of what I’ve accomplished in the blogging world. I would like to be seen as an influencer in the environmental field (particularly in my two primary fields of focus, water governance and environmental policy). But in academia, influence is very much a quantitative game. How many citations do your papers have in the Social Science Citation Index? Citations are usually the proxy for influence. My view is that, in social media, we are trying to measure influence in a quantitative way when it also has substantial qualitative overtones. It’s not only how many people you know (and influence) but who you know (and influence). Also, I *really* want to be perceived as an influencer in my research fields. But that’s the subject of another post.

With that in mind, what do YOU think would be good quantitative metrics of influence?

Related posts:

1. Measuring influence in social media (the Klout score)
2. Is measuring real influence in social media possible?
3. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria

Alfred Hermida, UBC Graduate School of Journalism.
Kirk LaPointe, Vancouver Sun
Michael Tippet, NowPublic

Additional resources:

Alfred Hermida shared a BBC chart, a resource that I am linking at now here.

Northern Voice 2009 – How Social Media is Changing Journalism

(02/21/2009)

  

Close

2:17	Raul:  I am sitting right in front of Mike Tippet, Kirk Lapointe and Alfred Hermida. Gillian Shaw is moderating.

2:18	Raul:  ”Relationships-based media – how social media is changing journalism” by Alfred Hermida (UBC Graduate School of journalism).

2:21

Raul:  Gillian is presenting the speakers. Alfred is going to be all academic. Looking at social media through a conceptual framework, a shift from traditional media as a “many to many”. We, the readers can criticize or follow through Twitter. Media has always been social (we’ve always been able to talk about the news). We’ve been able to discuss it, cut out clippings, there’s always a social element AFTER THE FACT. We have been able to be involved but only AFTER the editors have published the content. We haven’t been able to be involved in the process of journalism. Journalism is based on producing content for consumption. It’s not to produce content for you to mash up and create your own. Social media allows YOU (the audience) to be part of the content creation.

2:22

Raul:  Social media is creating a relationship-based journalism. The model (Deuze 2003) – where can we place social media (Deuze, 2003) – the web and its journalism. New Media and Society (5/2003). Closed journalistic culture vs. open journalistic culture Concentration on editorial content vs. concentration on public connectivity.

2:23	Raul:  Traditional media has focused now on the tension between closed journalistic and open culture vs. public connectivity/editorial content.

2:23	trishussey:  Social media vs Journalism is a matrix of connectivity and openness. #northernvoice09

2:23	Raul:  We should just use social media (all media is social) – how do people consume media.

2:24	Raul:  Mix and match of technologies. It’s a much more mixed up world. Mixes physical and digital sources. We see a lot more of the sharing, more socializing media.

2:24	Raul:  In a sense, for journalists, they have NO choice but be part of social media. Closed journalistic practices with a focus on content is no longer the way forward.

2:25	Raul:  Now it’s Kirk LaPointe’s turn

2:25	Raul:  What do you say in about 6 minutes? A few things, to start – build some sympathy.

2:26	Raul:  We are in the industry of creating news. We translate our endeavours through a prism of a business model. How do we improve the metrics of an organization, economically. We tend to figure out the size of the garden and what yield will be there instead of smelling the roses.

2:27	trishussey:  RT @hummingbird604: My liveblog of social media and journalism talk #northernvoice09 http://is.gd/knXX

2:27

Raul:  That framework holds us back. Also, not understanding the blacktail doesn’t help us. We have seen closely guarded work. We contend with revealing what we are seeking very early on, and quite transparently. We are then sharing the results and we cede control of the work to let them cut, paste, harvest, digg, etc.

2:28

Raul:  The link economy that is emerging is finding us new distribution channels that are going to pay us back. The long tail is quite important. Our research shows that 75,000 copies. Our website has 9 million pages. Social media compels us into a different kind of thinking – small and beautiful models.

2:29

Raul:  Kirk is now describing how the aggregated map works in your favor because the aggregated network model strengthens the whole end result. Now, all in all, – defy odds to build collegiality. To the point he is supposed to discuss – how are they integrating social media into journalism. How are we integrating ourselves into social media (something very conventional into something cutting-edge)

2:30	Raul:  We are still learning, we don’t link enough, we don’t take advantage of the technology yet. Blogging is still one too many. We have about 30 or so people on Twitter. The Sun is doing very well there.

2:30	Raul:  What I like is that we are doing some wiki and opening some of our stuff into wikis, and share and collaborate (sharing our research and let people play around it last year).

2:31	Raul:  Our Public Sector Database had 9,7 million views. Purpose – point to the future because no one can say you’re wrong yet. We always have been able to check a tip from the public. Clearly, our role has moved from a gate-keeper to an authenticator.

2:32

Raul:  We are now being enabled (journalists) as the verificators, authenticators of the information. It’s left to us to let people know what has really happened. We are now curators – tour guides, not really. We are curators – enabling and assembling best pieces for an exhibit. We don’t think about stories right now.

2:34

Raul:  Delude yourself that you’ve won yourself friends. We are developing an approach where we get around and learn about the people who will be sharing the information and data. Build a business model predicated on the fact that sharing all this will enable us to create more value. Television had to figure out that in some cases, people weren’t looking very good in just one camera. So it’s an evolutionary process.

2:35	Raul:  We are very much open to more people participating in the process of creating content.

2:36	Raul:  Gillian says that there’s room for everyone on the table. Now it’s Michael Tippet’s turn. Nowpublic is in the leading edge about crowdsourcing information.

2:37	Raul:  Mike’s talking now about talking about the future of news – we are talking about the future of truth. If you look back historically, there are a number of ways in which we have tried to determine the truth.

2:38	trishussey:  Liveblogging, livetweeting, livestreaming like journalist’s notes, but unfiltered. @gillianshaw comments on new reality #northernvoice09

2:38	Raul:  We have moved to an empirical world (scientific research). We are now seeing that the supply chain of truth has been re-engineered. NowPublic has been exactly around 4 years (launched here at #northernvoice). When they first started, they wanted to build the world’s largest news stations.

2:38	Raul:  Using that model, build your own sense of self and truth. There is a mythology of citizen journalism.

2:39

Raul:  The people who are live-tweeting or live-blogging aren’t your trained journalists. They are generally not motivated by journalistic intent – the motive is start a conversation and have a conversation. The control of the network is in the hands of people, it’s not controlled. The news gathering machine is not controlled anymore.

2:40	Raul:  1970s – (circa) – the old supply chain – event – witnesses – some accounts of it – journalists stitch the story together and put it into a news source which is then broadcast back to the audience, having a clear (er) picture.

2:41

Raul:  Fast forward to roughly present day – the new supply chain – before the helicopter is launched, the event witnesses are uploading content into Flickr, Twitter, etc. All sorts of platforms. The story is made up in a collective mashup… this changes the structure of the story (no clear begin and end).

2:41	Raul:  We now have a global intelligence network where you can find out what’s happening in real time. As a story breaks in this new ecology, event occurs – witness – report – crowd – the event can change in real time.

2:42	brodiedavid:  I see a few people video taping at #northernvoice09 – anyone know where videos of sessions will be available for download?

2:43

Raul:  As the results were coming in, the whole structure of how the story is being told - Citizen journalists are for the most part, just citizens – their intentions aren’t journalistic and they are not trained. Their stuff is not actually journalism. It’s a different product - The content is already out there – what information is already out there - Relationship with audience is different - Narrative structure is different

2:45	Raul:  There is a pre-supposition that journalists don’t have a bias. Can you talk a little about that Kirk – I have never written a story about something I don’t feel very strongly about.

2:46	Raul:  We think that newspapers are going to have a richer context, more depth. There will be a LOT more commentary and an understanding that people have some kind of a frame in basic events. They take their own opinion on the events .

2:46	Raul:  Alfred – evidence-based reporting. As a journalist you can’t know everything (you have a limited time frame) – ask questions – am I missing something?

2:47	Raul:  In the old times we could know how to reach you – now there’s 8 million ways to reach you. How do you like to be pitched now? How do you like to receive media releases/news? Kirk – with chequebooks (joke)

2:48	[Comment From Guest] Live Qik videos #northernvoice http://qik.com/videos/public_search?commit=Search+Videos&query=%23northernvoice

2:48	Raul:  Please note that Ianiv Schweber of NowPublic / Blogaholics is Qik streaming, Thanks to Ianiv!

2:51	trishussey:  RT @suewolff: @lblanken loves watching the bridging dynamics get worked out in the WOW guild. #northernvoice09

2:51	trishussey:  RT @iancapstick: How wld U lk 2 be pitched? “With a cheque book” says Kirk Lapointe jokes at #northernvoice09 “You will find us. Don’t w …

2:51

Raul:  My question – the ethics of journalism and social media Clay Shirky – yu don’t trust the individual journalist – you’re trusting the brand – the value that that brand has – the fact that that person works for that brand – he/she is having a brand behind him/her (the code of ethics). As a blogger you live and die by your content – you don’t have a brand – they have no credibility because they do not have that brand and credibility.

2:52	brodiedavid:  According to @Hermida main difference between citizen journalists and mainstream is credibility of brands #northernvoice09

2:52	Raul:  Kirk – The academic research – 1/2 news stories contains an error, hasn’t changed. It seems to me where I draw a line – where they are transparent and seem to have an accountability. I don’t want someone who is going to carry on invisible criticism.

2:53

Raul:  I want someone who will be willing to be accountable/answerable – that’s where the ethics come into blogging in a big way. Mike People have different expectations about when they read content. You’ll make up your own mind about whether it comes from one or another. The stuff that is flawed or erroneous – the onus is on the reader to be ethical. The onus of ethics is NOT on the writer.

2:54	[Comment From Guest] Clay Shirky is right, bloggers build trust with organic networks.

2:54	Raul:  RAUL’S POINT – I strongly and respectfully disagree with Alf’s point on being backed up by brands.

2:55	Raul:  Alfred Hermida again – You as a teacher/instructor have to be more involved and engaged.

2:55	Raul:  Mike – there is a big challenge to the Academy.

2:55	brodiedavid:  I agree with @hermida but google rank can impact credibility more than anything for those consuming news online #northernvoice09

2:56	Raul:  Facebook has basically removed the communication barriers.

2:56	[Comment From Guest] The reader also has to be critical of all sources, be their own journalists.

2:56	Raul:  Pete Quily – commenting for The Vancouver Sun not enabling links. For some reason – you might want to fix it (good point Pete)

2:57	Raul:  Kirk – Sometimes journalists can be a bit chauvinistic – we have to be a lot more gracious, simply be out there and acknowledge where the material emanated and go about that and let people know. They are linking now to their competitors.

2:57	[Comment From Guest] @brodie I agree with you about Google rank; also Technorati ranking, number of Twitter followers

2:58	Raul:  Mike The future of news – this is how news will be created. The more we invite people the less they’ll ever want to come back LOL.

2:58

Related posts:

1. Northern Voice 2009 – Social Media Mores for the Blogging Couple
2. Lisa Johnson and Kirk LaPointe Journalism and Social Media #nv10 Liveblog
3. Northern Voice 2009 – Nora Young on Buried Hatchets and Better Tomorrows (Liveblog)

Related posts:

1. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria
2. Northern Voice 2009 – How Social Media is Changing Journalism (Hermida, LaPointe, Tippet & Shaw)
3. Communication Shutdown – Nov 1st (to raise awareness for autism)

Related posts:

1. On being jaded with social media for social change
2. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria
3. Social media tools and academia

Facebook allowed me to re-connect with friends that I met when I did my PhD, friends and colleagues who are actually scholars in various different countries and universities. Particularly it helped me learn about potential tenure-stream positions and conferences I wasn’t aware of.

All in all, I haven’t spent as much time on Facebook as I expected to, and it’s going well. I don’t plan to “friend” everyone simply because well, I DO want to keep the Facebook thing a bit low key.

What do YOU think of Facebook (as a tool)?

Related posts:

1. Is Facebook decreasing the relevance of MySpace?
2. Considering Facebook
3. Thursday Funny – Raul joined Facebook!

I see the intersection of social media and sustainability as a part of my emerging new research, teaching and consulting agendas (by the way, have you checked my new research blog? No? Go ahead and check it out then come back). And one of the great things I’ve learned is how you can apply these social media tools to enable environmental non-governmental organizations and Crown corporations to reach out to a broader audience. Examples that a variety of awesome social media gurus have done for environmental causes and the such follow (this is a short link-love list – if you find yourself not included, feel free to drop me a comment). And the most exciting thing of them all? I heard about them on Twitter

- Dave Jones from Hill and Knowlton alerted me to the work he had been doing to help World Wildlife Fund Canada to spread the message about Earth Hour Canada. He spoke to a room of 18 people from the WWF Canada as sort of a “socmed bootcamp” and got them started on Twitter, Facebook and all that jazz. Dave is a great Canadian social media/PR person, and I offered to contribute to the Vancouver Earth Hour volunteer team.

- Darren Barefoot, Julie Szabo (Capulet Communications) and Monica Hamburg (in collaboration with Capulet) helped Forest Ethics, Greenpeace Canada and Sierra Club BC launch a social media campaign (that included Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and blogger outreach) to protect the Great Bear rainforest. I wrote about their campaign on my blog a couple of times. Excellent work here too.

- Before they merged with Third Whale, Dave Olson (mentor and good friend) helped spread the amazing work of HappyFrog.ca all over the Twitterverse. I even did some podcasting and liveblogging of EPIC ’08 as part of Dave’s FrogSquad!

- Third Whale is also on Twitter. The account is managed by relentless and ultra-enthusiastic Emily Jubenvill (who by the way is considered Canada’s greenest life-style person). I had a chance to chat with Dr. Boyd Cohen (who works in the corporate sustainability field) and is an entrepreneur. I foresee great things in the future of Third Whale.

- Social Signal (headed by Rob Cottingham and Alexandra Samuel) helped BC Hydro spread their message on energy saving tips through a variety of social media tools. Although I could very well recommend some improvements to BC Hydro’s Human Resources policy, I think the work that Rob and Alex did with them was most excellent! Obviously, that speaks to the fact that Social Signal’s work is superb.

- The recently launched site that my friend Anthony Nicalo is co-leading (FarmFed) is yet another excellent example of the convergence/intersection of social media and sustainability (in this case, sustainable farming, sustainable food policy). I have a guest post for their blog that I will email ASAP.

- Finally, and not to toot our own horn, but the Vancouver Twestival is another space where sustainability (in this case, water sustainability) and social media converge. Rebecca Bollwitt is the main focal point for Twestival and Lorraine, Keira and I are helping Rebecca in whatever we can. I predict that Twestival will be a great event, and I’m very grateful to 6S Marketing, The Opus Hotel and everyone who has donated prizes for the raffle. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

In summary – social media and sustainability can and SHOULD intersect. I am actually quite excited that my work in social media (e.g. my blogging and micro-blogging, participation in social media events, etc.) is offering some leads in regards to contract work. At this juncture in my life, even though I love research and teaching, I will for sure accept some social media contract work, but only to the extent of what my abilities can do. Remember, in regards to social media, I’m still a newbie

Related posts:

1. Social Media for Sustainability and Public Policy
2. Digital media and sustainability: Friends or foes? – NDMD ’08
3. Digital media and sustainability: Friends or foes? – NDMD ’08

Credit: djwudi

I wasn’t going to cave. I was going to resist. I was going to be “the only guy who wasn’t on Facebook and still was part of Vancouver’s social media world”. Well, not anymore. Yes, I caved. I have been assimilated. Of course, I am going to crank up the privacy settings and I hope people don’t feel bad because I don’t “friend” everyone. But it’s true – my social media credibility goes down if I’m not on Facebook. So, here I am! I have been assimilated. I joined Facebook. Resistance WAS futile

Related posts:

1. The creepy suggestions of new friends on Facebook
2. Thursday Funny – Raul joined Facebook!
3. Five days into Facebook…

Translink as a transportation authority has a really weird governance structure. I dare you to read Translink’s About Page and actually understand WHO is responsible for WHAT. Yes. I know. Confusing. But whatever. As a transportation authority of a major urban region, I kind of expect Translink to provide excellent service. I won’t bore you with stories of how many times a bus driver has started his/her bus and shut the doors on me despite the fact that they have seen me run. I won’t describe how many issues arose with buses and the Skytrain because of extreme climatic conditions. Those are detailed elsewhere on the internet.

What did make me scratch my head a bit was this tweet sent by the writer of The Buzzer Blog (who recently joined Twitter, and with whom I’ve had a few exchanges over email) to Tris. The reason why I was puzzled is because I certainly think that an organization the size of Translink SHOULD have enough staffing to handle Twitter AND a blog. Heck, I know DOZENS of organizations whose Twitter AND blogs are handled by one single person.

I do understand that Twittering does take time, but truth be told, there are MANY ways in which Twitter updates of transit conditions. Fortunately, more Translink staff is getting on Twitter, including Ken Hardie (Director of Communications of Translink). However, Ken – if I may give you a piece of advice – careful what you tweet. Once it’s out, it’s out. Yes, I’m referring to this one.

Related posts:

1. I disapprove of your fare raise, @translink
2. On @Translink as a case study in public service delivery and interactivity in social media platforms
3. Be part of the plan! (Translink consultations)

Since ANYONE can post ANYTHING online, it now seems as though EVERYONE is an expert in something. Some people are experts at appearing to be experts at something.

Let’s consider what I have done in just one of the sub-fields in which I do research on (wastewater management and policy), just for illustration purposes. I wrote a 135 pages, single-spaced book on wastewater governance and policy in Mexico. I conducted field research for the project for two years. I interviewed over 70 people, my transcripts reached over 4000 pages, and I collected hundreds of documents. To create the theoretical framework of the project, I read over 300 journal articles about water (although, I should say that a vast minority dealt with the social aspects of wastewater management). I have published six peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and given over 15 talks about various aspects of this project (none of them, actually, has been a recycled version, so all talks have been original).

Furthermore, I sit on editorial boards of journals and frequently conduct peer-reviews of books, book chapters and journal articles, all focused on water. Does all my background make me an expert in the social science of wastewater governance? Some scholars would probably argue that yes. However, I never say “I’m an expert in wastewater policy“… all I say is “I specialize in wastewater governance“.

While my academic credentials and production help me feel more confident about being called an expert in environmental issues, I am sometimes reluctant to be called a “social media expert”. I know MANY people who know much more about social media than I do. I am not sure they call themselves experts either. Simply because, as I mentioned before, social media is such a fluid and dynamic issue area that I don’t even think anybody can fully grasp it. Yes, I do blog. Yes, I am very good at social networking. Yes, I have some understanding of the technology and how to put it to good use to create online communities and disseminate knowledge over the Internet. Does that make me a social media expert? Hardly, I believe.

I am interested and excited and passionate about social media. If I find a good project that calls for the implementation of a social media strategy in a sustainability/environmental area, I would say “sure, I’ll help”. But I’m more likely to offer insight and impart my knowledge on the topics that I feel most comfortable talking about. Would I be excited about examining and investigating how social media can be used to enhance local decision-making about how we manage our water? For sure. Would I be able to combine both my expertise in water governance and social media? ABSOLUTELY. Would I call on external help to implement said strategy? FOR SURE.

THAT, I think, is what makes social media so appealing to me. I feel as though I can call upon many of my social media/tech/PR friends and ask for help (obviously, if the project offers payment, the payment is also relayed to them as well!). Being able to speak the social media language AND use my technical expertise in environmental issues is what makes me, I think, rather unique professionally speaking.

That’s why I asked the question – is disclosing that we aren’t experts a good or bad practice? What do you all think?.

Related posts:

1. Social Media for Sustainability and Public Policy
2. My talk at @BCIT on Social Media, Politics and Public Policy
3. My interview with David Berner on The Power of Social Media in Public Policy

Graph credit: Pete Quily on Flickr.

One really interesting thing for me here is the use of quantitative data as a metric for comparison. While I am a chemical engineer by training, I have tended to undertake more qualitative work (particularly in-depth interviews, textual analysis of documents, discourse analysis, etc.) Nevertheless, when I did my PhD, my advisor and mentor (who is highly quantitative) completely shifted my approach and made me become much more quantitative.

I have used quantitative metrics to study wastewater policy (and I’m quite comfortable doing so) although for most of my studies I’ve complemented the number crunching with in-depth interviews and a very thorough literature review. And Pete’s post makes me again feel confident that using numbers can actually provide us with good insights into the behavior of each candidate on social media platforms.

I am guessing one follow up would be an in-depth interview with both candidates and their understanding of the goals of the social media campaign, coupled with interviews with their campaign managers and those consultants who handled the campaigns and the platforms. Hat tips to Pete for an excellent analysis. I guess it’s now up to me to do the qualitative follow up!

Related posts:

1. Canadian social media and social computing data/statistics
2. Measuring influence Part I: Social media
3. Complexity, self-organization and social media in 2009

Now, back to the topic… There is ONE thing I will tell you, and I’m pretty sure about it – the fluidity of the Internet and social media itself will prevent us from making any accurate predictions of what the social media landscape in 2009 will look like. In other words – if you are making predictions about it, you’re already wrong, even before you start.

There is a whole body of analytical work done around the future (also called