Watch the above video to find out why Laura loves and hates twitter.
I was really pleased to finally meet Pistachio (her real name Laura Athavale Fitton) at the Boston Blogger Dinner a few weeks ago. She writes the Great Presentation Blog, and we immediately got into a discussion about Twitter. Aside from being one of the hyper networked and well connected, she’s a natural speaker, and helps others to be great speakers.
When people connect online and interact it’s a pretty amazing network. When two people finally meetup in real life after collaborating online it’s a really an amazing thing, it’s as if people knew each other already and conversations instantly pick up.
I’m on Twitter, (follow me and I’ll add you back) and use it very, very actively, I’ll tweet what I’m reading (and give commentary) even as I do research, so in many ways by following me, it’s getting a glimpse into one of the ‘pipes’ of input and output in my life. If you’re not sure what Twitter is, or how to use it, read what the web strategist should know about Twitter.
Editor in Chief (I flubbed the intro) of PC World Harry McCracken (personal blog) loves Flock, so much so that he gave me 2 minute of his time to tell me why. If you want to read his full review, it’s on PCWorld. Previously, I was unconvinced there was room for three browsers in my life, but downloaded it and gave it a whirl. The jury is still out, it takes me time to see if it will really integrate into my lifestyle. I received some feedback about it on Twitter, such as Dennis Howlett tweets “you realize Flock’s OPML import is utterly borked, rendering it almost useless?” amid a mixture of other responses.
One of the best part of the experience is the truly human experience, it’s so common that large and small companies are so visibly unhuman in their website experience. If you’ve any questions about flock, or need quick answers Evan Hamilton the community ambassador (who stepped in after Will Pate moved on) is available. Next time I see him, I’ll get him on video to find out how he’s enjoying being a community manager.
Although filmed a while ago, Jason Baptiste and I get together at Miami’s WeMedia conference, and discuss the future of the social press release. There are several PR firms that are adopting and implementing them, although there’s been some criticism about it. (Brian has a lengthy counter)
I realy enjoy speaking with Jason from Publictivity, he’s clear, articulate and knowledgeable on his topic area, thanks for the patience on posting this video! I’m meeting with some potential folks who may publish my archived videos, stay tuned.
I was in Vancouver last month at the VidFest conference, I was able to attend a regular meetup with the local social media folks, people I really relate to. Over drinks, they told me about the unique web culture in Canada, in my usual form, I whipped out my camera and was able to get their opinion.
What’s the difference between Canadian and US web cultures? I asked them that too, see related video. I’ve traveled a lot, and it’s amazing to hear how culture, (beyond language) impacts web usage, the web is truly a representation of people and the culture they relate to.
I interviewed Maneck Mohan (who works for Recruit.net, an Asian job aggregator) to find out what skills are needed for the technology industry, his perspective, from Asia and specifically Hong Kong. Are you surprised by his answer? I’m not. How do people find jobs, and what would be more efficient?
I know I’m a rare case, but I’ve got my two last jobs primarily from blogging. Social media impacts the recruiting process, I saw a stat that indicates that 35% of all employers do an online search about their candidates. I know I do and encourage everyone else to “Google them” and see what comes up. You can learn a lot (aside from the personal stuff), how do they think, how do they write, how do they interact with others, how do they self-represent themselves and their employer.
Yusuf Goolamabbas shares with me from the Oublaze offices in Cyberport (see pics), in this short clip we cover a lot of ground. In the time I spent with him, I learned that he sees the web from a very strategic point of view, and shares his views on the state of the web industry in Hong Kong.
You’ll find out:
1) What’s his view on the web industry in HK?
2) How can 150% cell phone penetration be accurate?
3) Bloggers: creators vs readers
4) Social Networks in Hong Kong, why is Facebook hot, but yet a fad?
Yusaf, wishing you and the rest of the folks over there good wishes, hope all is going well.
Lastly, I ask him what should someone from Silicon Valley know about the Hong Kong web industry (where most of my readership is), hopefully, we won’t be so insular.
If you’ve been paying attention, I’ve been releasing all my reports and findings from Hong Kong, be sure to see the category tagged Asia.
Open Source? Apache? Barcamps? We’re quite familiar with these concepts and technologies in Silicon Valley, but not every region on the globe is adopting.
I was able to meet up with J Aaron Farr at the HK blogger dinner in Sept 07, he gives us a quick update to what’s going on in the open source movement in China.
Learn more about Aaron at Cubiclemuses is his personal blog or his organization, Jade Tower “JadeTower is an exciting new startup dedicated to open standards and open technologies”.
Oh, and thanks to David Armano, I found out how to make my videos flash based rather than AVI, I didn’t realize there was an issue for some users. I wish blip made the default setting flash.
Brian Keith (of Portent) and I have been interacting online from blogs, emails, and phonecalls for quite sometime. I’m glad to finally meet him in San Francisco on a roofop terrace at the FamilyOven headquarters. He’s involve with Search Marketing, and I asked him some key questions. And yes, he was avoiding the sun, those Seattle need to get out more.
BTW the Portent website has baby pictures of them, and it reads “We were born for Internet Marketing” clever!
Find out what the web strategist should know about Search Marketing before getting started.
Social Media Today is an aggregation magazine of the top voices in the industry. They’re building an online webzine, that gives the readers the opportunity to read the best posts and thoughts from the community. I met up with Robyn at the Office 2.0 conference, where we quickly discussed how they’re advancing forward with this platform.
The webzine aggregation concept is a unique one, it’ll be interesting to see when traditional online media websites start to aggregate the voices from their readers and communities, fostering a conversation between editors and audience.
In the above video, I spend a few minutes with Damien Kindler, the CEO of Stage 3 Media, the creators of Sanctuary.
Last week at Vancouver’s VidFest, there was a special screening of Sanctuary, an all digital webisode series filmed and produced exclusively for the web. I met up with Damien, the CEO of the project, (and met some of the actors, many who have ties to the Stargate series) to talk about this web native film series.
The series was filmed in hi definition, although I noticed some of the episodes are also on YouTube.
The series was filmed on green screen, and like other films and tv shows, we’re starting to imagine ways where the audience can be part of the experience through virtual worlds, and even social networks.
Sanctuary is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy series that has hints of Xmen, Buffy, SinCity and other vampire hunter series. I suggested that when they get a chance, to swing down and do a showing for the digerati in SF or Silicon Valley, hopefully they’ll get the opportunity.
Just two weeks ago I was in Hong Kong, meeting some of the top Internet professionals, and I was pleased to find a diverse and mixed culture. For example, Napoleon Biggs shared with me the experience within the internet marketing industry in the area. Find out what advantageous that web marketers have when doing business in Hong Kong and China. You’ll also find out which Social Network has really started to see the “hockey stick” of growth.
Napaleon runs a Web Strategy firm in Hong Kong called Palava, and also is leading the community of web professionals at the monthly Web Wednesday events.
I’m fascinated with the web industry, and whenever I travel outside of the bubble (what I call Silicon Valley) I do what I can to meet the community, check out my other posts tagged Asia.
Well the iPhones weren’t really free, attendees had to pay to go to the conference, but for many corporate folks, these types of conferences can be expensed.
I’ve known Graham for a while, his website Techdirt gives out healthy analysis and commentary on the web industry, I’m sure you’ve run into it frequently. Graham refers to the unexpert-expert community that they are building at the Insight Community they’ve built, although it looks like there are some fees to join (update: see comments for details). It’s always interesting to me to meet the faces behind the websites, and I do these videos so you can be in on it too.
I had the opportunity to interview Joseph Loong of AOL’s Community Connection (which has blogs, forums, photo galleries, social network features) at Miami’s WeMedia conference at the University of Miami. He’s one of the community folks at AOL Blogs and helps the community become more efficient bloggers and communicators and shares with us the challenges to big media corporations like AOL and what the future holds.
Leon writes a blog called LifeHack (not the same as lifehacker), and has a Technorati rank of 38! He focuses on helping people make their lives easier by using the web. We’re in Hong Kong’s central distract on the night of the blogger dinner.
I ask Leon three questions, hear how he responds by watching the embedded video above (Some feedreaders or emails won’t show this, so access the post directly)
1) With the flood of so many web 2.0 tools, how does one figure out which is right for them?
2) Email is broken. How do we manage the overflow?
3) Instant messaging, is it a productivity tool or waste of time?
If you’ve any questions for Leon, cruise over to his blog and fire away!
Dave tells us about the growing phenomenon known as Facebook, have you heard of it? It’s taking hold here in Hong Kong I’m finding out, the registered users doubled in two weeks from 50,000 to 100,000 registered users.
The Master of 500 hats has a conference hat, as he’s putting on this upcoming Facebook conference called Graphing Social. Dave was one of the major coordinators for the Web 2.0 expo, so I’m sure he’ll pull this one off with ease, I like his diverse speaker roster. I’ll be out of town, but would attend if possible. Are you planning to go
Anna Farmery produces an ongoing podcast of note, the Engaging Brand. She interviews me for episode 109, and we talk about measurement in the new world. You’ll learn: What are the new attributes, how has measurement changed, and we’ll provide some specific steps to moving forward.
Jeremiah Owyang, the web strategist, talks about how to engage people on the web, how/why to measure engagement and also how communication is changing in the business world.
I did a quick video interview (hear what he says about Facebook) with Aaron at the plush St Regis hotel at Office 2.0, if you can’t see the video (feedreader or email) go directly to this post.
If you haven’t noticed, I’m doing these short 2 minute interviews with interesting folks I run into. I keep the format fast and try to respect your time. I find that video is such a great way to see the human side of folks, and it’s so easy to do with my digital camera. Leave a comment a comment if you’ve any thoughts.
I ask Mark what the thinks of the industry, find out what TechCrunch says to these questions:
A summary of who’s who in the White Label Social Network
Who’s the Underdog we should watch for?
What companies are over-hyped?
Thanks Mark, we look forward to more of your coverage of the space. If you like these mini interviews I do with technologists, let me know, give me your feedback.
Eric Eldon of VentureBeat was one of those kind souls to reach out to me and interview me during this transition period, he’s one of those star reporters that folks like me want to talk to . He invited me for coffee in downtown Palo Alto, where we discussed the future of the tech industry, web, and that insane blogosphere I call home.
It’s pretty funny that the cafe he chose has to have “Free Wifi”, (see video) we’re a wired generation. Eric’s a smart guy, as a graduate of Stanford, he’s one of the most up and coming journalists in the Silicon Valley area, so you best get to know him. In the interview, I asked him about which company to watch for, watch the video above to find out what he says (and you’ll also want to know the story about his unique laptop).
Update: Since this video was taken, Eric interviewed me over the phone and has published this article. What’s the best thing about ’social’ media? The fact that I get to turn the camera on reporters, and ask questions about them, many reporters get to meet so many interesting folks, they have more insight than the subjects they follow.
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