Is That A Phone In Your Pocket, Or Are You Just Enjoying 140conf?

The state of NOW, not later, was the focus of Jeff Pulver's inspiring Los Angeles edition of his 140conf. While the inaugural 140conf in New York this summer was very clearly inspired by Twitter and the character limit of a tweet, in Hollywood the spirit of the conference was more clearly about the character of the 140 characters who took the stage over the two days. The famed Kodak Theatre was the home to 140 speakers that ranged from comedians to cancer patients, from homeless to household names, from business leaders to folks trying to give us the business. Those in attendance laughed, cried, and more importantly, connected, and brought their online lives into a real time environment. It was a thought provoking, invigorating, inspiring event, as evidenced by the continued conversation on Twitter.

My own small contribution to the event was called "Is That A Phone In Your Pocket, Or Are You Just Enjoying The Show?" in which I tried to highlight both the benefits, and some of the downsides to our always on, always connected lives, thanks to our ever-present mobile devices. In a nutshell, while it is truly amazing to have instant access to our Facebook friends, our Twitter stream and virtually all of the information on the Internet in the palms of our hands, we too often "tune out" to tune in to our phones. In the end, we should make sure our constant access to "real time" information doesn't ruin our "real time" engaging with the people around us. What do you think?

Here is my short presentation, and thanks again to Jeff for welcoming me as a character at 140conf LA.

Posted via email from Kiss My SASS!

A Picture Is Worth 140 Characters

The Twitter Economy is booming. With thousands of apps, hundreds of books, dozens of conferences and seemingly billions of self-proclaimed experts and gurus there is no shortage of information flowing about the particulars of Twitter and the inherent value of so called "micro-blogging" and "real-time communications."

Getting Real

One of the personalities at the forefront of exploring real-time and the "state of now" is my friend Jeff Pulver, among other things, the founder of the groundbreaking "140Conf" which has for many, changed the way business conferences can be approached. With a wide range of speakers (more than 100 in two days) a tremendous variety of expertise, points of view and topics will be covered, all tied together with the underlying theme of how Twitter, Real Time Communications and Social Media have created a "state of Now" that is changing the world of media, information, advertising, entertainment, charity (and perhaps more). In his own words, Jeff likens the mood and energy of 140Conf as a concert-like event:

... the #140conf event series really represents what can be best characterized as “Tech Concerts”, especially since the people who are speaking are the rock stars of their respective industry segments and in some cases really are Rock stars. The #140conf events are taking place in venues where concerts happen on a regular basis. And at the end of the day as the event creator, co-host and producer, I am trying my best to provide great days of end-to-end entertainment and engaging discussions.

I was honored to be a part of the "original" 140Conf this summer in NY and I am looking forward to being a "Character" again at the first Los Angeles 140Conf this Tuesday and Wednesday at the famed Kodak Theater.

EnVIZualize The Event!

If you want a quick, colorful and brilliantly executed look at the original #140Conf, the talented Jonny Goldstein has just published a free eBook of his delightful visualizations of the speakers and panels from the NY 140conf. The picture above is Jonny's rendition of my own presentation, "Everything I Know About Twitter I Learned In Grade School." Jonny has a real talent for capturing the essence of a discussion in single, creative image, and his eBook of 140Conf is filled with the entertaining and thought provoking highlights of the inaugural 140Conf event. You can download Jonny's book here (and I strongly encourage you to do so!). His pictures are worth way more than 140 characters or even 1,000 words, and we are fortunate he is making it so easy to share them.

If you will be at 140Conf in LA I hope to say hello. You can get more information about attending here.

Disclosure: As mentioned, Jeff Pulver is a friend, so I am biased and delighted to enthusiastically support everything he sets out to do! I am attending 140Conf LA as a "Character" and guest. Also, the link to the word "books" above is an Amazon affiliate link. So far I haven't even paid for a cup of coffee as an Amazon affiliate, but I like coffee so I will keep trying!

Posted via email from Kiss My SASS!

Everything I Know About Twitter I Learned In Grade School

I am proud to call Jeff Pulver a friend, and as a friend, I am very proud of Jeff for the incredible 140 Characters Conference he put on at the New World Stages in New York City on June 16th and 17th. A standing room crowd witnessed a parade of 140 impassioned speakers and panelists, ranging from seasoned broadcasters such as Ann Curry to globally famous musicians such as Wyclef Jean, to internet and blogging rockstar regulars such as Chris Brogan, iJustine and Gary Vaynerchuk. It was a motley medley of thought provoking panels and presentations, and while Twitter and micro-blogging may have been the impetus for the event, the resulting discourse went much deeper than one would expect from 140 characters. As Jeff himself explains, the conference really was about "exploring the state of Now." Even if you were not in New York on June 16th and 17th you can now explore the state of now and all the content from the inaugural 140 Characters Conference as Jeff will be re-broadcasting video of the entire event on June 29th and June 30th right here.

My own contribution as a character in the conference was a short presentation I called "Everything I Know About Twitter I Learned In Grade School!" In short, in Twitter, as in Grade School, there are certain basic things that will help you to be successful:

• Give the Teacher an apple! (give of yourself)
• Hang out with the cool kids, and make friends with them...
• Listen!
• Share!
• Raise your hand in class and participate!
• Don't be a tattletale!
• Do your homework!
• Show up! (attendance counts!)

Do the above and you too can go to the head of the class and be a successful Twittizen!

The video of my entire presentation is embedded below. I'd love to hear what you think of it in the comments. Now, class dismissed!

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The Road Warrior

So far this year I have had a crazy travel schedule, and thus I have not been contributing to Sassholes! as much as I would like. Over the past few months I have been to Las Vegas, New York (twice), Connecticut, Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Portland, Los Angeles, Austin, Houston and next week I will be back in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Along the way I have had some great meetings, met with some great friends and shared some great times. Here is a quick Animoto video with some pictures I have taken along the way. You might spot some folks you recognize including Chris Brogan, Jeff Pulver, Chris Heuer, Alex Harris, Alex DeCarvalho, Pete Cashmore, Joseph Jaffe, Greg Verdino and Akon! Enjoy.

Jungle Fever (Social Media Style)

Based on the success of his first Social Media Jungle held in November, Jeff Pulver is bringing his one-day Social Media Jungle to the 2009 International CES (Consumer Electronics Show). With a bigger venue comes a bigger agenda, and for the January 7th event Jeff has assembled a stellar group of discussion leaders. I am very pleased to be able to participate again and look forward to leading a discussion of how businesses can "Turn Their Social Media Addicts Into Assets!"

Here is how Jeff describes Social Media Jungle CES (and you can see the full schedule here):

"The Social Media Jungle at the 2009 International CES brings to light how the advent of social media is changing the way we work and live. Sessions include state-of-the-industry updates and a candid look at how social media disrupts the workplace by empowering companies to lower burn rates. Plus, learn how companies can motivate consumers through social media to drive product sales without increasing costs."

This will be a pretty intense day of conversations and a great day to catch up with some of the people involved in the social media industry.

Everyone in the room will have the assumed role of discussant and will be counted on to contribute to the conversation.

If you are planning to be in Las Vegas for CES we hope you will also be able to expand your expedition to include participating in the Social Media Jungle.

Registration costs: US$ 295 / 395.

To register - visit: CES Registration page

View this event on the CES website.

Photo Credit: © HenningManninga - Fotolia.com

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Learn Baby Learn: Turn Your Social Media Addiction Into An Asset

They say it is a jungle out there, but this past week the jungle was in Melville, NY. Specifically, Jeff Pulver's first ever Social Media Jungle was held on November 13th, and I was fortunate to be one of the 50 or so participants and one of the 15 discussion leaders. I am careful to say "participants" rather than "attendees" as this event was unlike a typical conference. Everyone in the room actively contributed to the discussions inspired by each presentation. The day was thick with rich content and thought provoking questions and answers. I am honored to have shared the floor with the other presenters including Jeff Pulver, Chris Brogan, Jeremy Epstein, Leslie Poston, Howard Greenstein & Dean Landsman, Nelly Yusupova, Brett Petersel & Oz Sultan, Steve Lubetkin, Jonathan Yarmis, Ben Grossman, Jamie Thompson, and Justin Oberman. Kudos to Jeff for organizing a very special event, and congrats to Jeff for already landing a commitment to hold a second Social Media Jungle event at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2009!

LEARN BABY LEARN

As someone who is arguably addicted to Social Media, in my presentation I tried to give a real world example of how I use my Social Media addiction (specifically to Twitter) as an asset to the benefit of the company where I work, Myxer. I break the essence of using Social Media for Business into 5 key actions represented by the word L E A R N.

L: Listen. Social Media provides you with the tools to be the ultimate eavesdropper and be a fly on the wall to virtually thousands of conversations. What should you listen for? Your name, your company, your product, your industry.

E: Engage. Social Media provides you with the tools not just to listen, but to easily step into a conversation and engage with strangers. With that in mind, you must be REAL and be OPEN.

A: Accept. Now that you have listened and engaged, you need to accept what is being said about you, your brand, your company, your product. Take the feedback to heart because to the world at large, their perception is their reality, whether you agree with it or not.

R: React. What you do next is important. Are you going to be defensive or helpful? Remember, just as you started your Social Media exchange as a fly on the wall, there are others now listening to you, and seeing how you engage with your "followers."

N: Nurture. Social Media is all about relationship building. That first random encounter can, over time, become a valuable and rewarding relationship. Nurture your Social Media connections and you will build an army of evangelists for you, your brand, your product, your company, etc.

Thanks to Sanford Dickert, you can see a video of the entire presentation below. I have also posted the slides on Slideshare.

How have you turned your Social Media Addiction into an asset? Please share your view in the comments.



Blocks Photo Credit: Heath Doman - Fotolia.com

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It's A (Social Media) Jungle Out There!

This morning I had the pleasure of shooting the breeze over bagels with Jeff Pulver. Among many other accomplishments, Jeff has recently made a name for himself as the host of more than 30 breakfasts in 17 cities around the world this year. Although he has thousands of followers on Social Networks such as Facebook and Twitter, Jeff has cleverly brought the engagement and interactivity of "tagging," "poking" and "writing on one's wall" to the off-line "real" world at his live breakfast events.

Today it was just us Jeffs so we dispensed with the need for name tags (especially since they both would have said "Jeff") and we dove right into a healthy discussion about life, liberty and the pursuit of social media happiness.

Jeff is planning his first "SOCIAL MEDIA JUNGLE" event in Melville, Long Island in November and I asked him to talk a little about why it is a jungle out there and how his events can help us on our own expeditions.



What do you think? Do you need to be Tarzan to succeed in the Social Media Jungle?

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Social Media Is NOT An Industry

I've been making a concerted effort to leave more comments on the blogs I read, and recently I commented on a post called "The Future of Social Media: Hope Or Hype?" at Jason Falls' great Social Media Explorer blog. My comment touched on some discussions I recently had at a breakfast with Jeff Pulver, where we were discussing different real world applications of "Social Media."

HYPE, HYPNOTISM OR HYPERBOLE?

Social Media is fun and addicting, so it is no surprise that the active participants love to talk about it, examine it, analyze it and obsess over it. Hell, here I am writing about it. Guilty as charged! But what is Social Media? As I wrote in my response to Jason:

Hi Jason. Great post. I think the reason this Hype question even exists is that "Social Media" is really NOT a standalone industry or sector, even though many folks are trying to position it as such. IMHO Social Media is not an industry.

Well, if it is not an "industry" what is it? I continued:

Social Media really refers to a set of technology driven tools and services that simply allow us to do what we have always been doing -- interacting and engaging with friends, family, associates and customers -- but with Social Media we can do it in a much more efficient, easy, cost-effective and far reaching way. Faxes were better than snail mail, and email is better than faxes, but they all enable us to communicate and exchange messages with others. Social media is like that on steroids, making it almost ridiculously simple to engage with an almost unlimited number of folks, removing all barriers of time, cost and place. Social Media provides the ability to listen and engage faster and better than ever before, and EVERY industry can use the tools and services... not to be a part of Social Media, but to leverage Social Media as a part of what they are already doing, to do it better!

Clearly, I believe there are tremendous personal and professional benefits to using Social Media, but the key is not as much being "active in Social Media" but rather, how can you make Social Media become a part of your activities.

What's your take? Is Social Media an Industry? Please add your thoughts to the comments, and if you like reading this blog, please subscribe by email or RSS.

Photo Credit: Paul Hill - Fotolia.com

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All The World IS A Stage!

When William Shakespeare (or Sir Francis Bacon, if you prefer) wrote the words, "All the world's a stage..." I doubt he imagined just how prescient a statement that would be. Whereas the Bard and his Troupe would have to venture from Stratford-upon-Avon to broaden their performance reach, today one need only post to the Internet and indeed, all the world IS a stage!

CASTING A WIDE "NET"

For years I have given public presentations for business and for fun. The fun part has always been presenting to students, whether it was a classroom full of my own kids' peers at "Career Day" or whether it is at the University of Miami Business School where I have been a volunteer guest speaker in the "Starting New Ventures" class for the past four years, I have always enjoyed speaking in front of small groups of 25 - 100 or so folks. Today, there is no reason to limit your presentations to the lucky few who get to see you live. Today there are no shortages of ways to record and share your live event (look what Laura Fitton is doing with MediaCasters.TV and Jeff Pulver with his Pulver.TV to interactively extend live events beyond the span of those in physical attendance). These are exciting times that would likely bedazzle even the Bard himself!

I recently presented at the University of Miami on a Social Media For Business panel with Alex De Carvalho and Carlos Granier-Phelps that was hosted by the MIT Enterprise Forum. There were about 50 students, alumni and others in attendance, all of whom had paid $25 for the evening (including drinks and hor d'oeuvres - a good thing since my presentations ALWAYS seem better after the audience has had a few drinks - ok, not so much at the elementary school "Career Day.")

SLIDESHARE AND SHARE ALIKE

A few days after the MIT event, the presentation came up in a Twitter conversation and Francine Hardaway asked me if I had posted my presentation to Slideshare. While I had heard of Slideshare, I had never really checked it out. I told Francine I would post my slides, and I did. (I had to jigger with it a bit to add links for the embedded videos and record a narration to fill in the gaps from my "live" presentation, but it wasn't too much trouble). Within hours, the presentation that I had given to an audience of 50 had been seen by more than a few hundred, and the number of views and downloads continues to grow.

What a great concept! Why limit your thoughts and views to the circle around you? Why not share your slides, and thus your thoughts and ideas, with anyone and everyone who may take an interest. Slideshare is full of wonderful, intriguing and inspiring personal and professional presentations on just about any imaginable topic. Not only is it a great way to ensure that all the world is your stage, but it is a great resource for information, ideas and inspiration when it is your turn to get up in front of a crowd.

I intend to continue to post any presentations I give, and encourage you to do the same. In fact, if you have used Slideshare before, tell us about it and give the link to your presentation in the comments below!

Here is the presentation I prepared for the MIT Enterprise Forum:

| View | Upload your own

"Stage" Photo Credit: Boguslaw Mazur - Fotolia.com

Update: The person we hired using the "Work's A Beach"Recruitment Video in the presentation is J.C. Hutchins. You can read about how he got his job from Twitter here.

Facebook Is Viral Viagra

The infamous blue pill may get things going in the bedroom, but if you want to get things going in Cyberspace it seems all you need is to get some Facetime on Facebook!

I am an avid Twitterer and a good Twitizen, but I don't get too many @sass or D sass messages. I have had a personal blog since 2004, but I rarely get even 1 comment on my posts, despite toiling over every witty and pithy sentence (at least in my mind they are witty and pithy). Yet I put a video on my Facebook profile and lo and behold, I am suddenly "viral." Granted, I put some work into the video production and I "tagged" Chris Brogan, which gave me a jump start with his active following. And now Jeff Pulver was kind enough to link to my video from his well read blog. That said, as I watch the comments grow and add many new found Facebook Friends, I can see just how well the "virality" (that's viral vitality) is built into the Facebook platform... and it really does work. When someone comments on my video it appears in their profile and news feed for all of their friends to be exposed to. If one of their friends then comments, it goes out to their circle... and on and on and on.

In many respects, this is the power of a "closed system" as opposed to the "open" Internet at large. For a "regular guy with a regular blog" like me, posting on this blog is like putting a message in a bottle, tossing it out to sea, and hoping it will drift to shore where someone may notice it and respond. Posting on Facebook is like going around your neighborhood and sticking a flyer in everyone's mailbox. The flyer in the mailbox is much more likely to be read than the message in the bottle!

Thankfully, I am not yet in need of a "virility" boost from the little blue pill, but I will happily enjoy the "virality" boost I have gotten from Facebook!

UPDATE:
(For those of you not in my neighborhood on Facebook, here is the aforementioned video)