Digital Hive

The Age of Conversation is Now! (Well, Monday...)

From conversation on a blog, to jokey sort of dream, to reality. Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton's brilliant Age of Conversation project launches on Monday, July 16th! The goal of bringing together 100 writers to opine on conversation in this "new" communication age was a crazy idea, but one that has come to fruition. Hey it's social + media under one cover!

You can be a part of The Age of Conversation by bringing home a copy. It's for the kids y'know! The book really is "for the kids" with 100% of the proceeds donated to Variety Children's Charity.

The history of this unique project is here. The book is dedicated to the late mother of friend, mentor and marketing goddess Christina Kerley.

Launch date: Monday, July 16, 2007
Prices: Hardback $29.99 Paperback $16.99 E-book $9.99

The authors span the globe from Australia to Italy, from Dubai to London and every corner of the United States. The authors are, well - writers, techno-geeks, marketers from industries as diverse as flooring to swanky bicycles, consultants, scholars, artists and people happy to share their journeys.

I'll update this post on Monday with a link so you can share in the knowledge and the giving (to the kids) and become a part of the Age of Conversation. Until then - you can get to know the authors at their websites:

Our hosts: Drew McLellan & Gavin Heaton

Blogger Paul McEnany, who introduced me to CK, who introduced me to Toby Bloomberg & Matt Dickman & Valeria Maltoni & David  Reich & C.B. Whittemore

Ryan Barrett works with me at Digitas.

This lot have become some of my favorite reads: David Armano(who designed the cover!) Greg Verdino Tim Jackson Lewis Green Cam Beck Roger von Oech Mack Collier Ann Handley Jessica Hagy Arun Rajagopal Luc Debaisieux Sean Howard Mike Sansone Anna Farmery Bob Glaza Mark Goren Scott Monty Richard Huntington Patrick Schaber Sacrum Roberta Rosenberg Emily Reed Katie Chatfield Uwe Hook Tony D. Clark Todd Andrlik Steve Woodruff Steve Bannister Steve Roesler Stanley Johnson Spike Jones Nathan Snell Simon Payn Ryan Rasmussen Ron Shevlin Roger Anderson Robert Hruzek Rishi Desai Phil Gerbyshak Peter Corbett Pete Deutschman Nick Rice Nick Wright Michael Morton Mark Earls Mark Blair Mario Vellandi Kristin Gorski Kris Hoet Kofi Annan Kimberly Dawn Wells Karl Long Julie Fleischer Jordan Behan John La Grou Joe Raasch Jim Kukral Janet Green Jamey Shiels Dr. Graham Hill Gia Facchini Geert Desager Gaurav Mishra Gary Schoeniger Gareth Kay Faris Yakob Emily Clasper Ed Cotton Dustin Jacobsen Tom Clifford David Polinchock David Koopmans David Brazeal David Berkowitz Carolyn Manning Craig Wilson Cord Silverstein Connie Reece Colin McKay Chris Corrigan Cedric Giorgi Brian Reich Becky Carroll Andy Nulman Amy Jussel Kim Klaver Sandy Renshaw Susan Bird Troy Worman S. Neil Vineberg Chris Newlan & AJ James.

I am so fortunate to be included in this talented, giving and smart group of writers. I'm guessing they're forgiving enough let me slide at my other space, Moda di Magno.

See you on Monday (when I shall return to my regularly scheduled iPhone updates!)

BlogHer Business Conference March 22 & 23

I'm so excited! I'm headed to BlogHer Business Conference in New York City March 22 & 23. There is a cocktail meet-up on Wednesday evening March 21st and I'm planning to hook up with the fabulous Toby Bloomberg of Diva Marketing Blog and Marketing Profs (and a featured panel moderator) and Christina Kerley (CK!) of Marketing Profs and the CK-Blog, Lewis Green of Marketing Profs and L&G Business Solutions, Valeria Maltoni of Conversation Agent and maybe some additional special guests.

I am massively, totally excited about this conference.  There are a number of interesting sessions scheduled over the two conference days. I'll report in during the event. Here are some of the questions that we'll be pondering in NYC in a couple of weeks:

Digital Life v. Real Life

Here's the question - is a balanced digital life and real life possible?

In homage to David Armano I give you the Digital Life v. Real Life chart created as I sat in my living room watching the Patriots not win on Sunday night.  This is my digital life v. my real life. Since this is my life, I'll start with Second Life.  I've only checked out Second Life - and that was in respsonse to Paul at Hee Haw Marketing who told me to check it out (you can see the actual instruction in the post comments.) I did enjoy coffee in Crayonville last thursday morning. I know I'm not the demographic for it, but I just don't know why I need a Second Life. Greg Verdino's post from yesterday cracked me up. His Marketing Profs take on Second Life was very interesting. (registration may be req'd)

I enjoy the blogging part of my digital life - my personal blog gives me great pleasure because I can do or say anything my withered, wicked little heart wants. I take a more measured approach here at The Digital Hive. Flickr became a natural extension of blogging including random views and comments.  I.E. Cute Overload stands for the few sites I visit weekly if not daily.  Dooce is a daily visit, Cute Overload is reserved for moments when nothing but fluffy kittens can cure your day. Please be advised, Cute Overload in non-emergent circumstances may give you diabetes.  What needs to be said about YouTube?  Another natural extension of blogging and a spot for vintage ad clips. Then there are the ad blogs.  Oh the ad blogs.  And look! More ad blogs.  And inappropriate ad blogs. And other ad blogs.  And then there's the whole commenting thing! This was a long way of saying my digital life is ruling my real life and I've got to find some balance.

By priority, the husband should be getting more time and attention - a lot more. I'm doing the "real work" now (this is only 1% of my day however.) The cats, the house, the yard and books are all getting about the same amoutn of time. Very little. The stack of "must reads" is higher than my night table and by the time I hit the sheets, I'm practically unable to lift a book - let alone read for comprehension. The friends are a bit trickier - they find a way to show up, call and find time to hang out, eat out and improve the quality of my life. The Red Sox, (pitchers and catchers report to Spring training in 27 days!) they will find a way into my life, playing as they do night after night. That leaves jewelry-making as odd man out lately. I love to make jewelry (and it did pay for my new storm windows last year!) but I find the laptop in my lap in front of the TV more than the design tray. And what about the gym, church and shoe shopping? What to do? Is balance possible? I'm looking for answers people, please comment on my life.

When Marketers Lie

This interesting post about Edelman's expanding Wal-Mart crisis from Mack Simpson of the Adverb blog calls up an age-old advertising problem: What do we do when we get caught pretending to be consumers?   The best lines from the post:

See Edelman not register the “Working Families for Wal-Mart” domain name.

See Edelman say, “oh crap.”

Word of mouth - literally

Jackie Huba of Church of the Customer has written a wonderful post about her recent experience with Invisalign - including the critical ingredient of the product experience provided by neither the brand nor her orthodonist: support from other Invisalign wearers going through the same painful process.

It's amazing to me how such an important part of the process of having your teeth realigned isn't being supplied by the product's brand, it's coming from the product's users.

Invisalign's CMO should definitely give its users a discount to reflect the tremendous value they are providing to each other (apparently without the company's involvement) - tips about how to endure the discomfort, support for sticking with a change process that can seem endless and without immediate reward.

I wonder if people would be as forthcoming with support on a brand-sponsored site; or if the brand would even allow people to call out the "dark side" of the product by offering suggestions for how to enhance it. This might be one of those situations where customers really do have to do it themselves to make it real.

User generated content: some clues about why they do it

Snaps to Greg Verdino for this one - he wrote a great post about a new answer to the question: why do people blog?

This cool PDF summarizes the findings - which vary considerably by individual. For a true appreciation of just how diverse the motivations of bloggers are you've got to read the whole thing.

I was interested in how many "pull" marketing applications are mentioned - blogging isn't just about "purshing" your message out via soapbox, it's a great way to run an idea up the flagpole for initial reaction, as well as stay in touch with customers (or "fans").

Appropriate that the survey was fielded via a blog, of course

Empathy. Experience. Curiosity.

The David Armano Experience rolled into Digitas Boston this morning bringing the good word about blogging. David brought his road show complete with PowerPoint and very cool (and copyrighted) charts and walked the room through blogging from concept to creation to overanalyzed potential for client marketing.

It was a treat to hear David illustrate his fantastic diagrams. Having the author “air quote” his Round World vs. Flat World chart was awesomely good. His thoughtful comments on 'Influence Ripples' resonated with a lot people and started a debate about blogs and comments that recently prompted clients to get in on the action. The room got a great chuckle out of David's description of a discussion that many marketers have had with their clients about "wanting a viral something" or "going viral".

We had company in the form of visitors Peter Kim from Forrester Research, the Boston Globe’s Maura Welch and Marketing Profs' Ann Handley. I'll be interested to check out their take on the session.

David moderated a spirited Q&A/comment session where everything from the value of corporate blogs and social networking to the current Technorati rank of Dooce and angry commenters. David made the time (an hour+) well spent. When the world tour comes to your town – get a seat early.

The full dog and pony show can be found HERE.

Me and David Armano in our Digitas-issued eyewear. A shame the cameraphone pic is awful as my hair looked totally cute this morning.

Congratulations! It's a.....

....Blog. Congrats to our NYC compadres who are now blogging up a storm from 26th and Park.

Digitas NY proudly launches Digitas Buzz - which covers emerging media & technologies, market trends, competitive trends, lots of cool relevant stuff today's digital marketer in the know will want to stay up to speed on.

Greg Verdino's posting is on the geospatial web. No, I'm not going to tell you what that is, you're going to have to read his awesome posting. So there.

Plus, there's this great photo of Greg. I wonder if he'll send us an autographed one. We'll post it, Greg!
Check out the site and let them know what you think.

Companies still not getting blogging

Sorry to go all geeky on you with such a data-heavy posting but I think it's kind of important. Click the visual at the left to view full size.

eMarketer (www.eMarketer.com) has reported on a poll about how companies are using blogs done by Harris Interactive (the poll was sponsored by Makovsky + Company).

Disturbing factoid #1: only 30% of senior executives report that they have a thorough understanding of the term "Internet blog." Disturbing factoid #2: 62% are somewhat or not at all convinced that blogging is gaining credibility as a communications medium.

Also, "marketing executives are more concerned about moderating/limiting what is being said on blogs, than taking an active approach and actually listen and learn from the voices around the Web."

Robbin Goodman of Makovsky + Company observes: "executives at top companies are slow to come to grips with recognizing [blogs'] importance in building a dialogue with customers and other stakeholders — including critics."

Net net: lots of marketers who have a professional obligation to "get it" don't get it when it comes to blogging. Sad for them, but great that it creates opportunities for the companies that do get it.

RSS: another nail in the coffin for 'interruption' advertising?

One hot topic on the web right now is how advertising might start to invade RSS feeds.  While its almost certainly happening, and will continue to happen, it should be noted that RSS is fundamentally suited to a "pull" not a "push" advertising model.

What do I mean by that?  Simply this: the old-fashioned advertising model involves interrupting what you are doing with a sales message of some sort.  In other words, you did not ask to see my ad, I just "pushed" it at you.  That message may or may not be relevant or engaging to you (it probably is'nt).  The quest to make it more relevant has typically been pursued by people in media departments, who try to ensure that they are buying media in the right places where people who would be receptive to a given message congregate.