The Conversation Age

Some exciting things are in the air.  This Sunday, BusinessWeek will be publishing a 1300+ word article I've written around the "Conversation Architect" mindset.  More of that to come on Sunday evening.  And in true conversation/co-creation fashion—Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton are spearheading a collaborative e-book effort titled "The Conversation Age".  I'll be contributing by designing both the cover as well as talking about "conversation architecture" and "the relationship renaissance". 

Some of the other contributers include:

• Gavin Heaton
• Drew McLellan
• CK
• Valeria Maltoni
• Emily Reed
• Katie Chatfield
• Mack Collier
• Lewis Green
• Sacrum
• Ann Handley
• Mike Sansone
• Paul McEnany
• Roger von Oech
• Anna Farmery
• David Armano
• Bob Glaza
• Mark Goren
• Matt Dickman
• Scott Monty
• Richard Huntington

But you can participate too (just e-mail Drew).  Here's some additional info:

"The Conversation Age", an e-book featuring submissions from 100 bloggers, all addressing the subject of "conversation" from different perspectives.  And in the spirit of community, the proceeds from the sale of the book will go to Variety International, a charity dedicated to helping children across the globe.  You can learn more about the project from Gavin and Drew, including how you can get involved with this exciting project.

Comments

[Lewis Green]

David,

Congratulations on your BusinessWeek article, and when it is published be sure provide us faithful readers a link so we can share in your brilliance. Happy Easter to you and yours.

[Valeria Maltoni]

DA:

This is a high compliment for me. Although I am using a common word like marketing, it seems, my brand is gaining in prestige. These days everyone is talking about conversation.

When I chose "Conversation Agent" as my brand 8 months ago, I considered that the word conversation was born in a similar sense with the Cluetrain Manifesto. Shel Israel and Robert Scoble then published the great book "Naked Conversations", focusing the talk on blogs.

There's Joe Jaffe with "Join the Conversation", a call to action we have been using with Fast Company (FC) magazine readers' network for 7+ years.

I borrowed the word in the way it was used by Alan Webber at FC Real Time events. That seems ages ago! And because when people are around me ideas and connections spark, the choice was inevitable.

As I wrote before here, you have been amazing at designing conversations. And by that I mean design = intent as well as emerging visionary; conversation as a space, which you have offered freely to readers and colleagues.

Let's continue the conversation.

[Karl]

congrats DA that is frikin awesome :-) Look who's a nobody now, remember that! Ebook sounds like a great idea as well, i've already emailed drew. very cool idea.

[Paul McEnany]

Dude, that is AWESOME! Business Week. Notch another mark on your MSM belt. :)

[Gavin Heaton]

Great news on the BW article DA. Looking forward to it! You are crossing over, my friend!

[DA]

Thanks guys. Well, you'll have to wait and see if the BW article is any good. And Valeria, you are the one and only Conversation Architect. Every time I see how you engage your readers—I am amazed.

[Bob Glaza]

Now I have a reason to check out Business Week - an article with promise, David -

[Greg Verdino]

Big congrats on bweek, d-man. And hey, the last two paragraphs of the post look familiar:-P have a good weekend. g

[Greg Verdino]

Big congrats on bweek, d-man. And hey, the last two paragraphs of the post look familiar:-P have a good weekend. g

[Scott Monty]

Nicely done, Armano. One of the things that strikes me about the conversation age is that it allows and invites participation at all levels. The whole 'A-list' debate aside, the process is a truly democratic one that rewards good thinking and the willingness tostep forward with ideas. Ultimately, it's about the people - the relationships we build along the way. This rings true for individuals and businesses alike, where trust is the currency of the Conversation Age.

The BW article is big news. I hope this won't put an end to our late-night Twitter icon morphing.

[DA]

@ Scott,

I'll be back into the icon morphing business soon! Last week was a tough one for me. The day job is way more demanding that anything I do here and I gotta take care of the family too—so sometimes I take breaks from the technology.

[Yulia]

Where can I buy this book? I want to be the 1st to read it!

[Drew]

Hey David,
I recently discovered your blog and the whole Conversation Economy concept. I've tried my hand at understanding it with a little diagram of my own (not as entertaining as yours of course). But I'd like to get your input on whether I'm hitting the mark or if there are other factors I'm not taking into consideration.
http://blog.iamparagon.com/archives/79#more-79

Oh and I hope you feel better soon.

[Whitney Hess]

I just finished reading The Cluetrain Manifesto and I immediately thought of you and this post. Looks like someone already beat me to it.

If you haven't read the book, you should. It's all about how the Internet has forced marketing to be about conversations instead of messages.

Congrats on the article!