Logic+Emotion

Do You Know Who You're Talking To?

Imagine someone comes up to you at a cocktail party. And they're wearing a mask—while everyone else isn't. You don't know much about that person because they're not really telling you a great deal about themselves. How much would you tell them about yourself in return? How much would you trust them? How much do you really know about them?  Yet online, we can be anyone we want to be. A fictional character, a caricature or invented identity. We can be anonymous—say whatever we want about virtually anyone. We're empowered to be whoever we want whenever we want to. The digital pen is indeed mightier than the sword.

The question is—(and it's not a question I hear asked often enough), do you really know who you're talking to?  On any network—take your pick, what do you really know about them? How big is their digital footprint? Can you Google them easily? Do their lifestreams sync up? Are they really who they say they are? Do you take the same precautions on the Web that you tell your children?

Do you really know who you're talking to?

It's not their responsibility to be transparent—that's the beauty of the Web and part of it's power. Anyone can have a say. It's up to you to do the digging—to know who's on the other end of the screen. Are they the real thing or something else—are they who they say they are? Is it clear that it's a character or person? Where is that line and how much should it blur? One thing that I've often said about the increasingly social Web, is that not unlike society—it's a representation of humanity at it's best and worst. That's just how it is. It's a full contact sport. And if you are a business, brand or individual who wants to play in this space—don't play the game if you're not willing to take a hit.

That said, as you wade into the waters of conversation. You should really ask yourself this simple question. Do you know who you're talking to?

Help Wanted: Social Media Director For Global Athletic Brand

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you've probably noticed that I've taken an unusual amount of trips to Amsterdam. So here's the deal. Early last summer, Critical Mass, the company I work for began planning, building and pitching a whole new kind of model for an agency that would partner with adidas in the digital space.  Remember all that brand as facilitator stuff I talked about? That was all strategy work done for the new business initiative.

And It worked. We beat out some top creative shops and big networks to win the adidas assignment, and are now in the process of bringing this model to life. The agency is called RIOT and combines a multidisciplinary team of folks from 180 and Critical Mass  and we are now in the trenches of conceiving and designing digital led programs which combine paid and earned media as well as partnerships.

To keep this post simple, I am helping to build a small and agile team which will be led by a Social Media Director, and this is the spot I am looking to fill. The "SMD" will lead a team will focusing on the "earned" space, meaning they will need to have extensive knowledge of the dynamics behind communities, forums, blogging and micro-blogging. This is an opportunity to help bring a global iconic brand into new areas of the digital landscape. Here's a snippet from the job description which I wrote:

"The Social Media Director is part strategist, part director, part sports enthusiast and will lead a team of seeders and conversationalists who will actively participate in various forms of social media on behalf of RIOT’s adidas client. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to help move a premium youth brand forward using non-conventional tactics that includes producing niche content, interviewing athletes, engaging fans in communities and architecting social programs that will create followers, fans, friends and builds relationships. The Social Media Director will act as a liaison between our Marketing Science group taking key insights from data such as buzz metrics and using this as the starting point for all social strategies. The Social Media Director will also work with a strategist in the United States and coordinate activities between the social media and creative teams.

The Social Media Director must have hands on experience in blogging, community, forums combining this with a passion for sports. The ideal candidate has already launched social initiatives either themselves or on behalf of an organization or client. The SMD must also be comfortable leading and managing a team of passionate individuals with deep knowledge of community dynamics/social media, and networks both in and outside of RIOT’s walls.

Responsibilities:
•Perform high-level industry-specific research de-constructing relevant case studies and uncovering insights.
•Hire and manage a 2-3 person team dedicated to all “non-paid” social media activities.
•Coordinate with lead strategist, marketing science, media and creative to architect and direct the execution of all social media initiatives.
•Coordinate direct and lead the daily production of content.
•Actively participate in client meetings, lead the presentation of social media strategies and tactics.
•Lead, manage and mentor the social media team of seeders/conversationalists.
•Draft briefs based off of findings from marketing science and industry observations.
•Educate and inspire teams in external disciplines.
•Draft participation guidelines for the brand’s engagement in social networks.
•Contribute to account planning with the Business Unit Managing Director.
•Challenge both client and teams in the pursuit of appropriate and effective uses of social media.
•Ensure deadlines are met – both internally and externally.
•Be strategic when identifying project deliverables, think before designing, support the project goals, support the business goals and determine overall design strategy."

The position requires re-location in Amsterdam, which I have to say is a pretty cool town. Interested? Send me a note at davida(at)criticalmass.com. I am helping to screen and we are only considering highly qualified candidates. Please include resume and samples.

And/or please pass this on to someone who you think is the right fit. This is a great and rare opportunity to evolve marketing/communications as we know it.

Tapping Twitter's Viral Nature

At first glance, this looks like another ego list—something many folks who are involved in the social space will tell you to ignore. What I see here isn't really a list—it's simply an updated artifact that illustrates one facet of a current intennet phenomenon called the "retweet", Twitter's version of viral activity.

Why You Should Care About Retweets
If you are a small, medium or large business/brand looking to figure out how to engage in networks—understanding the art of the retweet is something I think you should take seriously. As I look down this list, I see common denominators that are very telling about the intricacies of social media. For example, Guy Kawasaki scours his Alltop headlines looking for high quality links to content. These are seen as a "service" on the network and are rewarded with retweets. In return, Guy's footprint, influence and business model in this space continue to grow.  Mashable, a niche Web 2.0 publication follows a similar model and reaps similar rewards. What's worth noticing here is for Mashable!, the Twitter profile becomes less about the individual behind it (Pete Cashmore) and more about the brand he founded. Again, value and service are themes n both. 

What People Are Talking About
Retweets also provides an insight not only to what people are talking about (there are a number of ways you can track popular topics in the Twitter network includiung search.twitter.com but tracking retweets around a topic or user will also tell you something about the popularity of that topic (see @inaug above).

Why Brands Should Care About This
Brands need to understand every nook and cranny about how and why things "go viral" in and out of every network. The most common mistake brands make is producing a piece of content an calling it "viral" before it ever actually is worthy of this claim.  Most never even get close. Studying the people, organizations and brands that regularly get talked about can help us understand the social nuances of each network and what acts as currency in these. Many markerters are looking for a quick fix as opposed to "going deep" and realy studying how these networks function.

Sociology and marketing are on a collision course.

So make efforts to understand why people do things like "retweeting"—what's in it for them and for the individuals and organizations that have figured out how to tap the viral nature of any network. One of the reasons I'm continuing to look at the retweet is because I've witnessed it's power first hand and have seen how it's NOT contained to one network but connects several. And I'm less concerned about adding a "tweet this" button to everything I do as much as I am to providing a valuable service.

Thinking Visually

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: synthesis storytelling)

Next Thursday I'll be giving a talk MG Fest (Motion Graphic Festival) in Chicago. It's a great opportunity to talk about one of my true passions, using visuals in the thinking and communicating process. The talk will be a 20 minute "Ted style" presentation (which is why the number of slides is under 25).  Below is how I've framed it:

"Effective communication is everyone’s job—whether you are trying to sell in a concept or convince a client. Visual Thinking can help us take in complex information and synthesize it into something meaningful. In an increasingly fragmented and cluttered world, simple imagery, metaphors and mindmaps can get people to understand the abstract and make your ideas tangible. Find out why why thinking visually may be one of the most sought after abilities of the 21st century."

Though I do quite a bit of talking/writing etc. about the intersection of marketing, design and technology—I really enjoy the process of thinking visually. Chances are, it's why you started reading this blog in the first place. If you are new here, you can browse a fairly comprehensive collection of my own "brand" of visual thinking which I've created over the past 3 years. The presentation reflects my own process as opposed to the "right way" to think visually. So if you like what I do, at a high level, the presentation actually outlines HOW I do it.

Do you have a functioning brain and at least one working eye?  Then you can do it too. If you are really willing to work at it, and not give up.  I still have a few days before the presentation so if you have feedback, feel free to leave a comment here and I'll take a look.

Behavior Change Is The New Game Change

As Steve Jobs takes time of to deal with health issues (Steve, you are in our thoughts). I can't help but think about his influence over the years and probably decades to come. But wait, talking about influence can get us talking in circles—and we already know how Apple has produced game changing products and services such as iTunes.

But there's another way to look at this in even more simpler terms. Steve Jobs has changed my behavior. There are so many examples I can cite, from how I digest media, to watching movies on the small screen during travel to using a mobile device in ways most of us would have never predicted.

But one thing I noticed about my own personal behavior over the past year or so—is how I treat my "phone". Before iPhone (BI), I was constantly dropping whatever smart phone I had. They were usually too big and cumbersome to keep in my pocket and so they were often times misplaced, dropped, forgotten about and sometimes even lost. Once I got an iPhone, I immediately noticed a change in my behavior (besides all the different ways I use it), I began to care for a device like I had never cared for one before. I babied it, kept it by me at all times and cleaned its screen regularly. Steve Jobs and his merry band of desingers, engineers and marketers had given me not only a product, but practically a new member of the family.  In fact, I have only dropped my iPhone once and I still feel badly about it.

That's a serious shift in behavior (at least for me). That's significant.

Right now, we are all in the same boat. Trying to get people to listen to us, to use our products—to talk about them, to evangelize on our behalf. Whether it's the organizations we work for, our own personal brands or businesses or the services we sell. We are trying to compete as best we know how. We're al after the next "game changer", but in reality it's behaviors that we are trying to influence. It's a good time to think about this from another perspective. Ask yourself "can I change someone's behavior"? Even if it were only one person?  That one person could tell ten. And they could tell 20 and before you know it, thousands of people are doing things a little differently.

I never thought I'd stop dropping or losing my phone. Turns out, Steve Jobs and Apple got me to change my ways.

Alliances

You've watched the television show "Survivor" right? Even if you haven't—here's a theme you will be intimately familiar with. If you pay attention to human behavior that is.  In every single episode, alliances are made between participants. Sometimes these alliances are formal—sometimes informal. Sometimes they are public. Sometimes private. Sometimes they are genuine and last well after the show is over. Other times they are contrived—designed for mutual benefit. In every single show, there is some type form of alliance at play. Sometimes they work—other times they backfire.

Here's the thing you need to know about alliances. It's a tricky game, but one you sometimes have to play. The best way to play it in my opinion—looks something like a friendship. Which means, it's messy imperfect and flawed. But it also means that it might be there at the exact time you need it. Alliances formed around a friendship often means "I've got your back".

And let me tell you, this is one of the most valuable forms of currency on the social Web today. A Web where word of mouth travels at light speed—where reputation means everything. A Web woven of individuals, by individuals which often times results in a collective movement for better and for worse. I stress the word AND, because there is no OR. We've gone past the point of no return and the power enabled by people and technology will be both wonderful and terrible in the same breath.

Alliances are critical. Or you could call it having "friends". But alliances can go both deep and broad. There are people who I've met on the Web and in real life who I've formed alliances with. Mostly organic. Many are friends. But it's a different kind of friendship when I think of the people who I grew up with and still stay close to. Not better or worse—but different.

I'm not sure what the impact for business and brands are regarding alliances. If a brand is a promise as some have said, then it's related to the idea of an alliance. An alliance is like a pact—and if a pact is broken, so goes the alliance. Timely thoughts as our core conversation for SXSW approaches "Friendship is Dead". Maybe friendship these days looks more like an alliance and vice-versa. Either way, in order to to survive in this rough and tumble digital jungle, you'll need both.

People, Places + Events

Here's a brief overview of where I'll be in the coming weeks/months. If you plan on attending any of these events, please let me know so we can meet.

1/22/09 // Chicago
Motion Graphics Festival Chicago
I'll kicking off the festival with a talk on Thinking Visually
BlogWell
I'll be live-twittering my head off in the afternoon listening to case studies from Home Depot, Mayo Clinic, H&R Block, Sharpie, US Coast Guard, Allstate, Walmart, Procter & Gamble.
Chicago Social Media Club
I'll be talking about personal branding in a digital age.
(yes, these are all the same day, kill me now)

2/27/09 // Chicago
Loyola University
I'll be attending Oakner day at the University speaking with students

3/09/09 // New York
Parsons "At The Edge" Innovation Lecture Series
I'll be joining forces with BusinessWeek's Bruce Nussbaum, giving a talk to his innovation class at Parsons School of Design

3/14-17th // Austin
South By Southwest Interactive (SXSW)
I'll be joining Russ Unger to discuss, debate and deliberate the meaning of friendship in our core conversation titled "Friendship is Dead".

3/30-31 // Paris
Marketing 2.0
I will be talking about Micro-Interactions alongside folks like Scott Monty of Ford, Martina Zavagno of Nike, Paula Berg of Southwest Airlines and Conny Kalcher of Lego.

4/27 // Minneapolis
Future of Advertising Series
I have no idea what I'll be talking about at the College of Art and Design. Got any suggestions?

I've got a few other events I'm working out the details on, but these are definites. Please let me know if you would like to meet. If you'd like to have me speak at an event, contact me here.

Priceline's Rapid Response Prevents A Groundswell

What you are looking at is a small sample of conversations that were happening on Twitter just hours ago. Cat Zwicker-Grant, who works in the Real Estate business also writes a blog. On her blog, she recently wrote on behalf of her friend who could not get a refund from Priceline. The circumstances though were understandable. Cat's friend had a baby who suffered from severe burns and could not travel. But Priceline wouldn't budge. Here's what happened next in Cat's own words.

"I opened Aaron’s email around 12:00PM PST I posted a Blog on Google describing the events and then sent a Tweet Blast around 2 if my tweets are logging PST, which is possible as I have no sense of time.  Then I specifically re-tweeted to people with larger follows to help make sure I was heard. Aaron called me at 4 PM PST which is 7 in North Carolina and said that,  “Priceline had called about an hour ago and offered to refund the money!”

Before you go crediting "social media" to this, know that Priceline had acknowledged several phonecalls from all different parts of the country. No doubt, this was tied to spark that Cat was just getting started on.  Cat has a modest following on Twitter, with 148 followers.  What's not modest about her is her smarts. She immediately started reaching out to people with significant influence and even MORE importantly, people who would take ACTION, like a simple phone call.

Priceline may have stopped a negative groundswell against them, before it ever had a chance. The retweets (twitter's own version of "viral") were already starting. The ripples were just being formed. Now what we don't know is if Priceline was listening—saw her blog post (with a moving image of the baby) or started to see the action happen on twitter but we do know that they made a decision that humanized the company.  It's quite possible that Priceline saved themselves from a social media headache before most of us even knew abvout it.  Whether it was because of the phone calls or tiny ripples forming, Priceline deserves credit for being a company that cares. Which isn't easy in this economy. Kudos to you Priceline!

Neighbors of Daniela

As I write this on a Sunday evening, I realize that it's been an exhausting week. We've been adjusting to living with our new guests, and to be honest with you—I've had to switch gears into practically a PR machine (which I have no training in). Before I go any further, I want to point you to a new "digital home" we've designed to provide updates from this point on. Called "Neighbors of Daniela" if you want to follow our story as it unfolds, please go here. I also created #Daniela on Twitter after the first few hours of the experience unfolded so you can track all kinds of perspectives here.

On that note, there are all kinds of attention being drawn to this including criticism. To say I knew what I was getting into would be inaccurate. My initial concerns were for the safety of my own family, not what the pundits have to say about this. So what I'd like you to know is that we've had a very emotional week—and are first and foremost grateful that WE ARE NOT ALONE in trying to help a family that needs it. I am not a fundraiser. I'm a dad, husband and full time employee—and an imperfect one at all three. Belinda and I decided not to sit this one out. It's really that simple. You will have to make up your own minds as to the rest.

Next, I'd like you to know that we are fully aware of the responsibility we have taken on, but also know that we are just digging out now.  We know that a significant amount of money was raised (over 16k) and we are going to act as stewards of the funds YOU entrusted us with, stretching them as far as they will go in the not inexpensive near northern suburbs. This includes leaving funds aside for taxes etc. Because YOU have lightened the financial burden we were willing to take on, we are going to put some of our own funds toward a cause that I'm going to seek your guidance on. We are also going to let Chip In run it's course. I had no strategy in setting up the time frame of it aside from using the default setting. It ends on February 5th and we will NOT be asking for further donations (we stopped doing that at the 24th hour).  If additional funds come in, it will be at the initiation of the donors and we will consider that as we look to give back to the community.

That's really about it. We know that the "miracle" part of this is now over and are working toward the realities of the next phase. This isn't a project or experiment—it's people's lives. Please remember that.

Thank you for the tremendous support you've shown for not just Daniela and her family, but ours as well. We hope we can return the favor through wise decisions as we move forward. We'll continue to need help from "the neighborhood' and we're proud to call you neighbors.

The Art of the Re-Tweet

 
I can't think of a more talked about network right now than Twitter. I've gone into why that is in length, so I won't go into it in this post. The absolutely fascinating thing about Twitter is how it continues to evolve over time. One minute you think you've got it figured out and the next minute the network mutates into something else that requires you to adapt along with it.

People who initially found success on Twitter mastered the art of several disciplines. Writing, conversation, being interesting and being interested. In short having something to offer to the communities who frequent the amorphus network.

Enter the re-tweet. There are several web applications being developed such as re.tweeted which not only keep track of the most re-tweeted items (tweets that are most commonly repeated by others) but allows users to sort by hour, day and week. The service is brand new and will most likely evolve as well.

Who Cares About Re-tweets?
There are several reasons why re-tweets matter. Here are a few:

1. Retweets drive traffic to sites: When any of my tweets get re-tweeted more than 5 or 6 times, I see substantial increased traffic to my blog.

2. Retweets lead to new followers: I've also noticed that frequently retweeted items increase the amount of new followers I get. Chances are if you are active on Twitter, you may have noticed this as well.

3. Retweets Increase your visibility in the stream: Twitter is all about the here and now. It's perfectly designed for severe ADD Web behavior. The more you show up in multiple Twitter streams, the more top of mind you are to other Twitter users who are wading in the waters at that moment.

The Art of The Re-Tweet
At the risk of criticism from people who will say you shouldn't be on Twitter to get re-tweeted (you shouldn't) I'm going to provide a few tips despite that fact. Why? Simple. Because one thing about Twitter is that it's got a few similarities to e-mail. You write a good headline, provide some value and people are more likely to take a look, and actually look forward to more.  Here's a few tips for the art of the re-tweet.

Keept it short
Short Tweets are more likely to get re-tweeted if people do not have to edit them. The shorter the better because multiple "RT's" and names are added each time someone does it.

Keep it creative
Good writing is essential to getting re-tweets. Think you've mastered the art of 140 Characters or less?  Now you have to master the art of 70 Characters or less. Creative writing helps generate interest.

Keep it valuable
Provide value in the form of a good link, a good laugh, or a good thought. Inspirational tweets or flat out humorous ones spread like wildfire. And really solid links to valuable content do as well.

No, you should not be on Twitter to build up followers or seek re-tweet fame. But these things do help you build your network. As I've found out quite poignantly, building your network with care goes a long way. The art of the re-tweet can be one of many tools to do so.

 
Talk to me on Twitter

Will It Scale?

A while back, I had written about how technology is enabling us to come full circle.  Recent personal events which I, and many of you collectively experienced first hand are making me a bit more confident of the movement. However, we've got some big challenges, and as I think about these challenges—I'd like you to think along with me (this is why I make it so easy to comment here).  Here's a few challenges I see.

Can brands feel more human?
Brands are something we can have some type of feeling toward. Positive, negative or neutral. And while brands and people have a lot of similar traits, they are not the same thing. Steve Jobs isn't Apple, even though it sometimes feels that way. And that's an exception. Henry Ford started his company, but he is not the brand. And yet, brands are fueled by humans, our efforts. They can't exist without them. So the questions is, can brands feel more human?  Should they? Or should we just let them be the brands of old. The way it's always been?

Can People Scale?
We are reaching a point where successful examples of people powered service, and experiences are still not all that common. A few examples stand out, Comcast, Dell, Zappos, Southwest, Cha Cha, Starbucks etc. But they're not perfect and each have their own challenges. The fact is that it's more business friendly to outsource your call center, automate services and systematize process. Human powered efforts can be immensely powerful and effective, but having personal micro-interactions from people to people is not easy to pull off. Last night Frank from Comcast was helping me with an issue. I simply love the personal touch and it does make me feel better about Comcast, but the million dollar question is—can it scale? Or does people powered service need to scale? Is it a niche offering?  You tell me.

Can Companies Provide Value?
While there is a lot of talk about the role of marketing and how it's evolving toward something which can serve a more meaningful purpose, the fact is that we still get our e-mails flooded, our mailboxes crammed, our Websites cluttered, our networks spammed, and our everyday activities infiltrated by marketing initiatives. It's like walking around in Time Square. It's impossible to escape. I'm not a rocket scientist but something tells me that some of these tactics must be working because there seems to be more of it, not less. So, the question is—what's the real incentive for companies to provide less noise and more value? How do we get them to see "the light"?

Can Viral Be Meaningful?
We are living in a very interesting time right now. If many of us are not inclined to be introspective, current economic and world events are forcing many of us to do so. Some of us are re-thinking materialism, and examining our own lifestyles. What's gone viral in the past may not be the viral of the future. Marketing specifically thrives on "gimmicks"—cleverly produced attention grabbers that are designed to get you to stop what you are doing, engage and spread a branded object. What I'm wondering is if the viral phenomenon will move from less frivolous to more meaningful initiatives. Though I see potential, I'm not sure about this. Marketing thrives on quick hits, which lead to some type of spike in sales or purchases. Where does humanity fit into any of that?

Anyway, that's what's on my mind. I'd really like to hear from you on any of these things.

Clusters, Communities + Confluence

One of the early visuals I did here is this one pictured above. As I think about recent events, the idea of "community clusters" is crystallizing for me.  I originally thought of them as "tightly knit" communuties like the ones you'd see on Yahoo! in the old days or like the ones you see developing on Ning (see Triiibes).  But I'm wondering if the ambient intimacy of less "tightnly knit" communities like the ones that can revolve around our (insert your network here), qualify as well.

Either way, I think we all know that there are connections. Networks don't live on islands, they often times intersect and intertwine. And often times people from diferrent "neighborhoods" come over to visit, stay a while and even move (permantly). The collective is an interesting place. Like, Manhatten. You can feel as if you're never alone and very much alone at the same time.  An interesting dichotomy.

What do you think?

Slow Down

Seriously, slow down. Take a breather. Take a step back.

I don't know what exactly is causing it. It's possible that it's the state of the economy—we've seen institutions that have thrived for years fall apart at the seams. Maybe it's the events in the middle east or acts of terror which can pop up at any given time.

Maybe we all feel lied to. Cheated. Social Media was supposed to save us. Products were supposed to save us. Vacations were supposed to save us. A new car was supposed to save us.

None of them ever did.

I don't know. I look around and see a lot of us looking for someone to blame. We don't like people who are too popular, too smart, too dumb, too good looking, too ugly, too giving, too selfish, too slick and not polished enough. We think everyone is a fake until proven otherwise by some secret ritual that only we know the rules to.

I just don't understand it.

The Collective Is The Focus Group

Originally posted at Experience Matters
We've been thinking about the current economic climate and the pressure, not to mention scrutiny digital (if not all) initiatives are currently under. Digital by definition is highly measurable, which can increase the focus of ROI (return on investment) for project before it ever gets off the ground. The challenge however is that there is so much to learn from initiatives that launch—insights can be applied directly to that project, or indirectly to something else. In addition to launching our own initiatives as organizations, we realize that companies may not see the advantages they can have simply by listening and potentially participating in what we like to think of as "The Collective". Every day, millions of people are talking about what they care about, and your products and services are most likely part of that story.  Download our POV on "The Collective Is The Focus Group" and let us know what you think about what we have to say about tapping the collective for insights. Is this something that can yield a real return?  You can also see a version of this article on BusinessWeek.

The Collective Is The Focus Group

Neighbors + Neighborhoods

I spent the first seven years of my life growing up in Ozone Park, Queens NY. While it wasn't the majority of my childhood experience, I still remember it vividly. Specifically one thing stood out in my memories. 

I grew up in a neighborhood.

Our neighbors were close knit, mostly Italian or Irish and we came from similar backgrounds. This bonded us, we lived in connected homes with a staircase separating an upper and lower level. We shared food and household items. No-one thought twice about knocking on a door for eggs, milk, or to borrow a vacuum cleaner. When there were power outages (for some reason there were a lot of these during the summers in the 70s), we all took the food out of our freezers and prepared feasts to share with one another, knowing that since the food would spoil, we might as well enjoy it together.

Yesterday, I was literally schooled in the ways the Web can emulate the type of neighborhood I knew as a child. In marketing circles the word community has unfortunately been marginalized. What we are really talking about here is neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are digital—yes, but very real. We've seen them come through again and again. And yet, I am still stunned by the generosity, and ferocity at which the neighborhood rallied around a cause to help a single family that could not find help.

As of this moment, you the people in this collective neighborhood have come to the aid of this family, raising over $12,000.00 in significantly under 24 hours ($15,082.60, in less than 2 days).  This is astounding, audacious and ridiculously hopeful. Belinda and I would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Right now we have a Pay Pal account set up with a card and she will use that to pay for her rent. I can't believe that you've made this possible. We are also getting an education on donations, so if you have ideas or experience in this area—leave a comment here.  Let's get this straight. This is a good problem to have.


Another thing about this neighborhood who lives in the land we call "social media" is how tightly we are bound and evidence you can see all around this. Last night, all of us including Daniela sat in awe as my Tweetdeck went off all night long. Within hours, we saw her name rise to the number one spot of trending topics beating out CES and Apple's product announcement. Translation? A LOT of you were talking about this and I was at a loss for words for how to explain this phenomenon to Daniela. In short, the ripples were spreading like mad.

Thank you again for everything you've done. If you coulnd't donate, PLEASE do not feel badly. Everyone played a part in helping this spread and we are getting a lot of support in all kinds of ways. On that note, it may take a while for us to get back to you. We're a bit overwhelmed.  Just know that you've done a great thing. You've touched 4 lives. You've influenced them. And we're all in this neighborhood together.

Thank You

Thank you

Please Help Us Help Daniela's Family

UPDATES!

-Steve Hall of Ad Rants decides he wants to make us all cry today. Big Jerk.
-BusinessWeek's Helen Walters writes about YOU in "The Collective Power of Individuals"
-Dave Griner breaks down why this worked in 5 points
-Scott Drummond has a very smart and accurate take on managing relationship accounts
-The Vancouver Sun talks about "The Spirit of Social Media"

-We have the account working now. Please refresh your browser. And, we are freaking out.

I've been at this blog for nearly 3 years now and have never asked for something like this—I hope I've earned enough trust to be able to ask something back from you. Above is a picture of Daniela and her family. Brandon, age 6, Daniela, age 9 and little Evelyn age 4. Daniela is divorcing her spouse after years of abuse. In recent years her mortgage went unpaid and she's lost her house.

As of this moment, Daniela's family is staying at our house and we are trying to help her find a one bedroom apartment for her family to live in.  With Evelyn, her youngest having Down's Syndrome and Daniela herself being a Romanian immigrant with very little family support she literally has no one to turn to. Except us (all of us).

Daniela cleans houses when she can leave her family. I'm not even going to tell you what she gets paid—it's obscene. Right now her options are pretty limited, aside from an apartment, there is only a group shelter. Not very pretty.

Here's what we are asking. Right now, Belinda and I are opening our home, but it's tight as we have no basement. We've committed to giving as much as we can spare, diverting funds from other places.  I'm asking if you could think about doing the same. Or at the very least, helping get the word out about this. We are looking to raise 5k for Daniela and her family. Enough so that she doesn't have to worry about a deposit or rent for a while.

I know this is the worst possible time to ask for anything. But would you consider the following:

1. Giving whatever you can ("Chip in" uses Pay Pal and it's very easy to donate and it's secure)
2. Spread the word. Please, please blog this, tweet this, re-tweet this.
3. Help find a donor (maybe a generous company or individual)

I don't have anything to offer back. Not an ego list or top donators directory. I can only hope that this thing we call "community" puts its money or heart where its mouth is. Please do whatever you can.

Respectfully, David and family

PS, if you don't feel comfortable using Pay Pal, please e-mail us here and we'll figure it out. And thank you.

The Top 20 L+E Posts

If you are first time visitor here, or are just curious as to what are some of the most trafficked posts on the blog, I've put together a short list of the top 20 based on data provided by Yahoo! (in order of popularity) Hope you find it helpful.

Why is Twitter Exploding? Because it's A Conversation ... http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/12/why-is-twitter.html

Stairway to Brand Heaven & Hell http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/06/brand-stairway.html

The Micro-site Isn't Dead. (It's Just Not Useful) http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/08/the-microsite-i.html

Guidelines For Brands Using Twitter http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/08/guidelines-for.html

Geek 2.0 http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2006/09/geek_20.html

Lifestreams html http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/08/lifestreams.html

Marketing's Wheel of Misfortune http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/06/marketings-whee.html

Zappos & Southwest Get Direct Engagement http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/04/zappos-southwes.html

2007 Was The Year of Social Media. 2008 is the Year of ... http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/12/2007-was-the-ye.html

Disney's $100,000 Salt + Pepper Shaker http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/07/disneys-1000000.html

Social Systems http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/12/social-systems.html

Micro Interactions + Direct Engagement http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/04/micro-interacti.html

Beyond The Conversation http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/08/beyond-conversa.html

Brand "U.0" + The Chicago New Media Summit http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/09/brand-u0-the-ch.html

Influence Ripples + Social Media Fragmentation http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/09/influence-rippl.html

L+E Visual Thinking on Flickr http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/08/le-visual-think.html

Brand As Facilitator http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/07/brand-as-facila.html Influence Ripples 2.0 http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2006/08/influence_rippl_1.html Memo From A "Mad Man" http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/08/memo-from-a-mad.html Social Networks & The Customer Experience http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/08/social-networks.html Tweet // Blog // E-mail this article: http://is.gd/eImH

Wells Fargo Shows Us How To Design For Participation

I just came across the very newly launched Wells Fargo Wachovia blog.  Right off the bat, I noticed three things:

1. There are real people here
2. They want to talk to me
3. They are making it very easy to talk to them

Now, I'm not interested in the debate of should Wells be blogging and when is it right to blog, but in light of my recent post on making the participatory experience pleasant—Wells has done something very simple, and possibly elegant here. While most blog experiences make us scroll to the bottom, fill out forms and decipher fuzzy graphics, Wells puts the call for participation right at the top, front and center and they even put a face to it. Hello Matt Wadley!

Call for participation may be the new call to action when it comes to communicating using social technologies and as I've said before—companies who invest by putting REAL LIVE PEOPLE behind there efforts are the ones that understand the real work which goes behind an initiative like this.

Blog aside, this seemingly small execution is symbolic in my mind. I haven't seen something like this before and of course, I left a comment right away. In seconds. Kudos on the execution Wells, one small step for blogging, one giant step for participation.

Design Thinking Notebook by Paul Hughes

I really don't have to add much to this post as the notebooks speak for themselves. A lot of great thinking here about process, design, creativity and different ways to solve problems. If you're smart you'll bookmark his Flickr set, share it with others and try to hire people like Paul. And damn, I'm jealous—they look good enough to devour.

Creativity Crossroads

What Are Your Favorite Non-Social Media Blogs?

Fresh start and I feel like getting back to basics. While some of us may have woken up with a slight hangover on New Years Day, I feel like I've got a nasty Social Media Hangover from 2008. So here's a potential remedy and I need your help. I'd like to put a list together of GREAT blogs that have almost NO mention of social media. Seriously, they should be nearly devoid of the topic in all forms. Just leave a comment with the url(s) and I will begin looking through them. My favorites will go into a shortlist that I'll publish and Tweet.

Two rules:
1. You can't submit your own blog
2. The content should be quality and appropriate for a business audience

What are your favorite non-social media blogs?

Making The Participatory Experience Pleasant

This morning I tried register for a new service and comment on a blog. Neither was easy, and so I left. I don't have the time. Now understand that this is something I know a bit about. I've suffered from spam and have manually deleted lots of non human generated comments here.

I also understand that if it's not easy, convenient and pleasant for you, that you will not participate. That's not a good experience. Something that transcends social media and any other shiny object that comes our way in 2009.

There is one thing that I'm certain of. Businesses, individuals and brands that make things more pleasant, more enjoyable, easy, useful and convenient will fare better in these times.

It's really good time to think about making things better for your users.

2009 Resolution: Aligning Your Lifestreams

Here's a 2009 reslolution you can actually make some work of. Taking control of your lifestreams and aligning them where they make sense. Many of us are publishing multiple streams of our lives that allow us to connect with, broadcast and share with others. Over the years, you may have gotten a bit messy with how many streams you actually produce and how they work with each other. Here's a few tips that have worked for me.

1. Analyze and prioritize your social systems
Go through all of your streams and prioritize the ones that you really care about and use. Think about the content on them and how frequently you keep the stream up to date. The ones with high frequency and content that you think is valuable should go to the top of the list. Think of these as your social systems—the ones that are active are part of your system, if not they eventually become dying planets.

2. Plot out your lifestream junctions and intersections
Once you've prioritized the lifestreams you decide are most important, find the opportunities to intersect them where it makes sense. For example, I am very active on Twitter and used Twitsync nearly a year ago to substitute my Twitter updates as my Facebook status updates. (This service may no longer be working for new users). Having my Twitter updates on Facebook gives me one source to share links and updates though it shows up in multiple places. But for me it's effective. Another way is to take your popular streams and combine them. I enjoy using slideshare and use their widget on the left column of the blog. It's a simple way to bring multiple streams together.  I've also got my delicious, flickr, and blip.tv streams intersecting on the blog. It's a simple way to combine the ones you care about.

3. Aggregate your streams
I'm not a heavy Friendfeed user, but I do like having the streams in one place—for some reason it makes things feel organized. Friendfeed is an easy way to get all your streams in one place—it doesn't take much time to set up. Another way to aggregate feeds is through search. Ligit offers up the ability to specifically search your streams and provides widgets you can put on your site or blog (I'm still playing with the service).

These are a couple of pointers, but really the most important step is the first one. Before investing time in the latest technologies or junking up your Facebook page, blog etc. Think about which social systems are meaningful to both you and your circle of peers/friends/contacts. Then start making them work together. I'd say quality is more important than quality here, making good use of two networks working together (like Facebook and Twitter) could make more sense than simply connecting all of your streams. What are your recommendations? Have any tips you can share?

The Social Media Conversion Scale

 
As we head into 2009, it's not only cliche to be it bit retrospective—but essential. I've always found that looking back is the best way to look forward. And looking forward is the best way to move forward. if you don't look where you are going, you'll likely stumble and hurt yourself when it could have been avoided.  There's no doubt that all the things which fall under the very big umbrella of the evolving Web have had a big impact on many of us this past year. 2009 will most likely continue to be a transformative year, mixed in with a lot if uncertainty. I thought it might make sense to think about the bright and shiny object that we are all transfixed on called "social media" and to really think about some of the stages we go through as we navigate our way through the space.

We're at a really interesting time here. Right now the new buzzword is "accountability".  It's a backlash due to so much of the hype that's been generated by all things Web 2.0.  But if we are really honest with ourselves, we've all most likely played one of the roles I'm about to expand on, and not just the honorable ones. That's because the Web is evolving into a more human form—and humans are seriously flawed beings. Food for thought as we all grow together on the conversion scale.

Un-believer
Be honest with yourself. We've all been unbelievers at some point in regards to something related to this space. For many it was Twitter—a platform that makes absolutey no sense at first glance. For others it's just the denial of the rate of change that's happening around us. Unbelief is unhealthy because it doesn't even allow for curiosity or exploration—it's just a stark position that doesn't see believe in the potential of what others are talking about.

Skeptic
Being skeptical is healthy—it means asking questions and poking around before moving forward. I remember being skeptical about the idea of putting a face to your online presence. I just wasn't sure about it. I presented counter arguments against why it made sense to do it, but I also listened to the opinions of others. Now I'm a believer in the power of personality.

Seeker
Seekers have yet to be "converted" over to social side of the fence, but they are open to trying things out, finding our what works and what doesn't and having conversations with those who are deeply embedded in the space.Seekers often end up finding the "evangelists" in this space taking in multiple POV's and learning by watching. This is one of the reasons evangelists have a good deal of responsibility and actually play a role—people in seeker mode may be influenced by them. This is one of the healthiest places to be and also shapes the conversion experience.

New Convert
Seekers become converts when they reach a point of "faith"—a belief in something bigger than themselves. I remember when first blogging and immersing myself in participatory media, feeling that I had "seen the light" Studying my own metrics and understanding how memes spread made me think about things like search engine optimization differently. I instantly saw the value of making your media portable and was blown away by how flat and deep the Web was beginning to look—anyone could share an idea and build credibility. It was a transformative experience. If you are an active participant in the evolving Web, many of you will relate.

Zealot
It's very natural to go full throttle when you believe in something with your being. This is where zeal comes from. And this is where things can get a little interesting and somewhat unhealthy. When becoming immersed so deeply in something, you begin to lose perspective on how things look from the outside—you become so intent on enlightening others that your zeal can actually turn them off creating un-belief. It's not all bad though and for many of us has been a natural phase of our growth.

Self-Righteous Jerk
This is the one catagory that I'm sure all of you will glance over and think to yourself "glad I skipped that phase". Well, I'll share a specific time I was a self righteous jerk. Several years ago there was a big to-do about Seth Godin not allowing comments on his blog. He turned them on momentarily, then turned them off. And here's what I said:

"I respect Seth's POV—but I don't think this is consistent with the marketing principles that he evangilizes.  So, I'm taking him off my blogroll.  For authenticity—please see Jaffe Juice."

What a jerk I was! I mean, what do I care if Seth allows comments or not. He's adding a lot of value to the space by openly sharing his thoughts on a daily basis and he makes the discourse interesting. But that's what being a self-righteous jerk is all about—it's not simply having an opinion, it's taking it to the next level—passing judgment on others and making yourself look better. So, I've been there done that, and guess what—the best thing about this phase is that it can rear it's ugly head at any time (actually they all can.)  I think It's time to add Seth's blog back to the site. Should have done that a long time ago.

Humble Servant
I chose to include the word "humble" in here because whe often times take on a servant-like attitude only after we've been humbled. In an economy like the one we are in, this is bound to happen to many of us—if it already hasn't. Fear not—this is a great place to be. When we realize that we're in this space to provide a service—to serve others somehow whether it be through trying to inspire, execute, lead, produce, coach, whatever. It's all about having an attitude of wanting to provide some type of service which makes things better. 2009 for many of us can be a year to offer a service that serves a purpose.  "Humble" is also a double edged sword by the way—too much focus on it alone can take you back to "self righteous jerk" :-)

Evolving True Believer
At this point, you look at the changes around you and see it with fresh new eyes. You believe in the power of "social media" and more importantly the evolution of our behavior enabled through technology. And you realize that your beliefs have to simply evolve with that behavior. Both the good and bad parts of it. Because the human web is both good and bad—but you still believe. And most importantly, you've learned along the way and realize that you're never going to stop learning.

The point of the "social media conversion scale" isn't to identity where you are right now, but to reflect on where you've been and where you want to go. Many of us have now been "converted" and this is where things get interesting. I've been a believer in the Web since deciding to work in the space full time. That was back in 1997. A lot has changed since then and much hasn't (people are still people). I'm looking toward 2009 with a hopeful attitude realizing there's a lot of uncertainty in the air. Hopefully I can evolve while still believing.

Here's to a year of evolving together.