Bedtime with Rob and Alex

Podcast: Interview with ManyMoon CEO

podcast@socialsignal.com (Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Regular visitors to SocialSignal.com will know how obsessed Alex is with project and task management. So tonight, on A Very Special Bedtime with Rob and Alex, when we bring an outsider into bed* with us, it's Manymoon CEO Amit Kulkarni - here to talk with us about his collaborative task management web app.

Billed as the web's "first social productivity application", Manymoon grabbed Alex's attention last month. In this interview, she offers Amit some kudos as well as a few suggestions for improvements... and Amit offers a sneak peak at some upcoming features.

This is a long one by our standards... but if you haven't landed on a decent task management solution, chances are your anxiety is keeping you awake anyway. So why not tune in?

Ep. 21 - the old-enough-to-drink episode

podcast@socialsignal.com (Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:06:48 +0000

After more than a month of radio silence - life does love to throw the occasional spitball, no? - the drowsy duo are back. And in this episode, inspired by our hiatus, we ask what it takes to give a social media project some staying power.

The five questions we suggest you ask about your project, if you want it to still be around by the time we do our next episode:

Do you feel really passionately about this project?
Do you have a reserve of content (say, 8 to 12 weeks worth of topics, and 4 weeks of actual produced non-time-sensitive content) to cover dry spells?
Do you have the time and staff you need to pull this off?
What kind of audience do you have? Is the size and quality enough to motivate you and your organization?
Do you have the buy-in within your organization to support this?

Podcast feed: here
Or subscribe with iTunes

Ep. 20: the parental-guilt episode

podcast@socialsignal.com (Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:50:08 +0000

Finding yourself plunking the kids down with something unhealthy - weaponized anthrax, ninja throwing stars, Bob the Builder - just so you can grab some keyboard time? How do you tell when a healthy pastime is turning into unhealthy competition for your children's attention?

We bring in an expert: our daughter, code-named Little Sweetie, who dishes the dirt on how our computer use makes her feel. Some of it's sobering, some of it's encouraging, and it all builds up to five questions to ask about your computer use... plus a bonus five questions from LS.

Podcast feed: here
Or subscribe with iTunes

Ep. 18: the out-of-order episode

podcast@socialsignal.com (Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:01:04 +0000

Just for variety's sake, we take you back to the halcyon days of mid-March for a discussion of what makes a community more than just a collection of little interactions. And it's just as valid now as it was then. Some truths are timeless, huh?

Podcast feed: here
Or subscribe with iTunes

Ep. 19: the all-a-twitter episode

podcast@socialsignal.com (Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:48:52 +0000

Twitter and its microblogging siblings let you follow a stream of one-line updates from your friends. It's pretty much the shortest form of social media out there... but that doesn't stop us from going on at length about it. And we came up with five questions about Twitter:

How do you know something is Twitter worthy?
Who should you be following on Twitter?
How can use Twitter to support what you're working on?
How can Twitter support collaboration?
What rocks out more -- Facebook or Twitter status updates?

The tools we discuss include:

TwitterFox for posting to Twitter from your web page
Twitter's Facebook app lets you keep your Facebook status updated from Twitter
The 10 Best Twitter tools for Wordpress blogs helps you integrate your tweets with your blog

Podcast feed: here
Or subscribe with iTunes

Ep. 17: the big-jar-of-change episode

podcast@socialsignal.com (Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:51:02 +0000

Alex came home from a talk by Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus, and she was in a soul-searching frame of mind. How does the web support meaningful social change? And is there a particular kind of change the web does an especially good job at?

We cover a lot of terrain in 15 minutes. Here are a few of the signposts we pass along the way:

Your thoughts are always welcome - just leave a comment below!

Podcast feed: here
Or subscribe with iTunes

Ep. 16: the hexiversary episode

podcast@socialsignal.com (Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:30:33 +0000

It's episode 16 - a significant number in the binary world, and we start with a few words about our own 10th cohabitation anniversary (we believe that's the "Macbook Air anniversary"). Then it's on to parenting and a not-unrelated note, project management. Is it time for you to switch to a new project management system? Maybe we'll help you figure that out.

It was a wide-ranging conversation (we've spared you seven minutes of it, and it still weighs in at over 17 minutes), and lots of links did verily arise:

Skitch
Basecamp
Basecamp's profile of Alex's workflow
Heh... Alex's photo on the Highrise site tour (scroll to the bottom and look for "Suzanna Cavatrio")
Google Sites
I Want Sandy
Toodledo
MailTags

Podcast feed: here
Or subscribe with iTunes

Ep. 15: the guest-star episode

podcast@socialsignal.com (Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:02:06 +0000

A special guest star joins us as we ask: how is your (and their) computer use affecting your kids?

Here are some of the links we touch on:

the XO Laptop
Sesame Workshop
the Sesame Workshop video player (check out the still-in-beta message)
Super Why

Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 14: the way-to-go! episode

podcast@socialsignal.com (Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:57:30 +0000

A little encouragement goes a long way in keeping the Web 2.0 world turning. Alex and Rob talk about how to offer a few kind words to the folks who do everything from posting Creative Commons-licensed photos to creating fantastic YouTube videos.

(Speaking of a few words, kind or otherwise, that comment field down below would probably love to hear from you...)

A little linky goodness from this episode (in which we definitely establish that Rob is a. flossing and b. eating his okra):

Kate Trgovac's amazing Squidoo lens on laptop bags
Rob's speechwriting Squidoo lens
And while we're in a Squidoo frame of mind, some great suggestions for commenting on Squidoo lenses without being all spammy.

Podcast feed: here
Or subscribe with iTunes

How to skillfully manage community enthusiasm

podcast@socialsignal.com (Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:43:23 +0000

This episode finds Alex and Rob with some company in bed: the kids. (Parental discretion advised: contains explicit sounds of complaining toddler.) We talk about what happens when your favourite online community members participate just a little too much... and what you can do about it.

Podcast feed: here
Or subscribe with iTunes