I’ve been sucking at posting here lately – and so, instead of continuing to suck, I’ve decided to veer off my blog topic slightly. A while back, when checking out Alana Taylor’s (cutie of the Twitter song) blog, I saw her blog’s subtitle (“Tech – Entertainment – Life”) I thought… yeah, life, that would be good to post about.

So for now (until I get distracted by something really, really shiny) let’s assume this blog is subtitled “Social Media – and Life”. I figure that will keep me covered for all the general stuff. I promise, I’ll try to keep it interesting and not nauseatingly personal.

As I mentioned before, I’ve been working on my book, and have been reading a ton of memoirs (please feel free to recommend any funny ones I haven’t read in the comment section).  I had been reticent to read Sloane Crosley’s “I Was Told They’re Be Cake” because of some of the reviews on Amazon.com, several of which mentioned “Oh, great, another privileged gal talking about her life”.  (As I recall, the same criticisms were present in a few of the reviews for Sara Barron’s “People Are Unappealing (Even Me)“.)

This is an interesting prejudice and reminds me of something my mother said recently “I really like this woman. But I didn’t want to meet her for a long time because she was rich.” ‘Kay… This is one of the fascinating things that would seem horrid if said for the reverse (“Didn’t want to meet that dude, ’cause he’s poor – and you know, I didn’t know what we’d have in common”.)  Isn’t part of point of reading (or watching a film) about learning about another person’s experiences?…

Side rant: In a similar vein, it has always frustrated me that film with female lead(s) often get referred to as “chick films”  since most every film has male leads and they are rarely assumed to be solely for men. Sure, a romantic comedy (e.g. the abysmal 27 Dresses) can be considered “only for women”, because it’s fair enough to assume that the target is mostly women. (And the less I say about that genre, and its profoundly unrealistic scenarios/conundrums and forced-quirky characters, the better.) But a film like “Thelma and Louise” (or “Blue Steel” for that matter) is most certainly not a “chick flick”.

…Even if you feel they might have been “luckier” in certain aspects than you?  It surprised me that there were so many people who dismissed the book’s premise outright because the author’s life was OK. What are we looking for here? Is only someone with a severely dysfunctional childhood qualified to write their story? The truth is we are all kind of messed up in our own way – and I enjoy reading and watching another’s experiences – provided there’s a point.  In this case the book was interesting, well-written, not self-pitying and amusing.  All things I seek and am impressed by.

I liked Sara Barron’s book even more – and here I will contradict myself – because it was very relatable.  It touched on so many of my experiences dating, in acting class etc.  And the way she wrote was so hilarious, self-aware and self-effacing without going into self-hatred or being too cutesy.  In fact, I liked it so much, I even wrote her to tell her that.  Now, we Social Media-loving people always mention how important it is to connect with your customer – and for artists how essential it is to have contact with your audience.  I was impressed because Sara Barron wrote me back the next day, to thank me, with a very genuine email.  She also mentioned that she was writing her second book and that if I had the time, and wouldn’t mind writing a review on Amazon.com, that would be great because it’s one of the things that a publisher takes into account when considering a writer.  I did not know that.  I was (painfully) aware of how the reviews influenced me, but wasn’t aware that they played any significant role in publishing.   So, public service message: If you like an author, review them.  It helps. (Apparently so does tagging the books with keywords you feel appropriate, as I learned at BookCamp.)

For the sake of completeness, here are the books I’ve read lately.  I’ve given them grades (yes, that’s obnoxious of me) but a simple 1-5 or 1-10 rating doesn’t convey much.

“People Are Unappealing (Even Me)“  by Sara Barron: 98% (I just loved this one.  My Amazon review of it is here.)

“I Was Told They’re Be Cake” by Sloane Crosley: 94% (Honest, quirky, self-aware and charming. And quite funny.)

“Microthrills: True Stories from a Life of Small Highs” by Wendy Spero: 68% (Sweet, in it’s own way, but a little too cutesy for me.)

“My Horizontal Life” by Chelsea Handler: 60% (This one rubbed me the wrong way. I thought the writer was way too in love with the negative aspects of her personality and thought she was just adorable.  I disagreed.  At the same time the writing was good, it was a decent airplane read, I wasn’t bored throughout.  I just felt kind of empty and dissatisfied after reading it.)

“Me Talk Pretty One Day” (99%) & “When You Are Engulfed in Flames” (96%) & “Naked” (92%) by David Sedaris (Can’t say enough good things about him.  Funny, touching, smart, brilliantly written.  He manages to convey difficult experiences without any self-pity and his writing is completely absorbing.  Note: I liked his other books too, but think these are virtually flawless.)

“Don’t Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems” by David Rakoff: 83% (Great style, brilliant writing and bitingly funny. That said, the first essay (about immigrating to the US) was excellent, and there were a few other ones that were very good.  But I can’t say the book grabbed me in it’s entirety. But, yes, still, a good read, overall.)

“Why I’m Like This: True Stories” by Cynthia Kaplan: 81%  (Charming and well-written.  Also funny and touching.)

Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters by Annie Choi (Very well-written, honest and funny and sometimes painful  – especially her family encounters – both in the experience and how they continue to affect her.) 84%

“I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies): True Tales of a Loudmouth Girl ” by Laurie Notaro:  86% (Very funny.  Very enjoyable.  I like Notaro’s breezy writing style and some of her tales are hilarious.  I have read all of her non-fiction books too, and although there were other good tales in the others, I thought this one was pretty much funny all around.  Given that it’s her latest, I think that’s inspiring.)

“Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace: 90% (Excellent.  Fascinating, educational and often funny.  The essay “Big Red Son” which centers around the AVN (porn) awards) was completely engrossing, enlightening, sometimes creepy, and very amusing.)

I recently posted some reference letters for talks I’ve given in a slideshow on the “Speaking” page of this blog.

For reference, here is the slideshow compilation:

I recently wrote the following piece for Marketline . (PDF of the article is here, btw. )

“Adding Value on Twitter“

Advice such as the frequent social media tip, “make sure to add value” often feels as daunting as “make a good impression” or, in my case, “don’t look so suspicious”.

Twitter is very much like street performing. You don’t have a captive audience, so you need to be as engaging as possible to get people to stop, watch the show and stick around.

Ask yourself, what can you offer that would be beneficial to others? If you make an effort to provide real content, you’ll give people more reason to pay attention – and see you as a person of “value”.

Consider:

• It’s not all about you. Understand that while you have an agenda for being on Twitter – no one else’s aim is to find you friends or send business your way. Don’t wax poetic about your life or to promote yourself ad nauseum.
• Examine your Bio/profile. Who you are is a big reason people follow you. Based on that, figure out what those people might want to learn or gain. And be sure to allow your personality to shine through. While what you say is important, how you say it is even more so.
• Share your experience. Understand that the social component is the beauty of this medium. It’s often about people helping people. Respond to questions when you can – even if they’re not specifically directed at you. If you’ve had an outstanding experience with a company or person – mention it. Did you recently go to an exceptional event or hear of a great cause? Allow others to benefit from what you’ve learned.
• Be clear. When you Retweet a message clarify why others should care. Begin your tweet with the explanation (“Insightful post!”, “I support this great cause” or “This article on marketing to chimps confounds me”).
• Don’t make it difficult. Consider the articles you read today that intrigued you or brilliant posts that you’ve bookmarked on Delicious.com sometime ago. Is there a blog you follow often because it is just that insightful – or even because it enrages you? Share your knowledge with the Twitosphere.

The online word is not so different than the offline one. You quickly tune out when someone is too self-aggrandizing or doesn’t say anything of interest to others. So, give others a reason to stay tuned in. And try not to look so suspicious.

Vancouver is a hub of social and techie events!

This month’s Third Tuesday is a really exciting one.  In fact, it’s so exciting, it’ll take place on a Thursday.  Yeah.

On Thursday, September 17th, Shel Israel will be in Vancouver, as part of the Canadian launch of his new book Twitterville.

“Three years ago, Shel co-authored Naked Conversations with Robert Scoble. Naked Conversations was a must-read book in 2006. It captured the zeitgeist of the blogosphere.

Now Shel Israel is back with Twitterville, his look at Twitter and how it is being used by people and organizations to connect, play, share, create community, organize… You name it and we’re finding a way to do it on Twitter. // This event shouldn’t be missed! Shel will spark your imagination, and give you ideas about how you can use Twitter and other social media in your business and life.”

For more information (including how to get his book for only $10) and to purchase tickets click here.

& Thank you to our sponsors CNW Group,Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Molson Canada,Rogers Communications and Radian6.

Of course, ours is just one of several great events taking place here in September and October.  There’s also:

Twestival (Vancouver)
Saturday, Sept 12

“Twestival is an international movement where people meet offline for one night, have fun and do some good for an important cause in the process. Twestival Local gives cities an opportunity to select a local cause to support.

Launch Party (LPV8)
Wednesday, Sept 16

“Launch Party Vancouver is a lively mixer for the city’s brightest entrepreneurs, tech junkies, and bloggers, who are doing it, have done it or want to make their ideas happen here. The goal of the event is to connect BC’s growing community of Internet and new media leaders with investors and other trailblazers across Canada and abroad.”

New Forms Festival (The convergence of media art, electronic music and digital culture)
Friday, Sept 18 – Saturday, Sept 19

“New Forms Media Society is a non-profit society and media arts organization founded in 2000 that nurtures and connects local and international arts, science and grassroots communities through the annual New Forms Festival. // The NFF is part of a larger, international, multi-media festival movement, which explores the ever changing and evolving world of art and creates a platform for artistic growth. The society wishes to make new media art, music, film, technology base-based installation and performance accessible to a wider audience.”

TrendCity
Wednesday, Sept 23

“Join the League of KickAss Business People for Trend City Vancouver: An Exchange of Ideas and What’s Next, a stylish, thought-provoking evening with Vancouver’s leading business trendspotters, tastemakers and opinion leaders. //We’ll ignite conversation and networking with a panel discussion on what’s hot and what’s next in design, branding, style and media. Plus, we’ll supply appetizers and beverages. “

Bongo: CD Release PARTY and Open Mic Battle
Thursday, Sept 24th

“In the fall of 2008, we [Urban Project/Giant Ant Media] traveled to Dar es Salaam to help a group of street youth record a hip hop album with the help of Urban Project, a grassroots charity that support youth lead art projects in urban centers, and the GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS OF OUR DONORS (you!), these guys were able to record a six track album that they called Maisha Magumu (Hard Life). // This event is to celebrate their music and talent and to THANK YOU for donating to this project.”

National Digital Media Day
Friday, Sept 25th

So far, Appy Hour is planned:

“Appy Hour is a brand new event series that combines mobile applications and a whole lotta networking. Join us on National Digital Media Day for presentations by innovative application developers alongside noshing and mingling at one of Vancouver’s newest lounges.”

BarCamp Vancouver 2009
Saturday, Oct 3 (Kick-off party on Friday)

“BarCamp is an ad-hoc un-conference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees.  // All attendees are encouraged to give a demo, a session, a presentation, or help with one. All attendees are expected to be participants. All presentations are scheduled the day they happen. Prepare in advance, but come early to get a slot on the wall.”

Vancouver Innovation Camp
Thursday, Oct 13

“Why are ideas like measles, waffles and mirrors? Why do successful people generally fail more often than less successful ones? // At Vancouver Innovation Camp, you’ll learn the answers to these questions and more importantly, how they are related to entrepreneurship and innovation.” [Thanks for the tip below, McElroy Flavelle]

[Updated Sept 4 re: few more events]

What have I missed? Let me know in the comments, please.

This blog has been suffering neglect because (choose one):

a) I have been focusing on some work projects, my other blog, a book I’m writing and on speaking

b) I think the less I post here, the more mysterious I’ll be

c) It’s summer and I fear the heat my computer generates might contribute to global warming and possibly cause my apartment to implode.

d) I suck

___

An update on me

• I recently did a presentation at the Vancouver Financial Services Marketing Meetup.  My notes are below, and a video from that talk – as well a few talks I gave at “My Charity Connects” are on the Video page.

• I am currently compiling items for a media kit to better position myself as a speaker.  If you’re looking for presenters, feel free to drop me a note.
• I have an Acting page up here as well – if that’s news to you, please feel free to take a look.
• I forgot to mention a  “Week in Review” I did for One Degree
• And yes, I am working on a book (I am so unique!).  It’ll likely be an e-book similar to my YourDoseofLunacy blog, but more focused on my experiences.

Good Reading Re: internet/film

• The NFB’s “7 Blogging Tips for Filmmakers“
• The last Filmmaker Magazine was chock full of great articles.  Namely:
  • An interview from “Fans, Friends and Followers” (article not available online, but book is) which lead me to this great resource from his site.(Note: If you’re Canadian, you might sadly wish to forgo CreateSpace purchasing for the following reason:

  
  I tried to find out why the shipping fee of a small paperback from the US to Canada cost the same as that of a small anvil, but Customer Service at CreateSpace is not too helpful).

  • Jon Reiss looks at DIY Web marketing.
  • Lance Weiler explains why filmmakers are turning to torrent sites to build a community.

I’ll be presenting at the Vancouver Financial Services Marketing Meetup next week – and I figure I’d address some “best practices” in my talk.   Here are a few (note: I wrote this originally for an online interview).

Tips

1) Communicate with people, don’t just use the sites as a 1-way bullhorn.

2) Be honest – if you’re affiliated with a product/company don’t pretend your endorsement comes out of the blue

3) Check out what people are saying about you and your company using Google Alerts and other tools

4) If you’re on Twitter, take the time to get to know people, to help and communicate.  Self-promotion should be only a very small part of what you put out there.

5) Make social media a part of your life rather than trying to fit it in (e.g. make twittering and posting a natural extension of how you communicate)

How has Social Media helped me?

I have been asked to speak at conferences because people have come across my blogs. I’m excited when they’ve read my blogs beforehand because gives them an insight into who I am. Oddly enough, I’ve had a few people say they were booking me just as much for the fact that I’m funny as for my knowledge -  they wanted someone who could brings humor to the presentation.

Biggest Mistakes

1)  Ignoring it altogether – hoping it’s a fad

2) Seeing it as advertising rather than communication

3) Revealing too much – or two little (it’s beneficial to give people an idea of the person behind the business)

Best Networkers

They allow themselves to be 3-dimensional.  They reveal some aspects of their personality and admit their mistakes.  They naturally like people and genuinely want to have discourses and meet others.  They give and add value to the community.  I think a sense of fun and playfulness also helpful in the space.

Tips for success

1) Structure: You have to commit to whatever site or site(s) you’re networking on, commit to going there, to posting, and to communicating on a regular schedule.  If you disappear for a long time people will figure you’ve left.

2) It takes time.  You won’t suddenly get people throwing money at you.  But if you invest your time you will eventually see the results of your efforts.

3) Think of it as networking at an event or party.  You let your hair down a bit, and meet people and chat.  Using the same example, parties don’t always lead to a business deal that evening, but nurturing the connections might eventually bear fruit.

4) Try to have fun with it – even though it is, in a sense, marketing.  If you enjoy the communication, it will be less of a labor and more easy to incorporate into your life.

If I had to pick only 1 social network

Twitter.  It’s faster and easier to communicate and generally more people see the message.  Also you can incorporate other elements (link to pictures, blog posts etc.)  I think you still need a blog, but you can communicate every day on Twitter, whereas you may not have the time or energy to write daily in-depth posts on your blog.

How to use

Use YouTube to showcase yourself briefly and to give others a chance to see “real life” you.  Use Facebook as a general communication tool – it allows you to update your status, post videos, talk to people, organize events etc.  Plus, most people are on it.  Use Twitter to communicate a few times a day.  Your blog is great for ideas, thoughts about your business/industry, to allow clients to keep up with you and your work and activities and for general longer-form communication than microblogs (e.g. Twitter).

What tips do you have re: best practices, that you think I should share?

___  ___  ___

P.S. I recently did an interview with the Casual Encounters blog (primarily about my other blog)

I’ll be presenting “Twitter: Tweeting, Following and Finding” at the Chicks Who Click Conference.  Here’s my slide deck, if you want to take a look.

I believe there are a few tickets left for the event, so you can still register if you want to attend.

Wish me luck!

Last week, at the My Charity Connects conference, I conducted a game session based on Beth Kanter and David Wilcox’s Social Media Game (SMG).

Given that I only had about an hour and a half to describe the tools and play the game (and much less knowledge of the internal workings of nonprofits than the creators of SMG), I abbreviated the game significantly. In brief, I picked 8 tools to work with and requested each group respond to the following 3 questions:

1) How can this tool be used? (Within your organization or in general – can be as creative as you like)
2) What do you see as potential drawbacks to using this tool (within your organization or in general)?
3) Likewise, what are the benefits?

(You can find the cards, below, btw)

I took about 20-25 minutes to go through a speedy presentation about the 8 tools (Which included: Wikis, Social Bookmarking and Flickr) – including questions. Then the attendees got into groups of 3, 4 or 5 people to discuss.

Each group got 3 cards, of which they could pick 2 they wanted to focus on.

They had about 35 minutes to come up with answers.

For the last 25-30 minutes the attendees told us all what they had come up with.

It turned out well, I feel, in spite of the short timeframe – but given that circumstance, it also turned out very differently than I’d expected.

What ended up occurring was that, generally, a few people in the groups offered how they had been using a particular tool – which everyone else (myself included) found very inspiring.  For instance, one nonprofit used delicious to organize the archive section of their website.

The attendees were given handouts, at the end, which contained all the “cards” (printed on regular paper), for their reference

Changes I’d make:

• probably use 4 tools, in that time-frame
• forget the drawbacks/benefit part and focus just on whether the org could use the tool and how
• Session attendees: Do you have any other thoughts for improvement?

P.S. Beth, thanks so much for writing about my version on your blog!

Cards:

And you thought I was done talking.  Never!

I’ll be presenting this at My Charity Connects today.

Once again, your positive thoughts help 

Presenting these two talks at My Charity Connects today.

Think good thoughts!

Stamp Out Hunger was a Food Drive organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers (US)   They asked people to leave bags filled with non-perishable food items next to their mailbox on Saturday May 9th, 2009 that letter carriers would pick up and deliver to local food banks.

Now I knew nothing about this initiative – but on the day of the drive I noticed there were about a hundred tweets on the subject (see just a few examples below). People mentioning that they were contributing and reminding each other to donate.

The letter carriers collected 300,000 pounds of food and I’m certainly not proposing that this was the result of social media but it’s helpful to see at how social media can supplement and work with offline initiatives. The idea was not to donate online – but offline  – and the initiative helped “in the real world”.

And the kind of tweets we saw served several purposes (including):

1. They reminded people – some of whom might have been inclined to donate but lives are busy
2. They made it trendy – now this seems like a superficial concept but there’s an idea in behavioral economics which, put simply, addresses that people want to do what is the norm. (The book “Nudge” discusses this with regards to energy conservation (see this “Seed” article for a more thorough explanation.

“Our survey of nearly 2,500 Californians showed that those who thought their neighbors were conserving were more likely to conserve themselves,” [Robert] Cialdini said in written testimony – “Peer Pressure Best Motivator When it Comes to Energy Saving, Psychologists Tell House Panel” – APA release

Unlike the types of peer pressure demonstrated in videos my school was forced to watch (they involved singing ditties to ward off sex), here are people doing positive things as a result of their peer’s influence .

The tweets appeared to make donating to this cause the norm. Imagine seeing several of your peers talk about contributing to a cause – it makes you feel more motivated to do something… It seems like this is often what happens when you see several tweets on a particular topic/initiative.   It’s sort of a tidal wave of motivation.

Your thoughts?

In addition to next week’s presentations at My Charity Connects in Toronto, I’ll also be speaking at Clicks who Click here in Vancouver on June 27th.

There’s a quick interview with me posted on their blog.

This is part of a larger presentation I’ll be giving in a few days. More on that soon.

Recently, YouTube and the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival ran a video contest asking participants to submit a commercial for a shot at going to Cannes.

These kinds of competitions are interesting animals… While exciting, I am of two minds about the concept, alternating between feeling that they are fun and can be useful, and thinking that there are somewhat exploitative – a great way for a company to get a polished product for way less than they would if they hired someone.

In my experience, it can sometimes be a creative jolt to have some sort of theme and deadline to work with (whether my video on Twitter was creative or jolting, remains to be decided, but it got me doing something actory that day).

Photo Credit: "It's a Gamble" by MarkyBon

Of course, quality submissions require effort – along with an idea that the odds often against you (depending on the number of submissions).  It is a gamble.  Whether it is worth it, in my opinion, depends on level of exposure and whether you can truly learn from it, have fun and/or make valuable for your portfolio even if you don’t “win”.

A great example of someone making a contest work for them was Jaemin (aka Chris) Yi who filmed three very cool commercials for a Doritos contest.  My favorite is below:

His excellent post about what he learned from the process is on his blog.

On the artists survey I ran, I asked the (admittedly unclear) question:

“What are your thoughts on spec work/contests for artists? (e.g. a design contest where you create a poster for a film, but may/may not have your submission selected in the end) Feel free to rant or praise:”

I received a variety of excellent responses – here are just a few:

“Like the idea, especially if the selectors come from the public or readership, rather than a closed secret panel of jurors” – Mitchell Teplitsky, Filmmaker

“I like it so long as the people running the contest are honest and the winner gets some real exposure and the collectors of the data share it with the participants” - Scilla Andreen, Filmmaker & CEO of Indieflix.com

“Spec is always out of bounds. Don’t do it! It’s the bane of all writers, no matter what kind of work they do. Contests, on the other hand, open doors. I signed with an agent after receiving a national award for my first book. Never would have gotten his attention without it.” – Laine Cunningham, Writer

“They’re good for exposure. They’re good for creating portfolio pieces. They’re good for expressive fun works– for those who do not get to be as creative as they’d like on client work.” – Ori Bengal, Photographer, Photoshop artist, full-time couchsurfer, web designer, marketer

“Oy -don’t get me started. Artists are too often exploited when they are trying to make a name for themselves. … I did enter and win the 2006 Applied Arts Magazine Awards Annual and it did lead to some new contacts and one job. There needs to be a prestige factor. There are enough competitions and awards handed out for even the very least talented people out there. I am the best photographer my living room -right now. I think the competition for the 2010 Olympic logo and the mascot design was unethical. Imagine if I could get thousands of people to do work for me for free and only pay one of them. It was cleverly packaged as a “feel good” inclusive kind of friendly competition but the Olympic Committee received a lot of highly skilled and valuable labour for free. They wouldn’t try that with any other profession but the creative arts.” – Dan Jackson, Photographer

“I both rant and praise. Philosophically, I think it really degrades the industry regardless of if it’s for graphic design or photography or whatever, and that at the end of the day you can get better work if you hire someone directly – most of the spec work type sites attract a mid-range level entrant. On the other side, I’ve used sites like this in the past because I love what they offer. It’s a catch 22.” – Miranda Lievers, Photographer

“Opportunities are always great. But preparing for contests, design work, writing pitches all take time and it is disappointing not to be selected. I’ve had the best luck with entering photo contests. Just won an honorable mention in American Photo – Images of the Year.” – Kim Campbell, Photographer

“This is one of the worst things to ever come about, and it disgusts me. No one would think of doing this to a plumber, but artists are constantly expected to give it away for free. No artist should participate. It weakens the entire profession, and more often than not the “contest” portion is just a scam, or is less money than a freelancer would charge for the work anyway. There are a lot of good rants out there about this subject!” – Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, Visual Artist

“I think the internet has created many opportunities for artists to give away their product in the hopes of being recognized. So we have created a nation of “amateurs” in the best sense of the word (the root of amateur is amare, past participle of “to love” in French). Unfortunately, all those people are no longer buying art; instead, they’re creating their own, which is wreaking havoc in the artistic marketplace. I don’t know if it’s good or bad; I just know that it’s what is.” – Marc Acito, Writer

37.They have value, depending on what the outcome is. Using the example, if it’s something that’s going to give an artist a great deal of exposure, it’s a valid time investment (as long as the selection remains in your control if it doesn’t win). At the same time, a documentary or independent film that has a great moral or societal aim would also merit the investment. I just don’t like situations where the outcome doesn’t match the value of the work and time, and/or implies a monetary devaluation by treating professional artists as hobbyists. – Dana Detrick, Musician, Voice Artist and Audio Producer

“I don’t mind spec work/contests but I absolutely detest any contests that require entry fees. They are asking us to pay them for the opportunity to create work for them? Give me a break.” – Bob Johnson, Photographer

—

Want more articles about artists? I have a whole series here.
http://monicahamburg.wordpress.com/category/artist-series/

When I first started this blog (at the end of 2007), I posted the (creatively and originally titled) post: “My Views on Social Networking“.

I wrote:

Photo: "We are all connected" by Erica_Marshall

“On a large scale, social networking truly fulfills the role that our old (read: non-virtual) communities used to prove. This has sorely been lacking for most of us. Now we are only several connections away from others, only a few friends away from a new friend. Here we offer assistance to each other and ask for help. We are kept posted of occurrences within our social circle, to what are friends are doing or concerned about, today. Of what events they are attending. Here the town crier is Facebook, shouting out to us about the many parties we can attend, things we can do. As a “Wired” article summed-up the phenomenon that is Twitter: “That tactile sense of your community is simply too much fun, too useful” (Clive Thompson, “How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense”).

That this evolution has also tremendously affected how we communicate with each other online, even in a business context, is clear by this point. And it has changed how much of ourselves we display to others, even if we have a possible business agenda to our online presence.

In February I moderated the very cool panel discussion about who you are online (photo here ).  All the women on the panel (Jenn Lowther, Rebecca Bollwitt, Linda Bustos and Nadia Nascimento) were web savvy (understatement), and, as such, had a strong awareness of the public nature of communicating online. They were very strategic about their line between public and private, establishing those boundaries and the nature of how they presented themselves.  That said, what we were comfortable posting about was quite varied.

This morning, I was talking to my boyfriend about Twitter and remarked that he’s been online for a few months, he has a clearer idea of how he wishes to communicate (or, to be artistic here, he understands his online “voice”).  It’s something that I have to remember to make clear in an upcoming presentation, that this understanding of “who you are online – be it on Twitter, Facebook, a Blog etc. – does not come immediately.  And it takes some playing around and trial and error for most to figure out what they are comfortable with and what works for them or their business or organization.

When I first started to blog, it was on my humor blog – and actually didn’t realize that that would be the theme of my blog.  In fact, the first few posts were random essays and rants. I only discovered what I would be motivated to post about (i.e. absurdities) after a month or two.

There were also other discoveries – such as after a week or two on Twitter, I realized that I wasn’t too keen on posting about what I was doing- and made the executive decision that no one would be the least bit interested.  Like most, I am not exciting 24hrs a day.  Sure, 5-7 times a day, I’m entertaining. And if that’s all I tweet, I’m golden.  Posting more often, or potentially a log of everything I was doing, would break that illusion (e.g. 6am: “Working on the computer, as you can ascertain”, 8am: “Time to eat” 10am: “Still working on the computer, now at a coffee shop”, 6pm “Time to eat 7pm: “Back to working on computer again”).

So my succinct advice about authenticity online would be: “be real, but like, better.”

Yours?

Confession: I don’t use LinkedIn well or often. Frankly, when I got on it just felt too “stuffy”, and I still get that sense.

While Twitter and Facebook feel lively and energetic (the interface, the way the tool works, the way people interact), LinkedIn feels like one of those sterile networking events where people are trying to make contacts but there’s no actual engagement or conversation

(If only Linkedin were as interesting as this "LinkedIn smurfs" photo by 99zeros

I like the “Introductions” concept.  If you’re looking to make contact with a particular person and you discover that he/she is only separated by a degree or two, it makes sense to try to connect .  Of course, in that case, I’d simply find out who to contact using Linkedin – and then Google to find the person’s email.  I could then shoot them an email, mentioning our mutual connection – without going through Linkedin’s own (unlovable) messaging system…

Other than that, I haven’t found much on Linkedin that you couldn’t do in a more personal and engaging way on another site (mainly Twitter or Facebook).

But, because I don’t like something, doesn’t necessarily make it irrelevant.  (I wish! Physical Sciences seem to have stuck around, regardless.  Go figure.)

Many find LinkedIn extremely useful.  I have a friend who swears by the site. It’s been invaluable for him in terms of  making connections.  And while I relish the ability to be casual and “myself” online, I recognize some don’t believe business and personal should mix as much as most social sites encourage/accept.  Especially if you find Facebook to be too personal (“Who cares what interpretive dance performance my acquaintance is going to…?” ), LinkedIn can be an especially appealing social networking tool.

So, in the interest of fairness, let’s look at what LinkedIn can actually do.

It gives you the ability to (among other things):

• see who your contacts and friends are connected to in a business sense (e.g. who do they know well and have worked with).
• research people/companies (“What’s that person like to work with? Should/could I work with them? Looks like some people I know have worked with her – I’ll ask them.”)
• request and receive public recommendations (that never hurts)
• mention what you are up to (using the “status”/”what are you working on?” update.)
• ask for advice from the Linkedin populace as a whole, or from your friends.
• request a contact make an introduction to someone in their connections with whom you’d like to establish contact.

Recently Linkedin has been making strides to make the platform more appetizing, adding SlideShare and blog post integration (and other applications) as well as “Groups“

And my problem with the site “not being fun”, is in a sense, missing the point.  It’s likely not supposed to be.

As Bernard Lunn writes on RedWriteWeb:

“We want to spend as little time as possible so that we can get the job done, get off our computers, and have a life. LinkedIn is the most efficient place to hunt for customers and employees. It is the first real change in productivity for those who work on the front lines of business.”

LinkedIn also has an “Events” feature – and you certainly can see (and be apprised of) the events your friends are attending – but there’s more.  It trumps the usual events features by offering:

“…recommendations based on the contents of your profile” in your newsfeed. (Marshall Kirkpatrick on Mashable.)

And in How to Get the Most Out of LinkedIn by Brian Wallace remarks that:

“The old adage that “it isn’t what you know, it’s who you know” still holds value. LinkedIn takes this thought one step further, making it “who you will know soon to be of utmost importance.” Using LinkedIn, I’ve trained small businesses to spread their wings and get connected with companies that they might otherwise have thought were beyond reach, and to the persons they were looking for in those companies.”

Indeed, it is often more efficient (and more exact) to search for contacts at a company using Linkedin then to use the “About the Team” page (assuming they even have one) on their website.

Further, LinkedIn lets you know where your connections are now – even if you’ve lost touch or are out-of-the-loop: once you upload your address book, it checks to see who’s on board and you could reconnect with people for whom you have outdated emails:

“I had old emails for people who had changed jobs; LinkedIn automatically showed me where they work now (I assume based on email forwarding).” (Bernard Lunn on RedWriteWeb)

So, clearly, some people are getting value out of LinkedIn.  Are you?
____

Stay tuned: in the next post, I’ll be looking at Linkedin for NonProfits. Update: Well, no, I won’t.  It’s just off the priority list right now – but I did find a great “A Visual Guide To LinkedIn For Job Hunters” and since I feel that networking is a bit like Job Hunting, it’s appropriate. Or maybe it isn’t and I just love the tips and visuals in it. Your call.

I have been lax about posting items of particular interest to artists. Mea culpa.

Photo Credit: Marshall Astor - Food Pornographer "Chonburi International Art Exhibition - Marshall Astor - Year of the Comet - Painting Helpers from Friend Art"

Here are a few enlightening articles I’ve come across:

David Spark’s Mashable post, “12 Inspiring Stories of Successful Social Networkers“, has an amazing example of the value of twittering for your character:

“Having blown all their budget on production, “My Two Fans” had no money for advertising, so off a friend’s recommendation, Swatek decided to start Twittering as her character, Kate Maxwell (@KateMaxwell). To get some fodder for Twittering and to find her audience, Swatek began following businesses and people that could relate to her show, such as dating sites, single women, girl power groups, fan clubs, etc.”

(Note: more on the topic of Twittering for characters on this previous post and on Gillian Shaw’s story.)

Beth Kanter offers the amazingly comprehensive post “Arts Organizations and Artists 2.0: Social Media for Arts People” which also mentions the value of using a blog as a showcase:

“For individual artists, a blog can also help sell or promote their work. Here’s some artists personal blogs that support their gallery sites where they sell their work — A Planet Named Janet, Self VS Self, PaMdora’s Box and Jen Lemen.”

& Jacob Morgan and Josh Peters recently released their (free) “Social Media for Authors Ebook – chock full of useful suggestions, e.g. using Scribd:

“…upload any documents you want to share. Views, downloads, likes, comments, and favorites stats are plainly displayed on the page so you can see how popular the document has been. This can be used for anything from posting up a teaser to your next book to providing a free downloadable short story as a fan bonus. The settings for the documents (like if they can be downloaded or not) are easily set and Scribd serves as a great way to get your writing out to other people.”

Any other cool stuff you’ve come across lately?  Please share!

I’m very excited to be working on social media promotion for Vancouver Digital Week!

One of the reason I’m jazzed about this series is because I loved  last year’s Convergence and Vidfest.  I was particularly impressed with James McCraken’s talk as well as the one on Alternate Reality Games from 42 Entertainment.  I love events that allow for the soaking up of information and siphoning off great minds – and there was no shortage of that last year.  It looks like this year will be pretty formidable as well.

What is Vancouver Digital Week?
(Yes, I will be asking and answering my own questions, btw – just like that self-important guy you met last week.)

Vancouver Digital Week, which runs from May 11 – 14, 2009 (mostly at the Vancouver Exhibition and Convention Centre – West – i.e. the new one at 1055 Canada Place), is a series of digital media events for people involved in, or interested in, the following industries:

• games and digital entertainment
• social media
• interactive design, animation and VFX

It includes international business match-making, big picture conference sessions, high-level seminars and workshops, as well as loads of networking parties.

You can register for an event by going to the particular event site (see below).

What events are part of Vancouver Digital Week?

(Click on the photo to see notes  – including dates and websites)

What’s especially cool about this event?

I’m glad you asked!

• DAVID PLOUFFE, Campaign Manager, Obama for America will be the keynote speaker at Convergence.
• There’s a 2-day Game Developers conference
• nextMEDIA Vancouver offers a program which connects the digital worlds of Music, Advertising and Broadcast (including sessions that discuss self-promotion for artists through technology, which I’m particularly psyched about)
• New Media BC’s PopVox Awards which honour the best of BC’s Digital Media Industry.  It is a people’s choice contest so the winners are determined by the audience.
  • You can purchase tickets for the gala on the New Media BC site.
  • And you can vote for your faves – but only until tomorrow (April 30th)!  – Go to the  Popvox site to vote (click on a category to see the entries – and you can vote for as many).
  • There also 4 Individual Standout Awards that you can nominate people for (though these winners will be decided by a jury. )
• And much more.

Where can I find information Vancouver Digital Week?

• On Twitter – @vandigweek and @popvoxawards
• On Facebook - The Fan Page is here.
• On their sites -Vancouver Digital Week has a blog and Popvox has a site.

Update: Tags! Please tag Vancouver Digital Week as #vdw09 on Twitter, and vdw09 on Youtube, Flickr etc. (you can also add the following re: Popvox  #popvox09 on Twitter and popvox09 on Youtube, Flickr etc.)

Thanks all!

My “Mistakes, Mayhem and Music – April 24, 2009 Week in Review” is now up on One Degree.

You can read it there. It’s funky, fly and fresh

I just read an excellent post by Penelope Trunk “8 Reasons Why You Won’t Make Money from Your Blog” which begins:

“I am actually shocked at how ubiquitous the idea is that blogging is a get-rich-quick scheme. Or even a get-rich-slowly scheme. It’s not. Blogging is a great career tool for creating opportunities for yourself.”

Thank you.  I have a brilliant friend who consistently asks me, “So are you making money yet from your blog?” When I try to explain something like, “Well, not directly, I use the blog as a marketing tool” he looks at me each time like I had just announced I was going to give up all my worldly possessions and go run a lemonade stand.

Here’s the thing. I enjoy blogging – and both of my blogs have very separate purposes – neither of which involves making money directly from the writing.

I also feel it’s OK to not make money from your blog. Getting income from your blog involves a myriad of steps including building an audience (a huge undertaking), writing very, very regularly, devoting almost full-time attention to the blog alone and much, much more.  If writing a blog was satisfying enough for me to write full-time, and if I sincerely believed I could come up with decent material daily, and if I wanted to devote my energy to building a following rather than doing the work I like to do and leading the life I want (which sometimes involves stepping away from the computer), the story would be different.

As it is, my blog goals aren’t directly monetary.  With that in mind, here are just some things a blog can do:

• Establish your authority on a subject (I recently got a speaking gig through someone finding my blog)
• Make friends & Connect with people like you
• Engage in interesting discussion/Learn from others
• Show yourself as 3 dimensional
• Keep people up-to-date with what you’re doing (useful for all, especially artists with a following)

I have to admit that anytime someone comments here, or riffs on something I’ve written on DOL, or tells me I’ve made them laugh – it, in all sincerity, makes my day.  Which has loads of non-monetary value for me.

Now, I have to sign off.  There’s a lemonade stand that’s not going to build itself.