Selected by mikesansone

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  Angela Maiers Educational Services

• Chalk Talk - 11/06/09

  Angela Maiers

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:50 pm

  Chalk Talk Friday represents conversations and brilliance I've discovered traversing my way through the Blogosphere.  From professional to personal development, these are the posts and links have in some way touched my head or my heart The Complete Guide to Google Wave - I think this is going to be a great, real-time collaborative tool (and there's more than that under the hood). More Google, this time Google Fusion Tables - possibly the next best assessment tool. A great wiki full of resources on Student Engagement 6 Fantastic Resources for Twitter in Education by my pal, Dr. Z…

• Who has the Acronym pedia?

  Angela Maiers

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:46 am

  They help me learn, they assist me in teaching. I know some teachers have a love/hate relationship with acronyms.  Truth be told -- I love, love, love acronyms. How do you use acronyms, particularly acronym creating in your classrooms?  And does anyone have an Acronym-pedia?  An Acronymtionary?  Wouldn't that be a fun project? Here's a recent acronym I used to help explain how to G.R.O.W. learners (more on how I used it in a different piece): GROWView more presentations from angelamaiers. What's your favorite acronym and how do you use it?

• Who Are Their Learning Heroes -- and Why?

  Angela Maiers

  3 Nov 2009 | 3:36 am

  Image via WikipediaIn my years as a classroom teacher -- busy with planning instruction, creating lessons, addressing a standard -- it is only after exploring learning success in a broader sense, that I really understood how to teach students to be successful learners and not just wish it upon them. By understanding the anatomy of those who have achieved success, it has allowed me to turn encouragement into action and instruction. For the successful learner, learning is not the end -- but the process they use to achieve goals and the feeling of pride and satisfaction in their…

• Training like Champions

  Angela Maiers

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:15 am

  To Be a Champion, You Must Train Like a Champion" -Author Unknown- Every successful learner knows that if you want to be good at something, find someone who is better and learn from them. This timeless model of apprentice has been a successful training secret of all who have reached greatness. Even our wisest recognize the power of effective modeling; Aristotle kept a picture of Plato on his wall for guidance and inspiration. I have studied winning champions and heroes from every field. Great philosophers and world leaders, professional athletes and top business executives, parents and…

• Reflections Of Octoberings

  Angela Maiers

  31 Oct 2009 | 9:34 am

  I like to use the transition of the monthly calendar  as a way to look back at the previous month's best posts (and the years before that)  October 2009 Are Your Students in Charge of Their Own Questioning? Professional Learning Together Discussion: Is Curiosity Valued in Your Classroom? IdeaPaint: Let Your Students Make Their Mark October 2008 Be Fearless! Poverty of Funds of Knowledge? Reading as an Act of Engagement Classroom Habitudes: Teaching 21st Century Learning Habits and Attitudes October 2007 Listen to Writing Reflecting on Reflection On Fire for Learning

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  The Marketing Minute

• How do you see your clients

  Drew McLellan

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:21 pm

  A client of ours, E-Myth Benchmark, who does excellent work with small business leaders (including yours truly) has this philosophy about their clients:"Our clients are much greater than they know.  It's our honor to help them discover that truth about themselves."Imagine if every time you answered the phone, shot off an e-mail or met with a client, you were filled with that attitude.   How might that change the dynamics of your relationship?  How would a bit of reverence change your company's culture?I've said it before....if you can't…

• Free chapter chock full of marketing "ah ha!"

  Drew McLellan

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:30 pm

  I love many things about blogging and social media.  But the #1 reason I love it is because it has afforded me the opportunity to meet some really wonderful, smart people. And sometimes it feels as though we've known each other forever.  That's certainly true for me of Gavin Heaton, CK, Lori Magno, Luc Debaisieux and many others.  But there's this agency guy named Jay Heyman who lives in New York City -- and he and I connect in a whole different way.  For some odd reason, we end up writing posts on the same subject or about the same subject on a regular basis! Which of…

• What I'm reading (11/01/09)

  Drew McLellan

  1 Nov 2009 | 6:57 am

  Sorry I've been lax with this feature in October.  It wasn't that I was not reading....but I've been on the road and at conferences just about all month and I just didn't have time to get this post built.None the less, here's what I've been reading these past few weeks and my take on each. Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz (buy it here) If you think you've already read this book -- you haven't.  Andy did a revised version in early 2009 and added lots of new case studies, worksheets and even some new chapters.  So don't be fooled.

• How to make time for social media: Twitter

  Drew McLellan

  31 Oct 2009 | 6:53 pm

  As I traverse across the country talking about social media, whether it's with clients one-on-one or with conference attendees from a stage -- the "I don't have time" mantra is a common response to the conversation.   I'm with you.  I get the time crunch thing.  I'm caught between that same rock and hard place.  But...I have figured out some ways to create time/time savers when it comes to social media.  So, I thought I would share what works for me, with the hopes that you can steal some of these ideas/tools. I'm not saying…

• If they'll play on your site, they'll pay on your site

  Drew McLellan

  29 Oct 2009 | 2:00 am

  Last year, I told you about Meijer, a 180 big box store in the Midwest and the very cool promotion they unleashed on Chicago and Cincinnati around Halloween.  Their headless horseman rode wild through the streets...having some fun scaring the downtown crowd. Well this year, they've upped the ante.  They've created a 3D experience where you can "put on a mask" and record a Halloween greeting.  Basically, it's a digital hologram called augmented reality.  (Kevin Dugan explains it better than I can.)Using this technology and your webcam, you can…

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  Logic+Emotion

• A Conversation Worth Sponsoring (Thank You To The Art of Shaving)

  David Armano

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:35 am

  When Aaron Strout approached me about participating in Movember (through the Movember foundation which facilitates donations for Mens health issues such as testicular cancer), I was a bit apprehensive. I mean, I do a lot of talks/work with clients and it's hard to be taken seriously with a 'stash that came out of nowhere. I also thought about how much work it would take to hit up my network and raise funds for a great cause. It's never easy to ask people for money. Then the "marketer" in me started thinking. Wouldn't there be a brand out there who would want to get involved with this? What…

• 15 Top Social Media Agencies [del.icio.us]

  darmano

• How To Create Advocates For Your Business

  David Armano

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:47 am

  So what is customer advocacy anyway? Well for starters, they don't have to be your customers—they can be any part of your entire constituency. Employees, business partners, friends—you name it. But here's the point. You need them more than ever. Right now, if you are planning social initiatives, your biggest challenge is going to be manpower. Someone has to do the listening, the outreach, the customer service, the participation, the engagement with others in the ecosystem. Some parts can be automated (such as an algorithm in a listening tool technology), but many other parts require…

• Six Social Media Trends For 2010

  David Armano

  3 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am

  Originally posted on The Harvard Business Review blogIn 2009 we saw exponential growth of social media. According to Nielson Online, Twitter alone grew 1,382% year-over-year in February, registering a total of just more than 7 million unique visitors in the US for the month. Meanwhile, Facebook continued to outpace MySpace. So what could social media look like in 2010? In 2010, social media will get even more popular, more mobile, and more exclusive — at least, that's my guess. What are the near-term trends we could see as soon as next year? In no particular order: 1. Social media begins to…

• 4 Myths about blocking Internet access in the enterprise | Capping IT Off | Capgemini | Consulting, Technology, Outsourcing [del.icio.us]

  darmano

  Cap Gemini encourages companies to allow access to social networks while blocking it themselves

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  Conversation Agent

• Is Your Conversation About Scarcity or Abundance?

  Valeria Maltoni

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  You need to decide now, because your results depend on the answer. I have a problem with scarcity mindset - it's myopic, unnecessarily restrictive, and in fact destructive for you and your organization. Scarcity presupposes that you're the center of the universe, that the work box is the only box available for packing a life, and it doesn't have a good ending. It's a very lonely ending. Yesterday we talked about the difference between getting recognition for its own sake and getting the idea done. The latter is in the abundance camp. Which incidentally is the same place or context where weak…

• Participation and Getting Ideas Done

  Valeria Maltoni

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  [Maestro Salieri and the priest, from Amadeus, 2:35]This week, so far, we talked about setting up listening posts to serve customers better as first line of response and to be proactive, building a framework to develop valuable content to deliver as a service, and measurement. Today we focus on participation. That mix of attention, time, interaction, with a sprinkle of human thrown into it that makes relationships start and grow.What did you see in the movie clip above? [hat tip Rohit Barghava for leading me to Amadeus] Antonio Salieri was the most famous composer in Europe. He wrote 40…

• Avinash Kaushik, Web Analytics 2.0

  Valeria Maltoni

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  “In God we trust, all others bring data.” — Framed plaque from the ‘60s at NASA’s Johnson Space CenterWhen it comes to deep smarts, curiosity, with practical advice and sprinkled with a healthy dose of good humor, I cannot think of anyone more qualified than Avinash Kaushik. He's not only a real dynamo in all matters analytics, he's also a genuinely passionate, interesting, and kind person. Think that he wrote the answers to our conversation while his hand was healing from an injury because he had made a promise.Every single one of his posts - and now I can say the same for the…

• Developing a B2B Content Strategy: Start with Who

  Valeria Maltoni

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  Businesses that want to create long-term sustainable growth will be increasingly moving towards connected company status. That is the place where being social benefits the business by providing insights, strengthening relationships with partners and customers, and building and connecting a community with common grounds and needs. In many organizations, the listening post resides within the marketing group. As we discussed yesterday here and on Twitter, customer service should co-own the space and collaborate to develop big ears during customer conversations and interactions. In many B2B…

• Twitter, Customer Service, and Good Brand Management

  Valeria Maltoni

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  If monitoring conversations and knowing what you're listening for is the first ingredient in good online best practices, knowing when and how to respond is much more than good etiquette. It's become an integral aspect of brand management and can mean the difference between a flop - or worse, a crisis - and a deposit in your company's reputation bank.It's easy to dismiss Twitter's usefulness as a tool. That is until you figure out that on Twitter you can find mentions of your brand and you can actually connect with customers directly and provide a first line of response. Chances are, that in…

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  Jeremiah Owyang

• Insights for CMOs: Writing Column For Forbes

  jeremiah_owyang

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:28 am

  I’m very thankful that Forbes has extended me an offer to be a regular contributor discussing emerging technologies for the evolving customer strategy. CMOs are hungry for information. Marketing leaders are finding that they have to quickly evolve as the media and marketing landscape is quickly changing from emerging technologies like social tools.  As a result, they are thirsty for what’s next, and how they can get ahead of the curve –with minimal risk. This regular monthly (or more) column on the Forbes CMO network (@ForbesCMO) isn’t reporting, but instead will…

• People on the Move in the Social Media Industry: Nov 6, 2009

  jeremiah_owyang

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:02 am

  Things appear to be picking up in the economy, and I’d like to continue to recognize those moving in the social media space. I’ve started this post series (see archives) to both track and congratulate folks who get promoted, move, or accept new exciting positions. Please help me congratulate the following folks: Mike Pascucci leaves AAA Mid-Atlantic, and accepts the job of Social Media Strategist with Ektron, a Content Management System (CMS) company based out of Nashua, NH. Find him on Twitter at @mikepascucci. Kingsely Joseph leaves Salesforce and joins Digital Chocolate an…

• How Facebook’s Open Strategy Shifts The Roadmap for Corporate Marketing and Support

  jeremiah_owyang

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:20 am

  Bold Strategy Bolsters Users, Developers, and Brands In a recent meeting at Facebook HQ, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Facebook is opening its doors to share roadmaps, data, and it’s experience.  This strategy shifts attention towards Facebook.com as a sole destination, and towards a distributed network to the open web.  Looking deeper, these impacts should shape your corporate web strategy as you re-allocate resources for application development, prepare for Social CRM, and prepare your corporate webpages to become “Facebook Fan Page” enabled. To Combat…

• Quicktake: The Impacts Of Google’s Social Search

  jeremiah_owyang

  31 Oct 2009 | 5:02 am

  Currently, search results serve up content that is popular –but not necessarily content that is accurate or relevant to your needs. With Google’s Social Search feature, it will serve up results based on a users’ specific contact list, here’s how it works: Using the recently launched Google Profile product, users will be able to add their name, then list out the various social networks they are part of. Google goes to work and finds out who’s your friend in those social networks, then applies it to it’s search algorithm. The end result? Search queries now…

• Behind Closed Doors: What’s On the Mind Of Chief Marketing Officers

  jeremiah_owyang

  30 Oct 2009 | 9:45 am

  We attended the Forbes CMO Summit in sunny Palm Beach, to learn what’s on the minds of executive marketing leaders. The conversation from this group regarding social was more sophisticated, which Charlene and I don’t think is reflective of most chief marketing groups we speak with. What’s unique about these Forbes CMOs? Perhaps they are more progressive, well read, and tuned into the rapid changes coming. In consideration to attendees of this event, I won’t be giving any specific individual quotes, (this wasn’t a media event) but instead, I’ll focus on the insights related to…

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  Copyblogger

• The Oscar the Grouch Guide to Building a More Remarkable Blog

  Sonia Simone

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:33 am

  This week marked the 40th anniversary of the breakthrough TV program Sesame Street. I’ve written before about some of the many lessons you can learn from this cultural icon, but today I’m going to zero in something new. You might have an Elmo blog, a Cookie Monster blog, or a Big Bird blog. (How you define those is up to you.) But some of the smartest and most successful bloggers out there bear more in common with the show’s least-likeable character: Oscar the Grouch. Oscar was an important character from the show’s beginning, and on the surface he doesn’t seem to quite fit in.

• Here’s Something to Think (and Talk) About

  Brian Clark

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:55 am

  I’m flying to New York City today for the Audience Conference, so I thought I’d share a quotation about the relationship between writers (or any content creator) and the people they hope to connect with. When talented people write badly it’s generally for one of two reasons: Either they’re blinded by an idea they feel compelled to prove or they’re driven by an emotion they must express. When talented people write well, it is generally for this reason: They’re moved by a desire to touch the audience. ~Robert McKee Let’s discuss. What do McKee’s words mean to you? About the…

• Get Off Your Computer and Become a Better Blogger

  James Chartrand

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:45 am

  Bloggers spend a lot of time on their computers. They’re posting, reading, commenting on other blogs, sending Tweets, checking half a dozen social networking sites, and generally being web-geeky. They find something interesting or random, and then clue in other people to that interesting or random thing. This is how blog posts gain steam on Digg or go viral. This is how we find out about new YouTube videos. This is how we communicate now. Except we don’t. We were people before we were bloggers Think about the blogs that you like the most. Like, to pick a totally random example,…

• The Quentin Tarantino Guide to Creating Killer Content

  Sean Platt

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:58 am

  In a recent Copyblogger post discussing how the king of content is being slowly usurped by the Crown Prince of Context, author Larry Brooks referenced the remarkable opening scene of Quentin Tarantino’s new movie Inglourious Basterds. There are few writers like Tarantino, and though his verbal carpet bombs and kinetic escalation of violence aren’t for everyone, there is no doubt that the dude follows his muse. Those who love him will eagerly wait in lines wrapped around the block to show their support. In short, Tarantino sells it every time. And by it, I mean an ironclad belief in…

• How to Get Lucky With Content Marketing

  Traci Feit Love

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:36 am

  Do you feel like you’re fighting for every page view your blog receives? Do you wonder why you’re struggling to find readers when other bloggers seem to just hit “publish” and the world comes running? It may be tempting to throw up your hands and say, “those other guys have all the luck,” but it won’t get you anywhere. The truth is, those “lucky” people are doing something you’re not doing. (Or they’re doing what you are doing, but better.) If you want to get lucky, you’re going to have to give up the “poor…

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  Dangerously Irrelevant

• The (un)certainty of professional persistence

  dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:13 am

  There has been a lot of good discussion on my post about the future of books, libraries, librarians, and schools (thank you, everyone). In addition to the comments on the post itself, there are some excellent thoughts elsewhere as well: Flat World Library Corporation Dangerously irrelevant libraries Ten hard questions Random questions on future libraries by Scott McLeod I was struck, however, by something that Erin Downey said in her own post: What has, does, and will distinguish us from [coffee shops, community centers, and Internet cafes] are LIBRARIANS. Your barista doesn't know…

• Data-driven decision-making resources from CASTLE

  dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:32 am

  I have done a lot of work over the years on various data-driven decision-making projects. I've taught courses, given workshops, delivered multi-day institutes for state departments of education and corporate partners, and written book chapters and white papers.I collected some of the highlights of that work on my new DDDM page here at Dangerously Irrelevant. Resources include some of the products from my work with Microsoft, the American Psychological Association, the Chicago Public Schools, the Minnesota Department of Education, and others. I hope these are useful to you. Happy reading!

• Are we too connected?

  dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:09 am

  WHO TV (Des Moines) aired a special report, Are we too connected?, on last night’s news broadcast. Among others, they interviewed me and Dr. Michael Bugeja, Professor and Director of Iowa State University’s Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. I have interacted with Michael a couple of times. He’s a very good guy and a fun guy to talk with, but he’s also a nationally-visible technology critic who is interviewed often by the media. His technology skepticism is probably understandable given that his entire profession is struggling to reinvent itself because of the impacts…

• 10 questions about books, libraries, librarians, and schools

  dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:06 am

  [cross-posted at LeaderTalk] October apparently was ‘Library Month’ for me. I was the keynote speaker for the Minnesota MEMO conference and did a breakout session for the Iowa Library Association (ILA) conference. I also brought Dr. Mike Eisenberg to Iowa for three days to talk with school administrators about technology and information literacy. As a result, I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on books, reading, and the future of libraries and librarians… Random questions What constitutes a “book” these days? When books become electronic and thus become searchable,…

• Marge Beatty, Nebraska ESU 16, talks about 1:1 laptop programs

  dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

  1 Nov 2009 | 12:44 pm

  [cross-posted at CASTLE's 1-to-1 Schools blog] While at Nebraska’s first-ever Educational Administrators Technology Conference, I learned that 8 of the 16 districts in Educational Service Unit 16 have 1:1 laptop programs. Marge Beatty, chief administrator for the ESU, was willing to let me ask her a few questions. Happy viewing!

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  The Viral Garden

• #blogchat update and how you can be involved!

  Mack Collier

  7 Nov 2009 | 6:09 am

  As many of you know, for several months now we've been meeting on Twitter every Sunday nite at 8pm CT for #blogchat. This is where we discuss various topics concerning blogs and sometimes other forms of social media.The chat has become very popular (thanks to you!), and that's gotten me to thinking about how that popularity can relate to this post on how we need to find ways to focus on new voices.You see, one of the things that's been sorely missing from #blogchat is someone that can do a recap of each week's chat. I simply don't have the time, and it's really tough for any one person to…

• Stop asking the wrong blogging questions

  Mack Collier

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:47 am

  Whether you are a new or seasoned blogger, many of you likely have many of the same questions:"How do I get more readers?""How do I get more comments on my posts?""What about blog subscribers? How do I get more of them?""How can I use Twitter to drive more traffic back to my blog? Or Facebook, or Friendfeed?"Notice that all of these questions are focused on YOU, the blogger. How YOU can get something.What if you instead asked this question: "What superpower will I give my readers?"I'm totally channeling Kathy Sierra here, but think of your blog as a telephone booth, and your reader is Clark…

• Social media needs fewer rockstars, and more rockstar ideas

  Mack Collier

  26 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

  Last week at the Marketing Profs Digital Marketing Mixer, I was struck at how many amazingly deep and brilliant conversations I had with so many people. Well this is to be expected, you might say, when you spend a few days in the company of such social media smarties as Ann Handley, Beth Harte, David Armano, Jay Baer and Amber Naslund.But here's the thing; most of those great conversations didn't happen with these people. In fact, they were with people that most of you probably haven't heard of. Heck I hadn't heard of many of them till I was introduced to them at the event.And that's been…

• Marketing Profs Digital Marketing Mixer: Recap

  Mack Collier

  22 Oct 2009 | 8:00 pm

  It's officially 'The Morning After' the latest Marketing Profs conference, the Digital Marketing Mixer. People are always asking me 'What are the best social media conferences to attend?' and the Marketing Profs' events are always at the top of my list.I think if there was a general theme at this year's event for me, it was 'How do we integrate social media into what we are already doing?' And this is a progression from where we were last year, which was still 'What the hell is Twitter/Facebook, anyway?' The problem I see (and this is in general, definitely not just at this event) is that too…

• Marketing Profs Digital Marketing Mixer : Day One

  Mack Collier

  21 Oct 2009 | 8:31 pm

  My brain is full of social media and marketing goodness from the Marketing Profs Digital Mixer, but I wanted to give you my takeaways and thoughts from Day One.The day for me started with the Blog Hot Seat Lab, and in talking with the attendees, I think blogging companies should keep these points in mind:1 - Assume every visitor to your blog arrived there by accident, has never heard of your blog, and has no idea what it's there for. The point is, you need to organize your blog so within 3-4 seconds, any visitor can see who you are, what you do, and why the blog is there. Make this info very…

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  Moving at the Speed of Creativity

• Internet addiction a growing concern

  Wesley Fryer

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:04 pm

  Amanda MacMillan’s article last month for CNN Health, “Internet addiction linked to ADHD, depression in teens” highlights a troubling study from Taiwan pointing to widespread Internet addiction problems faced by adults as well as youth. This paragraph really got my attention: Our culture practically mandates time online, he (Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis of the Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, in Seattle) says, with Wi-Fi connections in coffee shops and BlackBerries and iPhones that allow Internet access almost anywhere. “It would be as if we mandated…

• A proposed student social media protest campaign for NYSCATE

  Wesley Fryer

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:46 pm

  Sylvia Martinez is spot on in her post today, “Students are not the enemy.” Shame on the vendor and vendor representative, Sophos and Chris Ridgway, for sharing an upcoming session at NYSCATE (The New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education) conference titled, “The Enemy Within: Stop Students from Bypassing Your Web Filters.” Sylvia points out correctly that our students are NOT the enemy. Any professional who makes this claim should be reprimanded and corrected. Sadly, the title of this session makes visible the attitude of some school…

• A perfect soup dumpling ending to our China adventure

  Wesley Fryer

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:05 am

  Wednesday night Shelly and I joined friends in Shanghai for a culminating dining experience at Din Tai Feng. If you ever have an opportunity to eat at one of their restaurants in China or elsewhere, don’t miss their soup dumplings. They are AMAZING! (Full panorama: 2758 x 870) (Full panorama: 3770 x 970) These iPhone panoramic photos were created using the $3 app Pano. I’ve shared seven panoramic photos from Shanghai and sixteen panoramic photos from Hangzhou in my Flickr collection, 21C Learning @ Hongzhou, China. My favorite is this one of the Chenghuang Miao area at night, in…

• Podcast333: Reflections on Social Media, School Change, 21st Century Learning Skills, and China

  Wesley Fryer

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:15 pm

  This podcast is a reflection I recorded on a flight back to the United States from the October / November 2009  21st Century Learning Conference in Hongzhou, China. There are some issues about which I am reticent to blog, given their poliltical sensitivity in China, but want to share and reflect upon because of the importance they have for a variety of reasons. In this podcast I reflect about social media, the similarities faced by Chinese as well as U.S. educational leaders seeking to integrate digital technologies and 21st century skills into formal school settings, and the opportunities…

• Creativity and Innovation in Chinese Society and Schools

  Wesley Fryer

  3 Nov 2009 | 3:54 pm

  Yesterday our international group (composed of educators from the UK, Australia, and the US) had the opportunity to visit both Hangzhou Normal University as well as Zhejiang University here in Hangzhou, China, just outside of Shanghai. (full panorama: 4154 x 976) Hangzhou currently has a population of about 13 million people, Shanghai has a population of about 26 million. In Oklahoma, were I live, our state population is about 3.5 million. Zhejiang is one of five major universities here in Hangzhou, and has 39,000 students. We visited two of their campuses. In this photograph, the translator…

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  How to Change the World

• The 19 bloggers Inc. thinks you should read

  GuyKawasaki

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pm

  Inc. named 19 bloggers that you should read. We’ve aggregated them all in one place: Inc19.alltop.

• How to Get Found

  GuyKawasaki

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:29 pm

  The reality is that people and technology is getting better and better a blocking out unwanted interruptions—aka, “marketing.” Brian Halligan is the CEO of HubSpot, and he explains in my post on the American Express Open Forum “how to get found.” It’s all about creating great stuff and letting Google et al do what they do: find great stuff.

• How I tweet

  GuyKawasaki

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:47 am

  By popular demand (and some complaints), I’ve done a FAQ with myself about how I tweet. Hope this helps you use Twitter for your business too. I explain how I use ghostwriters and why I repeat my tweets among other “unusual” practices.

• Current Twitter Demo Script

  GuyKawasaki

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:26 am

  This is the set of links that I used to demo Twitter by going down through this list to show why Twitter is such a valuable marketing tool. Introduction Home page Profile page Monitor Search Guy Kawasaki or Alltop Starbucks VIA introduction Search for “Prius” or “Civic” Sell Dell Outlet Kogi BBQ Support Comcast Cares Engage JetBlue Virgin America Fandango Prospect Camaro Camaro near Palo Alto Advanced searches Surfing or skateboarding (shows how to eliminate extraneous results such as “surfing the web” How I Tweet - Find Alltop MyAlltop helped me find this.

• How to Avoid Twitter Cluelessness

  GuyKawasaki

  26 Oct 2009 | 4:24 pm

  Over at the American Express Open Forum blog, I explain how to not look clueless on Twitter. The first five ways are: Don’t tell other people how to tweet. Don’t tell the world that you unfollowed someone. Don’t ask people why they unfollowed you. Don’t constantly tweet mundane updates and babble. Don’t use a small picture for an avatar. To read all ten and why they impugn your intelligence, click here.

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  Presentation Zen

• Using Kuler to create color themes

  Garr

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:21 am

  Although scores of good books on color theory have been written — many even for non-designers — most working professionals just do not have the time to delve deeply into a study of the complexities of using color. The good news is that there are online resources that can help you create harmonious color themes without requiring advance knowledge in color theory. There are a few really good online resources such as ColorSchemer and Colourlovers, but my personal favorite is Kuler. Kuler is a web-based color tool from Adobe that has thousands of community-generated color themes from which…

• Presentación Zen: Por fin! La versión en español ya está disponible

  Garr

  28 Oct 2009 | 10:04 pm

  I'm happy to announce that the Presentation Zen book is finally available in Spanish. The book follows the same design and layout as the original English version. Spanish was the most requested translation so we're delighted that it is finally on sale. I'm not sure exactly where you can get the book in your area, but here is info on the Pearson Educación website. Above: A photo of the front and back covers.The Presentation Zen DVD on Amazon and elsewhere also includes Spanish (and Japanese and English) subtitles. Thanks to everyone at Pearson for their hard work and to everyone across the…

• The art of control without controlling, doing without doing

  Garr

  26 Oct 2009 | 3:01 am

  As a leader — in business, education, or design — how much control do you need? How much can you give up? Is control even the right word? Is it possible to lead without leading? Here is a great TED talk that will get you thinking that has applications for leaders of all types. Former conductor Itay Talgam today runs workshops to help people develop a musician's sense of collaboration, and a conductor's sense of leadership. In this excellent talk at TED Oxford, Itay touches on the art of creating perfect harmony without saying a word by showing the unique styles of six great 20th-century…

• Tokonoma and the art of the focal point

  Garr

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:14 am

  Every good design needs a focal point. This goes for the design of interior living spaces as well. In many Western homes, the mantel place in the living room is often a focal point from which other interior design elements are added in a more or less symmetrical fashion. In traditional Japanese homes or modern homes containing a washitsu (Japanese-style room) it is the Tokonoma (床の間) that serves as the subtle focal point for the interior. The tokonoma (lit: floor/bed + space) is a raised alcove in which Japanese art such as a hanging scroll (Kakemono) or a flower arrangement is…

• Sumi-e, color, and the art of less

  Garr

  5 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pm

  A fundamental design and life lesson from the Zen arts is to never use more when less will do. This goes for the use of color as well. The problem with most slide presentations is not that visuals contain too few colors, it's that they contain too many. A common practice is to use several different vivid hues (colors) in presentation slides when even a single hue in various shades or tints would have been more effective. The ancient art of Japanese brush painting called Sumi-e (墨絵) provides a powerful lesson concerning the use of color, communication, and restraints. Sumi-e was brought to…

• 
  Micro Persuasion

• Five Incredibly Useful Things You Can Do Without Ever Leaving Facebook

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:31 pm

  I have been spending a fair amount of time on Facebook since they updated the news feed feature, mostly because I can get a quick read on what's new. I like how they show you "trends from friends." In the process, I am discovering that it's becoming a one-stop shop for many of my day-to-day activities. Here are five things that I recently found you can do right from within Facebook without having to leave...1) Read, search and post tweets via Twitgether, a full-featured Twitter client2) Watch TV streams via Hulu 3) Catch up with the local weather, using WeatherBug4) Read…

• Moms More Influenced Offline, While Kids Are Online

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:53 pm

  Two new studies point to a growing divide in how moms and kids communicate and are influenced...First up, Nielsen/Pete Blackshaw's Pocket Guide to Social Media and Kids: "In the hands of children and tweens, today’s cell phones are primarily used as text messaging devices, cameras, gaming consoles, video viewers, MP3 players, and incidentally, as mobile phones via the speaker capability so their friends can chime in on the call." And, via AdAge, parents are relying more on offline conversations to make decisions: "A study due out next week from the Parenting Group found that while…

• PR Pros on Press Releases - Meh

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:01 pm

  MarketingCharts uncovers some fresh data on how PR people feel about press releases. It's ugly."(only) 49% of today’s professional communicators say they think press releases are 'as useful as ever,' according to recent poll of corporate communicators conducted by Ragan Communications and PollStream."And on why we can't kick the drug..."The poll also found that another 33% of the the 401 respondents see press releases as 'a necessary evil that won’t go away soon,' in large part because of disclosure rules for public companies set forth by the US Securities and Exchange Commission."And how…

• Three Ways to Thrive in the Age of Streams

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:12 am

  The images above should strike fear in any one who seeks attention - be it a brand, a politician or an individual. They come from Nielsen. The first (87) is the number of domains the average American visits in a month. The second (2600) is the number of web pages the average American visits in a month.  This funnel is small when you think about the infinite choices we have today - an era of information abundance. And given that human attention doesn't scale, I anticipate these stats will remain stable. So how do you break through? Here are three steps I am considering in my work as a…

• Defining Media, Cross-Mating Elephants and Zebras

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:34 am

  Five years ago there was media and social media and the two were distinct. You know what was what. It was like there elephants and zebras. You knew the difference. Today all media is social, all social is media. It's impossible to separate the two. The media all actively use social technologies to innovate, converse and collaborate with their audiences. Meanwhile, social content from friends - be it tweets or status updates or videos - all should be considered media. Yes, the elephants and the zebras have cross-mated. My colleague overheard me say this and he drew this little doodle for…

• 
  Meryl's Notes at meryl.net

• Links: November 2009. Seriously? Edition

  Meryl

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:43 am

  Congratulations to Kim Priestap! She won a copy of Claudine Wolk’s book. Stay tuned for more books! Wanted: Dallas area company in need of personable and experienced IT manager in hardware and networking (just about everything except software development) among other things. I have just the guy for you. Articles with valuable advice… Ask the editor: The top 5 secrets to getting a book deal: Must read for every author with a book needing a publisher [Link: Maria Schneider] Chrome Extensions: Extend your Google Chrome browser. I love Google Chrome and use it almost as much as Firefox.

• Book Review: The Last Will of Moira Leahy

  Meryl

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:29 am

  Therese Walsh’s debut novel, The Last Will of Moira Leahy, opens with Maeve Leahy remembering losing her twin “on a harsh November nine years ago.” So it’s obvious why she has struggled with every November. That is, until now. On a whim, she attends an auction to bid on a keris, a Javanese-style dagger that launches her extraordinary journey where her past and present collide. Though Maeve becomes a successful professor of languages at a university in Bethany, New York; it’s no surprise that she feels incomplete without her twin. So the keris reminds her of…

• PC Game Review: World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder

  Meryl

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:43 pm

  In World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder, you take on the role master builder Zorn’s student. The city planner teaches you how to work with the kings and queens to build and fix up their kingdoms. It doesn’t take long before the student becomes the master causing the jealous Zorn to respond no-so-kindly by creating disasters and setting madmen loose to mess with your hard work. Build-a-lot fans will recognize some similar game play, but this one doesn’t spend as much time on the building aspect as Build-a-lot does. World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder also has a different…

• Using Twitter’s Lists Feature for Writing

  Meryl

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:49 am

  If you haven’t heard by now, Twitter now has Lists that lets you put Twitter users into groups. It doesn’t matter if you’re following someone or not, you can add anyone into a list or two or three. Here’s an introduction and a how to use Twitter Lists at Web Worker Daily. Twitter users have their own rules for who they follow and not follow. Some follow those who fall into a specific field, career and whatnot. Guy LeCharles Gonzalez follows those with some connection to publishing. It’s not elitist if someone doesn’t follow you back. They use Twitter in a…

• Game du Jour: Week of 1 November 2009

  Meryl

  1 Nov 2009 | 11:28 am

  The following games will be discounted next week on Game du Jour, the first ‘one-deal-a-day’ website dedicated to indie and casual games: Sun. November 1st: 65% off on Trapped The Abduction Mon. November 2nd: 65% off on The Jolly Gang’s Spooky Adventure Tue. November 3rd: 65% off on Mystery Masterpiece: The Moonstone Wed. November 4th: 50% off on Sally’s Quick Clips Thu. November 5th: 50% off on Campfire Legends: The Hookman Fri. November 6th: 60% off on Kelly Green Garden Queen Sat. November 7th: 50% off on HdO Adventure: Frankenstein

• 
  Chris Brogan

• BAM- Customer Service Done Right- Review

  chrisbrogan

  7 Nov 2009 | 9:06 am

  I started out in customer service. Lots of people passionate about social media have some customer service in their background. That’s why I really got into Barry Moltz’s and Mary Jane Grinstead’s book BAM!: Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World (amazon affiliate link). It’s a very readable book, broken into very useful chunk, with a recurring theme of “bust-a-myth,” ergo the BAM! I highly recommend this book if you’ve got something to do with customer service (Terry, I’m looking at YOU!). Here’s the video review: Can’t…

• Interview with Mike Myatt

  chrisbrogan

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:46 pm

  Mike Myatt is Chief Strategy Officer of N2Growth, a business that deals with branding, coaching, leadership management and more. Mike was also kind enough to buy many copies of Trust Agents, which made me wonder: what kind of a guy buys a ton of books to help a guy out, without wanting me to go and speak at some event or something? Mike just wanted to see things go well with our launch, and for that, I’m grateful. I asked Mike some questions about his business and where he sees all this going. Here’s our interview: You help coach CEOs on leadership and related issues, and…

• How to Think Of Blog Posts

  chrisbrogan

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:26 am

  The secret to blogging every day is a blend of three things: discipline, practice, and ideas. That last part is usually what I find people asking me for help with, so let’s talk about that today. Ideas don’t just grow on trees. But, you do have to harvest ideas the way you’d pick apples. Why? Because they’re everywhere. Here are some of the ways I find ideas. How to Think of Blog Posts Answer questions. You get emails with people asking you for your thoughts on X. Write the post instead of just replying to the email. Take pictures. I see strange things out and about.

• Wiring Up Business- Two Channel Social

  chrisbrogan

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:14 pm

  Let’s imagine you’re a small or medium sized business and looking to use social software to improve communications on many fronts: support, service, marketing, etc. If you chose to use a service like Twitter, for instance, for some of this communicating, I can see the need to have a two-channel mindset: one public and customer-facing and the other private and business-facing. On the public channel, you’d talk with customers and prospects about the business, including everything from support help to promotional opportunities, to general good will. On the other channel,…

• Trust Agents- An Introduction

  chrisbrogan

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:39 am

  I can’t say thanks enough to John Spiropoulos for his great video project from my trip to Southern California to spend time with Brandtailers. These videos he made are amazing. Pay attention to the quality John put into them more than the content itself. I mean, I’m flattered and pleased, but also pay attention to how John did what he did. I think he’s top shelf. You? If you can’t see the video, click here.

• 
  Seth's Blog

• Take what you can get (?)

  Seth Godin

  7 Nov 2009 | 3:34 am

  When you're just starting out or when your organization is struggling or when the economy isn't hot, it's very tempting to take what you can get.You just graduated from law school and you have a lot of debt and the best job you can get is doing collections work. Should you take it?Your consulting firm is organized around providing high-value work for large corporations, but the only gigs you can get in the consideration set for are small, struggling companies looking to spend a few hundred dollars a day. Should you take them?The list goes on and on.There are two things worth remembering here:…

• Everyone is clueless

  Seth Godin

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:29 am

  The problem with "everyone" is that in order to reach everyone or teach everyone or sell to everyone, you need to so water down what you've got you end up with almost nothing.Everyone doesn't go to the chiropractor, everyone doesn't give to charity, everyone has never been to Starbucks. Everyone, in fact, lives a decade behind the times and needs hundreds of impressions and lots of direct experience before they realize something is going on.You don't want everyone. You want the right someone.Someone who cares about what you do. Someone who will make a contribution that matters. Someone who…

• The unclicking 84%

  Seth Godin

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:36 am

  Mark points us to this great set of stats.Basically, all of the clicks for all the ads online come from only 16% of the surfers, and most of them come from just 4% of all internet users.So, if you optimize your ads for clicks, it means you're ignoring a huge population.If your business is built around the kind of person who clicks, you win. If it isn't, you either need to not buy ads online or buy ads optimized for attention and familiarity, not clicks.Imagine that only left-handed people clicked on ads (it's about the same percent). What are you going to do if you make a product for the…

• When data and decisions collide

  Seth Godin

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:54 am

  Until recently, most of the decisions we were called on to make were based on hunches, insight and a little bit of data. Occasionally, a field like direct marketing would develop into something quite data-driven ("I don't care if you like mailer one, Smythe, mailer #2 did three times, better! Number 2 it is.") but not often.It took Ignaz Semmelweis more than twenty years (he died before it happened, actually) to persuade doctors that washing their hands could save the lives of mothers giving birth. He had the data, he had the proof, but that wasn't enough to change minds.Data mining and the…

• Limited edition boxed set available today SOLD OUT!

  Seth Godin

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:41 am

  [We ended up selling more than three a minute. You guys are so cool. We had a few counter problems, but it didn't effect the number we sold...they're all gone, 800 in total, and I won't be able to sell any more. Thank you for the energy and support!]It seems as though the Apple tablet is unlikely to be ready in time for the holidays... what to get? How about a boxed (a wooden box) set of five of my books? Very limited (only 800 will be sold, ever). Sold at a discount from retail, with cool packaging, assembled by elves, delivered by Martians, blessed by enlightened goats. My goal was to make…

• 
  ReadWriteWeb

• Weekly Wrapup: Mega Content Sites, Gen Y on Twitter, iPhone App Recommendation Services, And More...

  7 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  In this edition of the Weekly Wrapup - our newsletter summarizing the top stories of the week - we analyze a new breed of content site that is rapidly gaining momentum, look into recent statistics showing that Gen Y is using Twitter more, compare five recommendation services for iPhone apps, review the new-look MSN, and more. We also check in on our two main channels: ReadWriteEnterprise (devoted to 'enterprise 2.0' trends and products) and ReadWriteStart (dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs). Sponsor Subscribe to Weekly Wrapup You can subscribe to the Weekly Wrapup by RSS or by…

• Straw Man Argument About Enterprise 2.0 Doesn't Fly

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:05 pm

  Dennis Howlett got the attention of the Enterprise 2.0 community today, with his continued skepticism about "social" technologies and their place in the business world. Here's a quote from his post entitled Enterprise 2.0 - the non-debate: "Why am I not surprised? I've argued for years that the notion of anything that has 'social' attached to its moniker is about as welcome as breaking wind in a spacesuit." Sponsor While Howlett makes a few good points in his post, we think that he's making a straw man argument - that the Enterprise 2.0 community is somehow involved in a big lie. The reality…

• Clicker: A One-Stop Shop For Online Video (1000 Invites)

  6 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

  Finding specific online videos from TV networks and independent producers can often be a daunting challenge. Some TV shows are on Hulu, some can only be found as paid downloads on iTunes or Amazon and some are only available for streaming on the network's and producer's own sites. Clicker wants to change this by making it easier to find shows from TV networks, music videos, and web videos from across the Internet. Clicker is currently in private beta and only available in the US. The company gave us 1000 invites for our readers. Read on to find out how you can get yours. Sponsor Clicker…

• Layar Tells CNN: Augmented Reality Will Be Second Only to Voice On Phones

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:17 pm

  When you've got a global audience, maybe it's good to make sweeping, ambitious statements. Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald, co-founder of Augmented Reality browser company Layar, was interviewed by CNN today and took the opportunity to claim that AR on phones is going to be so big in the future that only voice will be more popular. Maybe. Many people in the Augmented Reality world are rolling their eyes at Layar's incredible media exposure. They worry that relatively simple implementations of this technology paradigm will create such a bubble of hype that software developed over decades will suffer…

• Remixing Via iPhone: 5 Tools for the Pocket DJ

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am

  In 1906 John Philip Sousa criticized the gramophone saying, "These talking machines will ruin the artistic development of music in this country." Nevertheless, because Sousa did not forsee user-generated culture proliferating alongside "mechanical music" he could not have been further from the truth. Not only have machine technologies aided in musical development, but there are a variety of mediums to choose from. While audio engineers may scoff at the idea of making music on the iPhone, there's no denying that a number of options exist for the pocket DJ. Below are a few tools to get you…

• 
  dy/dan

• No-Drop Zones

  Dan Meyer

  31 Oct 2009 | 9:44 am

  From the #iPhone-game-as-metaphor-for-curriculum-design hashtag, we have Geared, which I purchased because I'm almost completely obsessed with little spinny things, a purchase which I almost immediately regretted. Two reasons: The early levels are ridiculously easy. Not a serious problem in and of itself. The same is true of Flight Plan, which you'll recall I rather liked. But game play gets harder only over a series of completely nonsensical contrivances. You're dropping gears into a system, blitzing your way through easy. Then on level 21, as the game flips to medium, you're confronted with…

• Redesigned: Kyle Webb

  Dan Meyer

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:38 am

  Kyle Webb drops a WCYDWT video on circle area and perimeter: Academic Green Circumference and Area Problem from Kyle Webb on Vimeo. First, let's pay respect to how fast the video moves, how it sets a scene and establishes a problem in just 14 slides and 57 seconds. Webb knows his audience and its attention span. Also, none of this is stock photography. Every photo selected is of high bandwidth and relates directly to the problem. After 12 seconds, we have three different views of the lawn. After 15 seconds, a panoramic shot. I'll begin my redesign 23 seconds in, when he mentions the lawn is…

• I’d Like To Believe We Had Something To Do With This

  Dan Meyer

  26 Oct 2009 | 8:24 pm

  [previously]

• New Tweecher Induction

  Dan Meyer

  22 Oct 2009 | 8:24 am

  Alison Blank: Everyone out there seems so full of love for the students and the job that it carries them through the long hours, but it hasn't been enough for me to break out of the vicious cycle of frantic work and procrastination I've been stuck in since first grade. This is as good a description of teaching's tumultuous first year as you'll find out there on the blogs. It also summarizes: teaching's great deception — "love your students and the rest will follow." teaching's jarring transition — from sleepwalking into your 08h00 MAT 180 class to teaching your own classroom of…

• Ad Check

  Dan Meyer

  19 Oct 2009 | 2:20 pm

  I can't be the only person afflicted with these sidebar ads. The series is notable for taking guys who have at most 7% body fat and then Hulking them out even further through some form of isometrics or meditation or whatever. They doubled down on whatever game they're running, though, with this particular before/after set. You have to imagine it animating back and forth between the two: The deceit here is vaguely mathematical so I asked my first class of students, "What is it selling and how does it try to sell it?" Most identified the product as some kind of weight loss formula and/or…

• 
  Fred Wilson

• The AVC Reader Census

  Fred

  7 Nov 2009 | 4:05 am

  We (Nathan and me) added a new widget to this blog yesterday. It's on the right sidebar above the Flickr photo widget. The purpose of this widget is to answer a few questions about the people who read this blog. If you wish, you can take the survey right here on this post. Powered by Hunch.com This census/survey is powered by Hunch which is an interesting decision/recommendations service based in NYC. I mentioned the service last week in my post about selecting a hotel to stay in. We've already got some data coming in about what this readership looks like. Here is a screenshot of the first…

• Valuation and Option Pool

  Fred

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:32 am

  One of the more contentious things in the negotiation between an entrepreneur and a VC over a financing, particularly an early stage financing, is the inclusion of an option pool in the pre-money valuation. As my friend Mark Pincus likes to say, "it's just another way to lower the price".I'll accept that critique. And take it one step further. The option pool is absolutely a piece of the price negotiation. But it is a very important one as I'll explain.But first, let me lay out a few things for those who aren't well versed in these matters. The pre-money valuation is the value of the company…

• Great Meetup Last Night

  Fred

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:22 am

  About a hundred readers of this blog gathered last night in the cafeteria of Washington Irving High School just off of Union Square in Manhattan to meet each other and celebrate the generosity of this community in the recent Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge. It was a great moment for me. I got to meet many readers who I know by name but not in person. Putting a face to a name is a wonderful thing. I also got to meet Sarah Bunting, whose blog, Tomato Nation, raised $315,000 for Donors Choose in October. Talk about "blog stars". I've got a lot to learn from Sarah.And I got to meet a bunch of…

• Throw The Bums Out

  Fred

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:06 am

  I drove out to the middle of New Jersey yesterday morning to attend a board meeting. Everywhere I went, I saw "dump corzine" messages. It was clear the governor was in trouble. And this morning, we wake up to the news that Corzine has indeed been dumped and Mayor Bloomberg barely got 50% of the voters in NYC to pull the lever for him Both of these men are wealthy. Both of these men grew up on wall street in the 1970s. Both of these men moved from wall street to public service about a decade ago. Both of these men spent heavily to get re-elected. Bloomberg made it, Corzine did not.It's worth…

• The Double Opt-In Introduction

  Fred

  3 Nov 2009 | 3:55 am

  I'm sure everyone out there gets email intros. Someone who knows you sends you and someone you don't know an email suggesting you meet.I send emails like that a lot. I might send a half a dozen or more every day.I get even more emails like that. Sometimes dozens a day.And I'd like to propose some email intro etiquette which I follow almost religiously myself:When introducing two people who don't know each other, ask each of them to opt-in to the introduction before making it.Last night I got talking about this with some friends who also get a lot of email intros. All of us get email intros…

• 
  Teach42

• Mobiles to Help Learning? High School in UK says OK

  Steve

  25 Oct 2009 | 10:30 am

  Image via Wikipedia Via @TerryFreedman: Looks like Notre Dame high school in the UK is taking the bull by the horns and moving forward with an initiative to allow the use of mobile phones for educational purposes during class time. Assistant headteacher Paul Haigh said mobiles, MP3 players and gaming devices were “untapped resources” for teaching and learning. “We realise as a comprehensive state school we could never afford to buy every student all the IT and mobile devices we would like them to have. He added: “But most students own many of these devices anyway…

• If you Tweet, will anybody hear it?

  Steve

  20 Oct 2009 | 10:10 am

  Image via Wikipedia I think that many people (myself included) that share sites like Twitter at conferences inadvertently do our attendees a disservice. In the effort of attempting to demonstrate how wonderful, simple, powerful and dynamic it is, we make it seem much more effortless than it really is. For example… How many times per day do you see somebody say, “Give a shout out to the people in Nepal who are attending my presentation about social networks about using the Luge to teach physics!” And then 30-40 people reply with a hearty “Hello”. So attendees…

• Ted Talks… for Kids

  Steve

  13 Oct 2009 | 8:01 am

  Looks like TEDxSMU has organized the first ever Ted Talks for kids. TedxKids was the first of its kind and invited local students to share their thoughts in the TED format, as well as attend presentations. The organize of the conference had this to say: “It’s important to get kids interested at an early age and one of the hopes is that TEDxKids will be a meaningful experience for both us and other kids.” The event was a couple of days ago and as of now, there haven’t been any videos released from it, but I did find this blog post mentioning it. On Friday, the TEDxSMU team also…

• WAVE to the ITEC conference

  Steve

  12 Oct 2009 | 7:57 am

  Not sure if this is going to work, but going to try to embed in a Google Wave for following the ITEC conference. Unfortunately, yes you do need to already have a Wave account to see it, but them’s the breaks. Looks like it works! If you can’t see it, I apologize. But these are the eggs we’re cracking to learn how to make an omlette!

• CDWG presents: Dembo and Davidson on Web 2.0

  Steve

  9 Oct 2009 | 9:53 am

  Speaking of tools (no pun intended), Hall and I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Discovery’s green screen studio recently to create a series of videos focusing on Web 2.0. They’ve been released as part of CDWG’s Conquering Technophobia mini-site, which has the videos we created as well as a slew of resources for teachers who are looking to learn more about new technologies. I have to admit, we had an absolute blast creating these. Hall is a creative genius and really had some wonderful vision for how to make these fun yet informative. We broke Web 2.0 down into 6…

• 
  Free Technology for Teachers

• Chemistry Never Sleeps and Free Chemistry Lessons

  7 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  My colleague and chemistry teacher, Walter Perry, started a blog this summer as a companion to his classroom blog. Over the last four months he's slowly added some useful content to Chemistry Never Sleeps. Chemistry Never Sleeps is a mix of Walter's personal commentary about teaching with links and examples of Chemistry resources for teachers and students. A recent post included a slide presentation about the Periodic Table.Exploring the links on Chemistry Never Sleeps brought me to Mr. Guch's Free Stuff for Chemistry Teachers. Mr. Guch's free stuff includes four free ebooks containing lesson…

• Week In Review - The Most Popular Items

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:55 pm

  It's Friday and that means it's time for another Free Technology for Teachers week in review. As I do each Friday, I've compiled a list of seven most popular items of the last week. If you've been busy and not able to keep up with your RSS reader or email, the week in review provides a good chance to catch up on the posts that were most popular with other readers.Here are the seven most popular items of the last seven days:1. 9 Resources for Website Evaluation Lessons2. 20 Interesting Ways to Use Audio In Your Classroom3. Daylight Saving Time Explained4. The Web Runs on Kindness5. For Music…

• Copyright Advisory Network Offers Copyright Clarity

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:43 pm

  The Copyright Advisory Network offers four resources that will be of particular interest to librarians and teachers. The Fair Use Evaluator helps you make a fair use determination. Exceptions for Educators provides a step-by-step guide to determining if you can use copyrighted materials in your instruction under the educators exemption. The Section 108 Spinner is a tool for deciding if you, as a librarian, can make a reproduction of a copyrighted work. The Public Domain Slider offers a simple scale for determining if a work is copyrighted or if it is in the public domain.I learned about the…

• Intro to Wikis Video Created By Kids

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:43 pm

  This afternoon one of the teachers I follow on Twitter, kjellstrom, posted a link to a video his students made to introduce teachers to Wikispaces. This video is a good example of students teaching teachers and a good example of digital storytelling. The students used Xtranormal to create the video. You can find my previous post about Xtranormal here. The video is embedded below.Applications for EducationAlthough this video isn't terribly in-depth it does provide an introduction to Wikispaces. The video is also a good example of using Xtranormal for digital storytelling projects. Xtranormal…

• 3 Guides to Using Google Earth for Virtual Fieldwork

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:31 am

  Digital Explorer is a service that offers instruction and guidance on using GIS and Google Earth to enhance learning experiences. To that end, Digital Explorer offers three comprehensive guides to using Google Earth for virtual fieldwork and physical fieldwork around your school's grounds. The first two guides in the series cover everything from the basics through advanced Google Earth functions. The third guide in the series offers a six installment project that you and your students can do around your school's grounds.Thanks to Rich Treves, who also offers great Google Earth advice, for the…

• 
  Teaching That Sticks

• Multiplicational

  1 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am

  You've probably seen this before, but it's new to me! While some math teachers might think it's gimmicky, I think a great exercise for students when confronted with any gimmick is to figure out how it works. And, does it always work?Multiplicational. @ Yahoo! Video

• Questionaut: Out of This World Game

  30 Oct 2009 | 7:54 am

  Tucked away in the BBC Bitesize KS2 Games section is a quirky little game called Questionaut. It has no flashy intro and no instructions, and that's precisely the way its creator intends it.Questionaut begins with a placid enough scene: a strangely hairy, organic shape floats freely in space, accompanied by some funky synth music. A fish jumps in a pond, a creature sitting in a tree weaves a basket, and a small blue figure wearing pilot's cap and goggles dangles his foot over the pond. But nothing happens. So instinctively, the user moves the cursor about, looking for some clues. When placed…

• What Student Writing Teaches Us: The Blog Tour

  29 Jun 2009 | 5:17 pm

  Today I have the pleasure of hosting Mark Overmeyer's Blog Tour for his Stenhouse publication What Student Writing Teaches Us. This fabulous new book (see my full review in the post below) answers many of the questions teachers have about using formative assessments to improve student writing. I also challenged readers of this blog to send in questions for the author which might not have been addressed in the book.(For those of you who haven't checked it out yet, you'll find the full book online at the Stenhouse site).I was surprised at the in-depth responses Mark provided for the questions…

• What Student Writing Teaches Us

  5 Jun 2009 | 7:01 pm

  When conducting my How to Teach a Novel workshop, I’m frequently asked how to best assess reading. I’ve recently noticed, however, that participants ask just as many questions about assessing student writing. For that reason alone, I’m pleased to participate in the Blog Tour for Mark Overmeyer and his Stenhouse publication What Student Writing Teaches Us. This extremely practical yet highly informed book answers many of the questions I’ve asked myself over the past 20 years, or heard from my colleagues in teacher workshops.Prior to Mark’s visit here on June 29th, I encourage you to…

• How to Teach Reading and Language Arts

  4 Jun 2009 | 3:42 am

  In response to one frequent reader of my Teach with Picture Books blog, I have created a lens over at Squidoo (How to Teach Reading and Language Arts) that aggregates the feeds from my three blogs into one place. So now it's easy to see the last four posts of each of those sites in one location. For all the graphics and certainly the video clips, you'll need to click on individual posts, but at least now you've got a single vantage point to check out my latest resources and rants.While there you'll also find the lenses (static sites) that support each of those blogs. These static sites…

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  Brand Autopsy

• No More Starbucks Gold

  johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:04 am

  Lots of chatter online about the revamped Starbucks “rewards” program. Starbucks will discontinue its Gold Card program it began a year ago. The Starbucks Gold Card program was designed like many membership rewards program where customers pay a yearly $25 fee and in return they receive free refills on brewed coffee, free wi-fi access, and 10% off on all purchases. Beginning December 26, Starbucks will replace its Gold Card program with a "My Starbucks Rewards" program offering customers a free beverage after 15 purchases. (There are a few other small perks in this program but it's…

• WOMMA's Creating Talkable Brands Conference

  johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

  31 Oct 2009 | 5:01 am

  *** My WOM Enthusiast hat is on with this post. It’s a few weeks until WOMMA’s Creating Talkable Brands Conference (Nov. 18 – 20, Las Vegas). Sign-ups have been strong. And for good reason — the agenda is strong. There are over 40 sessions with 4 learning tracks and 4 keynotes addresses (.pdf agenda). For each of the breakout sessions, WOMMA is pairing up a Brand with an Agency. So you’ll hear both perspectives, the brand-side and the agency-side, in each breakout. To help make sense out of the packed agenda, I’ve been sharing highlights from Day 1 and Day 2 on the ALL THINGS WOM…

• BAKED IN | a dramatic reading

  johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:23 pm

  BAKED IN: Creating Products and Businesses That Market Themselves by Alex Bogusky and John Winsor gets the Marketing Masterpiece Theatre treatment. (Yep ... it's another dramatic reading of an influential business book by Sir Wilton Norman Chamberlain III.) RSS Readers ... click here to view the video. [NOTE: I often receive free copies of biz books from publishers and publicists. However, I spent my money for my copy of BAKED IN.]

• Social Business Design (Flaw)

  johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

  14 Oct 2009 | 4:57 am

  The Dachis Group is ringing up successes. They’ve hired a talented team. Been backed by big dollars from Austin Ventures. Gone global with the acquisition of London-based Headshift. And, introduced a new business term: Social Business Design. Kudos to everyone involved. However, I need help with the term, Social Business Design. The current design of its definition seems flawed to me.I tried explaining/defining the term to a friend the other day but did it poorly. (I think I know what it means, but I don’t.) It’s about using online applications (like ‘social media’ tools) to help…

• Understanding the New FTC Guidelines

  johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

  11 Oct 2009 | 7:56 pm

  Clearly my WOM Enthusiast hat is on with this post. (I work with WOMMA.)Last week was a big week for marketing, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released new guidelines (.pdf document) for how businesses can use endorsements and testimonials in marketing. It’s a complicated and nuanced matter. Hopefully the presentations below will help you better understand what has happened and what marketers must be doing now. For backstory purposes ... the FTC is in the business of protecting consumers from unscrupulous business practices, the commission believes consumers must be protected from being…

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  PR, Social Media, and Marketing Mentor ?

• 2009 SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards Submission Deadline Extended to Thursday, September 10th

  Each year, the Society for New Communications Research presents the prestigious SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards. The deadline for application submissions for this year's awards has been extended from September 7th to Thursday, September 10, 2009, to allow applicants who are away for Labor Day Weekend to finish and ...

• Some Social Media Humor for Summer Vacation…

  Occasionally in social media training, some humor is called for, and The Onion Newsfeed video clip above takes on the big issue of search engine privacy rights—specifically, while using the ubiquitous Google—and gives us a tour of "Google's Opt-Out Privacy Village." And then, there's this HubSpot spoof on Twitter ...

• Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 — Where is the Web Going, and What is the Semantic Web?

  Sometimes, the best way to learn about something is without using words. Here's a creative example of a video explaining the difference between Web 1.0 and 2.0, by the clever Not in Words producers: Now, back to words and some basic drawings, as we move on to Web 3.0 and beyond. ...

• Join us at NewComm Forum and Inbound Marketing Summit in San Francisco!

  The 5th Annual New Communications Forum April 27th - 29th, 2009 The Marriott Hotel, San Francisco, California   I just wanted you to know that there are still a few seats available for next week's NewComm Forum 2009. Don't miss this special opportunity to participate in a highly-interactive, exclusive gathering of the most notable ...

• Flutter

  OK, I haven't posted here for a while, due to being SO busy, I've barely had time to eat, sleep or recuperate from one of those annoying seasonal colds that seems to drag on while you're doing everything else. So, even though social media is central to my work (the ...

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  The Blog Council

• Welcome to the newest members of the SMBC: TiVo, American Express, and Scholastic!

  SMBC Staff

  6 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

  We’d like to publicly welcome our newest members of the Social Media Business Council: TiVo American Express Scholastic They’re joining the likes of Dell, Walmart, Nokia, SAP, GM and Coke – and more than 40 other fantastic, global brands – as members of the Social Media Business Council collaborating every day on how to create successful, scalable, and sustainable social media programs at large organizations. If you’re leading social media at a major enterprise, we’d love to have you join our family. Click here to learn more.

• Research: Social media users have stronger personal networks than non-users

  SMBC Staff

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:38 am

  While critics of social media often suggest that it results in emotional isolation and less social interaction, a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds the opposite. Their report, “Social Isolation and New Technology,” finds that people’s discussion networks (defined as “those with whom people discuss important matters) are 9% larger for users who share photos online and 9% larger for users of instant messaging applications. The study also found that those who use mobile phones and basic internet have more diverse “core…

• How Progressive is using Facebook to draw motorcyclists, promote hunger

  SMBC Staff

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:35 am

  Corporate Social Media Case Study: Progressive Progressive Insurance has developed a motorcycle community on Facebook that has attracted nearly 2,000 fans. The page, which periodically unveils new bikes, gives motorcyclists an opportunity to connect with friends, post comments, and upload pictures, many from this year’s Biketoberfest in Daytona. The company is also using Facebook to promote Corn for Kids, Progressive’s charity tour which is stopping at motorcycle rallies across the country collecting a suggested $1 donation per ear of roasted corn. Progressive is giving all the…

• Best Buy preps for a social holiday season

  SMBC Staff

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:35 am

  Corporate Social Media Case Study: Best Buy Best Buy has already begun preparing for the coming holiday season through various social media platforms. The company recently began advertising Twelpforce, a Twitter account staffed by more than 2,500 people providing immediate answers to consumer questions. Seven different new commercials are set to air in the near future in which the Q&A skits are set to Christmas carol melodies. Best Buy is also bringing the Christmas spirit to Facebook. The company profile includes a Gift Ideas tab, which allows users to post questions and comments about…

• Rubbermaid partners with popular blogger to engage young moms

  SMBC Staff

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:35 am

  Corporate Social Media Case Study: Newell Rubbermaid To reach and engage young moms online, Rubbermaid partnered with Leanne Ely, a popular author and nutritionist from the social community BigTent, who leads the popular group Saving Dinner. Rubbermaid conducted a complete kitchen makeover for Ely, who then blogged about the experience and offered Rubbermaid coupons to her 50,000 readers. “I wanted to be really sure that whatever they did, it was very clear that this was a paid sponsorship campaign,” said Jim Deitzel, Rubbermaid’s manager of e-marketing and brand…

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  always learning

• Going Global: Culture Shock, Convergence, and the Future of Education

  Kim Cofino

  11 Oct 2009 | 5:40 am

  Cross-posted on the K12Online Conference blog I could not be more honored to be the pre-conference keynote speaker for this year’s K12 Online conference! I have been participating in this annual conference since its inception in 2006 and every year I am amazed at the quality of presentations shared by educators around the world. The opportunity to learn together over the course of the conference (and beyond) is one of the most inspiring and engaging experiences of the year for me. Of course, this year’s lineup is no different! When I was asked to keynote this year’s event, I…

• How To Connect Your Students Globally

  Kim Cofino

  4 Oct 2009 | 4:21 am

  Cross-posted on the TechLearning Advisors Blog Two weeks after returning from the Flat Classroom Workshop in Hong Kong, I am still inspired and energized about what learning could (and should) look like. The key component for me was connecting students, both face to face and virtually, from a variety of backgrounds to work together to solve a common problem. Although we might not have the luxury of bringing together diverse groups of students every day, we certainly have the capability to connect them using technology. No matter what subject you teach, I truly believe adding a global…

• Reflections on the Flat Classroom Workshop

  Kim Cofino

  27 Sep 2009 | 5:42 am

  Last weekend I had the honor of co-leading the Flat Classroom Workshop (pictures here) with Julie Lindsay at the 21st Century Learning Conference in Hong Kong. I have to admit that although I knew it would be amazing after everything I had heard about the Flat Classroom Conference in Doha earlier this year, I had no idea just how amazing the whole experience would turn out to be! Workshop Structure The flat classroom workshop is a 2.5-day project-based learning experience for both students and teachers. We had about 30 high-school students and 10 teachers participating face-to-face, and about…

• Workshop ‘Till You Drop

  Kim Cofino

  13 Sep 2009 | 3:18 am

  Once again, this school year is shaping up to be my busiest yet! (Seriously, how is it even possible to be any busier?) In addition to moving into a slightly new role and continuing to teach courses for our SUNY Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy, I’m also very excited to be involved in a number of EARCOS weekend workshops around the Asia region. All of these workshops are open for registration now and we would absolutely love to have participants from schools all over the region (and beyond!). We’re just starting to promote them (with the exception of…

• Difficult Conversations

  Kim Cofino

  6 Sep 2009 | 12:23 am

  One of the things I’m enjoying most about being on our coaching team here at ISB is the opportunity to openly share our challenges so that we can all work together to improve our practice. This week we had our first book club meeting to discuss the first chapter of Coaching: Approaches and Perspectives edited by Jim Knight. To facilitate our conversation, we followed the Final Word protocol. Each of us selected a particular section of the text which stood out during our reading, and following the protocol process, discussed what was so important about that statement in a round-robin…

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  The Thinking Stick

• EARCOS Admin Tech Cohort – Reflection

  Jeff Utecht

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:00 pm

  50+ Administrators talking about skllls needed in the new workplace Back at work and reflecting on the tech cohort that I tried to run at the EARCOS Admin Conference. I talked about it here and what my hopes were for the group. It’s the first time I’ve tried to embedd a cohort in a traditional conference model and to be honest I had very limited success. We met as a cohort during the first session. I was excited to meet the 33 admin who had signed up ahead of time to be apart of the project. During the first session we had 50+ people in the room. I was really excited as people…

• What Do You Want Students To Do?

  Jeff Utecht

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:23 am

  Yesterday in our cohort reflecting session at the EARCOS Admin Conference we talked a lot about 1:1 programs. Everyone trying to figure out what works, what doesn’t, where to start, and the questions go on and on. I do think we can learn from each other as schools continue to strive to use technology at a true learning tool in the classroom. But, I do think we need to remember that especially in the international world….every school is different and every school will have to “Just Do It” at some point. There are some questions that I think schools can be asking as they…

• ISB Round Up: Google Earth, YouTube, and Blogs

  Jeff Utecht

  27 Oct 2009 | 9:10 am

  There are so many great things happening at our school right now that I find I don’t have time to blog about one before I’m deep into another project with another teacher. All that I know is we’re having some fun! Let’s start in Mr. Jessee’s room where I wanted to share a great Google Earth project that the third grade team has been working on for the past month or so. I talked about this in an earlier post so won’t go into all the back ground here. But you can visit Mr. Jessee’s class blog and download Google Earth tours. This time the students…

• Changing Conference Models

  Jeff Utecht

  27 Oct 2009 | 6:05 am

  In a weeks time I’ll be in Manila, Philippines to attend the EARCSO Administrators Conference. This will be the third year I’ve presented at the conference…guess it a good thing they invite me back every year. This year though I’m trying something different. With the permission of the head of EARCOS. I asked if I could set up a cohort of administrators who might want to go deep in learning about leadership in a digital world. Of course I didn’t even know at the time if any administrators in the region would want to do such a thing. Imagine being stuck learning…

• Leo Laporte on New Media

  Jeff Utecht

  20 Oct 2009 | 10:51 pm

  Just finished watching this at Smarterware.org and thought I’d share here. The question at the end that is asked of Leo on what should companies be looking for, experience or skill I thought was an interesting one. If you are into new media and the changing landscape have a watch. Share this on del.icio.usDigg this!Post this on DiigoStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on TechnoratiPost this to MySpaceShare this on FacebookTweet This!Subscribe to the comments for this post?Share this on LinkedinShare this on FriendFeedAdd this to Google Bookmarks

• 
  StickyFigure

• Are You a Kool-Aid Drinker?

  Steve Woodruff

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:53 am

  I am. Let me explain. We tend to talk about “true believers” as those who have drunk the Kool-Aid, with the obvious tie-in to Jim Jones and his followers. It’s an apt analogy, however unfortunate the original incident – one who has drunk the Kool-Aid actually, in this sense, is so convinced of something, that they move forward with conviction where others would hold back. Now there are people who abandon all common sense and do ridiculous and harmful things because of “true belief.” No matter how much Kool-Aid you drink and how sincere your belief that…

• Shaking Things Up

  Steve Woodruff

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:39 am

  <rant> Over the years, I’ve attended many, many conferences – some awful, some forgettable, and a few outstanding. I’m getting impatient. I’m impatient with thinly-veiled sales pitches from sponsoring companies during sessions. If you’re going to have sponsoring companies, set aside a specific time in the event when they can present their solutions openly to the audience. I’m impatient with speakers who think their role is to walk through a series of slides and do a verbal data dump. If you cannot spark interest, tell engaging stories, use helpful…

• When Statistics Have Faces

  Steve Woodruff

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:11 am

  I’ve had my heart stirred in very unexpected ways this week. I’m used to having my mind moved – I often gravitate toward ideas, facts, and numbers. But sometimes you’re confronted with human faces, and the statistics fade into obscurity, where they often belong. As with many others in the social media community, I was profoundly moved this week by the tragic death of a young mother (Jamie Loveless) who died of multiple organ failure after pneumonia triggered, most likely, by the H1N1 virus. Please read the story here. I’m a husband and a parent, and I cannot even…

• Hitting the Pinnacle of Buzzwords

  Steve Woodruff

  28 Oct 2009 | 5:50 am

  I freely confess to hating business buzzwords and jargon. Like David Meerman Scott and many others, I find the practice of repeating technical-sounding phrases in an effort to appear knowledgeable to be pompous and counter-productive. It’s an over-leveraging of verbal resources. Yes, I went there. Now, at the same time, I love a broad and deep vocabulary. Words like “obfuscation” (which means, if you’re not familiar with it, the use of words to obscure rather than clarify meaning). Obfuscation is a great word that actually nicely describes what buzz-jargon does. I have…

• Small Talk

  Steve Woodruff

  24 Oct 2009 | 5:01 am

  Many people who don’t actually “get” Twitter find it easy to dismiss it as a bunch of not-very-social people exchanging useless trivia with fellow avatars. We know better, of course. But the fact is, that we DO often share a lot of stuff that is, in itself, seemingly trivial. And here’s why I LIKE that: We’re simply doing what friends, neighbors, and co-workers have done forever. It’s small talk. And it helps build relationships. You see, I’m involved in these networks, not just to mine professional information (in which case the discussion I just had…

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  800-CEO-READ Blog

• The Future

  jack

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:03 pm

  “The future you shall know when it has come; before then, forget it.” –Aeschylus

• Lee Eisenberg’s Shoptimism (and 50% off of The Number)

  dylan

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:20 am

  One of the books we really tried to get people to read in 2006 was Lee Eisenberg’s The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think about the Rest of Your Life, published by Simon & Schuster imprint Free Press. We were huge evangelists of the book, constantly blogging and telling everyone we could about it. It was a Jack Covert Selects and Todd picked it as one of his best books of 2006. And, even though it was a best-seller, it never caught on as much as we thought it should. As Todd wrote looking back on it that year: The book was released with high hopes from Free Press and the…

• The Portfolio Catalog & Business Beat

  dylan

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:43 am

  Being the publisher of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, we’re obviously fond of the folks at Portfolio. Beyond the personal connection, though, we feel they have consistently put out some of most intriguing books in the business genre over the past decade, and continue to do so. The list below contains the titles coming out of that publishing house in hardcover before year end. (In the interest of full disclosure, I nabbed this list from the Portfolio Javelin blog.) Working for You Isn’t Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss by Katherine Crowley & Kathi…

• October’s Best Selling International Titles

  Roy

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:26 pm

  It’s been awhile! A whole summer, in fact! Have you felt as much out of the loop as to what’s HOT across the seas, oceans and borders of the world as I have? Well fear no longer, gentle reader for I have got 800CEOREADs listings of what business types and cohorts are reading! So, if you’re wondering what’s shakin’ in Shanghai or what’s new in Newfoundland – hang on tight, for we’re going around the globe – Take a look at our TOP TEN INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLING BOOKS of OCTOBER 2009: No. 1 - Australia: Put More Cash in Your Pocket by Loral…

• Brainstorming?

  jon

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:08 pm

  Every day, people come together in groups to brainstorm: share ideas, create projects, and turn dreams into reality. The leaders of those groups would be well advised to serve the appetizer, The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life by John Hunt before those meetings get under way. Because, let’s be honest, oftentimes, there are people who think they have “the answer” before the question has really been explored. And others feel like they have nothing to say at all. Both cases, of course, are untrue, and this uniquely designed book creates a great starting point…

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  John Jantsch

• 3 Sources of Grammar Inspiration

  John Jantsch

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:20 am

  3 Sources of Grammar InspirationThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing About once a week I amuse the grammar troops by torturing some aspect of the language in my writing. Hey, I don’t do it on purpose and I love that I’m able to provide an otherwise cuddly group of individuals with a steady flow of chuckles. I’ve had this post in the back of my mind for some time, but I was prompted to write it today by a LinkedIn status update I saw yesterday. (Name of victim withheld) – “Excited to attend my first titter conference today.” In the always on, say…

• Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma

  John Jantsch

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:16 am

  Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and CharismaThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Nick Morgan (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download – subscribe now via iTunes Trust – can’t get enough of that as a brand, business, or person these days. Everyone knows that, but what they may not know is that there are things each of is doing that may be unintentionally eroding trust – particularly when it comes to the topic of speaking and presenting. In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast Nick Morgan, author of Trust Me, talks…

• Social Media Training Course Beta Testers Needed

  John Jantsch

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:03 am

  Social Media Training Course Beta Testers NeededThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing This whole social media thing for small business can be confusing, I know, I speak to groups of small business owner routinely and hear things like – “I’m overwhelmed, I’m tired of the hype, what do I do first, how do I find the time.” Update: The good news is a lot of people really want to beta test this program – over 125 left comments for the 10 spots, but I guess that’s the bad news too. Here’s what I’ve decided to do – I will choose 20 beta…

• Biznik Blends High Tech with High Touch

  John Jantsch

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:13 pm

  Biznik Blends High Tech with High TouchThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Fortunately, it’s starting to feel like the wave of social media hype has crested and small businesses can turn their attention to understanding social media “best practices” rather than obsessing over next week’s new tool. Today’s greatest small business opportunity awaits those who learn to skillfully blend the awareness creating, automating, and filtering aspects of social media platforms with the trust and customer building aspects of education based, face-to-face networking.

• Weekend Favs October Thirty-One

  John Jantsch

  31 Oct 2009 | 5:20 am

  Weekend Favs October Thirty-OneThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I’ve added a weekend post routine that I hope you enjoy. Each weekend I write a post that features 3-4 things I read during the week that I found interesting. Generally speaking it doesn’t involve much analysis and may range widely in topic. (Flickr image included here is also fav image of the week) Enjoy! Good stuff I ran across this week: Twitter Gallery - Nice collection of free twitter backgrounds. This is an asset that should be branded, but at least dress it up a bit. KnowEm – Search over 340 popular social…

• 
  Dan Pink

• Quote of the Day: No means yes

  Dan Pink

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:09 am

  “Strategy is what you choose not to do.”– Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust, with an assist from Michael Porter

• Signs that make you look twice — Part 2

  Dan Pink

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:17 pm

  My old friend and college classmate Sharon Roth sends this tangle of a sign, which she snapped on the mean streets of Park Ridge, Illinois. The “Stop Means Stop” addendum at the bottom could be effective, she says. But there’s so much clutter and noise surrounding it that many drivers tune out rather than slow down.  (In other words, writers aren’t the only people who need editors? — Ed.)

• Signs that make you look twice — Part 1

  Dan Pink

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:04 pm

  Jason Soll – a sprinter, a TEDster, and a central Ohio homeboy — sends this sign from his dorm at Claremont McKenna College. It’s clever. And by getting us to look twice, the sign might prod us into following its instructions.

• Factoid of the day: Miles for clunkers?

  Dan Pink

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:25 pm

  I’ve been on the road a lot lately — which means that my posts have been infrequent and that they have a travel theme. Today’s the same. Sitting on the tarmac in O’Hare for two hours tonight, I came across this stunner in today’s Wall Street Journal:“There are an estimated 10 trillion unused frequent-flier miles in circulation now, worth some $165 billion.” That dollar figure is more than the GDP of Egypt. And if you were to distribute all those miles evenly among Americans, it would amount to one free trip for every man, woman, and child in the…

• Where are the dang outlets?

  Dan Pink

  22 Oct 2009 | 1:02 pm

  That’s the question that power-mad (in the electrical sense) travelers ask when they arrive at an airport with their phones and laptops screaming “battery low.”The search can quickly lead an upstanding citizen down the low road. I’ll cop to: scouring every baseboard in a terminal in a mouse-like quest for a power hole; pinching the outlets behind the United check-in desks when nobody is looking; sitting on the floor, Buddha-style, in the middle of a crowded gate so I can draw a few minutes of juice from one inconveniently located power source; and unplugging the electronic garbage…

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  Life Beyond Code

• Event: Thought Leadership 2.0

  Rajesh Setty

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:10 am

  If you are in the bay area on November 18, I would love to see you at this event where I will be speaking about how to build thought leadership without breaking your back. A quick summary Thought Leadership 2.0 Building thought leadership without breaking your back Everyone knows the benefit of being established as a thought leader. For starters, there is an immediate trustworthiness associated with thought leaders that will increase your influence as you are perceived as someone who “knows” and who “cares.” In the old world, tools to build thought leadership included…

• Apples and Oranges: The pitch for pre-paid gas option

  Rajesh Setty

  22 Oct 2009 | 11:36 pm

  Yesterday I was at the Hertz counter in Los Angeles and there were about half a dozen people in front of me in the line. I was surprised (actually shocked) to see four of the six people in front of me choose the pre-paid gas option. For those of you who don’t know what is pre-paid gas option, you pay for the entire tank of gas and you can return the car with an empty tank. A quick side note: I know there are some nit-pickers who might be reading it. You can’t return a car with an EMPTY gas tank (you will need to get it towed, literally) so that is not the point of the blog post.

• Mini Saga #41 – Loan

  Rajesh Setty

  19 Oct 2009 | 1:10 am

  Photo Courtesy: Melissa Maples on Flickr Sometimes we take things literally. Enjoy the story: Loan Rick stopped someone in the lobby and said – “I am from the office next door. Can you please lend me $1000?” The person flatly refused stating that he doesn’t know Rick well. With a confused look, Rick said – “That’s odd. My coworkers won’t lend me saying they know me too well.” Note: 1. A mini saga is a story told in exactly 50 words. Not 49 or 51 but exactly 50. 2. You can download a photographic manifesto of Mini Sagas at ChangeThis. Here…

• Recharging while sweating…

  Rajesh Setty

  13 Oct 2009 | 1:10 am

  Some background first… The day before I went for a long hike (long is relative BTW) I told my friend Arun that I was planning to go on a hike the next day. Arun asked me – “So where are you going?” And I proudly mentioned that it was “Rancho San Antonio,” he just laughed and said – “It is not a hike, it’s a walk.” Of course, he would said that being an avid hiker. For me, being on the hiking trails for the first time, it was definitely a HIKE. Why share the background? Simply because I know there will be some other avid hikers out…

• Mini Saga #40 – Dream

  Rajesh Setty

  12 Oct 2009 | 1:10 am

  Photo Courtesy: Bobasonic on Flickr Sometimes dreams can be unbelievable Enjoy the story: Dream Rick handed the keys to his Ferrari to the Valet guy and the phone rang. Actually it was the phone in his office. It was all a dream! Rick smiled and got up and walked towards his Mercedes. Just then, he heard a voice – “Wake up, you will miss the train.” Note: 1. A mini saga is a story told in exactly 50 words. Not 49 or 51 but exactly 50. 2. You can download a photographic manifesto of Mini Sagas at ChangeThis. Here is the link – Mini Sagas: Bite-sized Wisdom for Life and…

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  Remarkablogger

• Headway 1.5 Changes the Game… Again – Meet Your New Visual WordPress Theme Editor

  Michael Martine

  3 Nov 2009 | 1:58 pm

  If you can’t see the Headway Sneak Peek video below, please visit the Remarkablogger blog to watch it. When Headway 1.0 was released, it shook up the WordPress premium theme market. Why? Because we gave bloggers what they really wanted: visual control over their blog designs with little-to-no complex coding. Well, now we can add the word total to that description. You now have total visual control in Headway 1.5, which you can now get as a developer preview (which means you have to have the developer’s license). For all you non-developers, though, Headway 1.5 is going to be your…

• The Tao of Blog Conferences

  Michael Martine

  26 Oct 2009 | 4:31 am

  Watch the blog conference survival video on the blog if you don’t see it below. My advice for surviving big blog conferences? Flow like water. Here’s some of the story of what happened at BlogWorld Expo ‘09 and how I managed it. People mentioned: Grant Griffiths, Naomi Dunford, Christine O’Kelly, and Joel Williams. Email this to a friend?Tweet This!Share this on FacebookStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on MixxPost this to PosterousShare this on del.icio.usShare this on FriendFeedSphinn this on SphinnPost this on DiigoAdd this to Google…

• How to Use the Secret Desires of Your Customers

  Michael Martine

  22 Oct 2009 | 3:06 am

  What are Your Secret Desires? No, no, not those kind of secret desires. As a business owner, you have daydreams of what success looks like to you. You probably don’t go around talking about these publicly, because they feel private and personal to you. You’d likely be a little embarrassed to lay them bare before others. Right now, I want you to take a moment to catalog your business success daydreams. I want you to write them down. Seriously, write them down, because there’s an important point to this. I’ll wait while you do. All done? Okay. Here are some of the ones…

• Why You Are Not A Service Provider

  Michael Martine

  20 Oct 2009 | 8:46 am

  This post was inspired from a conversation I had with Chris Brogan at BlogWorld Expo 2009. Chris is so damn productive, I have given him a nickname. Henceforth, he is “The Broganator,” but that is beside the point. We were standing around in a little circle with a couple other people after a session Chris had paneled, talking about business. Any time we dig a little deeper into our blogs to make them more successful, we’re reminded they have a business end. We’re reminded which end is dog, which end is tail, and which end is supposed to be wagging the other (most…

• More Photos from BlogWorld Expo 2009

  Michael Martine

  17 Oct 2009 | 2:46 pm

  For many of these, you’ll need to click on the pic to see it at full width. Me and The Broganater. Me and Derek Halpern of Prevential. Proof that the A-listers are, in fact, demonspawn. Sonia Simone, Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, and Chris Brogan. Me and Shama Hyder. More later! I’m squeezing these in between various sessions and conversations. If you’re serious about blogging in general and specifically monetizing a blog or business blogging, you need to come to this event (any event, really). The difference when meeting people face-to-face is HUGE. Networking matters, face…

• 
  Junta42 blog

• Custom Print Magazines - Why Can't MasterCard Produce Inc. Magazine?

  Joe Pulizzi

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  I don't know about you, but I've been reading more print magazines lately.  Seems odd at first, but in a way, it makes perfect sense. I spend most of my business day and night on the computer. When I'm on my computer, I need to get things done. But when I want to relax and engage in an inspiring story, print is my choice...books and magazines. At the top of the list is probably Inc. magazine. This month's article about how 37Signals founder Jason Fried spends his day was priceless. Speaking of "priceless", shouldn't MasterCard be producing an Inc-type…

• Less of Me, More of You - A Stella Pop Content Marketing Video

  Joe Pulizzi

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:38 pm

  Big thanks to Mike O'Grady at Stella Pop for putting out the latest edition of eVidmagazine featuring yours truly.   Although Mike was originally thinking a two or three minute video interview, he decided that the video worked best as a 10 minute segment.  Hey, he's the expert, so I'm not going to disagree with him. My biggest takeaway from the video was this - Less of me and more of you (well, not literally since it's almost 10 minutes of me).  What I mean is that brands are starting to focus much more on you (the buyer) and much less on the "me" (themselves). In simplest…

• BtoB Custom Media / Custom Publishing Special Report

  Joe Pulizzi

  29 Oct 2009 | 9:49 am

  BtoB Magazine just did an outstanding custom media special report for business-to-business brands. Here's an overview of the special report. Media, Agencies Battle to be Kings of Content: Publishers, advertising agencies, direct firms, pr firms - everyone is battling for the money flowing into content marketing and custom media. This article offers perspectives from both media companies and agencies on the battle for content. Custom Media Moves Closer to the Core: Great examples from the CME Group, Sherwin-Williams and IDG on how brands are leveraging both print and online custom media as…

• Who's Outsourcing Content? - A Junta42 Annual Report

  Joe Pulizzi

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:33 am

  We just delivered the Junta42 annual report email to the Junta42 content marketing vendors and I thought I would share it with the community.As you'll see in the email, these are high-level numbers.  Over the next few weeks, we'll be putting together a "State of Content Marketing Outsourcing" (better title to come) that will take the mounds of data we have on content marketing projects and put it together in a handy report.  If there is anything specific you'd like to see, please let me know.>>>>Start of EmailHi John:  First off, I wanted to…

• Personal Branding Success in 15 Steps

  Joe Pulizzi

  27 Oct 2009 | 7:35 pm

  Dan Schawbel has put together a first-rate magazine about personal branding called (of course) Personal Branding Magazine. The latest issue includes an article from yours truly, which I've included below.  I also included one of my PowerPoint presentations when I do in-person workshops on personal branding (this article was based on that presentation). If this topic is important to you, I suggest you check out Dan's magazine (get the free trial issue here). 15 Steps to Personal Branding SuccessBefore talking about the how of personal branding, it’s essential to talk about why…

• 
  Flooring The Consumer

• Simple Marketing Now - October 2009 Update

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:03 am

  I'm late issuing the October 2009 Update for goings on at Simple Marketing Now...Blame it on getting ready for my very exciting User Friendly Thinking Radio interview taking place tomorrow, Friday, November 6, 2009 at 1pm EST with Paul Chaney and John Munsell from Bizzuka. I hope you understand... It's going to be great fun and I'd love it if you would tune in.Back to the October Update...If you are new toFlooring The Consumer, I also write theSimple Marketing Blog where I discuss marketing strategy and creative, practical, simple marketing approaches and best practices - many of which may be…

• Bathroom Blogfest 09 - Recap

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:06 pm

  Bathroom Blogfest 09 is over. And, what a wild week it was. Did you enjoy the variety of perspectives? Here's a recap of the action I took part in here, at the Simple Marketing Blog, and also on the Carpetology Blog.On The Carpetology Blog:Design Your Bathroom Around Your Rug!On The Simple Marketing Blog:+ Bathroom Blogfest 09: Ready to Flush The Recession & Plunge Into Forgotten Spaces + Liane Evans Blends Social Media & Search For Greater Marketing Impact+ Listening to Customers & Bathroom Blogfest 09+ Making Things Simple is Not Simple - Simplicity In Design Solutions+ BJ…

• Bathrooms & The Hospitality Experience: How Much Is Too Much?

  30 Oct 2009 | 11:00 am

  I have a question for you. As it relates to your Hospitality Experience - think hotels - how much bathroom is too much bathroom?Read through this fascinating New York Times article from 4/5/09 titled "Bathrooms That Are Part of the View." What do you think?According to the article, open bathrooms are a new trend in hotels, particularly swanky ones or ones eager to communicate in a bold way that these aren't your grandmothers' tubs.Imagine, having a tub in the middle of the bedroom, or simply a glass partition to separate [and probably contain humidity] the bed from the bath rooms...Some of it…

• The Best Bathrooms Remind You Of Home

  30 Oct 2009 | 7:11 am

  Today's Bathroom Blogfest 09 post comes from my friend and former partner in Carpetology and Bathroom Blogfest crime, Elizabeth Hise.---------------There’s No Place Like HomeWhen Christine asked if I wanted to take part in the 2009 Bathroom Blogfest as a guest blogger, I jumped at the opportunity. As I mentioned in my very first 2008 post, I’m practically an expert on bathrooms. The bathroom can make or break an experience, retail or otherwise. Plus, I’d get to work with Christine again — always a bonus.So I started thinking about the bathrooms I’ve enjoyed (or didn’t) in the past…

• Hotel Bathtubs Going the Way of the Fingerbowl - Bathroom Blogfest '09

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:35 am

  This post about Hotel Bathtubs Going the Way of the Fingerbowl comes from my friend and fellow Bathroom Blogfest 09 contributor, Bethany Richmond. I think you'll enjoy her Reflections on a Life Immersed.------------------I read something recently that I was sorry to hear. It seems that hotels are doing away with bathtubs. Evidently business travelers are too busy for baths, preferring “a gutsy shower” to a lazy soak. Bathtubs tend to be lawsuit magnets, and females report that there’s something “icky” about hotel tubs. Only 2% of hotel guests say they use the bathtub in a hotel, and…

• 
  Marketing Profs Daily Fix

• Paul Williams: Catch More Fish With The Right Lure, In The Right Waters

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  A couple of fishermen are hanging out in their local bait shop. One has a new product idea for out-of-town visitors. Sell a lake map and fishing lure combo. Take specific fishing lures and tape them to the different lakes on the map. This way the out-of-towner will know the proper bait to use at each particular lake, and will lead to a more successful fishing experience. If you're at Watermans Reservoir and want to catch a Northern Pike, you need a spinner lure. At Worden's Pond after Jackfish? Use a fish-imitation lure or cut bait.* Here comes the business segue... We marketers and business…

• Suzanne Lowe: Digital Versus Paper: What's The Future For Professional Services?

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:50 am

  In the past several weeks, I've encountered questions about the effectiveness of digital marketing versus paper-driven communications. A recent WSJ piece "Marketers Still Prefer a Paper Trail," asserts that people are motivated to go to a Web site to buy when they see an item in a catalog. Some of my marketing communication friends tell me that their professional service clients are producing print newsletters in addition to (and in some cases, instead of) digital newsletters. They say, "my clients' clients are so overwhelmed with emails that they actually appreciate print newsletters!" It's…

• Paul Williams: Don't Force It: Roam Before You Pave

  3 Apr 2009 | 7:16 am

  I have a story for you... An architect built a cluster of office buildings around a central green. When construction was completed, the landscape crew asked him where he wanted the sidewalks. "Just plant the grass solidly between the buildings," was his reply. By late summer, the new lawn was laced with paths of trodden grass between the buildings. These paths turned in easy curves and were sized according to traffic flow. In the fall, the architect simply paved the paths. Not only were the paths beautiful, they responded directly to user needs. I love this story. I am certain this…

• 
  Techno//Marketer - Matt Dickman on Digital Marketing and Social Media

• MySpace Strives to Recover Its Cool [del.icio.us]

  mattanium

  Interesting move, but is it too late? MySpace still is the leader in music, but can they get traction again?

• Where you at, Matt?

  Matt Dickman

  15 Oct 2009 | 8:09 am

  A number of you have noticed that I have been scarcely around the blog and Twittersphere over the past couple of months. I have a lot going on and wanted to step back and gather my thoughts. I just wanted you to know that I am not gone, I am just on a short hiatus. I have a couple of big announcements coming up as well as a little branding overhaul for Techno//Marketer. Long story short, I'm going to be back soon, better than ever (I hope), so thank you for reading and I'll be back in the conversation with you very soon. If you liked this post, you can subscribe to the Techno//Marketer RSS…

• Facebook Connect Goes Mobile [del.icio.us]

  mattanium

  Facebook is extending its Connect data portability technology to developers of mobile sites and applications, following its launch six months ago for iPhone developers, the company announced Thursday in an official blog.

• Want better digital strategy, ban seven dirty words

  Matt Dickman

  8 Aug 2009 | 2:13 pm

  If you love strategic planning as much as I do then I am sure that one of your biggest pet peeves is when people jump to tactics straight away in a planning meeting. Despite your most desperate attempts to steer things back on course, and define what the overall strategy looks like, you die a little when someone blurts out "Let's set up a YouTube channel and Tweet about it!". How do you get around this? Here is what I have started doing in my initial planning sessions and it seems to be working well so far. I've banned what I consider the seven dirty words of digital strategy. They are:…

• Financial Times Confirms Apple Tablet for September | Gadget Lab | Wired.com [del.icio.us]

  mattanium

  Interesting. Competes with iPod and Kindle.

• 
  Greg Verdino's Marketing Blog

• Upcoming speaking: free blogging basics webinar

  Greg Verdino

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:23 am

  You're probably not a blogging n00b but you probably know someone who is -- a client, a coworker, someone new to the industry or your mom perhaps. If so, you should let them know that I'm taking part in a free blogging basics webinar at 2pm ET on November 19th. Target Marketing magazine will be hosting an hour long conversation (part presentation, part Q&A) featuring Compendium Blogware CEO Chris Baggott and me sharing everything we know about how companies can get started with corporate blogging and what this means for their SEO programs. Look for practical tips about how to get one of…

• Podcaster J.C. Hutchins has killed the president

  Greg Verdino

  27 Oct 2009 | 2:30 pm

  Not the real president and not in real life. And technically speaking, J.C. didn't do the deed -- but he dreamed up the child/assassin who takes down America's main man in the opening lines of his sci-fi thriller 7th Son: Descent.Regular readers know that I have a bit of a mancrush on J.C., who has the social media chops so many brand managers can only dream of. His last print novel, Personal Effects, was a participatory, multimedia tour de force (learn more) and with 7th Son he does it again.Now, for those of you who haven't been poking around the social media space for the past few years I…

• What's the price of five dollars?

  Greg Verdino

  22 Oct 2009 | 8:57 am

    That wasn't meant to be a trick question, but rest assured the answer isn't five dollars.Here's the scoop. I drive a Nissan Altima and I've been reasonably happy with it. It's neither the best car I've ever owned nor the worst, but I'm not a car guy so if it gets me from point A to point B safely without costing me an arm and a leg in gas money I'm satisfied. The Altima more than fits the bill.I don't mind telling you that the lease runs me about $315 per month and I'm pretty diligent about paying right on time, almost always by check through the good ol' U.S. mail. This month though, I…

• What if the future of technology is more sand than silicon?

  Greg Verdino

  20 Oct 2009 | 8:41 am

   This is just flat-out smart and cool. The Institute for the Future teamed up with Sun Microsytems and Boing Boing to host The Digital Open, a tech expo for teens under the age of 17. Last week they announced a series of winning projects, one of which caught my eye -- not because it made use of amazing, forward-looking technology, but because it ostensibly uses no technology at all... Actually, that's not quite true. Let me explain. The project, developed by a 17-year-old girl named Alexis McAdams, is called "DiorActive" and essentially takes the big world  issues -- political, social,…

• Miscellaneous Monday

  Greg Verdino

  19 Oct 2009 | 12:54 pm

     This is just a quick jumble of recent and new items that may be of interest (to me, if not to you.) Blog World & New Media Expo: I'm fresh back from Las Vegas where, as I noted last week, I presented at Blog World. Home improvement blogger Tony Saucier attended my session and wrote a nice summary of my presentation. I believe a video of my speech will surface at some point, but in the meantime Tony captured the gist of it. Time Off in Las Vegas: If you were at Blog World and we didn't see one another, that's probably because I didn't spend much time at the conference. What was I…

• 
  CK's Blog

• B2B Marketers: If Your Markets' Needs and Behaviors Have Changed... Why Hasn't Your Marketing?

  CK (Christina Kerley)

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:15 pm

  Reports, statistics and factoids are marketers' best friends. After all, data gives us information from which we glean intelligence to build our business models, marketing strategies, plans to increase market share and programs to cut through clutter. And rock-solid data is the fuel we need to drive change within our departments and across our organizations.Devoid of statistically sound findings, however, we're left relying on gut feelings and our personal views of how we perceive things to be... which can turn out to be perfectly correct or miserably myopic. So research gives us…

• Social Media Marketing Collection: Where in the (Web 2.0) World To Start?

  CK (Christina Kerley)

  2 Oct 2009 | 12:24 am

  Clients and colleagues often ask me "Where in the (Web 2.0) world to start?" when they're looking to learn about marketing with social media, the profound shifts taking place with their target audiences and the new best practices they need to grasp. So instead of sending them a long list of links, I've compiled a collection of posts, presentations and series into this slideshow... as it seems a better format for marketers to pick and choose where they want to begin. And you might just enjoy it, too. The slideshow is below (and is best viewed in full-screen format). RSS and…

• Building The B2B Business Case for Social Media Marketing: A 10-Benefit Slide Show for B2B Professionals.

  CK (Christina Kerley)

  19 Sep 2009 | 1:38 pm

  I've written and spoken plenty about the tremendous benefits that B2B companies can yield by leveraging social media. And while more B2Bs are integrating social media into their marketing mix, many are still not convinced that these game-changing media apply to their businesses. What do they need to make this leap? Rationale. B2Bs need the business case explained to them in a way that speaks to the unique objectives, needs and challenges of B2B companies (vs. those of B2Cs). To that end, I've developed this presentation for "Building the B2B Business Case for Social Media."…

• Web 2.0 Rule #8: Social media gives people more control over brand messages... but marketers (still!) ultimately influence what those messages will be.

  CK (Christina Kerley)

  30 Aug 2009 | 9:30 am

  Note: This post is part of a current series that explores 10 (Essential!) Rules That No Marketer Should Pass The "Web 2.0 Go" Without. All posts in the series are archived here. In this post we illuminate:  Web 2.0 Rule #8: Social media gives people more control over brand messages... but marketers (still!) ultimately influence what those messages will be.The tools of social media are empowering because they give everyone with access to the Web a voice. From corporate professionals to college students, seniors to teens and everyone in-between,…

• Social Media Marketing Training: 5 Tips for Breaking Through The Knowledge Barrier.

  CK (Christina Kerley)

  27 Aug 2009 | 11:19 am

  Knowledge is powerful. But when it comes to companies moving into social media, lack of knowledge is absolutely paralyzing. While social media adoption rates are exploding among consumer and professional audiences alike--and companies are attributing far more attention and budget to social media efforts--education remains one of the biggest barriers to social media adoption.More to the point, lack of know-how is one of the biggest reasons that so many social media programs fail to perform. Take these recent findings on the knowledge barrier: According to a recent study by Russell Herder and…

• 
  Servant of Chaos

• A Cup of Chaos #25 - #Media140: Journalism and Social Media

  Gavin Heaton

  6 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am

  Over the last two days there has been some great discussion around the impact that social media is having on journalism. I have been listening in to the #Media140 conference via a live Ustream feed - and in this part of the proceedings facilitated by Mark Jones, we get some interesting perspectives from Renai LeMay, Wolf Cocklin, Latika Bourke, Andrew Davies and Dave Earley. Some of the opinions and approaches arising from the various panels (more short presentations than discussions) have been fascinating. They are well worth a listen - and may just stimulate your own thinking this Friday!

• On Generosity and Grace

  Gavin Heaton

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:12 pm

  I normally don't re-post articles that I write for the MarketingProfs Daily Fix, but I wanted to make sure that I shared this with you all. Generosity and grace is a topic that has been on my mind for some time - and something that goes, I think, to the heart of the transformation that we are seeing in consumer behaviour. It's also something that I touched on my post last night appealing to the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to address the crisis faced by Sydney's Wayside Chapel. You see, social media - or what I am increasingly calling "participatory media" is not just about connecting. It's…

• Dear Kevin Rudd, Wayside Chapel Needs Your Help

  Gavin Heaton

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:28 am

  It seems everywhere that I look that I see a problem I would like to help solve, an issue I’d like to address or a challenge that I’d like to take up. But after pulling together The Perfect Gift for a Man in support of the Inspire Foundation, kicking off the Age of Conversation III (supporting Make a Wish) and #Movember – I wonder how much more I can take on. However, tonight via Paul McKeon and Leigh Sales, I learned about the desperate needs of Sydney’s Wayside Chapel. Wayside is a charity that has been in the consciousness of Sydneysiders for decades – caring for and supporting…

• When Storytelling and News Meet

  Gavin Heaton

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:15 pm

  In amongst the pitches and requests that speed from my Inbox to the Trash, sometimes, just sometimes, comes something worth pausing over. An email from Todd Denis from Jawbone.tv made me curious enough to take a moment to check out the story – and I am glad I did. Not only does Jawbone cover niche news topics in an engaging way, there is always a storytelling aspect to the content that they feature. For example, this article on Significant Objects is not just interesting in itself, but goes into the detail of how storytelling has been used as the basis for a social experiment – where a…

• Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

  Gavin Heaton

  1 Nov 2009 | 6:48 pm

  When I look back over the previous week’s torrent of information, I try to find a theme that resonates with me. I look for an idea that jumps from one medium to another, that I hope will appeal to your radar – registering a point of interest or difference. Sure, I could go to the big blogs and pull their most read stories – but chances are you will have seen it already. My five must-reads are of a different order – they’re from writers with a particular point of view and are less about volume and all about value.I hope you find them fascinating! A couple of weeks ago, Tim Noonan…

• 
  Escape from Cubicle Nation

• 10 ways to stimulate the economy with your brain

  Pamela

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:58 am

  I don’t know about you, but I get mighty tired of reading newspaper articles and blog rants about the effectiveness/ineffectiveness of stimulus money on our economy. What makes me frustrated is that we waste hours a day fighting with each other about things outside of our control, instead of using our own brains to do something about our local economy. So here is my list of 10 things you can do, right now, to stimulate a small corner of your local economy without spending a dime: Mentor a new business owner.  If you know how to build an effective website or display goods more…

• Spreading the addiction of the TED conference one city at a time

  Pamela

  30 Oct 2009 | 2:24 pm

  There are few things that get me fired up late at night like watching TED videos. For the uninitiated, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and is a conference that takes place once a year. The videos from TED are shared free on their website, and the talks are enough to get you standing up with your fist in the air, clutching your heart with tears streaming down your cheeks, or doubling over with laughter. TED is undertaking a new initiative which is to encourage local communities to sponsor their own events, called “TEDx.” We are hosting ours here in Phoenix,…

• Last chance to attend live Escape from Cubicle Nation workshop in 2009

  Pamela

  28 Oct 2009 | 4:20 pm

  The fabulous and enthusiastic crew from last week’s Escape from Cubicle Nation Workshop in London. Photo by the handsome and talented TMSRuge. I communicate on Twitter so frequently that I just realized some blog readers may not know that my last live Escape from Cubicle Nation workshop will take place on Wednesday, November 4 at the Hotel Belamar in Southern California.  I will be joined by the fabulous and talented Colleen Wainwright, otherwise known as Communicatrix, who is an amazing resource for branding and social media. This will be my last workshop of the year, and the last…

• Response to Chris Brogan about Overnight Success

  Pamela

  25 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pm

  Sitting in the Dallas airport after having spent the weekend speaking and participating in Milana Leshinsky’s Coaching Millions Super Summit, I watched Chris Brogan’s 3-part video series on Overnight Success and felt my heart melt. I related to so much of what he talked about, since I have spent so much time this summer on the road, promoting my book. Getting out in front of people is critical, spreading the message of hope and connection through entrepreneurship is imperative, and creating a powerful business model that serves people well and provides well for my family is a…

• The beauty of dirty laundry

  Pamela

  19 Oct 2009 | 2:38 pm

  At the management conference I attended in Pärnu, Estonia last week, we had a speaker from Denmark, Morten Lund,  a long-time entrepreneur who had, among other things, made good money investing in Skype. As he launched into his presentation, he said: “I have founded over 88 startups. And at the moment, I am bankrupt.” Due to a failed investment in a newspaper business in his native Denmark, he had lost a lot of money. But, he said, he actually was feeling quite good. He was spending lots of time with his four kids, whom he obviously adored. And he remained passionate about…

• 
  Six Minutes

• Public Speaking Tips: Weekend Review [2009-11-07]

  Andrew Dlugan

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:15 pm

  On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere. This super-sized review features topics including: new public speaking books; writing a eulogy; eye contact vs. eye communication; speaking with notes; tools for slide color schemes; the validity of learning styles (are they a myth?); moderating a panel; and being successful as an introvert. Resources for Speakers – Public Speaking Books Check out these recently released public speaking and communications books: Presentation S.O.S.: Persuasion in 9 Easy Steps by Mark Wiskup Talk…

• How to Deliver Group Presentations: The Unified Team Approach

  Chaunce Stanton

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:57 pm

  Think of a group of people whose careers or circumstances require them to work well with one another: athletic teams, orchestras, or emergency room workers. If individual members “do their own thing,” the entire group suffers. When you’re asked to present as part of a panel of experts or a team making a sales pitch, you might think that there is safety in numbers and that you need to prepare less than if you were speaking on your own. The truth is that, for your audience, a group presentation is only as strong as its weakest presenter. Here’s how to help your team create a strong…

• Watch Becky Blanton’s TED Talk

  Andrew Dlugan

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:24 pm

  Six weeks ago, we were fortunate to share Becky Blanton’s educational and inspirational story titled How to Deliver the Talk of Your Life. This was one of the most popular articles we’ve ever published on Six Minutes. The focus of her article — her TEDGlobal 2009 talk — is now available on video. Watching it will be the best seven minutes of your day. Click here to watch it. Similar Articles You May Like...How to Deliver the Talk of Your Life Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to…

• Toastmasters Speech 6: Vocal Variety

  Andrew Dlugan

  1 Nov 2009 | 6:03 pm

  Does your voice put your audience to sleep? Does it put you to sleep? Do you find it hard to  conveying emotions with your voice? Are you easy to listen to, or does your voice let you down? The sixth Toastmasters speech project guides you to harness the power of your own voice. This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches. The Toastmasters Speech Series The Ice Breaker Organize Your Speech Get to the Point How To Say It Your Body Speaks Vocal Variety Research Your Topic (coming…

• Book Review: The Wealthy Speaker by Jane Atkinson

  Andrew Dlugan

  29 Oct 2009 | 11:42 am

  If you dream of speaking one hour for $15,000, this book is for you. If you have absolutely no idea how to get there, this book will show you what is required. Jane Atkinson’s The Wealthy Speaker: The Proven Formula for Building Your Successful Speaking Business is packed with advice to prepare you to make the jump to $15,000 speaking fees, whether you are six months or six years away. This article is the latest of a series of public speaking book reviews here on Six Minutes. What will you learn from The Wealthy Speaker? The Wealthy Speaker is a comprehensive insider’s view of the…

• 
  ChangeThis Newsletter

• 63.01 - Moving Beyond “Short-termism” by Bill George

  changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)

  14 Oct 2009 | 2:21 pm

  Click here to visit the site. Click here to download the PDF. “In the summer of 2008, Lehman Brothers and AIG were renowned power-players and titans of finance. They were innovative, profitable… nearly untouchable. Now, they are insolvent. These are just two in a long line of now-clichéd Wall Street stories: successful company—under pressure to earn bigger profits faster—succumbs to appeal of short-term gains, makes bad bets, and goes bust. Negligent and cavalier investment strategies created overly-leveraged balance sheets, causing these companies, and many others, to place…

• 63.02 - Borrowing Brilliance: And Other Oxymorons by David Kord Murray

  changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)

  14 Oct 2009 | 2:20 pm

  Click here to visit the site. Click here to download the PDF. "... As I go out into the world and teach people about creative thought, I’m often asked by managers 'how to' apply this in an organization. They want me to talk about 'corporate creativity' and 'innovation management' and at first blush, to me, 'corporate creativity' seems like a [George] Carlinesque oxymoron. It seems like two words that contradict each other, like 'jumbo shrimp,' 'military intelligence' and 'borrowing brilliance.' Corporations are typically highly structured and highly political, and typically NOT very…

• 63.03 - Sustainability, The Complete Concept: Environment, Healthcare, and Economy by Hunter Lewis

  changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)

  14 Oct 2009 | 2:19 pm

  Click here to visit the site. Click here to download the PDF. "Most of us would agree that the principal difference between children and real adults is that the latter look ahead, consider consequences, act responsibly and sustainably. Sustainability is not, however, just the essence of maturity. It is also the essence of morality. [...] Whether one looks at our ailing planet, our ever less affordable healthcare, or our failing economy, we see the same underlying problem: a rejection of maturity in favor of a childish refusal to look ahead. What we need instead is a more complete and…

• 63.04 - Decide to Say Sorry: The “Peace Process” for Growing Your Business by Jeanne Bliss

  changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)

  14 Oct 2009 | 2:18 pm

  Click here to visit the site. Click here to download the PDF. “How you apologize is your humanity litmus test. Let’s face it, at some point; your business will suffer a failure that disappoints customers. How your company reacts, explains, removes the pain, and takes accountability for actions signals how you think about customers, and the collective heart of your organization. Grace and wisdom guide decisions of beloved companies toward accepting responsibility and resolving the situation when the chips are down—not accusations and skirting accountability. Repairing the emotional…

• 63.05 - Self-Promotion for Introverts�: Get Heard More. Even If You Talk Less by Nancy Ancowitz

  changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)

  14 Oct 2009 | 2:15 pm

  Click here to visit the site. Click here to download the PDF. “Introverts. The world needs us, can't live without us, and often doesn't quite get us. However, we persist, mostly behind the scenes, quietly contributing to society—writing, creating, designing, researching, solving problems, and digging for treasures ancient and new. Are you one of us? If you're more of a Warren Buffett than a Donald Trump, and more of a Greta Garbo than a Madonna, you've come to the right place. It's time for you to stop hiding from the spotlight. Time to get recognized and compensated for your gifts.

• 
  Connie Bensen

• Should you Accept the Job Offer?

  conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:53 pm

  Your dream is to work in social media. You’ve been blogging, building your brand and know your stuff. After doing all the right things you have a job offer, so now what? As with any potential new job there are many questions & many unknowns in regard to one in social media. And to make it worse, I believe that there are many more because the space is so new. I have been advising both employers and job seekers for quite awhile. Here’s a review of practical things to consider when you’re on that emotional high of having received a job offer: 1. job expectations? Do you know what your…

• In San Francisco next week

  conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)

  27 Oct 2009 | 3:22 pm

  It’s a busy time of year! Next week I’ll be in San Francisco for two events. I’m doing a 3 hour workshop at Enterprise 2.0 on Frameworks for utilizing social media. The diagram in my last blog post outlines the potential that a community manager offers an organization. I will share how to use social media to: Build brand & PR, social media marketing, business development & collaborations Connect with customers in terms of customer service, peer support, product development Augment sales by shortening sales cycle, new forms of prospecting (reducing cold calling) I was really…

• Community Manager + Sales Funnel = ROI

  conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:25 pm

  This diagram summarizes what I have learned over the past year about how my role as a Community Manager influences the sales funnel. We are in agreement that social media efforts need to be measured. I will contend that the role of community manager or social media specialist requires you to show how you contribute to your organization’s business objectives in order to justify your presence (and paycheck). I created the diagram to help us as practitioners describe our position and influence in the sales funnel. The concepts apply to B2B sales as much as to B2C. Too often I think that…

• Seven Business Objectives and their ROI for Monitoring Social Media

  conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)

  8 Oct 2009 | 9:43 pm

  Michael Leander Nielson of Oslo  invited me to present a webinar on Business Objectives for Social Media Monitoring. It’s a popular topic and we had great attendance! I covered the following: Which objectives to consider when defining your social media monitoring (SMM) strategy What types of tools are available How to make sense of the data that is gathered The ROI and benefits of social media monitoring During the webinar it was interesting the exchange of Twitter usernames transition to  requesting to continue the conversation in a community. It underlined how people with a…

• THE REASON You Should Be At Blogworld 09

  conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)

  3 Oct 2009 | 9:06 pm

  Not too long ago I was in a traditional professional job. Ironically that same job is what introduced me to Web 2.0. Fast forwarding finds me deeply entrenched in working online and advocating for the role of Community Manager and working remotely. THE Reason You Should Be At Blogworld 09 is the people. As much as I enjoy working remotely there is a huge value to meeting people in person. The power of connecting face to face is incredible. Last year’s BlogWorld was a turning point for me. I had the opportunity to meet many of the people who had influenced my work & inspire so many of…

• 
  Weblogg-ed

• Teachers as Learners (Part 32)

  Will Richardson

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:06 am

  Recently at the beginning of a day long workshop, I used a Google form to get feedback on this question: If there was one part of your personal learning practice that you wanted to focus on today, what would it be? What questions would you seek to answer? Now I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not a perfect question in terms of trying to get some sense of the personal learning lives from the teachers who were participating. But in the context of a discussion we’d been having about the passion-based learning opportunities that the Web now affords, I was hoping to learn what…

• Teaching, Testing and Counseling

  Will Richardson

  23 Oct 2009 | 2:58 pm

  It’s no secret that many of us who had high hopes that the Obama administration would start a meaningful conversation on re-envisioning education are feeling sorely disappointed these days. All of the hoopla over “The Race to the Top” as a catalyst of real “reform” is getting a bit much to take, and to be honest, I’m surprised that more educators aren’t voicing their displeasure at the idea of being paid based on the scores their students make on standardized tests (among other things.) But I have to tell you, David Brooks’ column in the Times…

• On Common Standards

  Will Richardson

  16 Oct 2009 | 5:18 am

  So without bemoaning in the fact that I haven’t been able to find any time of late to get to this space to do some reading and thinking and synthesizing and extended writing and that I feel like a truly important part of my life is being slowly and painfully left behind and that there is a post that I really need to write about that at some point sooner rather than later… Tom Hoffman has been bugging many of us to blog about the English Language Arts Standards that are being written by Core Standards group as an attempt to provide some national standardization for ELA (and…

• Don’t, Don’t, Don’t vs. Do, Do, Do

  Will Richardson

  20 Sep 2009 | 6:11 am

  Recently, I presented at a school on an opening day for teachers where the first thing that greeted everyone on the table in the lobby was an 8-page Acceptable Use Policy which staff members were picking up as they filed into the school. I picked one up too, and when I had a moment I started paging through it, looking at all the ways in which students (and teachers) could get themselves in trouble on the school network. The middle three pages were filled with an A-Y double spaced list (guess they were saving room for one more rule next year) which spelled out the many transgressions that were…

• The Obama Speech

  Will Richardson

  5 Sep 2009 | 5:04 am

  In the midst of all of the “uproar” over the President’s planned speech to school kids on Tuesday, I keep thinking about what all of this says about schools, about what they are for, and about the perception that a lot of people in this country have of them. It would seem to me that there should be no better place for my children to watch that speech (or any other, for that matter) than in a place where ideas are encouraged, where critical thinking about those ideas is a natural part of the conversation, and where appropriate response and debate can flourish. Where the…

• 
  Holy Kaw!

• My plug is better than yours

  7 Nov 2009 | 8:38 am

  Who’s got the best power plug? Crave UK answers the question with their tongue somewhat in cheek. Could there be any bias with their choice for the #1 plug? I guess the writers don’t travel much and don’t care about size. Also, perhaps anthropomorphism is a bit too highly ranked? More intelligent ways to be shocked. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• 25 wackiest NYC Marathon costumes

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm

  Running 26.2 miles while sucking down polluted urban air wasn’t quite difficult enough for some jogging fools competing in the New York City Marathon last week, so a handful of creative folks decided to extend Halloween an extra day and run the race while donning costumes. Photogs spotted clowns, super heroes, Uncle Sam, nuns and even an apparently alive Michael Jackson. Lucky for you, you didn’t have to travel all the way to the Big Apple to check out all the shenanigans because Buzz Feed has collected images of the 25 best costumes at the 2009 NYC marathon. Enjoy (and feel lazy…

• Tech that refuses to die

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:26 pm

  Call them the Jason Vorhees of technology—gadgets that just won’t die, no matter how many times you kill ‘em with a chain saw. Tech moves fast,—remember, like 10 years ago you probably had a pager in your pocket—but why is it that some technology seems completely resistant to kicking the bucket? From cables that remain tangled under your desk to the hipsters’ audio format of choice, vinyl, CNet highlights eight tech items that refuse to meet the Grim Reaper. Even Twitter makes a surprise entry on the list. Check out the full list, including why the sans…

• How to change

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:09 pm

  Want to change? Then, according to Peter Bregman, just change one thing. In his case he stopped consuming large amounts of sugar. For me, it would be carbohydrates. But the article isn’t really about dieting—it’s about how to become a better business person, so read it and reap. More Lifehacks. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Guess who is a Glamour woman of the year?

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:56 pm

  It’s going to be a long time before I post about anything in Glamour, but this is a special occasion. The magazine named Google’s Marissa Mayer as one of the women of the year for 2009. Joining her is “refuse to use Bluetooth” Maria Shriver and others. The only reason Matt Cutts didn’t win is that he’s a man—despite the concerted efforts of SEO consultants around the world to game the voting.. More, albeit less glamourous, news about Google. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• 
  SmartBrief: Social Media

• How remote employees can build community

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Employees who work remotely can use social networks, both online and off, to ensure they are getting enough human contact to  -More- 

• Employers are split on traits of texting generation

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  The generation that grew up on text messaging, chatting and holding multiple conversations at once is growing up, and some be -More- Are You Managing Keywords to CTR Alone?5 Tips to Make You More Effective with Your Ad Dollars This complimentary guide and webinar cover: - How to manage large keyword lists - How to make profitable decisions using deep-funnel metrics - How to close the revenue gap with micro-conversions Download Now

• Air America turns to social sites to engage listeners

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Talk radio can use social media to increase its fan base and stay relevant in a Web-focused world, Air America Media's Jen Ne -More- 

• The big re-tweet

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Like sharing great articles, ideas and resources on Twitter?  -More- 

• Honk brings social media to car buying

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Honk is inviting users to bring along their friends when they go car shopping on its site.  -More- 

• 
  SmartBrief: Leadership

• Man turns up alive at his own funeral

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  A Brazilian bricklayer stunned friends and family by wandering into his own funeral.  -More- Vice President Sales, North America Claddagh Resources

• Spending big bucks can stifle brainwaves

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Pledging to spend large amounts of money on innovation efforts can actually make it harder for companies to achieve their goa -More- 

• Fast-food giant aims for cultural overhaul

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Yum!  -More- 

• Financial firewall could tame mammoth banks

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  When banks get too big to fail, it's time to break them up, writes Nouriel Roubini.  -More- 

• How Steve Jobs turned corporate America upside down

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Steve Jobs, Apple's mercurial CEO, came back from career oblivion -- and survived two brushes with death -- to turn the busin -More- 

• 
  Smartbrief: American Association of School Administrators

• Analysis: Michigan students benefit from spending in the classroom

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Drastic budget cuts in Michigan have led districts to scrutinize their spending.  -More- 

• Education Department says Mass. used stimulus money properly

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  The Department of Education said it does not believe Massachusetts violated federal rules governing the spending of stimulus  -More- 

• Online Buyer's Guide for Educators

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  The online Buyer's Guide for Educators lets you easily locate education products and services.  -More- 

• Louisiana school officials are undecided on Race to the Top

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Louisiana school officials have been asked for their input in developing proposals for the state's Race to the Top proposal,  -More- Students Make 38% Gains Using Lexia Reading The Hall County, Georgia schools see 38% gains on state testing after students use Lexia Reading software. Web-enabled, research-proven, award-winning, Lexia Reading has helped all Hall County elementary students succeed. Dramatically improve your students' reading skills. LEARN MORE

• Flu leaves N.H. districts gearing up for possible lack of substitutes

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  School officials in New Hampshire are preparing for a shortage of substitute teachers if many of their full-time teachers bec -More- 

• 
  Smartbrief: Accomplished Teacher

• Teachers see possibilities in classroom technology

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Educators and students caught a glimpse of the classroom of the future at a conference in Indiana.  -More- 

• Report: Interactive whiteboards improve student learning:

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  A report released at the recent State Education Technology Directors Association Education Forum showed that the use of inter -More- 

• Alabama high school considers possibility of Bible elective course

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Educators at an Alabama high school are considering adding an elective course for high-schoolers that teaches about the Bible -More- 

• Join the discussion:

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  How are you using classroom technology to improve student achievement? How are you measuring results?  -More- Conferences are an invaluable way to get to know your students as readers. In his new book, Conferring, veteran teacher Patrick Allen debunks common misconceptions, outlines guiding principles of good reading conferences, and provides a predictable structure that will help you build skills and strategies. Preview the entire book online!

• Teachers learn to cope with stress through intensive program

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  A teacher-training program called Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education helps teachers cope with stress.  -More- 

• 
  Smartbrief: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

• Contrasting Attitudes of Japanese and American Teachers

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  An ASCD blog post looks back the March 1982 issue of Educational Leadership in which research associate Takiko Morimoto explo -More- Associate Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction Baltimore County Public Schools

• Wisconsin lawmakers move forward on school reforms

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

   -More- Singapore Math, Differentiated Instruction, RTI, guided reading, and centers are just a few of the topics covered in SDE's seminars and conferences. Discover practical, up-to-the-minute, research-based solutions to today's most important educational challenges. Find an event coming to your area and register now to reserve your space.

• Dallas considers ending minimum grades on report cards

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  School board members in Dallas are considering a proposal to change a requirement that teachers stick to a minimum grade of a -More- 

• ACLU sues Florida over district's low graduation rates

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a class-action lawsuit against Florida on behalf of students and parents in Palm -More- 

• Use of Bible as course material is on the rise in Alabama

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

   -More- Positive behavior can be taught. Rules in School gives teachers detailed guidelines for teaching students self-control and responding to misbehavior. The result is a safe, calm classroom where learning thrives. Written by masterful teachers at three grade levels (K-2, 3-5, 6-8). Click here to read sample chapters.

• 
  Social Media Explorer

• Three Tips For Social Media Management

  Jason Falls

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am

  I sat across the lunch table talking to Craig Bruenderman and Sam Gracie of ResonantVibes.com yesterday, talking about their community of electronic mix music producers and fans, smiling at what I heard. These are young, tech-oriented entrepreneurs, immersed in all the code and programming most of us fear. They use social tools to build their business around. They’re digital natives. What did they say that made me smile? “How do you choose which social networks and channels to focus on?” I heard the same thing from a small business owner in LaGrange, Ky., last week. I heard…

• The Dangerous Waters Ahead

  Jason Falls

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am

  The era of the social web has given us unprecedented access. We can see more about each other’s lives, know more about each other’s daily routines and find each other easier now than ever before. We have access to what would have been millions of dollars in software applications and platforms now, too. But they, in turn, have access to us. Our lives, not just our computer programs, have become open source. And we plod along, going with the flow and accepting the fact that the creepy guy from junior high is now commenting on our Facebook pictures. We’ve mostly grown wise to…

• What Social Media Monitoring Won’t Get You

  Jason Falls

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am

  Companies, brands and their respective marketing and public relations managers are clamoring to know what people are saying about them on the web. I would offer that social media monitoring has been the single-largest technology-based industry boom in the last 10 years, though search engine optimization firms might win that title. Image via Wikipedia On a parallel path, Facebook has surged past everyone else to emerge as the go-to social network. Brands grabbed up profiles, then group pages, now brand pages. Some still have all three. (You probably ought to move to the brand page exclusively,…

• What The Wall Street Journal Has, Few Will Match

  Jason Falls

  30 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am

  Mediaweek magazine puts together a “Digital Hot List” each year of the websites or companies they see as having the potential to wow the web world. Their list never seems to be much of a surprise, especially when you consider Google, Facebook and Twitter are sort of default entries, but there’s always one or two on it that raise an eyebrow. This year it’s the Wall Street Journal’s website, WSJ.com, in at No. 8. Yep! The website property of a traditional media outlet is on Mediaweek’s Digital Hot List. And no, it’s not a joke. To further perplex the…

• Shave My Goatee For Male Cancer Research

  Jason Falls

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:01 pm

  A funny thing happened on Twitter last night. David Armano and I got into a (light hearted and fun) discussion about the two of us being sexy bitches. (I know … silly, but bear with me here.) Somehow the notion of me shaving my goatee to raise money for a good cause came up. So, I’ve decided to support Movemeber, the male cancer awareness movement, by pledging to you that if we can raise $1,000.00 by Nov. 15, which I will donate to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, I will shave my goatee. Sure, it’s a small personal sacrifice (I’ve had my goat since roughly 1977), but…

• 
  Community Guy - Jake McKee

• Visit us at the Social CRM Virtual Summit

  Jake McKee

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:57 am

  Ant’s Eye View is sponsoring a pretty cool event next week. It’s all virtual and it should be all awesome. From the official AEV blog post, here’s the details: This year there have been a lot of online discussions on Social CRM – what is it? can it work? who is doing it? Now is the time to hear from the informed and thoughtful on how Social + CRM enable new business opportunities. The Ants are proud to be a sponsor at the Lithium Social CRM Virtual Summit on Tuesday, November 11 – the largest online conference for Social Media and CRM professionals. The Social CRM…

• Apparently I’m a Supergenius

  Jake McKee

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:11 am

  If you’re a fan of awesome conferences and events, never pass up a chance to go to one put on by Andy Sernovitz. He’s a master of the fun time. Andy invited me to speak about my LEGO experience at Word of Mouth Supergenius in December, and it’s sure to be one hell of a good time. Here’s the official event description: Word of Mouth Supergenius is where you’ll learn to be a fantastic word of mouth marketer with 12 how-to classes, 12 real-world case studies, and 6 brilliant authors. You’ll learn practical, hands-on techniques to get started, grow your…

• The Amazon community team is hiring

  Jake McKee

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:45 am

  Sometimes a job description comes across the Community Guy Jobs Board that I simply can’t help but share it’s so cool. As a long time Amazon fan (I remember when the site was a solid tan background and only sold books), I’ve been so very impressed with the way their site and their community efforts have developed over the years. It’s disappointing that they don’t get more credit for the sheer volume of community/social features each and every page of their site has. If you’re looking to be part of an impressive team and an impressive product, check out this…

• Community Job Openings Update

  Jake McKee

  8 Oct 2009 | 5:24 am

  Times are tough, no question about it. If you’re in need of a new gig and are interested in community development work (which I assume you are if you’re reading this blog), be sure to check out the Community Guy Jobs Board. It’s free to use both for employees and employers, and has quite a few tasty new openings. Here’s a quick run down of some of the latest jobs. Good luck! Customer Service Manager Hollywood, CA Community Manager for a B2B IT Community Austin, TX Program Manager (Word-of-Mouth / Social Media Marketing) New York, NY Social Media Program Manager…

• Using your eyes to listen

  Jake McKee

  7 Oct 2009 | 3:08 am

  My Ant’s Eye View colleague, Jennifer Hughes is blogging at the AEV blog and her first post is awesome! What I have learned is – online listening to your customers is about reading. There is no tool that is going to eliminate the need for you to truly listen to your customers. The tools just make it quicker, easier, and even a little fun! Listening only to influencers will not tell you what your customers are saying. You need to listen to all discussion on different media types (forums, blogs, tweets, tags). Forum discussions can give you a very different view than blogs alone. Be…

• 
  Dan Zarrella

• Interview with Craig Newmark: How the Craigslist Meme Spread

  Dan Zarrella

  30 Oct 2009 | 7:00 am

  One of the most ubiquitous and disruptive websites to emerge in the last 10 years is Craigslist. Impacting industries from real estate, news paper classifieds, careers and auctions the site has for the most part remained entirely free to use. A great example of organic, word-of-mouth spread I’ve always been interested in how the meme of Craigslist spread from city to city to become one of the most popular uses of the web. I was lucky enough this week to get a chance to ask the site’s founder, Craig Newmark a few questions about exactly that. Here are his answers: Dan: I think the social…

• Weekends and Afternoons Show the Highest Twitter CTRs

  Dan Zarrella

  27 Oct 2009 | 4:18 am

  Want more clicks? My new data suggests that you should Tweet your links in afternoons, evenings and on weekends. Continuing the study of Twitter clickthrough rates I started last week, I added over 100 more of the most followed Twitter accounts to my database and indexed click data on over 20,000 bit.ly links Tweeted by those accounts. In all of the data below, I measured CTR as the number of clicks a link received, divided by the number of followers the sending account had on the day it Tweeted it. As I noted in my other post, this number can be over 100% due to ReTweets that may use the…

• Modeling ReTweet Dynamics

  Dan Zarrella

  26 Oct 2009 | 6:39 am

  Earlier this year I read a paper called “Modeling Blog Dynamics” in which they propose a method of modeling the spread of links through the blogosphere using zero-crossing random walks and exploitation vs. exploration applied to a logical flowchart model: The authors suggested that the model could be used in influence maximization algorithms which aim to identify key, influential individuals in a given social network for the purposes of viral marketing. I was intrigued by the possibilities and have been tossing around a possible flowchart model of how individuals decide to ReTweet…

• Want More Clicks? Tweet Less

  Dan Zarrella

  21 Oct 2009 | 3:40 am

  Tweet Much? Don’t Expect a High CTR. New data I’ve been working on seems to indicate that the more frequently you Tweet links, the fewer clicks you’ll get. I’ve been working towards a statistical model of how an individual makes a decision to ReTweet a specific Tweet and in that process, I came across an interesting problem: before someone ReTweets something, they have to notice it. If you’re anything like me, you’re only able to actually read a small percentage of the total activity in your friend’s timeline, which means that very few of the Tweets I’m technically…

• To #SaveReTweets, Make Sure Everyone Knows How to ReTweet

  Dan Zarrella

  19 Oct 2009 | 6:11 am

  I wrote a little while ago about how Twitter’s plans to mangle ReTweets with its Project ReTweet, and the danger that poses to the crowd-invented functionality. After having several conversations on the topic and wondering what we could to do save ReTweets, I’ve come to the conclusion that the only thing to do is make sure that everyone knows how to ReTweet the original way. Then, once (or if) Twitter goes ahead with Project ReTweet, we can all continue to use the old format. If you like ReTweets, help save them by spreading this post around to ensure that everyone understands the…

• 
  The Social Customer Manifesto

• The Laws of VRM

  Christopher Carfi - Cerado, Inc.

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:21 pm

  In conjunction with this week's Internet Identity Workshop, a number of folks including @dsearls @deanland @joeandrieu @judico @juliangay @dariusdunlap and others have been thinking a lot about ProjectVRM.  As part of the conversations, an activity this group was doing was trying to distill down to its essence what "makes" something "VRM" (or VRM-like, at least).  We came up with a couple of core concepts, the first of which is that in a system that is VRM-ish, the following holds true: "VRM Law #1: The individual is the point of integration." In other words, instead of myriad…

• Thought of the Day: Single-Sign Off

  Christopher Carfi - Cerado, Inc.

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:51 pm

  Lots of folks have looked at integrating online identities, and there are various types of "single sign-on" (cite) systems around.  Thought experiment for today:  what would single sign-off look like?  In other words, what would happen if an individual had the ability to conceptually "unplug" from the Network?

• Customers Take Back The Beep

  Christopher Carfi - Cerado, Inc.

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:44 am

  A good case study in how a customer can start a snowball rolling that effects vendor change.  Back in August, David Pogue of the NYT went on a tear to get the major telecom providers to eliminate (or at least give customers a way around) the voicemail instructions that are given every time an individual calls her own, or someone else's, voicemail.  It doesn't sound like a big thing, but at 15 seconds per, times millions of calls, it adds up to a whole lot of wasted customer time and money (in the form of minutes) in a hurry.Here's the story.

• Should Customers Control Their Own Information?

  Christopher Carfi - Cerado, Inc.

  27 Oct 2009 | 5:02 pm

  Cross posted from 1to1, where Ginger Conlon and the 1to1 team were kind enough to allow me to guest post. Original is here.--Should Customers Control Their Own Information?by Christopher Carfi Information about us--our actions, our activities, our current "status," and the like--are increasingly public, shared...usually willingly...on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. However, a number of current trends and issues highlight that we, as customers, may want to take a more active role in managing those bits of social information (and much, much more). As more of our information moves…

• Backstage with the Google Wave team

  Christopher Carfi - Cerado, Inc.

  15 Oct 2009 | 8:24 pm

  Had the chance to have a great conversation with the Google Wave dev team today.  Here's the audio and the full chat transcript.

• 
  Web Strategy by Jeremiah

• Insights for CMOs: Writing Column For Forbes

  jeremiah_owyang

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:28 am

  I’m very thankful that Forbes has extended me an offer to be a regular contributor discussing emerging technologies for the evolving customer strategy. CMOs are hungry for information. Marketing leaders are finding that they have to quickly evolve as the media and marketing landscape is quickly changing from emerging technologies like social tools.  As a result, they are thirsty for what’s next, and how they can get ahead of the curve –with minimal risk. This regular monthly (or more) column on the Forbes CMO network (@ForbesCMO) isn’t reporting, but instead will…

• People on the Move in the Social Media Industry: Nov 6, 2009

  jeremiah_owyang

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:02 am

  Things appear to be picking up in the economy, and I’d like to continue to recognize those moving in the social media space. I’ve started this post series (see archives) to both track and congratulate folks who get promoted, move, or accept new exciting positions. Please help me congratulate the following folks: Mike Pascucci leaves AAA Mid-Atlantic, and accepts the job of Social Media Strategist with Ektron, a Content Management System (CMS) company based out of Nashua, NH. Find him on Twitter at @mikepascucci. Kingsely Joseph leaves Salesforce and joins Digital Chocolate an…

• How Facebook’s Open Strategy Shifts The Roadmap for Corporate Marketing and Support

  jeremiah_owyang

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:20 am

  Bold Strategy Bolsters Users, Developers, and Brands In a recent meeting at Facebook HQ, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Facebook is opening its doors to share roadmaps, data, and it’s experience.  This strategy shifts attention towards Facebook.com as a sole destination, and towards a distributed network to the open web.  Looking deeper, these impacts should shape your corporate web strategy as you re-allocate resources for application development, prepare for Social CRM, and prepare your corporate webpages to become “Facebook Fan Page” enabled. To Combat…

• Quicktake: The Impacts Of Google’s Social Search

  jeremiah_owyang

  31 Oct 2009 | 5:02 am

  Currently, search results serve up content that is popular –but not necessarily content that is accurate or relevant to your needs. With Google’s Social Search feature, it will serve up results based on a users’ specific contact list, here’s how it works: Using the recently launched Google Profile product, users will be able to add their name, then list out the various social networks they are part of. Google goes to work and finds out who’s your friend in those social networks, then applies it to it’s search algorithm. The end result? Search queries now…

• Behind Closed Doors: What’s On the Mind Of Chief Marketing Officers

  jeremiah_owyang

  30 Oct 2009 | 9:45 am

  We attended the Forbes CMO Summit in sunny Palm Beach, to learn what’s on the minds of executive marketing leaders. The conversation from this group regarding social was more sophisticated, which Charlene and I don’t think is reflective of most chief marketing groups we speak with. What’s unique about these Forbes CMOs? Perhaps they are more progressive, well read, and tuned into the rapid changes coming. In consideration to attendees of this event, I won’t be giving any specific individual quotes, (this wasn’t a media event) but instead, I’ll focus on the insights related to…

• 
  Common Craft

• Video Licensing: The Business of Permission

  leelefever

  28 Oct 2009 | 12:18 pm

  Almost anyone can make a video and put it online, but there are relatively few good models for earning a living from online videos. We've been experimenting over a couple of years and believe more than ever that video licensing is a model that has huge potential. The Current Options Of course there's the advertising model.  A video is made, it attracts eyeballs, eyeballs are distracted by ads. A tiny percentage of people click the ads and the video host and video owner make a bit of money.  It can certainly work and we've experimented with it, but it can be a long, hard slog. For…

• 2010 Census "Count on Change" - Explained by Say It Visually

  leelefever

  27 Oct 2009 | 8:57 am

  Say It Visually!, a member of the Common Craft Explainer Network, recently published this video that explains the impact of the 2010 Census on communities and focuses on encouraging participation among people of color. This format is a new one for Say It Visually and it's great to see them taking video explanation in new directions. I think the hand-painted style fits really well with the voice-over and music by Keb'-Mo'. It has a heart-felt feel that may have been hard with animation. What do you think?

• A Simple Index Card Says it All

  leelefever

  27 Oct 2009 | 8:30 am

  Jessica Hagy at Indexed, says it perfectly:  

• Where Goldfish Come From

  leelefever

  23 Oct 2009 | 11:17 am

  A couple of months ago, I presented a 5 minute presentation at Ignite Seattle called "Where Goldfish Come From" that is based on my experience growing up as a son of a goldfish farmer in North Carolina.  The Ignite series happens around the globe and each presenter has 20 slides that display for 15 seconds each, and auto-advance.  It's a challenge to make it work, but I enjoy it. Here's the video: Learn more at BlueRidgeKoi.com

• Zombies in Plain English - Protect Your Brain this Halloween

  leelefever

  15 Oct 2009 | 8:12 am

  It's that time again folks.  If you're worried about your brain this Halloween, Zombies in Plain English can help!

• 
  louisgray.com

• TweetDeck iPhone Update Fail Makes the Day "Manic".

  6 Nov 2009 | 1:22 pm

  Earlier this morning, Iain Dodsworth, creator of TweetDeck, posted that the day could potentially be "manic". While he cautioned the day's updates would not be list-related, as many updates from his competitors have been over the last week, it was hinted it would not be desktop related either. That left the iPhone, as TweetDeck doesn't yet have a Web option. But the iPhone release was found buggy, was later pulled, and now the service, and its devoted followers, are once again in a holding pattern with Apple - which makes them the undesired middleman. And yes, that means the day is officially…

• Brizzly and Seesmic Web Get Into Twitter Lists Game

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:27 am

  At this point, it's almost getting easier to see which popular Twitter clients have not yet added Twitter Lists support than it is to track those that have enabled support, as in the last 12 hours, both Brizzly, a product from Thing Labs, and Seesmic Web, Seesmic Desktop's sexier counterpart, have weighed in with their support for the increasingly utilized Twitter Lists functionality. Assuming TweetDeck wraps up their support shortly, as they have promised, and we hear something from Tweetie, all the majors will have reported for duty.Brizzly Highlights Integrated Lists SupportBrizzly, having…

• Listiti Watches Twitter Lists for Keywords and Alerts

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:29 pm

  Regardless of where you sit in the RSS vs. Twitter debate for information discovery, you know the power of finding out when people are discussing topics of your interest, wherever they do so - be it on blogs, blog comments, social networks or anywhere else. With the advent of new Twitter lists, smart folks are manually curating lists of fellow Twitter users who to them provide value. And if done well, the lists should be spam-free, delivering only quality. A new service called Listiti debuted today, to help monitor lists which you hand select for keywords of your choosing.Today, I use…

• TweetMeme Goes Mobile for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:55 am

  TweetMeme has rapidly become the most popular and practical default engine for content authors to enable their Web sites and blogs to be forwarded on to Twitter (in the form of a Retweet). The company is now serving more than 100 million Retweet buttons across the Web each day, and is aggregating the statistics of most popular items on its Web site. Today, the company jumped forward, introducing a new capability that lets users retweet from their favorite Twitter apps - as many people, including me, do not use Twitter's standard Web interface when unchained from the laptop.The new…

• Stalqer: A Location Sharing App for Real Friends

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:08 am

  I have always felt my life was not interesting enough to broadcast every small update. That's a major reason why I was initially slow to embrace Twitter, and why, thus far, I have shunned application broadcasting services like BrightKite and the extremely popular at the moment Foursquare. But a new application, set to hit the Apple iTunes Store any day now, called Stalqer, has a permanent position on my iPhone, because instead of being focused on badges and contests, its aim is to connect real friends, and it can work in the background - enabling me to have it run passively as I go about my…

• 
  Speaking about Presenting

• Powerpoint Twitter Magic – now you can tweet from PowerPoint

  Olivia Mitchell

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:23 am

  In my post 10 tools for presenting with Twitter, I lamented that there was no easy-to-use way of posting tweets from within PowerPoint. Timo Elliott of SAPWeb2.0 has now created an add-in for PowerPoint 2004 and 2007 which does just that. It’s called AutoTweet. Thank you Timo – you’re a star! Go to Timo’s PowerPoint Twitter page to download the add-in. Open PowerPoint, and click on the Add-in ribbon. Then click on Autotweet – highlighted in this screenshot: You’ll get this Dialog box: Then type your tweet into the Notes pane of your PowerPoint slide. Type…

• The two best alternatives to Twitter as a presentation backchannel

  Olivia Mitchell

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:36 pm

  Note: This post was updated on 30 October to reflect TodaysMeet introducing Twitter integration. The advent of the backchannel is a tremendous opportunity for presenters. The backchannel is an online conversation that takes place at the same time as people are talking live. Audience participation didn’t use to scale easily beyond a small group. Now, the backchannel allows every audience member, whatever the size of the group, to be an active participant. However, if you plan to use a backchannel proactively in your presentation, it may be better to use a backchannel tool other than Twitter.

• How to prepare a Pecha Kucha presentation

  Olivia Mitchell

  21 Oct 2009 | 6:32 pm

  Photo by Olly Barrett This week I went to my first Pecha Kucha night in Wellington, New Zealand. Pecha Kucha was developed as a presentation format to allow design and creative types to share their passions and show off their work. The format is very tight. You have to present with 20 slides and each slide is shown for 20 seconds. It has the great advantage of keeping presentations short and concise – perhaps accounting for it’s popularity around the world. However, it’s challenging to prepare a good Pecha Kucha presentation and even more so to deliver it well. From my…

• 10 tools for presenting with Twitter

  Olivia Mitchell

  13 Oct 2009 | 2:14 pm

  Note: updated on 3 November 2009 Presenting while people are tweeting is challenging – but also adds a new dimension to the presentation experience for your audience. Gradually tools are being developed to make it easier for you as the presenter to manage the backchannel. Posting Tweets during the presentation Crafting a set of tweets for the main points of your presentation and then tweeting them as you make those points in your live presentation is a great way to be part of the Twitter conversation. Both Keynote and PowerPoint have add-ins which allow you to automatically send a tweet…

• New evidence that bullet-points don’t work

  Olivia Mitchell

  7 Oct 2009 | 2:22 am

  At last, we have some scientifically rigorous evidence to show that slides full of bullet-points don’t work. The research is the work of Chris Atherton, a cognitive psychologist. Chris recently delivered a presentation at the Technical Communication UK Conference and has put up her slides on slideshare. There’s been a tremendous amount of interest in them, but as they were designed to complement Chris’s talk – they only tell half the story. In this post I’ll explain the findings of Chris’s research. I’ve written the post based on Chris’s slides…

• 
  The Engaging Brand

• Show #269 - 3 Steps to Design Thinking

  Anna Farmery

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:57 am

  Show 269 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcastis ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and don't forget GotoMeeting hold your meetings online for just $49/mo. Try GoToMeeting FREE for 30 days Today I am talking to one of my favourite authors - Roger Martin. Roger really makes me think about thinking! If you have listened to the podcast interview with him on how we need to learn to hold opposing thoughts together at the same time, then you can listen here. Tonight…

• Why bonfire night is so special to me

  Anna Farmery

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:15 pm

  Bonfire night is a wonderful night in the UK and one which brings families together. It will always be special as it was 6 years ago today we lost my Dad...so I thought I would share a little story... I asked him about how to decide whether to join a company, he said"Only join healthy companies, check if it has the dreaded CDAIC"Looking totally confused I said "That sounds awful what is it...something contagious?"He looked and said "Highly....and it needs to be guarded against at every turn...it stands for corporate diarrhea and idea constipation. ....some symptons are... When faced with…

• Who are you...you are a diamond?

  Anna Farmery

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:03 am

  Talking business with Dad was always....infuriating and exciting...both at the same time :)  I remember talking about "Work Anna" and "Home Anna" and wondering how much the two should overlap. We had a discussion about how core values have to apply to all parts of your world but then he said something which I think is as relevant to brands as it is to people....and very relevant in a world of social media. He said"You are a diamond"Clearly I started to smile and look very proud of myself because Dad then said"You are obviously a gem to me however that is not what I mean here., I mean  that…

• How do you spend your time?

  Anna Farmery

  3 Nov 2009 | 2:02 pm

  I am reading all about design thinking in a book by one of my favourite thinkers Roger Martin (can't wait to record The Engaging Podcast about thinking later this week) He has made me think about how we spend our thinking time and how we should use the outcomes of thinking time to find more thinking time! It is a continual investment program.Here are my thoughts on thinking!Thinking time is about freedom, the freedom to think of new ideas and to see how the world could be....Thinking is then about taking those ideas and turning them from concept to reality.Thinking is then learning about what…

• It's not what you know....

  Anna Farmery

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:14 pm

  ....it is how you use the knowledge that you have.... I have always been a learner, I just crave learning new things, going new places, meeting or connecting with new people. I never feel more alive than when I get the chance to connect new ideas, find new ways or learn from inspiring people.It is not necessarily the knowledge, it is the chance to use that knowledge to benefit others. For me, life is about taking that knowledge and applying it to your world and making the world a better place. 3 questions to ask yourself every nightWhat did you learn today? How can I use it to make the world…

• 
  Lava Row

• Lava Row Camp social media seminar: What’s next?

  Nathan T. Wright

  28 Oct 2009 | 11:47 am

  Back in late September we announced Lava Row Camp (a recurring series of monthly educational social media seminars). After our first event we decided to re-tool the format in order to make it more accessible to more people — we’re moving the event time from the noon hour to 5:00pm, shortening the overall content to allow for more Q&A and interaction, waiving ticket fees and (here’s the best news) incorporating cocktails! For the next installment of Lava Row Camp, we’re ditching the 101 slides and focusing on what’s next for the future of social media marketing…

• How to get serious about public speaking

  Nathan T. Wright

  27 Oct 2009 | 7:59 am

  Photo credit: Terry Anderson Photography Two years ago, public speaking isn’t something I imagined doing a lot of in my career, or even enjoying. Fast forward to today, and in fact quite the opposite has happened: I do a significant amount of it and I actually look forward to each and every engagement. For those who are considering getting more active with public speaking, or maybe even thrust into a situation where it’s required of you, I wanted to create a post that serves as a guide for getting comfortable, getting better, and getting more gigs. Let’s get started. Do it…

• Video highlights from the 2009 National FFA Convention

  Nathan T. Wright

  26 Oct 2009 | 5:36 pm

  Last week the Lava Row crew traveled to Indianapolis for the 2009 National FFA Convention (a first for myself and Hillary). We were assisting our client, Cargill Animal Nutrition, with their on-site social technology needs. The FFA Convention is absolutely huge – the last numbers we heard were just under 50,000 in attendance. That’s a lot of blue corduroy jackets! Below are some video highlights that we pulled together, which gives you a better idea of what we were up to. We also got to meet John Blue of Truffle Media Networks, who has been involved in social media in the…

• Video from BlogWorld: How the U.S. Army uses social media

  Nathan T. Wright

  19 Oct 2009 | 11:48 am

  BlogWorld Expo 2009 took place in Las Vegas this past weekend, and I stopped by the U.S. Army booth to chat with MAJ Mary Constantino about how the organization uses social media for their communication and career recruitment efforts. One specific platform they’ve launched is ArmyStrongStories.com, a social network that offers unfiltered conversations between soldiers and the public.

• Three people I’d like to meet at BlogWorld Expo 2009

  Nathan T. Wright

  15 Oct 2009 | 11:20 am

  Today I’m off to BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas. There are three people that I absolutely have to meet: Brian Solis, Sarah Evans and Amanda Rose. Are you at BlogWorld this weekend? Be sure to look me up and say hello!

• 
  Presentation Zen

• Using Kuler to create color themes

  Garr

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:21 am

  Although scores of good books on color theory have been written — many even for non-designers — most working professionals just do not have the time to delve deeply into a study of the complexities of using color. The good news is that there are online resources that can help you create harmonious color themes without requiring advance knowledge in color theory. There are a few really good online resources such as ColorSchemer and Colourlovers, but my personal favorite is Kuler. Kuler is a web-based color tool from Adobe that has thousands of community-generated color themes from which…

• Presentación Zen: Por fin! La versión en español ya está disponible

  Garr

  28 Oct 2009 | 10:04 pm

  I'm happy to announce that the Presentation Zen book is finally available in Spanish. The book follows the same design and layout as the original English version. Spanish was the most requested translation so we're delighted that it is finally on sale. I'm not sure exactly where you can get the book in your area, but here is info on the Pearson Educación website. Above: A photo of the front and back covers.The Presentation Zen DVD on Amazon and elsewhere also includes Spanish (and Japanese and English) subtitles. Thanks to everyone at Pearson for their hard work and to everyone across the…

• The art of control without controlling, doing without doing

  Garr

  26 Oct 2009 | 3:01 am

  As a leader — in business, education, or design — how much control do you need? How much can you give up? Is control even the right word? Is it possible to lead without leading? Here is a great TED talk that will get you thinking that has applications for leaders of all types. Former conductor Itay Talgam today runs workshops to help people develop a musician's sense of collaboration, and a conductor's sense of leadership. In this excellent talk at TED Oxford, Itay touches on the art of creating perfect harmony without saying a word by showing the unique styles of six great 20th-century…

• Tokonoma and the art of the focal point

  Garr

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:14 am

  Every good design needs a focal point. This goes for the design of interior living spaces as well. In many Western homes, the mantel place in the living room is often a focal point from which other interior design elements are added in a more or less symmetrical fashion. In traditional Japanese homes or modern homes containing a washitsu (Japanese-style room) it is the Tokonoma (床の間) that serves as the subtle focal point for the interior. The tokonoma (lit: floor/bed + space) is a raised alcove in which Japanese art such as a hanging scroll (Kakemono) or a flower arrangement is…

• Sumi-e, color, and the art of less

  Garr

  5 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pm

  A fundamental design and life lesson from the Zen arts is to never use more when less will do. This goes for the use of color as well. The problem with most slide presentations is not that visuals contain too few colors, it's that they contain too many. A common practice is to use several different vivid hues (colors) in presentation slides when even a single hue in various shades or tints would have been more effective. The ancient art of Japanese brush painting called Sumi-e (墨絵) provides a powerful lesson concerning the use of color, communication, and restraints. Sumi-e was brought to…

• 
  slide:ology

• Book Review: The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

  Nancy Duarte

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:51 pm

  Source: Business Week I l-o-v-e-d this book. It’s officially in my Top 5 favorite presentation books. You should definitely crack open this book every time you have a high-stakes presentation to give. Carmine Gallo has studiously observed Steve Job’s presentations and has cracked the code! The book is much deeper than just Job’s delivery style, Gallo has codified it into practical lessons and insights around content construction and corporate theater. He covers insights from Steve’s entire journey at Apple. Gallo also sprinkled in non-Apple examples that help you see how you too can…

• Duarte is more than great pumpkins… we’ve got great costumes, too!

  Paula Tesch

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:43 am

  Pumpkin carving is fun, but what’s Halloween without costumes?! In addition to the Annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest we share with the public, we also hold a costume contest that you don’t get to see. Below is a slideshare presentation of (almost) all of our employee costumes… comment and tell us which is your fave! Duarte Halloween Costumes 2009 View more presentations from duartian.

• Book Review: Six Pixels of Separation

  Nancy Duarte

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:23 am

  Mitch Joel is president of Twist Image, a agency with offices in Toronto and Montreal. I met him at TED two years ago. It’s nice to read a book by another CEO who is running an agency and taking on the role of author—I can empathize with the challenges. Mitch did a fantastic job encapsulating the entire online ecosystem. I wish this book had been published a year ago when I dove into social media, it would have been like having a mentor. No wonder Six Pixels of Separationis on Seth Godin’s reading list and received fantastic reviews and on the “popular book” list at 800-CEO-read. In…

• Stanford Keynote Open to the Public

  Paula Tesch

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:18 pm

  If you’re in the South Bay around lunchtime tomorrow, grab a bite to eat and head over to Stanford! Tomorrow at noon Nancy will deliver a keynote at Stanford’s Bishop Auditorium, the South Building of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Hope you can make it!

• Less Than 2 Weeks ’til Webinars!

  Paula Tesch

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:23 pm

  If you can’t make it to a workshop at our office, you should be sad. But you should also be happy, because there’s still hope for you! Because the slide:ology Webinar Series starts in less than two weeks, and there are still plenty of virtual seats left! The six-session series kicks off on Tuesday, November 10! Session 1 Date: Tuesday, November 10 Time: 10-11am Title: Introduction to the Principles of slide:ology Description: During this webinar, attendees will review the key principles from the book slide:ology by learning the principle and observing it applied through a series…

• 
  Ethos3

• Presentation Food – What to Eat on the Road

  Scott Schwertly

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:58 am

  What are three things that rock stars, over-the-road truckers, hippies and presenters have in common? Give up? Breakfast, lunch and dinner. All of these folks have a tough time finding anything that resembles such simple categories when they are out on the open road. You may love the wind in your hair and the sun on your face. You may have a thing for map reading and finding out-of-the-way treasures. You may have read Jack Kerouac’s On the Road when you were in college and never quite got over it. Whether you were born to be wild or acquired your wanderlust as a blessing or a curse,…

• Experience Presenting: 3XPERIENCE

  Scott Schwertly

  29 Oct 2009 | 11:48 am

  Long before De La Soul informed us that 3 was a magic number, savvy presenters understood the power of breaking a pitch down into three distinct, compelling, powerful points, creating an overall message that inspires and engages. However, even the most well-crafted presentation can’t knockout the room simply by relying on this fundamental organization. All too often a really well-crafted pitch suffers from a hum-drum, unimaginative delivery that simply shows-and-tells but never really connects with and moves the audience. Welcome to your 3XPERIENCE… it’s a new style we are…

• Reading Your Presentation – When, Why & How

  Scott Schwertly

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:02 am

  Month after month we fill this blog with updated content, every bit of it designed to make you the most engaging, dynamic person to ever power-up a PowerPoint presentation. From technical tips to personal pointers, we are really dedicated to helping you make your presentation a memorable, charismatic event. That’s why I’m now going to suggest that you should just stand in front of the room and  read your next presentation. Huh? Seriously? Yes! Of course, most of the time, reading one’s speech or presentation is clearly one of the worst ideas you can imagine. However, there…

• Presentation Preparation: How to Visualize Your Presentation

  Scott Schwertly

  26 Oct 2009 | 7:50 am

  What do high-powered CEO’s, athletes like Michael Jordan and creative types like David Lynch all have in common? It may be hard to imagine that these disparate types could share common ground, but they do: They all use creative visualization. The term creative visualization goes by many names – and includes numerous approaches – but one thing is for sure, it works! Simply speaking, creative visualization is a sort of meditation technique that can help you achieve more from your next presentation by encouraging you to create better clarity, focus and sense of purpose when it comes to…

• 7 Myths About Preparing for Presentations

  Scott Schwertly

  22 Oct 2009 | 1:07 pm

  The key to doing a great presentation is to remember that you are attempting to tell an engaging and meaningful story. If you think about the movies you love, they are usually the one’s that told their stories the best. Many times, a great movie tells a compelling story by borrowing its tale from a myth. The star-crossed lovers in Twilight and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button have a lot in common with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, which is full of allusions to Greek and Roman myths. Mythology can play a powerful role in a film or a play, but when it comes to presentations,…

• 
  Idea Sandbox » Blog

• Catch More Fish With The Right Lure, In The Right Waters

  Paul

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:05 am

  A couple of fishermen are hanging out in their local bait shop. One has a new product idea for out-of-town visitors. Sell a lake map and fishing lure combo. Take specific fishing lures and tape them to the different lakes on the map. This way the out-of-towner will know the proper bait to use at each particular lake, and will lead to a more successful fishing experience. If you’re at Watermans Reservoir and want to catch a Northern Pike, you need a spinner lure. At Worden’s Pond after Jackfish? Use a fish-imitation lure or cut bait.* Here comes the business segue… We…

• How To Peel A Tomato: Using The Right Tool

  Paul

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:59 am

  Last week I prepared a recipe for an Italian dish that calls for fresh-peeled tomatoes. I have a vegetable peeler… nice and sharp with a rubber grip. I’ve used it for carrots, potatoes, zucchini, squash… However, have you ever tried to peel a tomato? No matter how careful and patient you are, the peeler hacks up the tomato. Luckily I remembered my “how to peel tomatoes” lesson Chef Dad taught me: Blanching and Shocking. If you put whole fresh tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for 15 to 30 seconds (blanching) followed by a pot of iced cold water for 15 to 30…

• Solve Problems By Being A Copycat

  Paul

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:42 am

  When faced with a challenge, instead of trying to solve the problem from scratch – find an analog. That is, a comparison model you can copy. Ask yourself who (or what) may have solved a problem similar to yours. Dan and Chip Heath recently wrote an article for Fast Company magazine, A Problem-Solver’s Guide to Copycatting, where they detail examples. Don’t reinvent the wheel, somewhere out there is something round! Enjoy!

• 50 Eye-Opening Lectures for the Marketing Mind: By Online Colleges

  Paul

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:33 am

  Online Colleges, a site promoting web-based colleges, fished the interwebs and compiled a page of 50 Eye-Opening Lectures for the Marketing Mind – lectures and presentations for marketers with topics ranging from Economics, Business, Marketing, Advertising, Technology, and Psychology and Sociology. The 50 Lectures for Marketers is part of a series of compilations Online College has created. Other compilations include… 100 Inspiring, Educational Videos for Writers 100 Educational Twitter Feeds for Journalism Students 100 Inspirational Twitter Feeds for College Students 100 Awesome…

• Four Situations, Why You Would Need To Brainstorm

  Paul

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:21 am

  While there are innumerable reasons for hosting a brainstorming session, the purpose for meeting can be summarized with four situations. They are the need to meet to: (1) Fix Something Broken / Problem Solving, (2) Grow Something, (3) Get Ideas / Fill Idea Pipeline, and (4) Innovate / Make Something New (1) Fix Something Broken / Problem Solving Your franchise has reached a certain size and you want to grow bigger. Your new company has a steady flow of clients – now you want a “brand” – a logo, website, long-term goals, etc. You’ve got something already…

• 
  Slides that stick

• Dusting off the McKinsey business system

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:28 pm

  McKinsey has been posting a number of classic consulting frameworks under the title "enduring ideas" on the McKinsey Quarterly site. I discussed before: consulting frameworks are great for solving problems, but often less good at communicating solutions.Recently, the business system was discussed. At McKinsey we used it to analyse the value chain of an industry (manufacturing, sales, distribution, etc.). The basic graphic concept of it (simple arrows) can also be used in another context: communicating a project schedule. See the example below.Related reading:An earlier post on the McKinsey GE…

• Try to resist the tempation to over-do PowerPoint effects

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:35 pm

  I see them more and more. A bullet point presentation with now and then a spectacularly formated PowerPoint object inserted. Bevels, textures, drop shadows, 3D rotations, lighting angles, they have it all.Try to resist it. Like with data charts, the fact that you have the ability to use sophisticated effects does not mean that you have to use them.Oh, one more thing. If you hired a professional presentation designer, and the only thing she does is apply 3D and lighting effects to your diagrams, it is time to find another one.

• The "what have I done in the past year" slide

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:00 pm

  This slide always comes in somewhere in the annual management review. Here are all the activities of me (or my department) over the past year. The bullets are coming out:Organized the annual consumer eventBiz dev trip to PolandCreated a new planning toolPut a trade symposium togetherThese slides do not justice to your efforts. Break each bullet point up into a separate slide and go through them really quickly, but add something interesting to each slide:Slide: an overview picture of the 80,000 visitors of your consumer event (a rock concert)Slide: an image of you having a flat tire in the…

• Chart concept - lost in translation

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:07 pm

  A client in the pharmaceutical industry had this problem: a competitor managed to turn a relatively weak clinical fact and turn it upside down into a forceful message that took over the market. The good old tins cans are great to visualize this. See the example below (sanitized to maintain client confidentiality)Related reading: an earlier post about classic miscommunication in a project.

• Israel, startup-nation, and how it turned me into a presentation designer

  1 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

  A slightly off-topic post today.Malcolm Gladwell talks about how people are the product of the hours they put into something, plus the privileges of experiences they have been given. I am Dutch, not Jewish, do not really speak Hebrew, but ended up living in Israel somehow.The Israeli startup environment was the main driver behind me becoming a presentation designer. Countless entrepreneurs pitching me their dreams and asking me to "put it in PowerPoint" gave me a rare opportunity to expand my presentation design skills from structured McKinsey-style Board documents to presentations that need…

• 
  TEDTalks (video)

• TEDTalks : Stefana Broadbent: How the Internet enables intimacy - Stefana Broadbent (2009)

  Stefana Broadbent

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:43 am

  We worry that IM, texting, Facebook are spoiling human intimacy, but Stefana Broadbent's research shows how communication tech is capable of cultivating deeper relationships, bringing love across barriers like distance and workplace rules.

• TEDTalks : Matthew White gives the euphonium a new voice - Matthew White (2009)

  Matthew White

  29 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pm

  The euphonium, a tuba-like musical instrument, is rarely heard outside of traditional brass bands. Young euph prodigy Matthew White uses hip-hop rhythms and a wild new vocal technique to bring a fresh sound to this underappreciated horn.

• TEDTalks : Marcus du Sautoy: Symmetry, reality's riddle - Marcus du Sautoy (2009)

  Marcus du Sautoy

  29 Oct 2009 | 7:04 am

  The world turns on symmetry -- from the spin of subatomic particles to the dizzying beauty of an arabesque. But there's more to it than meets the eye. Here, Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy offers a glimpse of the invisible numbers that marry all symmetrical objects.

• TEDTalks : Becky Blanton: The year I was homeless - Becky Blanton (2009)

  Becky Blanton

  28 Oct 2009 | 6:29 am

  Becky Blanton planned to live in her van for a year and see the country, but when depression set in and her freelance job ended, her camping trip turned into homelessness. In this intimate talk, she describes her experience of becoming one of America's working homeless.

• TEDTalks : Rachel Armstrong: Architecture that repairs itself? - Rachel Armstrong (2009)

  Rachel Armstrong

  27 Oct 2009 | 7:03 am

  Venice, Italy is sinking. To save it, Rachel Armstrong says we need to outgrow architecture made of inert materials and, well, make architecture that grows itself. She proposes a not-quite-alive material that does its own repairs and sequesters carbon, too.

• 
  Be Excellent

• Why Is Change So Hard? (Part 3 of a 4 part series)

  Skip Reardon

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:19 am

  The easy part in wanting to make changes (in business, or in your personal life) is identifying the problem or opportunity, and prioritizing what you might like to do about it.The hard part is taking action and changing the attitudes - and equally important, the behavior.Consider two key elements for making the change process happen: your underlying motivation and the decision process itself.Underlying Motivation - Centers on how dissatisfied you are with the current state of affairs, how strong is your vision of how things could be better or different, and the clarity with which you can see…

• Why Is Change So Hard? (Part 2 of a 4 part series)

  Skip Reardon

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:43 am

  So goes the phrase: "If nothing changes, nothing changes."According to John Kotter, (A Force For Change: How Leadership Differs from Management) there are eight reasons why change initiatives fail:Too much complexity Failure to building coalition and supportNot understanding the need for a clear visionFailure to clearly communicate the visionPermitting roadblocks and resistance to changeNot planning for short-term results, and not achieving themDeclaring victory too soonFailure to institutionalize changes in organizational cultureWhat to do about them? Establish a sense of urgencyBuild…

• Why Is Change So Hard? Part I

  Skip Reardon

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:39 am

  Many people don't like change. It creates uncertainty. People may instinctively feel that what's familiar is safe, and that change is risky - even when the opposite is true. Change can make even strong people feel insecure. Change, sustainable change is not easy to achieve. Change requires leadership -- at every level of the organization. First, it starts with recognition of why change is needed. Next, the leader (typically the CEO) must clearly articulate a vision of the goal and how to reach it. Then it is time to move from theory to action, from strategy to execution.This always requires…

• Reasons Why Strategic Plans Fail

  Skip Reardon

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:59 am

  In general, strategic plans can fail for two types of reasons: inappropriate strategy and poor execution.Inappropriate or ineffective strategies can occur due to:Failure to define objectives correctly Incomplete SWOT analysis with respect to the desired objectives Lack of creativity in identifying possible strategies Strategies incapable of obtaining the desired objective Poor fit between the external environment and organizational resources - infeasibility More often than not, however, it's not that the strategic plans fail - it's the execution that fails.Herea re some common reasons how or…

• The Five Secrets of High-Performing Organizations

  Skip Reardon

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:07 am

  The best performing small businesses have five factors in common:A strong leadership teamThe ability to attract and retain quality peopleA disciplined approach to their businessThe ability to strategically use technologyThe wise use of trusted outside providers Top-performing organizations rate not just a little better in these five areas -- but at least 100% better. This whitepaper looks at the results of the research, and identifies five factors that the top 25% of all high-performing organizations have in common. Download the whitepaper here, compliments of Six Disciplines.

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  Dumb Little Man - Tips for Life

• Ditch Productivity For A Day: 12 Great Sites To Kill Time & Have Fun

  Abhijeet Mukherjee

  7 Nov 2009 | 1:59 am

  Sometime back, Leo Babauta from Zen Habits talked about how doing less and being less productive could benefit your work and life. He talks about spending less time doing quality work and have more time for fun.Taking inspiration from Leo, I thought it'd be nice to take a break from productivity here at DLM and focus on some ways to kill time and have fun. That means another list of cool sites, but this time, it's not a list of productivity tools. Instead, it's a list of some great sites that will help you unwind and have fun.The list includes some prominent social networks, video and humor…

• 2 Tricks That Help Overcome Procrastination

  DLM Writers

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:12 am

  Your best friend, procrastination."What!" you say, "My best friend, how could you say that?" The reason procrastination is your best friend is because it's on the teetering edge of motivation.Let me explain.For a behavior to be classified as procrastination, it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying. Here are some other examples you may be familiar with:putting off an important decisionleaving a critical task undone becoming counterproductive and keeping "busy" on needless workTo start behaving this way it takes real mastery. You've got to learn how to procrastinate - it doesn't…

• How to Become More Intelligent

  Mr. Self Development

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:46 am

  Intelligence is your capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding and mastery. It’s your aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts and meanings.Knowing a great deal is not the same as being intelligent; intelligence is not information “alone,” but also judgment, the manner in which information is collected and used. -Dr. Carl SaganThis article will offer you five ways to increase your intelligence by showing you how to enhance your capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding and mastery.5 Ways to Become More IntelligentRead OftenDo you realize that through reading you can…

• How to Take Action on What You Read: Filtering and Using Information

  Ali

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:52 pm

  You spend a lot of time reading. Whether it’s blogs, magazines, journals, Twitter streams, newspapers or good old fashioned books, you’ve got a huge amount of information at your fingertips. Every day, you take in tons of ideas for overhauling your life: whether it’s shaking up your fitness regime, working more effectively, or having stronger relationships.The problem is, it’s easy to get caught up in this sea of information. You might feel inspired when you read a particular blog article, or you might get a great idea from a journal... but all too often, that thought barely gets…

• 7 Food Groups That Will Help Boost Your Mood

  Krizia MissK

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:40 am

  This is the time of year when days begin to feel shorter and shorter. We see the sun much less, and when we do, it's often fighting a battle of gloominess with an impending cold front.This gloominess hits us all pretty hard. In fact, if you've ever believed that you had a case of the Winter Blues, this is what we're talking about. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is no laughing matter because these dark-gray-rainy days have a huge impact on your mood and energy level. The good news is that we can all partially escape this mental zapping.By now it's common sense to us all that our bodies are…

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  Productivity501

• Learning to Stay Current

  Mark Shead

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  Imagine that your memory was only good for two years. Anything that you learned over two years ago was forgotten. The only education you had at your disposal was the things you had learned in the past 24 months. This should be a pretty terrifying prospect for anyone. However, some people would find themselves unable to function at all, while others would find themselves merely handicapped. It all depends on how much effort each individual has put into learning new things in the last two years. Some people graduate from college with the idea that they can stop learning. They pick up some…

• Interview: Productivity Tool

  Mark Shead

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  In our interview series we asked a number of people the following: What do you feel is your most important productivity tool?(1532) The metaphorical axe – no bit of software or technology would help me if I didn’t know how to constantly remove anything from my life that is getting in the way of living in a balanced and productive manner. Joel Falconer (rss) The word “No”. I am getting really good at establishing boundaries and saying “No”. “No” is probably THE most difficult thing for anyone, like me, who is interested in everything, loves…

• Tuesday’s Tip: College Records

  Mark Shead

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  When I was in college, I quickly learned how important it was to keep records. You can’t rely on your university to keep track of everything correctly. Maybe they will, but just in case they make a mistake, you need to be prepared. One habit I formed early on in college was to get a copy of my transcript each semester. One semester, there were an extra 15 hours of credits on the transcript for classes I had not taken. After doing some checking, it became clear that they had accidentally given me credit for someone else’s work. I explained it to the university and they straightened…

• Working with Your Spouse Financially

  Mark Shead

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  In the book The Millionaire Mind and The Millionaire Next Door, the authors point out that millionaires tend to marry people who support them financially.  One of the easiest ways to wreck your financial plan is for there to be competition between a husband and wife, financially. If you have ever heard a couple say things like, “well, you bought a new dvd player, so I can go buy a new dress” or “you spent $300 at the mall, so I decided to go buy a new television.” You know what I’m talking about.  If the members of a marriage feel like they are in competition…

• More Infuential than David Allen?

  Mark Shead

  29 Oct 2009 | 4:44 pm

  We Follow ranks twitter users by their influence by topic.  According them, Productivit501 is more influential than David Allen when it comes to productivity. I’m questioning how they calculate “influence”, but it still feels good to see Productivity501 at the very top of a list like that. ---Related Articles at Productivity501:Links and Tools RoundupLinks for Setting Up a Filing SystemFire (or keep) the WorkaholicsLinks On Remote AssistantsEncrypted Email Links

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  Zen Habits

• Low-Stress Ways To Move House and Declutter Your Life

  Leo

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:55 pm

  Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Annabel Candy of Get In the Hot Spot. Did you know that moving house can be one of the most stressful times in your life? It’s right up there with losing your job, divorce or the death of a loved one, as one of the biggest causes of stress. I’ve been there. In 2007 my husband and I sold our house along with most of our belongings and moved from New Zealand to Panama with our three young kids. We ended up spending 18 months in Central America and lived in Costa Rica for over a year during which time we moved house three times. Moving…

• The Only Way to Become Amazingly Great at Something

  Leo

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:56 pm

  “Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.” - Albert Einstein Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. Very often you’ll see blog posts or books teaching you to “master” a skill in only 10 days, or 3 days … in fact, it used to be 30 days but the time frame to master something seems to be shrinking rapidly. I’ve even seen tutorials claiming to teach a skill in just a few hours. Pretty soon we’ll be demanding to know how to do something in…

• How to Stop Being a Workaholic

  Leo

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:10 am

  Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. Reader Carolyn recently asked, “How can an achievement-motivated workaholic learn to back off, relax, de-stress, and feel good about doing it? I am too driven!” This is a common problem, and one that has several parts we should look at separately: 1. Being achievement-motivated. 2. Being a workaholic. 3. Learning to relax and de-stress. 4. Learning to feel good about it. Let’s start by saying that there’s nothing inherently wrong with work — it can be fun, exciting, fulfilling, rewarding. I love my work in a way…

• The Beginner’s Guide To Minimalist Travel

  Leo

  30 Oct 2009 | 7:30 am

  Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Karol Gajda of Ridiculously Extraordinary. “Is that all your stuff?” While embarking on my current 100+ day sojourn I’ve been asked that question almost daily. Most people take more stuff for a 3 day weekend break than I’ve taken on this long trip. If you’ve struggled to pack what you need in a carry-on I will show you the light. It’s not difficult and you don’t have to do everything at once. Remember the old cliché, slow and steady wins the race. 1) The first step to minimalist travel is to use a…

• The Minimalist Gmail Firefox Extension

  Leo

  28 Oct 2009 | 3:45 pm

  Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. Great news for you Firefox minimalists: have you always wanted Minimalist Gmail in one click? There’s an extension for that. After my post on creating a Minimalist Gmail experience using Greasemonkey scripts, programmer and artist Matt Constantine worked hard to create an amazing Firefox extension that did what I was looking for and a lot more: The Minimalist Gmail Firefox Extension. You can install this extension and not worry about installing Greasemonkey or any of the many user scripts I detailed in my previous post. This simple…

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  Mind Hacks

• 2009-11-06 Spike activity

  vaughan

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:

• Psychologist says

  vaughan

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pm

  I've discovered that if you search for "says psychologist" on Google, you get a giant avalanche of wtf. I encourage you to try it for yourself, but here are a few of the highlights, all taken from headlines of news stories. Twitter makes you dumb, says psychologist Boys have it worse, says psychologist Faith schools breed terrorism, says psychologist Change is possible for gays, says psychologist Music tugs at monkeys' hearts, says psychologist Pakistan no longer fear failure, says psychologist Killer of 4 feared loss of love, says psychologist Britney has lost control and needs help, says…

• The mind and brain in 2010

  vaughan

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  The latest issue of Wired UK has a cover feature on breaking ideas for 2010. Mind and brain innovations feature strongly and several are freely available online. I might immodestly recommend the piece on 'neurosecurity' and how researchers are having harden neural implants against hackers, as it was written by me. Regular readers will know we broke the story back in June, although it was great to have it selected as one of the 'ideas of the future' by Wired UK. There's also a fascinating piece on 'hyperopia' - a cognitive bias where people falsely assume they'll be happier in the future by…

• Señor Roboto

  vaughan

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Some impressive graffiti of a brain-powered robot from the future, found on a wall near the Hospital San Vicente de Paúl in Medellín.

• Dr Smile

  vaughan

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pm

  The Philip K. Dick novel The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch features a portable device which allows patients to consult with the virtual psychiatrist Dr Smile. If I'm not mistaken, the system seems to have re-invented by this research team: Virtual patient: a photo-real virtual human for VR-based therapy Stud Health Technol Inform. 2004;98:154-6. Kiss B, Benedek B, Szijártó G, Csukly G, Simon L, Takács B. A high fidelity Virtual Human Interface (VHI) system was developed using low-cost and portable computers. The system features real-time photo-realistic digital replicas of multiple…

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  Chaos Scenario

• Beware of Zombies

  Cam Beck

  20 Oct 2009 | 6:21 am

  Facing a deadline for my contribution to the Click Here blog, I finally settled down on a subject. However, it was a bit different from the one I previously said I'd write about. John Keehler asked to see it before I posted it, so I took the opportunity to tell him that I had changed subjects, but -- not to worry -- he'd love it."Is it about zombies," he asked.And I thought about it. No, it really wasn't, but it with a tweak here and an insertion there -- it very well could be. Or at least I could use them as an analogy to make the point.Home pages have historically been a hotbed of…

• The Lesson of Flight 93: Hope and Responsibility

  Cam Beck

  11 Sep 2009 | 10:49 am

  Like most of us, the events of September 11, 2001 affected me profoundly. I can still recall -- to the point of almost reliving it -- the shock, grief and disbelief that followed the most heinous attack on U.S. soil that cost about 3,000 lives in a day. Though we are still actively engaged in the global struggle against those who still wish us harm, it is wholly fit and proper to mark the anniversary by reflecting on the bravery and nobility of all of those who strive to protect us from harm. Perhaps no act of sacrifice and fortitude deserves more attention and appreciation than that of our…

• A Case for Moral Selfishness

  Cam Beck

  13 Aug 2009 | 6:25 am

  "[H]aving lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that, the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment of others." - Benjamin FranklinI am a skeptic. To an outside observer, my skepticism may look a lot like cynicism. I don't just believe people and companies are motivated by self-interest, I've seen it with my own eyes. A person doesn't simply buy a book from Amazon because they believe it…

• The Palmer Brothers Save Your Bladder at the Movies

  Cam Beck

  10 Aug 2009 | 3:30 pm

  This is too long for a tweet and too good a nugget to neglect. Here's a short snippet from Peter King of Sports Illustrated.I think one of the things you may learn from the new season of Hard Knocks, beginning Wednesday on HBO and featuring the Bengals this year, is how open the network presents the normally reclusive Mike Brown, the club owner. And you may see a different side of Carson Palmer, who is bonding with brother Jordan, the backup quarterback, by developing iPhone applications in their down time. I'm praying for the network to use the story about runpee.com, which the Palmers…

• Little Wallet. Big World.

  Cam Beck

  28 Jul 2009 | 10:37 am

  The prevailing social climate suggests that the word "Big," put in front of everything, is arguably bad. Let's take a look at some of the bogeymen that pervade our popular lexicon: Big Business Big Tobacco Big Banking Big Media Big Government Opponents of such things derogatorily use the term when they're trying to incite public opinion against others. Typically (but not always), those who rail against what they describe in the first three groups are the same folks who are in or advocate the third and fourth. Of the five groups, I've always tended to be more ambivalent to the first three than…

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  PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement

• How to Become Great

  Mr.SelfDevelopment

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:23 am

  If you have plans on becoming great, you’ll want to read this brief article. They say success leaves clues; this implies, “if we look at people who are great, we’d find a common denominator, a golden thread tying them all together.” Here’s what I think we’d find: We’d find people who discovered their talent and then showcased that talent to the world in a ”new” and creative way. Most of the people we’d find wouldn’t be doing anything “new.”  They would be doing something that’s been done before, in a…

• Personal Development: An Essential Key

  Douglas Cartwright

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:36 am

  Is there an ‘essential key’ to personal development? One without which the ‘unlocking’ of your potential might be difficult if not impossible? If we define personal development as growth involving the mind and the body, then ‘yes’ – I think there is. Without this ‘key’ personal growth is slow, and sluggish. Without learning how to tap into this essential human ‘tool’, change will be sporadic or imposed from the outside. And I believe the really important part is this: without developing this function of consciousness, all deep change will be difficult. It…

• How to Get Out of Bed When You Really Don’t Feel Like It

  Ali Hale

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:41 am

  We’ve all been there: the alarm goes off, we’re feeling groggy, reach out and slap it to snooze. Five minutes later, the same things happens. We switch the alarm off again. The thought of getting out of bed seems like way too much effort. We know that, once we get up, we have to launch into the day – that to-do list we made last night, those  chores that need doing… If you have to get yourself up to get to work by 8am, you’ll manage it. But if you work for yourself, if you’re a student, or if it’s the weekend, it can be a lot tougher. Why do we end up talking ourselves into…

• The Internal Dialogue: Mastering the Unseen Forces That Shape Our Destiny

  Rande Howell

  29 Oct 2009 | 10:28 am

  Though a positive, successful, and engaging person, Pam avoided prolonged looks into her mirror. When she was brushing her hair or applying make-up, she stayed focused on the activity – but would intentionally not make eye contact with herself. Except sometimes. On those occasions a tirade of negative judgments erupted in her thoughts. If she didn’t avoid the negative assessment machine in her mind by distraction or busyness, the stream of thoughts that flooded into Pam’s awareness would chide her, “Your nose is too crooked. Your skin is a mess. You’re getting wrinkles under your…

• Words That Overcome Fear And Dread

  Dr. Clark Falconer

  26 Oct 2009 | 8:47 pm

  Everyone knows sex sells. Greed sells too, and again, this is something we all know. But little did we know that the really big, best seller of all is FEAR and it’s companion, dread. Here are some current ‘epidemic’, ‘impending’ ‘catastrophe-in-the-making’, brilliantly-marketed FEARS: Fear of recession, depression, terrorists, war, disease, food, air, climate change, computer crashes, natural disasters, breast size, impotency, break-ins, drug czars and addicts, immigrants and aging. Here I focus on an area closest to my own experience as a physician-psychiatrist: the fear of…

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  THE M.A.P. MAKER

• Is your purpose greater than your challenges?

  Curt Rosengren

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:03 am

  Even in the best of times, life can be bumpy. Challenges are a part of life, and the better equipped you are to overcome them, the greater your potential. One factor that adds rocket fuel to your ability to blast past problems is to really want to reach what's on the other side of them. When you care more about what you are trying to do than you do about the unpleasantness that the challenge brings up, you're motivated to find a way past it. In a recent blog post, Jon Gorden puts it this way. “Your purpose must be greater than your challenges.” I love that way of thinking about it. When…

• Just say no...to saying no

  Curt Rosengren

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  I'm always fascinated when I go to the doctor and they tap my knee to test my reflexes. The doc gives a tap with the little rubber mallet and up bounces my leg like it has a life of its own. Some people's tendency to say no reminds me a little bit of that reflex reaction. They automatically shoot down their dreams, cut down ideas, and stonewall possibilities, all with those two little letters. No. "No, that won't work. No, I can't because... No, no, no!" Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to saying no. Saying no has it's place. A suggestion like, "Hey, lets walk across this busy eight-lane…

• Are you cheating the world of your gifts?

  Curt Rosengren

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:54 am

  As I've said many times before, I think finding passion is one of the best investments in your career you can make. It energizes you, makes you more confident, and fuels your persistence. The flipside of that is that wedging yourself into a box that doesn't fit who you are (which is what most people do in their careers) can drain your energy, leave you feeling off balance, and make you reluctant to show up to work tomorrow, let alone stick with it for the long term. There's one more thing that happens when you don't pursue a path that aligns with what lights you up. You cheat the world of…

• Staying focused: Why it's hard, and what to do about it

  Curt Rosengren

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  You know those machines they use for drawing lotto numbers, with numbered ping pong balls bouncing around inside? Sometimes my brain feels like that. Dozens of little brain pong balls bouncing around and demanding my attention. Needless to say, focus can be a challenge. So I was especially interested in this article on the brain science behind why it can be hard to focus, and what to do about it. It turns out that focusing is less about maintaining attention and more about managing distractions. Putting the brakes on when those distractions pop up, as it were. Unfortunately, the area of our…

• Live into your potential with the Rule of Yes

  Curt Rosengren

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:14 am

  Have you ever found yourself looking at something you would really like to do and responded with, "Yes but...?" Yes, that's a great idea but... I'd really love to but... The variations are endless, and every time you say it, you strangle your potential. I want to encourage you to banish that combination of words from your vocabulary forever. In her brilliant book, Improv Wisdom, Patricia Ryan Madsen offers an alternative to, "yeah but." The alternative is "yes and." The book takes a look at how the principles of theatrical improv can apply to our lives. One of those principles is the Rule of…

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  The Rapid eLearning Blog

• 3 Ways to Define Interactive Rapid E-Learning

  tom

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:21 am

  There’s a lot of debate about interactivity in elearning.  You have some people who think elearning is not valid unless it has a high level of interactivity.  Anything that’s not interactive is just a “boring click-and-read course.”  On the other hand, there are a lot of people who equate interactivity with nonsensical games.  So to them, any interactivity is just extra time and expense.  I’ve worked with clients who thought interactivity was adding a rollover or slick animations.  They’d “ooh” and “aah” over the dumbest things.  It was…

• The Project Management Tip You Can’t Ignore

  tom

  27 Oct 2009 | 1:51 am

  Managing elearning projects requires good communication between the instructional designers and subject matter experts.  In most cases, this communication happens via email.  Thus, better email communication ultimately leads to better project management, which most likely means better elearning courses. At a recent ASTD conference, I ran into Mike Song, the author of The Hamster Revolution.  It’s a book on how to effectively manage emails.  Mike gave me a free copy which I skimmed through on the plane flight home. It’s a quick read and very practical, but I’ll have…

• These PowerPoint Experts Can Make You a Star

  tom

  20 Oct 2009 | 1:35 am

  Sometimes we get so busy that we lose sight of the great resources available to us.  It’s not until you pull your head up from your desk and look around that you realize what’s available.  That’s why it’s important to be connected to other people who have similar interests or do similar work.  You’ll learn from them and have access to all sorts of information.  If you think about it, there’s really not much that you know (if anything) that you didn’t learn from someone else or because of someone else. Last week I was at PowerPoint Live 2009 in Atlanta where I…

• How to Create Screencasts You Can Be Proud Of

  tom

  13 Oct 2009 | 1:54 am

  A few weeks ago we launched Screenr, a free screencasting application that is easy to use and great for quick tutorials and elearning courses.  I like it because it’s easy for me to quickly answer the many questions I get in the user community and through the blog.  Not only can I answer the questions quickly, but I now can share those same tips with other blog readers and members of the community. And it’s not just me doing the sharing.  There are many others also sharing their tips and tricks.  In fact, on the Word of Mouth blog, we compiled over 100 rapid elearning…

• 15 Interesting Clip Art Styles for Your E-Learning Courses

  tom

  6 Oct 2009 | 1:29 am

  If you’re like many of us, you don’t have a lot of money to buy stock images or hire a graphics designer.  So that means you’re stuck using the free resources that come with PowerPoint.  In previous posts, I’ve discussed ways to ungroup your clip art and create your own clip art.  It only takes a few clicks to get from one image to the next. Even with those free resources available, it’s still time-consuming to find the right clip art to use.  So what I’m doing today is helping you get started by listing fifteen of my favorite clip art styles.  These are…

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  Rambliings From A Glass Half Full

• 10 Leadership Battles – And How To Win Every One of Them

  Starbucker

  1 Nov 2009 | 3:28 pm

  In our quest to become great leaders we take on a constant stream of internal battles.   Each and every day we choose our  sides and try to do the right things, with the objective of achieving something great. There are 10 confrontations in particular that can make or break us, and we need to consistently be on the winning side of every one of them to reach the pinnacle of success. People vs. Process -  It’s as simple as this: a process is only as good as the people executing it.  Focus on the people first, and while you’re at it, make sure your charges truly understand the…

• The Most Important Blog Post You’ll Ever Read

  Starbucker

  25 Oct 2009 | 3:26 pm

  ….is out there somewhere. You just need to find it. And in a land of over 100 million blogs, how is that possible? And besides, blog posts don’t change lives, right? Wrong. They can, and they have. I’m living proof of that. One day in June of 2006, I found my way to a blog written by Liz Strauss called Successful Blog. I found her by way of a link on someone else’s blogroll (Phil Gerbyshak) – I was just starting my blogging adventure and was just looking around, trying to get comfortable with this new world. What caught my eye was a post she wrote about how…

• All Great Content Is An Intersection: The Brian Clark Interview

  Starbucker

  18 Oct 2009 | 3:49 pm

  Brian Clark is a writer who loves to write about his craft, and it shows.  His blog, Copyblogger, is one of the most popular sites on the Internet for writers and fellow bloggers of all stripes. The site has also been his launching pad for several other successful online ventures designed to help others improve their skills and online presence.  He is a much sought-after speaker on the Social Media circuit not only because of his know-how, but also because of his quick wit and insightful observations. I recently caught up with Brian to ask him a few questions about the craft he loves, his…

• Supertramp Talks Social Media – 30 Years Before It Exists

  Starbucker

  11 Oct 2009 | 3:37 pm

  This morning, as I was driving back from Starbucks with my morning latte, I had a vision of sorts.  I had been thinking a lot about writing another post about Social Media, and wondered where I’d draw my inspiration.  Then, it happened…….. A song came on the radio by the 70’s group Supertramp.  And then oddly,  another.  Somebody was trying to tell me something. But I couldn’t figure out what it was. Intrigued, I arrived home and sat down at my computer and called up several more Supertramp songs.  This group had its heyday 30 years ago, but something about…

• Leadership Hiding In Plain Sight: The Return of Common Sense (WBF, Day 2)

  Starbucker

  8 Oct 2009 | 10:23 am

  Bill Clinton at the World Economic Forum, 10/7/09 This is my second post of observations from the World Business Forum in NYC.   My first post , covering the 1st Day of the conference, tied all the presentations on Leadership into the theme of “sitting tall in the saddle“. This post continues the thread on Leadership, but from a slightly different direction.   The 2nd Day speakers, particularly in the afternoon sessions, made it clear to me that a lot of effective leadership practice is hiding in plain sight. That is, sometimes we go too deep in searching for answers.   The…

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  Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist

• Shifting the balance of power. (Mainstream media stinks.)

  Penelope Trunk

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:43 pm

  I wake up Wednesday at 4am to a phone call: The Guardian, in London, asking for an interview about my miscarriage twitter. Then a half-hour later, an Irish radio station. And then the phone kept ringing. I tell Now Magazine (I think it’s basically People magazine for the UK audience) to call back after I got the kids off to school. I ask my housemanager to come early because I can't handle the sleep deprivation and the early-morning interviews and school lunches all in one morning. I block out the morning to write a thousand-word essay for the Guardian to justify tweeting about my…

• First, be honest about what you want

  Penelope Trunk

  1 Nov 2009 | 10:08 pm

  Someone once asked me to think of a moment in my childhood that was really nice. I thought of one. Wait. You think of one, now. Quick. Just any one… So I thought of a time:  it was in my grandparents’ huge yard with fruit trees and flower gardens and grass for running. And it was so peaceful. What you remember as really nice tells you something about where you belong. Whatever you thought of, learn something from that. Where I belong is in nature. And in quiet. When I lived in New York City, I spent most of my time in Central Park and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Most people who…

• We overestimate the gap between nonprofit and for-profit jobs

  Penelope Trunk

  29 Oct 2009 | 11:06 pm

  My ex-husband worked in the nonprofit sector for a while. And you know what? He rarely got health insurance. At one point, we were completely stressed out about not being insured, and he asked his boss what everyone else was doing, and she said, “Can’t you get insurance from your spouse? That’s what we do.” That’s appalling. Being a non-profit is no excuse for treating people poorly. And it’s not just benefits—It’s pay, too. Paying way below a living wage is elitist—as if working in a nonprofit is a rich kids’ playground that your parents fund. Luckily, the…

• Asperger's at work: Why I'm difficult in meetings

  Penelope Trunk

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:27 am

  Eighty percent of adults with Asperger Syndrome do not have full-time work. This not because they can’t do the work. It’s that they can’t manage to be socially acceptable while they get the work done. ‘ Countless studies show people would rather have pleasant and personable co-workers than a co-worker who is always right. I try to keep this in mind each day, and consequently, I spend a lot of time planning my interactions. But sometimes my plans fail. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, I’m going to walk you through my most recent parent-teacher conference. Which was a…

• Why men should give women flowers

  Penelope Trunk

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:57 pm

  Here’s the deal with giving flowers. Women like receiving flowers. Men think flowers are stupid. Men think: Flowers die, they don’t do anything when they are alive, they are expensive, and they are a cliché. Men know that women in general like flowers, but men also believe that women they know personally do not like flowers. The women they know are the exception to the rule. I think it’s safe to say that mostly women are reading this post. Women are reading to figure out how to get the men in their lives to send flowers. Here’s what it’s going to take: Bottom line impact. Yes, the…

• 
  All Things Workplace

• Behavioral Change: Fun Theory Part 3

  Steve Roesler

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:03 am

  When it comes to going viral, Volkswagen and their ad agency DDB Stockholm appear to have hit the jackpot. Their new campaign, "The Fun Theory", is a series of experiments captured on video, to find out if making certain activities more fun can improve people’s behavior toward the environment. By the way: it's an actual contest as well. You can enter your own fun theory video and win some decent money. Among the experiments: does turning a set of subway stairs into a real-life piano encourage people to use them? The answer is "yes": 66% more. Another experiment asks whether making a trash…

• Behavioral Change: Fun Theory Part 2

  Steve Roesler

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:18 am

  People love to have fun. The comments, emails, and tweets about The Piano Stairs confirmed that folks would be much more inclined to change their behavior if there was some fun involved. So, to reinforce the notion, here's Part 2. It involves a common dilemma: How do you get people to want to throw away their trash in public places and keep things nice and clean? I give you: The World's Deepest Rubbish Bin

• One More Time: What Do People Want At Work?

  Steve Roesler

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:44 am

  Getting the very best (or most) from employees has become the holy grail of business. Millions of  dollars are spent to determine how to achieve a state where workers function at high levels of productivity and, supposedly, satisfaction. Every employee survey I've seen over the past 30 years shows the same results as this, conducted in 2007 by Towers Perrin. The survey population was 90,000 employees, worldwide.What do Employees Want? The #1 element on a global level was an employee's belief that senior management was interested in his or her well-being. Imagine. Employee's relate their…

• Changing Behavior: The Fun Theory

  Steve Roesler

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:46 am

  That headline ought to confuse the search engines. Why does nearly every corporate meeting about "behavioral change" end up with some kind of a solution that involves sanctions or carrot-and-stick incentive programs that can only get bigger and more expensive to have any impact over the long run? Which leads me to: "How can we make something so much fun that people can't not do it?" Here's a look at The Fun Theory in action:

• Leadership, Choices, Decisions, Relationships. . .

  Steve Roesler

  1 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm

  What you put into your mind will determine your thoughts. Here's the best way to jump-start your thinking for the week: The November Leadership Carnival, compliments of host Dan McCarthy. Scroll through the topics and the authorities behind them, and bump up your leadership game:Start off with Wally Bock presenting Let’s hear it for the role models posted at Momentor.Next up is Mary Jo Asmus presenting Choosing posted at Mary Jo Asmus.Anne Perschel presents Never Waste A Good Recession posted at Germane Insights.Steve Roesler presents Team Leaders: Do You Do This? posted at All…

• 
  Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

• A Personal Branding Tale Part 2

  Chad Levitt

  7 Nov 2009 | 4:15 am

  You have been working at your new job for six months and you are really enjoying being with this company. The job challenges you and you have responded to every challenge so far. You have created a reputation for yourself with your co-workers as reliable, consistent and accountable. You have shown the ability to think strategically and have executed on all tasks that have been given to you. Because of your solid reputation, you were recently asked to work on a new project that will have manager level exposure and help determine the future vision for the company. You will have a very minor…

• How Book Titles Build Personal Brands, Pt. 1

  Roger Parker

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:14 pm

  Choosing the right title for your book is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. The right title does more than just sell the book, it can launch a personal brand that creates endless opportunities while pre-selling follow-up books and a wealth of other profitable products & services. One of best examples of this is Sarah Susanka, whose Not So Big House title launched a powerhouse personal brand that has taken her far beyond her origins as a residential architect. Sarah Susanka and her “Not So Big” title provide a perfect model of personal branding success…

• Reference: Impersonation Policies for Top Social Networks

  Jacob Share

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:15 am

  I hope you never have to worry about anyone trying to impersonate you online, but just in case, here’s a handy reference for the major social networks. Twitter From Twitter’s Impersonation Policy: “The best way to report impersonation submitting a web request from the Support home page–be sure to select impersonation from the dropdown box!  Once you’ve submitted your ticket, we’ll email you a ticket confirmation with more information. You can check on your ticket status anytime by visiting your Twitter Support home page and clicking on  “check on your…

• Building Relationships Organically – Part 4

  Liz Lynch

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:15 am

  Step 3: Convert All things being equal, we prefer to do business with those we know, like and trust. And all things not being equal, many of us would still prefer to do business with those we know, like and trust. I heard this said at a panel discussion recently and I couldn’t agree more. The question is: How can we allow that know, like and trust to happen effortlessly and automatically so that networking doesn’t seem forced, fake, or time-consuming? Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored how we can tap into the natural ability we each have to build relationships organically, letting…

• Twitter Introduces New Personal Branding Tool: Lists

  Heather Huhman

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:35 pm

  Within days of introducing Twitter lists into public beta, an estimated 6.5 million lists have already been created. This begs the question, which Dan Schawbel asked on Nov. 1, does it matter how many times you’re listed? As of this writing, I am on 96 lists. Impressive, right? Perhaps, if they were all in line with my personal brand. How do others perceive you? The sign of a strong personal brand is when others perceive you how you want to be perceived. I have a dual personal brand (which is absolutely my own fault): entry-level careers expert and public relations pro. So, I’m included…

• 
  growing changing learning creating

• Entering possibility space

  Tom Haskins

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:12 pm

  Most people on the planet are outside of possibility space. They have yet to awaken from dreaming up what they are convinced is realistic. They are missing out on all the freedom that is to be found in possibility space. I'll call where they are at "captivity space" to contrast their experiences with possibility space. In captivity space, we act as if it's been said "Behold, I make all things old". We already know how familiar most things are and what they mean to us. The majority of our experiences are the "same old same old". We live inside our habits, routines and predictable occurrences…

• Why it's so difficult to awaken

  Tom Haskins

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pm

  As you're reading this, it probably seems like it is really happening that you're reading this. Now that you're to the next sentence, there is some continuity with reading the first sentence that gives you some historical perspective. With that ongoing stream of experiences and more of the same by the time you're reading this third sentence, your mind will predict that there will be more reading here much like what has already occurred. All this seems very realistic. You are really doing this reading of these words that are really here to be read. There's no indication that you are dreaming…

• Rethinking nodes in networks

  Tom Haskins

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:53 am

  When we're making a study of a network or formulating an explanation for outcomes produced by a network, we need things to examine. We are prone to make a "thingy" of nothing or of an ongoing processing. Alfred North Whitehead coined the term "misplaced concreteness" to separate his "process philosoph" from all the scientific studies that had made things of processes in order to study them objectively. In the Prince of Networks, Graham Harman characterized Whitehead as the grandfather of Bruno Latour's Actor Network Theory. Latour takes exception to scientific explanations that add a false…

• Missing interfaces users and edges

  Tom Haskins

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:26 pm

  Our eyeballs can see nodes, but not connections unless they're hard wired. Most connections are subtle, hidden or implied without taking form. As result, there is excessive attention on nodes, as Ailsa recently explored on her blog: Exploring the dark wood. In the comments I added there over the last few days, I explored some connections to Bruno Latour's Actor Network Theory. Since then I've been reflecting on what else is missing in all this exploration of connections. Interfaces, users and edges came to mind. When systems are closed they lack interfaces. They seem to be for internal use…

• 28 inches and counting

  Tom Haskins

  29 Oct 2009 | 10:30 am

  The forecast for 18 inches of snow had me running every errand for the week on Tuesday. Once the snow arrived, I've shoveled the walks and driveway 3 times so far. The snow is expected to end after 48 hours of continuous accumulation at midnight. We've got 28 inches so far and expect another ten. At least the Colorado Rockies dd not make it into the World Series this year. I'll get back to blogging here next Monday, Nov 2nd.

• 
  Occam's Razor

• Analytics Becomes Intelligent. Hello Insights!

  Avinash Kaushik

  26 Oct 2009 | 1:24 am

  A while back I walked into a meeting and said:“You know what… web analytics tools like Site Catalyst, Yahoo! Web Analytics, WebTrends, and yes even Google Analytics, are mostly glorified data pukers. Each tries to outdo the other in trying to collect ever more data and regurgitating it. For all the math they do, it is astonishing how little intelligence they have, how little actual smarts are applied.”Silence for a a few mins.Awkward glances.Then this: “What do you mean, and what can we do?”Me: “I wish the tools would use an algorithmic approach to…

• Web Analytics Success Measurement For Government Websites

  Avinash Kaushik

  12 Oct 2009 | 1:45 am

  If you know what the desirable outcomes are from your website, it is not hard to measure performance of the website for you and your customers.Measuring top line success of ecommerce websites is not very complicated, all the sweet revenue based outcomes are there (at the least).Measuring non-profit websites is a bit complicated, but not really all that hard because we can, with a small amount of love, figure out outcomes to focus on (donations, # of sign-ups for the protest in DC, # of petitions signed, volunteer applications, etc).Measuring government websites is a bit more complicated, if…

• Brand Measurement: Analytics & Metrics for Branding Campaigns

  Avinash Kaushik

  29 Sep 2009 | 1:34 am

  One of the ultimate excuses for not measuring impact of Marketing campaigns is: “Oh, that’s just a branding campaign.”Admit it, you’ve heard it.I suspect you’ve even used it liberally!! : )Before we go any further I must clarify that I love branding campaigns just as much as the next guy.I love campaigns that Visa runs. I love watching the IBM ads (with the Linux kid perhaps the best of the lot). I loved the I’m a PC ads from Microsoft (and I am a proud PC!). I loved the Wario Land: Shake It ad from Nintendo on YouTube (now that’s creative!). I love a…

• Web Analytics Books!

  Avinash Kaushik

  14 Sep 2009 | 2:07 am

  Yes, books with a s. : )It is with immense excitement that I am sharing the news that I have just finished writing my second book!Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability & The Science of Customer CentricityIt is a long title ain’t it? The good news is we are going to refer to it simply as Web Analytics 2.0.In this post I wanted to share thoughts about the book, the process of writing it (and doing three rounds of edits!) and outcomes.The BackgroundSince mid-2008 Willem Knibbe, my wonderful Acquisition Editor at Wiley, was very kindly encouraging me to update my (best…

• Six Tips For Improving High Bounce / Low Conversion Web Pages

  Avinash Kaushik

  25 Aug 2009 | 1:11 am

  In my travels around the world the most frequently asked question is: “What’s your favorite web analytics report? “A close second is: “How can I improve my web pages with high bounce / low conversion rates?”Or “I have done all I can and I don’t know how else to improve my webpage, ideas?”If you think about it for a moment it is not a very hard question.I believe the insights for improvement exist at the intersection of customer intent and the webpage’s purpose.Let me explain.The Customer Intent – Webpage Purpose GapThere is a very…

• 
  Principled Innovation

• Prepare your association for 2010!

  jeffpi1@gmail.com or @pinnovation on twitter (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)

  1 Nov 2009 | 6:56 pm

  On January 6, 2010, from 2 pm-3:30 pm EST, I am holding a Principled Innovation Briefing webinar on “Top 2010 Trends for Associations.”  You will find the event detail from the registration site below. P.I. Blog readers are invited to register at a 10% discount (until December 1, 2009) by using the link above.  This is going to be a great webinar, so I hope you’ll join me on January 6 and help prepare your association for 2010! EVENT DETAIL FOR JANUARY 6, 2010 P.I. BRIEFING WEBINAR 2009 has been a very tough year for associations and their leaders. 2010 can be better, but…

• P.I. Podcast: Interview with Tim Brown of IDEO

  jeffpi1@gmail.com or @pinnovation on twitter (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)

  17 Oct 2009 | 6:31 pm

  “We need new choices.” I’m thinking this is the perfect mantra for association leaders as we approach 2010.  Associations face complex challenges, and the current options for tackling them don’t really inspire too much confidence in our ultimate success.  Not only do we need to think about our problems in new ways, but we literally need different strategies for solving them.  In other words, we need new choices. Tim Brown’s excellent new book, Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation, is all about how mindset and…

• What relevance isn’t

  jeffpi1@gmail.com or @pinnovation on twitter (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)

  16 Oct 2009 | 4:26 am

  Last month, my friend and fellow blogger Jamie Notter wrote an excellent post on why relevance is not enough for associations.  In his post, Jamie graciously mentions my continuing pushback against the relevance-oriented thinking (ROT) that is still framing the way most leaders in our community approach crucial decisions about the future of their organizations.  We need to cultivate a fundamentally different leadership point of view, and this is what I think it should be: +Relevance isn’t a purpose–How will your association’s pursuit of relevance nurture an authentic…

• My Top Ten Favorite Things About #BIF5 Day One

  jeffpi1@gmail.com or @pinnovation on twitter (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)

  7 Oct 2009 | 8:54 pm

  Sitting in my hotel room in Providence, I’ve been thinking about the first day of the BIF-5 Summit.  Wow, what a day!  I missed BIF-4, and in my two-year absence, I think I forgot about the incredible richness of this experience.  I’m inspired, and I’m thinking about even more new possibilities for my work. I’d like to share some of the experience, so here is my quick top ten list of favorite things from BIF-5 (#BIF5) Day One, with some help from my fellow Twitterers. (FYI, I’m @pinnovation) Thank you all for being so terrific. 10.  We talked openly about…

• Live tweeting at #BIF5

  jeffpi1@gmail.com or @pinnovation on twitter (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)

  7 Oct 2009 | 5:22 am

  I’ll be live tweeting for the next two days at BIF-5 in Providence.  You can follow the hashtag on Twitter at #bif5…there will be many other people tweeting, blogging etc. so be prepared for lots of great stuff!

• 
  Creative Generalist

• 1 Million FPS

  11 Oct 2009 | 7:20 pm

  Some remarkable slow-motion footage:(Thanks Ask)

• The Cove

  6 Sep 2009 | 11:16 am

  The Cove. It's a remarkably restrained film in that most of it describes the teamwork, planning, and logistics involved with covertly documenting one of the grisliest activities on earth: Japan's slaughter of dolphins. Not much of the brutal footage is actually shown, and it's obvious that the producers spared us the especially gory bits, but what is seen quite vividly shows the ugliest and cruelest of what humanity can unleash upon another sentient, self-aware mammal. The Cove centres on an Oceans 11 type team of photographers, ex-military, free divers, props designers, and others assembled…

• Work in the Conceptual Age

  6 Sep 2009 | 10:33 am

  The three paragraphs on this page at gigaom offer a variety of links leading to some great posts touching on various aspects of generalism and work. As the intro lines state: "'Big-picture thinking and inventiveness are going to be the key to professional success in a new “conceptual age.' In a series of posts over at WebWorkerDaily, Imran Ali has been musing on the type of work that we might be doing in the future, the skills that will be required, and the type of teams we might be working in." (Hat tip to augustdiva!)Separate but related - work in the conceptual age - is this TED Talk by…

• Netflix Culture Manifesto

  5 Aug 2009 | 5:02 pm

  Apparently NetFlix has a rather enlightened approach to HR and company culture. Exhibit A: this internal 128-slide presentation.CultureView more presentations from reed2001.

• No Respect for Marketing

  27 Jul 2009 | 1:14 pm

  An excellent Ad Age article by Al Reis on the often misunderstood key difference between marketing and advertising, and why GM doesn't get it. I think he's wrong. Advertising at GM is not broken. Marketing is.Marketing's job is to coordinate all the various disciplines inside a corporation in order to develop the right product, the right price, the right position, the right distribution strategy and the right brand name.Advertising's job is to position that brand name in the minds of consumers.Good marketing makes advertising relatively easy. Bad marketing makes advertising difficult, if not…

• 
  Lateral Action

• T.S. Eliot’s Unique Selling Proposition

  Mark

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:50 am

  Image by Muffet If you think the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is something only marketers need to worry about, have a look at this snippet from a letter to T.S. Eliot, by his boss. Geoffrey Faber is explaining why Eliot was the ideal candidate to take charge of poetry publishing at Faber and Gwyer, the firm that eventually became famous under the name Faber and Faber. In you we have found a man who combines literary gifts with business instincts, who has a wide circle of literary friends, and who is quite as much at home on the lower levels as on the lonely peaks. (Geoffrey Faber, from a…

• Lose Touch with Your Inner Whining Artist

  Mark

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:28 am

  Image by Hugh MacLeod Of all the painfully funny cartoons on Hugh MacLeod’s Gapingvoid blog, for me this is the funniest and most painful. It’s painful because I know exactly how Eric feels. A few years ago, I was in his shoes. And I feel for him – because I know if he doesn’t change, his story is going to have a messy ending. The humour, of course, turns on the idea of what is ‘asking for too much’. In Eric’s universe, it’s perfectly reasonable to expect a minimum level of comfort and freedom to pursue his own interests. In the world’s…

• Why Spontaneity Comes from Following the Rules

  Mark

  26 Oct 2009 | 3:52 am

  This video of a conversation between Brian Eno and SimCity game designer Will Wright (via Fresh Creation) reveals a surprising truth about creativity. The most beautiful, complex and apparently spontaneous creations are often produced by following a few very simple, very rigid rules. In their talk, Eno and Wright show some computer animations in which each coloured cell on the screen is programmed to analyse the behaviour of the cells next to it, and alter its own behaviour in response. For example: “If three of your neighbours are alive, you’ll survive into the next generation.

• An Interview with Dan Pink

  Mark

  21 Oct 2009 | 5:37 am

  Dan Pink has been one of the presiding spirits of Lateral Action from day one. Specifically, his book A Whole New Mind provided inspiration for the very first article we published – Innovate or Die: Why Creativity Is Economic Priority Number One – and more recently I wrote about his TED Talk, in Why Rewards Don’t Work. But more generally, Dan’s writings have been a big influence on our thinking as we’ve developed the site. He is one of the most articulate advocates of the new ways of thinking, communicating, working and doing business that are essential for…

• Miffy – the Making of a Children’s Classic

  Mark

  19 Oct 2009 | 1:49 am

  Miffy has always been there. If you met her as a child, you won’t have forgotten her. Each time you see her iconic face – two simple dots and a cross for her mouth – in books, on posters, in the toy shop, it’s like running into an old friend. You can almost see her wave. So it was a bit of a shock – and a delight – to come across this interview with author and illustrator Dick Bruna (via Fresh Creation), and to register that Miffy had a creator. I almost didn’t want to watch it, for fear of spoiling the magic. But Bruna is just as charming as his…

• 
  eLearning Technology

• Trainer – Where to Now?

  Tony Karrer

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:18 am

  There has been really great response to both Recommended End of Year eLearning Tools Spending? and this month's Big Question: Presenting the Value of Social Media for Learning.  For both, lots of ideas that I never would have been able to provide on my own.  I may be pushing my luck, but I received another question that I thought was a good question. By way of background, this person is a teacher/trainer who is bright and has lots of great experience teaching and training different adults across different topics.  He's well versed in "advanced Teaching-Learning…

• Microphones and Audio Information

  Tony Karrer

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:33 am

  I just saw a couple of comments on my post Recommended End of Year eLearning Tools Spending? that were asking about quality differences between a Blue Snowball mic and SHURE mics. While I wouldn't know the specific answer to this off the top of my head, I thought I'd show what I do to find a pretty close answer and some people who I could easily ask.I start by going to eLearning Learning and then I search for something like audio which gets me quickly to a page that's a bunch of great posts and other items all about Audio in eLearning. The keywords on the left are highly related to audio as…

• Recommended End of Year eLearning Tools Spending?

  Tony Karrer

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:09 am

  I received a question today that I really wasn't sure how to answer and thought that lots of folks might have thoughts around this.  Here's the question: I have some extra budget money and I need to invest in software and hardware that will help me create cutting edge, top shelf eLearning programs. I already have these software programs: Articulate Suite '09 Adobe Master Suite CS3 (Not sure that I really need to upgrade to CS4) Camtasia & Snag It Are there any other must have software programs? It has to work with Articulate of course!  Free software is always nice but I don't…

• Learning Power Laws

  Tony Karrer

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:50 am

  Great post by Dion Hinchcliffe - Twenty-two power laws of the emerging social economy where he discusses what Steve Balmer calls “the new normal”. Balmer talks about how a reset of economic expectations during the downturn has created an environment that is putting pressure on business to do more with less.  Some of the specifics of this transformation are captured in the following graphic: This is lines up really well with a lot of what I discuss in Business of Learning and Trends in Learning.  The primary shifts he talks about are: New resource constraints. Requiring that we…

• Presentation Backchannel Multitasking

  Tony Karrer

  29 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

  Some great responses to this month's big question New Presenter and Learner Methods and Skills.  I'm learning a lot from the posts.  A few random reactions and a few of the nuggets I've pulled out from the discussion. Caveats to Multitasking is Generally Bad for Work and Learning See my post on Multitasking for a summary of this.  Or better, take a look at Ken Allan - Binge Thinking.   Or Clive Shepherd's How should presenters address multitasking? simple statement: Multitasking is an illusion – we are simply not capable of doing it. But some caveats to this general…

• 
  Making Change

• How to steer your client away from an information dump

  Cathy Moore

  13 Oct 2009 | 3:54 pm

  For a quick overview of the Action Mapping process described in this interaction, see Be an elearning action hero. For in-depth help with applying this process to your own materials, check out the Elearning Blueprint. How I designed and built the scenario Some people avoid creating branching scenarios because they seem too complex. In case it’s helpful, here’s the approach I took. I kept track of the branching by writing the dialog and results in an informal flowchart. I used OmniGraffle for the flowchart, but you could use any tool that builds basic flow charts or just draw one…

• Why you want to focus on actions, not learning objectives

  Cathy Moore

  4 Aug 2009 | 6:43 pm

  Pop quiz! 1. What do these people need to do? A. Put out the fire B. Describe the techniques used to extinguish a fire       2. What does this woman need to do to stay in business? A. Sell flowers B. Explain the principles of the flower-selling process       3. This young man wants you to give him money. Which objective are you more likely to fund? A. Build a home for a displaced family in Sudan B. Describe how to build a home for a displaced family in Sudan     Learning objectives are wimpy A typical learning objective focuses on what each person…

• No time for design?

  Cathy Moore

  23 Jun 2009 | 10:32 am

  Do we still care about instructional design? This graph from Google Trends compares searches for “elearning” with searches for “instructional design.” At first, “elearning” followed “instructional design” in a sad slope downward. But in the last couple of years, “elearning” has perked up again, while its friend “instructional design” continues its descent into obscurity. Maybe fewer people are searching for “instructional design” because it’s no longer a new concept (”usability” suffered a…

• Could animations hurt learning?

  Cathy Moore

  15 Jun 2009 | 2:17 pm

  A recent study suggests that the common habit of “building” information on a slide can interfere with learning. The researchers used Camtasia Studio to create two presentations on information security. The audio narration was the same in both presentations. The visuals were the same, too, except one presentation used an average of 3.4 animations per slide to make bullet points, words, or images enter at different times. The other animation had static slides—the information was simply there. After viewing the presentation, students answered a multiple-choice quiz. Students…

• Four ways to move your learners from clueless to confident

  Cathy Moore

  13 May 2009 | 6:28 pm

  I climbed onto the tram, folded my ticket, and with some trepidation stuck it into an unmarked metal box. A happy ding announced my success. I did it! I correctly rode a tram in Amsterdam! Small victories like these make me love to travel. Every day I move from clueless to confident as I tackle questions like, “How do I peel and eat this hardboiled egg using only this tiny spoon?” I find the answers through experimentation and observation—there’s no one telling me what to do at every step. And as a result I love the learning I’ve done and want to learn more. How…