Category: Uncategorized

Gav@Single Origin
Originally uploaded by servantofchaos

It began with a handful of marketing/planning bloggers getting out from behind their desks and meeting in a cafe in North Sydney. Organised by Emily Reed, we thought it was such an amazing and fun thing to do that we decided to do it again … a week later.

Two and a half years later, the Sydney Coffee Mornings have turned into a vital and energetic event. Each Friday an ever growing group of people meet at the Single Origin Cafe on Reservoir Street in Sydney’s Surry Hills. There is debate and discussion, fantastic food, brilliant coffee and more smart people than you can hit with a stick.

All this is made possible by the gracious Gav, who makes us welcome each week, and the long suffering Single Origin team who make sure we are well caffeinated and, at times, entertained.

Next week, on June 10, I will be talking about our coffee mornings as part of Creative Sydney – Come Together – The New Creative Networks (please note, you need to book tickets – eventhough they are free). I am pulling together some pictures that capture some of the ambience – and thinking back through some of the stories I have heard or been part of. But tell me – what’s yours? Have you been to coffee morning? Why? What did you love about it? Do you have a favourite picture you can share? This one of Gav is one of mine.

Each Friday an eclectic group of curious folk gather at the Single Origin cafe in Surry Hills. We come together to talk ideas, advertising, social media and marketing. We come to share problems and to learn from the people who have become our friends. But most of all, we come to revel in each others’ company.

But on May 8, our coffee morning will be transformed. Rather than sitting around and talking, we will all be partaking in a special FastBREAK breakfast event. Part of Vibewire's e-Festival of Ideas (held in conjunction with the Australian Innovation Festival), the FastBREAK event features a number of Australia’s sharpest young innovators speaking on “the single biggest challenge of innovation”.

The starting point is on the Four Cs of Innovation – creativity, commercialisation, collaboration and connections. We are adding a Fifth C – conversation.

There will be five speakers with four minutes to open the debate. We will then all grab coffee and join the conversation with the speaker who most interests us (or as is more likely, wander from conversation to conversation, seeking out smart thinking and challenging ideas).

This great FREE event features:

• Conversation – Matt Moore (@Innotecture)
• Connection – Scott Drummond (@Scott_Drummond)
• Collaboration – Isadore Biffin (@IsadoreBiffin)
• Commercialisation – Elias Bizannes (@liako)
• Creativity – Jye Smith (@jysemith)

Starting at 8:00am and running until 9:30am, this will be a great way to round out your week. Simply RSVP by emailing events@vibewire.org – and we’ll look for you at Westpac Place, 275 Kent Street, Sydney.

PLEASE NOTE: the venue has changed to Vibewire Enterprise Hub – 525 Harris Street Ultimo!

Places are limited, so put it into your diary NOW!

Web Trend Map 4 Final Beta
Originally uploaded by formforce

I am always keen to see how the Web Trend Map evolves over the previous year’s version. The big change this year is the inclusion of influential individuals as participants within the map’s ecosystem. The iA folks are clearly recognising that the web is no longer a purely applications space and that the “social” aspect of computing is gaining relevance not just in the consumer realm, but also in the domain of business – and the enterprise.

Jacqueline Wechsler also points out this zoomable version which makes navigating and inspecting the map much more palatable.

There is certainly plenty to take in. I particularly like the inclusion of aspects of both the Chinese and German web – which is mostly discounted in any global analysis of the online landscape. This just shows how myopic many of us tend to be – but as realtime translation matures, I have a feeling that the trends that are visible for us now will become vastly more fascinating and unpredictable as we are able to consciously embrace and be affected by the web cultures of non-English speaking cultures.

Now THAT is something to look forward to!

I have worked on and with teams for most of my career … and I have found that I am most productive (and creative) when I am in a team environment (ok I like to lead, but can play nicely with others!). I know this is not the case for everybody – yet I am always surprised to learn that colleagues don’t understand the mechanics of collaboration. Even the basics of brainstorming seem foreign to some people. But now, Leisa Reichelt provides a solution that will get your collaborative process off to a flying start … with some great tips and techniques for brainstorming.

Sign
Originally uploaded by nic0

With an influx of new participants, Twitter continues to be a surprising space. But the most interesting part is the transformation that takes place for almost every person – well, every person who PERSISTS. This was made obvious to me by a message from Frank Sting.

Change management theory suggests that there are a number of phases which we must go through before we actually commit to a change. And it is fascinating to see what happens if we apply this to Twitter. In general, it appears as follows:
Preparation: This is an awareness stage. Here you will find people responding to the question “what are you doing?”. Accordingly there will be tweets along the lines of “checking out Twitter … who should I follow”.
Acceptance: By this stage, people have normally found a small community to engage with. The tweets will have transformed into a combination of status updates and @ messages directed to people that they follow.
Commitment: In this final phase, Twitter conversations flow freely between and amongst followers. The network continues to grow as more participants establish weak links at the edges of the social graph.
Of course, not everyone develops through all these stages. I would suspect that there are a large number who simply do not put the time in to build value into the network. This would account for discontinued use in the first stage.
Negative perception (caused via unexpected interaction) would account for discontinuation at the second stage.
For stage three, I would expect that additional tools are required to help manage conversations. I am thinking that applications like TweetDeck and its ilk are the only way that participants can actively continue to find and provide value to a growing follower base.
But what do you think? Does this accord with your own views?

2009 Already Sucks Button
Originally uploaded by Mr. T in DC

At the turn of a year we often turn one eye inward and another outward. We focus upon what worked in the last 12 months and wonder what will achieve the same or better results in the period ahead. Often this means looking for “experts”, for “insight” and for “action”. But all too often, this is done at the expense of our own analysis.

So before you read much further, I would encourage you to write a five bullet list – what worked and what didn’t – for you in 2008.

Below this, write a list of your strategic objectives for 2008 and then draw lines linking the objectives with your campaigns. Be honest. Did they align? Did your marketing executions deliver on your strategic objectives?

Valeria Maltoni has pulled together an eBook called Marketing in 2009, and it brings together 12 different viewpoints on marketing direction for the coming year. Francois Gossieaux looks at social media in the enterprise, suggesting that social media will deliver business transformation (something I am very interested in); while Connie Reece and Mike Wagner also look at the opportunities for business-focused innovation.

Christina Kerley shows that a large part of the “new” requires “change” – that the “old” marketing disciplines can be applied to new technologies and approaches; while Beth Harte recommends doing the groundwork before embarking on a social media initiative.

Olivier Blanchard, and Matt Dickman walk us through measurement and accountability; and Amber Naslund asks us focus on the hard work of executing strategy.

There is plenty of food for thought across all 12 articles that all serve as good reminders for your marketing activities in the months ahead.

Ambiguity
Originally uploaded by baralbion

Anyone involved in the hiring, management and even firing of staff knows that talent is a major challenge. Simply FINDING the right candidate for a role at the right time can be a major challenge.

And when it comes to social media and associated marketing roles, the challenge is intensified. Where, oh where, does one find people with the balance of skill, experience, business acumen and initiative that marks out a great social-media-oriented professional?

It was with the aim of closing this gap that I established the SocialMediaJobs.com.au job board. I wanted to “connect the connectors”.

This week, Phillip Tusing interviews me about how the board started and how it is working for both employers AND new hires. Read it in full here.

My dog can fly
Originally uploaded by J. Star

Sometimes you just need a little time out to recharge.

For some it means withdrawing into a cave; for others it means a beachside holiday. Some will travel abroad. Others stay closer to home.

This week I am hunkering down with some good books. I am aiming to dig into the Future of Your [bleep] series again, and hoping to clarify some new thinking on storytelling, personality and what it means to live in this Age of Conversation.

I will be a little disconnected — but I have scheduled a series of posts to continue the conversation. I will check-in from time-to-time … and will certainly respond to your comments next week.

And now, I am off to teach my dog to fly.

Scrabble Letter B
Originally uploaded by Leo Reynolds

Jargon can be a great tool … using it can help us feel part of a movement, an industry or company; and it can help condense difficult concepts so that we can demonstrate linkages. It can, however, become a problem.
Overuse can make us lazy in our thinking and communications. It can separate those who “get it” from those who don’t – and it can suck the marrow from the language that we should nuture and protect.
Mark Earls has thrown out a challenge. He is asking us all for a little more clarity and purpose in our writing and thinking:

But the word itself is a sloppy metaphor for a whole bunch of stuff (much of which isn’t entirely true) with the power to distract you from precise thinking, expression and action, (why ‘build the brand’ when you could be doing something really amazing with the service/product etc…?) so let it go…

Interestingly, at a meeting last night I tried it out. I refused to use the word, finding greater clarity in focus around the ideas of “business identity”, “customer interaction” and “business operation”. I even applied it to Twitter. But I had to concentrate. I had to choose e-v-e-r-y word.
Want to join in? Leave a comment, or tell Mark.

Toby sees you in his crystal ball
Originally uploaded by Kevin Steele

Joe Pulizzi has tapped into his Top 42 Content Bloggers, asking them to make some predictions about the year ahead.

My favourites from the list, so far include:

• Scott Monty: Content will be more focused around conversation than messages
• Marc Meyer: More cross-promotional content
• Ann Handley: Hire a journalist
• Ardath Albee: B2B marketers to begin syndicating their content.

Certainly sounds like it will be an interesting year. Happy holidays to all my readers.