Jaffe Juice

Armano introduces the novelty curve which has the following points on the spectrum:

• This looks interesting
• I think I'm in love
• I'm telling all my friends
• Hm. Haven't used in several weeks
• Are you still here?
• I've moved on. You should too.

As one of the commenter's aptly points out, the axes need a bit of work (there's no indicator of time), but the point behind the chart rings through nonetheless (in my words): marketers approach emerging new marketing platforms or technologies with the same predictable infatuation and fleeting novelty.

Hey Armano, why not overlay the mainstream media curve on top of the marketer adoption/infatuation one? Are they one and the same? Probably not.

It's almost too easy.

Where's the catch?

Strike 1: A new study from TNS Media Intelligence and Cymfony (n=60 marketers in North America, France and the U.K) reveals that when it comes to social media, traditional agencies view "social channels like blogs as traditional media".

Strike 2: ...their (agencies) ideas are not backed up by practical skills in the area.

Strike 3: ...agencies have little of their own experience using social networks or video-sharing sites for themselves.

This, compounded by the rising importance of social media, makes for somewhat of a perfect storm:

• Nearly 50% of marketers said social-media efforts needed to be handled at an executive level with "significant" resources.
• Another 30% agreed social media is a "revolutionary opportunity."

The data/findings are consistent with the research piloted in association with SNCR and TWI Surveys for my book, "Join the Conversation."

Sidebar: I look forward to sharing some of this research when I keynote at the SNCR Forum on April 22nd.

To be sure, it is (as I opened up in this post) almost too easy to lay into the agencies. They pretty much deserve it, don't they? Still, it takes two to tango and I think this quote from Super Bowl loving FedEx

"I think traditional ad agencies have very little contribution to make," Bryan Simkins, a marketing specialist at FedEx, told TNS. "They are mostly driven by their compensation models which are made for closed media. Those models don't apply in open media."

This, coming from the company that put Jose Avila and his furniture on the map.

Marketers, if you want your agencies to survive and thrive, you too will need to adjust the way you source, compensate, reward and respect your agency partners.

...but yes, the agency model has to adapt, adjust and evolve and agencies are going to need to restructure the way they do business in major way if they are to survive.

To help you in your quest, here are 3 pieces of advice:

1. Stop being so damn arrogant and deluded to think you can do this yourselves. You can't. This is all about humility.
   
2. Stop trying to automate the whole process and solving your problems by a quick technology acquisition fix. You're drowning in your own data and laziness. This is labor intensive.
3. Stop trying to scale the whole process and replicate your old bad habits. This is about planting seeds and sticking around long enough to reap the rewards of care, consideration and hard work.

Questions?

Recorded in the Palm Room at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills on February 28th, a lively roundtable conversation on social media brought to you by United Online and Classmates.com. Audio comments to +1 206 203-3255

Direct download here
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A busy week of traveling to the DMA Leaders Forum and a breakfast roundtable in Miami and LaLaLand respectively meant light posts, but plenty of notes:

• 6 ways of preventing the death of a brand
• Tweet or change the world. Pick one - Verdion ponders whether tweeting (2.0) is the new shooting hoops (1.0); perhaps but as long as it makes us smarter directly (if you work for an agency for example) or indirectly (learning something new...), I'd say daily social media "distractions" are anything but
• Sara Silverman is f@cking Matt Damon, Jimmy Kimmel is f@cking Ben Affleck and Viral Videos are alive and kicking

• Marshall McLuhan was Canadian? Explains a lot. Seriously though, this is a terrific post that asks the question, "if the medium is the message, what is the message (or rather the unique behavioral impact) that social media ultimately brings to and influences society.
• Uwe Hook asks if we've all become assholes by turning into the enemy in dissing traditional media/agencies as backward dinosaurs and portraying ourselves as puritan know-it-alls. Personally I think Uwe is a backward dinosaur and doesn't know what he's talking about. Kidding :)
• Top 10 uses for Yahoo! Live and ooVoo - great to see my client's product being internalized and contextualized

These days I seem to keep my Firefox open with about 50 tabs to the extent where Firefox takes up about 400K+ of Memory. Fortunately, my Dell XPS M1330 has 4GB of memory, but still...

At some point the computer will crash or I'll just close my browser by mistake and I lose all my URL's. Yes, I know. Del.icio.us

Anyway, here this week's links are in no particular order and with commentary to boot:

• In case you missed it on Friday, newly retired Jim Garrity, ex-CMO at Wachovia, wrote this review/post on Jaffe Juice about Join the Conversation
• Social media will change your business. And if Business Week says it's so, it must be true.
• Question: Outlook + Twitter = ???? OutTwit. Get it now.
• Via memes.org, another great way of proving the power of power. In this case, circumventing Tom Cruise and Church 'O Scientology heavies with a reenactment video.

• David Armano on the 3 U's. I need to digest this against some of my Life after the 30-second spot models: RUE (Relevance, Utility, Entertainment) or the 6 C's from Join the Conversation.
• Average age of Twitterati as per this survey is 37. That's my age. I guess I  must be average then.
• Keith Burtis' social media miracle came true. More here and here.
• New ANA Survey. Marketers say TV ads are less effective. Yawn. Same survey. New Year. No new thinking. Come on ANA...take a position and challenge your members properly instead of pandering to them
• Top 10 Twitter Hacks; More twitter - Mack on why Twitter is better than Facebook
   
• Phil Gomes' position on open-friended SocNet's. I personally disagree and have invited him to chat about this. No response from him yet :(
• Top marketing experts dish on their best marketing secrets. I wasn't included in this list but here's my secret: don't dish your top marketing secrets to all and sundry; use them rather for your clients. Half kidding.
• HBR: The shrinking advantage of brands
• RSS in plain English (via the Consigliere)

On a recent vacation, I immersed myself in Joseph's latest book:  Join The Conversation.  While I found the entire book informative, relevant, inspirational and educational, I really related a great deal to the content in Chapter 18.  Two portions of the chapter really resonated with me.  The first was the summary of 30 reasons for defending the status quo.  I certainly have heard many of them throughout my career.  I have also heard some I would suggest should be added to the list.  My additions reflect the fact that I worked for nothing but very large (FORTUNE 50), hierarchical and quite siloed companies and may not be relevant for smaller companies.  That said, here are my suggested additions based on real life experiences of mine:

• "We tried that before and it didn't work"
• "That might work for selling packaged goods, but don't you understand we're selling investments"
• "This might be a good idea for the entire corporation, but the ROI for my division can't justify the investment"
• "I am not willing to take money out of traditional media to experiment with unproven new marketing approaches"
• "With our current focus on (fill in the blank here e.g. merger integration, budget cuts, organization changes, etc.) we don't have the bandwidth to do experimentation"

The second portion of this chapter that got my attention was the section entitled:  "Making Experimentation A Reality:  A Five Step Plan."  During my last two years at Wachovia, I spent a great deal of time studying the subject of innovation.  Researching best practices approaches from the leaders in innovation in order to make a recommendation for a model that would serve to drive innovation at Wachovia.  Ar the end of this study, we made a series of recommendations to the Operating Committee (just one year ago).  The recommendations were accepted and have since been implemented.

What struck me was the dead-on alignment between Joseph's recommendations and ours.  It is important to note, upfront, that our recommendations were strongly influenced by our desire to come up with a solution that took into account Wachovia's culture, history and structural makeup.  Clearly "one size" does not fit all when looking for the right organizational approach and these elements need to be strongly factored in.  Here's where our findings aligned with Joseph's:

• Separated, nimble teams reporting straight to the top - in a large corporation made up of numerous business units, the big innovative ideas will be those that have enterprise-wide value.  Placing the innovation teams within business unit immediately suboptimizes the potential for developing big ideas. 
• Mash up of internal and external specialists - exactly what we recommended.  This level of diversity is essential in driving true innovation.
• Experimentation team reports to Chief Marketing Officer - Yup, recommended this as well.
• Experimentation team is separate yet connected - this was a very key element of our recommendation.  For reasons stated above, it is very important for this group to be a separate, cross-enterprise-focused group.  However, in a company like Wachovia, where the revenue producing lines of business drive strategy and business results, it is critical to have very strong connections with each line of business.

The remainder of the chapter contains further suggestions that also align very well with our recommendations - especially the section that deals with being tolerant of failure.  This is a challenge for companies that are traditionally quite risk intolerant, but this significant obstacle to innovation needs to be overcome.  We recommended an approach that would involve "failing fast, celebrating failures and learning from them." 

One key element in our recommendation I didn't see in Joseph's book was something we referred to as "an idea management system."  Fact is most companies have many, many creative people who have numerous excellent innovative ideas.  The problem is that they don't know where to go with those ideas.  Best practices companies have an idea management system.  This includes a visible center for innovation that welcomes innovative ideas from all employees (and other constituencies) irrespective of title, level or tenure.  The second element is a well defined and maintained system that continually manages the corporate inventory of innovation ideas - those that have been implemented, those in the pipeline, those in consideration, etc. etc. etc. 

In closing, I found great comfort in these congruencies between Joseph's suggested approach and our conclusions at Wachovia.  We never thought we had invented something unique, and therefore I have no concerns about the fact that the two approaches are so similar.  After all, we started out studying best practices companies looking to plagerize as much as possible.

- Jim Garrity

Jeremiah Owyang has lit or should I say twit a firestorm of conversation and engagement with this post and this tweet to illustrate both the explosive potential and power of Twitter (presence applications) as a powerful conversational and communal "tool"

341 comments (and counting) says a LOT. When is the last blog post you saw garner this kind of response? It's a great UNM2PNM organic case study...

Like Jeremiah, but unlike Phil, I share the same POV about a reciprocal approach to expanding my network.

You can find me on Twitter here - add me and I will add you back.

Update 1: This defeats the purpose (as I'm blogging this), but I tried out an experiment on Twitter itself which was to see how quickly I could hit the 1,000 person follower mark. Based on a tweet on 2/18 at 3.43pm, I decided (thanks to @BarbaraKB) to give away 1 hour of consulting/conversation time to my 1,000th follower. That was when I had 900 followers. I currently have 935

Update 2: So...I got "Owyanged". Jeremiah tweeted about this and the floodgates opened up. I now have 1,034 followers and I belive that @DHotchkiss is my 1,000th follower and therefore, gets an hour of my time.

HANDS DOWN, twitter beat blogging as a means to activate immediate response/impact.

Now I have to think about how to one-up this. What about a presentation by myself and Jeremiah to the person or company that ends up being my 2,500th follower? Jeremiah - you interested? We could ustream it to our combined followers...

OK, if this is a PR shill, I'm going to Jeff Pulverize you.

I got an e-mail from a gmail account alerting me to Alex Perez, Commercial Spokesperson-for-Hire. He's pimping Kraft Singles, Pepto-Bismol, Ocean-Spray, Hostess Cupcakes, Fritos, Skittles and Duracell Batteries (but not necessarily in that order)

Check out his purple leather-jacket wearing videos which are clearly parodies (same video; different product)

I guess the $12.95 question is who's behind this? Ad agency? CGC DIY Acme Inc. Co?

Verdino thinks this could be for a stock video company, although it might appear that Alex is for real (I've sent him an e-mail but he hasn't responded yet) as in searching for his 15 streams of fame. Unless of course, he really does moonlight as a scab awards show writer.

Free Kraft Singles for the first correct response.

Disney is ramping up efforts in the Virtual arena. So should you.

3 years ago I was consulting for a company who will remain nameless and I suggested to them that the songs from American Idol should be readily available for purchase on iTunes.

It was a no-brainer to me that consumers en masse would rather purchase Idol hopeful renditions of contemporary, classic and even forgotten songs than the originals (which we KNOW are not selling based on continued declining music industry CD sales etc)

Take Donny Hathaway's A Song for You, brilliantly sung by Elliot Yamin, for example. How many Elliot Yamin teenybopper fans even know (or care) who Donny Hathaway was.....until now!

Talk about the Long Tail in action.

Anyway, it was just announced that this is now going to be a reality.

You're welcome.

Marshall Kirkpatrick over at ReadWriteWeb, wrote this very insightful post on identifying top blogs in any category.

Part of the conclusion is that there is no one silver bullet and thus, a tandem of free and fee approaches usually work.

For what it's worth, the answer lies in combining "automation" with the human touch. Put differently, the most valuable and/or influential blogs are not always the top 10, 25, 50 or 100 in any given category.

There's a great saying, "would you rather be head of the fox or tail of the lion", which I think works in this context i.e. pursuing the prototypical A-lister versus a hungrier and more engaged challenger blog for example.

Take a read and let me know what you think...

This episode brought to you by USPS and Deliver Magazine. Check out www.delivermagazine.com. Audio comments to +1 206 203-3255 and don't forget to join my Facebook Group. In this episode, Advertising during recessionary times, My ooVoo Day with..., Miller Highjack Life, Facebook and much much more.

Direct download here
iTunes subscription here

Links and shownotes to follow (maybe):

• Miller High Life video
• Advertising during recessionary times link 1 and link 2
• Keith Burtis' Social Media Miracle
• Adam Broitman's relationships vs impressions analogy

Through my books, blog and podcast, Keith Burtis has become quite well known (asynchronous intimacy) to me. He's a big supporter of me and my message and now, I'm returning the favor.

As per his blog, Magic Woodworks, Keith is trying to raise money "flash mob" style to purchase an engagement ring for his girlfriend. Keith is a wood-turner and is asking people to purchase these incredible products in order to be able to earn enough to pop the big question.

He's turning a negative (financial challenges) into a positive by reaching out to "the" community. The least I can do is to purchase one of his creations and also help spread the word.

As I referenced in "Join the conversation", the Cluetrain Manifesto defines community as a group of people who care about each other a little more than they should. It's a magnificent definition which helps explain how and why people come together to help one another...and in today's social media world, it's happening more and more, sometimes seemingly with strangers, to realize amazing results.

So check out Keith's blog, e-mail him at keith [at] magicwoodworks [dot] com or stay updated with his progress via twitter, Facebook or Flickr (more of his work there)

This is a classic bad pitch (note to all marketers and agencies out there) for so many reasons - I've highlighted the classic parts for your reading pleasure and also stripped out the name of the person to protect the guilty.

My commentary is below...

From: Recruiter [recruiter@vitaver.com]

To: Info

Subject: 1818 - 0OT0 - Communications Coordinator, NYC

Copy: Dear Conversation,

I am XXXXX XXXXX with Vitaver & Associates, recruiters based in Boca Raton (Florida), since 1993. I found your resume online and I believe I might have a good job for you.

My Client sent me the description below, and requested I find a Professional to deliver on it.

If you are that person, I want to submit you today.

If this job is not for you, or not at this time, I suggest you still send me your resume for upcoming opportunities that may fit your career goals and credentials more closely at http://www.vitaver.com/submission.aspx . If you know somebody who might be interested, you can still benefit from this opportunity (1).

I will personally work with you through this simple and quick application process. The first step was to match your resume to the main skills requested by the Client. Now we are at the second step, which is for you to review the job description below, decide if this is good for you, and reply to me right away.  This will allow me to confirm the fit and setup your technical interview with the Client directly.

Position Code, Title and Location: 1818 - 0OT0 - Communications Coordinator, NYC

Additional Information: Below is all the information I have from the Client. Once I setup your interview with the Client, you will have the chance to ask them directly anything I do not include here.

Description:
This is a challenging and exciting opportunity for an entrepreneurial spirit with high standards of excellence. The Company is seeking an in-house communications coordinator to implement their media plan. You should have the ability to make things happen, with the media and marketing projects, all while maintaining a good sense of humor.

Benefits: Medical, dental, gym and stock options. Bonus potential.

Responsibilities:
* Write and distribute press releases
* Establish strong working relationship and ongoing communication with media contacts, including handling incoming media requests and pitching stories

* Identify potential speaking opportunities among key audiences
* Monitor and report on all media coverage
* Implement the company media plan. Familiarity with search engine marketing will be a plus.
* Maintain the Company Press Room online.

Qualifications:

* Ability to thrive in an extremely fast paced environment
* 2+ years of public relations experience
* BA in Journalism, Communication, or related field
* Excellent writing skills
* Experience pitching stories to tech media
* Solid presentation and networking skills
* Exceptional organizational skills required to juggle multiple projects

To be considered, the candidate must be self-motivated, creative and, most importantly, have the desire to help the Company grow the business.

End of description

If you feel confident with the requirement and comfortable delivering on it, please, send me your reply to all the questions below, and your resume attached to insure the quality of your introduction to this Client. A technical interview with the Client will follow as the last step.

1.     Are you a US citizen/Green Card/H visa holder (please, specify)?
2.     When will you become available?_____
3.     What is the yearly salary you expect? $ _______ per year on W2 (Fulltime Employee). Benefits and bonuses are extra and you will discuss them directly with the Client.

4.     Very important: I designed this format save time and errors. Please complete the following Skill Matrix, answering each and every question with: A) number of years of your personal experience with the skill, B) your skill level on a scale from 1 to 5 (highest), and C) the last time you applied it.  Please be consistent with your resume.

I.e.: Experience 4 years - Skill level 5 - Last Applied January 07

1.     Public relations experience (2+ years) ______years; Skill level ____Last applied:_______
2.     Experience pitching stories to tech media ______years; Skill level ____Last applied:_______
3.     Do you have a Degree in Journalism, Communication, or related field? (please specify) _________

*Please attach your resume as a Word document
I will handle your information in strict confidentiality and only to obtain the job you seek. 

As a Recruiter, I chose my clients and requirements with you in mind.  I am equally aware that you also get to choose a Recruiter to help you with your next career move.  I will work hard and dedicate my training and experience to earn your trust, and make you feel comfortable working with me, while you enrich your credentials and pursue your career. 

If you received a similar invitation or phone call to apply through another recruiter, I encourage you to consider that we have very good chances at landing you the job.

Our low overhead and nimble structure (resulting from over a decade and a half of improving our own processes), determine a lower cost for the Client, speedy and straight process, and high rate of placements.

I hope to hear from you today through your complete response and resume. My mission is to get you the job you want while respecting your time.

Best regards,
XXXXX XXXXX
Staff Recruiter
Vitaver & Associates, Inc.  

PS:  This is a real opportunity with my Client; I am not wasting your time or mine.

(1)    Referral Fee: please give this email to that person/s and copy me. If he/she replies to me thanks to your participation and I hire him/her, you will accomplish two things: find a good job for someone and get a bonus directly from V&A.

Let's recap:

1. Good news: I am now synonymous with "The Conversation". Al Gore invented the Internets and I invented conversation
2. Bad news: With 15+ years experience, I am being considered for a coordinator position (not that there's anything wrong with that)
3. Good news: I am uniquely qualified and selected for this position
4. Bad news: Apparently so too is Greg Verdino (who received the same SPAM)
5. Good news: I have a good sense of humor
6. Bad news: A benefits package include gym membership is not funny
7. Good news: This is a real opportunity.
8. Bad news: Vitaver & Associates is not a recruitment company

Final thought: If you or someone you know are considering this opportunity, please make sure I get my referral fee.

Had 2 lunchtime chats today with Hans-Jorn Eich, Lori Kuhn, Lewis Green, Sherman Hu, Allen Mostow, Eden Spodek, Connie Crosby and Mitch Canter (his post here)

In the second one, we spoke at length about Second Life and ironically, how in fact through ooVoo, we were flitting between the intersections of physical, digital and virtual worlds. We'll have the video of this chat and I'll be sure to post it soon enough.

That officially concludes My personal ooVoo Day, with 9 sessions and 41 people in really awesome conversation. I *may* create a few more bonus sessions on either Sunday and/or Monday. Watch this space...

Ryan Kuder was laid off from Yahoo!

...and thanks to Twitter, he shared his entire experience with the rest of us.

Here are some of the tweets:

Y! layoffs today, I'm "impacted". I'm heading into work to pack my desk, get my severance paperwork and hand in my badge...more to come. about 10 hours ago

On the plus side, my commute just got a lot shorter. about 10 hours ago.

Walking around saying good bye to some great people and good friends. about 9 hours ago

Waiting for the call from HR so I can go pick up my paperwork....C'mon, c'mon! I'm busy here! Let's get this over with. about 8 hours ago

Thanks to everyone sending the positive tweets. I've got plenty of free time now so just let me know if you want to meet up for lunch. about 8 hours ago

Ugh. I have a 1GB flash drive and 2GB files to back up. That is teh suck. about 7 hours ago

Heading into my HR meeting. The room is called Lucy. Cute, eh? about 7 hours ago

Finishing meeting with HR. Need to go clear out desk now. about 6 hours ago

Dammit. I was hoping to hook up the free Flickr Pro account before I got canned. Major fail. about 6 hours ago

Lots of whispered conversations. Like people are afraid to ask who's gone. about 4 hours ago

Dear Blackberry, What great times we had. I'll miss you. At least until tonight when I stop on my way home and buy an iPhone. Love, Me about 4 hours ago

I'm going dark in a few minutes. The HR guy is on his way over to confiscate my laptop. about 4 hours ago

Last free triple non-fat latte from Beantrees. Sniff. about 3 hours ago

Signing off from Yahoo!. Fade to black... about 3 hours ago

I'm not sure what exactly to make of it. Is it warped? Is it del.icio.us? Is it the Web 2.0 equivalent of TMZ or the National Enquirer?

Whatever your thoughts, one thing's for sure...you now know who Ryan Kuder is and hopefully will give him his next job.

It's always dangerous when marketers act like humans and pesky consumers. Here is luminary Mitch Joel's attempt to convince us that Sony Vaio's are just as good at interoffice memos as Macbook Airs.

Yesterday, I conducted 4 separate ooVoo discussions, and had a series of really awesome conversations with the following people (if I left you/r URL's out, just ping me in the comment section):

• Lori Laurent Smith
• Ed Peterson
• David Jones
• Jonathan Landau
• Walter Sopjak
• Andrea Vascellari
• Krista Neher
• Joyce Bettencourt
• Tim Elliott
• Melissa Robison
• Gavin Richardson
• Charles Sipe
• Gavin Heaton
• Christina Greene
• Ian Farmer
• Sean Maney
• Anna Pizarro

Did I leave anyone out?

In one of the conversations, we all group hugged (try doing that with a web camera!) and may even get back together to continue the conversation some time in the future. It's really quite surreal how 6 people that have never met each other can bond so quickly.

That my friends, is the power of social video(tm)(r)(c)

In due course I'll upload these photos to the ooVoo Facebook Group and also share some of the video.

If you're still thinking of joining in, I have 4 places available in a bonus session on Wednesday at 12.30pm. Register here

It's mine*. I coined* it. If you use* it, make sure it is attributed* to me....or pay* me.

*unless of course it isn't in which case I'll make sure I attribute it properly

Brandweek reports on Mattel following Hasbro's lead (with Transformers):

Mattel, home to the iconic Magic 8 Ball, Hot Wheels, Barbie, Uno and other mega-properties, recently signed with Hollywood’s most powerful talent firm, Creative Artists Agency, to develop its brands into movies, TV, Webisodes and other media.

Whilst it remains to be seen whether this is in fact a scalable path, capable of breathing new life into iconic brands (as opposed to beating a dead horse), there's no denying the existence of the path and it's lush, enticing and unspoiled surroundings.

One of the things I truly suck with is maintaining my blog - in terms of widgets, badges, buttons and general maintenance and upkeep. Part of the problem is that I don't know how to program, with even the simplest of HTML coding. Part of the problem is also Typepad. Apparently I have an advanced template (whatever that means) and unless I'm mistaken or just ignorant, the user interface for tech neanderthals like myself is neither intuitive or easy to navigate.

I'm trying to change that though...starting with my archaic blogroll.

Since I kicked things off, here's the sum total of my blogroll:

• Third Way Blog
• Ad Jab
• Adverblog
• Micro Persuasion
• MarketingVOX
• Wonkette
• The Media Drop
• Adrants
• Searchblog
• BuzzMachine

For starters, AdJab (sob) doesn't even exist anymore. MicroPersuasion, Buzzmachine, Wonkette and Searchblog don't even carry blogrolls anymore. Is this a sign of status or just the fact blogrolls are sooooooo 2006? In fact, only Adverblog, Adrants and Third Way Blog carry blogrolls, of which the latter two i.e. Adrants and Third Way Blog have reciprocal links back to Jaffe Juice.

I guess my first question is whether a Blogroll even matters anymore. What do you think?

In the interim, I'm going to purge my blogroll and depending on your response as to whether a blogroll even matters anymore, I'll do this permanently or rebuild it.

Last September, I spoke at the iMedia Brand Summit and had the opportunity to chat to The Podfather himself before he addressed the brand marketers in the audience.

My iPhone snapped a photo of Adam Curry adjusting his fly (he said it was ok) and until this weekend I never did anything with it until I showed it to CC Chapman at Podcamp Nashville who said, "Dude, there's about a million captions for that one."

Indeed.

I'll give a copy of "Join the Conversation" to the best caption submitted for this photo. Audio submissions welcome as well to +1 206 203-3255

My first night of My ooVoo Day just wrapped up (as a recap, it's a program my company, crayon, has helped put together for our client, ooVoo)

As one of the 25 hosts, I had 3 sessions at 8pm, 8.30pm and 9pm and all 3 were VERY different.

The conversations were meant to be 15 minutes but in fact the shortest was 30 minutes and I had to literally jump from the 1st to the 2nd and then to the 3rd (which lasted for a full hour!) The reality is that it is pretty hard to connect with 5 people in under 30 minutes...hell, it takes me 25 minutes just to introduce myself :)

The first session was with Len Kendall (his post about the conversation here), Frank Abrams, Matt Zarzecki, Scott Dunn and Rayanne Langdon.

The second was haunted by a hissing ghost which made for a challenging conversation, but nevertheless, it was great getting to meet Mike Kujawski, the legendary Sebastian Keil (a longtime Jaffe Juice listener), Michael Szpilzinger, an old friend, Craig Calder and too briefly, Jeff Glasson (the new Mac client should be out tomorrow!)

The third involved fellow MoDW host, George Parker, Elena Gonzalez, Julien Smith and repeats Craig Calder and Mike Kujawski. It was pretty legendary and was serious, frivolous, insightful and insane all at the same time.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. The 12, 12.30 and 8pm sessions are full, but there are a few places left for the 8.30pm. I've also added an extra session on Wednesday at 12.30pm. Register here.

For what it's worth, it's pretty easy to "see" how "social video" is going to transform the social media space...

Ed Lee gives this sublime analogy, which helps demystify and explain R.S.S. (Really Simple Syndication):

Your Web content is like water in a lake. Lots of people want it and you want them to have it. They want to drink it, swim in it and play water polo in it.

But, to get it, they need to visit the lake, fill their buckets and then go back to their homes to use it.

RSS enables your audience to create a stream from your lake (where the content is) to their home (where they need the content). 

I think we need similar analogies for some of the other geeky terms - any takers for microblogging?

Photo Credit: Heartkins

My ooVoo Day kicks off (for me) on Sunday night at 8pm.

• I have 3 places left on 2/10 @ 8pm and 1 at 9pm. The 8.30pm is FULL.
  
• 2/11 lunch time slots are FULL, but there are several available in the evening.
• 2/13 12noon slot has 3 places left

To add some spice and also say thank-you for participating, I'm going to give copies of Join the Conversation to all participants of ONLY my FULL sessions....hehe.

Register here for 15 minutes of wild entertainment, education, information and motivation (but not necessarily in that order)

PS If I say ooVoo once more, does that put me into the Jason Calacanis Mahalo category?

The Sun rises in the East
Grass is Green
Social Media to Weather Recession

According to the Forrester Research report, marketer moves into areas like word of mouth, blogging and social networking will withstand tightened budgets. In contrast, marketers are likely to decrease spending in traditional media and even online vehicles geared to building brand awareness.

The data in Join the Conversation isn't looking as futuristic now, is it?

Inspired by a tweet from CC who was giving a devil's advocate presentation on reasons why *not* to blog and a blog called 1 good reason, I thought I'd take the opposite position.

Give me 1 good reason why anyone (a company, organization, brand or individual) should blog.

You know all too well the typical skeptical client or boss; the naysayer who talks with complete authority, sweeping generalizations and broad strokes of certainty; the bully who puts you on the spot, the back foot and forces you into a corner where you need to come out swinging or risk getting pummeled to the canvas.

Now at least you can fight back.

Hopefully this list can provide a deep and meaningful litany of support, proof points and strategic rationale for anyone thinking - or not thinking - about the benefits and advantages of blogging.

Who wants to start?

(hold the "ooo" puns)

I've filled up about half of my slots for "My ooVoo Day with....Jaffe Juice" and thought I'd post a brief update if you'd still like to "attend" one of the following conversations with you, me and up to 4 others via ooVoo's multi-person video chat functionality.

You can register here.

My remaining slots are as follows:

• Feb 10 @ 8pm - 3 places
• Feb 10 @ 8.30pm - FULL
• Feb 10 @ 9pm - 3 places
• Feb 11 @ 12pm - 2 places
• Feb 11 @ 12.30pm - 1 place
• Feb 11 @ 8pm - 4 places
• Feb 11 @ 8.30pm - 5 places
• Feb 13 @ 12.00pm - 3 places

Note: You'll need a web cam and to download and install the software (Mac or PC)

PS: I may have a surprise or two in store....

wow - looks like Revver is toast. Minute reports that one of the once-primary competitors to YouTube is now looking for a measly amount of money, plus a larger (but still measly) assumption of debt.

It's fascinating for a bunch of reasons - from recognizing the lack of competitiveness (or dominance of GooTube) to the obviously failing attempts at benefiting from (certainly) a more progressive approach to advertising/monetizing content/sharing in the spoils with the community via Revv-share efforts.

Then again, it could just be all about internal organizational factors.

Not sure what else to say except good luck, lads. You'll make a bargain investor very happy.

122 down; 28 more requests to go. What began on January 3rd is almost complete within a 4-6 week period. You can still request your review copy of "Join the Conversation" here (while stocks last)

4 additional developments to fill you in on:

1) CREATIVITY - I love the different approaches being taken in terms of reviews. For example, Paul Hebert has written 3 different reviews for 3 different audiences
2) UNM2PNM AS A MOVEMENT - You don't have to have requested a review copy to post a review. Several people who purchased copies of the book (see below) are doing just that.
3) UNM2PNM AS A COMMUNITY -There's a Facebook Group, aptly titled, UNM2PNM: I've reviewed "Join the Conversation" - how about you?, where anyone can post their reviews with relevant, related content.
4) PAY IT FORWARD: Several participants have issued a "pay it forward" approach i.e. passing on their copy of the book in exchange for a review, such as Bob LeDrew's effort. It's a brilliant way of keeping the momentum going and growing.

Total reviews: 11

New reviews from:

Paul Hebert @ Incentive Intelligence - REVIEW (Sentiment: POSITIVE)
Chris Thilk @ Open the Dialogue* - REVIEW (Sentiment: POSITIVE)
Brian Thompson @ Ask a Copywriter - REVIEW (Sentiment: POSITIVE)
Richard Brown @ Brown Knows* - REVIEW (Sentiment: POSITIVE)
DJ @ OnlineMarkeketer* - REVIEW (Sentiment: POSITIVE)
Chris Wilson @ Fresh Peel - REVIEW (Sentiment: POSITIVE)

* not an original UNM2PNM participant (as in free book for a review swap)

The full list:

http://www.robertjohned.com, http://www.freshpeel.com, http://www.digtrends.com, http://www.minterdial.blogspot.com, http://www.cottercity.com, http://blog.beforethehype.com, http://www.troyrutter.com, http://typeapr.com/blog, http://www.advertising2.net/, http://www.geoffmanning.com, http://www.lgbusinesssolutions.typepad.com/solutions_to_grow_your_bu/, http://www.jasonfpeck.com, http://www.usefullunacy.typepad.com, http://www.radicaltrust.ca, http://www.behindthebuzz.com, http://www.derrickkwa.blogspot.com, http://www.3i.wildfirestrategy.com, http://www.blog.brandexperiencelab.org, http://fontainedepierres.blogspot.com/, http://www.profitablesignals.com, http://www.digitaldigs.wordpress.com, http://www.NewMediaSandbox.com, www.magicwoodworks.com/blog, http://www.armourpr.wordpress.com, http://www.flacklife.blogspot.com, http://incentive-intelligence.typepad.com/, www.chamika.com/insights, http://www.happypixels.ca, http://www.blog.coolz0r.com, www.eaonpritchard.blogspot.com, http://www.jameyshiels.com, www.designsojourn.com, www.anewmarketing.com, http://www.fasterfuture.blogspot.com, http://www.blogspot/therkel, www.fabianocoura.com, http://www.www.marketingov