ChaosScenario

How to Vote for The Best Little SxSW Panel in Texas

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3. Look for this:

4. Click on the star on the right.

5. Attend SxSW to attend The Best Little SxSW Panel in Texas.

What Smart People are Saying:
Alan Wolk - "'Your Brand Is Not My Friend' is all about the critical mistake too many brands make when entering the social media space. They assume that every brand has the following of a Nike or an Apple. But those two brands, and no more than a dozen others, are 'Prom King Brands' who have a unique and unusual relationship with their customers The panel will discuss this and what to do if you are one of the 99% of brands out there who are not one Prom King Brand. We'll also touch on The Real Digital Revolution (the ability of consumers to research products online and how this shifts the focus of advertising.) You can read the latest iteration of "Your Brand Is Not My Friend" in this Adweek article from June 2008."

David Armano -     Brands need to figure out how to engage in social networks. And how not to. This should help.

Dion Hughes - i'm a big believer in this concept, and word has it alan is great on stage. plus, could there be a moderator better placed to prod and provoke than [Adweek's] brian morrissey? this one is a must see.

But Wait, There's More
If this panel is selected, I will also be on it.

So what are you waiting for? Go vote!

You won't find a more useful election this side of November. - Cam Beck

Lijit's Value-Added Search Offends Great Blogger, Mack Collier

Mack Collier hates the blogging search tool, Lijit. And when Mack talks, everyone listens. At least the smart ones. Mack is one of the brightest, most generous bloggers I know, and I know a lot of bright, generous bloggers. However, try as I might to understand his objection to Lijit, I hit a stumbling block.

The problem stems from a feature Lijit calls "re-search."

Here's how it works:
If you come to this site through a search engine, that means you were looking for something in particular. The page you land on may or may not satisfy whatever your need was when you searched for your terms. So instead of just giving up on the user and assuming you have nothing of value that may answer his question, by default, when you have Lijit installed, the user in that case would be provided with additional links from your blog -- as well as a tiny (but clearly marked) ad from Google.

His anger with the company that makes the tool is centered around two key points:

• Lijit didn't tell him about the feature and that he could disable it.
• Lijit is monetizing his content.

Says Mack:

"I did a Google search for 'viral garden' just now, clicked on the top Google result (this blog), and was more than a little shocked and embarrassed by what I saw. As the picture to the right shows, the LiJit widget had served up several posts I have left here that you could click on. But as you can see under those posts, it also served up something that I didn't know it would, and certainly didn't give it permission to provide."

Needless to say, I see it a bit differently:

• I didn't read the instruction copy when I installed Lijit anyway, so I'm not sure information about re-search wasn't there. If it was, I missed it, but if it wasn't, it's possible that its absence facilitated greater speed of installation.
• Lijit isn't monetizing my content, but is rather monetizing search, according to the user's search terms, as they come to this site, and even then only if either my content or my presentation of it doesn't suit what the user is looking for (and the ad does).

Relevancy: The Holy Grail of Advertising
When Google introduced AdWords, it was a revolution in Internet advertising. It wasn't just because it was a new way to attract advertising revenue, but rather because, by tying in search terms to paid clicks, it made advertising more useful to users and measurable to advertisers.

Unlike just about all advertising that came before it, users had to first express interest in a particular topic and then see an ad and decide clicking it was worth their while before an advertiser would have to pay a red cent.

It was a stroke of genius -- and a major, much-needed coup in the advertising realm not accustomed to the user being in control of what they saw and how they interacted with it.

It's the same with Lijit.

Use What You Need. Stay as Long as You Like.
I have no idea what search term you used when you came to this site (though Lijit has some nifty reporting features that tell you after-the-fact), but whatever it is you were looking for, I hope I was able to give you an answer that met your needs -- or at least point you in the right direction.

As I told Mack, as was the case with Intense Debate, if Lijit ever got in the way of the completion of my readers' goals, I'd get rid of it.

But as it stands, Lijit's tools only helps people find what they're looking for. If that happens to be on this site, I'm very happy about that. If that happens to be elsewhere, I won't get in their way. And if Lijit happens to make a buck or two off of that, why would I care?

The advertiser, not I, has to bear that cost. And all the users get is content they want -- or at least a clue as to where they might find it.

The choice to click or not to click the ad is entirely theirs. - Cam Beck

When Statistics Tell You Nothing

According to eMarketer, as of 2008, 54% of Internet users read at least one blog one time per month, and they project that number to reach 67% by 2012. In addition, the number of bloggers will grow steadily between now and then (although the number is still very small). At first glance, this development seems to be very promising to the blogging community, but in reality, it doesn't tell us much at all.

The numbers are likely inflated, because the definition is too broad.

You have to read only one blog post once per month to qualify as a blog reader?

You have to update our blog once in the past three months to qualify as a blogger?

When analyzing and comparing statistics, one of the first things you should do is find out how the statisticians defined their terms. Otherwise, you leave yourself open to manipulation by those who, blinded by their own passion, see only that which advances their own beliefs. - Cam Beck

Lessons from WALL-E

As the father of an (absolutely adorable) baby girl, I don't get to go to the theater much. Though I hope my little girl doesn't grow up too fast, I'm looking forward to the time when I can take her to the movie and not have to worry about whether she can sit through the entire thing. As such, I've never seen Pixar's latest movie, WALL-E, but today I read an interesting review that got me thinking about the way today's Web tools allow us to communicate without the closeness that personal contact affords.

"I wasn't trying to make the humans into fat, lazy consumers, but to make humanity appear to be completely consumed by everything that can distract you—to the point where they lost connection with each other, even though they're right next to each other." - Andrew Stanton, Director of WALL-E

The Internet allows us to reach out to a wider audience. However, more people, more companies, more products, more desires are competing for our attention and our time than ever before. It can be difficult to form and sustain meaningful relationships if we don't set eyes upon each other... if we don't talk to each other... if we don't, on occasion (even if you're not as touchy-feely as some) go see a movie together.

While in a way we are more connected than ever and some of the Web's tools, such as ooVoo and iChat, are meant to help provide more familiar and meaningful interactions than MySpace or Facebook currently afford, they can only take things so far.

I've witnessed warm conversations online, and some people are such excellent writers that they can suck you into their worlds and make you feel like you are there, feeling what they feel. But, as an old hand at online political debates, I've more often witnessed people talking toward each other online in ways they'd never even consider talking to each other in person. Online social media can sometimes be our decorum-dampener.

Let's not forget to peek up from our computers from time to time. It's easier to remind ourselves about how we ought to treat people if we are more convinced that they're human, because we've seen it with our own eyes. - Cam Beck

Missed Opportunities and Distributable Content

Every year around Independence Day some news websites like MSNBC.com create mini-citizenship tests  -- almost as if to prove how dumb we all are with respect to our own laws and history. Perhaps because journalists are in the habit of conducting idiotic and meaningless polls to develop news out of nothing (Such as "Which Presidential candidate would you rather invite to a barbeque?"), they consider polls such as this one to be satisfactory in the fulfillment of their public service. This particular execution, however, practically screamed for an opportunity for the online community to share their results with others. Sadly, it isn't something MSNBC seemed to consider worthwhile.

Undoubtedly, this poll is being passed around. The fact that I'm writing about it talking proves that, and I'd wager that at least some of the people who read this will likely take the test to see how they fare.

But then what?

MSNBC, like a lot of companies when given the opportunity, don't make it easy to share the results in a way that would entice people to share it.

Conceptually, the idea isn't that difficult. It's been done before (See "What's Your Blog's Reading Level?" or "How Many 5 Year Olds Can You Take in a Fight?"). The design can be mediocre (such as this hack-job I threw together), and people would still have fun with it.

As you can see, it can even be branded to serve as a sort of "product placement" within the content of someone's blog or MySpace page, which is more likely to be seen and used than if it were simply a display ad.

The execution of it just requires technical skill that the folks at MSNBC.com surely have at their disposal.

What's more, the results aren't exactly useless. Something like this can be fun and still inform people about some things that they didn't (but probably should) know. People don't get -- and many of them resist it anyway -- all of their education from a stale textbook. 

Don't know the term of a U.S. Senator? You will after you take the test.

Why aren't more companies (and schools) taking advantage of this powerful tool? - Cam Beck

Fashionable Offensitivity

Alan Wolk (AKA "The Tangerine Toad") wrote a very insightful article over at Marketing Profs: Daily Fix yesterday about the flap over Dunkin' Donuts adorning Rachel Ray with a relic that resembled attire worn in the Middle East. Apparently conservative blogger Michelle Malkin expressed some bewilderment over it, and it sparked a controversy that led to Dunkin' Donuts' pulling the ad.

The Toad said Dunkin' Donuts was right to pull the ad to head off any growing ridicule, and I agreed. One person exclaimed that Dunkin' Donuts may suffer the consequences from people who think they are petty, but I don't think that's the case.

It's simply a matter of commitment.

People who are offended by the attire (and contrary to some of the left-wing pundits, I'm not sure Malkin's amusement even rose to the level of "offense") feel their patriotism is being assaulted. People who are not offended by the attire don't have any particular affinity for it. It's just another meaningless accoutrement to them.

Since patriotism has a deeper meaning to those who have it than a scarf does to those who don't, Dunkin' Donuts did the only reasonable thing. They weren't about to -- and they had no reason to -- place their stake in the ground to defend keffiyeh hill.

As such, in two months time those who believe Dunkin' Donuts is succumbing to unreasonable pressure won't even remember that they were ever upset. They probably get their coffee from Starbucks anyway. Plus, they'll find something else that offends them soon enough. It is, after all, election season. - Cam Beck

Trish Forant: Honor, Courage, Internet

We are at war. Yet, today, through the advances in technology we can do instantly what in previous wars took weeks, even months to achieve: With the click of a mouse, we have the ability to send immediate support to a military service member.

We can send morale-boosting emails, filled with news from home and feel-good stories of Americans united. We can form online support groups collecting much needed items for care packages. We can share photos of the newest Marine in need, stories of the soldier who just became a dad, and patterns for cooling neckties we can create and ship to our guys and gals in the sandbox. We can rally our citizens to support our troops from the comfort of their computer chairs. We can do all this and so much more.

This is the new world. This is social media at its finest.

Through social media we’ve created a community of kind and caring individuals across the globe willing to take a little time out of their busy day to send and show support to our military service members. They are people of all races, religions, political parties, and nationalities with a common goal.

They come together for the sole purpose of supporting our troops on sites like MySpace, Facebook, Yahoo Groups and Twitter to name a few. They blog across all platforms and they use the power of their podcasts to send inspirational messages of support to our US Armed Forces.

These people realize that regardless of our personal political views, our troops deserve our respect, support & encouragement.

I’ve seen it firsthand because I use all these services to promote and encourage troop support through eMailOurMilitary.com. eMail Our Military is a charitable organization that supports U.S. military service members through morale boosting email correspondence, letters and care packages. eMail Our Military was created in 2001 as a response to the DoD's cancellation of the "Any Service Member" and "Operation Dear Abby" mail programs.

As a safe alternative, eMOM picked up where these programs left off.

Using social media we’ve teamed up with companies like Utterz to send multimedia messages of goodwill to our troops over the holiday season, Seesmic to support service members in Iraq, Qipit to provide fast, free alternatives to copy shops and Babble Soft to keep military families with newborns separated by deployments on the same parenting page.

Now more than ever before we have the ability to support our heroes in the easiest of ways using our computer, the internet and various forms of social media. Reaching out to our troops is simple and only limited by how much or how little you wish to be involved. We’ve got something for everyone and we encourage everybody to get started today by visiting eMailOurMilitary.com, deciding if you want to support a service member one on one or participate in a general support project.

You make the commitment, and we’ll help you connect with a military service member. It’s that easy. - Trish Forant

Trish Forant is the daughter of a veteran, a military wife and a staff writer at Veteran’s Today. She now serves as President of eMail Our Military, the charitable organization she founded to support U.S. military service members. She blogs regularly at Honor, Courage, eMail.

Our Wonderful Inheritance

In honor of and appreciation for those who gave their lives for us, next week we will be running a series of articles written by military veterans and spouses. I only asked that our guest authors write from their heart something having to do with (however loosely) the topics we cover here (business, marketing, technology) in a way that honors our fallen heroes. All titles are tentative.

Schedule

• Monday: ...Some Gave All - Cam Beck
• Tuesday: Where are the Heroes? - Jim Stroup 
• Wednesday: Service Matters in People's Lives - Lewis Green
• Thursday: [This Title is Top Secret] - Gannon Beck
• Friday: How to Say 'Thank You' the Right Way -  Trish Forant

In the meantime, I encourage you to read Jim's touching post today, before you head off to carry out your weekend plans, to remember those who made such things possible. - Cam Beck

What are we writing?

Ryan Barrett of Cheap Thrills had an interesting idea, and whether you're a contributing author to Age of Conversation 2, I think you'll enjoy her effort.

She's collecting passages from the different authors' chapters.

If you wrote a chapter, please go on over and post a brief snippet from your work.

If you just want a sneak peak, this is the place to get it.

Enjoy! - Cam Beck

My Media Diet: No Rest for the Weary

The brilliant and indefatigable Arun Rajagopal requested that I share my media consumption habits.

Books
I read mostly nonfiction -- focusing on business and marketing, history and current events, self-help and philosophy --, but I've been trying to break out of that by reading a little more fiction. To that end, I read The Sea Wolf by Jack London last month. I just finished The Christian Husband 2 nights ago. Currently I'm making my way through the excellent *Personality Not Included, for which I will write at least one review when I finish, and Hitler 1936-1945 by Ian Kershaw.

News
I admit it. Although I love newsprint for reasons David Reich, Bob Glaza and Tangerine Toad all expressed at one point or another, I still get most of my news online. I regularly check USAToday.com, MSNBC.com, WorldNetDaily (plus its print monthly, Whistleblower), and various news aggregation websites such as The Drudge Report and Scott Baradell's Spin Thicket, both of which often take me to news stories on websites I would not have otherwise found. I also pick up whatever is lying around here in the office. There is usually a Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Dallas Morning News, and a USA Today around here somewhere.

RSS Feeds

Podcasts

Who's Next?
Now I'm going to look to the younger generation to see what our future holds. I'm interested in what media Nathan Snell, Ryan Karpales, The Great Haw, and Mario Vellandi are consuming. And because I need some help in speaking and writing (and because I've found their contributions very helpful), I also want to hear from Lisa Braithwaite and Kristin Gorski.

Step up to the plate. Time to share. :)

- Cam Beck