In this posting, I intend to do both. While I never intended to use this blog to wax nostalgic or gaze into a crystal ball and pass along my visions of the future, a tweet did make me stop, think, and write this post.

“I am not a personal brand. I am a person.”

There is a touch of irony in what seems to be a very passionate cry amongst a deluge of noise on Twitter when you consider:

• The Twitter in question is a professional marketer.
• The Twitter in question runs a marketing firm based around online branding through Social Media.
• The Twitter in question tweets under a handle that is the name of their marketing firm.

To coin the iconic, one-word observation from Star Trek: “Fascinating.”

My prediction for Social Media in 2010 is it will struggle against acne, cringe at the sound of its own changing voice, and start to notice the opposite sex. Yes, Social Media will grow up; and its deeply entrenched Snake Oil Sales Staff will be forced to re-evaluate their place in it.

What started as a whisper at the beginning of the year has now becoming quite the trend. Here’s a cross-section of observations my Google-search “Social Media Snake Oil Salesmen” revealed:

• May 26, 2009 from Communications Catalyst. Managed by marketing strategist David Mullen, the Communication Catalyst offered at the beginning of the summer a checklist of things to be wary of when a Social Media Expert comes calling.
• September 21, 2009 from The Buzz Bin. This blog offers commentary on integrated communications (PR, social media, interactive marketing, etc.) and offers their own opinion of “Social Media Experts” and how many of them know very little.
• October 13, 2009 from BillCrosby.com where Real Estate Investor and Social Media Evangelist Bill Crosby comes out and rants about how no one is making any real money in Social Media. (Again I feel the touch of irony that this guy came out against Social Media as an economic fix as he was one of the “brains” behind Twitter Traffic Machine, an application that completely automated Twitter. And this guy calls himself a Social Media evangelist.)
• December 5, 2009 from Logic+Emotion. This sums it all up for me, and is entitled “Life After Social Media Snake Oil”. This is a brilliant post.

These wake-up calls appearing as blogposts, tweets, and rants on Facebook appeared to gain momentum in December, the more vocal being those who led the masses blindly under the Social Media banner. This message (and this is the “I told you so” part of this post/rant…) is hardly a new one as I have spoken internationally on this subject.

After attending a Social Media event in January 2009 (that was nothing more than a tedious exercise of self-gratification), I developed a talk called ANTI-Social Media, a seminar that ruffled a few feathers in Washington D.C. but went on to be syndicated across the blogosphere and served as my audition reel for what would become my 2009 New Zealand tour.  I have struggled against the grain with this message, a message that went to print in All a Twitter. This message came under fire from some “experts” back in the Fall…

Now, only months later, these same experts have cleaned off their respective Looking Glasses and do not like the reflections thrown back at them. And as recent as yesterday, TechCrunch revealed an option that the disillusioned may take in order to truly cope with the Social Media personas they have made for themselves.

Social Media has reached a turning point; and with more businesses stepping into the arena, Old School policies are now coming into play. What does this mean? This means that having a second account focusing on just your business and less on you will be in order. There is something nice about being able to speak your mind freely while preserving your professional identity. Perhaps that footloose-and-seat-of-your-pants approach to marketing (what the gurus label as “rebellious” or “radical”) isn’t going to work so well here. This also means that removing the line between business and casual will carry consequences. Yes, there will be times, opportunities, and moments in Social Media that will allow you to get personal with your audience; but if you are not willing to draw a line between you on-the-clock and off-the-clock, you cannot cry “Foul!” when criticism flies.

2010 will be the year that Social Media will be taken seriously, and those serious about it will remain practicing it while those who have been crowning themselves as experts, oracles and mavens will be called to task. What are they doing in Social Media now? Where are the blogs they manage? What podcasts are they currently producing? What is their presence within Social Networks? Credibility and accomplishments in Social Media efforts will have to extend beyond “Chris Brogan is my friend on Facebook…” or “Robert Scoble and Jeff Pulver are part of my LinkedIn network.” What is it that establishes the expert as an expert? A true understanding of Social Media, or the fact you have a blog and a Twitter account? Finally, Social Media in 2010 will not be implemented simply to be trendy. Clients will want — nay, demand — a strategy, a plan. No longer will the mavens be taken at face value and at their word. Yes, we know Social Media is full of win, but how do you plan to implement this initiative of awesome? There must be a purpose and a goal for what you want to accomplish. Without these changes, changes that need to happen and appear to be already, Social Media will never reach beyond this Not Safe for Work (NSFW) video:

Welcome to 2010. A new year, a clean slate. Good hunting.

To whet your appetites and pique your interests on what I have in the works, I did want to share with you something that I just realized has been available over at Blip.TV but did not make it to the blog…

Why have I kept this presentation a secret? Believe me — it was not intentional. I think between my return from New Zealand, my new job, my completion of Books & Braun, and the completion (and updating) of Sams Teach Yourself Twitter in Ten Minutes, the intent to post this introduction of the New Zealand edition of “Speak Geek to Me” simply slipped my mind. Now, with Christmas looming ahead, I wanted to give you this little holiday teaser of my “Finish Before the End of 2009″ project.

Will I be podcasting the rest of the talk? Oh you can count on it, but right now I am editing over two hours of video footage. I’m going to be releasing this talk as I did ANTI-Social Media and intend to offer up clips on YouTube as well.

So yes, Imagine That! may be quiet, but it is hardly standing still. While others may be looking at Social Media retrospectively at this time of the year, I am looking ahead. The journey is beginning anew and I hope you are as excited as I am on what awaits up ahead.

Come with me.

From Bird House Rules comes a special In Your Right Mind episode, co-produced with Whispers at the Edge. Three times the size of a usual In Your Right Mind, this special edition is part-Social Media discussion/part-Arts Review of Cirque Du Soleil. Cirque offered to Blogworld attendees free tickets to any of their shows in exchange for reviews of whatever show they saw.

Special guest Philippa Ballantine and I are reviewing three:

• Zumanity
• O
• Ká

Yes, Ká was that good!

We wanted to say “Thank you” and go above and beyond what Cirque asked of us. Enjoy this special edition of Bird House Rules and Whispers at the Edge, and make plans to catch a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas.

Bird House Rules Artwork by Paul Fischer of Dancing Cat Studios

Feel free to syndicate this audio, and provide feedback or topics you’d like to hear discussed on Bird House Rules at 703.791.1701, tmorris (at) imaginethatstudios (dot) com, Twitter, or here at the Bird House Rules Blog!

I was so very, very wrong.

First, a disclaimer: As you may know, I am a Mac user. I make no apologies or smoke screen my love (on some days, reluctant) for the Apple. I want to make it clear that I’m not criticizing (in any way) Windows 7. So far, I have heard nothing but positive buzz about what it is promising.

My review (or rant, whichever you prefer) is about Windows 7 Launch Parties, the latest marketing effort from Microsoft. Their tutorial, “Hosting Your Party”, makes Battlefield Earth look like Lord of the Rings, and begs the question “Does Microsoft thrive on ridicule?”

This train wreck features a group of friends gathering together for a Windows 7 Launch Party, and…

No, really, these are parties celebrating the launch of Windows 7 where people get together and, well, get on their computers to try out their new OS. “You’re throwing a party with Windows 7 as an honored guest,” one of the tutorial’s perky guests tells you. So, in this video…

I’m not making this up. Seriously. Microsoft came up with this idea of people hosting parties akin to “Party Lite” or “Creative Memories” where the OS is the center of attention and guests gets to tinker and play with it. So, in the vi—

Watch the video, if you still don’t believe me.

The dialogue and reactions from the assembled cast are as canned as the cashews and peanuts in their party platters. I think I could have coped with the actors’ stilted dialogue had Microsoft sprung an extra few dollars for tripods. The entire 6 minute video is shot with hand-held cameras that zoom in, zoom out, and pan left and right as if the cinematographer just mainlined a six-pack of Red Bulls. The end result is Cloverfield without the believable exchanges between characters, situations that you might care about, and monsters. All of which you wish were there.

If you can tolerate the “spaz-tastic” cinematography, there’s the content of the video itself. At 1:03, it is recommended that you call “Customer Service” if you have any questions; because nothing livens up a party like Customer Service!

I wonder how that call would go:

Customer Service: Microsoft Customer Service. This is Stan. How can I help you?

Caller: HEY, MAN! WASSAH?!?

Crowd: *cheering*

Customer Service: That’s very nice. How can I help you tonight, sir?

Caller: HEY, MAN! SO WE’RE SHOWING OFF WINDOWS 7, MAN, AND DIRK JUST PUKED ON THE KEYBOARD.

Crowd: EEEEWWWWWW!

Customer Service: I see. And how many Ballmer Bongs has he done?

Caller: Uhhh…Idunno…lemme check…(off the phone) HOW MANY BONGS DID DIRK POUND?

Crowd: SIX!

Caller: SIX, MAN!

Customer Service: I see. And is Windows 7 still running?

Caller: WELL, WE GOT ONE OF THOSE POP-UP’S, MAN, THAT SAYS IT’S A BEAST.DLL ERROR. WHAT’S THAT?

Customer Service: You’re using beer in the Ballmer Bong that is not Microsoft approved. We’ll have to do some trouble-shooting here…

Microsoft has put a lot of thought into the Launch Party by offering Host Notes, various activities that you can do to make your party unforgettable! Suggestions include taking pictures of your friends working with Windows 7, hosting demonstrations of various OS features, and — again, I’m not kidding — offering to “leave your computer on and running, and you let folks mess around with it.” (Hear it for yourself at the 3:10 mark.)

And you still have three minutes remaining in the tutorial.

No, it doesn’t get any better…

I don’t know what is worse — this mind-numbingly gawky video, or the entire concept of a Windows 7 Launch Party featuring Microsoft-approved party games. While I applaud Microsoft for trying to “loosen up” and show the lighter side of Windows, the entire idea of having friends over to try out a new OS just seem a bit ludicrous…unless you’re switching to a Mac and using your PC as a piñata. As Microsoft Marketing did with Seinfeld & Gates, the door for ridicule (yet again!) has not only been opened, but ripped off the hinges.

Now would be a good time to return to the Mashable column and look at the second version of a video, a two-minute re-cut where bleeps usually heard to mask explicative actions are used throughout the tutorial. The remix not only makes the video watchable, but a whole lot funnier than the Microsoft-approved “witty banter”.

Is there such a thing as a full time job in Social Media? Of course, there are many job listings out there calling for it, and for those of you who are also following me on TeeMorris.com, you know that an influence on my posts and podcasts here growing further and further off can be attributed to my new position at Intersections in Chantilly, Virginia. I intend to address this lifestyle change in a later post; but for now, I’d like to take a moment to look closer at this elusive brass ring: the full time Social Media gig.

Many listings tend to make Social Media part of another position. Public Relations Manager. Communications Manager. Marketing Manager. This insinuates that Social Media, while important, could not really be that time consuming. Such insinuation you also get from employers looking for experienced Social Media producers, offering their available positions as internships.

The internships don’t bother me as much as the businesses looking for Social Media Gurus, Oracles, and (no kidding) Buckaroos.

This difficulty in finding the full time Social Media job can be attributed to the corporate sector’s lack of understanding what it is and how it works.  Many companies post listings for Social Media experts possessing 5-10 years of experience. That is quite the request, considering the term Social Media was first referenced in Yochai Benkler’s 2006 book The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, according to Wikipedia. In my own job search, a potential employer, on asking me to train a new hire in podcasting, assumed “We figured you’d come in here. Half-an-hour, two hours tops. Show us what you know, and that would be it.” This is the cold, hard reality of Social Media in Corporate America.

Or is it?

True, Marketing and PR does make sense to be the “best” application of Social Media, but these are merely two potential avenues Social Media can pursue in business.

• Communications. Social Media, at its core, is a communications tool. Corporate Communications could easily apply Social Media as a means of outreach and internal communications between executives and associates. For news and media outlets, Social Media is still undiscovered country; but CNN is showing that user-generated content, provided it is an addendum and not the core of their reporting, provides extended coverage in their features.
• Education and Training. Whether it is new hire training or continuing education for current associates, blogs, podcasts, and social networking initiatives can bring your staff up to speed quick on any new policies, systems, or procedures in keeping business on track. IBM , the International Monetary Fund, and even the United States Military branches have implemented podcasting as tools for training and orientation purposes.
• Customer Service. Comcast. Air New Zealand. Zoom. These are only a few businesses that are applying Social Media to help, not hawk (constantly), consumers with their products. In a unique way, Social Media as Customer Service also serves as an indirect approach to promotion and marketing a company with the personal approach these initiatives provide customers.
• Recruiting. Coast-to-coast and around the world, professional job hunters have been tapping into Social Media to reach out to potential clients, both looking for employment and those in search of associates. From LinkedIn which is the self-guided, self-motivated means of networking with professionals, to individuals like Craig Fisher who are making connections both for his own business and for others actively seeking the right job for themselves, Recruiting has a new avenue in providing Human Resources the right people for the right jobs.

Full time Social Media opportunities are out there. If you are on the job hunt, widen your search parameters and consider all outlets, not just Marketing and PR. If currently employed, opportunities may exist where you can create a job specifically geared for Social Media. Consider the best approach your business can take, and query supervisors on the interest level of such initiatives.

Businesses also need to look beyond Social Media as the Holy Grail within a crappy economy. It’s not a switch thrown and then the trucks of money roll in, and it is not business as usual. To do business with Social Media, it comes back to your participation level, not your promotion savvy. You promote yourself and your products through the level of participation you invest into a community you have built. Your content and its originality will win loyalty and trust, something business prides itself in nurturing.

Social Media truly tests that. How high is your grade?

Whether you are searching for that full time position or actively seeking a Social Media Manager, consider the strategy that works best for you and for what you accomplish. Good luck and good hunting.

My article about Podcast Authors is up on Wired ! @scottsigler, @sethharwood, @jchutchins, @teemonster all appear. http://bit.ly/Pv53w

If there are true Renaissance Men among us, then Martyn Casserly is one of them. He is an accomplished writer, an accomplished musician, and now he is an award-nominated podcaster with his one-minute Movie Mantras podcast. (Martyn is also a dad and a good mate to boot.) It was Martyn’s tweet that alerted to me Wired Magagine (UK) ran on their site “Novels by Podcast” where he discusses how authors are giving away (yes, giving away for free) their works in audio format and finding success:

Rather than just putting their work online and hoping people would find it, the growing band of authors threw themselves into new media and social networking sites like Facebook, building large followers of fans and talking to them on an almost daily basis. A new website, Podiobooks.com, was set up so that all the authors could host their work in one place and increase the sense of community between them and their audience.

This close relationship enabled them to set innovative ‘challenges’ that helped promote their work. These included fans going into bookshops and slipping home-made adverts into the books of big-name authors, burning CDs of the podcasts and leaving them in public places like libraries, coffee shops, or trains, and co-ordinated buying of small press editions of the books to push them to the top of the Amazon charts.

When it comes to creative thinking, a hint of risk may be conceived as part of the equation; but this article and the success stories featured in it are proof positive that you can win audiences and, most importantly, brand loyalty if you are willing to offer to your potential clientele quality content. Not a sample of quality content, mind you, but the whole thing. Innovators like Earl Newton, Scott Sigler, George Hrab, The International Spy Museum, and Marc Gunn have all given away their hard work and found success on both independent and mainstream markets, and all of them — along with other content producers following this approach — are achieving success on a global market. Podcasting should not be dismissed as simply a hobby, but a viable means of reaching out to potential clientele. Focusing more on the product and less on promotion, businesses can win a new and dedicated fan base by opening a dialogue whether it be with blogging, podcasting, or some other Social Media outlet.

Think about it: You offer to your audiences something of quality and substance, and you say “With my compliments.” What kind of impression would that make?

I can tell you: a lasting one.

No, I am not shutting down my Twitter feed nor am I totally burned out (as my pal, Gennefer Snowfield, has vented with me before…) on posts about Twitter. I have decided that I will no longer be posting my thoughts on Twitter here.

Instead, I will be posting on Twitter here.

Birdhouse Rules is my new blog, just launched this week and still growing (comments and critiques are most welcome), that will serve as the official home of this book:

Yes, All a Twitter from myself and Que Publishing — and sporting one snappy foreword from Social Media juggernaut Chris Brogan — is now out! You can go into any Barnes & Noble bookstore and pick up a copy.

Birdhouse Rules is the official companion blog and podcast for both All a Twitter and (coming soon) Teach Yourself Twitter in 10 Minutes. The blog and podcast (also coming soon) will focus on developments with the book, new issues with Twitter, upgrades with popular clients, Twitter in the News, and questions & answers asked by readers and listeners. And just like In Your Right Mind, the episodes will be under ten minutes, exceptions being the good interview, round table discussion, or SVEs (Special Video Editions). Since Birdhouse Rules is going to be all things Twitter, I have decided to direct traffic there for people who want to find answers concerning Social Media’s unstoppable (and dare I say, unflappable) network.

Another reason why I will no longer be posting Twitter items on this blog is that I tend to find regurgitation in the blogosphere somewhat questionable and somewhat lazy. What do I mean? I have seem some “professional, successful bloggers” boast that they host several blogs and manage content with a master’s Fu. Visit this “network” of blogs, though, and the postings tend to be links to other blogs, or (I love this one) the same blogpost merely copied-and-pasted into a different location. “Content for Content’s Sake” does not work for me as a sound blogging ethic. If I want to set up a blog for Twitter, then I’ll generate content original and exclusive for that blog. Sure, I can borrow segments and even media from other blogposts, but I will still generate something new and original around the segments I cite from other sources. That is quality content management. Otherwise, I become no better than — to use an example from All a Twitter — the yahoo who is merely retweeting others and defining that as “participation” on a social network.

Before I return to the final two chapters of Teach Yourself Twitter in 10 Minutes,  I did want to bring to light a recent revelation, something that — yes — I did blog about on Birdhouse Rules but wanted to share with you here as part of my “final” Twitter post. In the first week of All a Twitter‘s release, people are tweeting it up and giving it a nice, solid introduction to the world. I’ve been treading lightly when it comes to promoting the book on Twitter as I do not want to become “that guy” on Twitter pushing their latest book/software/hardware/crap on to the network. However, the book won’t sell itself.

Then it dawned on me: hashtags. You know — hashtags? From Chapter Six, page 123? Hashtags (a keyword preceded by a pound sign, such as #allatwitter, for example) are convenient tracking devices for tweets. If enough people use a particular hashtag of my creation, All a Twitter could easily creep into the Trending Topics of Twitter alongside Harry Potter, Firefox 3, and New Zealand. This way, I can promote (and so can you) in a fashion that won’t be considered abusive or obtrusive.

So please, when you are talking about All a Twitter or if you have a question for me concerning Twitter, use this hashtag:

#allatwitter

Thank you again for all the support, kind words, and “At-a-boy’s” for this week’s premiere. Keep talking, keep tweeting, and if you would care to have me on your blog or podcast to talk Twitter, drop me a line!

With special thanks to Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand, for making this interview happen, here is Part Two of my morning at Radio New Zealand and Chris Laidlaw of Sunday Morning. On the “National Public Radio” for the Land of the Long White Cloud, Chris and I focus a bit on Twitter and Facebook and we discuss when “so much information” is “too much information.”

While you can find the audio here, Imagine That! presents (with gracious permission from RNZ) an exclusive video of our morning in Wellington, NZ.

Part Three (and maybe some pre-interview banter) will becoming shortly. Feel free to share this video, and provide feedback or topics you’d like to hear discussed on In Your Right Mind at 703.791.1701, tmorris (at) imaginethatstudios (dot) com, on Twitter, or here at Imagine That!

Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand, introduced me to Radio New Zealand who, in turn, introduced me to Chris Laidlaw of Sunday Morning. RNZ is the “National Public Radio” for the Land of the Long White Cloud, and Chris opened his mics up for me to talk about being geek, the impact of podcasting, and a few things concerning Twitter.

This was a fun interview; and while you can find the audio here, Imagine That! presents (with gracious permission from RNZ) an exclusive video of our morning in Wellington, NZ.

Part Two (and maybe some pre-interview banter) will becoming shortly. Feel free to share this video, and provide feedback or topics you’d like to hear discussed on In Your Right Mind at 703.791.1701, tmorris (at) imaginethatstudios (dot) com, on Twitter, or here at Imagine That!

Chess, from Lewis Carroll’s classic Through the Looking Glass to the Cold War techno-thriller WarGames, has always served as an allegory for strategy. The real trick in this Game of Kings is to think several moves ahead, considering as many outcomes as possible. This is a valuable lesson we can live by in business. Even when times are at their best, regardless of where you are in the corporate hierarchy, all possible outcomes should be considered, followed up by the important question “How will this reflect on me?”

Is this hesitation? No, this is critical thinking — devising fast, creative solutions as you are looking down the road for what is waiting around the corner. This is why chess is not only good for the mind but good for business. It would have definitely helped out Citigroup as a lack of strategic thinking made their failing business image (a loss of $8.29 billion dollars at the end of 2008, and accepting $45 billion dollars of public bailout funds) even worse.

To sum up the week Citigroup has been weathering, The New York Post released on Monday the financial entity was planning to invest part of their bailout funds on the Dassault Falcon 7X, a luxury jet that seats up to twelve, sports a plush interior with leather seats, sofas and entertainment center, clocks in a top speed of 559 MPH, and can travel 5,950 miles on one tank. All for the low, low price of $50 million dollars.

A tidy sum, Mr. Bigglesworth…

Where chess would have really helped out Citigroup here was on November 10, 2008. The bailout plans were already in motion, a new president had been elected, and change and optimism could be felt in the air. Also on this day, FAA records showed Citigroup reserving a new tail number, N488GS. While there are no confirmations, this new tail number seemed to be set aside for an incoming 7X which would join CitiFlight’s Gulf Sierra Fleet. (Yes, I said fleet. As in more than one private jet.) Citigroup, had they taken a moment to think ahead, could have seen the horrific image this would portray to its current and potential customers in light of a less-than-popular multi-billion dollar government bailout. Without taking consequences in mind, they continued with business as usual; and spent this week circling the wagons while others bandied about arguments such as “The planes were signed off two years ago when things were good…” and “Deposits on the 7X had already been made…” as if these were legitimate reasons to continue investment into a $50M plane with public funds.

This morning, in response to The White House asking them if a Falcon 7X was really a wise investment, Citigroup cancelled their order. Mind you, they did not cancel the order to “make it right”. Based on the actions of November 10 and three days of no comments, it’s clear the order was canceled because they got caught.

Is this the image you want to portray?

The decisions you make, whether for yourself or for your company, are powerful reflections of who you are, what you and your company stand for, and how you interact with your clients and handle their problems. In the lesson of chess, it is good to consider as many outcomes as you can, keeping in mind there will always be surprises (both good and bad). You must also consider when the time to act is evident. Strategy is merely groundwork for when to move your Rook or call for a Castle (hence the need for clocks alongside chess masters); but when you act, you now have contingencies in place in case one of those afore mentioned surprises appear.

And sometimes, the best strategy is to stop and apply common sense. How would Citigroup have saved themselves on taking a moment to ask “Is it a good idea, when we’re receiving bailout money, to go on and purchase a $50 million dollar jet?”

A moment of consideration can decide checkmate, particularly in the corporate world.

Also, I would like to announce my first appearance in 2009. I will be at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 8-11, 2009, taking part in the Social Media Jungle on January 7th. Imagine That! will be making an impression on the attendees of Social Media as well as checking out all the new gadgets on the show floor. I hope to see you out there.

Thanks again for subscribing to Imagine That! Studios, and we will be talking soon!

Web 3.0. The next big thing. The future of the Internet. At least, that is what some supposed Social Media experts are claiming. The long and short of Web 3.0 involves taking our Web 2.0 endeavors — blogs, podcasts, and other social media initiatives — to “the next level”.

What is that next level, you ask? Making money.

Can Social Media really make money? Maybe one day, yes. At present, I see Social Media as a resource of cost-effective marketing and Public Relations solutions. However, these initiatives are not quite at the level the Web 3.0 innovators are claiming them to be. In this three-part series, I have been disarming a potential Dot-Bomb by taking a critical look at the hype surrounding what a vanguard of Internet-go-getting gurus are heralding as the direction Corporate America will be taking.

So far, we’ve cut the following wires:

• The Red Wire: Companies are being encouraged to go into Web 3.0, citing statistics that are unclear and uncorroborated, reminiscent of the financial panning behind Dot-Bombs of the Nineties.
• The Yellow Wire: Corporate America, without an understanding of Web 2.0 and still struggling with efficient Web 1.0 application, is being told to blindly invest into Web 3.0.
• The Green Wire: The people calling Web 3.0 the Next Big Thing are in the Web 3.0 “Business”…whatever that business is.

The clock is still ticking. One wire remains.

Blue Wire: Mainstream media advertising is based on probability. There’s a good chance, based on surveys, that audiences for a particular show fit in a demographic, a broad range of sex and age. Sponsors guess their products might appeal to this wide demographic, which explains why in one ad break you will see fast food advertisements and then in the following one you get bombarded with commercials for diets and home exercise equipment. One of the radical aspects of Web 3.0, though, is how it takes the interactivity of Web 2.0 — building communities and encouraging a dialog between vendors, media creators, and audience — and narrows sponsors on 100% of their target audience, offering the opportunity to personalize ads for community members. Web 3.0 will completely revolutionize how advertising is done, correct?

Well, no, not really. Other companies have been doing this, even before Web 2.0 came into being.

Amazon.com changed the way commerce was carried out online. It began most humbly with inviting their customers to leave reviews. Consumers could share with other visitors, other fans of a particular author, other buyers of electronic vendors, unbiased (in theory) thoughts, opinions, praise, and disappointments of a featured product. The success of Amazon’s Reviews led to the creation of other user-driven advertising such as Listmania and “May We Suggest…” and “Others Have Purchased…” links offered in homepages and periodical HTML-based e-mailings.

Another user-based, community-generated advertising triumph was Nike on their team up with Apple. Shortly after the release of the iPod Nano, the “Nike + iPod” package was offered. With this, consumers would purchase a small, wireless counter that fit in the pouch of a specific Nike shoe. Runners would be able to track their times through iPods; and online, enter in their times at a database Apple and Nike sponsored. Instead of hiring focus groups, consultants, and survey takers to find out who is buying what, Nike and Apple built a community of runners at the cost of hosting a website. Based on feedback, both companies could create a variety of products their target audience desired, from Nike + iPod running mixes to redesigned iPod headsets to runners’ accessories.

For many years, companies like Apple, Blizzard Entertainment, and Ben & Jerry’s have been building communities, both online and in the outside world, by actively seeking feedback and listening to their community in order to either improve their products or create new ones. So what is it that Web 3.0 offers that is so groundbreaking?

*snip*

Take a breath. Open your eyes. Good news — the timer has stopped.

The Social Media movement and how we do business in a digital environment continues to fascinate and excite me because of the potential that is there. What is the reality check then? Bringing businesses forward alongside us innovators, especially in such tricky economic times, has become a hard sell. For Corporate America, to bury their heads in the sand and say “Change bad! Change frighten us!” is no solution to where we currently reside. Neither is it a solution to drink the Digital Kool-Aid, slap on a blindfold, and let “innovators” take the lead. Asking questions and taking critical looks at trends is not a bad thing. Do your homework, look at how you’re doing business now, and understand the technology that is being pitched to you. The distance between Success and Failure can be measured by the time you take to research a trend and act upon it. Sure, you could research too much, wait too long, and miss an opportunity. On the same argument, you could also jump at a chance, learn as you go, and find yourself in a financial disaster.

Concerning Web 3.0, Corporate America should make more of an effort to understand Web 2.0 and its role in business. Researching a trend does not have to be a heavy financial investment. It may cost you an hour of your time hitting a few choice blogs, a day or two at the most if you decide to dig deep. That’s not a bad trade if you think of the price tag for following lemmings off a cliff.

So far, the red wire is snipped. Now, let’s take a look at the…

Yellow Wire: Web 3.0 is offering the ability to monetize (oh, how I hate that word!) Web 2.0, making advertisements a more personal experience. Sounds very cool and exciting, but to implement Web 3.0 you should have an intimate understanding of Web 2.0, right?

Truth be told, Corporate America is still trying to get a strong grasp of Web 1.0. In my own experiences just this year I have encountered:

• Social Media opportunities on headhunter websites that re-route you to corporate homesites (of static design) with no listing of the position, a proper interface to search the site, and (in some cases) asking applicants to submit their resume in sections in order to adhere to their database, only to not offer an option to apply for the job after said resume has been painstakingly entered into their proprietary layout.
• Potential New Media clients that believe the skills behind Web 2.0 can be “picked up in half an hour, two hours tops.” (Yes, that is a direct quote from a potential client. And no, we didn’t work together in the end.)
• A belief that simply branding something Web 2.0 makes it Web 2.0. (A major financial entity based out of Washigton D.C., for example, claims to be podcasting. Their site, however, offers no RSS to subscribe to. They call it a podcast because IT has the audio clips featured on a single page labeled with a graphic that reads — you guessed it — “Podcast.”)

Yes, there are many corporations that have enjoyed wild and financially-mind-blowing success with the World Wide Web; but before you cite in your comments Yahoo!, ScotsTrade, and Amazon, consider that these companies are geared for the Internet and that have put forth the effort to study, understand, and implement Internet trends. How many other corporations truly grasp the potential of Web 2.0 initiatives? According to Peter Kim’s list, not as many as the Advance Guard of Web 3.0 claim.

Before pushing to the business world the wonders of Web 3.0, shouldn’t we focus on making Web 2.0 more mainstream, more accessible? It’s a good idea to know how the previous version of the Internet works before investing in an upgrade. *snip*

Green Wire: Who is telling us that Web 3.0 is the future of the Internet? According to this Web 3.0 Expo, it’s Amiad Solomon who stepped up as their keynote speaker. But what does Solomon do? He’s the CEO of Peer39, an agency that specializes in Web 3.0 initiatives. Not a Forbes 500 success story, not the head of Marketing from Google, not even Coach Deb, the Bourquin Brothers, or some other trademarked personality that has managed to turn Web 2.0 into a financial windfall for themselves. No, were being told at a Web 3.0 Expo that Web 3.0 is the next wave by the CEO of a company that specializes in Web 3.0 initiatives.

Isn’t this akin to an ice vendor selling snow to Eskimos?

I remember the 2006 New Media Expo (under a different name then) when the keynote speaker was Ron Moore, Executive Producer of the new Battlestar Galactica. After all, he was the target of the expo, a non-tech guy who went from “What is a podcast?” to a success story. He wasn’t selling any podcast services or using buzz words such as “monetize” and “leverage” in his keynote. It was a sincere, down-to-earth address to a room of podcasters, bloggers, audio and video specialists, and those anxious to know; and it was an idea of how you can embrace something new and make it work when starting from scratch.

In the case of Web 3.0, though, having someone selling these supposedly groundbreaking initiatives as a keynote speaker gives me pause. Before we all pile into the Social Media Clown Car, let’s stop and ask who’s driving? It may give us a better perspective before being pressed against the windshield. *snip*

One more wire remains. Don’t mind the trembling cutters in my hand. That’s just the adrenaline. Next week, I’ve got one last thing to consider about what some are calling the future of the Internet…

Funny I spared a thought on the Cruise-Wagner-Speilberg offering because it turns out Web 3.0 is all about a specific scene from that movie. According to Amiad Solomon, CEO of Peer39, in his keynote address at the earlier mentioned expo, Web 3.0 is “…the monetization and commercialization of Web 2.0.” The more I read, the more I thought about that scene in Minority Report where Tom Cruise is walking around with his new eyes. Remember that? Cruise crosses through a public transport station, gets a quick retina scan, and then is personally addressed by holographic advertisements, directly catering to wants, needs, and desires.

Note: Web 3.0 is a bit like this, and the bit I’m talking about doesn’t involve the super-cool holograms. What I’m taking from the online chatter is that Web 3.0 is all about advertising specifically addressing an individual’s wants and needs based on web surfing habits. Even though the first use of “Web 3.0″ has been cited in the New York Times back in 2006, the concept is starting to pick up momentum as a new business buzz term, and some 2.0 “weblebrities” are scrambling to find out how they can continue their tenuous hold on to their “authority” titles.

Am I worried? Well, yes…but not about what you may think. On reading and re-reading my collected Web 3.0 resources, I thought of two words: Dot-Bomb.

Right now, I’m getting that whole Jack Bauer vibe, one hand gripping a pair of wire cutters, the other hand on my iPhone speaking through a tightened jaw “Chloe, I need you talk me through this OR WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!” In my overly vivid imagination I am picturing a time bomb that is Web 3.0, its digital timer ticking down and a rainbow display of wires desperately needing to be cut.

This is my take on an upgrade might be a bit premature. Let’s start cutting, shall we?

Red Wire: Step in your wayback machines before the days of blogging, podcasting, and Twitter. (Hard to do, I know, but work with me…) Just shy of the end of 2000, Dot-Coms were the kudzu of the Internet. Turn a corner in a city’s or state’s technology corridor, and you would see a new Dot-Com logo gracing the side of a high-rise or business plaza. It was a good time to be a geek, and quite a few did inherit the Earth. For a brief time.

I was calling “Shenanigans!” though when I heard a news report about a Dot-Com that invested 3-million dollars into a Super Bowl ad. They gleefully commented “It’s been six months since running that ad. We’ve shown earnings of 1-million. We’re doing great!”

I’m not a math wizard, but isn’t that the same accounting behind our current economic woes?

So when the Dot-Bomb detonated, there was no reason to be surprised. It happened on account of bad business, poor budgeting, fuzzy math, and a lack of understanding in how the Internet works, what the Internet audience expects, and how businesses regard the Internet. Now, a new “Advance Guard” is heralding the arrival of Web 3.0, basing their model of success on…?

Exactly. *snip*

The timer is still ticking, but we cannot rush this process. We need to take our time and carefully, strategically, disarm this potential disaster. This post is merely the beginning, so see you next week as I continue this realistic look at the supposed next big thing of the Interactive Internet.

Sunday, on Twitter, I saw this post. As sailors acquiesce to the siren’s song, I clicked on the link and followed it to this photo. Based on Casey McKinnon‘s expression and her Flickr comment “The simple fact that it’s written by people I’ve never heard of makes me snear.” she is less than approving of this book. I felt compelled to slam on my brakes and put together my own reply here instead of on Flickr…

Just because you’re a Web 2.0 pioneer doesn’t make you a household name.

Now, in now way am I painting Casey with a brush of green here. She does say in her Flickr comments “I don’t REALLY have a problem with it… it was just a WTF? moment… nothing personal to the guys who worked their asses off making it!”, reaffirming her as a class act. I do think, though, we pioneers of this field need a reality check now and then.

Speaking as an author of two podcasting books (that feature chapters on video podcasting), I’ve also picked up books on podcasting by people I have never heard of. I have also seen seminars offered by “Web 2.0 and Social Media innovators” that I’ve not heard of. There are workshops corporations are paying top dollar to host, led by authorities I have no early idea who they are. Does that mean they are not qualified to speak on this topic I know so well? Of course not. These authors, speakers, and presenters are traveling in different circles than I am. While I could easily give a presentation or a keynote on podcasting, these expo organizers, publishers, or company CEO’s currently do not listen to any of my offerings. They were familiar with these other Web 2.0 illuminaries and therefore made the offers to them, not me. Opportunities are all about timing, but in some cases it is all about who you know.

However, it is a good idea to question street cred if the experience doesn’t back up the swagger. On discovering a new pioneer (which there seems to be an abundance of) in podcasting circles, I immediately look up the author’s/speaker’s bio to find out what makes them a leader in this emerging media. Was it their time in the trenches? Their accomplishments? Their various projects? More importantly, what are they working on now? Granted, my approval and six dollars will cover the morning coffee from Starbuck’s, but I do scoff at the Web 2.0 pioneers who sport a static HTML website, are not currently podcasting or blogging, and use Twitter as a spamming tool. In those instances, I have to wonder who are the watchmen on the corporate battlements, and if said watchmen are the French Knights from Monty Python and the Holy Grail?

The truth about the whole Web 2.0 movement is we are famous in our own social media circles. There are some independent podcasters (Scott Sigler, The Midwest Teen Sex Show, Ask a Ninja, and Grammar Girl to name the ones I know of…) that have managed to nudge their way into the mainstream. I say “nudge” because while the breakthroughs are high rollers in our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts, they are a far cry from established names like Dan Brown, Dr. Ruth, the cast of The Office, and Eats, Shoots & Leaves‘ Lynne Truss. It doesn’t mean it won’t or can’t happen, it just means it hasn’t yet. Whether or not we have heard of an author or an authority in Web 2.0 shouldn’t matter. What should matter is what their accomplishments — past, current, and future — are in this field. This is the real validation of someone’s expertise not just in Web 2.0 initiatives, but in any of life’s pursuits.

Last month, I had figured out what the problem was. I was out of my exercising routine.

I’m no Michael Phelps, but swimming has become something of a passion. A few weeks following Dragon*Con, I resumed my aquatic routine. Already I have noticed a dramatic change in my productivity. Within the first week of returning to the water, I produced three podcasts, hit a stride with Chapter Sixteen of MOREVI: Remastered, and clocked in some valuable writing time with Exodus from Morevi. This was all in the first week.

Exercise is just as valuable a tool in being creative as a good microphone, a DV camera, or a fully-loaded computer. Being active keeps you alert, fit, and most of all, thinking. After a workout, your blood is flowing, the endorphins are kicking, and creative concepts are easier to come by.

Ah, but what about the time taken for a workout? Isn’t that time away from a project or a deadline? I regard it as necessary time away. Writer’s Block, burn-out, and dry idea wells can usually be attributed to stress. Stress can come from working all the time, so give yourself a break. Step away from the mouse. Hit the gym. Whether it’s a walk around a track, a lap in the pool, or pumping iron, you find a routine that works for you and stick with it. Also, workouts are a great time to get caught up or discovering new podcasts…

Yes, even in the pool!

You can be efficient in planning for a workout by packing a bag with workout clothes toiletries, and a towel. (Don’t ever forget your towel!) This way you can drive straight from the day job to the gym instead of come home after a day in the salt mines and lumberyards, change clothes, get to the gym, go at it, and then come home to shower. That routine tends to make long days feel even longer. Plan ahead, and also plan to start slowly and simply. My own swimming regiment started humbly with one-hundred-and-fifty yards. Three laps. Before the year was out I was up to a thousand yards (twenty laps) within half-an-hour. Give yourself easy-to-reach and reasonable goals, and if you have previous injuries/conditions, consult a physician on what exercise or activities will work best for you.

The pressure is on when your work relies on creativity, so consider your personal health. If you find yourself completely at a loss for ideas, power down your creative station and give yourself some time to burn calories. Approach your exercise as you would a creative project. As you progress in your workout routines, you will find that your endurance builds as well as your productivity. Yes you might lose an hour here and there, but you will also loose a few pounds (or kilos, for my international readers) as well. When it comes to producing ideas, you are your most valuable resource. Make sure you don’t neglect it.

“A client isn’t satisfied with a class we began yesterday,” he told me. “We need someone to go in and give a seminar on Web 2.0 Initiatives. Kind of a ‘speed dating’ approach to what’s out there. Can you do it?”

A seminar on New Media. No background on the client. No preparation. No planning.

No problem.

Flying by the seat of your pants in giving a presentation isn’t a skill so much as it is a talent. You might be thinking “Woah, I could never do that!” My retort to that would be “Why not?” Think about it: The majority of planning and preparation a presentation happens the first time you give a talk. When you are called on again, you simply repeat your earlier performance, maybe with a touch more polish and finesse. Right?

Later on, you’re asked to give that slick presentation of yours. “But,” the seminar’s host will say, “could you make the focus less on Topic A and lean more towards Topic B?” After a quick scan of the web and personal collections for appropriate images, you return to the “Alpha Presentation” and create a variation on its theme. The same subject matter, but different focus point for varying audiences.

My own log of presentations dates back three years. While that may deem me something of a “digital packrat,” it actually provides me an invaluable resource pool for building brand new presentations. For my October 1st wake-up call, my (sleep-riddled) mind sifted through the numerous Keynote files on my laptop. From a series of seminars called Technology for the Technologically Challenged I had slides detailing various Social Media websites, specifically LinkedIn, Flickr, and MySpace. Using that talk as the Alpha, I pulled slides from a What is Blogging? and a What is Podcasting? talk. Ten minutes of editing and rearranging slides yielded the presentation Speak Geek to Me: Web 2.0 in a Nutshell.

EEI told me en route that I would probably wrapping up no later than 3:00 p.m. I did not leave the client until 6:00 p.m. on account of the questions, the answers, and the strategies that came from my seminar. One of the students was so energized, she walked me to my car, still talking up the potential of New Media in her workplace.

When you put together presentations, keep this in mind: Success hinges on how ready you are, not just for today but for tomorrow. Thinking quickly is essential in providing a client solutions; but results happen when you act, and the ability to act and react even faster on your feet is not a talent but a skill that can be honed and mastered. Give yourself time to rehearse a presentation but plan out variations of that Alpha seminar. Prepare two or three alternative versions of your talk, and keep them at the ready in a running log of Powerpoint/Keynote files. That way, when that call comes, you have a pool of resources to pull from.

Be prepared, because you never know when that wake-up call at 7:30 a.m. is Opportunity in need of your unique talents.

“Ever Wear Clothes in the Shower, Bill?”

Who knew I was so in touch with the journalistic minds of New Zealand?!

I have seen this ad both online and on television (you know, television — what people had before high speed connections and BitTorrent?) and tried to figure out what was bothering me about it. I admit, I’m a Mac Guy; but it wasn’t the Microsoft angle that was bugging me. Something was just “off” about this ad. As if answering my silent query of “What did I just see?” the same channel ran an “I’m a Mac/PC” ad where PC pretends to be a pizza in order to lure college students to look at him over the Mac.

That was when I understood my problem with the Seinfeld/Gates ad. Simply put, I didn’t get “the joke” nestled somewhere within it.

Yes, I know, with that statement I have just taped a digital “Kick Me” sign on my back and will probably suffer a few hits. Before you strap on your Iron Boots of +3 Whoop-Ass, consider the following aspects of the Seinfeld/Gates ad:

• The ad opens with Bill Gates shopping for discount shoes and Seinfeld enjoying a churro. On recognizing one another, Jerry launches into his schtick while Gates looks completely out of his element. (Whether that was about buying shoes or Jerry’s sense-of-humor is still uncertain.)
• I learned that Seinfeld showers with his shoes on to loosen the leather. (Exactly what that has to do with Microsoft’s future I don’t quite get.)
• Apparently, when it comes to shoes, Gates is the frugal type.
• “The Conquistador” shoes wear tight.

Only at the end of this ad did I find out this was a commercial for Microsoft. Admittedly, I was transfixed by this ad, but not so much by what it was advertising but by where they were going with all this surreal banter in the style of (shocker!) Seinfeld. I read on a few blogs that this is supposed to be Microsoft’s retaliation against Apple’s “I’m a Mac/PC” ads and they do appear to come out swinging with Seinfeld and Gates in this flagship spot.

Too bad Microsoft’s punches are only hitting air.

This campaign is much like Microsoft’s Zune: A day late, a dollar short. The Mac/PC ads not only made their first strike against Vista (some of their claims a little too slanted, mind you); but their delivery style was so simple, and yet so slick, the ads themselves have become part of pop culture. (Click here to see the “I’m a Marvel Superhero and I’m a D.C Comics Superhero” parody.) All the Mac ads talk about Mac computers, what Macs do, how they act in comparison to the PC, and how they simplify the home computer experience. The ads even go so far to play up how pleasant the Macintosh experience can be.

From the Seinfeld/Gates ad, I get a mini-Seinfeld episode minus George and Kramer (although I’m sure they were on stand by, off camera).

The biggest question I have is for Gates himself: You did retire, right? If so, you’re doing it wrong! Since Vista rolled out, Bill Gates has been on the campaign trail for Microsoft and now he’s shooting commercials. (And looking very uncomfortable doing so.) Whatever happened to taking it easy? If anyone can afford to, it’s you, Bill Gates. Kind of makes you wonder why Gates is pounding the pavement so hard.

Maybe this is too early a judgment call to make, but first impressions mean a lot. After seeing this Seinfeld/Gates ad, all I can say is “Good luck” to Microsoft in this ad war against Apple. As it stands, I look at this ad the same way I look at the Microsoft Windows operating system, its “known and accepted” bugs, and how users continue to work with it amidst all the Trojans, spyware, and viruses it comes with.

I don’t get it.

• 08.20.08, starting at 7pm — Barnes & Noble of Camp Hill, PA (Yes, TONIGHT!)
• 08.22.08, starting at 6pm — Moravian Bookshop of Bethlehem, PA
• 08.23.08,from 3-5pm — Constellation Books of Reisterstown, MD

STAY TUNED
for photographs, blogposts, and reviews from the road!!!

If you’re still in need of the data on the bad MyBook, I suggest trying out Disk Warrior. I had a disk crash a few months ago, and it saved my bacon. The disk in question was the drive with all my backups. Disk Warrior let me get the data off to a new drive before [the old drive] failed completely.

My reply started to grow hair, so I thought a follow-up blog post was in order.

First, thanks, Paul. His Mac Fu is strong, and I do appreciate his advice on this matter. In fact, many of my followers on Twitter have tweeted possible solutions and even a member of FiT offered to give the disk a checkup with his diagnostic software. I will give Disk Warrior a try, but I’m not certain the real problem is the drive itself. As I had mentioned, I ran disk diagnostics and according to the utility everything checked out. The problems occur when I attempt to copy from the MyBook to the new internal.

To give a bit of history here: When I initially bought this MyBook back in March 2007, I bought it specifically for the FireWire option. (When it comes to the USB 2.0 vs. FireWire debate, I prefer FireWire.) I was so impressed with the MyBook (initially) that I went out and purchased a second one. The moment I tried to daisy chain the drives, both dismounted like Olympic gymnasts. I contacted WD’s Tech Support and told them the problem.

Their first response: “Well, you got USB 2.0. Use that.”

No kidding. That’s a direct quote.

After explaining that the drives mount fine separately but will not daisy chain, they then said “Oh it’s a problem with the cable.” I asked if buying a new cable will remedy this. “No,” they replied, “it has to be one of OUR cables. There’s firmware in our cables specific for MyBooks.”

You know, I write Science Fiction and Fantasy…and nothing I’ve concocted ever sounded as far-fetched as this.

Left with no other choice I agreed to the replacement cable. When it arrived, I swapped out the faulty cable with the new one, mounted the drive, and then plugged into it a second MyBook. Both volumes spun up…and then dismounted.

Back on the phone with Western Digital. This time, they said, “Hmm, this sounds like we will have to escolate the ticket. So, here’s your number and we will contact you in 48 hours.” That was 14 months ago.

Yes, I did try following up with them…twice…and they left me on hold. It has only been in recent months the MyBook using FireWire was not mounting at start-up’s and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for that.

Paul states later in his blog comment:

Google did a study of failed hard disks a few years ago. As you can imagine, they burn through more hard disks than you’ll ever own in your life. They studied usage time, operating temperatures, and a few other factors. None of those factors mattered. The only indicator of drive failure was the batch the drive was produced in. To put it more simply, that drive was probably from an inferior batch which gave it a greater probability of failure. That doesn’t mean all MyBooks are going to be bad.

I would argue, though, it’s a slim chance a MyBook (of a different storage capacity) purchased at Best Buy comes from the same batch as a MyBook purchased months earlier from an Apple Store in a different county of Virginia. I could be wrong, but it seems unlikely. Also what makes me wary about MyBooks on a whole is its lackluster performance alongside a seven year old LaCie drive. As mentioned in the previous post, the LaCie workhorse has never given me a problem and a lot of data has passed through it.

From this MyBook experience, I have discovered other cost effective options for storage and (in the future) backup options that I need to research further. The experience has also reminded of this incredible community known as Twitter (something I will be discussing in later postings); and I remain affirmed that out of all the different social networks out there, Twitter is the superior tool for its streamlined delivery of communication and content, and its ease of use.

So no, I’ve not given up on the data trapped in the dodgy MyBook. With friends like Paul Fischer, Brad Boyer, and the good people of Friends in Tech, there are always options, always solutions.

Trouble began when a Western Digital MyBook (an external hard drive I had purchased barely a year ago) began acting odd. This would not have bothered me so much if the drive in question was not running alongside a seven-year-old LaCie external drive, that workhorse still running as well as it did the day I purchased it. So began a process of copying the MyBook’s content on to a brand new internal drive…

…and no, the internal drive is not from Western Digital.

A Saturday that could have been a highly productive day instead became a day of setbacks as the MyBook hit the wall. Hard. In the end I was able to make a few rescues and recoveries; but some recording sessions with The Billibub Baddings Podcast and early episodes of MOREVI: Remastered remained unobtainable. Even with the disk passing all diagnostic tests, the MyBook had the last say in the fate of my all-important data.

Throwing your hands into the air and giving up is a very easy solution. However, what do you gain from it? True, facing brick wall after brick wall with no logical reason as to why this EPIC FAIL is occurring can easily sap your willingness and drive to continue. So where exactly can you find the motivation to continue after lost blocks of time or, in the worse of cases, a full day?

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”
— Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison did not believe in failure, and this is just one of many quotes where he shows a deep disdain for the concept. His words — and many other quotes from him and other innovators, leaders, and all around clever people — are very good mantras to adopt as determination keeps you driven. When you can look at failures not as setbacks but as stepping stones towards the success you are striving for, then your drive remains constant and your goals closer than they were at the beginning. It can be a computer upgrade or a presentation deadline, but your accomplishments will not come to fruition unless you continue forward towards your project’s goals. Instead of dwelling on the obstacle, consider the problem and the myriad of solutions available in resolving it.

My previous Monday’s posting was missed due to events the day before it. A fellow author, Pip Ballantine, had discovered that her latest novel, Digital Magic, was formatted incorrectly. Typefaces were inconsistent, chapter headers were missing, and — most alarmingly — it was the first draft of the novel in the layout and not the final edit. To crank up the panic level, this layout was destined for the printing presses. Pip was distraught, frantic, and depressed as this put its launch date (which we are promoting together) in jeopardy. I told her “There are no problems, only solutions.” (That might sound incredibly profound, but in all honesty I was quoting the Disney Science Fiction movie, Tron.) Within two days, I had a new book interior ready for press. What came out of this experience reached far beyond the situation of a bungled book printing:

• The problems occurred on account of communication breakdowns between writer, editor, and publisher. In light of this near catastrophe new policies are being implemented.
• The book’s layout now exceeds Pip’s expectations.
• I discovered just how efficient and expedient I am in InDesign. Along with my own limits and abilities challenged, I consider the book perhaps one of the finest layouts I have ever done in my career.

What could have been a disaster changed the way we all work, and from this determination came solutions.

Determination is what keeps a passion and a desire alive, and with it the impossible can be accomplished. Hold on and take a moment to think of what you can do, not what you can’t. From the 10,000 failures, Edison created the light bulb. Had he given up, there is a good possibility you would not be reading this blog post right now.

How utterly condescending, on so many levels.

Amidst its silly and antiquated attitudes of business in the twenty-first century, the aspect of this commercial that really insulted me at the core is a stereotype perpetuated by this self-important credit card: There is no room for personality in professional business. Freedom of self-expression — from the way you dress to the credit card you use — is forbidden, and can truly kill a deal. Really? Explain the success of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. How about the popularity (and the influence) of Google on the Internet? And what about Steve Jobs who made a business around being personable? Provided you keep a professional attitude, touches of creativity, spontaneity, and fun do have a place and can even carry some sway. No, I’m not recommending jeans and a black turtleneck for first-time meetings or burning neckties and business suits out of protest. I am suggesting that expressive latitude should be allowed. If potential business partners or investors are put off by your chosen artwork for a credit card, the fact you use a MacBook Pro over a Dell Notebook, or that you wear an entertainment themed neck tie as opposed to a Gucci or Ralph Lauren, there’s a good possibility these are people you don’t want to work with in the first place. Superficial hang-up’s like these will manifest themselves in creative second-guesses, brick walls, and disagreements that will only serve to undermine your project’s goals. Never lose that sense of personality, even in business pursuits. From that understanding of self-identity, great ideas happen.

A professional attitude is essential to success, but how much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice for success of any kind? A self-important credit card and an arrogant demeanor is no guarantee for achievement. What does work is a degree of self-confidence, preparation, and integrity.

And let’s not forget how to laugh at ourselves and the world around us. A sense-of-humor and a bit of fun can take you a long way.

Good question. What can you expect from Imagine That! Studios? Answers, solutions, and options — simply put. This is what I do as an instructor, public speaker, and non-fiction writer. People come to me and ask “How do I develop a podcast for my business?” or “What kind of weapons are best suited for this time period?” (And if I get asked both these questions from the same person, that is a great day for me!) When you market yourself as a creative individual, people want to know what sets you apart from the rest of the pack; and in this time where it seems a podcast and a blog turns individuals into “New Media Specialists” overnight, audiences are growing more critical on what makes these self-proclaimed specialists the specialists they claim to be.

What I bring to both the blogosphere and podosphere is my experience and expertise in media production and development, my track record with the #1 publisher in How-To books, my years in the education field as an instructor, and my years as a print and website designer. I still believe the best solutions are the ones stemming from creativity, from challenging conventions and discovering a new way to approach problems. These creative approaches yield the best results. From product reviews to opinions, Imagine That! will offer commentary on established and new trends in technology and communication. There will also be ideas and options offered that will challenge the creative spark in you, regardless if that spark is currently being nurtured or remains dormant, simply waiting for that one idea to get it going in the direction that will best work for you. Finally, along with weekly blog posts there will be a monthly podcast giving you something to think about, be it a creative exercise, a quote that encapsulates an emotion for the day, a product review, or a point-of-view concerning new media and communication in a Web 2.0 world.

And yes, there might even be a few surprises along the way.

This is what you can expect for my corner of the New Media community, and with these expectations presented before you comes the real challenge of Imagine That! Studios: exceeding them.

So, let’s begin…

This is, however, a new beginning for Imagine That! Studios, and I invite you all to join me on this new adventure.

From New Zealand culture, the “Koru” is the uncurling fern frond, a symbol of regrowth and new beginnings. This symbol feels perfect for the new icon of Imagine That! Studios as what I do here is not really changing. Everything I do will still have that trademark creative touch I am known for, but Imagine That! Studios has been destined for new and exciting directions. With the emergence of New Media initiatives, Imagine That! is now upgrading to its own 2.0. This is an exciting time for me, for Imagine That!, and for creative endeavors yet to be taken.

Welcome to the new beginning. Welcome to Imagine That! Studios.