As promised, here’s a completely off-the-beaten-path episode of Bird House Rules (which will also appear on Imagine That Studio’s In Your Right Mind and the New Zealand podcast Whispers at the Edge. Three times the size of a usual Bird House Rules, this special edition features special guest Philippa Ballantine, and 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.

Pip 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.

Guest introduction by Philippa Ballantine

Featured Links:

• Imagine That! Studios
• The Official Website of Philippa Ballantine
• Erotica ala Carte

Album Artwork by Paul Fischer of Dancing Cat Studios

 

 Special Edition: Cirque du Social Media [36:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1205)

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!

What’s the topic of the day at the Bird House? Inspired by an August 20, 2009 article entitled What People Are Tweeting About, the marketing magazine eMarketer and Pear Analytics took a closer look at the traffic on Twitter in order to answer the question “What is the purpose of Twitter?”

I ask the question “Does Twitter — or Social Media on a whole — need a purpose?”

Other articles cited in this episode:

“One Blog Created Every Second” (Aug 2, 2009), BBC News

Chris Brogan’s “Birds on a Wire”

Chris Abraham’s “All a Twitter is Twitter for Smarties”

Linda Vandevrede’s “Finally a Very Readable Book about Twitter” (for Valley PR Blog)

Guest introduction by Chris Lester

“That’s a fact, Jack!” from Stripes

Album Artwork by Paul Fischer of Dancing Cat Studios

 

 Episode #3: Get to the Pointless! [9:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (645)

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!

You remember my friend Gregory Lemon who was anxious to find out the status of my upcoming podcast for this blog? Well I found out why he was so anxious about my still-in-the-works iTunes link…Sigma Media is All a Twitter!

Greg posted that his copy arrived and shared with me and his relative networks this TwitPic. I am anxious to hear what he (and those of you also receiving your copy) has to say about my tutorials and observations on Twitter. Remember to leave a review at Amazon.com, letting me know exactly what you think; and feel free to TwitPic yourself with your copy of All a Twitter and tweet me with your questions. I’d love to hear from you!

Oh, and Greg…production on Bird House Rules starts this morning. More news to come!

Thanks again for picking up your copy of All a Twitter. I hope you learn something new.

Good morning, Twitterakians!

It occurred to me that in the first week of All a Twitter being released, many in my circles are talking it up and giving it a nice, solid introduction to the world. I am both honored and humbled by the support I’m receiving from the Twitter community. I’ve been treading lightly when it comes to promoting the book on Twitter. One of my dilemmas is wanting to tap into Twitter’s promotional power without becoming “yet another huckster” who is turning Twitter into just one more place to push their crap on to people. I so do not want to be “that guy” on Twitter. However, the book won’t sell itself.

Then it dawned on me…well, okay, maybe not “dawned” as that can be subtle, beautiful, and gradual. No, this was more like accidentally cutting the rope Wile E. gave me thereby releasing the ACME anvil suspended over my head: hashtags. (You know, Tee — hashtags? From Chapter Six, page 123?)

Regardless of what side of the argument you are on concerning them, hashtags are a nice way of raising awareness without being obnoxious about it. Hashtags (a keyword preceded by a pound sign, such as #allatwitter, for example) are convenient tracking devices for tweets. If enough people use them, 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

And don’t be embarrassed by a question and ask me in a DM. Share with the network! There’s a good possibility a few people are wondering the same thing you are, but have not quite mustered up the courage to ask me.

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!