Nothin' but SocNET

Kansas City - City of Entrepreneurs and Google Fiber

2011-12-07T12:51:00.001-06:00

This is about a three minute Kauffman Sketchbook video providing us with a background on Kansas City's rich entrepreneurial roots and how Google is partnering with local businesses to keep the entrepreneurial spirit thriving.

I am so proud to have taken part in Kauffman's entrepreneurial program at UMKC, work for two of the five highlighted Kansas City brands listed and most importantly call Kansas City home.

Big thank you to Stephanie Sharp for reminding me about this video.

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The SoDA Digital Marketing Outlook Survey

2011-12-05T10:45:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year. 2011 recap surveys are hitting our inboxes. Here's one for you to not overlook...

Share your opinions on digital marketing with the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA). They have released their 2011 Digital Marketing Outlook survey and are looking for industry insiders to provide their input. These insights will be printed in the 2012 edition of The SoDA Report.

The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete and will focus on your experiences with, and plans for digital marketing. To participate, click http://bit.ly/w4mi8W to start. In return for your time and sharing your insights, you will receive a copy of The SoDA Report as well as additional content updates throughout the year as The SoDA Report moves to a quarterly editorial calendar for 2012.

Take the 10 minutes to fill the survey out, The SoDA Report is worth it!

Still doubtful? Check out the 2011 report and then decide.

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What Gives You Pause?

2011-11-22T16:18:00.001-06:00

Pausing a moment on this hectic day to reflect on how blessed we are to have four healthy children. We are so very thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving from The Weists!

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Louisville Emerging Media Summit Social Business Optimization Presentation

2011-09-23T09:14:00.002-05:00

Just getting around to uploading my presentation from last week's Louisville IABC-LDA Emerging Media Summit. We walked through two Fortune 500 social business case studies and discussed emerging media methods and trends from Edelman.

Louisville IABC - Operationalizing Social Business View more presentations from Zena Weist

A huge thank you to all the IABC-LDA volunteers who really went out of their way to make all the speakers feel right at home last Monday. And a special shout-out to Jason Falls! Thanks for making my first trip to Louisville such a memory maker, Fallsy!

Please leave a comment if you have any questions on the deck's content and I'll follow up.

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She's Five, Hold on!

2011-09-14T21:17:00.002-05:00

Our five year old was so excited to have me all to herself tonight. It's rare with three older siblings and hectic nightly practice schedules. I thought she'd want to look at magazines, paint her nails, or dance to the latest teen singer's hit. I was wrong. She wanted to go for a walk.

Not only did she want to go for a walk in our neighborhood but she wanted to hold my hand the whole time. She's typically five going on 17 in her prefereneces so I was savoring the moment and felt compelled to share as these requests present themselves so rarely. She's in such a hurry-to-grow-up-and-be-big-like-her-brothers-and-sister mode.

We walked hand-in-hand talking about butterflies ("there's not enough in our neighborhood, where do we go to get more?"), dogs ("they just bark because they are looking for another dog to play with"), the chill in the air ("the leaves will change soon Momma") and I was soaking it all in.We stopped every few blocks to sit on the sidewalk, rest and chat. Neighbors drove by and waved. I silently hoped they could be in my shoes soon...walking with their kiddos hand-in-hand.

When we got back home. She took a long bubble bath and we played with all her "little girl" bath toys. She wanted to go to bed early before the "big kids" got home. Before I tucked her in she wanted me to read her a story. This is big time old school because she typically needs to read to me or my husband.

She picked out her princess storybook and I read her two stories while we snuggled in her twin bed ("Momma, I love how we both fit in my bed, we are little girls.") My answer was matter-of-fact "I love being a little girl." ("Me too, Momma. Me too.") Extra snuggle. What a memory for me!

She turns six next week.

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How I found Rachel's Story

2011-08-01T09:52:00.010-05:00

Lunch was late today for me, so this post is a bit late

Quick recap: I caught this PSA with Jennifer Connelly for charity: water on TV. My thoughts went to all the great work the Social Media Club of Kansas City (SMCKC) team did a few years back on the charity: water international twestival kick-off and I was thinking how mainstream the initiative is now. How it had gone transmedia. I also thought about how we had a boiling water advisory a few weeks ago and how terrible it would be to not have clean water. The ad reminded me to check up on what charity:water was doing online.

My first search online was on Twitter. I searched on "charitywater" and up popped Chris Wragge's tweet. Here's the unique twist,
I didn't click on Chris' tweet because I knew who he was - CBS The Early Show Anchor. I didn't know him. If I watch a morning news program which is rare, it's another network or cable show. Anyway, I clicked on Chris' content in relationship to my search charity:water. And this is how I came across Rachel's story.

If you haven't heard about Rachel's 9th Birthday Wish, her tragic death and the media keeping her wish going see this CNN story, read this Huffington Post article, take in this NBC Nightly News video, or probably the best way is to read Rachel's Mom's update on Rachel's charity:water page.

And why did Rachel's story move me to post today?????
I was overwhelmed with Rachel's mom's response on Rachel's charity:water page. You have no idea how much it means to get support from people (some you have met, some you haven't met) but all mean well for you and your family through giving in honor of a lost one...you don't understand until you've gone through it. It gives you hope. It helps you breathe. It helps you live.

The way I came across Rachel's story was typical for me. A PSA that I ran across yesterday, I thought about this morning with SMCKC, I searched on Twitter mid-morning, a link from the tweet took me to Rachel's page which made me aware of an amazing 9 year olds' wish that I had missed in the masses. This is my real-time transmedia search-and-find.

This cross-media, back-and-forth sourcing happens everyday for all of us and it's a no-brainer. Rachel's story crystalized this process for me because her story resonated with me and it unfolded for me through multi-channels on and offline. From losing a loved one unexpectedly; to the non-profit charity:waterwith a social media start; and, to button it up - how social media plays an integral part in getting the word out, period - it all made sense to me, I related to it.

The back-and-forth, transmedia sourcing, and especially my ask to consider donating on Rachel's page, are things I want to share, hence the post.

I'm sure y'all had hear about Rachel's story, thanks for taking the time to read my take. Do you have a transmedia story to share? I'd love to hear it.

Long Time No Post

2011-08-01T08:51:00.007-05:00

Yep, I fell victim to time starvation and consciously narrowed down my online activities over the last eight weeks. My Empire Avenue stock is down, my klout score too, I'm connected on Google+ but not really engaged...I'm not tweeting or posting on Facebook as much. The biggest victims have been this blog and posterous accounts.

I've been traveling a lot for me (8 of the last 10 weeks) some personal, most for work and I haven't gotten into my new schedule groove. I always write my posts at home at night when I can't sleep. Well, when I am at home these days, I'm sleeping like a baby and when I'm not, I'm not making time for posting.

With my new job, I am taking in a lot of industry content specific to our agency, our clients and also broader trends. There's so much amazing stuff being produced that I have gotten caught up in consuming and I'm still figuring out how to share, what can be shared...you know all that IP stuff that comes with agency work, and what really do I want to share. And I'm not producing. Yep, I'm making this way too complicated.

All that said, I got knocked off my "figuring out" mode and long list of excuses this morning. Well, it actually started yesterday...I caught this PSA with Jennifer Connelly for charity: water on TV. My thoughts went to all the great work the SMCKC team did a few years back on the charity: water international twestival kick-off and I was thinking how mainstream the initiative is now. I also thought about how we had a boiling water advisory a few weeks ago and how terrible it would be to not have clean water. The ad reminded me to check up on what CharityWater was doing online.

Just a few minutes ago, my "get back into posting" moment happened and I'll share it with you over my next post (coming at lunch).

Still Walking Down the Digital Path with a bit of a Different Swagger

2011-05-22T16:10:00.004-05:00

My career has been a winding path on the digital superhighway to say the least. I began in the early 90s in interactive marketing with digital start-up agencies (I remember posting on newsgroups using 2400 baud modem - completely dating myself, aren't I?), switched to in-house with large corporations in online brand marketing, then IT project management, back online brand marketing which evolved into integrated interactive marketing and then my latest gig - social media.

Friday was my last day with H&R Block. I am no longer the Director of Social Media for the best tax company in the business. It was a very sad farewell as the people that make up the spirit of Block are some of the brightest-minded and dedicated individuals that I've come across in the corporate world. I will forever be indebted to so many of them for their support, friendship and guidance. We had an amazing two tax seasons together and I'm excited to see how Block continues to integrate social media into its core operations, marketing and communication efforts.

So where am I off to are you wondering????

I doubt it's a surprise to those of you that know me well...I'm heading to Edelman, specifically Edelman Digital as VP of Digital Strategy. I'm excited to join Dan Cornell's team and work with industry friends David Armano, Dave Fleet, and Phil Gomes and industry mentor, Rick Murray. I'm staying in Kansas City but will be traveling to Chicago frequently for work and to grab rides on David's Harley every now and again with Mrs. Armano's blessing.

It's been 15 years since I've been on the digital agency side...I'm craving it and can't wait to start down this new path. I'm really looking forward to sharing more here again about this industry and the passion I have for it.

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The Executive's Guide to Enterprise Social Media Strategy - Book Review

2011-04-21T10:47:00.004-05:00

Disclosure: The H&R Block Social Media Team's initiatives are sprinkled throughout the book and because of this, author, David B. Thomas sent me a copy.

Long Ass Title, Short Worthwhile Read
First off, authors David B. Thomas (@davidbthomas) and Mike Barlow (@mike7pilot) landed on the longest, most descriptive book title I've come across since grad school days - The Executive's Guide to Enterprise Social Media Strategy (pause for a breath, ok more title...) How Social Networks Are Radically Transforming Your Business.

Wowza!

Do not let that robust mouthful scare ya away. This book is a gem. I've read it twice through now (yep, unlike it's title, it's a quick read) and it's made my short recommend list for business leaders just kicking off or overhauling their social business programs.

Quick Overview
Thomas and Barlow provide the necessary but brief overview needed for executives to understand the business rationale for integrating social media into their companies initiatives. They chunked the book into three parts: The Grand Scheme of Things(why), Building a Structure for Success(how) and Putting Your Social Media Strategy to Work(well done). They weave diverse social business cases throughout each section which helps show the "why" and explains the "how" while delving into the "well done".

My favorite part of the book is in Chapter 8, "The Keys to Success in Social Media" Thomas and Barlow whittle it down to Five keys to success in social media:
1) Be real - "make a genuine effort to be valuable member of the online community"
2) Be relevant - "gear your efforts toward what your audience cares about, not what you care about."
3) Be practical - "social media is a set of tools and a philosophy f communications, not a strategy in itself"
4) Be patient - "establishing a presence in social media takes time"
5) Be active - "social media is about community, sharing, and immediacy."

They sound basic, simple and deceptively easy to accomplish. balancing all the components is delicate and complex. Thomas and Barlow help you develop your multiple-lever-5-social-media-keys ebb and flow process.

Here's the bad news...This book isn't a magic wand - once you finish it do not expect a "poof! moment" with a voila-here's-your-social-media-plan in tow. Sorry, ya bummed now? ;)

And the good news, it is the executive primer for you to begin operationalizing social media into your core enterprise initiatives. It is the reference source.

Brand Reflection

2011-03-28T15:34:00.001-05:00

Looking Passed The FOG

As brands, we look in the mirror. We look in the mirror a lot. We make sure our brand promise looks fresh. We reflect on our objectives. Sometimes, we need to look passed our [insert whatever your favorite objective/gubbins is here - aka FOG] to focus on our customers' needs. Yep, we need to wipe off the FOG. Objectives that make perfect sense to those of us peering into the mirror can become foggy (aka - favorite objectives/gubbins gone yo-yo) to our customers. When our FOG doesn't align with our customers' expectations, their experience is inconsistent. They lose trust. They tire of the fog. They don't feel appreciated. They leave.

I'm reminded daily to wipe the FOG off the mirror...glance at the FOG for a gut check, maybe, but then look passed the mirror. Usually I put the mirror down. I used to have to remind myself to peer out from the FOG into our customers' experience through chatter online. Not just a quick look-see, but a long take-their-perspective-on gaze. As Chris Brogan explains:

The Zulu greet each other by saying “Sawubona,” translated literally to mean, “I see you.” It means, “I know that you’re there and I acknowledge you as another person.” The response back is, “Ngikhona,” which is literally, “I am here.”

Chris discusses why brands need to become their customers in detail in his post today, Become The Buyer. Let your customers know you really see them through the FOG. Next post, I'll talk about how we at H&R Block are actively cutting through the FOG and showing our customers "Sawubona".

Photo by Roland Hutchinson of Geeky Gadgets.

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The Now Revolution Book Review

2011-02-24T08:33:00.003-06:00

A couple of disclosures: 1) The H&R Block social media team is included as an example in Jay Baer's and Amber Naslund's book The Now Revolution and 2) Amber leads Social Strategy at Radian6 which is H&R Block's online listening tool.

You know you are reading a breakthrough business book when industry cohorts hear you are reading it and they say something along the lines of this book:
1) Nails the issues my team is dealing with;
2) Gives me reassurance we are on the right track;
3) Brings it all together for my management; or
4) That's on my list to read.

Well, I heard all of these quips (with #4 being the most popular) when discussing The Now Revolution by Jay Baer and Amber Naslund with industry peers. 'Now' explains how organizations are not only making changes to accommodate real-time business but also shows us how we can weave these changes into our own processes.

Jay and Amber lead us through seven core business shifts with case studies, checklists, charts, best-in-class lessons learned and interactive QR codes jam-packed with yet more brain food. It's an easily digestible "read, learn, adapt, blend, repeat" book. Yep, I dig it. And for the record, this is the best use of QR codes (greatest end-user utility) I've come across to date.

Have you noticed I haven't said anything about social media? To me this book is not a social media book. And I for one am thrilled this isn't another social media strategy read. This is a playbook for how to operationalize your company for client-focused, real-time business.

One quick example, Shift Four, in Jay and Amber's book, dubbed Answering The New Telephone, helped me take a step back and realize how far our team has come in a year's time with operationalizing listening, from executive buy-in to response-ability. And, honestly, it's shed light on how much more we need to do to really integrate online brand reputation management into our listening and response processes.

There have been several reviews of 'Now' from folks not appearing in it, just in case you think there'a a bit too much fangirl going on with my post. Here's a few diverse 'Now' review posts:
1) Sparkplug Digital
2) PureDriven
3) The Customer Collective
4) Ask Aaron Lee

Still skeptical? Download a <i>free</i> chapter to taste test 'Now' yourself.

Ready to dive in? Go devour 'Now' and thank me with a Guinness later.

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Listen, respond and share

2011-01-23T12:02:00.002-06:00

More and more I'm heads down with work and don't make time in the evenings and weekends to post. I need to make time because I need to practice what I preach which is listen, respond and share. We all (individual contributors, brands, agencies, partners) need to listen first. Active listening, respond (repeat first two repeatedly), then share value-based content. I need to do a better job at all three so I can help others do an amazing job at all three.

Over this weekend, I've been catching up on social media initiatives - campaigns, new public and private communities, influencer outreach strategies, etc. and in news posts the brands all come back to listen first. They listen to what the target is asking for and respond, then they share.

Are we listening and responding to the ask OR are we sharing for sharing sake or campaign sake? Is there a way to blend? That's the secret formula we all hope for, right?

Digging through my old blog posts and found this one, a bit rusty, but the premise of going where your customer is, actively listening, then responding still holds true.

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6 year old schools mom

2010-12-20T13:25:00.001-06:00

I was working on my son's birthday invitations last night after a crazy busy weekend. I did old school paper invitations - the kind we used to get. They took awhile but my son's worth all the extra effort...even if it's hectic holiday time.

This morning as he's looking at the invites he says, "Mom, we can do laser tag." And I remind him we can't, we need to do bowling instead because the minimum age for laser tag is six and some of the boys in his class won't be six yet.

He looks at me and starts grinning, "Mom, everyone in my class is six...some are even seven."

I grab an invite. I had written in really cute calligraphy script "Come Celebrate LT's 6th Birthday!" for 15 invitations. Sixth! WTH?! He's turning S E V E N. UGH!!!!! I gave birth to this kid and I have him turning six again...sigh.

My son says, "Mom, I think you might be seriously losing it." I made a mental note to remind myself not to keep saying to the kids, "You are seriously going to make me lose it."

We all got a good laugh out of my mistake and I breathed a sigh of relief that I didn't send the invites out. Phew!

Oh and I'm still going with old school invites for 7th birthday laser tag style fun...but I'm nixing the calligraphy, and of course my six year old is proofing each one.

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Communication Shutdown

2010-11-02T11:04:00.002-05:00

Amber Naslund wrote a thought provoking, "get-your-cause-on" post on Brass Tack Thinking about yesterday's autism awareness event called Communication Shutdown that sparked my response below (I changed it a bit from the comment I left)...

Being a mom of an autistic kid and being an autism advocate I completely got the premise of Communication Shutdown. Silence was our life when our son was 2 1/2. We went from a very vocal infant to a barely audible toddle in less then 12 months. For me, this event brought back the diagnosis, the struggle...gosh, it was almost 10 years ago.

Our son is 12 and as I mentioned he has autism. He was diagnosed at 2 1/2. The county early developmental team working with us at the time said that he would never be able to attend a typical school setting because he was mostly non-verbal and had so many delays. They told us to plan for in-home schooling, etc.

Well, our son's story is one of challenging the labels and the "low" expectations. We made our own game plan with the help of many a therapist/teacher and lots of loving repetition and I'm happy to say our 12 yr old is in a typical school setting without para support. We have our challenging moments (mostly social interaction, communication cue missteps) but we are moving forward every day.

He and I discussed yesterday's Communication Shutdown and he was thrilled about the worldwide effort to (as their chater rsays) create "a sense of disconnection and a sense of frustration. By creating a little empathy, we hope to encourage a wider understanding and acceptance of people with autism – an understanding we recognize those in the autism community already have."

He saw me sit down at the laptop and start up tweetdeck (by habit) while he was working through homework last night. I told him, "Oh man, this Communication Shutdown thing is hard for me. Do I ever want to get on Twitter and share this news...but I can't."

His reply, "Now you know how I feel about 87% of the time, Mom." And he smiled adding, "This is good."

Awareness is good. For me, the Communication Shutdown was a one day event to help people walk in my son's autistic shoes. From the blog #shutdown posts and twitter comments of the folks that did it in support of autism (but didn't know anyone directly with autism), I read a lot of "this was helpful". In my mind, it was a learn by doing (or lack of doing) model.

There's so many wonderful autism awareness organizations providing a ton of amazing information, programs, etc. every day including Autism Speaks and The Autism Society of America. There are fantastic autism resource blogs as well. And April is Autism Awareness Month with April 2 being World Autism Day. So there's a lot of resources and discussions going on every day. The Communication Shutdown one day event was one more way to help people understand how complex and how frustrating autism can be.

For me, yesterday was my day to listen and not connect. It was a good reminder for me on how far our son has come and that he still struggles every day. Today and every other day (but yesterday) is my day to share our story and hopefully help some folks along the way.

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Please Text A Vote for Our School! Only Two Days Left!

2010-10-30T13:40:00.001-05:00

DISCLOSURE: I have kids that go to St. Michael.

The quickest way to vote for our school is by SMS: Text 73774 and enter 103090 (St. Michael's code). You only have two days left to vote, you can vote via text once a day.

St. Michael’s is in the running for $50,000 to buy Smart Boards for classrooms. For all the deets on The Pepsi Refresh Project and all 10 amazing groups St Michael has partnered with and how to cast more votes (through Pepsi's site and Facebook) go to www.smawin.com.

Thank you!!!

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Seven Days and Counting, Have You Voted for My Kids' School Yet?

2010-10-25T16:10:00.001-05:00

DISCLOSURE: I have kids that go to St. Michael.

St. Michael the Archangel School and the Kyrie Foundation are two amazing groups that are in this month's Pepsi Refresh Project Challenge. They are asking for our help. The organizations are working not against, but with each other and 8 other phenom groups to help all 10 groups win grant money from Pepsi. They need our votes to win!

The quickest way to vote is by SMS: Text 73774 and enter 103090 for St. Michael’s or 103447 for Kyrie Foundation. You can vote every day through Sunday, October 31.

St. Michael’s is in the running for $50,000 to buy Smart Boards for classrooms; Kyrie Foundation is in the $250,000 division. The foundation will use the money to help fund research to cure pediatric brain cancer. For all the deets on all 10 amazing groups and to cast more votes (through Pepsi's site and Facebook) go to www.smawin.com.

Thank you!!!

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My Mom's Battle With Cancer is Over

2010-10-04T10:30:00.007-05:00

My mom, Maralyne Monsour, died at her home with our family by her side on September 12 just a few days short of her 73rd birthday.

She was an amazing woman...so very strong, such a fighter, so beautiful (inside and out)...such an amazing mentor. Yep, I miss her a lot and her death is the reason for my absence from this blog.

When I sit in front of my laptop, it often triggers memories of being with my mom for therapy, surgeries and recovery. Her ten year battle with cancer is inspiring. She's my hero.

It's because of her brain cancer diagnosis in 2007 that I become a heavy user of Twitter for instant information, contact and mass notification on Mom's condition.

Her passing is still really so raw that this post is a short "letting you know why I've been away" update and also a quick thank you to everyone that has helped me through my mom's passing. Thank you!

Commitment versus One and Done - Relationships

2010-08-31T22:26:00.007-05:00

So I talked about how important executive level buy-in was for the social media leader's success in my last post. I know it sounds like a given, but I've worked in both environments. If you have buy-in, you have budget, you have executive sponsorship, you have the green light. Without buy-in, your social media initiative at best is a pilot program that might get traction but most likely won't.

The premise of this series is the CMO's commitment shift to more long-term customer lifetime value versus short-term spikes. Here's the four CMO shifts, I think need to happen for social media initiatives to get legs in the corporate world:

1) Peers/your team buy-in, hire leader
2) Relationships
3) Conversations vs campaigns
4) Long haul sentiment change (YOY) vs buzz spike (quarterly)

On the relationships front, it's the direct marketing lens that we are focusing on in social media...or more appropriately we aren't transaction based, point of sale based - we are looking holistically at the customer's experience with the brand and their life time value. So the shift is from a one and done transaction or get-the-sale-in-for-this-quarter-or-die mantra to a long-term customer relationship mentality. This means a focus on LTV metrics not just quarterly sales objectives.

I promise we'll dive into what that means from a social media metrics standpointin the last post of this series. Back to relationships...

Social media provides you ample opportunities to listen to your customers and potential customers through their journey with your brand and to engage with them through social media channels when it makes sense. Relationships take back and forth dialogue - there needs to be give and take or there's really no connection nor skin in the game.

Take advantage of the social sphere to listen and course correct along the way through conversation pulse analysis. Your customers will take note of your "big ears" and will show their appreciation through brand loyalty.

Next up...conversations vs campaigns.

Commitment versus One and Done

2010-08-26T08:41:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile but I'm back. I'd like to say it was a fun break but it wasn't. I've been away from my blog working through some family stuff since my dad passed away at the end of June. Priorities. Sometime they aren't fun but must be done.

Anyway, back to the fun stuff...

“The biggest benefit of open leadership is looking at business through the lens of relationships, rather than that of transactions.”
- Charlene Li, Open Leadership – How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead

I had the pleasure of meeting with The Executive Board's Marketing Leadership Council in mid-June. They asked me to present on enterprise-wide social media initiatives focusing on providing CMOs with strategic direction on building out a social team be it cross functional, central or a hybrid. I started the presentation with Charlene Li's quote above because social media tools really amplify the focus on relationship (commitment) versus transactions (one and done).

The next few posts will be touch on the highlights of the presentation. First off:

Commitment Versus One and Done

CMO Commitment Shift:
1) Peers/your team buy-in, hire leader
2) Relationships
3) Conversations vs campaigns
4) Long haul sentiment change (YOY) vs buzz spike (quarterly)

I'll chuck these four out in to separate posts...let's chat about Peer/your team buy-in and hiring a social media leader.

As the organizational leader that has been tapped to lead social media, you need to be committed to weaving social media through your organization. As part of that commitment, you'll need someone to orchestrate the social media plan. You need to hire an online leader that understands your specific business goals, online marketing and social media nuances.

Set the stage internally for your social media leader's success. As with all change agent roles, you need your peers buy-in for the social media leader's role. For example, my organization's CIO told the VP of IT that my team is the business owner for social media. That directive, which came from our CMO before I started, set the tone for inclusion and organizational backing.

A few more topline commitments to consider before you hire a leader...
1) Are you comfortable moving away from a transactions model and shifting to a relationship model?
2) Social media isn’t just outward facing, you must be committed to educating your associates as they are some of your strongest enthusiasts.
3) Social media isn’t just about Marketing (transactions) or Public Relations (communications)it's about listening, serving, responding, resolving, and engaging.

The core message here is social media initiatives are continuous. As the executive leader of social media, you need to set the tone for an ever-evolving social media strategy intertwined with your organization's goals versus a one and done marketing or PR campaign. The first step in doing this is explaining the shift to your organization including the rationale for hiring a leader; then hiring your leader (that has experience rolling out enterprise-wide social media initiatives); and providing he or she with a foundation to succeed.

Weist Road Trip Ford Flex Style

2010-07-18T11:23:00.012-05:00

This is a sponsored post. Thoroughbred Ford provided my family a Ford Flex over the weekend (no rental fees and no mileage limit.) Here's the story...

Some of you know our van got hit while it was parked at a local shopping center over my lunch hour a few weeks ago. I was meeting George O'Sullivan who runs the Thoroughbred Ford online initiatives including their Twitter presence, @ThoroughbredFRD. After lunch when I went back to my van, I saw a note on my windshield and thought I had gotten a parking ticket. It was a note from the women who hit my back bumper when trying to parallel park. I shouldn't be surprised that she left a note, but I was and I was very thankful.

I sent a tweet to @ThoroughbredFRD as I thought it was ironic I was having lunch with George and my van got hit...seemed a little surreal. George responded that Ford wanted to help however they could. Did I mention our van is a Nissan?

So after all the insurance stuff was finished. I took the van in last week to get repaired at Thoroughbred Ford. Because the back bumper needed replaced, the hitter's insurance covered the rental. George set me up with a comparable Ford replacement crossover wagon - the Ford Flex.

We needed to leave for a family Iowa/Nebraska road trip mid-week and the van wasn't going to be ready for pick up on Thursday so George told me to take the Flex on our road trip - gratis.

I really liked the idea of giving the Flex a go because I wasn't sure how our family would do on a long road trip in a vehicle smaller than a van. We have a 12, 10, 6 and 4 year old - so roomy is good on a long trip. I was thinking this road trip would be a good test to see if we could downsize. So we set off and the kids were loving all the electronic goodies of the Flex.

And now, we're driving back from Omaha. Well, my husband is driving and I'm typing. And we're going over the pluses and minuses of the Flex...
My husband and I loved the smooth ride more than anything else. There are a lot of wonderful, cool bells and whistle to the Flex - don't get me wrong - including SYNC In-Car Connectivity System, but what stood out for us was how quiet and "sedan-like" the ride has been for us. It handles amazingly, and as a mom used to driving a van...that's refreshing.

And the kids weren't on top of each other, they could easily get in and out of the back seats. The third row of seats is very roomy. Our youngest felt propped up and loved it and the older two kids didn't feel squashed in the back. There was no "shot gun" shout-outs this trip (for the second row.)

As far as the negatives, the only thing we can come up with is the gas mileage seems to be a little less than our Nissan Quest. I think the unique design might throw a few people as well, but not us. Most of the people we talked to about the Flex on our road trip commented on its unique outside design. Some loved it, some didn't. I liked the inside roominess and the outside "not so serious" look. Most people described the Flex look as a "Beach Boys, woodie" theme.

We're getting the feeling that our kids are going to be sad to return to our van come Monday. I know I will. Thank you for letting us test drive the Flex for a long Weist road trip, George and Thoroughbred Ford!

A "Beyond Words" Sincere Thank You

2010-07-09T09:07:00.003-05:00

Be Social - I Am One of You

2010-06-02T20:30:00.003-05:00

Take 1: April 2008 - I Am One of You

So we're munching on our salads and I'm tell Chris what a "true north" moment I'm experiencing: I'm eating lunch with my social media mentor; later that day, I planned to meet some amazing social media rock stars at NewComm - Erin Kotecki Vest, Joe Jaffe, Shel Holtz, Shel Israel, Cathryn Hrudicka (yep, her cat and I share names), Jim Long, etc.; and, how all of this was very surreal for me to take in.

Chris stopped me mid-sentence and said, "You represent a brand doing social media...you are practicing the preach. You bring just as much to the table as everyone you just mentioned...including me. Remember that."

Take 2: May 2010 - I Am One of You
Fast forward to last week, I'm having lunch with my new boss, Jenny Love, VP of Communications at H&R Block. The social media team was shifted under Communications from Marketing with the new re-alignment. Anyway, we're munching on our salads, enjoying eating outdoors on the first nice weather day in Kansas City in a long while, and talking shop.

A woman comes up to us asking if we can spare some cash as she and her family have fallen on hard times and she needs to buy groceries. I only have my debit card was my response. Jenny reaches for her wallet, talking kindly to the woman, making eye contact the whole time and hands the woman some cash. The woman was very thankful. I had skepticism written all over my face.

Jenny says, "Ok, I have no idea what is going to happen with the cash, but when she and I made eye contact...I think she really needed to buy food for her family." She shrugs. "Any regardless, it's a good karma moment."

Later, as we were heading back to our building, we saw the woman heading out of the local grocery store with bags of food. She was telling a passer-by that she had food for her family because of the kindness of a stranger.

I leaned over to Jenny and said, "Thanks for letting me be a part of your good karma moment."

Yep, I know you can't make these "I Am One of You" moments up. They are opportunities to raise each other up and to remind ourselves we are all connected.

I'd love to hear one of your "I Am One of You" moments...

How Can I Help?

2010-05-25T21:44:00.001-05:00

I know, I know...I'm a circle girl living in a square peg world. I'm an entreprenuerial spirit with a corporate job. The boxes don't speak much to me when it comes to defining what leadership means. The boxes do mean something to the industry so I get the box rules. At the end of the day, my reputation is what matters and it's based on my performance, my authenticity and my capabilities. To me, leadership is defined by action and action is simply defined by how I can be of help. My personal leadership filter is bouncing projects, objectives, ideas off my friends who are industry peers (regardless if they are in a box or not.) They are my trust tree. And they trust me because of my reputation. They also keep me focused on my path of being helpful. I continually push myself to return the favor.

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Be Social - What's Your Sawubona Moment?

2010-05-13T08:57:00.017-05:00

Last month, Ben Smith (@benasmith) and Whitney Mathews (@whitneymathews from The World Company, successfully hosted the first Free State Social Conference with a bevy of amazing speakers; a local discussion panel (that I was lucky to be a part of); great old school, in real life conversations; and, an interesting mix of local/regional/national attendees made up of online newbies, powerhouse techheads, marketing/PR SMEs, and publishing whizkids.

My next few posts will not be recaps or reviews of the conference. Lots of local bloggers have provided excellent Free State recaps and review posts, Whitney captured most of them here. Remember the "here" link, we'll come back to it in my next post...promise.

Missed the conference? You can take it in via video archive. So no recap for me, I'm going to tap into a vein of thinking that lots of us have discussed before. It was the underlying theme of the conference. It's something that started with Chris Brogan's opening remarks and continued through out the day...to GET social media you need to DO social media, in order to REALLY do social media, you need to BE social.

I See You and I Am One of You

Since I'm talking about what getting, doing and being social mean to me - and I'm chatty - it's going to take a series of posts. I can't wait for you to share what it means to you. With all of us contributing, this series could go on a while. Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) kicked off the Free State Social Conference keynote using his iPad. No talking just words on the screen. The first screen said "I See You" and the second is pictured with Chris above, "I'm One of You." Thanks to Simon Kuo (@simonkuo) of The Westside Studio for the use of the photo.

You Matter To Me, You Are Worth My Time
The first time I met Chris in person was in early 2008, we were both at the SNCR NewComm conference looking (via Twitter) for a late lunch buddy. I had been reading Chris' blog since early 2007, we conversed via email and Facebook. He had helped me develop Embarq's social media road map, got me going on my blog, we talked kid stuff and shared telcom shop talk so when we met in person, we had history. But knowing Chris, he would have had lunch with me whether he knew me online or not. That's just his M.O. He breathes the essence of what makes social media um...well, what makes social media social.

Though Chris shares content freely (some 2500 words of advice a day) via his blog, see Chris really excels as an in-the-moment, get out from behind the (insert whatever face-to-face barrier you use here) ie keyboard, screen, etc. sharer. He knows the secret sauce is in the big share and he knows sharing it will not only help others, but will ultimately propel Chris.

Back to our first in-person meet up, Chris and I sit down for lunch. I take my phone out of my purse-mom-bag-laptop tote and put it on the table in front of me. It's my barrier, well actually for me, it was my crutch. I'm thinking of it as my "cool kid" badge because I'm all smart phone hip, right? Yeah, well no.

Leave it to Chris to school me within 15 seconds of sitting down. At the same time, Chris takes his phone from his trouser pocket, hits a button (I'm thinking mute) and sits it on the table. But no...He says, "This is a distraction, so I'm turning it off."

The dude was not pulling a "this is what I need to do" lame "look at me, I have big ears" pulpit play. No posturing going here. This was early 2008, this is just part of Chris' DNA and it's something we all need reminded of:

Let the person (yep, the one right in front of you) know I see you and you matter to me.

Chris uses the Zulu term Sawubona to describe this common courtesy which is rare in practice and he has written many a post on it. The first post I remember is The Community Ecosystem.

That one gesture of shutting his phone off with the four words after "This is a distraction" is my best Sawubona moment to date. Can't wait to hear your Sawubona moment.

Next post will continue with me getting a lesson on "I am one of you" over salads. Yep, about five minutes into lunch.

The Hub is the Hub is the Hub

2010-05-12T13:44:00.001-05:00

As brands evaluate budget spend on online marketing initiatives including our social network presences, our own websites are the common sense place for us to focus a majority of on our resources. Though industry buzz might have the focus leaning toward social networking sites, most brands have kept their online marcom compass pointing to their hub.

From Reuters...

Below the surface, another structural change has been taking place, which predates the recession: organizations have been spending an increasing proportion of their marketing budgets on their own websites instead of on external media.

Technology is enabling companies to communicate in ever more sophisticated ways directly with their customers, while social networks like Facebook and Twitter offer ways for users to multiply the effect of corporate messages.

Chuck Richard, lead analyst at information advisory and research firm Outsell, says companies now spend more than half their online marketing budgets on their own sites. "It's been 50 percent or more for the last three years," he says.

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Sprint's Social Story: Customer Care

2010-04-25T20:19:00.001-05:00

So I've been off the blog posting grid for awhile...I started with H&R Block in mid-January. My first tax season consumed most of my time and if I wasn't thinking work, I was busy with my family. I'm betting that next year you won't hear from me much from January-April either. Now that it's post April 15th, I have time to dust off my home laptop and share again.

I left off talking about Kansas City's IABC's Business Communicator's Summit. Another social media shining star that I was lucky enough to present with, Jason Gretzen (@jginkc), leads Sprint's social media efforts. In his presentation, Jason shared his team's 2009 focus on: 1) Executive buy-in; 2) Meeting customers where they are online through Twitter (@sprintcare), Facebook, etc.; and, 3) Building internal brand advocates to help share the Sprint story everywhere.

<div style="width:425px" id="__ss_3852743"><strong style="display:block;margin:12px 0 4px">Sprint Social Media Story: Customer Care</strong><div style="padding:5px 0 12px">View more presentations from Zena Weist.</div></div>

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Happy Birthday, big sis!

2010-04-20T05:58:00.001-05:00

You would have turned 48 today. You passed away too suddenly last November here in St. Louis.

Happy, happy Birthday, Annette. It's so very odd to be in St. Louis without you. I took in a Cards game for ya - yep, the stadium does rock. Had one to many beers at the game for ya as well ;->. Miss ya, hon!

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360i's take on Twitter's Promoted Tweets Ad Platform

2010-04-14T09:27:00.001-05:00

This quick 360i read highlights the how and several whats...how Twitter's promoted tweets works (including topline metrics), what the marketing challenges are, what to consider before plunging in and what's next.

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Two Posts - Three Bs: Brogan, Buzz and Beer

2010-02-28T21:26:00.001-06:00

Here's a quick snippet from Chris Brogan during his keynote at the recent Kansas City IABC's conference and another local company's, Johnny's Tavern's, social story.

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Chris Brogan - Going from Gee Whiz to Oh Crap!

2010-02-28T21:09:00.003-06:00

Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) aka "No I Don't Sleep" Brogan spoke at the recent Kansas City IABC's Business Communicator's Summit. Here's two minutes worthy of a listen. Chris talks about moving from toe in the water trying social media out initiatives to the need for a more holistic company wide social media roadmap.

Johnny's Tavern: Keeping the Online Conversation Going Offline - A Local Restaurant's Social Story

2010-02-28T19:43:00.016-06:00

Continuing with the IABC's Business Communicators' Summit, this post is focused on a Kansas City smallbiz example of using social media to continue the conversation with customers in between their in-store (in this case "in-restaurant") visits.

Alexis Ceule (@alexisceule) presentation on a small local business @JohnnysTavernPV's social media pilot program.

I think the key to Alexis' social site strategy for Johnny's is the focus on instant “in the moment” conversations. She pushed the organization to meet the customer at the point of need with relevant content and to build relationships.

Social Media Small Business Style: Johnny's Tavern

View more presentations from Zena Weist.

In fact, 85% of Johnny's social site conversations are not branded. Also, their tie social site promotions with having their friends, fans and customers meet up at Johnny's to shift the online conversation to "live and in person" get togethers. So Johnny's has become the favored place for "social site friends" to gather for catching up face-to-face.

Straying a bit from my re-hash of our panel, next up will be a brief post on Chris Brogan's KC/IABC keynote.

CFCA: Connecting Online - A Non-profit Social Story

2010-02-19T21:41:00.001-06:00

Judy-Anne Goldman(@lacajag) is the public relations lead at the Kansas City-based international non-profit Christian Foundation for Family and Aging (@CFCA). I was lucky enough to speak on a panel at the KCIABC Business Communicator's Summit with Judy-Anne, Alexis Ceule (@alexisceule) with @JohnnysTavernPV and Jason Gertzen (@jginkc) with @Sprint.

In this first post of my four part series covering our panel's topics, I'm going to highlight Judy-Anne's presentation.

A little bit of background on CFCA. Simply put, CFCA helps families in developing countries put food on the table and send their children to school. One of CFCA's main initiatives is linking up sponsoring families with families in need. As a sponsor you provide monthly support for your sponsored child and exchange letters with them. CFCA believes in the potential of the poor to effect change in their own lives and in our world.(Full disclosure: Our family has sponsored Angelica, a Guatemalan 14 year old for 12 years through CFCA. Our family has grown up with Angelica and loves keeping in touch with her through letters. - Yep, snail mail - it's wonderful.)

Judy-Anne took us through CFCA's social story which focuses on listening, serving and sharing:
<div style="width:425px;text-align:left" id="__ss_3089118">CFCA:Connecting online<div style="font-size:11px;font-family:tahoma,arial;height:26px;padding-top:2px;">View more presentations from CFCA.</div></div>

The key to CFCA's social success is integrated web messaging. They utilize all their online properties to help connect sponsors with their sponsored children and provide updates on all their non-profit initiatives. The CFCA team posts breaking news on their various twitter accounts @CFCA, @Walk2gether and @Zamboanga. They provide more than 140 character updates on their Facebook fan page. CFCA follows up with an in-depth blog post and continues conversation through twitter and blog comments. CFCA converses, engages and connects with sponsors and prospects where they are online.

Next up is Alexis Ceule's (@alexisceule) presentation on a small local business @JohnnysTavernPV's social media pilot program.

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Way Too Final For Me

2010-02-18T22:18:00.001-06:00

So this week I can't shake the yearning to call my sister, Annette. I just want to hear her voice...wow, do I miss her. It's been about 3 months since her death. Since we only talked every now and then via the phone or a quick email, I think it's finally settling in that she's really gone. No more "now and then."

Way too final for me.

Call your siblings and send them some love, won't ya?

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Marketing Stories Podcast with Shelly Kramer

2010-02-11T23:21:00.002-06:00

What the heck have I been up to? Well, definitely not writing posts here ;).

A few things have been keeping me busy. I joined H&R Block (@HRBlock) in mid-January. I'll write a post about my new adventure as H&R Block's Social Media Director soon, promise.

My next few posts are going to be focused on social media and engaging customers.

Matthew Ray Scott (@MatthewRayScott) creator of The Strategic Incubator asked me to co-host his Marketing Stories Podcast with Shelly Kramer (@ShellyKramer).

We cover a lot of social web ground in this hour podcast. Good discussions on living out loud on social sites, being helpful, becoming a "threaded connector", what brands are doing right, what to stay away from...so if you have a long commute, download this sucker and get after it.

If you have about 10 minutes, start listening around 17:00 to pick up tips from Shelly and Matthew on evergreen social media "rules". If you have only 5 minutes and want to know how conversational engagement (not shout out monologue selling) works in social media, start around 26:00. If you have 2 minutes and want to hear a few case studies and hear Matthew's Arkansas accent, start at 31:00. If you want a really specific social listening case study and remember to close the loop, begin around 33:30.

I'd love to hear if you give the podcast a thumbs up or down and why.

Next post up, Christian Foundation for Family and Aging's (@CFCA)social web case study.

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Social Fresh Nashville - Social Media Conference for Marketers

2010-01-02T22:59:00.003-06:00

Social Fresh has created social media conferences tailored to marketers needs. If you are interested in finding out how large, mid and small-size brands have integrated social media into their marketing and communication, Social Fresh is a fantastic conference for you.

<p>What is Social Fresh? from Social Fresh on Vimeo.</p>

Social Fresh is a 1 day conference that is held in multiple cities throughout the United States and here's the 2010 conferences. The next Social Fresh is in Nashville (see full schedule at the bottom) on January 11. Jason Keath (@jakrose), Social Fresh founder, asked me to speak on the ROI in Community panel with Amber Nashlund (@ambercadabra) and DJ Waldow (@djwaldow).

Jason talks more about the variety of speakers (between 30-35 representatives from brands, agencies and vendors that have been blazing the social web trail) at the Social Fresh Nashville conference below including two phenomenal keynotes. One keynote is from my marketing friend that kicks serious social media bootie, Jason Falls (@jasonfalls) and the other brilliant online communications and marketing expert, Geno Church (@genochurch).

<p>Social Fresh Nashville Speakers - Social Media Conference from Social Fresh on Vimeo.</p>

Have you already registered? Please let me know your travel plans so we can meet either the night before, day of or at the January 11 evening gathering. If you haven't registered yet, you can still buy tickets. Hope to see you in the Music City next Monday!

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Double Celebration

2009-12-31T20:45:00.001-06:00

Ringing in 2010 with my soulmate, John. We've been married sixteen years tonight!

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2009 Social Media Themes

2009-12-26T15:11:00.006-06:00

Kurt Kloeblen (@kcklo63)of Kansas City's KCTV5 asked me if I would discuss Social Media developments for a Top Five of 2009 recap article. A huge thank you to Kurt for asking for my thoughts! When I sat down to my keyboard and contemplated, social web themes came to mind more than actual developments.

You can read the whole KCTV5's Top 5 Of 2009 including Jeff Smith's (@jeffisageek) expert thoughts on the 2009 top gadgets and tech advances.

Here's the social media portion including my thoughts:

SOCIAL MEDIA
Although social media became known by quite a few people in 2009, Zena Weist has been living it far longer than just this year. As a social media strategist, Weist has worked with Sprint, Hallmark and Embarq to implement their social media strategies and many of those have come to the forefront in 2009, the year social media hit the mainstream. Weist regularly blogs and speaks about social media in Kansas City and throughout the country.

Weist's Top 5 Social Media Trends of 2009:

1. Social Goes Mainstream
When your grandma is friending you on Facebook and your boss is on Twitter along with most celebs, you know social media has hit a majority of American households. eMarketer estimated in May that by the end of 2009, 96.6 million US Internet users will be reading blogs. According to a Pew Study, 46 percent of adult Web users are on social networking sites. Of those users, 73 percent have a Facebook account, while 48 percent are on MySpace, 14 percent on LinkedIn and just 6 percent on Twitter. So are we really using the social Web? These stats from Palo Alto Networks show we are:

- Twitter session usage grew more than 250 percent since April 2009.

- Facebook usage increased by 192 percent, surpassing Yahoo! IM and AIM.

- SharePoint collaboration increased bandwidth usage 17-fold since April.

- Blogs and Wiki posting increased by a factor of 39, with bandwidth increasing by 48.

2. Community Sourcing Evolves From Crowd Sourcing
Instead of asking a group of strangers for input, individuals rely more and more on their social Web circle for help. Social media is helping us move away from the notion of crowd sourcing and step up to community sourcing. If you invest your time and energy in your online community, your community will lift you up.

Examples:
- When Chris Brogan and Julien Smith launched their book, "Trust Agents," they focused on social media word-of-mouth. Their book made the INC magazine's best of, New York Times best of, Amazon.com 's best of, and 800CEORead's best of book lists.
- The #BeatCancer campaign - Over a 24-hour period at Blog World Expo '09, MillerCoors, eBay/PayPal and Genesis Today sponsored a campaign via Twitter that raised over $70,000 for four nonprofit cancer groups.
- Shellie Ross, whose Twitter handle is @military_mom, asked her community to pray for her son after a drowning accident via Twitter. Her tribe not only prayed for her, but also came to her defense when a few Twitterers questioned Shellie's motives for tweeting about her son's death.

3. The Year Companies Stepped Down From The Podium
In 2009, organizations took notice of the successes companies (Zappos, Best Buy, AMC, Sprint, Sharpie, Ford, Dell, etc.) that have been listening online are experiencing. More and more businesses are using social media monitoring tools, as local firms Spiral16 or Infegy offer, to listen to their customers, prospects and competitors online. These companies are analyzing the discussions occurring online about their products and services, then they are finding appropriate ways to join in the conversation to amplify positive brand word-of-mouth. They are walking away from the 100-yard-dash-style pitch monologues and sitting down in front of their laptops for the more marathon-style dialogues.

4. Traditional + Online + Social = Integrated Media
In marketing, the shift from afterthought add-on for social media to a medium that can belly up to the bar with TV, radio, print, outdoor and online display is beginning. Examples:
- H1N1 Awareness: All traditional media, display ads, search engine marketing, several social apps
- Budlight "Check Your Dudeness" campaign: TV, print, display ads, search engine marketing, Facebook application
- Dunkin' Donuts': "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" campaign: Print, display ads, search engine marketing, Facebook and mobile applications

5. Gaming Google for Gold
All content providers want Google Juice (better search engine result page rankings) and some are looking for the easy way out via content farms. In 2009, the divide between free content providers like wikiHow and ad-driven content providers like Answers.com broadened. Free content providers rely solely on experts passion and depth of topic to answer questions. Ad-driven content providers pay writers to research topics and provide information on it. To me, it's the Big Box Content vs Soloprenuer Content challenge. In 2010, I think we'll see search engine algorithms become more savvy in discerning between the quality of content and the quantity of content.

These themes only touched the surface. What do you think the social media trends were in 2009? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Book Giveaway

2009-12-18T17:31:00.001-06:00

I'm giving away a book or 2 - Monica Holloway's memoir about her family's autism story: Cowboy & Wills: http://bit.ly/6tzFgg #autism. Just leave a comment and you're in the random drawing.

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Cowboy and Wills Giveaway

2009-12-14T17:18:00.006-06:00

For my friends who know someone with autism, you will love critically acclaimed author, Monica Holloway's, heartwarming chronicle, Cowboy & Wills, of her journey with her family through Wills' autism diagnosis and then the friend that helped pull Wills out of that autism darkness we all know and despise.

If you are a parent of a child with autism, this book needs to be on your must read list. Monica's conversational-style immediately draws you in and because you've been there and are still there in the everyday moments she shares of Wills - it's hopeful, humorous, insightful and validating and at least for me the book has been therapeutic. I'm half way through the book and I prefer it to my evening TiVo (ask my husband that is saying something right there.)

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Cowboy & Wills from Marni Wandner. She is partnering with Monica on social outreach. Marni has also given me a copy to giveaway to one of my readers. This will be your favorite Christmas gift, I promise!

Here's my giveaway idea. What a copy of Cowboy & Wills for yourself? Leave me a comment on this post before Tuesday, 12/22 at midnight. I'll randomly pick two folks next Tuesday morning to receive books. One of you will get the brand new one that Marni sent me for this giveaway. The another will get a slightly used book that I'll just be finishing up. It will have a few tear spots and maybe a note here and there but overall it will be in great shape.

My ask for the winners is that you include your name in the inside front cover of your book and continue to pass your Cowboy & Wills copy on to your friends and family. Yep, it's that good and it keeps the giveaway going. Let's see how many names we can fill in both books!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-14T11:02:00.001-06:00

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Dancing Badly all over Kansas City ...for a good cause.

2009-12-01T08:52:00.001-06:00

Get your Merry on! The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party is 12/11 benefiting Operation Breakthrough. Lots of food, live music, drinks and Griswald Family-style fun. Have you snagged your tickets yet?

Thankful and Grateful

2009-11-11T23:30:00.006-06:00

As I sit here passing the night away with my sister, Annette, who is in ICU, I can't help but count my blessings.

I am so thankful that my oldest sister, Maresa, called me Saturday and suggested that I get my booty to St. Louis to see Annette before it was too late.
It was October 29 (just ten days prior) when Annette was admitted to Missouri Baptist (MOBap) in St. Louis for a lung biopsy. It was suppose to be "routine" to check out a breathing issue but her condition worsened dramatically.

A little history: Annette is a healthy, fun-loving genius of a 47 year old. She recently moved from Colorado to St. Louis for her dream job. She had been having issues with breathing at her job in Colorado starting this past spring (reason for the breathing issues in her work environment is for another post.) Suffice it to say, she got more and more sick with respiratory issues, was tired of that and had a fantastic opportunity with a pharma research firm in St. Louise back in August.

Her breathing got progressively worse from September to October. She was diagnosed with Sceloderma lung disease this past Friday. It attacked her lungs because they had been compromised. Her lung capacity went from 77% on 10/28 to 30% on 11/8 - 10 days...this disease is horrifying.

I am so thankful that I flew to St. Louis this Monday to see her. I flew to get here quickly (instead of driving from KC) and I was blessed to have my cousin's husband, Chris, on the same flight. He and his colleague, Tim, drove me to MOBap. Because I took the early flight and got a ride from Chris and Tim, I was able to spend a few hours with Annette before her health took a nose dive from this life-sucking disease.

If I had driven, I would have pulled in to MoBap when the ICU doctors were hooking her up to a ventilator and telling my oldest sister, Maresa, that Annette had no chance of getting off the vent. The man upstairs was looking out for my family - thank you, God!

Anyway, because I got to the hospital around 9a on Monday, we got to pay bills - this was extremely important to Annette - she needed that finished, she was too weak to write the checks, she was adament about me getting her bills caught up (if you know Annette, you know she gives assignments and loves to conduct and you're smiling right now.) I was helpful to her as we got those bills out of the way and I'm very thankful she found peace in that.

I watched her skin go from light blue to dark blue and purple very quickly with my sister, Maresa. Annette was struggling to breath when I got there and gasping for air in a matter of a few hours - even with 2 oxygen masks.

I experienced an amazing MOBap staff take incredible, loving care of Annette before they had to transfer her to ICU. Thank you Beth, Jackie, Tara and everyone on the Cardiovascular Recovery & Progressive Care floor at MOBap. I'm very thankful for all you do in such a passionate, loving way for not only Annette, but each of your patients every day. You are all angels!

Once in ICU, Annette made the decision to be on a ventilator and told the doctor not to put her on a trac (if it comes to that.) I am very thankful that I was here with her before the vent went in and that I know the vent was her decision.

I am amazed that the priest came so very quickly to give Annette the Anointing of the Sick Sacrament before she was vented. He was there in moments, not minutes, from the time of the request. His blessing has brought my family so much peace.

I am thankful that I was with my sister Maresa to take in the news from the ICU doctor that Annette had no chance of coming off the vent. We needed each other to get through that whopper of a newsflash.

It's as if Annette waited to go south until I walked in her hospital room. Annette wanted me to be with my sister, Maresa. Annette is that way, always thinking of others.

The ICU staff brought Annette up from sedation this morning so that her husband who flew in from Colorado could communicate with her this morning. Annette mouthed "I love you!" to Bob and they got to spend a few moments together and she stayed awake long enough to see my husband, John, and my brother, Pete, before the staff had to sedate her again to unconsciousness to keep her stable. I am grateful that this fantastic staff balanced that complicated act of keeping Annette as awake as possible without her being in any pain AND stable for the rest of her family to have some time with her.

There are so many friends and co-workers from all the pharma research firms that have reached out over the last few days with prayers, flowers, love and support and I'm thankful to see how many peoples' lives she touched and how many wonderful friends she has. How very comforting.

And all of my friends and family, those I know in person and my social web friends - I'm grateful for your love and support. You lift me up!

I am overflowing FULL of thankfulness and gratitude...your support, prayers and love are keeping me strong for my family and I am typically a wimp so I know this is all y'all. I can't express how appreciative I am.

#BeatCancer

2009-10-16T13:25:00.002-05:00

I'm helping to raise funds to
#beatcancer, by blogging, tweeting
and posting Facebook status
updates.

Click here to join me!

Why this online charity event is very, very personal for me!

Why The Social Fresh Cruise?

2009-10-15T21:17:00.010-05:00

Ah, there are a few reasons I chose to pay to go on the Social Fresh Cruise. It's coming right up - November 12-16. Why am I going?

The Hook
Well I got an email back in May from a close friend that's going. He suggested I go. He knows my husband and thought it would nice for us to get away from our kiddos. He knows us very well :).

He explained that my husband could take in some much deserved R&R while I connect with industry friends, listen lots, share some and learn more. Also, he knew that by November I'd most likely be finishing up my online brand marketing role at Embarq and could use a clean break vacation. He was so right on that point!

Anyway, the initial hook for me was his very personal "here's why you specifically should go" (aka what's in it for me?!) cruise invitation.

Sunny without A Deep Pocket Hit
The cruise takes off from Miami on November 12. It's freaking freezing in Kansas City in mid-November. I'm a Middle Eastern girl trapped in the Midwest with chattering teeth and purple lips for about 3-5 months out of the year. Sunny and 90 is very appealing to me period. Sunny, 90 and inexpensive - well, I'm all over that!

The Back Channel is Dead
When you live, eat, breathe integrated marketing that is mostly done through social tools, sometimes you starve for face-to-face conversations with no back channel. An entire weekend unplugged...actually 4 and then some days - count 'em: leaving Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, returning Monday - completely unplugged. My mind needs no back channel for 4+ days. Connecting with friends and letting go of the three screen update impulse - this is the most appealing aspect of the cruise for me.

Interested in seeing who else is going? A few of the cruisers are listed here. I think there's still a few cabins available. If you want to go and need a code, let me know.

Enough Already! Listen and Respond, Remember You are Here for Me

2009-09-09T22:18:00.015-05:00

As a consumer, when I am working through a product/service issue online (yes, it's me the customer working through it on my own time, while someone from the company better be listening. Listening = table stakes) - so anyway, I'm working through my product issue online, I definitely want to "speak" to an individual from the company...preferrably knowledgeable, but doesn't necessarily need to be an individual with her own online brand.

I just need someone from the company (that is capable of helping me resolve my product issue) actually listening and helping me. I can search on the person and the product, I can see what others have to say about their assistance. I want customer service from a human that will listen and is empowered to resolve - I don't want to talk to the man.

I'm not so concerned about the person's online brand.

Now I say that, but really their reputation really does matter to me, because I want to hear if others trust them. I'll ask people in my communities. The crowd will tell and I'll be listening. I figure, if they have helped others in my communities, they probably will be able to help me and I'm not going to waste my time or effort reaching out to a company that isn't listening and responding (yep, table stakes.)

I don't want someone focused on promoting their personal brand or cramming a corporate marketing message down my throat, I need help with my product NOW.

But's it complicated...I want someone that is cognizant that their actions actually speak louder than their words and that they realize the community sourced digital depictation of their online interactions matter more to me than any blog post they have keyed and most importantly, through that quick "online gut check" scan I do by asking Twitter, Googling, checking Get Satifaction, etc. that I consistently see their focus is me. So, is this company spokesperson "one of us"? Is he a trusted member of our community?

I'm looking for the company's Trust Agent. Because, Trust Agents* know it's all about me - the customer.

Done with my rant...

I'm just finishing up Chris Brogan(@chrisbrogan) and Julien Smith's (@julien) book: Trust Agents and it was the stimulus for this piece. I'll write a few posts on my thoughts about their insightful, timely book in the next few weeks. I definitely recommend it.

*Use Promo Code: BHB9149B for 30% off now through September 14.

Upcoming Events

2009-09-02T20:56:00.015-05:00

Over the next couple of months, I'm fortunate enough to be attending several amazing social media events (some local to Kansas City, some not.) I hope I'm lucky enough to see you at a few of these shindigs, please let me (@zenaweist) know if you are going so we can definitely meet up.

The Quick-n-Dirty
This is the only virtual event slated. Aaron Strout asked me to talk about my day job as interactive brand strategy and marketing manager at Embarq on his (@aaronstrout) and Jennifer Leggio's (@mediaphyter) social media Quick-N-Dirty podcast (@quickndirty).
These two online marketing mavens discuss new social networks, social media case studies, new execs that are twittering/blogging and the hot topic of the week. Bryan Person (@bryanperson), one of my favorite social media practitioners, will be co-hosting with Jennifer.

Join the chat and listen in on Thursday, September 3 at 5pm CT. Every once in awhile, Jennifer will ask one of the listens to chime in, it would be great if it were you! If you miss it, you can listen to it shorty after it's live via Quick-n-Dirty's nifty On Demand Episodes.

Really "Way Too Early in The Morning" SMCKC Breakfast
On Friday, September 11 at 7:30am (I kid you not) if you dare, you will see mine and 60 of my closest cohorts yawning faces at our monthly Social Media Club of Kansas City's (@smckc) breakfast at the oh-so-yummy The Kansas City Cafe (@KansasCityCafe). Details on the "you will really want to wake up for this one" agenda will be posted on SMCKC's ning soon.

Kansas City Twestival 2009
In the evening of Friday, September 11, I'm definitely going to the KC Twestival (@kctwestival) at The Brooksider Bar & Grill. A plethora of my Kansas City friends are helping plan this incredible one night, one cause social web/IRL event for an amazing local, non-profit Wayside Waifs.

KC #Twestival 2009 from Judy-Anne Goldman on Vimeo.

Solis hashtag KC-style #solisinkc
woot! Thanks to The Greater Kansas City Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) (@kcprsa), Brian Solis (@briansolis) will be presenting The State of Social Media, an inside look at trends and ethics within the industry featuring current topics and statistics on Thursday, September 17 at AMC Mainstreet Theatre. Brian exhales the social web. If you haven't seen The Conversation Prism that he and Jesse Thomas (@jess3) developed, please take a look-see.

First Day of Autumn in NYC
Next up is OMMA Global New York on Tuesday, September 22. I just found out, I'm pinch hitting for my Embarq interactive brand partner in crime, Kevin Cobb (@kevinjcobb), on an online marketing panel with our strategic partners, Dax Hamman (@daxhamman), Vice President Display Media, iCrossing and Media6's CEO, Joe Doran (@doran_joe). When I can, I'll update this post with our OMMA topic details.

UPDATED OMMA Global NYC Panel details:
Our panel is on Tuesday, 9/22 at noon and the title is Leveraging the Power of Search Retargeting for Marketing Plans with Andrew Pancer, Founder and COO, Media6 Degrees; Dax Hamman, VP, Display Media, iCrossing;Ben Seslija, Senior Director, Acquisition and Analytics, Clickable; and Mitch Spolan, Yahoo! Inc.

IZEAFest 2009
Next stop is sunny Orlando at the beginning of October where I'll be experiencing my first IZEAFest (@izeafest). Here's my history on the how. I'll be speaking on the What Advertisers Want panel and I'm beyond excited about being part of this timely conversation. I can't wait to recap blog about the lively discussion around this topic.

And last but definitely not least, Kansas City's own IMS
On October 8, I will have the pleasure of walking through the Embarq social media case study with two of the company's key social web SMEs Kevin Cobb and Linda O'Neill (@lindaoneill) at The Kansas City Integrated Marketing Summit (@IMSummit. Unfortunately, Bryan Person is slated on an IMS panel at the same time as I'll be talking so we each are going to tape the other and we promise to share highlights. The great news is we both will be front and center live tweeting one of our favorite online savvy, witty Bostonians Doug Haslam's (@DougH) Effective PR in a Social World presentation later that afternoon. Do you have any fun ideas on a hashtag for Doug's preso?

H.O.R.S.E. Heart Story: Autism, Horse Therapy & Hope

2009-08-24T20:58:00.014-05:00

I received the following must share, horse therapy story starring 9 year old, Sam via an e-mail from Susan O'Neal, an amazing volunteer for Helping Others Reach Success & Excellence (H.O.R.S.E.). We ran her email by Sam's mom to make sure all the facts are straight. Other than a few minor tweaks, the post below is the email I received from Susan. I found out that the H.O.R.S.E. foundation calls these personal testimonies H.O.R.S.E. Heart Stories. Thank you for letting me share Sam's H.O.R.S.E. Heart Story on my blog!

Grab a tissue and get ready for another inspiring horse therapy/autism miracle:

Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 2:41 PM

I came across your blog about The Horse Boy. I was at the book signing event too with some people from H.O.R.S.E. an non-profit that provides equine assisted therapy to kids on the autism spectrum.

I have been volunteering for them for years but this summer I actually got to do some real hands on work. I volunteered at the week long Camp Round Up. It was an amazing experience.

I contacted Rupert Isaacson to follow up about the movie opening and to tell him about our camp. We are going to try to do some kind of a benefit if we can get the movie shown here in KC.

I took lots of pictures and really got to know the kids and the amazing volunteers. We had 10 kids but one boy, Sam, really stole my heart.

Sam’s mom called us about Camp Round Up. Sam is 9 years old and is on the autism spectrum. He is a very active kid but he is developmentally delayed. Sam communicates with single words that are forced out with great effort. He isn’t toilet trained, he has never asked to use a public bathroom.

She didn’t think we would take him but she was hoping. She didn’t have high expectations, she just wanted him to get to be in the fresh air and do a little riding. Sam did therapeutic riding weekly at another location. Brenda said we would give it a try. Zena's note: Brenda Wright is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of H.O.R.S.E.

I was checking in campers on Monday morning when Sam and his mom arrived. Sam spilled out of the car and took off running. I told two high school volunteers to chase after him while his assigned volunteer Mike, (the father of an autistic boy) and the staff talked with his mom. She looked apprehensive but mostly, she looked exhausted. She said Sam would be happy if he just ran around outside and chase bugs all day. She seemed a bit nervous about leaving but she saw we had lots of volunteers and we had her cell phone number. She planned on staying close by.

I have to admit, I was worried. So was Mike. Sam just ran and ran. It was scary to me. We were at a ranch with horses that belonged to other boarders, equipment around that could be dangerous if he fell on it and cornfields to get lost in. If we let him out of our sight for a moment, who knew what could happen.

It took all three volunteers assigned to him that first day. The girls got him figured out. They would play a kind of freeze tag if he got near a dangerous situation. They also played human wall. Luckily, Misty and Alexa are premiere soccer players and had the energy and stamina to keep up with him. We just couldn’t spend the week running after him though. I began to wonder… if he would chase bugs, would he chase bubbles? I went to my bag of tricks and gave Misty and Alexa some bubbles. Sam was captivated.

Once he calmed down and began to focus we were getting somewhere. Athena, the horse professional came over and started mirroring his behavior to get his attention. Eventually she made eye contact and invited him to ride. Once on the horse, everything changed.

The next day, we had a horse ready for Sam when he arrived. After a few minutes of trotting, Athena would lead him to the camp circle to participate in the morning song ritual.

Sam participated in the activities and even joined other kids in water play. He was giving us high fives and seemed to be enjoying the group. He would run through the sprinkler, then run to us for approval. And then it happened, he came up and said something to us. At first we weren’t sure what he was trying to tell us. Then we realized he needed to go to the bathroom. Any mom who has ever potty trained a child knows how exciting that is!

Sam’s mom was shocked when we told her that Sam used the bathroom. Although he has used a public toilet before, he has never asked to use the toilet, public or not. This was a huge breakthrough!

We were all having fun with Sam and Sam really seemed to be enjoying himself. He has a special connection with the horses though and that is where he was most at ease. The horses seemed to like Sam too, you can see it in the pictures.

Sam started weekly therapy after camp. His mom said that his communication is improving, he uses verbs now. I can’t help but think we have a little bit of a miracle unfolding here.

I bet you will be able to pick Sam out in the video showing our week:

Susan O’Neal

The Brand Advocate Social Web Style

2009-07-22T23:11:00.001-05:00

If you are needing a quick explanation of why word of mouth brand advocacy thrives on the social web, this video nails the concept simply.

Jeff Bezos on Amazon Acquisition of Zappos

2009-07-22T22:10:00.006-05:00

There's been a lot of chatter about Amazon's acquisition of Zappos. This video is brilliant conversational marketing by Bezos. He brings us back to Amazon's grassroots start and their focus to obsess over customers versus obsessing over competition. He gives a quick short list of the things he knows including "It's Always Day 1." And most importantly, Bezos discusses the strength of the Zappos culture.

It's short and, I think, it is an excellent execution of YouTube's strengths. Bezos should listen in on the conversation happening on the video page and engage there as well. We'll see.

IZEAFest 2009

2009-06-17T09:47:00.010-05:00

Last year, I heard about the wonders of IZEAFest via my dear friend, Lucretia Pruitt (aka @Geekmommy) She is one of the WalMart 11 Moms and an amazing blogger advocate. When she says a conference is a "must attend" then my ears perk up! Lucretia suggested I connect with Ted Murphy, IZEA's founder. I did a little digging on IZEA and their take on sponsored conversations. IZEA is a governing member of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and they require mandatory disclosures for bloggers associated with IZEA. Blogger outreach is a topic I wanted to learn more about for my own blog and for my corporate brand marketing role at EMBARQ. Then I dug into IZEAFest via bloggers' comments, the post that really whet my appetite is from Ben Spark, 10 Best Reasons to Go to IZEAFest. This looked like a must attend for me.

I made it a goal to meet Ted at SXSW and pitch my case on why I should be on an IZEAFest panel. With Lucretia's introduction, Ted, Ashley Edwards and I not only met, but we hung out for an evening with Lu and Rick Murray discussing social media trends and blog talk. Ted asked me to speak on an IZEAFest panel before I had the opportunity to plead my case. I'm thrilled!

Check out the amazing line up of speakers and the schedule is jam packed with relevant social media topics. And if that isn't enough to get you going, IZEAFest is listed in the Inventor's Spot Top 10 Meet & Tweet Gatherings.

Interested?
IZEAFest is at SeaWorld Orlando on October 1-4, 2009. All the details are at the IZEAFest website. You can also follow the lastest IZEAFest news on Twitter via @IZEAFest.

Planning on Going?
Ben Spark has a great post to prepare you: 10 Essential Items for IZEAFest 2009. And let me know you're in so we can connect!

Photo credit: @eMom

Ford Flex Weekend

2009-06-11T08:00:00.009-05:00

When Rachel Young from The Social Media Group asked if my family would like to test ride and me test drive the Ford Flex a few weekends ago, we jumped at the chance. My family loves the look of the Ford Flex and I am a Ford girl at heart as my very first car was a 1978 Ford Thunderbird. As a mom, my first van was a 1999 Windstar.

The Whats and The Weists
What we noticed immediately is, this cross-over is truly a head turner. The unique boxy design with the grooved door panels, 3-bar chrome grill with fun two-tone, vista roof makes ya look twice. Everywhere we went, we were getting double takes. What surprised us the most was how roomy the Flex is. Our family of six, with car seats and all, traveled down and back to my parents' home (almost a four hour round trip) very comfortably. In our Flex, we had bucket seats in all three rows. The Weists could get used to this roominess.

And as you see in the following videos, there's plenty of room in the cargo space for our weekly grocery store run (and also how easy it is for a younger child to get into the third row.)

The retro look of the dashboard appealed to me and my husband as well as the luxury interior including the tech-savvy, SYNC voice-activated system. The reverse camera option thrilled my kids and came in handy for Mom.

What we were extremely impressed with was how well the Flex handles the road. This cross-over drove like a luxury sedan and it was such a quiet ride (well, the road noise was nil the kids kept the chatter going inside.) The responsiveness was a night and day difference from my van. I actually enjoyed driving! I mean the experience of being behind the wheel. I was so glad we decided to visit my parents so I could drive on the highway for awhile. I never thought I'd say that about a cross-over!

Oh, and what was the kids' favorite feature? This was a toughy between the one button "pop and fold" second row, the "hidden" refrigerated console, and the absence of step bars (the little ones didn't need to step up on a running board or step bars, they could just slide right in.) After much debate, the frig in the second seat console won out!

The Ford Flex is a blend of comfort, safety and sleekness. For a girl that grew up on Ford Thunderbirds and has moved into the utility of vans with our young family, the Flex cross-over provided me a silver lining SUV. It was fun to get back behind the wheel and enjoy the drive again...all with plenty of room for my family of six.

Yanni Voices in Kansas City

2009-06-09T23:44:00.024-05:00

More about the Music, Less about the Man

I have to say my husband and I are Yanni neophytes. We certainly know of Yanni and his new age instrumental compositions but can't recognize a Yanni song. Lucky for us, One2One Networks provided us with the opportunity to see the Yanni Voices concert at the Sprint Center in Kansas City last night.

We walked into the Sprint Center with an open mind...not really knowing what to expect. It was obvious to us from the first note, that this concert was a hand-crafted Yanni experience composed of talented artists. The best musicians, vocalists, composers, and producers were on stage in front of us. And like a fine art piece, the composition speaks more about the creator than anything else.

The orchestra was beyond phenomenal. The instrumental, virtuoso solos, including a unique Paraguayan harp by Victor Espinola pictured above and dueling violinists Anne Marie Calhoun and Samvel Yervinyan seen below) brought the house to a roar.

Yanni has assembled an amazing group of young vocal soloist. These artists are multi-talented and passionate performers. All are in their early twenties! Youth and Yanni, I know, you wouldn't put the two together but the well-known composer naturally melds with the young artists accentuating their strengths. Each artist has taken at least one of Yanni's instrumental compositions and created their own lyrics highlighted below.

Leslie Mills (@Leslie_Mills) has confident, gentle rain voice that is a sweet Colbie Caillat and Carly Simons blend. Leslie performed her amazing Before The Night Ends with Yanni's composition.

Nathan Pacheco is a powerful, operadic tenor whose voice aligns with the legendary Pavarotti in Viv il Tuo Sogno. This was a "Susan Boyle moment" for me in that I was blown away by this "unknown" young man's range and power. We'll be hearing a lot more of Nathan's rock solid vocals, hopefully in the operatic pop vein. And the dude hails from DC, ya got to love that!

Chloe Lowery, has a presence that took over the stage and amazingly an even stronger voice. She powerhoused Change (her poetic lyrics) with Yanni. She is truly a seasoned artist performing on stage since she was three.

Ender Thomas has a passion for entertaining with his voice as you can see with Ritual de Amor. He commands the salsa-style lyrics with rigor...and his eyes hold you in the palm of his hands. I've heard him likened to Fabio but this boy has one heck of a set of pipes so ya know, Fabio doesn't hold a candle to Ender in my book.

The orchestra and the singers have an incredible energy that kept the audience going. You could tell each performer was enjoying living in the moment. It was definitely a magical moment that we were thrilled to be a part of.

We left the Sprint Center blown away by the Yanni Voices experience. And we're craving more orchestra-style music because of it.

Photo credits: Anirudh Koul, taildragger46 and Yanni's Gallery.

The EMBARQ Social Story

2009-06-06T13:09:00.008-05:00

As some of you know, I work for EMBARQ , a regional telecommunications provider, in the corporate brand team. A few of you have asked that I share our social story on my blog. I typically don't talk shop so this is new territory for me...

Over the last two plus years, a cross-functional EMBARQ team has developed and begun implementing a corporate-wide social media roadmap which we recently shared at the NewComm conference, sponsored by the Society of New Communications Research (SNCR).

Integrating Social Media in a Fortune 500

View more OpenOffice presentations from Zena Weist.

Amber Nashlund, Radian6's Director of Community, interviewed our social media outreach team and created a comprehensive case study in handy PDF format of our social conversation endeavor.

We have several partners and internal teams that have helped us accomplish our key objectives. We wouldn't be where we are - helping our customers online daily as we do - without their efforts.

First and foremost, Dan Alcazar, EMBARQ Brand Vice President and Consumer Marketing Officer. Without Dan's executive support and advice, we wouldn't have passed go. Jerry Green, Brand Group Manager, helped lead the charge on our key online marketing initiative, the EMBARQ YouTube Brand Channel, with our customer-focused, Kevin Cobb masterminded "how-to" series. Our community manager Linda O'Neill championed the online customer outreach process under the direction of Mark Akason that Joey Harper (aka EMBARQ_Joey) leads fantastically everyday.

Also, much appreciation to Harry Campbell, EMBARQ Consumer President, who championed our roadmap through the enterprise and made it sync with his entire organization's vision. Our internal video team under the direction of Jerry Bova, y'all kicked serious bootie and continue to on the production of our "how-to" series! Our external communication team in partnership with their online communication agency, Metzger Associates, led an amazing online PR outreach campaign for our YouTube channel launch.

Our partners helped bring our social conversation vision to life. Google and YouTube provided us strategic guidance, best-in-channel direction, and key research findings while taking our feedback back to the engineers and getting vital changes made for our success. iCrossing developed our YouTube contest concept/creative and continue to lead the brand team's online creative, media, channel outreach strategy and search engine marketing. Metzger Associates continues to work in conjunction with Radian6 helping us keep on top of the social conversation.

I feel very fortunate to work with such passionate, knowledgeable individuals on evolving our social media story. Ok, that wasn't so tough of a post to write.

If you have written about your company's social story, please share the link in this post's comments.

Yanni Voices Tour in Kansas City

2009-05-27T18:17:00.016-05:00

Yanni Voices 2009 Tour is heading to Kansas City in a few weeks on Tuesday, June 9th.

The Yanni Voices website is jam packed with more details including specific tour dates.

Thanks to One2One Network, my husband and I are going to Yanni Voices in KC. And I have wonderful news for one of you: One2One Network have offered me two Yanni Voices tickets for the Kansas City show to giveaway along with after show meet & greet passes!

Here's the quick and easy rules on the Nothin' but SocNET Yanni Voices giveaway:
1) Leave a "Why I Gotta Go to Yanni Voices" comment on this post spelling out why you should get the two tickets to Yanni Voices in Kansas City. Also, please include your preferred online way of me contacting you (email, twitter id, etc.) in your comment.

2) You must be available to pick up the two Yanni Voices tickets and meet & greet after show passes before 7:30p on Tuesday, June 9 at the Kansas City Sprint Center Will Call window.

3) The contest will close at 10am CDT on Saturday, May 30.

4) I'll pick the winner from the comments on Saturday, May 30 before noon. I'll notify the winner personally and post the winner via a comment on this post sometime Saturday afternoon pending my Saturday mommy to-dos.

Best of luck! I'm looking forward to reading your "Why I Gotta Go To Yanni Voices" comments and seeing at least one of you at the KC concert.

The Horse Boy Moment

2009-05-19T07:42:00.024-05:00

@MySpyderWeb, a powerhouse Kansas City blogger, sent me a Twitter direct message in mid-March about pre-ordering The Horse Boy book with a link to the documentary clip. I knew nothing about the book or documentary.

After watching the clip, I understood why @MySpyderWeb sent me the link. She had been experiencing little 140 character glimpses into our family's autism journey and our new joy with horseback riding therapy.

My husband and I began reading the book and nodding our heads with Isaacson's (@TheHorseBoy and yes, the tweets are from Isaacson, not a ghost twitterer) first few chapters on their family's experience with Rowan's tell-tale autism signs: the tantrums, the loss of focus, the loss of words - the feeling of losing your child more and more each day into the autism world of blank stares.

For us, the first part of The Horse Boy brought back a lot of raw emotions and an appreciation for the long, hard fought journey that got us where our family is today, but that story - our story - is another post.

A few Thursday ago, I was suppose to be flying to Chicago for the SOBCon kick off with the Chicago Social Media Club. For some nagging, mother's intuition reason I decided to book a Friday morning 6(gulp):15 a.m. flight instead.

So Thursday morning, I'm driving to meet my husband for lunch, listening to NPR and Isaacson was being interviewed by our local station, KCUR, about The Horse Boy. It just so happened he was in Kansas City promoting the book and speaking that evening at Unity Temple sponsored by a local bookstore, Rainy Day Books.

It was too late to get a sitter for the evening, so my husband and I decided I'd go alone to see Isaacson. As I was leaving, our 10 year old, autistic son "L" asked to join me. I'm not sure if my husband or I was more shocked by L's request. We explained that it was going to be an hour of the author telling the audience about his book and it would be all adults. We explained it might be boring. What we didn't know is our son had looked through The Horse Boy focusing on the pictures documenting the Isaacson family trip to Mongolia.

Our son, L, said, "I'm suppose to help Rowan. I need to go meet him."

We explained most likely it would only by Rowan's dad, Mr. Isaacson, and our son shrugged and said, "The dad will do."

So our 10 year old, high functioning autistic son and I headed to Unity. We talked on the way about autism as he flipped through the book. L told me he wasn't happy about all the "not nice" terms that some people have about autism and all the "stuff" that is associated with it, and that people think it needs to be cured.

I told him that our family felt so amazingly blessed with our autism journey and didn't see autism as needing to be cured. We just wanted to make sure he has every opportunity to live life to the fullest.

On one hand, I felt sad that he understand the label baggage but on the other I thought he's moving toward typical acknowledgment.

When we got to Unity, I said a little prayer that the evening would go ok. Ya just never know what L is going to say or do.

I was picking up our Rainy Day book before we walked into the Unity temple auditorium. Our son spotted Isaacson and walked right up to him and started talking and they conversed for quite a bit before I came over and introduced myself as L's mom and asked L to introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm L and I'm autism. I'm here to help your son."

Isaacson looked at me.

"L is high functioning and was diagnosed at 2 1/2. He's 10 now. Looks like L and Rowan have a lot of similarities. And L loves horses as well."

Isaacson talked with us, well actually he and L chatted about horseback riding, Mongolia and their family journey. Isaacson (looking at me) asked L if he'd like to bring his family to their family horse camp outside of Austin. I nodded.

L said something about it being too hot in Austin in the summer but absolutely in the fall. Isaacson agreed, with a smile, that the fall would be much better. It appeared that he had become just as smitten with L as we are. I just stood back and watched our son's magic and took in the moment.

We broke away so Isaacson could take the stage. L asked a few insightful questions during Isaacson's talk. Afterward, we went to stand in line to get Isaacson's autograph in the book. L asked why we needed another book and I said we would give it away. Then I realized I hadn't taken any pictures so I began looking in my bag for my camera not noticing that L was writing in our book.

L said, "He's giving away all his books, he needs a book."

Still digging through my purse, not looking up, "No, really, hon, he has plenty. This is what an author does...signs the book he wrote for his readers."

"Um, Mom, I'm giving him this one. I wrote him something."

I look up, "Let me see"

L had scribed (and I wish I had written it down so I could get this exactly right):

Trust in
your son
Trust in
your heart
and
your troubles
will be
gone

The search for my camera went bye-bye and I just tried to keep my eyes from welling up, "Ok, son, I think that's a great idea."

When it was our turn, L very proudly handed the L inscribed book to Isaacson, "This is for you."

Isaacson, "Oh, L, will you sign it and I'll give this to Rowan."

"Good idea because I'm here to help Rowan."

Isaacson asked for contact information so we could stay in touch. He said he only knew me as L's mom. I handed him my business card, showed him my twitter handle and put my personal email on it.

L and I walked (or I should say floated) to our car as L was on cloud nine...I think I was on cloud eleven. He was talking a mile a minute about how he was the only one that gave the author a book and how cool that was and how much the author needed that book and how he was going to help Rowan. We called my husband and L went on and on about the amazing time we had. After about five minutes of chatting, L handed me the phone and the tears started coming, "Oh, hon, I wish you could have been here to see our son. I can't talk now or I'll start crying (and added for L's sake) happy tears."

L said, "Mom, I agree with Mr. Isaacson"

"On what, sweetie?"

"Autism is an adventure."

And that - those four words from my son's mouth - that's why I needed to stay in Kansas City that Thursday night.

SOBCon 09 Recap - It's a wrap

2009-05-12T22:34:00.003-05:00

I'm ending my SOBCon trilogy post with Ramsey Mohen's (@ramseym) video. The guy knows video storytelling and is as nice off camera as he is on.

SOBCon 09 Recap

2009-05-12T21:06:00.004-05:00

Still working the listening angle, there are so many amazing SOBCon posts from the many bloggers that attended so I'm highlighting a few SOBCon attendees with this second of three recap posts.

A fantastic conference set up with a glimpse back at SOBCon '08 and highlights of '09 from Barbara Rozgonyi (@wiredprworks).

Steve Fisher (@stevenfisher)from Network Solutions provides a solid yet brief, day-by-day overview.

I related to Terry Starbucker's (@starbucker)Digilogger post because integrated marketing and communications is a passion of mine.

And finally, Glenda Watson Hyatt's (@GlendaWH) recap is the perfect one to end on and yes, folks her presentation did rock the SOBCon house.

And for even more SOBCon session coverage, see the SOBCon compilation link list.

We had plenty of fun at SOBCon, including the elevator pitch flash mob. Cheryl Smith (@cherylsmith999) jumped right in on cue.

Cheryl Smith's Elevator Pitch at SOBcon from David Murray on Vimeo.

And now you know where the SOBCon phrase "The ice man cometh..." originated.

SOBCon Recap

2009-05-04T10:10:00.001-05:00

What did I learn from @lizstrauss's and @starbucker's Successful and Outstanding Bloggers School of Business Conference (SOBCon09)? To listen more and talk less.

In that vein, the next series of post are going to be from some of the outstanding bloggers I met over the weekend. Some will be pulled in from their blog, video post, etc. - some will be guest posts. Let me know what you think!

I chose @jenchicago's recap of Day 1 first because heck, we were in Chicago, it's Day 1 and Jen is an amazing videoblogging who lives social media. Jen made an immediate impression on me as someone who knows the ins and outs of promoting yourself and your cause online authentically.

With video you are always listening, you also have to know how to get the story out of the teller. Jen does both really well.

Upcoming Conferences

2009-04-21T10:49:00.021-05:00

Here's the upcoming events I'll be attending. Please let me know if you're going to any of them so we can meet up. First up, is The Society For New Communication's (SNCR - pronounced "snicker") 5th annual NewComm Forum April 27th - 29th in San Francisco, CA

NewComm Forum was my favorite '08 conference. It brings together thought leaders and decision makers to discuss the impact of social media and new communications on PR, marketing, advertising, media, journalism, business, culture and society. This year, I'm looking forward to the opening keynote conversation with Charles Best, founder of DonorsChoose.org.

I'm thrilled that our EMBARQ online outreach team will be sharing our socmed story as well.

NewComm is co-located with Chris Brogan's SF Inbound Marketing Summit. I haven't attended a Brogan conference yet and I'm really looking forward to this line up. I'm especially chomping at the bit to see @aaronstrout's Start Talking With Your Customers
presentation and the Listening and Monitoring session with an amazing socmed panel including @ambercadabra, @justinlevy and @spiral16.

Next up is SOBCon (Biz School for Bloggers) in Chicago, May 1-3. If you don't know Liz Strauss, I highly recommend you take in her blog and if you are on twitter, follow h er. She is a quiet, wise soul in this frenzied industry. SOBCon is one of Chris Brogan's all time favorite conferences. I'm thrilled to be on a social web panel with three fabulous power bloggers Chris Garrett, Lucretia Pruitt, and Jason Falls.

On May 16, I have the honor of moderating a social media tools panel at Chicks Who Click in Kansas City and sharing my geeky marketing chick life over lunch. The first #CWC09 in Boulder was a heck of a networking conference. I was surrounded by inspirational women and a few brave men from diverse backgrounds, ranging in all ages and various aspirations but all passionate about online!

As for the Kansas City Clicks Who Click, do not feel like you need to be a power blogger, a twitter diva or a digg junkie to attend...as long as you are wanting to learn more about the social web, you are going to love this conference!

Walking Away From The Children's Place

2009-04-13T21:46:00.010-05:00

The Children's Place lost me as a brand advocate tonight. I know, I know - who am I, really? One of millions. But for me, it's very personal and I'm aggravated. And for the local store, they've lost a steady customer.

We have four kids ranging from three to ten. We are an extremely busy family with two parents working outside the home, kids involved in extracurriculars...you know our drill, it's yours with a Weist twist. Just like you, we don't have time to waste. If we do find a few moments to spare, we want to spend that blowing bubbles with the kids or reading one last bedtime story.

Well, tonight I'm wasting time...a lot of my time actually.

Sidebar - I'm wasting it because when you walk away from a brand you love, you are walking away from a relationship. And if you are me, you have to write about it, because well, because I'm upset! We have history, Children's Place, you listen to what I say (at least you appear to through surveys, feedback on your site, your in-store associates)and you reward me when I come to visit and bring you...well, cash...but you reward me with durable, well-priced clothing and discounts. Your in-store team is fantastic, your online shopping great.

Did I mention I'm a swarm shopper? I have to be, I don't have time to not be and your store is fantastic for that...but wow...tonight's customer service issue...it's brought me to a halt. I'm having to spend time thinking about and fixing a problem that's not mine and your processes to address it, well, I'm hoping you can resolve them quickly so you don't lose another brand advocate. Back to the story...

It started with my Children's Place bill that came in the mail. The Children's Place charged me a late fee of $25 and a finance charge of $2.80 as they claimed I hadn't paid my March bill.

You know I had to think about it, but I knew I had paid the bill in-store and this was just The Children's Place oversight, so I called The Children's Place customer service. The CS rep assured me they had not received my payment. I informed them I did an in-store payment. The CS rep told me to contact the local store to clear up the issue.

Children's Place Statement on 12seconds.tv

This all unfolded within 5 minutes of getting home tonight. Four hungry kiddos, Dad working late...I started dinner, the younger kids played school with the older kids and I did some investigating.

I called The Children's Place local store. The manager said I would need to call the 800 customer service number on my bill to get the issue resolved because their in-store system did not allow them to go back a month.

I tracked down my in-store payment receipt (3/27) and March bill for The Children's Place.

Children's Place March bill on 12seconds.tv
Also, I validated my payment cleared our bank on 3/30, the date the March payment was due.

Children's Place Proofing I Paid on 12seconds.tv

We ate dinner and while the kids played I called customer service again.

After walking through my payment scenario with the next The Children's Place CS rep, my bill, the extra charges, my in-store receipt, and my bank validation of payment clearing. He informed me that I have to fax my receipt and my bank validation to a The Children's Place fax number: 866.533.8590.

He, very politely, told me it would take a few days for The Children's Place to review my paperwork and then I would need to call back to validate the issue had been resolved. He did, very kindly add, that I am a valued customer of The Children's Place and that they truly appreciate the business that I do with them and that if I wanted to pay my minimum April balance on the phone with him, he'd do me a favor and remove the late fee right then and there. Yeah, that went over well.

I, very politely, told The Children's Place rep that I would fax all of my paperwork tomorrow as was The Children's Place's policy and that I would be getting the late fee and finance charges removed as this unfortunate situation was not my fault and was The Children's Place's oversight. I had to keep reminding myself that this very polite CS rep was just following The Children's Place's policy. Very unfortunate policy.

So I'm sure you have had something like this happen to you - something that has driven you to break it off with a brand. Please share your story or link.

World Autism Day - April 2

2009-04-02T09:42:00.003-05:00

Bob and Suzanne Wright head up AutismSpeaks. Follow their whirlwind day of awareness here.

Also this is a great, quick video that explains autism to kids from NickJr's Wubbzy:

SXSW Recap - Friday and Saturday keynote

2009-03-20T21:17:00.015-05:00

There's so many SXSW attendees that have written fantastic summaries of the keynotes, panels and parties. So, I'm going to share a few of my favorite moments from each day instead of trying to recap the entire whirlwind event.

At the end of my summary posts, I'll put a list of other's SXSW posts together that I've found insightful. Here goes Evening One (for me)- Friday and Day Two - Saturday's keynote:

I arrived in Austin just in time to get registered and meet up with a few friends in the @techset lounge.

I'm the one sitting with my back toward you at the front table, starting my first afternoon SXSW-style with beer next to my laptop as I was tracking down where my cohorts were within the Austin Convention Center.

The place is a freaking maze. And y'all know how directionally challenged I am. It was obviously by the late hour and well, because it's SXSW, the first day was going to be dedicated to hitting parties. I threw my party pacing plan out the window.

The TechSet Lounge was sponsored by Windows Mobile and hosted by amazing socmed dual Brian Solis (@briansolis) and Steph Gresta stephagresta.) They were truly amazing and appeared to be there 24/7 making sure each guest was taken care of. Even those of us that didn't blog a lick while we were there - well, I tweeted a lot though so technically I'm covered, right?! - were definitely made to feel right at home.

Friday Welcome Parties. Given this was my first year at SXSW, I had heard all the rumors about the Southby parties...but really nothing can prepare you for the mass amount of people, party vibe and all the 3D twitter avatars that you bump into - it was a bit overwhelming.

Our first stop was at the Social Media Group kick-off party at The Six Bar. Let me tell you, Maggie Fox knows how to throw a fantastic fling.
Here Maggie is with her husband, Ryan. They were welcoming the thousands of folks in one by one! I'm sure they were exhausted but you wouldn't have known it by their enthusiasm. Six is an amazing, multi-level bar in the heart of downtown with a rooftop view that is gorgeous. Even though Six's website needs a refresh, I'm glad our evening started at Six with Maggie.

We hit the tail end of the Blue Sky Factory's party hosted by Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) for a bit, it was nice to see Chris without the SXSW swarm in tow. Then we headed to the TechStar RatPat-themed shindig at The Belmont. While there I ran into my twitter buddy Aaron Strout (@aaronstrout), and let me tell you that dude can give a good bear hug. Then finally ended the evening by having a quiet dinner with a few friends.

A huge thank you to Lionel Manchaca(@LionelatDELL) for escorting fellow SXSW noob, Mark Logan (@mlogan)and I around that first evening.

And the Saturday conference highlight for me, was Tony Hseih's (@Zappos) Keynote. Because customer advocacy is in my blood and Tony oozes it, his talk really resonated with me as I'm sure it did most. We are all connected and Tony gets that.

Kudos to the SXSW crew for having a brand keynote. The conversation starts when brands listen...not agencies on behalf of brands, but actual brands.

When brands listen to the buzz, it's their first step toward the less shout, more rev model. If you listen, show you are listening through actionable steps - your customers will reward you with brand favorability which bottom line equals more rev.

Listen and learn from Tony.

Delivering Happiness - Part 1:

Delivering Happiness - Part 2:

And here's Tony's slides:

Zappos - SXSW - 3-14-09

View more presentations from zappos.

More to come on the rest of SXSW soon.

Photos taken by: alexdesigns, and allowscriptaccess.

Jon Stewart Shakes His Fist At Twitter

2009-03-03T09:11:00.002-06:00

When Jon Stewart spends over 5 minutes spoofing twitter, you know it's gone mainstream.

Evan Williams, Twitter CEO, at TED

2009-02-28T08:58:00.001-06:00

Twestival - Kansas City

2009-02-10T09:13:00.004-06:00

Twestival is a worldwide fund raising effort that is occurring this Thursday, February 12 organized 100% by volunteers around the world via social media - mainly twitter. 100% of the money raised from these local events will go directly to support charity. Specifically - water projects.

Why water?
One in six people on earth don't have access to safe, clean drinking water.

Why Twestival?

The Kansas City Twestival volunteer team (@KCTwestival) has done an amazing job putting together and getting the word out about our local tweetup with a cause including this fantastic video from Ramsey Mohsen:

Twestival, Tweet. Meet. Give.

All the details on the February 12th Kansas City evening event are at KansasCity.Twestival.com. I'm looking forward to taking part in this worldwide charity event with my KC friends. Hope to see you there!

Thrilled for @radian6, @warrenss, @ambercadabra

2009-01-18T19:54:00.004-06:00

I love when amazing things happen via twitter including a social media monitoring tool company, Radian6, snagging two of the finest social media professionals I know. First, Warren Sukernek:

Many of you have not only been following the news of my job search on Twitter, but have also been extremely helpful in providing job leads and support. And I am very grateful for that. I’ve shared the blog posts that several friends have written about my situation before, I’ve got great friends and Thank you for your support. Well, the fruits of everyone’s labors has paid off! In record time, too!Warren, Twittermaven, Jan 2009

and even more fantastic news from Amber Nashlund:

Today, I officially accepted the opportunity to join my long-time client, Radian6, full time as their Director of Community. You’ve heard me say that I’m all about figuring out in nitty-gritty terms how all this social media stuff applies in a business context, and now I’m going to experience that that first hand. I was honored that the team at Radian6 thought enough of me that they wanted me as a more permanent part of their team.Big News for the New Year, Jan 2009

Congratulations, @warrenss and @ambercadabra! Looking forward to your expertise being shared with even more people with your new roles at Radian6.

Chicks Who Click #cwc09

2009-01-11T20:54:00.031-06:00

Chicks Who Click, a social media conference hosted in Boulder, CO, was masterminded by the brillant and delightful events coordinator, Denise Smith (@deetells), and the equally amazing social media maven, Gwen Bell (@gwenbell).

Hats off to you, ladies! The weekend was packed with fun community-based learning, interactive panel discussions, relevant tech-women focused presentations and networking activities that nailed the A+ formula for a social media conference. The energy and enthusiasm that continues to be heard in the echo chamber from the attendees demonstrates the creative power of community you have sparked.

As I gathered my thoughts to write this post, I googled #cwc09 for reference and really the best narrative of the event to absorb is just watching it unfold on Twitter's search. The story begins with this @gwenbell tweet:

and continues to read as little vignettes of inspired information and sharing throughout the course of the weekend, with afterthoughts continuing. The entire Chicks Who Click weekend of events (and the network that has developed because of it) is another great example of the big share that occurs with community sourcing.

I have so many favorite moments from Chicks Who Click, it's hard to narrow down the highlights, but here's a few that stand out:
1) Getting to meet IRL and really connect with all the smart, fun and online saavy people I began following on Twitter because of the hashtag #cwc09.

2) The shock and awe feeling that enveloped the entire room when Carole Billingham,the Wisdom Coach speaker, asked us to turn off our phones and close our laptops for the next hour, yep...an entire hour!

We actually got through the session without issue and the "listen to your inner self" exercise re-charged us for the rest of the day as we hacked away on our keyboards :).

3) Meeting crafty, intelligent and fun-loving Jen Grant. Then watching her work her magic behind the camera and how she dove into learning livecasting tips on the fly with the vlogging master, Wayne Sutton . This is just one example of the "we're all connected, let's raise each other up" vibe that radiated through the entire event. (Hey Jen, it took all weekend but now I think "C" for craft vs "K" for Kraft when someone says "craft." Yep, you've converted me :).)
4) Being part of Barbara Jones' interactive session where we put our social media prowlness into action and to the test. These women know their social media strategies and tactics! There were some amazing ideas pressented! And to top it off, Barbara handed out the most creative "kick ass" medals I've ever seen for all participants, including judges (thank you, B!) and karate high kick trophies for the winners.

5) Being on the afternoon panel with two of the brightest women in social media - Barbara Jones (@barbarajones) and Kit Seeborg (@zsazsa) was such an honor for me. As we were discussing the pros and cons of listening to the long tail conversation, our wise moderator Doyle Albee (@doylealbee) piped in, "Realize that a blog with a readership of only 1: that 1 is Google" which very clearly and succinctly brought the importance of socmed conversation home.

I'll close this post out with a big heart-felt thank you to social media expert and dear friend, Lucretia Pruitt, (@geekmommy)!!! If it weren't for your nudge, hon, I wouldn't have been part of this geeky girl fest.

Photos courtesy Emily Lewin and Kit Seeborg.

Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-16T11:25:00.004-06:00

More details here

Fantastic Kansas City Star article on Autism Society of the Heartland organizing Santa photos for ASD kids: http://is.gd/c0Oe

Deets on Pre-SNCR Boston Tweetup

2008-11-11T16:59:00.005-06:00

Shel Holtz and John Wall organized the Pre-SNCR (Society of New Communication Research) Symposium tweetup.

Details:
7 pm, Thursday, November 13
Vox Populi
755 Boylston
Map | Directions

More info on Shel's blog.

Twittermaven

2008-11-04T08:55:00.003-06:00

Warren Sukernek's Twittermaven post yesterday was plum full of good stuff:

Ev Williams, Twitter CEO interviewed by Bloomberg. He says that Twitter will implement its revenue plan early next year, using some sort of advertising.

Twitter vote report: Rocketboom interview with the developers of the Twitter vote report.

And my favorite, from Julia Roy, a new series that she calls Tweet week, where she talks about news on Twitter for the past week. Julia describes some new Twitter programs like Magpie, recommends Twitter related blog articles all done in her energetic, humorous and captivating style.

Warren, Twittermaven, Nov 2008

Read the rest of Warren's post and let him know your thoughts.

Poverty is B.A.D.

2008-10-15T14:13:00.015-05:00

You are seeing it everywhere today, references to #bad08 - Blog Action Day 08. From YouTube to Digg to the Red Cross website to Twitter to yet more YouTube...today all the chatter is about talking up how you are helping end poverty. For ideas see my post from yesterday.

I am thrilled to say CFCA hightlighted my family's poverty story on their blog today.

There's so many blogs covering poverty today for the second annual Blog Action Day, I thought I'd highlight one in particular that really got the message through to me:

Beth Kanter's Blog: Blog Action Day: Can One Person Make A Difference? Challenging Poverty With Social Media

And check out Twemes.com to see all the amazing conversations going on about Blog Action Day via Twitter.

Blog Action Day 08: Poverty

2008-10-14T10:15:00.010-05:00

Tomorrow is the second annual Blog Action Day.

A little background...

"On October 15th 2007, more than 20,000 bloggers united for the first annual Blog Action Day. With an estimated combined audience of over 15 million viewers, we discussed ideas, empowered audiences and debated on the wide ranging issues of the Environment. In 2008, the world’s bloggers will again unite, to discuss an issue of the most pressing import and widespread distress - Poverty." - Change.org

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

Here's a few things you can do to help share:
1) If you have a blog, dedicate your Wednesday, 10/15 post to Poverty. Share your own story...Do you help with your local food bank? Sponsor a family or child? or Work through your community or religious organization to combat poverty? Register your blog with Blog Action Day 08 and share your story.

2) On Twitter, spread the word about Poverty and use the hashtag #bad08 (Need help with details, here's a list of poverty information resources.)

3) On Facebook, join the Blog Action Day group.

4) Listen to and spread the word about BlogTalkRadio's 12-hour live talkathon.

5) Here's a whole list of how to follow Blog Action Day's events online.

6) Sponsor someone, through CFCA, who lives in poverty.

7) Join the call to end poverty by watching global videos, gather information and make a video of your experience at the YouTube in my name in my name channel. This is the best channel I've seen on YouTube, bar none!

Tomorrow I'll share my own story, hope you will too!

Augmented Reality

2008-09-26T10:06:00.002-05:00

I was at a business function earlier this week and Second Life came up in our conversation. We all were shaking our heads and questioning in our time-starved lives, do we really have time to live multiple lives?

A co-worker changed the direction of the dialogue quickly by bringing up how virtual reality can actually save time. She was talking about augmented reality. And, Mark Logan has an excellent post highlighting it's relevance and giving a few examples to boot:

Simply put, Augmented Reality is the blending of computer data or images with real, physical spaces. Think of the heads-up display in a military jet, where computer data is projected onto a view of real-world images in real time.Mark Logan, Mostly Marketing, Sep 2008

You should read the whole article.

My Mom was my Twitter hook

2008-09-25T22:09:00.003-05:00

Mom turned 71 today. Happy Birthday, Mom!

It's a miracle she is with us. Last year my mom was having brain surgery on her birthday to remove a cancerous tumor which had mastitized from her stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer that she battled 6 years prior.

My mom is the reason I got hooked on Twitter. So Mom had a huge brain tumor that was growing quickly. My siblings, father, aunt and uncle huddled around my mom for over a week at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. We needed to get the constantly changing news out to all our family, friends and co-workers on our mom's hourly, daily status change.

I asked everyone that knew Mom and could get on the web to follow me on Twitter. In 140 characters or less, I kept everyone in the know about what the doctors were saying, tests that were being ran and next steps. It was simple, instantaneous and a hell of a lot easier and far less stressful than a phone tree!

And here's the interesting thing with Twitter and my "mom-cancer-status" tweets, strangers started following me. People that had worked on drugs my mom was taking, doctors, nurses, techs - cancer survivors, brain cancer survivors even - and lots of well wishers. It was profound. We were blown away! All the followers brought us unexpected emotional lift and became a much needed sounding board for us during this endeavor.

So, thank you, Mom, for really showing me the power of twitter. And wow, I have no words for how wonderful it is to see you and Dad dancing on your birthday! Thanks for the video, seeing you two waltzing about just like you did last year in your hospital room before you went into surgery - ah, I'm getting teary just typing about it - how blessed we are to have you in our lives, Mom! You are an amazing woman and I'm so proud to call you my mom!

And thank you, Twitter friends for helping us through our time of need.

Sorry, I can't share Mom's vid or a pic with everyone...Mom likes her privacy.

Professional Networking Sites

2008-09-08T20:40:00.010-05:00

I asked the following question to my connections on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter:

What's your favorite professional networking site/app and why?

Here's a smattering of responses:

"Personally, it's LinkedIn. Easy to use and very robust. Next would be Facebook, due to it's extensive reach."Jay Waddell, via LinkedIn

"LinkedIn seems to be the most useful site from a professional standpoint. I like it because (so far) it doesn't have many distractions from establishing a real-life network. Then again, I think I've met more people in my field via Twitter lately than I ever met via other social media apps. Twitter does a great job of helping you expand your network and it facilitates face-to-face meetings better than any other medium." Celeste Lindell, via Facebook

"I see Twitter as my social/conversational platform, and keep Facebook exclusively for business." Rick Murray, via Twitter

"I prefer Twitter because through micro conversation I find that it is a terrific relationship building tool. And, after all, what is networking if it is not relationship building." Kim Dushinski, via LinkedIn

"My favorite professional app is LinkedIn. I have connected with those who are in the industry I want to be someday: social media" Mark V via Twitter

"Although it's intended purpose is not professional networking, Twitter has been, by far, my favorite and most effective site. Twitter is one of the only social networking site that I use professionally, or in any capacity for that matter, that consistently drives online relationships to offline ones and elevates those professional relationships I already have..."
Ben Grossman, via LinkedIn

"...However, I think I might give another perspective here, my blog is my favorite professional networking site. Although the blog is my personal business blog, and is not connected through a social networking system. Though I do have mybloglog. I think my blog has built and maintained more professional relationships than any other networking site. The biggest reason is that I put more effort into my blog than most of the other networking sites I'm a member of. So I'd suggest that the best networking sites for people are often those where you spend the most time and effort." John Cass, via LinkedIn

"i use only linkedin; more of a least disliked than a favorite..." Pete Thomas via Twitter

"I use Plaxo and LinkedIn and I've also signed up for Naymz. LinkedIn is still my favorite because more people seem to use it. I like thinking about this in terms of Metcalf's law - a value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users on the system. Professional networking sites have utility because they enable you to connect with others and thus far, more people get in touch with me via linkedin than any other professional network I use..." Simon Kuo, via LinkedIn

"I'd say linkedin is my fav @zenaweist. I've both made contacts and reconnected with a lot of long lost ones." Jon Hand, via Twitter

"My favourite professional networking site is the Ask Liz Ryan Group, an online networking group with 25,000+ members, run by HR guru Liz Ryan. The group, is an amazing resource that provides a forum for both personal and professional support. No matter what the question -- health issues, career development, travel advice, negotiation skills -- the Ask Liz Ryan community is there to respond." Amrita Chandra, via LinkedIn

"LinkedIn for professional relationships; facebook for combination of fun, friends and some business; twitter real time interactn" Bill Miller, via Twitter

"Personally, I use all three (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook). Twitter is great for establishing and growing relationships, is fast, and extremely easy to use yet is somewhat limited by its 140 characters. LinkedIn provides depth and background information, and Facebook acts as a great rolodex since it contains contact info and other "CRM" type data. Roll them all together and you have a great system." Warren Sukernek, LinkedIn

See all answers that came in through LinkedIn, here.

Here's a few articles/posts that provide basic tips on social and professional networks:

Write Your LinkedIn Profile For Your Future, Chris Brogan
The Social Network as a Career Safety Net, New York Times
Top Professional Network Comparison, Be Networked
Why You Should Join, CIO
Tips on Using Networking Sites, Washington Post
Top Ten Ways To Use LinkedIn, Guy Kawasaki

Thanks to everyone for responding so quickly! Please keep the discussion going via comments through twitter, linkedin or facebook.

Ambient Awareness

2008-09-08T10:36:00.003-05:00

I found this fascinating quote on Twittermaven today:

As you'd expect, the world of Twitter has been abuzz. For the last two days, the conversation about the article has been robust as it seemed that everyone had something to say about ambient awareness. And of course, there were some great pieces written about the article. Alan Wolk wrote an amazing piece, Social Media's Defining Moment, identifying the importance of the article "because it's outside the usual geekosphere bubble and has the imprimatur of social science. The placement in the Times means that it should be getting a lot of traction since it's the first place many non-tech journos will go for insight into "that whole Twitter thing."Warren, Twittermaven, Sep 2008

You should read the whole post.

2008-08-06T20:43:00.022-05:00

Using Twitter in your Social Media Outreach

2008-07-31T08:57:00.007-05:00

Update: "Janet" brand jacked Exxon on Twitter, see Jeremiah's update post for details.

At @BarbaraKB's prompting, I responded to Jeremiah Owyang's post on Exxon Mobil's plunge into using Twitter in their social media outreach plan. I'm going to broaden up my original comment here:

In any form of communication, there's a difference between an individual responding as an individual and an individual responding as a company's representative. In social media, the socnet nuances are there and the community will help you course correct. For your benefit, please go in eyes wide open with a baseline understanding. There are several blogs that give great advice on social media outreach.

And here's my thoughts on Twitter, please add your thoughts as well:

First and foremost, if you are going extend your Social Media Outreach to Twitter please remember it's a medium for conversation. No shouting or you will only hear your own echo or if you truly mess up, lots of flogging. It's a conversation that needs commmitment, forethought and a long term game plan. And most importantly, it's a conversation that can not begin until you listen. Listen for awhile before you start talking.

I know I know, that goes for all social media conversations, as does my next point:

People want to talk with a person on Twitter. We really don’t have any interest in getting into a shouting match with “the man.” Well, at least most of us don’t have any interest. Anyway, I suggest following the Zappos or Dell “response through individual conversation” model:

1) Twitter handle = companyname_yourname or yourname@companyname. For instance, @LionelatDell or @Zappos_Hope, ExxonMobilCorp screams corporate speak, yelling out, “I am the Eggman”, watching your every post kinda handle. I think it's the "Corp" more than anything.

2) Nada corp speak, keep it personal and helpful.

3) Acknowledge the person’s POV that you’re responding to, we all want to be part of the conversation not talked down to, preached to, or lectured to.

4) Before you follow people, as a company representative @ tweeters first, to let them know why you are following them so you don’t shoot yourself in the foot with the “big brother” issue. There are exceptions here, like if they have followed you first. If you don't understand the "creepy" factor on this one, roam around Twitter for awhile and pick up the vibe.

5) Consider responding with your email address in your @s or DMs to take the conversation offline and show tweeters you are an individual wanting to help.

So if there's one thing to take from this post, it's listen first, tweet later. You are probably wondering how you can listen first if you aren't actually following people. You can always sign up for a personal account with Twitter first to get your own sea legs. I would suggest that you just be yourself with your personal handle, not your company's customer service team. You can also start with Twitter's search enginesummize.com. Search for people that are already identified influencers in your market or just track your company's name, your product interest, etc. to get the rhythm of the conversation.

Also, follow other companies that are out there chatting it up every day on Twitter such as: @RichardatDell, @Zappos_tid, @JetBlue, @HRBlock, SouthWestAir, and @evernote.

Looking forward to hearing what suggestions you have as well. Barbara, thanks for giving me the nudge!

Social Media Roadmap

2008-07-28T17:02:00.003-05:00

As you're building out your company's social media roadmap, I recommend considering a few, if not all, of the following social media strategies:

1) EDUCATE: To create breadth and depth in employee base to give them the tools and opportunity to actively engage in social and emerging media.

2) SEEK & CULTIVATE: New employee talent and corporate resources to better position your company as a “thought-leader” in this emerging space while tapping appropriate external influencers.

3) INTEGRATE: Create conversations that are media agnostic and evergreen; ensure all marketing and communication strategies are interwoven to create consistent messaging.

4) RESEARCH & MONITOR: Invest in socnet-specific research to identify emerging trends, shifting your company from followers to leaders; monitor brand perceptions to identify positive lifts and capitalize on them.

5) MEASURE: Use media appropriate metrics to evaluate performance against best-in-class examples.

6) INNOVATE & EXPERIENTAL: Utilize the socnet opportunity to evolve your company into one that is dynamic, interactive and relevant; leverage practical opportunities via networks and conversations to position your company for future growth.

I'll write more about each of these strategies in my upcoming posts.

@garyvee's 101 Wines

2008-06-18T22:22:00.010-05:00

I've just finished reading 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World, by Gary Vaynerchuck, star of WineLibraryTV.com. I am definitely inspired and delighted, and once I purchase and give one of the several wines I've highlighted as "must definitely buy" a go, I'm sure I'll feel the thunder and my world will be rocked because well, I adore wine.

I do have a HUGE confession to make and it's a bit embarrassing...I don't really know, know Gary. I have never watched WineLibraryTV.com. Until very recently, I didn't know Gary's a "wine guy" by trade. I thought he was an "Internet tech start up" guy. See, I heard about Gary on Twitter, he was organizing Good People Day.

When I saw his video, I thought to myself this is a guy after my own heart. He is passionate about people, he truly loves helping people - making them feel good, sharing the love, paying it forward...all that good juju stuff that makes me tick - he's all about that.

I started following him on Twitter and I refer to him as "garyvee" which is his Twitter handle. In my mind, when I say it I'm visualizing @garyvee, which is the way (@ in front of someone's twitter handle) you send a message (tweet) to someone's specific attention on Twitter.

So, I found out about his book via Twitter and was intrigued as I love big, bold red blends. Full disclosure here - Gary was sending books out to bloggers to review. My blog has maybe 20 readers on occasion, so I doubted I would receive a book. I'm delighted Gary sent me one. So, yes I got it for free, but now that I've read it, I have 3 copies on hold at Border's that I'm gifting tomorrow. Yep, it's that good.

Anyway, I started his book over the weekend and just finished it tonight. I decided not to check out WineLibraryTV.com until after I wrote this post because this review is about the book.

For some reason I actually read the introduction to Gary's book, typically I don't. For me, intros seem like afterthoughts in most non-fiction's with little real value.

Well, this intro truly sets the stage for what 101 Wines is and specifically what it's not. Gary is a "no-bs-cut-to-the-chase-this-is-how-it-is-baby" type of a writer. His style drew me in.

I strongly suggest reading the book from front to back, first read through. Don't skip around. Gary expands thoughts from one wine story to the next. He weaves in wine education, humor, amazing descriptions of tastes ranging from leather to chalky cellar-dust to lilacs to rare game topped with a spread of jam...my mouth was actually watering with several of his pictorials.

Gary freed me from some preconceived notions I had on blends. I love them and have since I was introduced to the Cain Five 1998 blend in 2000. I just thought for some reason I should only be drinking pure 1 grape wines - Cabs, Pinors, Merlots. A lot of the wines, Gary has chosen for his 101 are blends.

I have highlighted wines in this book that are right up my preferred palate and have found others that I'm eager to try that are way out of my comfort zone and I love, love, love that I've gotten a push to do so.

This post could go on and on, because obviously this book has struck a cord with me. Here's the deal though, I really don't know a lot about wines as you can tell, I just know what I like - the tastes. With this book, I now have better parameters when I'm telling the wait staff, Joe at my local liquor store or a wine sommelier what I'm looking for - usually I say I want a peppery blend with a nice finish. Now I will say, I'm an Old World, Eastern Spice, Dark Vader - Dark, full-bodied, OS terrior blend lover.

My favorite element of this book though, is the continuous "people" theme Gary has throughout. It validates what originally drew me to Gary, his caring nature. I'm looking forward to getting to know Gary and wines even better through WineLibraryTV.com.

KC tweetup

2008-06-02T09:45:00.025-05:00

(photo courtesy of @riebschlager)

Kansas City twitterers got together for our maiden happy hour (in Twitterspeak "tweetup") last Friday night. Having conversed over Twitter for months, Friday evening's tweetup was the first time for most of us to meet each other IRL.

It all started with the following tweet from @QueenofSpain:

After a few more tweets looking for a sponsor, Barkley came through. And a week later, we were enjoying each other's company at the first KC tweetup! Mark Logan (@mlogan) and Celeste Lindell (@average_jane) hosted the primordial event at Barkley's Mile High Club and Rooftop Deck. Thank you, Barkley! Celeste, a special mia cuppa to you for your efforts on pulling off a fun evening with such short notice!

About 50 Kansas City locales along with our special guest, power blogger Erin Kotecki (@queenofspain), discussed interactive trends, swapped shop talk and enjoyed putting real faces with twitter ids.

Mingling with other social media passionates was the highlight of the evening for me. It's great to see the interactive pulse is beating strong in the heartland. Youngest and most adorable KC twitterer attending goes to @tatertini hands down.

Here's a partial list of attendees from the RSVP tweets received (I'll add to, as ids come my way):
mlogan
average_jane
QueenofSpain
tatertini
3rdmartini
rabbittini
banky
adamcoomes
joeysvenska
myspyderweb
eH
twig1gy
caylorb
aquariusmoon
worleygirl
cadykansas
jpgardner
mglundgren
kaylovesmusic
marypace
wrytir
katematlock
pprlisa
riebschlager
maryhand
steveruschill
silverzippo
diabolicalpnthr
zenaweist

If you are interested in attending the next KC tweetup (looking for a sponsor as well), please let me know.

Saying Thank You - The Gratitude Campaign

2008-05-04T13:38:00.006-05:00

The Gratitude Campaign, is Scott's quick way to show thanks to any service person you come across:

Pass on The Gratitude Campaign to your friends and family!

SNCR's NewComm Forum

2008-04-30T22:01:00.003-05:00

I'm starting this post out with a little background so the theme of it has some teeth to it. I've been in online marketing for 14 years (gulp, yep, ONE FOUR...no lie.)

I know that dates me, but I wanted to illustrate my years (along with blood, sweat, tears and bounced paychecks) invested in this industry, to let you know that I've had the time to attend several Internet, Web Marketing, and Tech conferences from Internet World to iMedia Summit to ad:tech to ITEC, etc.

And ya know, a conference, is a conference, is a conference with an exhibit hall and parties and some interesting keynotes. Lots of business cards exchanged, some information is relevant, some not - a good excuse to get out of the office and network. Overall for me, I haven't come across a must attend conference. They all kinda blend together.

At the beginning of this year, I spoke with an industry friend, Rick Murray, about my social-media-conference-with-a-slightly-different-lens search: more research based and a focus on conversation not marketing per se. He suggested I check out "snicker," explaining it's an acronym S N C R for a New Comm organization.

And that's how I ended up at last week's Society of New Communications Research's (SNCR) (again, pronounced Snicker) NewComm Forum. Given I'm in brand marketing, I thought this conference might be slanted toward PR or Corp Comm so I had my doubts going in, but Rick knows his stuff and I did asked for different. I definitely got different, but good different in the form of a social media conversational marketing recharge.

There were many tracks to choose from including separate ones for PR and Brand. I jumped around and was impressed with the depth of preparation, the timely case studies and the research findings shared at the sessions.

The keynotes were a mix of presentation, interview-style, and conversation. It was very "un-conferencey" and I know that's a term that's being thrown around quite a bit, but truly for a conference that is focused on research, it was very casual, adaptive and conversational.

The SNCR team lead by Jen McClure worked their booties off orchestrating the entire event flawlessly down to the minute details of introducing new attendees to speakers and tracking down extra drink tickets for the afterhours event.

And saving the best for last, SNCR was my first tweetup! I've heard so many twitterers talk about how amazing and surreal their first time meeting other twitters IRL is. And wow, words can't explain it...it's an overwhelming experience to connect with so many twitter buds at once in person.

I have a few more personal takes on SNCR that I'll save for another post. Bottom line, SNCR's NewComm is definitely my must attend conference.

Twitter Commands - Basic How-tos

2008-04-10T14:09:00.005-05:00

Found this Twitter Command post on Get Satisfaction from Crystal - thank you!

Device Basics: turning Twitter off and on

* ON: turns ALL device notifications on. (device = your phone or IM)
* OFF: turns ALL device notifications off.
* STOP, QUIT: stops all messages to your device immediately

* ON username: turns on notifications for a specific person on your device. For example, ON alissa.
* OFF username: turns off notifications for a specific person on your device. For example, OFF blaine.

* FOLLOW username: this command allows you to start receiving notifications for a specific person on your device. Example: follow jeremy
* LEAVE username: this command allows you to stop receiving notifications for a specific person on your device. Example: leave benfu

Other Fun Commands: there's more to Twitter than OFF and ON!

* @username + message
directs a twitter at another person, and causes your twitter to save in their "replies" tab.
Example: @meangrape I love that song too!

* D username + message
sends a person a private message that goes to their device, and saves in their web archive.
Example: d krissy want to pick a Jamba Juice for me while you're there?

* WHOIS username
retrieves the profile information for any public user on Twitter.
Example: whois jack

* GET username
retrieves the latest Twitter update posted by the person.
Example: get goldman

* NUDGE username
reminds a friend to update by asking what they're doing on your behalf.
Example: nudge biz

* FAV username
marks a person's last twitter as a favorite. (hint: reply to any update with FAV to mark it as a favorite if you're receiving it in real time)
Example: fav al3x

* STATS
this command returns your number of followers, how many people you're following, and which words you're tracking.

* INVITE phone number
will send an SMS invite to a friend's mobile phone.
Example: Invite 415 555 1212

Twitter Tracking Commands

Track a word on Twitter and get all updates containing your chosen word on your device! Note: track is the only command that is device-only. (In other words, you can only track from phone or IM, you cannot track via web or API.)

* track word: starts tracking a word
* untrack word: stops tracking a word
* untrack all: stops tracking all words
* track off: stops tracking all words
* tracks or tracking: returns a list of words you're tracking

Hint: track your user name to get an update when someone sends you an @reply!

Also, Jason took Crystal's list and created a quick reference amply named Tweet Sheet

Super Mario's shot

2008-04-10T08:50:00.004-05:00

Watch and listen to the fans at Allen Field House before, during and after Mario's 3 pointer to tie Memphis and send the National Championship game into OT. Thanks to 1pioneer for posting this video to YouTube. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Free Hugs, Free Products, Freeconomics

2008-04-08T09:22:00.005-05:00

Michelle Miller wrote an excellent post offering up a commercial angel on the Free Hugs YouTube video.

If you are unfamiliar with the premise of Free Hugs, Juan Mann holds a sign up with the words "Free Hugs" as he stands on a corner of a busy intersection in Sydney. What was he after? Direct from his site in his own words, Juan's "sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their live," passing good vibes onward.

As the story unfolds, you see people passing by without looking, a few hugs here and there, then someone breaks the ice and hugs Juan, others join in, some passerbys laughing and joining in with hugging strangers, police ban Juan and his Free Hugs sign, Juan collects 10,000 signatures on his petition and the ban is overruled, and on the video goes with more hugs.

Juan's Free Hug campaign started in 2004 and he's been in Sydney at that same corner every Thursday since giving away hugs. In and of itself the Free Hugs campaign is an excellent story of people's positive interactions with each other, letting your guard down and being rewarded for that measure. It's "feel good" at its authentic finest.

Michelle offers up a commercial approach to the Free Hug campaign. The idea of giving away your product for free. She parallels the Free Hug Video by stating, "If you believe strongly enough in your product or service, give it away for free. In the beginning, no one will believe you. Stick with it long enough, experience breakthrough, and you'll have more business than you know what to do with. And you'll have a band of merry men (and women) who will be your brand evangelists."

With Chris Anderson's recent WIRED article, his book titled FREE and the term freeconomics, free is touted as a major ingredient of a technology company's success. Also, with the two way interaction companies can partake in with their customers online using the robust (free) social media applications we all have at our finger tips, free is a consumer expectation. If you want me to be a brand zealot, what are you going to give me to make it worth my investment, my time, my affinity?

For more details on the Free Hugs Campaign, see wikipedia.
For more information on Michelle, check out her blog.

Good People Day - April 3

2008-04-02T21:35:00.007-05:00

Gary Vaynerchuk, to me @garyvee, is requesting we all get together and chat up the good people in our lives. Watch Gary's video for details.

Pay homage to those that have helped you, the truly good peeps. Take time to reflect on Thursday, April 3rd and say thanks publicly to the good folks in your life via your blog, twitter, facebook profile, pounce, emails, or even IRL (novel idea)... however you want - just communicate out there so the good vibe keeps rolling...think about it, wow what a ripple effect YOU could cause.

The idea of everyone online (even those in the media) talking about good people that do amazing things just because they truly want to help people, instead of sensationalizing, bitching, gossiping, and spreading rumors - even if that could last 1 hour...it would be a wonderous, refreshing moment my friends. Let's take part!

Out with the bad juju and in with appreciation and goodwill!

GPD08 on!

United Nations World Autism Awareness Day - April 2

2008-04-02T10:01:00.008-05:00

The United Nations has declared today, April 2, World Autism Awareness Day.

Wikipedia's definition of autism is:
a brain development disorder that impairs social interaction and communication, and causes restricted and repetitive behavior, all starting before a child is three years old.

Our 9 year old son was diagnosed with high functioning autism when he was 2 1/2 years old. We detected it early. We were lucky to have a wonderful Parents As Teachers advocate helping us track our son's decline in verbal and social skills.

Early detection helps minimize the impact of autism on your child's future. If you are a parent of a baby or toddler, please read Learn the Signs, Act Early.

In recognition of World Autism Awareness Day, CNN is reporting on global impacts of autism throughout the day. On the CNN website, there's a good overview and some helpful links for parents dealing with an autism diagnosis. And for extensive information see Autism Speaks or The National Autism Association.

This is a near and dear day for my family. Please take a moment to help Autism research out (for free) by watching any of the videos posted by families with an autistic child on The Five for Fighting website whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com . Details on how this works are here.

Sprint's Wireless Revolution - What Do You Think?

2008-03-18T22:58:00.006-05:00

Asking for your gut feel on Sprint's latest commercial:

Disclosures: I worked at Sprint over ten years ago. Also, Dan Hesse used to be my current company's CEO.

That said, I don't have a hidden agenda with my question. I'm just curious as to what others think about this ad.

I do think this commercial is authentic Hesse style, literally walking the walk. My quick take away: Here's what makes sense, 1 price for all you do (voice/data agnostic) on your wireless phone.

Nice finish with Hesse's email on the endframe. Transparent. Simple. Relevant. Now. Definitely a departure from Sprint's previous futuristic, light commercials.

Thoughts?

Twitter 101

2008-03-06T08:42:00.006-06:00

My friends, you've been asking for a simple explanation on the ins and outs of Twitter. Here it is. Lee Lefever's quick and easy viddie walks you through the Twitter basics:

Before you hop on Twitter and take it for a spin, check out this great how-to: Newbie's guide to Twitter.

Follow Lee on twitter: @leelefever
Follow me on twitter: @zenaweist

Twitterers: How old are you?

2008-02-21T21:37:00.015-06:00

3/5 UPDATE: The average Twitter age is 37 with 150 responders.

I've been asking twitterers, people that microblog on Twitter.com, to tell me their age. The Twitterverse has been very patient as I've been asking "how old are you?" over and over on Twitter for the last 24 hours.

Why am I asking? Why are twitterers retweeting, aka reposting, the question to their Twitter followers/friends? It started yesterday afternoon.

I was in a qualitative research readout meeting. I, of course, can't give any research specifics as it's a closed project. Thanks for understanding.

We were discussing questions regarding online communications. I voiced my surprise that Twitter wasn't mentioned by any of the participants. The reply was something along the lines of "Twitter is for the young that it takes someone young to get it."

Having turned 40 this year and being an avid twitterer, I was a little taken aback by the youth comment, but heck, I didn't have any Twitter demographic stats. I posted a tweet about my surprise and my friend @kimdushinski responded:

So I posed the question, asked people to retweet it, kept posing it. And the ages rolled in.

Currently, the average Twitter age is 37 with 120 responders.

The youngest age reported so far is 14 and the oldest is 68.

Of course this is just an informal poll, with mostly my followers/friends responding. I know it's not scientific and it's self-reported, but my gut is telling me twitter's average age is in the mid-30s. Several twitterers that direct messaged me agree. Would love your thoughts @ev on twitter's average age.

And the unexpected benefit of asking a question to the twitterverse - new followers. What a wonderful surprise! Thanks to all my new friends for sharing your age with me and helping me out without knowing me. I'm looking forward to staying connected.

Thanks so much to all my Twitter friends that spread the word. A few that are top of mind are @warrenss, @chrisbrogan, @rickmurray, @jeffisageek, @conniereece, @creativesage, @pistachio and @linuxchic - I know I'm leaving out so many - Merci, merci, merci!

I'm going to continue to update the stat as more people send me their age. I'm not going to close the poll, there's no reason to, though I promise not to ask the question again :).

I'm keep you all posted through Twitter. I think we all are microblogging more than blogging these days anyway. More to come - thanks again!

Community sourcing taking crowd sourcing up a notch

2008-02-19T21:46:00.006-06:00

I hear the term crowd sourcing quite a bit when people are talking about social networking experiences. I picture a cattle call when I think of the term crowd sourcing. In my mind, it's an open call out to the masses hoping to get some expert thought on an issue. A shotgun approach. Though it has it's place and can be valuable, to me, it's a sterile, faceless term.

When thinking about the discussions that occur in social networks, when topics are thrown up for discussion on a blog or microblog, crowd sourcing just doesn't give justice to the expertise, kinship, and heart that is woven into the conversation. I have experienced several crowd sourcing events in the online socnet space that are taken up a notch to community sourcing.

I picture a table of friends discussing a topic of interest when I think of community sourcing. Warren Sukernek, @warrennss, helped me with the following community sourcing defintion:

Community sourcing is taking crowd sourcing to the next level: Outsourcing a task to a connected group of people for the benefit of that group.

Thoughts?

iSuperBowl

2008-02-11T21:38:00.012-06:00

Along with 97 million other people, I watched the Super Bowl last Sunday evening. Along with over 200 other people, I tweeted during the Super Bowl about the game and of course the ads.

On the Friday before the Super Bowl, Robert Rosenthal invited all members of the facebook group, What I Saw at the Direct Marketing Revolution,
to join him on Twitter to comment about the game.

Our family had opted out of Super Bowl parties this year, so Rosenthal's invite was a great way for my family to be part of a virtual party and still squeeze in toddler baths, homework and make little one's bedtimes.

So a little before kick-off, I logged into Twitter and saw this tweet from Jeremiah Owyang:

Jeremiah created an easy ad critic rating system and dubbed his experiment “the twitterbowl”.

So my family and I found ourselves evaluating ads on a 1-5 scale. Our kids took turns sitting in my lap or near me watching the Super Bowl conversation unfold on twitter.com. Our 4 yr old asked me to change my twitter profile picture from “a cartoon” (an avatar) to “real” (a photograph.) I’d read them comments and we’d debate other people’s ratings.

I was truly surprised with how engaged I stayed with the twitterbowl. I didn’t venture off, multi-task online (do bills, catch up on email, etc.) as I thought I would. I was glued to the twitterbowl and occasionally looking up at the TV to check out the game and watch the ads. Occasionally, I’d venture to the URL posted with the ad, such as Tide’s mytalkingstain.com (Loved it!), but everything I did online during the game was about the game. For someone with adult ADD, this is a feat.

As posts came in literally seconds apart, I was amazed at the variance in ranking. Commercials I loved, others absolutely hated. Also, during halftime as I was doing laundry, helping kiddos with baths, etc, I carried my mobile phone with me to keep tabs on the twitterati pulse via m.twitter.com on the half time entertainment and ads.

The reason I titled this iSuperBowl is because, this was the most interactive Super Bowl I’ve experienced. Where the pulse was immediate, compelling and twitterati controlled. Of course, I went to the Super Bowl spot’s microsites when there was a call-to-action (did I say how much I loved Tide's ;>); however the true online buzz, from my perspective, was pure community commentary – again another example of
community sourcing, twitterati-style.

To view the results of Jeremiah’s experiment, please see his recap post.

Follow me on Twitter, twitter.com/zenaweist.

why blog? and twitter pack = community sourcing

2008-01-28T21:11:00.000-06:00

Why blog?

For me, it was simple. If I was going to really submerge myself in social media tools then I felt like I needed to start writing about my social media experiences. There's a lot going on and it's overwhelming!

I figured if I started a blog, I could look back at where I began with social media. I could see the steps I was making. Progress would be charted in my words. Maybe I would find my blogging voice along the way (still searching for that:)

And so here it is - Nothin' but socNET. I'm 6 months into authoring my own blog. It's really a journal for me, to keep tabs on what's going on in this crazy, ever-changing environment.

And I'm asking my first question to anyone and everyone that comes across this post.

I need your help with a definition.

Today, I came across Chris Brogan's latest endeavor via his tweet:

The Twitter Pack Project.

and I'm watching the pulse build on this project. It's interesting to see the wiki take shape, the community molding it, the passion unfolding, the voices of many providing their input, the discussions on twitter and Brogan's blog.

Brogan's Twitter Pack Project is a fantastic example of - not crowd sourcing - no, this is well beyond, crowd sourcing - this is community sourcing at its finest.

Define community sourcing with me...help me expand on this post and live the definition along the way. Once we have a definition that we are comfortable with as a good enough starter, we'll post community sourcing on wikipedia.

UPDATE - 1/30
Adding Warren's suggestion from his comments below:
Wikipedia defines crowd sourcing as:
Outsourcing a task to an undefined, generally large group of people.

Community sourcing is taking crowd sourcing to the next level:
Outsourcing a task to a connected group/community for the benefit of that community.

Warren has captured the social networking connection element in his definition that is lacking in crowd sourcing. I picture a cattle call when I think of crowd sourcing. I picture a table of friends discussing a topic of interest when I think of community sourcing.

Thoughts?

Monologue blogging - yawn

2008-01-10T21:36:00.000-06:00

Here's a few examples of monologuing:

1) Blogging without allowing comments. I'm really surprised at how often I come across a blog where comments aren't accepted. Not just corporate blogs but individuals.

2) Blogging, allowing comments, then not responding. So you don't join the conversation, you don't close the loop. You're dissin' your prospects, consumers, prosumers, colleagues, friends - your audience. This blatant sign of disrespect reminds me of the person behind the counter at a retail store that keeps answering the phone instead of waiting on the line of people wanting to actually buy something.

3) Microblogging - say twitter, for example - with lots of followers but following no one. So you are shouting out from your palpit - news your followers couldn't live without - but you aren't joining in on the conversation, you aren't experiencing the vibe to follow where the conversation is. You are interrupting. You are cutting into the fluid conversation and believe me, it's noticed and frowned upon.

4) Microblogging with lots of followers but only follow a few elite industry peers. You are again snubbing your customers. You can't engage if you don't know the pulse.

5) You have a profile on a Social Network Site but the only time you do anything with it is to accept a friend request or check the SNS email. Why are you wasting your time on it? Unless you are actively engaged you aren't going to experience the social aspects of the medium.

There's bloggers like me, we appear to be monologuing because, heck there's not that many comments on our blog. I don't take it personally - some of my posts are only relevant to me. Also, I know it's hard to move from a lurker to a commenter. It took my over 3 years to post my first blog comment, even after I had been a newsgroup junky in the '90s. Sigh, I think I'm just a lurker by nature.

I do know people are reading this blog. My proof? Well, I have Google Analytics so there's some traffic viewing posts. There are a few comments on the blog. Others reach out to me on twitter, facebook or email me directly. I'm very ok with that. I'm looking forward to more comments so the conversation on each topic continues. I guess my point is, I'm not trying to only monologue :).

I've talked with other novice bloggers and we're figuring it out the dialogue recipe as we go. The fact of the matter is we are all branching out. We are all actively engaged in microblogs and commenting on other's blogs. We are hooked in and enjoying being part of the conversation.

A microblogging friend asked me why I started my own blog. And given that laundry and school lunches call, that will be the topic of my next post.

Scoble's profile off Facebook - well, for about a day

2008-01-03T17:00:00.000-06:00

Scoble's explanation of his PLAXO test.

Update: Facebook has turned Scoble's profile back on. PLAXO's POV from Jeremiah's post.

Social networking for social good

2008-01-02T20:51:00.000-06:00

I admit it. I'm a feel good person. I truly believe that when I'm doing good for others, it comes back 100 fold to me. Maybe that's why I'm so enamored with social networking and all the helping voices, hands and hearts I've come across.

I feel extremely lucky to have come into contact with social media mavens that are rocking the social networking scene for social good. There's Beth Dunn, @santaclaus - aka the Provident Partner Elves, Michael Ben-Nes, Chris Brogan, Nate Ritter, Beth Kanter, and Michele Martin - just to name a powerful few.

Chris Brogan is providing 100 useful blog tips - 1 topic a day. There's actually several pointers with each post.

Beth Kanter's blog provides tips for non-profit neophytes to experts on using social media.

Today, I added the Sharing Foundation widget to my blog's sidebar. Beth Kanter and Michele Martin have teamed up to raise funds for the Sharing Foundation in the America's Giving Challenge.

As Michele explains, "The top 8 individuals with the most unique donors for their cause will win $50,000 EACH, while 100 charities will be awarded $1,000 based on the number of donations they receive through the Challenge. The minimum donation of $10 can buy a young Cambodian student a school uniform (so he/she can go to school) and a month's worth of English lessons in the Sharing Foundation's ESL program."

Consider donating $10 to the Sharing Foundation, if you can't donate - please consider passing this message on to others.

Jeremiah's post: Defining Online Community

2007-12-28T14:33:00.000-06:00

As I have become more entrenched in social media over the last few months, I have experienced some fairly impressive social networking moments. Most of events have been wide-sweeping with major buzz to boot, others have been...I guess what you would call little online whispers - very little conversations but the content is extremely important to me.

Some of my non-work related social networking highlights include: receiving an endearing "pay it forward" compliment on facebook; being part of Beth Kanter's amazing efforts with the help of Chris Brogan to raise enough money ($10/contributor) within 24 hours to send a Cambodian woman, Leng Sopharath, to college; helping the fight against breast cancer through Frozen Pea Fridays: experiencing bumrushing the charts for Joseph Jaffe's Join The Conversation; having my nieces and nephew choose to friend me on MySpace and Facebook, being interviewed by Kim Dushinski for her soon-to-be released mobile marketing book; and, yet another moment today with Jeremiah.

This morning Jeremiah set out to define "online community" through a posting on his Web Strategy blog, followed up with twitter dialogue and blog conversation. He is asking the community to hone in on its self-defined term until the definiton "online community" melds into that which it is...real-time.

Community sourcing at its finest.

I'm looking forward to this community-made and endorsed "online community" definition to be posted on wikipedia.

Twitter spreads the word on Frozen Pea Fridays

2007-12-21T13:49:00.000-06:00

Thank you Chris Brogan!

You introduced me to Connie Reece through a post, saying she's a person to follow on twitter. Through Reece and you, I met Susan Reynolds. And now I follow her day-to-day battle with breast cancer through twitter and her Boobs On Ice.

And frozen PEAs have a whole new meaning for me.

The Frozen PEA Fund site has a wonderful video from Connie explaining why the fund was set up.

More details on getting involved:
See the frozen PEA pool on flickr

Connie's post on The Social Media Consortium's every dot connects blog.

A twitter feed to follow PEAple

And of course, Brogan's post on Susan, finding a cure, and the power of social networking in helping people. 2 PEAS in a pod + 2 tweets equals much more than 4.

PEAS on Earth, social media friends!

Social Media Buzzwords and Twitter WOM

2007-12-11T15:04:00.000-06:00

Ah, it's days like today that make me so happy to be part of the everchanging social media landscape.

This morning through Pete Blackshaw's Facebook group, Consumer-Generated Media, Pete directed me to his ClickZ article, "Official 2008 Buzzword Forecast."

Pete is a passionate, enthusiastic speaker; a cutting-edge marketer; and, IMHO a social media guru. He calls it like he sees it (and 9 out of 10 times, he nails the trend at hand) and he is personable, meaning he let's people in - so he's authentic regarding work, play and family.

Yep, and there's no kick back for me on this...I only know Pete through webinars, his blogs, and facebook. I'm touting him only because his blog is relevant to my work and he writes relevant, conversational posts in a way that helps me educate through out my organization without overwhelming.

Anyway, Pete's Buzzword Forecast is a must read and share. He has a pulse on socnet subjects marketers are dealing with, terms we will be using and his defensive brand strategies are spot on.

And another great post of Pete's is his post on Peter Kim's Top 20 Marketing Blogs.

And here's the other 12/11 social media occurrence that I had to write about, Jeremiah Owyang's post on Twitter. Jeremiah's current gig is a Forrester senior analyst and he is best known for his blog, Web Strategist.

In his blog post today, Jeremiah talks about the changes he is experiencing with Twitter. Those that follow me know I'm all about this microblogging utility. Twitter has changed the way I consume media as with many others as well.

Jeremiah tweeted about his post and low and behold, look how many people have commented. Over 200 the last time I checked. It appears his post is so popular his host server is down at this time. Twitter is lagging today as well, maybe it has to do with the Jeremiah buzz as well. WOM is going strong on Twitter today.

On Twitter:
Follow Pete Blackshaw: http://www.twitter.com/pblackshaw
Follow Jeremiah Owyang: http://www.twitter.com/jowyang
Follow me: http://www.twitter.com/zenaweist