Conversation Agent

Power and Collaboration

Orchestrating Collaboration is the title of a talk Ben Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, gave at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year. I read the Zanders' book when it came out, in 2000. It is timeless. Long after we will be done pounding the meaning out of the term conversation, this book will continue to inspire generations of students of The Art of Possibility.

It's very much a business book, I like to think of it as a marketing book. With its many lessons for those of us who are eager to move beyond the mere mechanics of what is, to what could be. When we do not let the cloud of technology and tools overcome our basic needs to seek opportunity, find happiness, and create meaning, we fully embrace the here and now that can take us to what's next.

The Zanders organized the journey into 12 practices. Today, at The Blog Herald, we talk about three marketing lessons we can draw from their work. There are many more ideas. Some thoughts on marketing and communications that build on their practices:

1. It's all invented - marketing programs are often built on media placements and programs. What would happen if you were the media? Increasingly, with the help of social media tools, you may become that. Think opportunities to help your customers learn about what other services you or your partners offer that complement their business, a-la social network personalized content. What else?
      
2. Stepping into a universe of possibility - public relations initiatives become more fun because now you are less worried of being in control, and more open to what may develop. We've talked about the sticky question of ROI on many occasions. How would the obsession with measurement be transformed into the acknowledgment that involvement can lead to influence, and thus purchase consideration? Today, they call it thought leadership. What is real leadership?
      
3. Giving an A - if you could stop worrying about getting a mark and instead found yourself fulfilling a promise, that of your potential? What would you do differently? Would you take on more risks? How would the creation of your marketing be affected? How can you give an A to your team, your customers, your partners?
      
4. Being a contribution - replace creativity-sapping thoughts of competition with ideas on how you can make your business truly valuable. Can you think in terms of contribution?
      
5. Leading from any chair - think of your employees, colleagues, partners, even friends - how can you help them be successful? What steps can you take from wherever you sit in your career and organization, to make an impact for your customers?
      
6. Rule number 6 - ask yourself: what would have to change for you to be completely fulfilled? This is valid also of your program, project, team. This is an incredibly powerful rule, one that tells us to lighten up. There are stories we tell ourselves about the way things are, how they are done, that keep us from fulfilling a goal, creating a connection.
      
7. The way things are - how we speak and think about reality sets the context for what happens, how things unfold. Assess your situation, budget, time frame, what is, and use that point as a springboard for what comes next. This reminds me of the resourcefulness of MacGuyver, he could always fashion a brilliant point forward even when backed into a corner. How can you use what you have?
      
8. Giving way to passion - participate, lean forward, learn, experiment, experience. Passion is the smallest unit you break down into that can permeate your whole being. It's your signature, the expression of your strength - go for it. Your customers will see it, they will want to be near it, and you.
      
9. Lighting a spark - are your contagious? Do you let others light a spark in you?
      
10. Being the board - how can you bring the whole game inside so you can play at home? When we blame the economy, the scarce resources, the lack of time for our ineffectiveness, we are in fact giving up our power to change the game. How can you look at it differently?
       
11. Creating frameworks for possibility - what is your vision? How can you speak of it, own it, use it to invite expression, development, growth?
       
12. Telling the "we" story - you're in it with your customer, without a doubt.   

It takes practice. More than a year ago, I wrote a post on the substance of marketing, in it I conclude - the ancestor of every action is a thought. What are  you thinking about?

[hat tip to Robyn McMaster of Brain Based Biz for the video]

PLEASE NOTE: TypePad is still out of sync with the domain name.

The Kindness of Strangers

I almost lost my head yesterday. There were too many screens open on my laptop, too much work piled on my desk, and too many people suffering from "I need it now" syndrome, and my blog got out of kilter - or as they say in technical terms, something went wrong with my domain mapping. I was the one who got unhinged. It was about lunch break, breaking point for me.

You've been there. When you are juggling three things with your left hand, and you just lost your right hand (my lovely and very capable marketing specialist moved on to a new opportunity), while five matters demand your urgent attention and you are already behind without having even started. That kind of day at lunchtime.

I put out an S.O.S. on Twitter and almost instantly people responded asking questions, checking out my feed, and being helpful. Just listening is being helpful, by the way. Many of the people who took the time off their pursuits to make inquiries, I have not technically met before. Jeff Crites offered a suggestion after checking his own blogs hosted by TypePad, for example. Cam Beck, who I have had the opportunity to read and collaborate with online and met at Blogger Social, checked his blog and my feed as well.

It was David Brazeal who truly went the nine yards; he compiled a quick guide for me and sent it by email. I've exchanged emails with David in the past, commented on his blog on occasion, but I cannot really say we engaged in deep discussions. It is fair to say we are almost strangers to each other. He took the time to reach out and help.

With one exception, I have not met in person any of the people who sent virtual hugs at the end of the day. What I asked was: "Does anyone have a spare hug for me today? I don't ask often, in fact never. I need one just about now. Thank you!"

No, I do not ask often. In fact, I rarely ask for anything - here, or at work. I feel that if people want to give, it's up to them to do so. There are plenty of opportunities to do just that. I find them everywhere I listen. I also find that there is often more kindness in strangers.

1/3, 1/3, 1/3 - Web Presence of the Future

I've been doing some research around the Web presence of the future. In my current capacity, I'm working on a complete rewrite and redesign of a corporate Web site, my fifth major effort for a company. Each project was both exciting and challenging for a variety of reasons.

The content varied depending on the industry - risk management consulting, financial services, Web technology, chemical products, and regulatory. Each time I learned the business cycles, language, and context of an industry to be able to articulate clearly what the conversation was about. My current project is probably the most complex and interesting for a number of reasons - what the organization does spans the gamut of services that are critical to the needs of every business, it is highly technical and lives in a context that changes constantly.

Every one of these projects involved a full user requirements study for the construction of Web architecture and usability that was focused on specific publics, a radical redesign that expanded and in many cases re-posioned the company's brand(s), and a complete rewrite. The tone, the language, the organization of content - everything. This blog is a walk (bare feet) in the park in comparison.

However, I did come to realize that there are many parallels between those Web sites and this blog. The main one, the one I will go into details about in our "how to" session at the Marketing Profs B2B Forum, is that both are organized in thirds:

• 1/3 editorial impact - what the Poetae Novae called labor limae, making the content efficient while still effective; saying enough and not too much, talking about the customer and what they think (or worry) about and offering paths forward to action
  
• 1/3 community building - what in social media we have come to refer to as conversation, engagement, creating the connection; before it does that, it needs to be a space where someone knows our name (outside of Cheers)
• 1/3 marketing principles - the value-based bread and butter of why we buy and how we sell; I could call this positioning, except for there is a lot more to it than that

Digging a bit deeper into the organization in thirds, we are writing the content as a marketing conversation. It starts with you, the customer, and your need, what you are looking for. The structure of the page(s) is build around three simple questions:

• why - what's in it for you, why do you care? This is based upon what the customer has said she wants and needs
• what - exactly what are the technical specifications and details of the information the customer is looking for
• how - this talks to the service (or product) and how it is delivered, what it feels like to go through the process for the customer

It's taking the benefits and making them work really hard on behalf of your customers. This was not invented here, it has been part of the marketing conversation for ages - it may date back to the bazaars, if you ask me. Same principles, different tools.

Yet, many Web sites are still organized around a company's capabilities. Many presentations and proposals revolve around what a company does and how it does it. It is about what the company does as long as it is in relationship to what your customer wants and needs.

If you have a great product, then the customer wants to play with it, learn about what it does, how it does what it does. In the case of an iMac, your customer may be content to just look at it, at how it's built, for example. If that is the case, if that is the sex appeal, what the customer wants, what works, put it front and center.

The Web site of the future may be organized completely in thirds without needing to separate them in a blog, a forum, a customer idea space, and the corporate brochure-ware. Part editorial, part community, and part marketing weaved throughout the site. This is how we do business - through relationships and connections.

[image of the Seven Churches of Santo Stefano, Bologna, one built inside and as an extension of the other]

Can You Push RSS?

You are smiling right about now. You know the answer to that question. Social media was meant to be about our customers (and readers) selecting to receive the content we produce where and when they (we) choose to look at it. There was supposed to be none of that push thing that has so annoyed everyone in marketing 1.0. Or so we thought.

Marketing RSS by placing the icons prominently on your blog and site, or in your email signature are what we'd consider normal. Whenever I am on a site that has good content, the first icon I look for is a variation of the orange symbol with which we have all become so familiar. That is the way we choose to have content delivered to our RSS aggregator, and by doing so, we give the content master permission to populate our feed reader.

Things may be changing in the push direction. It turns out that some are getting away with pushing their content. Right now it is mainly done through email. It works like this: you go to an event, meet dozens of people and business cards are exchanged - although these days if you get my Conversation Agent card it means I already know you or of you. Then everyone gets back to their work and life. A few days later, in pops the first of an avalanche of blogs (how some call blog posts) camouflaged as newsletters in your email.

What do you do? There are several options available to you, most of them with consequences:

• you delete the email without a second thought, but then continue to receive and delete and sooner or later you become annoyed at the sender - and they may never know why
• you tag the email as spam, but then any other message from that sender is also tagged as such - other messages may be not only legitimate, but also welcome
• you unsubscribe to the email, but then you may "offend" the offender - imagine having to explain to someone why you unsubscribed to something you did not intend to subscribe to in the first place

You probably have plenty of examples of similar situations. It is so much better when you have people sign up voluntarily, when they choose to pull your content and give you permission to occupy a space in their reader and day. Why get pushy?

[RSS in plain English courtesy of Common Craft]

Knowing What to Do is Very, Very Different than Actually Doing it

This line concludes the thought on a pretty comprehensive and easy-to-digest list of things that every marketer should know.

Seth wrote it three years ago and like many obvious and somehow hard to do things it is still excellent advice today. Excellent because so few do it.

It may be the knowing vs. doing gap's fault, or it may be the new shiny objects syndrome that has marketers try to reinvent and complicate things all the time.

For the benefit of my readers, I'd like to highlight a couple of his points and add some commentary about each:

• If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. Good marketers realize that it is an investment.

What happens when your budget decreases? Of course your budget is not the end of the world, it's important to have the resources you need to get the work done, to go from knowing to doing, yes. However, there are other ways of going to market with a smaller budget.

They start with the way the business is engineered - if it wraps warmly around the customer, with products and services she values and needs, then you know where your meager budgets go.

ROI is easier to see when it's not there. In other words, when you are not gaining traction, when your company is not even a contender, when you are doing less of the same tired things, only worse: that's when you can see that you have not invested. Investment is in time, too, and can be involvement, and become influence.

• Marketing is not an emergency. It’s a planned, thoughtful exercise that started a long time ago and doesn’t end until you’re done.

Are you all running around with your hair on fire all the time? That is marketing in an emergency - reactive, ineffective, still catching up with your competitors' work. I have sometimes compared marketing to networking, it is best done in a planned, continuous, and - I like the term - thoughtful manner.

When you engage in a marketing conversation, when you open the door to your customers and prospects, you better be a gracious host. When are you done? Are you planning to go out of business? That's when you are done.

From the impression your receptionist gives visitors, to how you conduct meetings, to how you answer the phone, to how you interact with colleagues, to how that transfers over to your external customers - that is all marketing.

• Most marketers create good enough and then quit. Greatest beats good enough every time.

Why do five things badly, when you could choose to do one best? Life is full of choices and so is marketing. The pundits have been saying it for a long time, yet it seems not long enough - it is better to excel at fewer things than to try and boil the ocean. 

Yet I see trade offs being done all the time. I see it in the unexciting materials companies produce. I see it in the lack of editing and polishing that delivers simple, clear, concise stories to the people who are listening. I see it because deep down we know that there is an enormous difference between good enough and great. And that is in the involvement and response (or lack of) it elicits.

[image Rubik's cube from Wikipedia ]

Be a Renaissance Woman: we Are Back to the Middle Ages

Lists don't do it

Not really - even the ones created with the best of intentions can have unintended consequences. Lists don't tell a story, they are merely a compilation of different things grouped with the specific intent of cataloging.

When the list is hierarchical, it highlights at best one characteristic of the items in question thus potentially reducing the intrinsic value or worth (to you) of each to that item's relationship to the others. What happens when there is really no equivalence? You get lost in compilation.

Statistics don't do it

Even though there are more women than men online and women are well on their way in the career realm, women are still under represented everywhere. The truth is that women are catching up to men in school and from there on in most fields.

I look at Gen Y representatives, even at people much younger than that like my niece, who is turning 18 this year, and what I see is the deliberate practice and pursuit of interests as wide ranging as music, chemistry, medicine, jurisprudence, and research. What happens when you consider only the tip of the iceberg? You find that what is and what you believe is are two wildly different realities.

Stories don't do it

The ones with the vested interest in keeping the usual suspects front and center keep things that way. We cannot worry about those. This kind of propagation is akin to taking statements such as "that's the way we do things here," "that has never been tried" at face value. What happens when you take what you think you know as the norm? You miss the future.

We are back to the Middle Ages, when chaos and change where the norm. What we thought we knew is being challenged regularly today. And that is good. From the Middle Ages blossomed the Renaissance, a period of tremendous growth and cultural change. This is a Renaissance were all individuals can find opportunity and meet their possibility, when we let them.

It is in periods of tremendous transformation that old assumptions are challenged. I smile at the thought that it was heresy to put the earth at the center of the universe. Yet, if we do not do that today, if we do not put the earth at the center of our universe, we are in for a surprise and it may not be a good one at that.

Today's polymaths, the individuals who are well educated and excel in a number of fields, those who can do all things they put their mind to, those who understand the textured and interactive process built in modern learning, those who thrive on the human connections that new media tools afford to develop knowledge, physical and mental fitness, social accomplishment and the arts are increasingly women.

Mothers and earth have always had a special connection. Society was matriarchal at some point as a consequence of that connection. Today we do not discount men - we celebrate women. For all they have given and done and all they have still been untapped to do, for we can accomplish much more and we will. Happy Mother's Day.

Words Matter - Upon Trajan's Column

You're looking at the inscription from Trajan's Column, circa 113 A.D.. The person who engraved these letters, the Senate and the People of Rome who dedicated them, and Trajan himself are long since dust. But the words remain.

This particular set of characters happens to be the basis of modern typography: an unintended consequence, but true. Typesetters have long considered Trajan's column to be the gold standard of Roman capital letters. Every printed word in a Western language owes a little something to this bit of Second Century political adulation.

Which goes to show the persistence and power of words -- or, in this case, the mere form of words. This inscription was meant to immortalize a certain Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus for his victory in the otherwise-forgotten Dacian Wars. Instead, it really came to immortalize an idea: one of classical beauty, of the delicate serifs and contrasting strokes which still support the alphabet you are now reading. It's a legacy far greater than quelling some upstart empire on the banks of the Danube.

In our increasingly twitterized world, it's easy to forget the value of words. "Less is more," as communication gets stripped to its barest essentials. Syntax, elegance, and grammar -- all gone, in the service of utilitarian economy.

But just because we're no longer chipping our thoughts into stone, we shouldn't assume their lack of permanence or effect. Our most trivial online musings rarely escape the unblinking, restless gaze of Google and its seemingly limitless virtual libraries of digital storage. It would be fascinating to peer 19 centuries into the future, squinting like some bygone artisan under a hot Roman sun, to see what of our words remain for others. Surely there will be unintended consequences.

How to Attend a Conference

I've attended my share of conferences and events over the years. Whether local professional association gatherings, or one-week long affairs in a remote locale, I found that the best way to get the most out of your money - energy and time - is to prepare in advance.

As I wrote in 5 tips to maximize event attendance, you start with why you are going, do your homework, stay in the present at the actual conference as you meet people, are specific about what you seek, and follow through once you get back home. Preparation allows you to have the desired experience. It also lets others experience you and your brand to the fullest.

Take for example an upcoming conference for marketers in the B2B space that will be held in Boston. Let's say you take advantage of the special discount you can have as a reader/subscriber of this blog and sign up for the Marketing Profs B2B forum, June 9 & 10, 2008.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Use the special code ESPK08 to get $200 off the price of registration - $350 off when you register before May 19. If you live in Boston proper, this is low hanging fruit. Can I persuade you to attend?

____________________________________________________________________________________

1. Why Go?

You want to drive sales and the old ways do not work for you anymore. Doing more of the same - advertising, direct marketing, public relations, promotions, etc. - with less budgets (if you are like me) will not do the trick. In fact, your company may slide if your competitors are funded more generously.

Marketing in tight economic cycles - whether real or hyped - has its challenges. Psychologically, your prospects may have shut down on you. And you have fewer resources to do more. Sometimes less is just less. Those times require a different approach. One that is has more customer intelligence underneath and leaves a better wake behind it.

This is the forum for you.

2. Do Your Homework

Now that you know the value of this event is real, find out who's going to be there. Personally, I am thrilled if I think that my colleagues from other companies are attending. We do not learn in isolation anymore. I was talking with a colleague from a company that operates in a similar field as mine recently and we agreed that the best ideas emerge from collaboration, where passion carries the conversation and information is free flowing. That is the whole point of open source.

By far the easiest group of people in attendance to figure out are the speakers. Follow that link and see for yourself. This is quite a line up. Let me introduce you to a few people from my network: 

• Marketing Profs Ann Handley, who is an amazing writer, editor and contributor; 
• Crayon's Greg Verdino who will walk everyone through the essence behind how to stay current with trends to support your business acumen;
• CrossTech Media's Chris Brogan who will talk about social media and sales leads;
• Author and PR professional David Meerman Scott who will talk about word-of-mouse marketing;
• Crayon's Consigliere Scott Monty will be on a panel with Lewis Green and Robin Carey moderated by Paul Dunay titled "Is Social Media Harder for B2B vs. B2C?";
• I will talk about making your Web site sticky without raising eyebrows - you can use social media strategies and tactics to have a marketing conversation with your customers without calling them such, maximize your exposure, and put your company in its favorite spot, that of customer engagement.

3. Stay in the Present

As these things go, I know it is very tempting to multi task by holding two or more conversations - one with yourself in your head, one with the speaker and group, and potentially one on Twitter or your blog. Increase your learning potential by delaying that kind of gratification and join the flow that develops in the room. By staying present both at the sessions and with the individuals you meet, you actually learn and accomplish more.

You can find out what you have in common, what the other person is looking to accomplish, what they need - they could be potential customers, you never know. Staying present will give you a tremendous advantage - that of being remembered as attentive and involved. You engage by being engaged.

4. Be Specific About What you Seek

Ask questions, participate, share, stay focused. Rehearse as necessary, too. I have this exercise where I visualize my objectives, flesh them out in my mind, and prepare enough to be able to articulate what I want/need with ease. Then I can adapt to the environment in which I am. How specific should you be? I have gone as far as having business cards imprinted with that message in the back.

Imagine you are at a social mixer and everyone will be asking you for your top three goals. What are they? The more specific, the greater assistance you will receive.

5. Follow Through

Remember to keep your promises. I can count the people who do that on the fingers of one hand. That is great news for you. The easiest way to organize your follow through is by taking notes on the back of the business cards you collect from the individuals you meet. I make notes after the conversation so I can make eye contact and stay present during it. If I have wait time before catching for a train or a flight, I enter all contact in my electronic organizer and begin to sketch out my action items.

Regardless of your method, staying in touch is much easier right after you have opened a communication channel with someone than it is months later.

These are my why, what and how, what are yours? Will I see you in Boston June 9 & 10? In that case, let's meet here and now so we can greet each other and continue the conversation then.

Are You a Social Capitalist?

Heath Row joined the Fast Company team in July 1997 as an associate editor (more on his profile on LinkedIn). The Company of Friends, Fast Company's readers network, launched in October 15, 1997.

... after I realized that the connection people felt to the periodical was similar to the connection folks feel with other people -- and readers started approaching us asking to be introduced to other readers (I didn't know about the latter at the time). The basic idea behind the readers network was that people who resonated with the key themes of the magazine -- innovation and change -- should know other business leaders who connected with the same concepts in their home towns.

If you insist on some stats, since 1997, almost 45,000 people have joined the Company of Friends, which in 2005 comprised about 200 local chapters and online special interest groups. The Company of Friends at the time, and probably still now, was the only multi-industry and -practice professional association connected to a magazine in the world.

That's how we met. Heath's official title was Social Capitalist. What does a Social Capitalist do? I reached out to Heath last night to find out. Here's what he said (emphasis mine):

I chose the title Social Capitalist for several reasons.

One, I was inspired with the body of work surrounding social capital -- the value of personal relationships in the workplace.

I was also inspired by purpose-led community organizing such as that exemplified by the Quakers, Robert Putnam (in his book Bowling Alone), and network-based creative endeavors such as mail art, tape trading, and punk rock.

Thirdly, I've long been interested in left-leaning politics, and the idea that society could be organized around a capital that was more than monetary was appealing.

A social capitalist does three things well.

1. She makes sure that the right people meet each other at the right time to create the most value collectively.

2. She does all of her work tapping into her personal network in order to benefit from the group mind, collective skills, and shared knowledge available to her.

3. She does so in such a way that shares a model and set of practices that other people can learn from and use to do the same themselves.

As we hear more and more about bloggers on the corporate side, I wonder if organizations realize that these individuals do hold a lot more than just the responsibility to the dialogue with customers (and employees). Social media tools actually enhance this intrinsic value of personal relationships across the organization and outside its walls.

These relationships have the power to inspire meaning and purpose that goes beyond messaging to the organization of work through the creation of community. Some companies are beginning to think about harnessing the creative juice that is generated in the exchanges made by the communities. Which in turn can become experiences worth having by employees and customers that feed back into the purpose of the community.

I've often asserted that relationships cannot be "managed", instead we can build upon them. Heath articulated the skills you want in such a person - a connector is also a social capitalist.

Are you a social capitalist? Is there one in your network?

What's Your KOOZA?

I just bought tickets to go see KOOZA. In researching what the story is about, I discovered that in KOOZA, Cirque du Soleil tells the story of The Innocent, a melancholy loner in search of his place in the world.

From the site: KOOZA is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil: It combines two circus traditions – acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor.

Many of the Cirque shows remind me of journeys. The Innocent's journey brings him into contact with a series of comic characters. This contact no doubt will result in experiences for both the character and us, the audience. In anticipation for another feast on the language of movement, I thought it fun to imagine some possibilities for the types in the story:

• the King - this is one of the most fascinating images in the history of tales. For a medieval history buff like me, King can take so many forms. I think of King Lear and the transferal of identity in the connection between the King and the Fool. The King can be a benevolent and magnanimous character, or he can be a real ass, depending on the circumstances. Straight from legend, King Arthur was the former. King of the Hill, Burger King, Mattress King, the noun lives on. And so does the metaphor - living like a king.
     
• the Trickster - a less than flattering term. While nobody would take that name, we sometimes feel cheated in our experience, tricked into a situation, or into thinking something that is not. Tricks can also be acts of magic. By and large we do not think of them that way.
     
• the Pickpocket - rarely do we think as a hand in our pocket as being a good thing. This and the previous character are in fact the Cat and the Fox in Pinocchio (Carlo Collodi). Classic characters introduced to create the conflict in the story.
     
• the Obnoxious Tourist and his Bad Dog - the antithesis of The Innocent. Another really popular character in old tales and sometimes a less popular character in cities and places around the world. It is how the journeyman responds to the taunts and influences of this type and his side-kick that will carry him to the end of the tale.

Like every strong story, this one promises to weave itself between strength and fragility, laughter and smiles, turmoil and harmony - touching every human emotion in a way that leaves plenty of room for the imagination of the individual to fill in the blanks. The set will be visually stimulating and appeal to the auditory sense, but it will be the surprises, the turns, the audacity of the visuals and sounds that will evoke total involvement.

As it provides an experience, KOOZA brings together and explores some timeless themes: fear, identity, recognition, power. We buy, our customers buy, on the strength of some basic emotions and desires: love, hope, and fear. Which industry are you in, and what's your story?

The TED Talks Model

$6,000 to attend, invitation only, and the best of is accessible to anyone with a computer and an online connection, for free. These are the TED talks. TED is for technology, entertainment, and design, and it stands for much more than that - the power to connect the world.

Call it inspiration, breakthroughs, information, innovation, storytelling, predictions, and many other things - what was and what's next is content. Delivered with passion and care by many of today's global top thinkers and doers.

An aside on the term "global." As an adjective, global means of the globe, literally. Associated with the noun "thinker" it means expansive, inclusive, who pushes the boundaries, works at the edges, connects, illuminates.

Want more value? How about the 200-page scrapbook Autodesk compiled of the 4-day event? Sketches, illustrations and idea maps of the talks are included in an easy-to-download PDF, indexed by speaker, topic and connections. Yes, Jill Bolte Taylor is there, too. Why did Autodesk go through the trouble of creating all this good content for free?

Autodesk is committed to fostering design innovation through technology as a means to solve many of today’s global problems, and believes that visualization allows for the conceptualization and collaboration of design solutions prior to the digital design process.

Would you use Autodesk as a result of their commitment to this conference and to the principles that allow the organization to provide value to you?

In addition to content, which has helped build its community, TED promotes two important assets - talent and resources. It supports those who are gifted to grant them one wish to change the world, which leads to collaborative initiatives with far-reaching impact.

The other two sponsors of TED Talks are BMW, stemming from the company's passion for technology and design, and Nokia, on the strength of its shared mission to connect people across the globe. These are not just "a word from your sponsor" situations, they are opportunities to join the conversation through shared values. I've touched upon this in many posts.

Through this partnership with TED, Autodesk, BMW and Nokia are not repurposing content, they are helping create anew. They are doing so for themselves (their values through products and services), and for you (free access to content and community). This is what we still call win/win, and/and, best of both worlds - or how about a better world for all?

I call this the TED Talk model because it is the "how" where I hope we can take marketing next. Think this can be implemented only by large companies with deep pockets? Think again. The only thing that stands between you and your opportunity is the willingness to seek and find - what your values and mission are, and your community - how you can go to market by context building. The first community a company has is that of its employees.

For BMW, it's sustainable mobility, which led also to the Club of Pioneers.   

For Nokia, it's connecting people around the globe, which led also to the collaboration with Pangea Day.

For you, it's ___________________ fill in the blank, today.

[still from video from Italy plays Tibet]

Judge a Magazine by Its Cover

"New technologies do not erase the enduring strengths of magazines to build brands, to tell powerful narratives and to define the national conversation." 

[Landon Jones, former managing editor of Money and People - hat tip to Andy Nulman]

What makes a magazine stand out? Take a look at any rack at a bookstore and you will know - its cover. Of course, it's not about the image itself, it's about the story the image (and layout) convey.

I've given you a selection of covers to provide some diversity here. You may grab more at the site of the American Society of Magazine Editors, and Time for starters. There are so many narrative tools one can employ to design a conversation with an image - illustration, photographic treatment, optical illusion. The most memorable covers sum up the story inside by connecting with you at the emotional level:

• evoking memories
• presenting the unexpected
• painting a scenario
• zeroing in a subject
• doing the opposite
• provoking a visceral reaction
• surprising, etc.

These covers are designed to tell a very specific story, yet they leave themselves open to your interpretation and participation. The simpler, the more complex the narrative they symbolize. If I had to take an educated guess, I'd say that the most powerful covers (and narratives) are the brainchild of one visionary, or the collaboration of a team of specialized professionals each complementing and building upon - and not stifling - the other.

This also applies to your corporate brochures, Web sites, tech sheets, presentations, speeches, memos, letters. Do you want to stand out? Then stand up and make a bold move. Outstanding is the opposite of conforming.

90 Minutes on Social Networks

Last week, I participated in a social media panel at the Main Line Chamber of Commerce, in Wayne, PA. The event was the brainchild of Skip Shuda, founder of Team and a Dream.

I have known Skip since 2001, when I worked with him at a technology startup. He is an amazing resource for all things start-up, with deep knowledge of artificial intelligence. He knows how to use new technology to enhance the growth and profit potential of early stage software, service, and technology companies.

We had a conversation with Skip here one year ago where he offered to help  you find out - what kind of entrepreneur are you? Skip blogs at The Cheap Revolution and if you listen to the podcast here, you will hear his passion for social media.

Stuzo.com co-sponsored the panel, and Gunter Pfau from Stuzo.com talked about Facebook as a platform for applications. He has grown his application to 1M users per day. This part fascinated me, as I am not as familiar with Facebook, and I know I will get together with Gunter to learn more. He believes that we should not build islands, we should go where the people are. We have very similar ideas about where digital marketing is going.

I talk about blogging, and mention Twitter, where I tend to spend a lot of time. My main points are using content to harness the knowledge of an organization, establish credibility in the marketplace, show people how you process information and problem solve. Tools are the room in which you hold the conversation, but there is no point being there if your customers are not there, too.

Ed Callahan was the third panelist. Ed has developed a deep knowledge of LinkedIn for business use and speaks frequently about the social networking tool. Here, he talks about creating a digital brand, trust, and why he adds only the people he knows to his network.

When I heard myself I noted that I need to slow down and enunciate more not to use so many "filling" sounds. The podcast is 90 minutes long. Now go get your favorite drink and snack, and enjoy. There are lots of good nuggets along the way. Two notes: the audio may be low and some of the questions did not come through in the recording.

Today at The Blog Herald I talk about how you can use LinkedIn questions to generate content ideas. Whether you are getting started, or going through a dry spell, you can use ideas from what the business community is thinking about to establish yourself as someone who can provide compelling content.

What social networks are you on and why?

Comcast Cares on Twitter

It looks like Comcast is learning to have customer conversations. That is extremely good news. I found Frank Eliason (yes, he is real) on Twitter last night as I was catching up with my network. I added Frank's stream to the ones I follow because I was curious to find out more.

What I have seen so far is pretty bold:

• specific troubleshooting
• email resources - helping people with some changes they've made in the way their servers handle mail
• live modem diagnostics
• information on new features
• a human voice, apologizing for snafus, even admitting "I do not know" and hopefully going to find out

Last August I wrote a post at Fast Company expert blogs about Comcast that got a lot of comments. The post was voicing how a huge organization has tremendous difficulty dealing with customers, even through the channels they designated - namely a simple address and name change request and inquiries about pricing. Those are the basics of business, the things you should have down path. Things that could have been fixed easily, yet they were not.

Given the very strict spam filter the publication had in place at the time, I did not see the comments appear until recently. If you glance over there, you may notice that many of the readers joined the conversation to talk about their own experiences with the cable company - overall not positive. I know Comcast was listening, because I did get my information fixed eventually, so this is a good opportunity to share that.

Interestingly, one person took the time to add their two cents not about the topic, but about the writer. If you've been online for any length of time, you will know that is par for the course. I am ready to believe they were not a plant from the company. If you read the comment, you will see why.

It is my custom to address concerns, and the publication has now moved to a different system that does not allow me to reply to comments there, so I thought I'd address it here. It is so refreshingly constructive and illuminating - it really does speak about the person who left it. My response, albeit a few months late in coming:

To the Genuinely Underwhelmed dude -

If you were so genuine, you would have signed with your name. As for underwhelmed - well, you made some pretty false assumptions. Fast Company does not pay me; as a matter of fact, I buy their magazine. So you might call me a customer evangelist, a fan, a volunteer.

My writing reached you, and that is a lucky break for someone like me with a doctoral degree in linguistics. "Cutting-edge" is a pretty overused expression - want to try something more... innovative? I might learn from you. And I mean that with sincerity.

Judging by many of the other comments on that post, it looks like actually doing right by the customer might be innovative for Comcast.

The company's recent (looks like April 6, 2008) move on Twitter is a step in the right direction - that of customer conversations. There are a lot of positives that can happen when people choose to talk, especially when they are genuinely involved and committed to making a difference.

I suspect that Frank will soon become overwhelmed by requests and questions - that is because he is making it easier to reach the company through him. Overwhelmed is preferable to underwhelmed. Underwhelmed means you are not even trying.

Ten Ideas for Conversation

Social media is, well, social. Interaction is part of the experience and expectation. If this is your first blog or foray into the scene, you are probably going to be doing a lot more of the work than those individuals or companies that have an established presence. And by presence I mean "voice" - what they bring to the table as evaluated and valued by the people they interact with.

Is conversational marketing just the engagement of social media by a corporation to promote their product and brand? Many seem to think so. Even when your tone of voice is lower than a shout, there is a lot more to the conversation than just promotion. In fact, I can think of at least ten ideas. 

1. It's about how what we say and do connects with the person in the room with us. We are not nearly as clever and interesting as we'd like to think. Most behaviors and ideas spread through populations because of what the members of the populations do or think or say in response to each other. Mark Earls thinks this is what Cluetrain meant when they talked about markets being conversations.
2. It's an ongoing experience, you are never done. And you are probably judged just on the last interaction, although there is significant capital you can count on when you invest in having the interaction in the first place. We are all moving very fast these days. At times our paths cross just like ships in the night.
3. It's still wise to know what you're about and the value(s) you bring. In marketing we talk about value propositions all the time. These are the benefits you bring to the table, as seen by your customers. Rick Becker talks about a bell curve between company-speak and customer-speak. The truth, and value, is often somewhere in between, where the conversation takes place.
4. It's the expectation that something will happen instantly that changes dynamics. The truth is that nothing may happen for a long time, before something happens. On the other hand, there are many things happening behind the scenes. Thinking is shifting, even your posture is, as you experiment with formats and rhythm.
5. It's a way to stimulate your innovative juices. Think about it. How often do you get stuck in one way of looking at an issue, one use for a product, or service. When you put the idea out there, all of a sudden, new possibilities materialize. You may even gain enough momentum to refine your new use. Seth Godin writes: pushing an idea through the dip of acceptance is far more valuable than inventing something that's never existed... and then walking away from it.
6. It's more than talk, it's the action that follows. I would not want to give you the impression that conversation means just talk, although talk can change our lives. Jake McKee posts about an apology by Southwest Airlines. The tone is in their signature style, the action follows the words.
7. It's how allowing yourself to be out there enriches what you do in here (your business). In fact, by being immersed in the conversation, you may forget what you thought you knew, and get to see things from a new angle. Roger von Oech writes about how we should practice forgetting to have insights.
8. It's not a distraction, it's an investment. Many do not see it that way because it seems like an unnecessary drain of resources and time. You make an investment in learning from others while staying centered in what you're about.
9. It's a reason to move faster from creativity, to creation. Stephen Denny said it best - it's not about delivering interesting stuff against pre-established deadlines. It's about becoming the producer of original content that adds value to the conversation. If you have been using social media, you know what we are talking about. In the rare instances in which you are in an advanced marketing strategy role, you may know what this means, what it feels like. It's about packaging an idea in a truly compelling fashion and selling it so that people want to buy your service, or product.
   
10. It's the surest path to grow your business. Co-creation has been around for a little while. It is only now that we are beginning to see some headway on results. Mick Stravellin talks about how co-creation is the way forward. It is like opening the big ivory tower big companies seem to live in. Conversation may allow you to take your business to where growth is next.

There is so much more to conversation than just promotion. Conversation is how ongoing value(s) instantly stimulate action allowing investment to grow. It starts with you.