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Arianna Huffington: The Iraq War is McCain’s Viagra

May 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Here is an awesome Stephen Colbert interview with Huffington Report co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Authors+Books, Media, Politics, Video

Webby Awards Winner’s Gallery

May 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The Webby Awards, the leading international award for internet greatness, has a sweet Winner’s Gallery.

The gallery was designed as a fun and interactive way to see all of the Nominees and Winners from the 12th Annual Webby Awards and includes links to the work and the ability to filter entries a number of ways. For instance, the “trends” filter shows entries with the top 7 tags entered by users during the People’s Voice voting. And the “Winner Type” tab allows you to select from Webby Winners, People’s Voice Winners and Nominees.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Design, Links, Marketing, Media, Public Relations, Social Media, Technology

Two Case Studies Demonstrating the Power and Speed of Social Networks

April 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment

As a marketing professional, I quickly understood the potential of social networking platforms like Twitter, YouTube, Digg, Facebook, Flickr, and blogs. However, many friends, family and professionals still find it difficult to fully grasp their power, capabilities or uses.

For those who don’t “get it,” I have two practical and personal case studies that shed light on the speed, reliability and benefits of social networks:

Case Study No. 1 // Earthquake – Friday morning (April 18), shortly before 4:40 a.m., my wife and I suddenly awoke to our entire house shaking! The walls, bed and dressers were all rattling and continued to shake for a good five seconds after I was fully awake.

I quickly turned on the alarm clock radio, which was set to WGN 720 AM.

No news.

Being from the Chicago suburbs where tornadoes are the natural disaster of Mother Nature’s choice, I never suspected earthquake, so I leaped out of bed and circled the house looking for what caused the shaking. I thought the house was about to blow up!

By 4:50 a.m., I was in front of my computer checking news sites. Still nothing. I turned on WGN’s streaming radio and still nothing. I remembered Matt Dickman’s Micromedia presentation and how he referenced the quick Twitter responses to the Minnesota bridge collapse, so I checked Twitter, a free social networking and micro-blogging service. So, I checked Twitter.

Sure enough… the first message I read was from a St. Louis user who exclaimed EARTHQUAKE!?

A quick search found dozens of Twitter messages already posted about the earthquake - the first I could find was from @safetyguy1656 at 4:40 a.m. CST, only three minutes after the quake was officially documented by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Adding reliability, many of the twitter posts (”tweets”) included links to the United States Geological Survey website with information about a then-reported 5.4 magnitude tremor (later confirmed 5.2). My wife and I were both glued to Twitter for the next 20 minutes, exchanging messages with fellow members to get the latest info and “eye witness” reports. here are what some of the messages looked like:

As we read Twitter, WGN finally reported the quake. Twitter had scooped Chicago’s “superstation”… and by nearly 10 minutes! According to fellow Twitterer (a Twit?) @badgergravling, Twitter and Wikipedia had scooped mainstream media (MSM) for a recent UK earthquake, Heath Ledger, etc. And, according to Matt Dickman, Twitter announced the Minnesota bridge collapse almost 45 minutes before MSM.

Thanks to the instant emergency information gratification of Twitter, I’m hooked.

Case Study No. 2 // Tricia – A few weeks ago, my family was shocked to hear that my sister, Tricia, was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer. We knew it was serious when the doctors immediately scheduled her for bilateral mastectomy surgery.

With no history of cancer, this hit Tricia and our entire family hard… and with absolutely no warning. Needless to say, it was and still is very scary.

Days after the diagnosis, friends and family asked how they could help. With Tricia’s permission, I created 4tricia.com to give people ideas and help raise a few extra dollars to offset the giant costs associated with battling breast cancer (i.e., medical expenses related to surgery, hospital care, doctors visits, prescriptions as well as wigs/headwraps, travel, lost work time, etc.). As a blog, 4tricia.com also serves as a therapeutic writing outlet for Tricia to share her progress and feelings.

With the family in a state of emergency, I asked Tricia if she wanted me to share her story with my network of blogger friends. I explained it would reach thousands of altruistic people around the globe. She agreed as she thought it was more important to share her story and raise awareness than keep private. Plus, the fact that it hit a young, 30-something with no family history of cancer may help open some eyes and push people get get more regular check-ups.

Two days before Tricia’s double mastectomy, I sent out a distress signal via toddand.com and a personal email to several friends and family.

“I’m asking for your thoughts and prayers this weekend,” I said. “And if you have a dollar or two to spare, your contributions would be greatly (greatly) appreciated.”

I posted the message and sent the email just around midnight, just before I went to bed. When I woke up six hours later, the signal had been heard by many and echoed across Twitter and several other blogs.

Within 10 hours of launching the website and sending an email, we had 10 donations.

Within 72 hours, we had more than 60 contributors and about $6,000 had been raised! Donation amounts ranged from $5 to $500!

The prayers, well-wishes and donations came from all over the world – Australia, Iceland, Belgium, England, Canada and across the United States.

What made this outpouring of support unique and so completely amazing to my entire family was that 1) it was so unbelievably quick and generous, and 2) it came from people we had never met face to face. I explained to my family that, by blogging, I am part of a close-knit community of like-minded professionals who are willing to help fellow bloggers at a moment’s notice.

Thank you to those who quickly wrote about or pointed to Tricia’s website and helped raise prayers and dollars: Todd Defren, Kami Huyse, Shannon Whitley, Connie Reece, Melissa, Scott Baradell, Leo Bottary, Drew McLellan, Kristie Wells, Gavin Heaton, Steve Woodruff, Susan Reynolds, Lani Anglin-Rosales, Joel Postman, Karl Long, Karen Swim, Dan Mosqueda, Brendan Cooper, Sally Whittle, Brian Solis, Scott Monty, Douglas Karr, Bob Mertz, etc.

As Tricia said in an update post, “Your unending prayers, words of support and encouragement, and generosity are what keep me going and have touched me in a way words cannot express. To simply say ‘thank you’ doesn’t seem like near enough.”

While my family probably still doesn’t fully comprehend social networking and blogs, they are now completely aware of the power and responsiveness of the community. Whereas before my parents would have likely just smiled-off any mention of “blogging,” now their ears perk up with keen interest at any mention of the word. For instance, my dad recently clipped and gave me a magazine article about blogging.

To incentivize the 4tricia.com fundraising (which clearly wasn’t needed), I said I’d raffle off four prizes to those who donated more than $1 in the first week. Those winners are: Leigh Householder (Power 150 t-shirt), Scott Baradell (4tricia t-shirt), Merredith Branscombe (Power 150 pen) and Brendan Cooper ($25 iTunes gift card). Please email me your snail mail addresses and I’ll get the prizes in the mail asap. Thanks!

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Blogging, Educational, Marketing, Media, Public Relations, Social Media, Strategies+Tactics, Technology

Social Is The New Search

April 16, 2008 | 4 Comments

Popular Mechanics has an interesting article titled “How Social Networking Could Kill Web Search as We Know It.“

According to the venture capitalist friend of reporter Glenn Derene, “search, as we know it, is dead.”

In a nutshell: As we continue to populate our Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts, building bonds with like-minded users, people will turn to their networks rather than search algorithms for information. According to the article, “the people in your online social network should know you better than a mathematical equation, right?”

Check out the whole article, but here is one noteworthy paragraph:

But what may turn out to be the strongest signal of all is the footprint you make with your online identity. Consider how much information you voluntarily provide on your Facebook profile. Now imagine if you could combine that with your Netflix renting and Amazon buying habits. Then throw in the suggestions of your friends and the pages you visit the most often. All those various sources of information about you are currently stored in different locations—on your computer’s browser history, on your Facebook page, on the servers for Netflix and Amazon—but just imagine how accurate a search could be if every time you had a query, the mass of data about you that exists on the Internet could inform the results. (Google and Yahoo already do this to a limited extent by tracking your search history to refine results, and surely startups will try.)

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Educational, Management, Marketing, Media, Public Relations, Social Media, Strategies+Tactics, Technology

Power 150 in Wall Street Journal

April 16, 2008 | 4 Comments

I woke up to an email from Scott Baradell (of Spin Thicket fame) informing me that the Power 150 made The Wall Street Journal. Here’s a short excerpt from the article:

Small businesses looking to pitch their products or services to influential blogs have some help these days.

A host of Web sites and free tools are allowing companies to find out who the top bloggers in their industry are, what they are writing, and how readers are responding. Being informed about what is being said can help a small business craft a pitch that will garner the attention of both the bloggers and readers.

Some Web sites list the most influential blogs in a specific industry. For example, AdAge Power150, run by Advertising Age magazine, shows the top media and marketing blogs, while eDrugSearch.com’s HealthCare100 ranks the top English-language health-care blogs.

UPDATE: Check out Mr. Baradell’s flattering tribute. Thanks, Scott!

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Marketing, Media, News, Power Profiles, Public Relations, Social Media, Technology

RSS, Printers, Comedy and Twitter

April 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Seven Tips for Making the Most of Your RSS Reader (ReadWriteWeb)
“RSS is a big deal, as anyone who’s subscribed to even a few feeds probably knows. Once you get past just a few feeds, though, it can quickly get overwhelming. RSS can leave you feeling inadequate, brain-dead and uninspired.”

Newspaper Vendors Worry About Downturn (AP)
“As newspaper publishers build up their online operations and struggle through an advertising slump, one group is worried about being left behind — the folks who make printing presses and other equipment used to make newspapers.”

The 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of All Time (Nerve.com)
“But of the sketch comedy that remains viewable, this is some of the best. Is the list definitive? That’s for you, the audience to tell us. And we’re sure you will, loudly and angrily. Before you do you, though, remember: it’s comedy. Best not to overthink it.”

How to Get Customer Service via Twitter (ReadWriteWeb)
“But what we wanted to find out is which companies are using Twitter for customer service? And how can you get a company’s attention via Twitter?”

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Humor, Links, Media, Social Media

Grand Opening: 250,000 Square Feet of News

April 11, 2008 | 1 Comment

The Newseum opens today in Washington, DC and features 250,000 square feet of news history, technology and hands-on exhibits. As a historic newspaper collector and news junkie, I will definitely be making the pilgrimage to the Newseum before I die.

According to newseum.org, the Newseum features seven levels of galleries, theaters, retail spaces and visitor services. It offers a unique environment that takes museum-goers behind the scenes to experience how and why news is made. Here is a great video tour:

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Educational, History, Media, News, Video

Chicago’s Best Blogs

April 10, 2008 | 3 Comments

The Chicago Tribune just profiled me as one of Chicago’s Best Blogs. Like Ad Age and the Power 150, this is a nice traditional/social media crossover, and I’m discovering lots of fellow Chicago-based bloggers.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Design, Marketing, Media, News, Public Relations, Social Media, Technology

The Story of Journalist Henry Stanley, I Presume

April 2, 2008 | 3 Comments

The story of journalist Henry Stanley starts out with Dr. David Livingstone. Livingstone traveled to Africa in 1840 as a missionary/explorer/physician and spent most of his adult life traveling the continent. “In 1866, Livingstone set out at the head of an expedition charged with the task of finding the headwaters of the Nile River. His lack of contact with the outside world over a period of four years raised concerns for his welfare,” according to Eyewitness to History.

As a publicity stunt, New York Herald Publisher James Gordon Bennett, Jr. sent explorer and journalist Henry Stanley to find what he termed “the lost” Dr. David Livingstone in the middle of Africa. Stanley went to Africa and, with the help of natives, did find Livingstone and began sending reports back to the Herald, according to historian and newspaper collector Mark Mitchell.

According to Wikipedia, Stanley found Livingstone on November 10, 1871, in Ujiji near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania, and greeted him with the immortal, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” Wikipedia goes on to say:

This famous phrase may be a fabrication, as Stanley has torn out the pages of this encounter in his diary[3] Even Livingstone’s account of this encounter doesn’t mention these words. However, the phrase appears in a New York Herald editorial dated 10 August, 1872 and the Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography both quote it without questioning its validity.

Unfortunately, Wikipedia got the New York Herald issue date wrong. The first report actually ran on July 2, 1872. Click the image above to enlarge the masthead. In this extremely rare issue, a giant map of equatorial Africa is included with the inside headlines “LIVINGSTONE” and “Herald Special from Central Africa.” Within the giant story is the famous quote “Doctor Livingstone, I presume?” According to Mitchell, he has only seen two of these issues in 30 years of collecting.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Educational, History, Media, Newspaper Collecting

Age of Sharing Industry Secrets, Manifestos, Tactics, Tragedies and More

March 27, 2008 | 3 Comments

In 2007, more than 100 authors - from 10 countries and four continents - joined forces to write The Age of Conversation, a book about emerging media and marketing. I was one of those co-authors.

Social Computing Magazine called it an “e-blockbuster.” Business Week said “Little did we know that social media would soon begin to tie us together digitally in ways that we are only just now beginning to understand. That’s why a new book called The Age of Conversation may be important to comprehending what’s going on in our society, economy and even polity today.”

If you don’t own a copy of the original, please consider ordering one this Sunday, March 29 from this Amazon link. Dozens of bloggers around the net are promoting that purchase date in order to push the book up the Amazon charts. As a reminder, all book proceeds go to Variety, the children’s charity.

In 2008, the sequel will hit the shelves. This time, nearly 300 authors - experts of all walks - will collaborate on what will likely be the most massive authorship undertaking in history. We’re talking Guinness Book baby! I’m honored to be participating again.

The sequel’s theme is “Why don’t they get it?” and will include manifestos, secrets, transitions, tactics, ideas, tragedies, business concepts and life stories. Stay tuned for more updates. In the meantime, here are the 275 co-authors:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem