Shameless Plugs

It has been a while since I have done one of these, so with so much going on, it seems like a good time to do one.

Let me start with a few “house cleaning” items, in no particular order. I will do them in list form, as… well.. people like lists.

-I want to thank everyone who voted for me, tweeted and shared my video  To Be Ashton’s VP of Pop Culture“. I do mean that. As  so many of people took part like, my family, friends, kids school, the Twitter community, my Facebook Community, my Blog community, folks at SXSW and so on.

- Being one of the top 3 allowed me to meet some amazing people like Jessie Csincsak from the Bachelor.  Jessie and I ave actually become “buddies for life” as he put it. I have also gotten to talk to  Diane Mizota an actress from such things as well.. here  you’ll recognize her:

-Then there is of course the  Twitter king himself Ashton Kutcher. I got to spend sometime with him on the phone. He was a pleasure to talk to and seemed really easy going.  This is the week that popchips team and Ashton will decide the winner of the contest, so send me good luck. I would be thrilled if you left a comment telling them to pick me here.

-While at SXSW Meshin demoed our soon to be in closed beta: MeshinMobile.  It got nothing but positive feedback. Wanna be part of the beta? Sign up here.

-One of the panels I took part in was  My Kindergartner Markets better than You, you can read a review here.

- I thought I would share the Crowdtap SXSW Launch Party video I go to be part of, it was really well done:

Recently, the folks at Research In Motion (RIM) were kind enough to supply me with a Blackberry Torch.  Now as an iPhone user, I was a bit skeptical about the phone. I really, really like my iPhone.

Being the risk taker I am, went to my local AT&T store to get the phone activated. While waiting in line (has anyone been to an AT&T store without a line?), the person behind me started commenting on the Torch.  “I have heard wonderful things about it, I wish I was able to get one.” Now, keep in mind, prior to getting this, I knew nothing about the Torch, so I was surprised he knew about it. Once getting home, my 12 year old son, could smell the phone enter the house.

“Sniff, sniff…. Dad, did you get something new? What is that in the box? Did you get a Torch?”

“Time out, how do you know this is a Torch?’ I asked

“I have seen ads, for them. Let me try it.”

He quickly rips it out of my hand and starts showing me the features. Are you kidding me? The kids was all over this thing.  Slides it up to display the keyboard, starting taking these amazing crisp photos and making videos!.

“Son, do you think I might be able to use it?” I humbly ask.

“Sure, but if you need any help just let me know.” he says.

I think to myself, no doubt I will be asking him for a lot of help. I quickly sit down and attempt to load some apps, take a photo, create a video & zoom in. Yep, that is correct. I needed no help for son #1!!  This thing has such simple  navigation it is crazy. Oh did I mention the flash? Love it. (hey I only had an iPhone 3).

I took the phone with me around town and tested the GPS. Now, this might sound strange, but I found it to be a lot more accurate then my iPhone. Am I the only one with issues with GPS on the iPhone? Same goes with the mp3 player..much better on the Torch.

So, overall this phone rocks.I am not saying that for the benefit of the RIM folks, it really does.  If I did not like it, I would say so.  Heck, I could go on about the cool features and scare you off, but you can just read about them here.

Also, I reached out to them via Twitter at there BlackBerry account and the response time was really good. That is something that really impressed me, as other companies seem to not be on top of it.

So, it seems that if you talk enough about something on the web, things happen. I mean it is not like I am vocal or anything on social networking sites. Right?

Recently, I mentioned my need…want.. for an iPad. They are damm cool, ..trendy.

Now to be trendy, you need something cool to carry them in. Heck, you don’t want to see my iPhone. Its covered in a brick like case and screensaver film thing. As my wife says, I am very hard on my phone. So you can only imagine what I would do to an iPad.

Well, I was thrilled to come home and find in a mail a wonderful item from the folks at Griffin Technology! A Elan Passport iPad case!!

This thing is slick! Awesome quality on the outside, pockets to put stuff in the inside. I am actually toying with idea of ditching my old school backpack altogether. Yes, I am geeky that way.

Here.. look .. video of it..cause video makes everything better:

Now, I look super cool at work, walking around with my iPad and case taking notes!!

So, yes I got this for free. No, I was not forced to write about it. I did this cause the folks at Griffin Technology rock.

So, yes I have been lagging with the blog posts and this is what I come up with? Yes, I know – weak. I have several things I want to share and one nice big fat blog post is the best way to do it.

I will do this in date order and in list form. This is because people like lists!

1. On September 11, 2010 I will be speaking at the West Coast Songwriters Conference in Los Altos, California.  Founded in 1979, the WCS has grown into one of the most active music associations in the USA. Whether your goal is personal expression or to make a living in the music industry, knowing how to write, or recognize a well crafted song is key to your success.
2. September 16, 2010 I will be speaking at the Social Media Strategies Summit in San Francisco. I will be speaking on “Creating a Solid, User – Friendly Blog to Increase Business”.
3. March 2011 I hope to be speaking at SXSW!! I need your help though! If you would be so kind please vote on my panels to be picked!  Yes,  I know its pain. I will be very grateful. The panels are

K.I.S.S And Your Brand with Barry Moltz

Kicking Community Ass: Building Better Influence with Sudha Jamthe, PayPal

My Kindergartner Markets Better Than You with Kriselle Laran, Bullfrog Media

Thanks so much!

Just two quick updates for the week of June 7-11, 2010:

- This weekend I  will be on WERS 88.9 FM “You Are Here”. This a weekly public affairs show. I will be speaking on using social networking to brand  yourself and business.

-June 4, 2010 9: CST  I will be a guest on Business Insanity Talk Radio with Barry  J. Moltz.   Call in with your questions at 347-426-3202

Blog? What blog?

I’m lagging updating my blog. The quilt is as bad as when I do not go to the gym in the morning. (No, I am not being sarcastic.)

So do I have a fantastic, earth shattering, way deep and insightful like Chris Brogan post for you? Nope…

Im just going to share with you all the things I have going on in the next 30 days. Yep, Plugs. Hey you were warned, it was in the blog title! (sorta)

-March 12, 2010 SXSW: I will be speaking with Sarah White on “Using Social Media to Score.. a Job (Obviously)“  Come join us for this core conversation. Very happy to have it covered by Austion360 as one of its panel previews!

-March 13, 2010 SXSW: I was honored to be asked to be on the Community Innovation Summit which is sponsored by PayPal. This panel is the first Community Innovation Summit of leaders of Developer Networks. It is a lively discussion about fostering innovation in online communities.  I will speaking with Dave Mcclure of Founders Fund,  Wayne Sutton (Twine Interactive), Naveed Anwar(PaypalX) and Evans Cohen (FourSquare)

-March 23, 2010 I will be doing a webinar with David Rodniski for Zubernace.  Info on the webinar can be found here

-March 24, 2010 I will be doing a  webinar for AARP with Susan Joyce of job-hunt.org.  You can sign up for it here

So these events plus my normal daily work for my clients at LSF Interactive is keeping me busy. That being said I am always easy to find on Twitter.

Okay now I need to come up with a real blog post..

Plugs..Links..Shout Outs..OH MY!! There is no avoiding it, let me just be upfront and honest. This are straight out shameless plugs and such. So let me skip the witty banter and get right into it. I will do it in list form as people like lists!!

-Peninsula Twitter & Facebook Meet-Up for August 2009!! This month the event is back at The Dutch Goose In Menlo Park. Come join at this free event to network and have a great time! As always this event is put together by the great folks at LSF Interactive.Yes, that is where I work

-September 22 I will be speaking at the 140|The Twitter Conference LA along such amazing folks like:

Biz Stone, Co-Founder, Twitter Inc

Dr.Drew, Loveline, Celebrity Rehab

LeVar Burton, Integrity Entertainment

-Oct 16-17, 2009 I will be speaking at BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2009 on “How To Socialize Your Content”. This is one of my favorite events of the year. If your anywhere near Las Vegas or want an excuse to go to Las Vegas, this is the event for you.

-I need your help. Please vote for my panels at SXSW.com. Please click the thumbs up if you find it interesting! My panels are:

Using Social Media to Score…a job (obviously)

and

Building Community Via Events: Evites Aren’t Enough

Plugs..Links..Shout Outs..OH MY!! There is no avoiding it, let me just be upfront and honest. This are straight out shameless plugs and such. So let me skip the witty banter and get right into it. I will do it in list form as people like lists!!

-Tomorrow June 24, 2009 I will be having the Peninsula Twitter & Facebook Meetup For June 2009 at the Silicon Valley Four Seasons Hotel starting at 7:00 pm poolside. Please join the 150+ people, LSF Interactive and myself for this free event!

-On July 8, 2009 I will be speaking at the International Association of Administrative Professionals in San Jose, California.

-On August 13, 2009 I will be speaking at Marketing In The Oilfield Conference in Houston, Texas.

-Some of you have asked if we  can connect on Facebook, Linkedin, etc. So since this is shameless links here are some places we can network

Here a Twitter. There a Twitter. Everywhere a Twitter. It is like you can not avoid the the tweets posted by those who tweeters. . I mean some may have tweetaholism and become tweetaholics.  Im not going to be tweepish about this, nor should you when you the tweeple who twead this.  Twitter is not for the the tweepish nor a place for tweerboxes. So let me tweet-back to my point.

Well I think you get might point, Twitter is everywhere and being used by everyone. Let me give you a rundown of observations I have made just in the last 24 hours. I will do it in list form, cause people like lists.

-I watched a Desperate Housewives episode on Hulu and Tom Scavo could not get a job cause he did not know what Twitter was.

-There was a post by Domino’s Pizza asking how they can get their brand name on Twitter as someone else has both Domino’s and Dominospizza i.e squatters.

-There is @nakedpizza who uses Twitter to bring in 15% of its daily business according to an Adage article titled “Twitter Proves Its Worth as a Killer App for Local Businesses”

-Rumors are that Google will now index Twitter

-There was even a NCAA Recruiting Violation on Twitter!

-Starbucks is going to start marketing on Twitter

-Oh and Patrick Swayze is not dead, no matter what tweeps on Twitter say

So my point. Twitter is big. Its getting bigger everyday.  Then there is this post from today: Social Media Fails To Manifest As Marketing Medium, Report Likens Twitter To TiVo: More Hype Than Reality Ill give you the take away from the article which is:

“Social media has reached critical mass, with 83% of the Internet population now using it – and more than half doing so on a regular basis – according to new research being released today by Knowledge Networks. But for all the media industry’s hype and buzz surrounding social networks, microblogs, and other social networking platforms, the genre has failed to become much of a marketing medium, and in the opinion of the Knowledge Networks’ analysts, likely never will”

I’m not buying it. Not because its what I do to feed my family. Nor am I in denial because on May 26th I will be speaking on a panel at the 140 |Twitter Conference in Mountain View with @ijustine and @missrogue. (like how I did a plug right there? Use discount code: int140tc)

Nor am I saying this because I have the Peninsula Twitter and Facebook Meet-up for June 2009, that I have put together happening at the Four Season in Silicon Valley. (what another plug?)

Look people are watching less tv. If they are they have DVR’s to go past the commercials. There are mp3 players, satiellte radio and sites like Ilike.com that are replacing radio. Newspapers are dying when you can get your news online.

Look, maybe something better will come down the pipe that will blow social media out of the water. Sure, but it is not going away anytime soon.

Okay let me put my soapbox away.

Thoughts?

Yep..its another one.  Hey, it has been about a month since the last one. Just so much to share and too little time to do it.  So you get it all in one nice post! So here is information  and self promotion with links to things I want to share,people to thank  or think you may find of interest. If your not interested, that’s okay, you can always look for my spelling errors and give me a hard time.. I make a lot.

Scared yet?

So away we go…

- Starting  today I am “test driving” the 2009 Ford Flex. I get to use the car until next week. Let it be known, I am so not a car guy. I know nothing about them. What I am is a gadget guy. The built in media center brings me to tears, its amazing. Get this, its all voice activated.  Ill need to take some pics of that and post. Here is a short video and a pic:

-On April 23rd I organized the Peninsula Twitter and Facebook Meetup.  It went really well. There were roughly 115 people who came throughout the night! Here is some video. I will be putting together some sort of event page shortly for future meetups.

-The Community 2.0 Conference is May 11-13, 2009 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Myself,  Connie Bensen and Kellie Parker will be leading an all day workshop called “Getting Started with Community” on May 11.

-The 140 Twitter Conference will take place on May 26th and 27th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, they are bringing together the top gurus in the Twitosphere to discuss all things Twitter, from understanding the business value of Twitter to exploring the what makes a great Twitter app. As LSF Interactive is a media sponsor of this event, where I work, I have a discount code to share.

Discount Code of in140tc for 140 Twitter Conference 2009

- Do not forget that ever week you can listen to the Social Media Club Editorial Board come up with a question of the week for everyone to comment on.

Yes, Im part of the board. (Come on its shameless plugs right?)

-Because this if for a Thesis for Roskilde University and he asked really nice,  I thought I would pass this on. Aleksander Sonder of Copenhagen, Denmark is doing a quick survey regarding the Corporate Use Of Twitter. The data is updated and open to everyone here.

-A big thank you to Techcrunch for putting on  a Star Trek Screening tonight here in Redwood City. They are giving up to 4 tickets per person for $2.00 each with popcorn and a drink! Oh you also get bragging rights to have seen the movie early! So myself and my sons will be there when the doors open!

-As always I update my Twitter Feed with articles/info I think worth passing on and my other random posts if you just cant get enough of me.

Okay, hope I did not miss anything…. Live Long and Prosper! (yes I am a geek.)