Contributing Comments

Ecstatic doesn’t begin to describe how excited I am to announce that I have accepted job at Fleishman Hillard working with David Bradfield’s digital team.  I am excited to be working with some social media rock stars. Everyone already knows how fond I am of Jackie Vettorino, who I have to give credit to. She is responsible for the introductions that led to this great opporutnity.

I’m pumped to learn from and bounce ideas of David Bradfield. His experience is coming from a different direction as my own and I think that will help to make solid approaches to the space. Besides if Constantin Basturea can’t speak highly enough about someone, then you know they are good pepole. I’m going to get the chance to work closely with Erin Enke, Kendra Bracken, and Paul Dalessio. The FH Digital team is chock full of heavy hitters, and this is just the team here in NYC.

At the top of the digital food chain is Brad Mays, and I’m sure that working with him is going to be a fun. I’m going to be under the same umbrella as Luke Armour, and after hearing Paull Young talk about him, I’m sure we are going to have a lot of things to talk about. The other FH locations have intense teams as well. Some of those I’m looking forward to meeting are Mike Sabatino, Jeff Weintraub, and last but obviously not least, Matt Dickman.

Let’s just hope I don’t let them down.

I have been reading a few too many negative blog posts lately about whether or not companies would be spending more money in experimental marketing, or if they would be pulling their money out of the space with the advertising/marketing/PR budgets shrinking, but I have also had and read some interesting conversations stating the opposite. I decided to call out some things that refreshed my look at thinks.  This is a long one folks, so please stick with me.

This morning I had a chance to catch up with Marybeth Berberich, who I met first at The University of Cincinnati.  We had not had a chance to really catch up in a while. What started as a polite “how have you been” conversation quickly moved to a comfortable conversation point for us, Marketing Theory. Marybeth and I worked together to prove theories on the future of communication for Proctor and Gamble.  What I would typically be a trip down memory lane was replaced with our thoughts on what generic grocery brands might do to stay current with their consumers, from a branding standpoint especially the  creative/design approaches they could take with their visual branding.

This conversation made me long for my college days, when I could spend afternoons debating theory about the future of marketing, branding, and advertising with super intelligent people. However, I quickly realized that I still get to have those conversations on a fairly regular basis,  with people just as smart and fun as Marybeth.

Living with Paull Young, I had a chance to debate the intricacies, and nuances of the social media landscape. Most commonly we would discuss the balance between the management of your online reputation and the transparency that our industry requires. In fact Paull’s insight into the topic has made me change my approach to my Facebook profile, as well as my twitter updates.

I feel as though everyone who knows of Paull Young, also knows that he is a thought leader, and that he knows as much about the space as our industry’s heavy hitters. I actually consider him to be one. However, the deep thought and theory that he has swirling around in his mind I have been privy to in a way I think most will only get if he publishes a book of random thoughts from down under one day. (SIDE NOTE: That book is complete speculation, but if for some reason it’s titled “Random Thoughts From Down Under” or some variation of that I want a share of the profit. No less than 55%, Youngie)
I have recently been able to bounce many ideas about social media’s future off of Jackie Vettorino.  We have discussed mobile, traditional PR’s role in new media, new media’s role in traditional PR, and so many other topics.  We agree on many things, and have agreed to disagree on even more.  J-Vet is one of the smartest people I know when it comes to social media and does more to carry her own around the space.

Too many nights of social drinking have turned into conversations about the tech space or what is worth paying attention to and what isn’t.  Our friends are nice enough to let us geek out and stand with blank looks on their face as we discuss the pros and cons of wordpress vs. tumbler, or debate weather the G1 is the iPhone killer or if one of Blackberry’s new offerings is the assassin.

In reading my bloglines, I find that a-lot of the excitement is being replaced with criticism of companies who are not approaching the space properly, or boutique agencies who have made mistakes with campaigns.  I know there is a need for influential bloggers to speak about the reasons why campaigns have not generated the amount of buzz their clients anticipated, but part of me is not ready to stop talking about the possibilities in our industry’s future.

With people like the ones I’ve mentioned above, I think we have an opportunity to really take the social media game in a successful direction. And to be honest not matter how the economy is doing, I believe, companies should be spending more money in this space, but they should be doing it more wisely. The trick is determining who is playing in the space effectively, by taking a look at the agency’s strategy, and the people hired to execute it.

Just wated to post a quick vid of what it’s like getting home from work.  I feel for all those in LA who encounter traffic.

My Commute Home

Thursday November 6th, I will be up earlier than usual in order to attend the LiveWorld sponsored Social Media Breakfast.  Social Media Breakfast is an early morning chow session where our community gathers together to discuss social media’s bleeding edge.

Paul Borgese of EyeCatcher Interactive and marketing/international business teacher at NYU, Pace, and Baruch College, CUNY will be speaking about his work with the Associate Press Digital Division.

If you’re and early bird you should definitely come. If your not, do your best to wake up and join us. Check out what you missed last year.

Schedule:

8:00-8:30: Coffee Talk and Breakfast
8:30-9:30: Presentation, Q&A
9:30-10:00: More Coffee Talk

FREE Breakfast, courtesy of LiveWorld.

I spend about 30% of my day working with Facebook. I manage content on my clients fan pages. I work very hard at acquiring more fans and friends or boosting videos and photos views. I have no idea how much time I have spent on generating or replying to comments and wall posts. These are the new metrics for clients and this is how I, as a social media slave, am judge on my ideas and efforts. I understand and embrace that. I enjoy my job and take pride when I get the result I am looking for, but I cannot help but think that as drones of the internet, we are missing the true values of Facebook.

Getting Ready for The Glass

This past weekend I was in Maine wakeboarding with an old college buddy. We reconnected with each other using facebook. We planned this trip by creating a facebook event and exchanging facebook messages. We introduced each other to friends who were going to be attending by sharing facebook profiles. And now we are sharing pictures and videos of the weekend with each other using facebook.

Panoramic of Dock - "great place to dock start"

As someone who was addicted to the second generation of facebook (post Ivy league generation) I remember when facebook was it’s most useful. When it was most simple. It was just a “degree of seperation” algarythm, that incorporated photos. It was a simple webspace that allowed you to stalk your college friends and their friends. We knew all we needed to know. How many friends we all had and how many of them were mutual. We also knew if that cute girl in your Global Marketing class had a boyfriend and if she partied as hard as you did.

I understand the new facebook. I appreciate the need for Mark Zuckerburg to monetize the brilliance. I just hope we can hold on to it’s original convenience.

After a long Hiatus, I’m recommitting myself to blogging.

Settled In To My New Hood

I profusely apologize to my readers. I”M SO SORRY! I have set a goal of writing at least 3 posts a week. They may not be the freshest content but it’s going to be mine. I’ve felt like my contributions were minimal and that I wasn’t actually adding anything to the conversation, but I’ve been reborn blog-style. MORE TO COME

- dentonmd

I’m a relative newbie to PodCamping it. I know the rules, I LOVE the format, and I enjoy speaking/attending. The upcoming PodCamp Ohio is in my home state and it’s been held in my college town. Needless to say I am EXCITED for this one. Speaking list is stacked with great friends of mine and people I will be meeting for the first time. People I’m excited to see include:

Luke Armour

Debba Haupert

Cliff Ravenscraft

Kait Swanson

If you want to see a full list of who is scheduled you can go to - http://www.podcampohio.com/sessions/

To register visit - http://www.podcampohio.com/participate/registration/

I haven’t been back to the Buckeye State in almost a year. What a great excuse to return! I hope to see you there.

Last week, my boy Melvitax upgraded me to WP 2.5, and to commemorate I’ve changed the look of my blog. I think the new WP interface is cleaner, much more user-friendly and over all more aesthetically appealing. I really enjoy using it, and I recommend upgrading if you haven’t yet.

If you haven’t switched over from other blogging platforms I’d like to share the below graph with you. You are behind the curve but not by much. As of July ‘07 more people visit/use wordpress than type pad.

If your curious as to why folks are trending to wordpress you can check out any number of blog posts that have been written about this. Most people agree that the below reasons are true.

SEO

The beginning of this year a blog post was written on Knowledge is Everywhere (from Melbourne) He She touts a 500% better hit rate on wordpress over typepad. Any tag associated with a wordpress blog post, is also tagged in the technorati database. This is huge from an search frame of mine. That’s a sight with ample “juice” and helps to determine a blogs weight/authority. There are other arguments why wordpress is better for SEO, such as URL construction, faster java script etc. but technorati tags aren’t argued very often.

CUSTOM, CUSTOM, CUSTOM

The wordpress admin functions are only limited by the users knowledge of how to manipulate it, and the plug-ins that have been developed. According to Wordpress.com there are currently 1,891 plug-ins that range from youtube video players to rss tracking, and even more complicated. As a whole they have been downloaded by/utilized on 4,082,686 blogs.

MOBILE FRIENDLY

From reading blogs and commenting on your cell, to writing, uploading photos, and editing from anywhere, Wordpress is very nice to the blogger who is on the go.

NOTE* If you would like a less complicated, or less “tech” based blogging platform TypePad, Tumblr, and even Bloger/Blogspot might be better for you.

My boy, C.C. Chapman, posted this morning about Good People Day 2008.  The concept is sweet.  It was shared with him by Gary Vanerchuk, who recently sponsored an event I help throw with the Young Executive Board. That makes Gary a good person in my book.  The idea is that social media activity will be focused on positive stuff, specifically good people, doing good things.

I, like CC, enjoy the hell out of repping people who deserve it, so this is a fun post for me. I want to list a TON of folks who make “ISH” happen, but I’m going to limit my self to 5. I want to thank them all for leading by example.

Craig Meisner- Executive Director, Camp Interactive

This guy runs an amazing program that gives inner city kids the opportunity to experience outdoor activities, and then brings them home and teaches them how to use technology to share the experiences with the world via the “inter-webs”…

Working with Craig is awe inspiring.  He is great at getting influential people passionate about his programs and connecting them with the right people who can turn that passion into benefits for the kids. Check out Camp Interactive if your so inclined, or you can hit me up. I sit on the Young Executives Board.

Abraham Estrada- Teporocho

If you ever find this guy with out a smile on his face… TAKE A FREAKING PICTURE!!!! I can tell you that it doesn’t happen often.  Abe is a bilingual blogger that inspires me to be a happier person. He always looks at the bright side of things. His personality can’t be put into words just because he’s that positive ALL THE TIME.  Even when he’s fighting programing errors at the desk next to me, he’s still laughing at it.  I just don’t know how he does it.

Paull Young- Senior Account Executive, Converseon

Youngie is my roommate and is such a good guy that I don’t know where to start. His online efforts speak for them self, but something people might not know is that Youngs volunteers his time with iMentor. He’s given his (our) couch, his air mattress, and (for the brave) his bed up to any New York visitor who is in need of a soft pillow to crash on. If that’s not enough… I know from experience he’s the FIRST to volunteer his time for anyone or any group in need.

Melvin Rivera- All Forces

Melvin is the most amazing dude. He has this calm, centered chi that immediately puts you at ease when your around him. There isn’t a person in our office that hasn’t mentioned trying to be more like him, and that’s just the beginning. You wouldn’t be reading this post with out him. He helped me get my blog running with his WP expertise. He unconditionally helps me with anything I have problems with. Melvin has bent over backwards to make everyone’s existence easier. He’s a problem solver by nature, and uses his blog to share those solutions with anyone who can find him.

C.C. Chapman- RBA/Mentor, The Advance Guard

As most know RBA is my mentor.  C.C. is the kind of guy who will lead by example.  He exemplifies the cliche “Walk Soft Cary a Heavy Stick”. I’m not sure there is a bad bone in his body.  I have emails, chats, and voicemails, that show his true supportive nature.  He’s approachable, and giving in a way that is unique to his personality. If you ask anyone who has met him for a good CC story, you’d be hard press to stump any of them.