The End!

Well, not really, just a shift to a new blog site. I, along with the team are working on putting together a new corporate site/blog based on the Wordpress platform.

The new location will be www.fusedlogic.com and we'll be launching this coming month, in Sept 2008.

We're crazy busy and that's why we're not giving a precise date other than the month...

This is the last post for my little blogger blog, (sniff...)

Thank-you for your support and we look forward to serving your content needs at the new site shortly...

Twitter community gives!

Help Me Send Leng Sopharath Back To College in Good Health!

Reads Beth Kanter's headline on her blog. Then in a stroke of brave genius while at Gnomedex, she suggests that the Twitter community should contribute US$10.00 to send Leng Sopharath to college. $2500.00 was raised in 15 minutes online using a donation widget. I was part of this fun and was happy to support the cause. Non-profits in general have a lot to learn from this. Of course, balance is important and too much of a good thing can be bad. Today however, this was good, really good.

Great job to Chris Brogan for promoting this "ask" on Twitter live from Gnomedex in Seattle.

Technorati Tags: Chris Brogan, Beth Kanter, Gnomedex, Twitter, Chipin

Your marketing value - not what you think...

Branding today could be defined in terms of the amount of conversations being held about it. Anyone talking about you? In the same way, your marketing influence and value is no longer just solely attached to the truckloads of cold hard, grubby cash you can throw at it. Rather increasingly, it's your influence and respect in a social media context (Social Media Respect - "SMR") or for still the vast majority, the lack of said SMR. Back in March of this year, Charlene Li (still with Forrester at the time) wrote about this in her groundswell blog post.

I was reminded today of this series of thoughts by a response written by Lynne d Johnson, senior editor for Fastcompany to a question about social media and blogging convergence.

The convergence question is cool to ponder, however, I found the measuring and defining future marketing influence more compelling today.

The SMR gap continues to get larger for many, as social media isn't going anywhere. The journey I'm on regarding the building of my own social media value bank and that of my company fusedlogic inc. is really at the beginning stages still, this whole industry is still so young and ever evolving.

Fun times ahead, that's for sure...pardon my Friday afternoon ramblings but the day's pretty much over now and the weekend is ahead so hopefully you can cut me a bit of slack.

Technorati Tags: Branding, social media, Forrester, Charlene Li, Walter Schwabe, fusedlogic

For Immediate Release...

Social Media is Flawed, Imperfect and Unique

Sherwood Park, AB - August 20, 2008 - Walter Schwabe, fusedlogic inc's Chief Evolution Officer, is helping Canadian businesses understand social media and how to leverage it to better understand and communicate with customers.

Schwabe admits that "social media is flawed, imperfect and unique, just like all of us. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work." He goes on to explain that this is the reason why businesses need to understand social media and develop a social media strategy to generate a return on their investment and avoid common pitfalls.

The McKinsey Quarterly reports in the results from a recent survey that “the Companies that are deriving business value from these tools are now shifting from using them experimentally to adopting them as part of a broader business practice.”

Most social media strategies consist of launching blogs, wikis, flickr photo streams, Facebook groups, MySpace profiles, LinkedIn profiles and the like. Unfortunately, social media is not an exact science, and many companies are struggling with their respective strategies. The great thing however, is that a growing amount of research that fusedlogic inc. continues to accumulate suggests that with the right plan, businesses can generate a return on their social media efforts. However, the return may not be what one would commonly expect.

What businesses are finding out, however, is that social media success is, first, not that simple and second, they’re not sure “what” social media success looks like. At least not consistently enough to say there’s one secret formula. Reality is, there isn’t “one” secret formula. Rather, there is a set of engaging elements that should be a part of your strategy. Key elements, such as the ability to share content, communicate with others, scrutinize the content or brand openly, a way for the participants to take ownership of the brand, are just a few. Schwabe adds, “Scrutiny, as well as brand ownership, is what often-times has organizations running scared. Taking left hooks online or giving up control of their brand typically isn’t in their DNA. But being brave is a necessity for success.”

In addition to his social media strategy work, Walter Schwabe is a Technology Columnist for the just launched today, Propel Magazine and Troy Media Corporation. Watch for his four article series on social media including excerpts from personal interviews with thought leaders Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki.

About fusedlogic: fusedlogic inc., one of Canada’s leading social media strategy firms, was incorporated in 2000. fusedlogic matches Web 2.0 and social media strategies with client dreams to SHIFT markets. They accomplish this by educating organizations on how to effectively engage the online community.

For more information, please contact:

Jen Schaefer
fusedlogic inc.
780-640-2331
jen[at]fusedlogic.com
www.fusedlogic.com

Cool images....

A guy who knows how to take photographs...some very interesting images and perspectives...

My mini-saga

Imagine identifying your life's purpose and then being able to write a very short story about it. The level of understanding about who you are, what you're really about, why you're doing what your doing while on this planet. Too often, we are constantly bombarded with the routine of life and we all too often forget to stay true to ourselves and live life simply. All those who scoff at this type of thinking I consider to be truly lost, I know because once....I was one of them.

How about you? Do you really understand who you are and why you're here? Do you care?

Suggestion: Write a mini-sage today about your life's purpose. The rules are simple: 50 words "exactly." Must have a beginning, middle and end.

It would be awesome if you shared your mini-saga here too but of course you don't have to.

My mini-saga:

My life was defined by business, failure, struggle, success, all permeated deep into my soul. These emotional experiences no longer define me. I've learned to float above the roller-coaster in quiet air, where thought and contemplation transcends routine. Learning, sharing, impacting human beings is today, my life's purpose forward.

Technorati Tags: business, life, success,

Leaving the monolithic leadership model...

Can government actually leave the monolithic leadership model behind? Wow, that's a big question. One that has no easy or simple answer. Government is aware of the changing world of social media and Web2.0, there are even signs that this is starting to infiltrate the halls of power across North America today.

My hope is that large organizations and governments alike recognize that Web 2.0 is really more about a shift in culture rather than the tools. By recognizing this key fundamental, the already collaborative approach that is the Social Web will begin to further influence the coming together of all levels of government, (or all departments within a large organization or business).

Improved service delivery, improved collaboration, improved communication can all be a result of embracing a culture shift. The question still remains, can government embrace the deep rooted change required to be successful?

I'm an optimist in general and for that reason, I believe that not only can government embrace this change and shift its thinking, but further I believe that government is starting to realize it has no choice, the citizenry demands it. This isn't a matter anymore of "if" we should. This is a matter of it's Those nay saying voices that still echo in the halls of power are fast being drowned out by those who are saying "yes we can!"

Big Corporations are AFRAID!

Yes that's right, the dinosaurs are afraid. Many are running scared. Why? Simple, they want to "manage or control" the conversation and their corporate structure is less than transparent. Not to suggest that they're hiding something illegal, but most internal corporate environments are filled with political turf wars, that many corporate cultures are less than open, empowering and engaging.

Culture is extremely important in the context of developing a winning social media strategy, especially for a large corporation. If the culture itself enters the social media world with doubt, fear and barriers, it's my opinion that the overall strategy will most likely reflect these same elements.

Do you think "corporate culture" plays a key role in the development of a social media strategy?

Follow me on Twitter to keep in touch and let's talk more about the issue above. Also, the first of my (4) articles on social media came out today, if you'd like a copy don 't hesitate to ask.