Board meeting....

Cindy asked a great question about user friendlyness as far as Web 2.0 tech goes...

this is pretty simple as she can tell ha ha ha...

tapping into the bravery...

tapping into the bravery that exists within each one of us is the general underlying topic of a discussion i'm having with a committee that represents the economic development and tourism interests for an Alberta community today...

i'm proposing a project that will encourage an entire community to tap into their bravery and belief in themselves to promote their region while learning and using new strategies. i know they can do it, i've talked with locals and the energy is there and i dare say the bravery...

if it didn't require some bravery it wouldn't be worth doing.

changing behavior can be a challenge with one person, never mind an entire community...my team and i are most definitely up for that challenge...this is going to be exciting, it's what someone like me dreams about...have an idea, create a strategy, implement it and change lives for the better...

this project will impact this community for years and years to come, we're going to create an entire tech sector locally where one didn't exist before (in a manner of speaking).

the key to my idea is in finding the right community...so far it looks like we're heading in the right direction, time will tell...finding the second community will be much easier.

facebook...

just catching up with some old friends on facebook

pretty cool to see some of old gang...it's been almost 20 years...wow time does fly right by....

marketers and twitter...

twitter is something to watch as gen-y connects for up to the second life updates on twitter...things like...i'm blogging right now, i'm drinking coffee, i'm answering my other phone...

as silly as this seems, not to mention time consuming as they pound very small qwerty keyboards...the twitter phenomenon is growing. here's an imedia article as to how marketers may use this technology in the future with the uber connected gen-y and other technology hounds...

this technology has even penetrated the political realm. Barack Obama
and John Edwards

people who want the most recent information are going to have a field day with twitter...

twitter....

question: what is the intrinsic value of an application such as twitter?

does it help to quell this massive desire that many people online have to communicate in some form of community environment and just facilitate that on a per second basis through multiple submission mediums?

it's true, as human beings we have always had a need to congregate, the internet in many ways allows for that need to be fulfilled in a multitude of ways. web2.0 is very much about software and code enabling that urge in my opinion...companies are launching new apps with the primary purpose of building communities of communicators...nothing wrong with that i suppose. there's now an entire micro-economy built up that allows lot's of people who do nothing to do something to generate revenue with the limited time they have away from doing nothing, not a bad gig if you can get it...

now admittedly i'm a complete neophyte blogger, i break all sorts of so called rules within the blogosphere as to how to be a professional and respected blogger type person, such as the now famous scoble........... or his obscene, perverse and yet oddly effective buddy macleod at gapingvoid . a blog i've been following for sometime... and admire his unique take on this medium, i don't necessarily agree with his explicitness relating to his self-professed failed sex life, however, i suppose that's part of the uniqueness that is hugh (shown below).


i'm not and don't suggest to be a professional blogger (not even close)...i simply don't have the time, nor the skill. that said, here i am rapping keys for the purpose of communicating a thought via this medium, why, because it's so technically easy to do (that's good for me)...poorly done many might say, but who really cares?

so how would twitter put more money in my corporate bank account? i'm not sure that it does other than to study it, first the technology, then maybe understand human nature a bit better and then apply that knowledge on behalf of my clients...it's an interesting new entry in the digital ecosystem and it's way too early to tell what precise impact it will have past wasting time and telling people about how you just dumped your cheerios down your pajama bottoms in real time.

i suppose this could fall into the category of a new definition of "open source"...not open source as in the code, but as in the source of open communication...(lot's of the mundane is included...like meet me in central park for a salad) but still "open source communication".

much like what lenn pryor was thinking when he started channel 9 at microsoft as described in april's issue of wired magazine. which was arguably the platform for scoble to gain much of his fame before he left...

regardless, this is an interesting thing to ponder and watch...maybe even participate in...we'll see...i don't think that i need another voluntary husband tracker...i already have a blackberry. my wife is actually really great, and isn't at all that type of person, that's just one of many reasons why i love her so much...i know, you're shedding a tear right now aren't you?

chamber of commerce 2.0...

ask your average business owner what they believe is the single most valuable aspect to being a chamber of commerce member and you'll probably hear something about networking...

in my area of the world, the greater edmonton region, alberta. edmonton has 18000+ businesses...less than 4000 of those are edmonton chamber of commerce members. why not 10 or 12K, afterall it's also a world trade centre. is the value of being a member there or is it getting lost in the translation? not to pick on just edmonton, but for example, many rural chambers have a even more difficult time of generating new members...with many under 30% conversion based on available businesses in the area.

what's really important to most members i believe is the amount of relationships built, opportunities to communicate about a brand, product or service with credibility...sure there are other aspects to the membership that has some value such as lobbying, purchase power and so on...however, the average small business owner wants more cash in their pockets and if a membership representative cannot effectively translate how a membership will do that...they have little chance of having anyone join.

chambers need to adopt a more aggressive technology footprint. there are unlimited amounts of ways to increase communication among members away from the typical networking events which would then strengthen the relevancy of those events. more solutions, more ideas, more relevant communication in general...look for more discussion on this topic in the days ahead...but for now i've got to go to a meeting.

787...

now that's what i call flying....check out the dreamliner video