Disqus - Friends of bmassey

Re: If Social Media Were a Sports Team, What Would the Lineup be?

aaronstrout — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:19:10 -0000

Dude - thanks for the mention. And I agree with @nooneyouknow - you're definitely Pedroia (or maybe even Youk). The unsung hero who's gritty, selfless and just goes out and produces. I know Alex Cora, and son, you're no Alex Cora! ;)

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: If I Started Today

aaronstrout — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:25:27 -0000

Chris - you continue to amaze me with your ability to deliver useful, prescriptive information on the best way to tap into the power of community.

Thank you also for the shout out. A true honor to be mentioned in one of your posts!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Getting Hired 2.0, The Future of Job Hunting Is Now

aaronstrout — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:51:03 -0000

Leslie - great post! As you know (and pointed out), the concept of Hiring in a 2.0 World and a social resume are near and dear to my heart. Great advice above on how EVERYONE should be thinking about their new "resume" and how they can behave/take action in a manner that helps not hurts what's represented.

Thanks for the shout out/link love as well!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

<abbr>Aaron Strouts last blog post..Thoughts on Un-Follows/Qwitter</abbr>

Re: Redefining Social Commerce

aaronstrout — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:45:20 -0000

Adam,

Thoughtful/useful post as always. Quite amazing that you and I were talking about "social commerce" at the same time yesterday without even knowing the other was doing it.

A humorous follow up (or pre-post) to yours that hinges off the fact that I thought your question on Twitter yesterday, "What's the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear the term 'social commerce?'" was directed at http://luckystartups.com use of the term during my podcast yesterday: http://blog.stroutmeister.c...

It's great to have the historical perspective of the term as well and it will be interesting to see if the term "social commerce" as it relates to our sister company, Baazarvoice (an Austin Ventures backed company) does in fact take off.

Thanks as always for bringing the value.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: The Startup Conundrum: Scalable vs Services

aaronstrout — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:54:45 -0000

Jeremiah - amen! As someone that's worked at a large company before in the marketing department, I couldn't agree with you more. Technology is great but without the right training/services/support, it often sits there like that unwanted BowFlex or Nordic Track in the proverbial corner.

Now that I work for a company that is big on services while providing social technology as well (we're probably 70/30 on the services/technology spectrum), I can appreciate why VCs want companies that have the inverse ratio. However, at the end of the day if that's not what CMO's want to buy, all the VC $$ in the world isn't going to change that issue.

Thanks again for a thought provoking, insightful post!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: A Quick Snapshot of Old vs. New Media

aaronstrout — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:56:36 -0000

Adam,

First of all, great post. I like that you took a constructive vs. destructive angle in trying to explain why traditional newspapers are broken but then when on to suggest ways they could fix what they're doing. To me, I'm amazed that traditional newspapers have done so little and continue to plod along almost as if they've resigned themselves to dying.

Second, thanks for the link love. The topic of links in online newspapers is something I picked up from Steve Garfield and Bryan Person. Steve is constantly railing against the newspapers and their shortsightedness for not including links (both from an experiential perspective but also from an SEO perspective as you point out in your post above).

Thanks again for delivering the value!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: One More Thing the Kmart Project Did

aaronstrout — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:20:32 -0000

I'm in too.

-Aaron | @astrout

Re: Ok, I've been tagged…so here goes nothin'

aaronstrout — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:01:14 -0000

Dude - nice work in keeping the meme alive. Love the "onions," "fiddleheads" and "kilt" items in particular. It's funny, I'm originally from Maine so it's rare that I can find someone that has a similar affinity for fiddleheads. A little salt and vinegar and ooh-wee them sure is good!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: As If You Really Wondered...

aaronstrout — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:55:09 -0000

Scott - what a good sport you are. In fairness, I would have let you off the hook with a "I've already done this twice" accompanied by a link to those two previous posts. But that's what I love about you... always going the extra mile!

Two specific notes in follow up to your post:
1) My karaoke song is "Plush" by Stone Temple Pilots 'cause I can totally fake Scott Weiland's voice from that song. Beyond that, not so much.
2) I'm with you on the Peanut M&M's. I could sit and eat a barrel full if you put them in front of me.

Thanks again.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: 7 random things ‘meme’ | Web Business by Ken Burbary

aaronstrout — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 10:55:57 -0000

Ken - it's funny, you and I share a similar trait (no. 4). Not sure if it's a blessing or a curse.

Regarding tagging me - I think you were actually downstream of my original tagging two weeks ago (I tagged Scott Monty who in turn tagged Shannon Paul who in turn tagged you! So, in the spirit of playing along, I've noted the fact that things have come full circle in my post:

http://blog.stroutmeister.com/2008/12/7-things-...

p.s. somehow you had evaded my blogroll/RSS reader up until now. That's been remedied!

Re: 7 random things ‘meme’

aaronstrout — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:55:57 -0000

Ken - it's funny, you and I share a similar trait (no. 4). Not sure if it's a blessing or a curse.

Regarding tagging me - I think you were actually downstream of my original tagging two weeks ago (I tagged Scott Monty who in turn tagged Shannon Paul who in turn tagged you! So, in the spirit of playing along, I've noted the fact that things have come full circle in my post:

http://blog.stroutmeister.c...

p.s. somehow you had evaded my blogroll/RSS reader up until now. That's been remedied!

Re: 15 Blogs You May Have Missed

aaronstrout — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:02:53 -0000

Amber - great list. Nice to see several of my friends here (whom I read regularly).

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

<abbr><abbr>Aaron Strouts last blog post..Hubspot Keeps Delivering the Value</abbr></abbr>

Re: Communities around Ball Bearings, Underwear or Drano

aaronstrout — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:38:29 -0000

Howard - thanks for the link love. Much appreciated! Your points in the original post were fantastic and I really enjoyed watching the conversation between you and Adam in the comments.

Happy New Year
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Learning from 7 Random Things….

aaronstrout — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:41:47 -0000

This is a very cool way of looking at a bunch of cool twitter/blogger peeps "7 things." Thanks for including me in the list.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Tweetree: A Better UX For Twitter

aaronstrout — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:18:03 -0000

Stowe - are you using Tweetree in addition to using something like Tweetdeck or Twhirl? It looks like a useful app but the limitations of no DM/history would be a deal breaker (as you've pointed out).

On another note, you're Twitter convo w/ Meg Fowler RE followers/secondary accounts was interesting. I know a bunch of folks keep secondary accounts but I've found that Tweetdeck can really help pay more attention to the people I want to read "all the time" while still allowing me to keep an eye on "@"s and the live stream. In fact, I actually am paying more attention to the live stream now that I'm watching my smaller group of people so it's encouraged me to participate more in the Twitter community vs. just watching my "@"s like I sometimes did in Twhirl.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Welcoming Colin Browning to the Pirate Ship

aaronstrout — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:06:55 -0000

Chris - you didn't actually hire that guy, did you? He's a bigger good off than I am. Oh crap, just forgot that you don't moderate your comments... oops!

Re: Welcoming Colin Browning to the Pirate Ship

aaronstrout — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:11:24 -0000

Chris/Colin - wow, don't know what happened there. Someone must have hacked in and used my credentials. Colin is super awesome and will make your team ten times better!

Seriously though, I couldn't be happier for you guys. This us a great fit all around. Good luck with the swashbuckling!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Tagged: The Sixth-Photo Meme

aaronstrout — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 14:28:22 -0000

Read it and weep! ;)
http://blog.stroutmeister.c...

Re: ANNOUCEMENT: Ant’s Eye View 2.0

aaronstrout — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:48:31 -0000

Congrats - this is wonderful news. I already recommend both of you when people ask about consultants in the industry that "get it" AND have worked with big brands. Now I can sell you as a package deal.

Rock on!

Aaron | @astrout

Re: Lewis Gray on Why Friendfeed Will Fail

aaronstrout — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:22:17 -0000

Chiming in late here but one of the biggest issues I see with Friendfeed (which I still love btw) is the fact that the content of at least 75% of the people I follow is still Twitter-based. I turned my Twitter stream off in FF a few months ago because it made it too noisy. If that's the way others view it, they're probably throwing up their hands and saying, "why not just follow this person on Twitter." Again, I see the advantage of FF so this isn't my personal opinion. Just a thought.

Aaron | @astrout

Re: Weekly Digest of the Social Networking Space: Jan 7, 2009

aaronstrout — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:31:54 -0000

Jeremiah - great wrap up post as usual. I was sad to hear about my friends (and sister) at Mzinga being let go but appreciate your willingness to help them.

-Sean/Jake, I was thrilled to hear your news. What a great combo!

One note of clarification... In now work for a company called "Powered." We are in no way affiliated with the "Power.com." In this case, the "ed" at the end is an important differentiator. ;) We create social marketing programs for big brands vs. social networking aggregation.

Best,
Aaron | @aaronstrout

Re: Forrester Wave Report: The Leaders in Community Platforms for Marketers (Part 4/4)

aaronstrout — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:14:38 -0000

Jeremiah,

Let me echo my friends' sentiments in the comments in congratulating you and Sarah on a job well done. I know first hand that this was a long and arduous process but in the end, I think you guys got it right.

While the company I work for, Powered, is not on this list because we are a social marketing company, I did have the pleasure of participating in the process during my time at Mzinga. It was an informative experience and one that gave me valuable insight into what your customers i.e. marketers are looking for.

Congratulations to all the companies mentioned on this list for a job well done!

Best,
Aaron Strout - CMO of Powered
@AaronStrout

Re: Blogging is like…The Blues

aaronstrout — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:19:59 -0000

Good analogy Scott. I hadn't thought about it that way but you're right - blues and blogging are a way of story telling. Maybe that's why I like both so much! - Aaron

Re: Should You Have One Social Media Identity, or Two?

aaronstrout — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:05:01 -0000

Scott - great discussion here. I've talked to a number of people that grapple with the topic of combining their professional and personal lives. For me, a like having a blend of the two. I think it gets back to the days before the phone and internet played a major role in how companies did business. If I was a store owner, I knew about the personal lives of my customers AND let them know about mine as well. It created a deeper tie and made them (hopefully) more inclined to do business with me.

The beauty of all things social/community starting to bloom now (thank you Obama for reinforcing this point) is that we can now get back to those days of mixing business with personal stuff. Of course, there needs to be a balance as too much "noise" vs. "signal" can be annoying. For me, that's more of what I struggle with as I self-monitor my life streaming and blogging activities.

Thanks for the shout out!

Best,
Aaron | @aaronstrout

Re: Thought Provoking Posts on Enterprise 2.0 and Social Media

aaronstrout — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 09:41:13 -0000

Great list - and thanks for the shout out. Much appreciated!