DISQUS

There is often gold in them thar hills of criticism and as more people understand how to value this free market research I think they will be willing to pay for it. Many of us can think of situations where a business falls off because of poor WOM yet no one had the courage to inform the owner of the negative word on the street. Most businesses want to do their best - and having an accurate report (as compared to only looking at the positives) is incredibly important IMO.

Tourists feel taken advantage of on a regular basis (just like home buyers) because only the positive features are mentioned, not the negative ones.

In my experience, people can actually handle the so-called negative features just fine, if they know about them and can plan for them. It's when they feel hijacked that "the beautiful view" also comes with unmentioned "construction noise next door" that can backfire. If a blogger mentions both, and the buyer chooses to come anyway, then the blogger has just handled a customer service problem in advance, for free, for the hotel owner.

This is the magic and the value of transparency in communication. PR has traditionally been all about spin, and putting the best foot forward, not putting the truth forward. They don't need to be mutually exclusive.

You da man Colon, err, I mean Colin. And how about that KILLER pic of you at sunset?!!?

If Viddler doesn't see the brand opportunity re: a Hawaii office from that, well, what can I say?

As for you Daynah. of course you were there with us! Thank you so much for all your love and support.

I am thrilled that we have huge participation of our tourism officials and vendors at next weekend's Podcamp + Wordcamp Hawaii. I can say easily we would not be doing such a first class event on such a grand scale without their support. I think it will be a powerful experience for all of us.

And to agree with TravelingMamas, the folks like Nate Kam and Michael Ni at MWC-Anthology get it.

@jyesmith - great idea. I hope Dave adn Andy are listening. :-)

@Maggie McGary - I think you've raised an important issue on both personal branding as well as strategic positioning. @Kevin Skarritt has given us two more data points of support as well.

As people who are at the leading edge of creating whole new industries and job descriptions, it is very important IMO to establish these new roles with the requirements and credibility they deserve (and even demand.) That translates across the entire org chart, and in your case, I would support 100% an upgrade in your title (and salary) to reflect the added responsibilities and skills required to be successful.

In this case, it becomes an opportunity to issue a press release (internal as well as external) to educate about the activities you are performing. If we don't carve out space for the work we are doing, as a collective of change-makers, there is no reason to expect others to know about or support us.

Please let us know what you come up with re: your new title and pay grade. And you can certainly turn to this post for extensive documentation.

Thank you for posting this Kyle. I find her graphics very inviting and I certainly applaud attempts to maintain practice with the rich and wonderful world of writing. Now that I think of it, coders are "all about syntax" ans so is regular writing!

I hope Grammar Girl is thinking seriously about coming to Podcamp Hawaii!

@Andy Mabbett Good question.

To me it falls into the "better than nothing" category, as so many people are using Twitter a central hub or place to meet other people - and just having a web site link means more work for me the viewer. Yes, the "bonus profile" links are not clickable, but I do get to see at a glance where this person hangs out, a BIGGER picture, and/or any other details they want to show me. It's a great personalization hack that isn't perfect yet, but is a creative step in a more expressive, useful direction IMO.

It also does nudge me a little more to visit a person's page on the web - there may be a little reward for doing so!

You've gathered a number of great ones and I LOVE the idea of the Flickr group. :-)

I do think however that @philcampbell may have been one of the pioneers - he has had this page for over a year.

At the other end of the time-space continuum, my Secret Cameraman and partner is just released: @shane though I did like the animated gif he had way back when, inspired by @kosso though his is no longer animated either.

I agree Andy, having taken cover from the same argument and also finding all flash far too inconvenient to me, a site visitor. It's been favored by the web's control freaks, not to mention devoid of conversational input.That's the stronger argument for me now anyway. A combination of the great data delivery abilities of flash with some discussion tools could make for some compelling sites that now can be indexed.

Roxanne Darling's last blog post..Can Google get smart without the free-with-advertising model?

Congrats Phil - I am thrilled to see you have a home for your outstanding talents!
love, Rox

Seems to me there is a root problem, that can be summed up in the word "consciousness."

Right now, the market consciousness is all about the free. Business models are a side discussion to changing the fundamental experience of how we exchange energy with each other and how we place value on those exchanges, and how that value gets translated and transacted.

Some bloggers for example don't care about the money, they thrive on comments. Attention is their currency, both giving and receiving.

The more you scale, the more fixed costs you have; in the internet space it's more servers and more pipes.

Steven, your post is part of the consciousness-building process IMO. To me, we will get "there" faster once we address that fundamental challenge, and not let the biz model ideas distract us. How we perceive and feel about the exchange of money and other forms of currency is morphing; it's going to be a while before we have new systems that are generic enough for creators and consumers to identify and apply. OTOH, there is a ton of momentum moving us away from everything always being about the Benjamins.

To me, it is relevant to decide how, after years of free-binging, we want to return to the discussion of money. On the plus side, it is one of the easiest ways to measure and transact. OTOH, some people naturally garner gobs of it while equally talented and perhaps more generous others seem unable to get it. That is the part of the formula that is due for tweaking. The usury parts.

I think methods of "opt-in" are a stepping stone. As the creator, do what you want first and foremost, so you and your concerns are met. Let people pay who see value. Flag them in your customer database. Give them perks of some sort. And make no promises to those who are along for the ride, unless they are feeding you in other ways. Because once again, it doesn't always have to be about the money, and that also doesn't mean we have to take money completely off the table.

I love seeing where my friends come from. I also credit new media for dissolving some of the trational barriers between generations. So many of us are engaging moms and dad's, kids and neices and aunties, etc. I hope day was just the way you like it.
Love to you both, Rox

Great insights, and I would (natch) like to add one more - the prequel. I am finding more and more than to really grok the social web one has to be a native speaker. Lots of PR and ad agencies are developing campaigns basically on the sideline, having read the Cliff Notes (aka watched a few YT videos/read a few blogs). This is a classic "learn by doing" profession now.

So all of these tips will actually make sense and be usable IF the PR person actually starts blogging/twittering/podcasting etc.

Do you know anyone who truly gets it and does not use at least one of the social web tools decently? It must be possible, but not too probable.

I think grand plays a huge role - if you ain't got that then your site better inspire confidence in other ways.

I'd like to know the referrals. Do people start at Office Depot from memory or land there from a price comparison site (choosing the well known brand if price is comparable) after starting with a generic search?

roxanne darling's last blog post..Podcasting Listeners Are Paying Attention

There is no substitute for walking in another's shoes. The peeps who do the lion's share of work putting on an event have a unique perspective that those of us on the outside can listen to and understand.

Likewise, "market forces" also have a role to play; how many people will be put off and away by a fee?

On a bigger scale, can we start returning to financial transactions that are imbued with value not usury, and reclaim that part of the conversation for ourselves as well? I am interested in that.

Chris - the hiring part is a real challenge for our industry I believe. This is one of those positions that is not so easily trainable - it is so dependent on that mix of technical ability, curiosity and knowledge about the space/vertical in mind, confidence and open-heartedness to work well with all kinds of people, etc.

I wrote a few short comments a while ago - please feel free to steal 'em - and I would say to companies - this may be your most important and most difficult hire. We are talking a very multi-dimensional person, and there just are not that many of them. Maybe 10% of all the people who might apply, or who are active either in your space or in social media. Just my hunch based on Myers-Briggs data and personal experience.

This is awesomely comprehensive Chris. The piece I would add comes before the measurement, and that is finding the person who really is cut out for this position. It is actually not that easy to find in my experience. You are looking for a combination of right and left brain skills, tech and personality, and like Cortney mentioned, it is a 24-7 position.

I think people tend to think that a junior person or a volunteer could do this. In many cases that is true, but this person regardless of position, will do best with support and nurturing provided on a regular basis too.

I think it is really worth the pause here to acknowledge the very difficult job it is to find a community manager who knows the product, who is literate in new media, who has the technical and social and psychological qualities to work it well, and who has enough vision and backbone to not take the naysayers personally.

I've been working more and more with clients who actually want to play with the tools, but they are not wanting to invest so much in the key personnel that will make or break it IMO.

This is nothing new - companies have typically felt more comfortable buying stuff as compared to investing in people. People are all over the map after all, while a computer is measurable and boxable. I think the social space is increasingly shining the light on this discrepancy between the tools and the users of the tools.

I wrote a blog post last June '07 (see link on my name) outlining what I think it takes to be this key person, a social media maven, drawn from a discussion on LinkedIn.

Chris - thanks for the article link to Beach Walks with Rox too!

Excellent tip Andy and I appreciate the linear-ness of your thinking and writing. The before and afters are great as well. This is a great training example as well as blog post!

This accomplishment begs for a new type of institution to house it in but you are so deliciously un-institutional that I will simply say "Hurray!"

As a flickr user, I may have to run away from home! Can flickr emancipate itself if these two dysfunctional "adults" arrange a marriage of convenience?

Hey Chris - I loved your "take a moment and mark the progress" concept in play here. And thanks for letting me use your previous post to show my audience today about leaving a blog comment. Most of the c. 70 people had not done that before.

I've also tracked several good threads on Twitter (including you) re: about reaching out to others beyond the bubble/ beyond the choir. A group of us are looking at options. I'd like to actually develop a curriculum that could be shared and customized for select target audiences. I find so many businesses are wanting to know how this stuff works and how they can start implementing it.

HI Chris,

I am in a seminar and we are testing comments! Thanks for playing with us.

Love,
Rox

Update - comments as homage to twitter

I've been using it for an hour and no crashes with the most recent update.

Carry on.

OTOH, I like to colors of the interface. :-)