Disqus - Latest Comments for Aaron Strout

Re: Interview: “We” Show

Aaron Strout — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:53:41 -0000

Jake - I agree, this was a fun interview to do. Thanks for posting on your blog. Look forward to catching up again F2F at Community 2.0 v. 2.1.

Happy holidays!

Re: Ask the Community Guy

Aaron Strout — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:20:02 -0000

Jake - this is a great service and so I'm going to see if community can help me in my quest to find great case studies and/or research reports to help me with an investor presentation my team is doing. The goal of the presentation is to demonstrate to our potential investors that smart companies (particularly marketers) can't ignore building or participating in communities to improve their top and bottom lines.

Case studies about big name companies like Nike, P&G, SAP (and of course Lego) usually speak the loudest. Also, if anyone can recommend great research reports from well known firms like Gartner, Forrester, IDC etc., that would be helpful. I'm happy to purchase (or we may already have access through our corporate relationships.)

Thanks in advance. For anyone that is willing to help out, I am always happy to return the favor at some future date.

Best,
Aaron

Re: Ask the Community Guy: First Q & A

Aaron Strout — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:27:13 -0000

Jake - your Odiogo plugin is pretty cool. I may check it out for our Wearesmarter.org site. I do have to beg to differ with you - that Johnston character they call the Red Plastic Monkey was not your first Q&A! I was, remember? He's always stealing everyone's thunder. LOL

Re: Why I’m supporting Barack Obama

Aaron Strout — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 21:10:14 -0000

Jake,

Brilliant piece of writing. One of the best posts I think you've ever written (and that's not a criticism of your other articles.) It's time for a change and I am 110% with you that it's worth betting on Obama to make it happen.

I agree that is nice to see a more diversified field this go around (although those of us that live in MA know what a turkey Romney really is) but I have to agree with you, Hillary scares me a bit. Unfortunately, while Bill is the charismatic, intelligent and even-keeled Clinton -- characteristics we've seen less and less of lately -- Hillary has risen to her current prominence through sheer tenacity and determination. Normally, I'd consider those positive traits but I get a sense that she has a tough time backing away from bad decisions (like Iraq.) That's not something I want to see in a president.

Your analogy of Jørgen Vig taking over at Lego in spite of not having a ton of experience is a good one. Sometimes having a storied resume -- especially in politics -- isn't necessarily the secret to success, especially in this age of our new world order.

To that end, I've heard die hard republicans say, "I wish [Obama] were on our side. He's so damn eloquent and inspirational." Amen to that. After eight years of "Dubbya," I'm ready for someone that can make me proud to be an American again.

Best,
Aaron (@astrout)

Re: 10 Questions with Rob Ellis of NotchUp.com

Aaron Strout — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:31:25 -0000

Jake - great interview. I just signed up for NotchUp a couple of weeks ago so it was interesting to get inside co-founder, Rob Ellis' head. Thanks for sharing this.

Re: Silence meant security: Overcoming WWII Propaganda

Aaron Strout — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:01:36 -0000

Jake,

Your post/research is fascinating. I had always just accepted that business in the U.S. favored closed/tight-lipped communication. Having recently read about WWII and the necessity for not talking openly, I can see why many of today's leaders whose parents experienced WWII first hand were indoctrinated in this way of thinking.

Once again you are delivering value into my RSS inbox. Keep the great ideas and information coming.

Best,
Aaron (@astrout)

Re: Rapid Fire - Wednesday, April 02

Aaron Strout — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:47:21 -0000

Jake - thanks for the shout out. Great content with the other links too. Always adding the value - that's what I love about you man!

@astrout

Re: Rapid Fire - Tuesday, April 22

Aaron Strout — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:47:51 -0000

Dude - thanks for the shout out! We had a great time podcasting with you.

Best,
Aaron

Re: A decentralized Twitter? (Scripting News)

Aaron Strout — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:10:40 -0000

Dave - how about instead of decentralizing Twitter, we get some investors to step in and fund it so they have more than one server. Or better yet, let's have someone like Yahoo! buy it and let it stand alone like Flickr (I know, this is heresy to many.) Personally, I would be willing to live with a banner ad or two if we could keep Twitter stable.

@astrout

Re: Is today the day?

Aaron Strout — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:17:48 -0000

Rick - yesterday was NOT the day (Friday) but today definitely was. Thank you for asking.

Re: Robert Scoble after Podtech and his plans for Fast Company

Aaron Strout — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:35:29 -0000

Great video. A nice update on Scobleizer's future plans at either FastCompany TV or his own venture. Thanks for offering this up (I found it on Wikipedia btw.)

Re: On Loren Feldman's statement about Shel Israel and FastCompany

Aaron Strout — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:39:58 -0000

Yeah, I have to disagree with you too @anon. I've done a couple of podcasts with Scoble and talked with him several times in person. I've also talked in depth with @rocmanusa who produces Scoble (without Scoble present) and he had nothing but nice things to say. BTW, why don't you man (or "woman") up and come out from behind your anonymous handle. It's easy to cast stones when there are no repercussions.

Aaron | @astrout

Re: All Things in Moderation

Aaron Strout — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:25:07 -0000

Scott - this is going to be great. Thanks fir the write up/tweet!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Taking the "Me" Out of Social Media

Aaron Strout — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:27:29 -0000

Wow, thanks man. Remind me to talk about other people more often! Seriously though, great post. And I can proudly say that I read Becky, CC, Chris and Mack's blogs/twitter updates regularly (along with yours of course).

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Re-introducing Twitter

Aaron Strout — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:35:38 -0000

Thanks for the shout out Warren. Much appreciated. Whether you're teaching people to use Twitter or not, I read your blog regularly. Always some great insights.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: There are no rivals in social media

Aaron Strout — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 08:40:37 -0000

Leslie - great to see you at the Mzinga BBQ last Thursday. We hope that you'll become a regular!

BTW, great post! I've always been a big proponent of the concept that "a rising tide rises all boats." Given the fact that we're in such a nascent industry (online community/social media for the enterprise) you're absolutely right when you say that we can all do a lot more to build awareness vs. spending time beating up on one another.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Enterprise Social Media Platforms Choices

Aaron Strout — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:27:52 -0000

Barry - thanks for including us (Mzinga) in this list. If anyone ever has any questions, they can ping me via e-mail aaron AT mzinga DOT com or find me on Twitter @astrout.

Best,
Aaron

Re: Robert Scoble after Podtech and his plans for Fast Company

Aaron Strout — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:35:29 -0000

Great video. A nice update on Scobleizer's future plans at either FastCompany TV or his own venture. Thanks for offering this up (I found it on Wikipedia btw.)

Re: 2008/08/15/irony-alert-social-media-introverts/

Aaron Strout — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 08:57:44 -0000

Put me firmly in the extrovert camp on both fronts. One of the reasons I love Twitter, Facebook and Friendfeed is that they extend my networking capabilities (and I agree, meeting someone on Twitter and then augmenting it with a F2F is the best). What's great about these new tools is that I can be more scalable and move beyond local boundaries with these great new social tools. For instance, I haven't felt a drop off in my conversations with friends Scott Monty @scottmonty, John Johansen @jljohansen and now Bryan Person @bryanperson.

Long live social media!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: 2008/09/30/enterprise-microblogging/

Aaron Strout — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:17:25 -0000

Loving the feedback. There are a number of players that we didn't include in this first pass (thanks Dennis for pointing out ESME). Keep adding them to the comments - we can do a follow up post and include all the relevant players. You can also see a great list of these folks provided by my friend, Laura Fitton - http://mashable.com/2008/09/25/enterprise-micro...

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: 2008/09/30/enterprise-microblogging/

Aaron Strout — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:20:18 -0000

Great comment Dale. Thanks for adding!

Re: 2008/09/30/enterprise-microblogging/

Aaron Strout — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:28:51 -0000

@geechee_girl Joe and I are just trying to keep up with you. You are a blogging rock star on Mashable!

Re: 2008/09/30/enterprise-microblogging/

Aaron Strout — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:20:57 -0000

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that you can assign groups in Yammer. You can however assign groups in Utterli.

Re: 2008/09/30/enterprise-microblogging/

Aaron Strout — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:49:06 -0000

Ari - great comment. And yes, I agree with your KM recommendation. It's very 1.0. We should have used a more up to date term.

Thanks,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: 2008/09/30/mzinga/

Aaron Strout — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:56:41 -0000

@paisano yes, thanks for the great write up. I had completely forgotten about the interview with Aaron at the Mashup Boston event - glad I was at least somewhat coherent during our interview.

@Luis, thanks for the kind words.

Re: 15 years at Microsoft, coming to an end…mixed emotions

Aaron Strout — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:16:19 -0000

And to think, I missed breaking your news on our podcast. Looks like we'll have a lot to talk about on 1/4! Congrats.

Re: Use Social Sharing To Extend Your Message

Aaron Strout — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 08:30:55 -0000

Chris - great post on a timely topic. As the person responsible for leading our companies charge on how new media fits into our overall marketing/PR/branding mix, I've been doing a lot of thinking (and experimenting) lately about the best approach. As you suggested in this post, the key is finding the best way to get your message heard (personal or professional in a tasteful manner.

Like you, I spend a lot of time (probably too much) on Twitter, Facebook, other's blogs etc. I see how some people like Jeremiah and Scoble do a great job at self-promotion while delivering value through linking to other folks insightful posts, videos, podcasts etc. Others (I won't name names) are not quite as skilled.

The one thing that I am slowly learning is that getting one's message out requires two specific skills:

Patience - unlike web 1.0 marketing, social media/marketing is not about "pray and spray" but rather small,thoughtful ongoing activities. You've touched on most of these activies above but I would add podcasting to the mix as well as it gives one the ability to tap into an additional channel i.e. iTunes (and other podcast syndicators) to spread the word.
Continuous delivery of value to others - one of the reasons why people read blogs like yours, Dave Winers and other thought leaders is that you are constantly delivering value back to your readers. This may seem obvious but many people on Twitter and on FB sometimes forget that it's okay to point to other blogger's posts. It's also okay to start debates or solicit opinions on FB and Twitter that are for the greater good of the social media movement -- not for individual gain.

Thanks for calling out this valuable topic - I look forward to seeing other's comments.

Aaron

Re: Social Networks are Your Local Pub

Aaron Strout — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:47:25 -0000

Chris - Like @pistachio's "village" post, I enjoyed this piece a lot. The point in your post that really resonated with me was the fact that like pubs or public houses, communities have been around for hundreds of years. Yes, there is a scale and immediacy that comes with these new communities like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, but the benefits i.e. conversation, sharing and networking are the same. Thanks for writing!

Re: Mzinga Acquires Prospero- Uses Social Media to Announce

Aaron Strout — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:26:44 -0000

Chris - thank you for your incredibly thoughtful post. We at Mzinga/Prospero were a little nervous about pulling off social media aspect of today's announcement (especially using Twitter to field Q&A.) We appreciate your support and the validation that we are at least *trying* to eat our own dog food. I owe you several beers at SXSW!

Best,
Aaron (@astrout)

Re: The Sound of Content Ripping Free From Its Page

Aaron Strout — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:00:02 -0000

Chris - thanks for the mention! I guess it really is worth it to call you at 6:00 PM on a Friday when you advertise "call me now!" on Twitter.

Seriously though, I know this is a scary thought for many companies i.e. the dis-intermediation of content from corporate websites. As you point out in your post, however, if this is done right (and correctly branded) companies could benefit from much greater distribution IF they create good content.

Keep the good stuff coming!

Best,
Aaron (@astrout)

Re: The Community Ecosystem

Aaron Strout — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:04:07 -0000

Chris - As one of the best "contributors" to the community ecosystem, I can't let you squeak by without recognizing your expertise in this field. For someone with as big a network and as much influence as you've amassed, you are one of the most humble/helpful people I know. Rock on man!

Aaron (@astrout)

Re: Writing Effective Blog Posts

Aaron Strout — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:50:14 -0000

Chris - thank you for sharing your process. It's helpful to know how one of the best and certainly most dilligent bloggers gets it done day in and day out.

Two quick points to make if I could:
- Shipping News is one of my favorite books of all time. It was tough getting through the first 50 pages but after that, it was amazing.
- One other thing you do well but didn't call out is your regular "shout outs" to other bloggers and community peeps. Everyone likes to be recognized once in a while and when they are, a deeper connection with that person is created.

Thanks again!
@astrout

Re: Enterprise Technology Reborn

Aaron Strout — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:21:36 -0000

Chris - thanks for the shout out. It's an honor to be mentioned a) on your blog and b) in the same breath as Jive. We here at Mzinga are a huge fans of the Chris Brogan brand!

We are also big fans of enterprise collaboration and see it as a huge driver of change within organizations. At next year's Enterprise 2.0, we hope that it's talked about as something everyone is doing vs. what they hope to be doing.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business

Aaron Strout — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:09:40 -0000

Chris,

First, let me start by saying "thank you!" You are too kind. My colleague Jim @jstorerj and I are honored to mentioned in this post alongside so many other great brands/names. To that end, Jim and I work really hard to put a "human" face on Mzinga (which also has a Twitter account that Jim and I sometimes tweet from).

Second, this is a wonderfully prescriptive post (and one that I will start sending to all my "newish" friends and followers. I like that you not only clearly stated clear business value but also mentioned up front what some of the detractors are saying/will say about Twitter. Thanks for once again bringing tremendous value to my feedstream!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Using Outposts in Your Media Strategy

Aaron Strout — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:40:50 -0000

Chris,

Good advice. I'm going to go in and add my blog RSS to LinkedIn now. You're right about doing that because a lot of my non-hard core social media peeps live there so a great place to create more awareness.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Citizen Journalists Arent Evil

Aaron Strout — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:43:44 -0000

Chris - one other thing for folks to remember (irrespective of who you are) is that a healthy dose of fact-checking never hurt anyone.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Picnics

Aaron Strout — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:56:55 -0000

Chris - you nailed it! At the end of the day, it's all about the disclosure. If you're up front about who you're doing business with and what potential conflicts might exist between sponsors & content, people can read/digest you knowing that there might be a bias. With that said, you always do a good job separating church and state.

Aaron | @astrout

Re: Will Google “Friendster” Facebook?

Aaron Strout — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:43:07 -0000

Just Twittered you back on this but I completely agree with your premise -- the social graph (and Google's the one company that I think can pull this off) will kill FB. One other note about why Friendster died -- and this same thing is starting to happen on FB -- SPAM. When I joined Friendster 2-3 years back, 90% of my friend requests were attractive 18 year old girls that wanted to "get to know me better." Yeah right!

Re: Facebook lets me back in…

Aaron Strout — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:57:48 -0000

Robert, your post brings to mind two questions:
1) what was the script?
2) how does one turn on a script in FB - I always felt that the pages of FB itself were under tight lock and key?

Re: Why we’re going to FastCompany.tv

Aaron Strout — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:38:05 -0000

Robert - Congratulations. Sounds like a perfect fit. Based on the podcast we did a few weeks ago (http://tinyurl.com/3e5kx3) I can't say as though I'm surprised by your choice although I still think Google could still benefit from your "breath of fresh air" approach -- engineers be damned!!! LOL

Re: The Digg perfect storm

Aaron Strout — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:33:14 -0000

Robert - it looks like you won't actually have to do any new video for a while once you get started at SmartMoney.tv. Just open up your treasure chest of interviews and have the tech guys throw a quick edit on them and maybe you WILL be able to do the 4-hour work week. LOL

@astrout

Re: Are you breathing while emailing or Twittering?

Aaron Strout — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:15:57 -0000

Robert - interesting piece today. I am going to make a conscious effort to pay attention to my breathing patterns today. To that end, I wrote a comment on Jeremiah's blog yesterday that upon re-reading, I must have have "commenting apnea" because it was barely coherent. Happy Friday!

@astrout

Re: Seattle vs. Silicon Valley sillyness

Aaron Strout — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:17:47 -0000

Seattle is much prettier but as Wreck points out, the weather in Seattle stinks most of the year. ;)

Re: SXSW: too many parties!!!

Aaron Strout — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 03:43:58 -0000

There's also a pretty good "what's going on" site that someone's put up on Ning. http://sxsw.ning.com

Look forward to seeing everyone there!

Aaron (@astrout)

Re: The secret to Twitter

Aaron Strout — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:28:59 -0000

@Scobleizer - I love your message! To that end, I try and follow 3-5 new people today. In fact just the other day, I asked Twitter "whom should I be following that I'm not already?" The funniest response I got back was to follow @tweetjeebus.

It is nice to get followed back so you can actually have a conversation with folks but you're right, at the end of the day you can learn a TON from just listening.

Best @astrout

Re: The noise reduction system

Aaron Strout — Sat, 10 May 2008 08:09:29 -0000

Robert - I live somewhere in between two and three. Like you, I love the noise (I personally find it very useful). But I do wish there was a better filter. I am starting to use FriendFeed and Social Thing more and more but haven't figured out the best way to optimize my usage. Maybe we can do a follow up podcast to discuss these tools! ;)

I look forward to reading more and giving FF/ST add'l attention over the coming weeks.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: The Scoble Top Tech Blogger/FriendFeed/Social Media List

Aaron Strout — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:44:54 -0000

Hey, what about me bro? I know I talk about the Red Sox a lot but I definitely pay homage to all things technology/social media too.

http://friendfeed.com/astrout

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: The Scoble Top Tech Blogger/FriendFeed/Social Media List

Aaron Strout — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:55:22 -0000

@scobleizer That's a fair deal. FWIW, the main reason I don't add "original" content into the system is because I blog on our Mzinga platform and when I first tried to link it up, Friendfeed wouldn't accept the feed. This dings me for my "WE Show" podcasts too since those are also embedded into our platform as posts.

I was able to add my utterli stream (I do a 2 min podcast every morning) so you'll start to see a little more original activity from me. If I can't get our platform RSS-ed into FF soon, I might spin up a Word Press blog and start cross-posting.

Thanks!
Aaron | @astrout

Re: So, you need a job? Man, do resumes suck

Aaron Strout — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:13:57 -0000

Robert - Totally agree with your frustration here. In fact, as Jeff Crites mentions in his comment above, I did a post on a related topic several months back (Hiring in a 2.0 World). It obviously struck a nerve as it garnered coverage in US News and World Report and in the Boston Sunday Globe's Business/Career section. Our friend in common, Shel Israel, also wrote a follow up post. Here is the link: http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/2008/03/mzin...

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: My first Qik from my iPhone

Aaron Strout — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:38:58 -0000

Dude - you suck! I was totally psyched for about 2 seconds until I read the rest of your post. Oh well, let's hope this expedites the rest of us getting Qik on our iPhones sooner rather than later.

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Moderation is the Key to Longevity

Aaron Strout — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:13:53 -0000

Mike - nice job! I work with you and I still feel like I learn something from you every time I listen to you talk about moderation. You're a pro!

-Janet, thanks for this opportunity. Make sure you make Mike let you guest post on his blog (or mine) sometime in the near future!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: 10 Things I Learned from 5,000 Tweets

Aaron Strout — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:09:44 -0000

Gradon - I'm belated in replying to your post but two things:
1) congratulations. 5K is no small feat!
2) I love your post (much more thoughtful than what I did to celebrate my 5k). I totally agree with your learnings. Looking forward to the next 5K!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Is the “Personal Brand” a myth?

Aaron Strout — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:55:18 -0000

Gradon,

First, thanks for the shout out. You are way too kind.

Second, I totally agree with you that the positive route that Chris Brogan, Doug Haslam, Bryan Person, Laura Fitton aka Pistachio et al have taken is a much better route than attracting negative attention. To that end, while "Mr. Sock Puppet" may have a major video show, who knows how long that will last (he certainly has a lot of people cheering against him now). Also important to note is that "Mr. Sock Puppet" also had a career at Podtech prior to this show so it's not like he went from a nobody to a somebody JUST because of the puppet videos.

Keep it real and keep up your great work as a fellow positive social media dude (or dudette).

Best,
Aaron | @astrout

Re: Alpha Females

Aaron Strout — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:28:55 -0000

Ann - I love this story. It has a nice rhythm to it and is strangely relaxing as I sit here at the SF airport waiting to get on my plane. I look forward to reading more of your expert prose. btw, your daughter looks exactly like you!

Re: “Cannonball comin’…”

Aaron Strout — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:48:19 -0000

Adam - cool post. Twitter is amazing for all the reasons you've listed above and then some. In fact, the last several podcasts I've done (including one with Guy Kawasaki today) Twitter has come up as a "life/work changing" tool.

Congrats on your 1,000th tweet!

Best,

Aaron (@astrout)

Re: Gary Vaynerchuk Brings More Than Wine to Boston

Aaron Strout — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:52:15 -0000

Adam - great post. You are so right about Gary Vee - he's a community guy disguised as a wine enthusiast (and quite down to earth). It's also nice that a guy that has become the poster child for how to do community right is gaining such popularity on shows like Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Ellen. It makes the job of those of us that work in the community/social media world that much easier!

Best,

Aaron | @astrout