A Bigger Voice

Update on Networking Naturally Program

In offering the Networking Naturally Program, I'm realizing it's become a case study for A Bigger Voice. I'm seeing how the model works "in the field." Some thoughts:

• Crystallize: It was difficult for me to develop this program, to help others learn to network better and realize the benefits of networking, until I could get to the essence of what would make this program different. Ahhh...the sweet feeling of innovation--a new solution to an old problem!  When I hit upon the idea that there are underlying principles that successful networkers use, independent of their personality and style, I tapped into my own wisdom. That led me to the name of the program, "Networking Naturally," and marketing copy that described what it is that I was offering. The stunning result has just emerged from recent activity on the participant-only blog: A Community of Givers. Participants were asked to answer the question, "What do you want help with?" It wasn't too long after the answers came in on the blog (as comments) that I could see participants giving first before asking for anything. This one of the principles of Networking Naturally.

• Build Community: There are three primary tools for building community, Marketing, Networking, and Technology. In addition, communities are built around a central question, one that is expansive enough to keep everyone engaged for a long time. The central question for the community forming around the Networking Naturally Program is, "How do I network more naturally and more effectively at the same time?"  A great question to explore as there's no quick answer. Marketing this program has shown me the wide range of tools that are now available--from email announcements to my ezine list to talking about the program on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, to postings on three blogs (all my own.) Networking has played a large part in getting the word out--via my connection to the Northwestern University Alumni Association. This is a relationship that started several years ago when I did a series of interviews with Northwestern alums for a Northwestern-sponsored career podcast. I'm learning that networking with groups that have a large distribution list can accelerate the path of a wisdom entrepreneur, by delivering a critical mass that becomes the core of the community. Technology has been the final piece of the puzzle, creating a sense of community from people coming together all over the world (literally!) to learn about networking. I set up a participant-only blog, thinking it was just a central repository for information. It's been that and more, one of the great success stories of the Networking Naturally Program. To give you a sense of the activity, in the first week alone, there were over 3000 hits on the blog. You can use Marketing, Networking, and Technolgy well and still not have a community. My colleague on A Bigger Voice, Ellen Ingraham, who served as the networking consultant during the pilot last year, has a been a wonderful partner in creating a culture of giving and role-modeling community-building skills. She's a natural at both.

• Sustain. Efforts are underway to look at how to sustain this Community of Givers, after the program ends on April 29. I purposely did not monetize as much as I could have from this first go-around on Networking Naturally Program, when community-building and giving back was really the intention. The fee for the public is $37 for all four teleseminars. 100% of the fee from those registering through Northwestern University (as a partner in marketing this program) is being donated back to Northwestern, to fund future career programs for alumni. Monetizing, to create sustainability, will come afterwards. 

There's still time to be join in--to get an inside view of community-building, as well as learn some valuable networking skills, and to connect with a community of givers. All sessions (MID-DAY and EVENING) are recorded and replays are available through May 31, 2009.  Go to www.naturalway2network.com to register.

Biggest Mistakes Made By New Twitter Users

Recently, I've gotten new followers who are just starting out on Twitter. After just a couple of months actively using Twitter, I can see things that newbies should know in order to get the most out of this tool. Here's my list of biggest mistakes made by new Twitter users: 

Photo by dpstyles.

1. Protecting your updates. Twitter  is about a conversation with many people, at the same time. If you wanted  a private conversation with only your friends, it's better to use something like Facebook. When you make your updates public, it opens up the possibility that someone like-minded will find you, just from what you are tweeting about.  BTW--I made this mistake. I was on Twitter for months with little or no activity. It wasn't until @iPatti advised me to make my updates public that I started to "become part of the stream" that makes Twitter so enticing and rich. Photo by AMagill.
2. Not following enough people. Another mistake I've made. I advise new Twitter users to follow at least 20 people right off the bat (more is preferable.) Why? Because given 20 people, you will see 20 distinct ways that individuals are using this robust tool. Observe and pick the best of what fits you. See my post, Observations of a New Twitter User, for a few of the many ways Twitter is used. Get enough of a sampling of what's possible. This will trigger ideas on how you want to use Twitter.
3. Not sticking with it long enough.  This relates to the previous item.  Follow 20 people for 10 days. Watch the stream, as it reveals the different dynamics, protocol, and styles of using Twitter. Without a big enough sampling, you are working in, heaven forbid, a Twitter vacuum. (Really is there such a thing? Yes, she says, nodding wisely. Been there.)
4. Intermittent use. Okay, this also relates to the previous two items. If you think you can dip your toe in the water and start to "get" Twitter, you'll go years (in Internet time, that is) with just a wet toe and nothing else. Toe-dipping doesn't work. I tried that one already. Go for the full-body immersion (a sort of online baptism, if you will) and you'll be swimming in the Twitter stream in no time. Photo by dboy.
5. Thinking it's a one-to-one conversation. Actually, you don't have to be a newbie to make this mistake. These are the people that have a long list of tweets that begin with "@" and something cryptic that obviously requires some context. In the really old days, this would have been like listening in on a party line (really, I'm not that old, I've just heard about them) and only hearing snippets of one side of the conversation.  You quickly lose interest. Twitter, at its best is inclusive, rather than exclusive.
6. No info about you. These are the people without a link in their profile to  provide additional background. There's usually a generic bio like, "Likes people and interested in making money on the Internet." Okay, not that bad but you get the idea. At that point, the only thing I have to discern who you are is your tweets, which likely are written with a big dose of self-consciousness when you are starting out. Think of it this way:  If someone walked up to you on the street with a bag over their head, would you want to talk to them?  'Nuf said. Photo by scragz.
7. Having a consumption mindset. I've seen profiles that show someone following say, 90 people, but very few tweets. You're only getting half the value of Twitter. Sure, I use Twitter as my personalized, virtual newspaper, too. But it's the interaction that makes Twitter fun. And different. And fascinating. Twitter is not just about consuming. It's about conversing and adding value to the stream.
8. Not thinking you have any original thoughts. Usually typified by limited  vocabulary that could be found in a typical teen's texting. (Hey, note that I said typical. There are always exceptions to the rule.) If you don't think you have anything original to say, that's exactly what will happen. Self-fulfilling prophecy.  Give your brain a stretch--be curious and notice your true reaction to things happening around you.  It won't be long before you have something interesting to say. Photo by aloshbennett

All of this is skewed to how I see Twitter at its most useful--as a way to build a community. Anything that inhibits or intervenes in the natural process of growing a community is something I want to be aware of.

For those who have been on Twitter for awhile, what would you add to this list?  What mistakes did you make that you can help others avoid? For those who are new to Twitter, what's still a mystery to you, that you just don't get?  I'm looking forward to your additions.

Where the Future Lies: Snapping Up Michelle Obama's Dress

I recently attended a presentation, via videoconference, by Christine Heckart, General Manager at Microsoft for their television division and most recently, their music division. She's a seasoned technologist with a big picture marketing bent and humility that is refreshing for someone in her position. (Slight tangent: Afterwards, I wondered if a man would ever display such humility, even an enlightened one. Would a man ever say he was new to a field, after studying and working in it for four years?)

The title of the talk was "The Future of Television and a Market Filled With Business Opportunities."

Key points from the talk:

• We spend an awful lot of time consuming entertainment (9 hrs/day vs. 7 hrs spent on sleeping.) Heckart didn't say this explicitly but it was implied that this will increase over time.
• The world is increasingly becoming digitized. Today, there are 300 million people watching online video. In 2012, it's predicted that 1 billion people will be watching online video. Television is the last electronic island in the home. I could relate to Heckart's story that she takes away screen time from her kids as punishment instead of television time. My kids think something is wrong with my husband and I when we limit screen time to under 20 hours per week. Photo by striatic.
• Media is increasingly being fragmented to more channels and choices. Even more intriguing is fragmentation of attention. Kids today multi-task with an iPod, video games, and chat all going on at the same time.
• Advertising has not caught up. The dollars going to advertising on television vs. online are disproportionate to the consumption. 7% of the ad spend is online, while 20% of the consumption is online. Fewer television viewers, yet advertising is still putting their money there.
• The ME-WE phenomena, fueled by social networking, adds personalization into the landscape. I'm going to tell you all about me so we can connect. 
• Convergence used to mean voice and data together. Now it means everything I need for communications and entertainment, seemlessly delivered. Television plus Internet, enriching each other, is part of the future. Heckart warns that our infrastructure isn't ready for that and thus, there's a business opportunity. Consumer video is the driver for a new eco-system. 
• Be prepared for a re-distribution of dollars. (Sound vaguely familiar?) Current players in the television market (e.g. cable and satellite) have both the worst and the best of starting points. They have a captive audience and everything to lose as the old pie shrinks and a new pie emerges.

Quotable quotes:

• "When the Internet "rolls" over your industry, it fundamentally changes it."
• "If you can make things simple, you can make a lot of money. If you can't make the complex simple, it's a niche market. Dumbing down is the whole point."

How this relates to the path of a wisdom entrepreneur:

• In a fragmented world, crystallizing your ideas becomes even more important.
• The interactive nature of today's younger generation will be pervasive in no time at all. The last bastion, television, is coming to grips with this.  Digital immigrants need to be prepared to incorporate that into their strategy of turning an idea into a movement.
• Technology and culture are reinforcing the idea of attracting your tribe, by promoting personalization and connection to those who resonate with you. Interestingly enough, Heckart was asked in the Q+A for one piece of career advice. She first said, "Have great mentors." And then she hit upon these words: "Pure raw leadership. Identify opportunities and do something about it, exciting people enough to follow you."  While she was referring to a business setting, I think it applies in a large sense. I immediately thought of Seth Godin's book, Tribes, and how the essence of leadership is creating a community of kindred spirits, a movement, that changes the world in some way.

Heckart ended her talk with a marketer and technologist's vision of the future that elicited a knowing smile from the audience.  Michelle Obama was on The View last year, a women's talk show on television, and wore a dress that captivated the viewers. Reportedly, within hours, the off-the -rack dress was sold out across the country.

Imagine if that same event took place and all that was needed was a click of the button to purchase and start delivery.  Now that's making the complex simple. 

Photo by AlexJohnson

Kim Dority, Part 3: Using Social Media to Build Community

We're hoping to use the social media tools both to talk about what Disaboom is doing, but also to gather information from a broader community as well, which we can then understand, synthesize and make public. --Kim Dority

In this third part of the interview, Kim Dority talks about using social media to grow the Disaboom community even further, from its current base of 90,000 registered users. Listen for Kim's answer to the question of having an online community manager. It's a brilliant approach. This recording is about 6 minutes long.

Are you learning from these interviews as much as I am? I hope so.

In the fourth and final part of my interview with Kim, we talk about the Sustain phase of A Bigger Voice--revenue generation. Of any of the wisdom entrepreneurs who I have talked to so far, Kim has one of the most creative and pragmatic minds on how to do good and do well at the same time. But don't take my word for it. Stay tuned for Part 4, to be posted soon.

How Book Authors Can Have a Bigger Voice

Forget the book tours. Go online. That was the advice of Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week. If you don't believe Ferriss, check out this series of interviews with successful authors who are using social media to get their ideas out into the world.

The first interview is with Dan Pink, author of Free Agent Nation, A Whole New Mind, and The Adventures of Johnny Bunko. I've talked about Dan Pink on this blog before (and on my other blog, Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Living) because he always seems to have his pulse on where the world is heading (although these days, it seems like no one knows the answer to that question.) One of the ways I learn best is from reading what smart people have to say and Pink comes through as usual. He's right on target when he says in the interview: "Marketing is not a monologue. It’s a conversation." I would add, ideally, the conversation leads to a community.

A quote from Rohit Bhargiva, author of the book, Personality Not Included:

"The best thing social media can offer any author is a way to connect with influential voices who are currently talking about your subject, and letting people share your content and ideas with one another. The first point is about connecting your book with the people that can spread the word to all the right audiences. The second is about letting your readers and people who like the book spread the word about it. I would say that for any author, the trick is to try and focus on both of these pieces."

He's really talking about using both top down and bottom up approaches to having a bigger voice, as well as the use of networking to connect to the top and others who have a large following. Fortunately, as Bhargiva states earlier in the interview, individuals who were previously inaccessible are now accessible using social media. He gives the example of leaving a comment on John Mackey's blog (CEO of Whole Foods) and having Mackey respond to the comment.

Take the time to learn from these authors who are already using social media and using it well. Hats off to Satchi Studio, a web design and marketing firm for doing these interviews and providing some valuable insights.

Photo by oddsock

Observations of a New Twitter User

I first heard about Twitter nearly two years ago and at the time, I didn't get it.  I gave it another try last fall, after seeing Twitter in use at the Thin Air Summit by afficionados. I saw enough to stay interested but not invested. Over the last month, I've invested both time and energy into figuring out how best to use this robust tool. Yes, robust, even with a limitation of 140 characters per message or "tweet." 

Here's what I'm noticing:

• Twitter is its own world, with a tailored language and toolkit, rock stars, and community consisting of a rich stew of people, just like in the offline world. As such, it takes some getting used to. You'll see good and bad content, rude and gracious people, scammers and credible business people, highly intelligent and barely intelligible, all conforming to the constraints of Twitter and making ample use of the basic functions. Photo by ooOJasonOoo
• Twitter is versatile and thus, serves different purposes for different people. That's where the stew comes in. What can you do with a series of messages, 140 characters at a time, broadcast to a group of followers who can easily unsubscribe as subscribe? Turns out, a lot. I've seen Twitter used as a virtual picture on the side of a milk carton by asking "tweeps" to spread the word about a missing teen, a promotional vehicle for businesses (@guykawasaki consistently has tweets that refer to his biz, alltop.com), a research tool and of course, a way to expand and deepen connections. I use Twitter as my virtual newspaper, customized to follow people who talk about stuff I'm interested in (e.g., creativity, coaching, social media) as well as current events. 
• Know what you want to optimize.  Many years ago, I got a master's degree in Operations Research. One of the few things I remember from that curriculum is knowing which variable to optimize in a multi-variable problem space (think scheduling airline crews and airplanes for hundreds of destinations.) What you choose to optimize gives very different outcomes. Twitter is the same way. Some people optimize for number of followers. Some people optimize for connecting one-on-one to followers. (This has to explain tweeps whose tweets all start by addressing a single person.) Some people optimize on sharing interesting information. (Thus, my virtual newspaper quickly gets filled up with just a few of these people.) The people who know how to use Twitter well are those who can provide a mix of tweets that optimizes for creating trust and community. I'm still learning how to do that. Photo by edelmandigitalbootcamp
• Twitter can quickly expand your connections, both in depth and breadth. It wasn't until I left the corporate world and became a solopreneur, that I realized how big the world really is. It's easy to get focused on what's happening inside a single company and forget about the diversity of people, ideas, organizations in the world. In the course of checking out people who have followed me on Twitter, I've found sites on new media in Australia, activities for babies and moms month-by-month, traveling the world with minimal effort, affirmations that naturally bubble up and heal others, living as an expat in Prague, and creating modern music in the style of Bach. This is just from the sites of people who have somehow found me. Twitter is also good at connecting people around a single topic, with not much effort. I was amazed at the number of conservatives who followed me, based on a single tweet to a well-known conservative tweep. (I'm still puzzled as to how other followers find me--whether it's more random, as in the recent follower who specializes in discussing dating relationships, or whether it goes back to a case of six degrees of separation.)
• It helps to set boundaries. How many Internet marketers do I want to follow? (BTW--why is it that 90% seem to men and 50% of them have sleazy looking sites?) How many conservative leaning bloggers do I want to follow? How much time do I want to spend deciding who to follow back? How much time to tweet and to read my Twitter feed? Just like I would allocate time to respond to email and read the Wall Street Journal, I've found that allocating Twitter time can keep me from losing the entire day in a flurry of tweets.
• The numbers tell the story. Call me a Twitter snob but I initially distrust someone who is following more people than they have followers (e.g.,, Following: 15,000, Followers: 10,000.) My mind goes to someone who is optimizing around number of followers. (By following someone, there's an unspoken rule of following back.) Yes, there are some people I like who have a larger number in the "following" box than the "follower" box. But they are the exception to the rule. A big red flag gets raised if you have very few tweets and thousands of followers (e.g., Following: 15,000, Followers: 10,000, Updates: 50.) It says to me that you didn't get the followers organically, through conversation and good content in your tweets, but through some other means. People who have many times more followers than people they follow (e.g., Following: 100, Followers: 4,000) seem to be individuals who already built an audience through other means before getting on Twitter (e.g., books, blogs.) They've bypassed the mentality of having to follow in order to be followed. Even number of following and followers?  The jury is still out. Photo by "Solar ikon"
• Inherent in Twitter is a sense of community. Search on #Oscars or #Superbowl09 and you'll never again feel alone while watching an event on television or in person. Unlike users of other social networking tools, Twitter users like to get together in-person as well as online. Look for a Tweetup (meetup for tweeps) in your local area. Read about Twestival, a charity event organized by tweeps that produced in-person events in over 200 cities around the world and raised over US$250,000. Check out the first ever Tweet-a-thon, again a charity event (this time online.)  When you are on Twitter, it's easy to be part of a community. Photo by Annie Mole
• Twitter feeds my creativity and grows my network, at the same time. Twitter connects me to  like-minded individuals, triggers ideas for new blog posts, and creates opportunities for conversation. It's up to me to develop a vibrant community from that. Which brings me full circle back to A Bigger Voice. I'm in the Build Community phase. Find me on Twitter: @carolross.

Enabling Social Change Through Social Media: Learning From Each Other

What happens when you put an Internet icon (Dave Taylor), a marketing expert at the crossroads of new media and old media (Dave Webb), and a digital immigrant who bridges top down with bottom up approaches (Kim Dority) on a panel and mix with an enthusiastic group of students, professors, and activists? I wish I could thoroughly convey the energy at Regis University last night, as we explored the nuances of social media, marketing, leadership, and social causes. A lot of wheels were turning as we learned from each other.

I started off the evening describing the three phases of A Bigger Voice--Crystallize, Build Community, and Sustain--and was followed by the knowledgeable and ever entertaining Dave Taylor. Dave talked about the "burning desire" for humans to express themselves and gave us a great perspective on how technology has helped us meet that need. His talk was similar to one he gave last November at the Thin Air Summit, which I reported on for this blog. What struck me this time around was his theme of "You have a voice. Use it." Amen!

The real juice of the evening came with our panelists providing stories and viewpoints from the field and interacting with the audience. Questions ranged from how to get digital immigrants to see the value of social media (answer: mutual respect of what digital immigrants and digital natives already know, point digital immigrants to Facebook and have them look for fellow alums), to how to publicize a local event through social media (answer: find and contact the influencers in your field and geographical area, make use of the social networks that the organizers are already on), to how to build a business using social media (answer: create trust, give away something of value, contribute to others' goals.)

Themes that emerged:

• Passion. Social media allows people who are passionate in niche areas (e.g., Kurasawa films, breeding English settler dogs) to connect with each other. Find what you are passionate about and participate in that community (or create a community of your own.)
• Ease into the conversation and become a part of the community. Contribute, build trust, develop relationships online, just like you would in the offline world. Dave Taylor gave a wonderful metaphor of being at a party and how different behaviors either alienate people or draw them to you. (You had to be there for the full effect.) Contribute to conversations where there are already like-minded thinkers and add value.
• Start with consuming before creating. Build your expertise by reading and researching online, observing the conversation and then get ready to contribute/create, either in small bits with comments and tweets or in larger chunks with blogging. 
• We need both "old media" and "new media." The panel discussed the demise of the newspaper industry and the dangers of losing that "voice" in the mix of today's landscape, where citizen journalism is on the rise. In addition, old media still contains major influencers in different areas (e.g. Walt Mossberg with the Wall Street Journal on technology.) Dave Taylor gave some tips on how to create a relationship with old media (e.g., email reporters with additional thoughts on something they've written and offer to be a possible source of information when they are working under tight deadlines.)
• Move into action. Social media has the power to connect individuals more broadly, deeply, and quickly. It also can and should be a means for inspiring others to act. Passion and vision are great but without action, it doesn't mean anything. Dave Webb said after the panel that he didn't have the chance to talk about Twestival but wished he could have. Twestival was an event organized by Twitter users that took place on Feb 12, in over 200 cities around the world, to raise money for a non-profit that digs wells in places that don't have access clean water. 
• Learn from Obama's election campaign. We talked about this as great case study on how to use social media to create a grassroots movement. Kim Dority gave us a specific example of Obama's campaign reaching out to her company, disaboom.com, as the voice of the disabled population, to create a win-win. An extensive analysis of the Obama campaign's use of social media was just released by Edelman, the PR firm.
• Social media is everywhere. From Club Penguin to World of Warcraft to Facebook (where the greatest growth is with women over 50 years old.) You can start using it or be left behind.

One of my big take-aways is it is easy to get wrapped into the social media bubble, thinking that individuals are knowledgeable about tools and lingo and comfortable with it all. For example, out of more than 70 people, only one or two were on Twitter and only a small percentage were bloggers.  If we are to bring the power of social media to both digital immigrants and digital natives, we must meet them where they are at and help them find ways to move forward. My hope is that last night's presentation made a small contribution to that end.

My thanks all the panelists, Kim Dority, Dave Taylor and Dave Webb. Special thanks to Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas, director of the leadership development program at Regis, for sponsoring this event. (That's her on the left, with the two Daves.) Judging from comments from panelists and audience members, I'm not alone when I say that the evening was inspiring and energizing and I walked out feeling smarter than when I came in. Check out the following interviews with  panelists and audience members.

Interview with Dave Taylor and Dave Webb:

Interview with Kim Dority. UPDATE: Please note that Kim mentions having "Obama's adminstration on staff." Kim later listened to the interview and informed me this should have been "Obama's campaign on the site."  Interestingly enough, the Obama staff has continued to reach out to disaboom.com, this time soliciting stories of people with disabilities who've gone back to work because of the stimulus plan. Yet another example of Obama's adeptness at using social media to engage, create conversation, and build community.

Interview with Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas:

Interview with Dan "The Can Man":

Interview with Janice, Social Marketing professor:

Enabling Social Change Through Social Media: A Bibliography

New to social media and wisdom entrepreneurship and wondering how to move up the learning curve faster?

I'll be part of a presentation on enabling social change through social media. The audience is a group of Regis University students who are learning about leadership.

I've asked my fellow co-presenters, people well-versed in using social media to do good, to provide their recommendations for books, articles, and  blogs related to this topic. Here's our collective bibliography, from Kim Dority, Dave Taylor, Dave Webb, and myself:

Books and Articles

• CauseWired: Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World by Tom Watson
• Saving the World at Work by Tim Sanders
• Groundswell by Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li
• Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky
• How to Use Social Media for Social Change by Sarah Perez
• Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• Tribes by Seth Godin
• Wikinomics by Don Tapscott & Anthony Williams

Sites

www.web-strategist.com

www.change.org

www.mtdn.com

www.socialactions.com

www.causecast.org

www.socialvibe.com

www.globalgiving.com

www.networkforgood.org

www.frozenpeafund.com

www.giving.casefoundation.org

www.twestival.com

www.beth.typepad.com

www.donorschoose.org

It always makes me happy to find interesting books to read and new sites to explore. Many thanks to my fellow co-presenters for contributing to this list. What books, articles, blogs do you recommend for wisdom entrepreneurs?

Update: During our panel discussion at Regis, Dave Webb suggested a paper just issued by Edelman, the PR firm, titled, "Social Pulpit: Barack Obama's Social Media Toolkit."  It's a thorough analysis of the Obama campaign's social media strategy and use of tools, to create the desired outcome--a landslide victory fueled by grassroots support. A must read.

Photo by brittanyculver

Dan Pink: Finding New Ways to Connect to Community

I'm a big fan of Daniel Pink's work and discovered him when I read his book, A Whole New Mind, several years ago. Since then, I've been following what he's been up to via his blog. You might even say that I'm part of his tribe. I'm an evangelist for his wisdom--using the creative right brain alongside the analytical left brain--and have interviewed him in person and over the phone. 

Now, Pink has ventured into online video, with his short (1-2 minutes) travel tips. It's completely different content from what I normally look for. Nevertheless, I took the time to watch all six travel tip videos. Why? Because it gives me another view of him that I don't get in his writing. Take a look:

Pink's Travel Tips -- Tip #1 from DHP on Vimeo.

The lesson for wisdom entrepreneurs and  community-building is simple: Use multiple ways to connect to your community, even when the content may seem peripheral to your cause.

People want to see different facets of the same person. Video is a great way to start to show those facets. I've been playing with a Flip camcorder for about a month. With easy-to-use and reasonably-priced tools like the Flip (I got mine for $120 on Amazon, and uploaded my first video to YouTube within the hour of receiving it in the mail), there are no more excuses.Stay tuned.

Twitter's Community of Super Bowl Fans

For a fascinating look at the Twitter conversation among people watching the Super Bowl, click here. My thanks to @jowyang for pointing to the site in his Twitter feed.

The technology is now able to capture "communities of the moment," what they are interested in and how they respond to external events. Very cool. 

I'm not sure what this means for A Bigger Voice other than the fact that technology continues to enable new voices to be heard.

Photo by Joe Shlabotnik