Digital Biographer™

May the road rise before you.

A warm hello and felicitations of the day to all of my good friends from the island.

blonging, digital biographer, share, social media profile, st patricks day, Twitter

Digital Biographer Digital Red Nose

I had the idea to create Digital Nose Jobs for Red Nose Day (13th March), inspired by @jamie_oliver on Twitter.

I’ve done a few Nose Jobs this week to raise money for the UK & African projects that Red Nose Day supports. You can still order a red nose if you’d like (I have time for about another 15 4 nose jobs today!

Great minds obviously thinking alike, I’ve since discovered you can also have an official Red Nose Day Digital Nose Job - for just £1 (again, all money goes to Red Nose Day). Not as exclusive, but just as much fun - my one’s below.

Official Red Nose Day Images £1 from http://digitalrednose.com

• Red Nose Day is at http://rednoseday.com
• Digital Red Nose is at http://digitalrednose.com
• My Profile Makeover (Red Nose Job) is at http://bit.ly/rednose

UPDATE 16-Mar: I raised $220 for Red Nose Day - which itself raised over £59m ($74m). Thanks to all who helped to promote and especially to those who bought a ‘nose job’.

2.0, blonging, digital biographer, microblogging, share, social media avatar, digital biography, fun, profile t, rednose, rednoseday, rednoseday2009

Tragedy and Triumph: A Conversation Veers Off Target by Amy Jussel - www.shapingyouth.org

“Conversations may start with you, but they’re not yours to keep. Your words can be hijacked, trivialized, or repositioned to attract flamethrowers and incivility like heat-seeking missiles, but if you try to rein in gonzo journalism you’ll get kicked in the face or sound like a nag.”

In a chapter entitled ‘Tragedy and Triumph: A Conversation Veers Off Target‘ Amy reminds us one voice DOES matter.

>> Read the full story from Amy Jussel and 236 other contributors: Buy Age of Conversation 2 today…

David Petherick is one of 237 authors who contributed to the book ‘Age of Conversation 2‘. For the first 237 days of 2009, he is highlighting a chapter from one of his co-authors, briefly discussing their contribution, and linking you to their blog or online presence.
All proceeds from sales of Age of Conversation 2 go to charity.

2.0, authors, blonging, conversation 2.0, digital biographer, share, social media Amy Jussel, aoc2, gonzo, HST, social media

Why Listening is Priority #1 by Simon Payn - simonpayn.typepad.com

“After all, we’ve been taught that the most important skill of a great conversationalist is shutting up and listening to what the other person has to say. And any business that truly listens to the conversation that is going on around its products will show it has mastered marketing in the Age of Conversation.”

In a chapter entitled ‘Why Listening is Priority #1‘ Simon outlines a six-point plan for successful listening.

1. Grow big ears.
2. Show that you are listening.
3. Ask for feedback.
4. # Four
5. # Five
6. # Six

>> Read the full story (we know that’s not six) from Simon Payn and 236 other contributors: Buy Age of Conversation 2 today…

David Petherick is one of 237 authors who contributed to the book ‘Age of Conversation 2‘. For the first 237 days of 2009, he is highlighting a chapter from one of his co-authors, briefly discussing their contribution, and linking you to their blog or online presence.
All proceeds from sales of Age of Conversation 2 go to charity.

2.0, authors, blonging, conversation 2.0, share, social media aoc2, listening, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Simon Payn, social media

Marketing is in the Eye of the Beholder by Corentin Monot - organic-frog.com

“Another reason why people are skeptical and even reluctant about conversational marketing is the fear of the new. Few people actually possess a genuine entrepreneurial mind, (and) we all know that the successful brands and businesses are those that have a point of view and are ready to defend it. The rest, which is the vast majority, are copying and pasting empty words for their vision values and purpose documents.”

In a chapter entitled ‘Marketing is in the Eye of the Beholder‘ Corentin reminds those who understand conversational marketing have a role to educate beyond a group of like-minded peers. We need to include the C-level, the boardroom and the mail clerks in our conversations.

>> Read the full story from Corentin Monot and 236 other contributors: Buy Age of Conversation 2 today…

David Petherick is one of 237 authors who contributed to the book ‘Age of Conversation 2‘. For the first 237 days of 2009, he is highlighting a chapter from one of his co-authors, briefly discussing their contribution, and linking you to their blog or online presence.
All proceeds from sales of Age of Conversation 2 go to charity.

Business, authority, authors, blonging, conversation 2.0, digital biographer, share, social media aoc2, Corentin Monot, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, sharing, silos, social media

An observation that took me all of 140 characters to pass on (using Twitter of course) was turned into a fairly substantial blog by another writer a few days ago. One of my Twitter followers noticed that blog, and immediately linked it to my earlier tweet. They asked me if I wasn’t annoyed that this guy had ‘stolen‘ my idea.

And you can quote me on that…

No. I was not annoyed. Actually, it’s nice to inspire other people, I replied. And thinking further about this, I was only highlighting something that was tucked away in a long interview, but which, to me, seemed the most important fact from the interview - for a particular geographical audience. So my thought was not original in any way - I just focused on something already stated, which was very far from the headline - and just made it a headline item.

Rather than feeling annoyed, I was happy that I’d helped to highlight something important that might otherwise have been ignored. Another writer, who followed my tweet nothings, chose to write about something I mentioned in more detail. Cool. I treat that as a compliment - he recognised that my insight was valuable - but I certainly did not expect any acknowledgment. Next time we talk, I’ll ask - and I would not be at all surprised to learn that he didn’t see my tweet in the first place.

Inspiration from other writers…

Just yesterday, writing my daily summary of a chapter from Age of Conversation 2, I browsed through to Ed Cottons Blog, as I’d chosen to write about his chapter - and came across a blog about the concept of originality, plagiarism, and theft, that cited a film-maker.

Rule #5: Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows.

Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it.

In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.”
— Jim Jarmusch

Quote from an interview with Moviemaker Magazine in 2004, brought to my attention by fellow AOC2 author Ed Cotton.
Read more…

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I’m one of 237 authors who have contributed to the publication ‘Age of Conversation 2 - Why don’t they get it?‘ and I’m very happy to announce that you can buy the book from 08:00 US EST tomorrow, 29th October 2008 here at http://www.lulu.com/ageofconversation. For those of you in the UK, that’s on sale from 12 Noon tomorrow, 13:00 in Netherlands, France and Spain. The publication is a series of themed short essays, involving 237 marketing professionals who blog from 29 states throughout the USA, and from 14 other nations from Australia to the Ukraine. All contributed one page — 400 words — on the topic of “conversation”.

My contribution to ‘AOC2′ was a chapter entitled “You’re a facilitator, not a creative…” in the section of the book called ‘A New Brand of Creative’.

“I can think at about 1250 words per minute, but can only speak at about 250wpm. So I am five times more clever when I keep my mouth shut…” - David Petherick, writing in Age of Conversation 2

There are two important things to note: 1) You can get Age of Conversation 2 in hardback, or in paperback or in e-book format and 2) All the proceeds go to Variety charity. Not one of the authors receives a complimentary copy - we have to buy ours. So if you’d like an autographed or personalised copy - then buy it, ship it to me, and I’ll send it on. It would be quite a feat to get all 237 authors to sign it - what do you think?

So please order your copy now, and benefit yourself, say hi to all of these wonderful authors, and do something to help children who could use a little help from you. You’ll find more information at the Age of Conversation Blog, but for now, go buy that book. You’ll love at least 236 parts of it…

Thanks. Alphabetically, thanks also to the authors.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick (Hey that’s me), David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

2.0, authority, authors, blonging, conversation 2.0, digital biographer, share, social media, Кибер-биограф Age of Conversation

Sometimes, a name escapes you. This name escaped me when I was referring to an online tool that let you create your own private or public timeline of data, images, or references. Digiddy? Diggedy? Dittley? Bo Diddley? It just did not come to the front of my mind.

The name I was looking for was “Dipity“. Below, you can see how the increasing online-savvy LiverPool Post has made a timeline of 20.08.2008 to celebrate Liverpool’s year as City of Culture.

The service from Dipity is a great way to share images, text and video, and place them into a contextual container which automatically assumes an interactive timeline format. It’s an excellent way to tell a story about an event in a linear patten, but with non-linear input from amny different sources or individual contributors, and it’s worth visiting the site to see some examples of how Dipity is being used.

I’m working on some projects that involve usind Dipity and some of its associated ‘mashup tools‘ to illustrate an individual’s biography and ‘lifestream’ as outlined at British Blogcasting Corporation - and this is, of course, almost made for anything you’d want to call a ‘digital biography‘!

2.0, authors, blonging, digital biographer, microblogging, share, social media, streams b-b-c, digital biography, dipity, Liverpool, Liverpool Echo

274 authors, and I, are going to write a sequel to the hugely successful ‘Age of Conversation‘.

The details about this book, along with a full list of authors, and links to their blogs or sites, is here on Drew McLellan’s blog, and at Gavin Heaton’s Servant of Chaos.

I’m really flattered to be on the same page as some of those names - as one commented suggested, why not just call it “Who’s Who in Social Media?”.

By the way, you should buy the Age of Conversation from Amazon on March 29th, as 1) We’re aiming to get it into the Amazon Bestsellers list and 2) Aiming to raise a sh*tload of cash for charity.

Interesting but useless fact: there are Ten David’s on the author list, Eight Pauls, Three Matts, and Five Johns…

2.0, authors, blonging, brand, digital biographer, share, social media Age of Conversation, Age of Conversation '08, collaborative book, Drew McLellan, Gavin Heaton, Why don't people get it

A wonderful twitter update badge you can customise to your heart’s delight and place on your blog, facebook, myspace… the slight drawback is that the site is almost entirely in Japanese, but don’t worry, I’ve found the English interface so you can make your own Twitter Balloon…

The important element that I love is the ability to go back and forward in time to folowo the history of one’s twitterings, or tweets, so one can follow a conversation or thread of insights and ideas. These may admittedly be somewhat disjointed, but more interesting that simply having the ‘latest’ information presented. I can see an nice extension of this with a tweet balloon gallery, or even a mashup where those referenced by one user’s conversation can be linked to dynamically, or to follow how a topic or issue is being discussed.

Here’s one I created for my friend Boris:

Do your own thing at Korelab’s English Twitter Balloon Creation Page.

blonging, share, social media, streams

Speakers are being confirmed daily for 2008’s European Web 2.0 Event: The Next Web, and include Robert Scoble, Tech Geek Blogger & Author of ‘Naked Conversations‘, Werner Vogels, CTO at Amazon, and Gil Penchina, CEO at Wikia.

Now in its third year, the Amsterdam event’s focus this April is on quality content, and extensive networking opportunities. Organisers anticipate at least 700 web savvies, internet influentials, and industry journalists from over 20 countries will be in Amsterdam, to be inspired, have fun and do business. This year, attending The Next Web Conference gets you free entrance to BrightLive (European version of Nextfest).

Conferences, authors, awards, blonging, commerce, social media

Google Reader is a free (and excellent) tool to let you manage your web feeds - to easily keep track of your favorite websites and see all the updates in one convenient location.

A few days ago, a little extra feature appeared. It was simple, and unobtrusive, and gently prompted me to add more information. What it means is that I can share my news from sites and blogs I find of interest with a click. But in addition, there’s a profile appearing on that page - my Google Profile. With as much or as little information as I choose to add there, including links to my choice of sites or resources.

It’s for sharing news and sites I find- for the moment. But think about it - that’s where facebook scores so highly. And delicious, and stumbleupon. And it does what bloglines and Rojo do, nicely…

Google just created a simple, easy, social network that already has some great content that i have selected. And like most of Google’s offerings, from Search to Alerts to Gmail, I’m using it simply because it’s really very useful.

I’ve created a widget from my shared Google Reader links to add to other resources online, and also created a shortcut to the shared links page: http://httv.biz/shared/

blonging, corporate blogs, googlicious, search marketing, share, social media