Oakley
Originally uploaded by ksten

The releases are signed, the chapters have been submitted and now, the editing has begun.

Down from our original list of 275…but what do you expect.

In the words of Drew McLellan, Its quite an impressive list.  And you’re going to love the insights and stories they had to share.

For the next month or so, Drew and Gavin Heaton will be editing and working through design/layout issues. And before you know it, Age of Conversation ‘08 will be ready for promotion and purchase.

Thanks to everyone who is participating and remember….it’s all about raising money for charity.

In the meantime, meet the Age of Conversation ‘08 authors all 237 of them in total! 

Here they are:

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, 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

I told you I was ill !
Originally uploaded by Heaven`s Gate (John)

Just to let everyone know I haven’t stopped blogging…its just that I’m sick.

Sick as a dog!!!

Flaming Lime
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Haas

I’d like to congratulate the Chair of the Australia Marketing Institute for such an articulate and educate response to Geoffrey’s article.

Roger James’ response highlights the fundamental problem with our Institute. Australia’s leading marketing professional body lacks any real credibility; it has no vision of the future, it’s bland and does not connect with the vast majority of marketers, in Australia.

Our Institute leaders have failed to respect the needs of all its members, who just want to be heard. Roger James seems to have a George Bush attitude of you are with us or you are against us.

I see Geoffrey’s comments as a marketer who is passionate about our Institute and the broader marketing community. As a marketer and an Institute member, I expect all comments or complaints to be embraced and celebrated, NOT ridiculed or labelled as a hunched back whinger. I especially have concerns when these words come straight from our Institute Chair.

Roger James is proud to talk about our Institute’s growth, but HELLO! The stark reality is that our Institute has had little growth over the last tens years. It’s your numbers! It has only attracted 10% of professional marketer’s living and working in Australia.

Roger James must be proud that 90% of all professional marketers living and working in Australia have never heard of the Institute or even worse, decided it’s not worth joining. I call it failure. God help Roger James if Gordon Ramsey visited the Institute’s Oval Office.

Read the rest of this entry »

PubCamp – The Web 2.0 Media Day from Sticky Advertising on Vimeo.

soc_media_mafia_small
Originally uploaded by Chris Hambly

One thing I hate about Social Media is its terminology and lingo. A combination of retro geek-speak and techno terminology. And it’s only going to get worse.

It is hardly surprising, given the lingo that perfectly sane business people roll their eyes when I start explaining the benefits of Social Media. Indeed, they thing I’m completely nuts and ask me to leave.

So, when I read that CommonCraft’s had produced a video focused on the basics of social media and in plain English, I had to find & post it.

If you are reading this and you don’t know anything about Social Media. Please watch this video:)

 
Fun or addiction?
Originally uploaded by Why Not Studios 

Over the last 12 months, I’ve noticed a trend among marketers that I find very disturbing: they seem to be addicted to Google Adwords – spending thousands of dollars every month with no visible return.

Before Google’s army of highly paid lawyers stick me with a law suit, I’d like to make it clear – I’m not insinuating or accusing Google has done anything wrong or that I’ve discovered a new compulsive behaviour pattern similar to drug or gambling addiction or dependency.

But, why do I say addictive? Well…what starts out for marketers as some form of hedonistic and low-cost online marketing strategy to increases web traffic and sales, subsequently spirals out of control becoming an expensive untargeted campaign with unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.

Like the pokies, it is certainly the case that Adwords has incentive attributes which may cause a compulsive behaviour i.e. more Adwords campaigns, more web traffic.

Google Adwords used in moderation and targeted is a powerful tool in any marketer’s armoury to help battle for the hearts and minds of consumers, but it isn’t some form of Holy Grail of Internet revenue streams.

Read the rest of this entry »

funny retro ad
Originally uploaded by thebelljar2

Does this blog make me look stupid?

Please don’t answer that question. I may not be perfect and my spelling all over the place, but thanks to Julian Cole – The Marketer is going to be placed on the ‘Top 50 Australian Marketing Pioneers Blog‘ list.

Me and my good mate Media Hunter have already spent a year on the US AdAge’s Power 150. That simple list has opened a number of doors to some of the world’s leading marketers. That is the power of Social Networking.

The fact is Julian’s list will not only shed light on the Australian Marketing Blogosphere, but will hopefully start a greater collaboration between some of Australian Marketing thought leaders. Maybe a book like the Age of Conversation or a TV series such as the Gruen Transfer…am I getting ahead of myself?

The ‘Top 50 Australian Marketing Pioneers Blog’ ranking system will be similar to the AdAge Power 150 methodology. Using some of the same variables to rank the blogs such as Google Page Ranks (10), Technorati Authority (10), Technoati Blog Reactions (10), Alexa Page Ranking (10), Bloglines (10).

Also, Julian has scored a gig for the list in the August Edition of Marketing Magazine. So if you are not on it, please send your email to julian@nakedcomms.com.au

Welcome to the first ‘Top 50 Australian Marketing Pioneers Blog’ list:

								Total
1	Banner Blog	6	6	8	6	8	9	43
2	Servant of Chaos	9	5	8	6	6	5	39
3	Duncans Tv Adland	6	5	7	6	8	5	37
4	Corporate Engagement	8	5	5	4	5	8	35
5	Better Communication Results	8	3	6	5	6	6	34
6	Young PR	7	5	6	5	5	6	34
7	Small Business Branding	7	3	0	8	7	8	33
8	Get Shouty	8	5	7	5	4	4	33
9	Personlize Media	8	5	4	4	4	5	30
10	Brand DNA	6	4	6	5	5	4	30
11	Oneplusoneequalsthree	5	3	5	4	5	5	27
12	Ettf.net	6	5	5	4	4	3	27
13	Mokum Marketing	6	5	6	4	4	1	26
14	PR Disasters	7	5	4	4	4	5	29
15	Media Hunter	7	2	6	4	3	3	25
16	Australian SEO Blog	4	4	5	4	6	1	24
17	Wide Open Spaces	8	5	4	3	3	1	24
18	The Marketer	7	3	6	4	3	0	23
19	Three Billion	6	4	0	4	4	5	23
20	Innovation Feeder	6	5	3	3	3	2	22
21	Campaign Brief	6	4	0	3	5	3	21
22	EcioLab	7	5	2	3	3	0	20
23	Adspace-Pioneers	7	3	3	3	2	2	20
24	Publicity Queen	8	4	1	1	2	3	19
25	Filter Media	6	4	0	2	3	3	18
26	Marketing Easy	6	3	0	3	5	1	18
27	Hothouse	6	4	1	2	4	1	18
28	Mark Neely’s Blog	7	3	2	2	3	0	17
29	Lexy Klain	7	3	1	3	2	1	17
30	Peter Sheahan	6	4	0	1	4	2	17
31	In my atmosphere	6	4	0	3	2	1	16
32	Elbow Grease	4	4	0	3	2	3	16
33	Falkayn	5	4	2	0	2	1	14
34	Pigs Dont Fly	6	4	1	1	2	0	14
35	Diffusion	7	4	0	1	1	1	14
36	Australian Small Business	6	3	0	0	4	0	13
37	The Jason Recliner	4	4	1	2	1	1	13
38	The Wayfarer	7	3	0	1	1	1	13
39	Adnotes	6	3	1	1	2	0	13
40	Ryan’s View	6	4	0	2	1	0	13
41	B&T	7	4	0	1	1	0	13
42	Zero Budget Marketing Ideas	6	3	1	1	1	0	12
43	Blackwatch	5	3	0	0	0	3	11
44	Fresh Chat	5	2	1	1	1	1	11
45	Latin Ocean	5	2	1	1	1	1	11
46	Arrow Internet SEO	7	2	0	0	1	1	11
47	The Sticky Report	7	0	1	2	0	0	10
48	Naked Communications-The Flasher	8	0	0	1	0	1	10
49	Pixel Paddock	5	1	0	1	0	1	8
50	Send up a larger room	7	0	0	1	0	0	8

Yesterday, I received numerous invitations to join a new Web 2.0 site called – Plurk.

My first thoughts were “No…not another one.” But I joined and spent most of my productive day inviting or accepting people as my friend.

But, what excited me wasn’t Plurk itself, it was seeing for the first time social media Thought Leaders taking up and interacting with a new technology.

People like Robert Scoble, Ann Handley, Darren Rowse and Gavin Heaton.

I felt like a young David Attenborough viewing animals interacting in their natural habitat. No…I’m not saying these Thought Leaders were animals…it’s the only analogy I could come up with.

Then my marketing brain kicked-in. I couldn’t stop thinking about – ‘The Social Media Adoption Process.’ How do social media entrepreneurs and innovators get their ideas across from Thought Leaders to Early Social Media Adopters and then on to the mainstream?

Knowing that today’s blogosphere is full of independent voices trying to speak and connect, I tried to map the Social Media Adoption Process. Here are my five clear social media groups with differing values:

1. Social Media Innovators are looking to be the first, rules are pointless and they jump quickly from one breaking idea to another. They don’t like the mainstream.
2. Thought Leaders infuse and infect whole social networks. They are respected for their opinions and ideas which are then quickly passed on to their communities. These people can make or break, set or champion new social media trends or products. Robert Scoble is like this. You can say he has captured a leadership space in the minds of social media geeks.
3. Early Social Media Adopters are analytical and deliberate by nature. They embrace new opinions and ideas before the mainstream. Embracing ideas, early social media adopters invest a great deal of time and effort in gaining knowledge and experience by interacting with new social media trends or products. The success of any new brand depends on reaching this group.
4. Social Media Mainstream Adopters are normally hesitant to embrace new ideas. Only when it’s become acceptable by early social media adopters will this group try it. Examples of Web 2.0 brands that have reached this group include Facebook, Myspace, Youtube & flickr.
5. Social Media Laggards traditionally see change or social networking trends with suspicion or just want to hang on to existing technologies.

The Sticky Media Gap

Lee Iacocca once said “You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can not get them across, your ideas will not get you anywhere”

Social Media brands have to understand after the initial hype, brilliant ideas have to cross ‘The Sticky Media Gap.’ A big gap that exists between social media Thought Leaders and Early Social Media Adopters…and like traditional media – it has to stick.

If an idea does not attract and win over enough Thought Leaders – a brilliant idea will fall down.

Plurk is now facing this challenge.

Beer shot
Originally uploaded by Kev Allen

Its what they call a Conference and Unconference…

The Web is now sixteen years old. Like most teenagers, it’s obsessed with its social life and wears strange clothing. It thumbs its nose at convention and is impossible for most normal grown-ups to understand.

It’s not mature yet, but growing up fast. And while it may be out to change the world, it also seems intent on smashing up everything that has come before.

Do you ever get the feeling you don’t really understand where the Web’s heading (let alone this Web 2.0 or Web 3.0 you keep hearing about) or that it’s leaving you behind? You’re not alone.

The simple fact is no one really knows for sure or has all the answers. So, what can I do about it? Come along to "PubCamp – The Web 2.0 Media Day – A Conference and Unconference" — a free event about the future of media on the Web — and get some group therapy for dealing with this precocious teenager and its seemingly limitless potential.

Want to know more? Click here.