Archive for April, 2008

An Open Mid-Life Crisis

Posted on: April 28th, 2008 by Geoff Livingston 11 Comments

Sometimes it is better to just accept where you are at. That way you don’t pop off and do something stupid.

Truth: I feel old. My weekend beard is shot with salt; sadly, there are no kids; everyone I work with in the office is a decade younger than me; and my wife’s in the middle of a very long six+ month stint in the United Arab Emirates.

All of the sudden things are appearing:

  • Red leather pumas, Ferrari edition
  • MacBook Pro
  • Three Chip PDX 10 camera
  • New tattoo (yes, it’s true)
  • I’m writing fiction again

    • And more is in my head… Like this super-phat Ducati Monster!

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    Yes, I miss the thrill of watching the looming Shenandoah Blue Ridge develop, then screaming up the mountain on the hairpin curves of Rt. 211 at 60 miles an hour. Whew! It’s been a few years now.

    Of course I could just settle for a Harley:

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    I’m not sure a return to motorcycling is a great idea. But when it really started pre-occupying me, I realized that something was up.

    Fact: This seems to be a mid-life crisis. Either that or my creativity is really peaking right now. I’m returning to things that I did when I was single, things that make feel alive. And it’s working. Spring feels vibrant this year like it hasn’t in a long time.

    No, I’m not too young, either. In fact, I’m about to be 36, at the younger side of middle agedom, but still there. Best to embrace it openly.

    I can’t wait for Caitlin to come home from the UAE.

    Popularity: 4% [?]

    Listening: An Action of Proportions

    Posted on: April 27th, 2008 by Geoff Livingston 4 Comments
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    Several keynotes and presentations at least week’s SNCR NewComm Forum, including more than four case study presenters, highlighted the importance of listening as a fundamental pre-cursor to social media success. Of course, listening makes sense because it allows you to understand your business community’s preferences and needs (image by sel). In many ways, this represents market research.

    Many businesses are not used to listening. In a mass communications world, they’ve done most of the talking.

    Yet new media presents a different set of rules. In social worlds, two-way communication is inherent allowing stakeholders to have equal footing with businesses and organizations. Failure to listen creates situations where stakeholders either act with anger, or simply turn deaf ears on the company.

    Listening is not hard. It simply requires a biological sense of proportions: We all have two ears and one mouth. Something to consider.

    Shel Israel took time at SNCR to discuss this important aspect of social media, including Dell’s example. Here is what he had to say:

    Photo in movie was taken by Chris Heuer at SxSW

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    DC’s Social Media Future

    Posted on: April 27th, 2008 by Geoff Livingston

    Not a lot in the way of show notes from last week’s District of Conversation but we do have the video and the extracted audio is here. This was a lively conversation live from PodCamp DC about DC’s social media future, and it was hijacked by the crowd – a very PodCamp thing to do.

    Popularity: 5% [?]