wonderwebby

My five year old calls avatars “stamps”. He changes his stamp frequently (his account on the PC). Although he thinks grown-ups aren’t allowed to change their avatars. He has the freedom to be a car, or skateboard, or star for the day - but adults, well he thinks our digital identities are so….static.

My stamp collection is increasing in size and variety. My brand is no longer static. I seem to change it the most on Twitter, my most active social network, followed by Facebook. Sometimes I change it in response to a frivolous experimental collaborative theme (like @chinposin) or a more compelling social call to action (@peavatar)

What does this mean for a company’s brand? Think about the Google homepage logo, always changing. Does your personal brand remain static? Or are you constantly transforming and evolving? Do you cling to a safe, acceptable and trusted online identity or do you look at new ways to communicate and express yourself?

If I have a relationship with you, we converse, you share your original thoughts, information and ideas (that’s your product ) then I find it completely acceptable for you to modify and update the packaging. What you say and do online etches a more permanent profile into the minds of others.

Visual representation of ourselves becomes a decoration, a declaration, an interaction. Do you have a “stamp” collection?

You may have heard that in order to lead, you need to serve. In my experience, words only have power when they serve us in their readability and intent. If words brag and parade in order to make their point, they lose all their power. I’m sharing some questions I ask myself when I want to write “more than just another blog post about nothing.”

writer’s block?

Is my message simple? Sometimes the simplest message can be more powerful than a lengthy and elaborate blog post. Don’t be afraid to state the obvious. Powerful writing delivers a message.

Am I speaking with authority? Write about things you feel comfortable with, topics you know about, things that inspire you and discuss with your friends so that your style is natural. Powerful writing speaks with authority.

What is my message? It’s one of the reasons I use the search engine un-friendly two word headings. If I can’t sum it up in two words, I probably don’t have a clear message. Powerful writing communicates clearly and simply.

Am I willing to be bold? Never say no to a writing adventure. Speak with authority, but take a risk. Step outside of your comfort zone. Try a different writing style. Respond to a meme (like this one) or volunteer to contribute to a book Powerful writing takes a risk and hopes to dream.

Does it make any difference (or So What)? Is it something my children would be proud of? I always wonder what would happen if they stumbled across my blog archives in years to come. Sentimental as it might seem, it tends to be a good gauge of quality writing for me. Powerful writing makes a difference or has a purpose.

There you have it. Powerful writing delivers a message, speaks with authority, communicates simply, takes a risk and makes a difference.

This post is in response to a writing challenge by Joanna Young from Confident Writing who asks “What does powerful writing mean to you?” You can respond by writing a post, writing a guest post or sending her a one line summary via email or Twitter.

Information as you know it is changing. Step into a different visual metaphor with me for a moment and enjoy the ride.

Just discovered this Semantic Broadcasting experiment by David Bausola aka Zero Influencer (who is another author for the Age of Conversation sequel). It’s based on the song “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, created as a visual mash-up including associated lyrics, a Randy George cover, RSS, Flickr images and Flitter (read more…)

Oh…and for a moment, imagine interacting with information like this in a holographic,  3D virtual space.

Another interesting thing - I discovered David’s blog by being involved with this collaborative book, following a link to his blog, posting a comment, David then friended me on Twitter, I saw a tweet of his tonight about Friendfeed experiments and somehow it all played out that I found the visualisation above!

Over the next month or so 275 geeks thrillseekers blogaholics individuals will be tackling the question “Why don’t people get it?” - the theme for the Age of Conversation sequel organised by Gavin Heaton & Drew McClellan.

I put my hand up to author a chapter of this collaborative book. Maybe I’ll write about Enterprise 2.0. Or shifting information paradigms. Or another story about the birthday cake ritual. What do you wish people would “get” in this wonderful webby world?

“The Blind Men and the Elephant”

Here are the other authors - I look forward to making my way through the list and connecting with new people.

Adam Crowe, 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 Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, 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, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, 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, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, 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, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, 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 Cribbett, 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, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, 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

my motto for the next month: eating the Elephant…one bite at a time!

Five virtual essentials

Avatar. Remember this music video about the person who dares to be different?

I like flexibility in choosing how my avatar looks, and I am always fascinated by the many different ways people choose to represent themselves. If you look “out of the box” I am less likely to approach you straight away. If your virtual world has limited choice of avatars, I will not connect well with my virtual environment. Avatars help us to connect

Social Networking. Groups. Chat History. Profiles. Who’s online now. That sort of thing.

Information Design. Choose a simple, powerful and even remarkable way to share your ideas, concepts and information. Don’t just try to impress me with things that spin or flash.

Interestingness. This should be even more than instant messaging on steroids. Think of novel ways to hold meeting. Be strategic in your approach. Instead of sitting boxed in a square room behind a table to have a meeting in a virtual world, be creative, make the experience immersive and interactive so I don’t end up checking my RSS feeds or Twitter instead.

Make it matter. Don’t waste my time. Stick to the agenda. Give me a reason. Think about purpose.

This was actually a response to a conversation behind the firewall, but I thought I would share it here too These are just five essentials, but of course there are so many more. What are yours?

I made my guest author debut on the Greater IBM Connection blog today (an IBM alumni program blog)

It’s an odd tale about Enterprise 2.0 and the ritual of the birthday cake. You can read it here. 

Do you Google dead people? I just did.

I rediscovered this autograph album owned by my great grandmother Ursee Bowey. In 1909 at age 22 she received it as a Christmas gift from her mother (yes my great, great Grandmother). The pages are inscribed with carefully written sentiments from friends; poems, autographs, and drawings; reflections on life, love, and hope.

Apparently these albums were “all the rage” in Australia around 1900 as they became more affordable.

I don’t know why, but finding it again made me Google my great grandmothers name. Nothing, of course (really, what was I expecting to find? Force of habit?) Now some of her album is digitised in pristine pixel glory on this blog and Flickr. And finding her album gives me a glimpse into her life, her friends and her travels. I bet the author of this poem never would have imagined the words written there would travel over oceans nearly a hundred years later.

“We may write our names in albums
We may trace them in the sand
We may chisle them in marble
With a firm and skilfull hand
But the pages soon are sullied”….(but written in eternity)

It makes me think of the transformation our social networks, our ability to lifelog and create living memories for our children and even our great grandchildren. What will they find if they search for your name? Will your memory contain reflections of life, love and hope?

Want to have an original poem written just for you by Matt Moore, see him perform it on YouTube and sponsor a business in the developing world?

Matt has a Kiva poetry auction going on. All you have to choose a topic and make a bid (as an individual or pool together as a group) on Matt’s site by March 31st. Bid here.

About Kiva. “Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. By choosing a loan on Kiva, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the entrepreneur you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.”

The Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum in Sydney yesterday proved to be a great half day of case studies and discussion.

One of the emerging themes was the need for Enterprise 2.0 implementers to “let go” of content structure, instead shifting focus to content support. The tendency for IT Managers or Business to micro-manage web2.0 projects often compromises the original purpose of promoting collaboration; the good intent of creating categories of information on a wiki or make things “look nice” inhibits employees from potential engagement with the content and tools.

The emphasis was made that participation is elicited from employees when THEY have a say in creating content and categories of content. Speakers discussed the benefit of letting people experiment and encouraging User Generated Content (UGC) as a means to develop a web2.0 workforce.

I wonder if UGC is key to developing the Enteprise 2.0 brand in your organisation? If you want your web2.0 project to develop a positive reputation, word of mouth, loyalty and higher levels of participation, what are you doing to “let go”? By focusing on a well planned, supporting structure to direct the flow and integrity of content (instead of planning the content structure), it appears the risk might just be worth it.

Our photo library is full our children’s pictures, but over the last five years the only shots of me seem to be in hospital (holding a newborn!) So when I read that Shai Coggins was going to take a photo of herself EVERY DAY this year for the 365 days Flickr group project, I was rather taken with the idea of tackling a similar creative venture myself. Good thing there is a 52 weeks project - a little less daunting! Five weeks into the year and quite a few shots later - I have five self-portraits!

So far it has been a great experience to practice taking “proper” photos again, brushing up on some design basics like composition, lighting, colour etc. It also means my parents will get a quirky album at the end of it all!

I have always found inspiration in the photography of Annie Liebovitz, Lord Snowdon and David Bailey. Their portraits always tell a story, showcase some personality or exist as works of art on their own merit. When I’m taking these portraits, I’m thinking about myself in relation to my environment, I’m thinking about shapes and shadows, story and interest. I wonder what the next 45 weeks will turn out like? It’s so good to take on a new creative challenge, especially when you see the results.