August 24th, 2010, 10 Comments »
We’re kind of having a random week around here, so here are three context-free, interesting facts I recently learned:
- The number of golfers in the United States has been in decline since 2005. That year, there were 30 million of them. In 2009, there were 27.1 million. As you might expect, the recession is mostly to blame. I hope this trend continues, as golf courses are a scourge on the environment.
- To my surprise, fewer young people are getting their driver’s license than in previous generations. This Ad Age article includes a handy chart that illustrates the decline. They’re also driving less when they do get their license. From the Ad Age piece: “the share of automobile miles driven by people aged 21 to 30 in the U.S. fell to 13.7% in 2009 from 18.3% in 2001 and 20.8% in 1995″. Lots of reasons are cited without much authority: obtaining a license has become more complex, concern for the environment, the Internet (more young people are telecommuting and the like) and the economy are all possibilities.
- In the average day, according to the author of The Female Brain, girls say two to three times more words than boys. The same, as it happens, is true for rhesus monkeys.
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February 7th, 2010, 6 Comments »
Last week, we opened up speaking submissions for Northern Voice, the social media and personal blogging conference I help organize.
The conference, by the way, will be held out at UBC on May 7 and 8, 2010. Why so late this year? We didn’t want to schedule it during the Olympics, and, preferring to keep it out at UBC, we needed to wait until classes weren’t in session.
The deadline for submitting a talk is March 9, 2010. I’ll be one of the people filtering through the submissions. We get more than 100 now, and the amount grows every year. As such, I thought I ought to brainstorm some topics that I’d like covered at this year’s conference:
- Why do location-based social networks like Foursquare and Gowalla matter? Will they catch on? What are original ideas around how to use them?
- Dying on the social web. I’ve discussed this topic occasionally, and obviously it’s kind of an uncomfortable one, but as the Internet and its users get older, it’s increasingly germane.
- Sex and the social web. Not to sound all dirty, but it’s been five years and we’ve never had this topic. We’ve had ‘relationships and blogging’, which is great, but nobody’s owned this subject.
- How does the average 15-year-old use technology and the social web. As I get older and continue to have zero children, I feel less and less in touch with how the average teenager uses the web. I might actually submit on this topic, in the hopes of convening a panel of teenagers to take questions from the audience.
That’s all I can think of. What topics would you like to see covered at this year’s conference?
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May 6th, 2008, 3 Comments »
Just a quick, boring-ass post to cover where I’m going to be in May. This post will come in handy when I’m wandering around Vancouver, tie over my shoulder, laptop in hand, trying to figure out where I’m supposed to be talking. All of these sessions are, blessedly, in Vancouver.
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April 8th, 2008, 3 Comments »
Just a quick post to list some places I’ll be speaking at, and some other events that might be of interest to you, my dear, dear readers.
First, a couple of Vancouver events. I can’t attend these, but I wanted to spread the word:
Upcoming events where I’m speaking include:
- April 14 – Open Web Vancouver – I’m pleased to get a chance to give my 1100 Stacies talk in Vancouver. It’ll be somewhat unorthodox for a fairly technical conference, but hopefully it’ll provide a, uh, refreshing change of pace.
- April 22 – 25 – New Comms Forum – Just sitting on a panel at this event in Santa Rosa, California. I’ve never been to this event before, though, so I’m pleased to get a chance. I’m also hoping to scoot down to spend one day at Web 2.0 Expo. I must try to finagle media accreditation there.
- April 30 – Go-To-Market Roundtable – Running a morning session for the BCTIA.
- May 6 – 9 – DocTrain West 2008 – Speaking at a couple of sessions (and maybe sitting on a panel) at this Vancouver conference.
- May 8 – BCAIM Luncheon – Julie and I are giving a Social Media Marketing 101 session.
- May 12 – HTCE – Julie and I are talking on “Seven Risks of Social Media Marketing”.
- May 22 – An event I probably shouldn’t mention, because I don’t think it’s been announced yet.
- June 17 – 18 – Web Content 2008 - Running a couple of sessions at this Chicago event.
After that, things pretty much calm down until the fall.
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March 20th, 2008, 3 Comments »
Just a quick note to pimp two events in which I’m participating:
Tuesday, March 25, 2008, 5:30pm – NetTuesday’s An Evening of “Green” Web 2.0! – Stories from the Edge on Using the Web to Save Our Planet and Foster More Sustainable Communities. Whew, long title. I’m one of three speakers, and I’m going to be discussing “DeSmogBlog.com, and how they’ve used social media and web marketing over the past two years to increase their traffic (by 300%!) and influence. From old school email newsletters to Flickr contests and Twitter, DeSmogBlog offers an excellent case study in how to build a following using social media.” See also the event on Facebook.
Saturday, March 29, 2008 – Bridging Media – I’ll be on a panel entitled “Buzz Builders: Using Multi-platforms To Build A Buzz and An Audience Around Your Project”. Wow, I get all the long titles. Here’s the blurb on that panel: “From film to television to the internet, defining your audience is an integral portion in the conceptualizing stage of a project. Are you using the accessible channels of communication to speak to your audience, draw a crowd and create buzz around your work? This panel will focus on, and show examples of, the use of various mediums and technologies to build a community and get your project to your audience.” I’ll be speaking alongside many of the usual suspects.
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January 31st, 2008, 2 Comments »
Mostly I’m assembling this list for myself, so I can keep track of where and when I need to be:
There’s a couple of things that are still pending, but that’s the majority of stuff.
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