In honour of this weekend’s Northern Voice conference, my first forays into a whole new world of art: the LOLmoose.

(Okay, okay… I’m new at this thing, and I’m 44 years old. Cut me some slack…)

I’ll be speaking about crisis communications and the social web on Saturday at Northern Voice, the kick-ass Vancouver-based blogging conference now in its fourth year:

Imagine a situation where all eyes are on you or your organization, and you need to communicate quickly, clearly and effectively… probably under severe stress, with a lot more noise than signal out there.

It’s called crisis communications. And whether it’s something as serious and far-reaching as a natural disaster, or as personal as the arrival of a newborn, you’ll want to be prepared.

Discover how organizations large and small use social media to keep the lines of communications open when it matters the most. Learn how to use blogs to correct misinformation and get your message out. And find out why you need to build relationships and networks now… before you need to use them.

Moderating the event is the one and only James Sherrett. Come on, come all – I’ve had a blast speaking at Northern Voice in the past… even when I had to loop in a fellow panelist by holding a cell phone up to the microphone.

We’re proud to sponsor NV again this year; the inaugural conference, back in 2005, helped to spur the birth of Social Signal.

If you’re interested in Web 2.0, blogging, podcasting, online video, virtual worlds, social networks, photo sharing and the like, you won’t want to miss it. And if you’re a beginner who wants to get your feet wet, then Friday’s Internet boot camp is an absolute must.

See you there!

CBC: Truck packed with newly minted coins crashes in B.C.

And apparently it rolled downhill. (No serious injuries.)

And nowhere in the story does the CBC answer the  question on everyone’s mind:

Heads or tails?

Okay, is it just me? Or is tomorrow’s high a little, ah, out of line for Vancouver… February or no February?

At least it’ll be sunny.

(From the CBC News web site.)

• Introducing Bedtime with Rob and Alex
  Our experimental bedtime podcast.
  (tags: podcast technology social_change Flickr menu planning food)

Boring People to Death with your PowerPoint?

Okay, podcast fans… we’re trying something a little different today.

Alex and I have just launched an experimental podcast: Bedtime with Rob and Alex. Here’s the scoop:

It’s a podcast that captures the knowledge, insights and passions of our online community and Web 2.0 explorations — whether that involves a new way of looking at online collaboration, or a new piece of software for looking at online pictures.

As partners in both bedroom and boardroom, we get to explore these questions 24/7. (Don’t you talk about RSS aggregation after your baby wakes you up at 3 a.m.?) But we’ve long noticed that our most creative, wide-ranging conversations often happen at the very end of the day, as we’re comparing notes or sharing what got us most excited. (Not that kind of excited. Usually.)

And now we’re ready to see whether our king-size bed has enough room for two adults, two kids, a dog and an iPod. For the next ten days (just until Valentine’s Day!) Bedtime with Rob and Alex will share our conversations as we wind down. Check it out and let us know whether what happens in the bedroom should stay in the bedroom, or whether you’re enjoying the chance to eavesdrop.

The RSS feed is here. And the iTunes subscription link is coming soon, as soon as the elves over there give our ‘cast the A-OK. Tune in and join us in bed!

Update: The elves have spoken! Here’s the iTunes subscription link.

• CogDogRoo: StoryTools
  See profiles and examples of more than 50 online story-telling tools in this resource, part of a workshop held in 2007 in Australia.
  (tags: web2.0 tools storytelling workshop howto)
• KenyaUnlimited Blogs Aggregator
  Latest posts from blogs across Kenya. Some fascinating – and disturbing – reading.
  (tags: blog aggregation aggregator Africa Kenya case_study)
• muti
  It’s Digg… for Africa.
  (tags: africa digg bookmarking social web2.0 case_study)
• AMATOMU :: The South African blogosphere, sorted
  A South African blog aggregator with plenty of features.
  (tags: africa aggregator aggregation blogging blogs case_study southafrica tagcloud)
• Afrigator
  A new African social media aggregator with a very clean, friendly design.
  (tags: aggregator africa podcasts blogs web2.0 aggregation video case_study)