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Endangered species and @unmarketing

Endangered species and @unmarketing published on 1 Comment on Endangered species and @unmarketing

This is the part of my toonblog from Scott Stratten’s BlogWorld keynote that keeps getting mentioned by people, so I thought I’d offer it on its own after seeing Scott’s tweet yesterday.

Updated: A few thoughts about poor, maligned and misused ROI. Or, Seven Things (Off the Top Of My Head) That I Believe:

  1. I believe in measuring, benchmarking, testing, comparing and assessing. I believe in doing your best to surface the tangible financial results from an organization’s investments in any field, including social media. But…
  2. I believe it’s easy to confuse that which can be measured with that which matters… and that, when you’re dealing with human relationships, there’s a lot that both matters tremendously and resists simple measurement. (See also “Schools, Standardized testing”.) But…
  3. I believe that Belief #2 isn’t a reason not to try. Social media isn’t free, and any responsible communicator wants to use their organization’s resources to maximum effect. But…
  4. It is a reason to keep your attempts to measure outcomes in some perspective. And…
  5. It’s a reason not to get so hung up on quantitative data that you miss out on the qualitative benefits of having decent, respectful relationships with people – online and offline. Or that you wind up sounding less like a human being than a not-terribly-clever marketing algorithm.
  6. I believe there are very smart people who’ve thought about this more than I have.
  7. I believe it’s time for tea.

Toonblog: BlogWorld closing keynote with Penn Jillette, Adam Carolla and co.

Toonblog: BlogWorld closing keynote with Penn Jillette, Adam Carolla and co. published on No Comments on Toonblog: BlogWorld closing keynote with Penn Jillette, Adam Carolla and co.

Originally posted on BlogWorld

This was a tough one to diagram – at times because I was laughing so hard (Penn Jillette nailing Adam Carolla around the mike handoff was the high point of the night for me), at others because the material was flowing so quickly. But what resonated most – for me, at any rate – was Penn’s passionate, hilariously profane defense of online connectedness. That, ultimately, is what brought us together for BlogWorld 2010, and it’s the spirit that I’m taking home with me.

* * *

With that, we close off BlogWorld recap week here at Noise to Signal. It was a terrific time, and I’m looking forward to the next time.

(And if you have an event you think could use a little toonblogging, well, maybe we should talk.)

In fairness, they do call it an Apple

In fairness, they do call it an Apple published on No Comments on In fairness, they do call it an Apple

Originally published on BlogWorld

At about the time I was drawing this – about 11:49 a.m. – the growling in people’s stomachs was drowning out the actual speakers. “So, say you’ve just written a great blog post about brie-stuffed tenderloin…” Shutupshutupshutupshutup!

Toonblog: The seven harsh realities of blogging for bucks

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Originally posted on BlogWorld

Saturday’s opening keynote featured Sonia Simone and Brian Clark of Copyblogger and  Darren Rowse of Problogger looking at the downs and ups of blogging with an income in mind. (You can catch the full write-up from Alli here.) And here’s my take.

Book cover: The Networked Nonprofit

Toonblog: Networked nonprofits and Twitter

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Originally posted on BlogWorld

Book cover: The Networked NonprofitI’ve learned that you can never go wrong by going to a Beth Kanter panel. The co-author ofThe Networked Nonprofit (I’m halfway through it on my iPad, and it’s terrific) has a gift for bringing out the audience’s shared wisdom and experience while keeping the panel conversation lively and valuable.

Not that panellists Danielle Brigida, social media outreach coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, and Claire Williams, who leads social innovation at Twitter, needed any prodding. Each could have easily filled the hour with anecdotes, advice and recommendations. (Thanks to Williams, my new Twitter mantra is “WWKD: What Would Kanye Do?”)

Here are notes from Brigida’s and Williams’ presentations.

Baby needs a new premium template!

Baby needs a new premium template! published on No Comments on Baby needs a new premium template!

Originally posted on BlogWorld

I have learned that, apparently, no matter what your blog may be worth, the cashiers at the casinos here don’t accept it in lieu of tender. Hmph.

At a conference, “fresh” is relative

At a conference, “fresh” is relative published on No Comments on At a conference, “fresh” is relative

Originally published on BlogWorld

The one thing that cheers me up about the fact that there’s only a little more than an hour left in BlogWorld is this: the prospect of seeing sunlight again. Hearing the chirping of birds, the wind whispering on my cheek, the cursing of a driver who just got cut off on the Strip. Aaah.

That said, if I had to be indoors for three days, this was a pretty dang swanky place to do it in.

Swag!

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Originally published on BlogWorld

I have a suitcase full of yo-yos, inflatable airplanes, T-shirts, USB drives and much more to take home with me tomorrow. What was your favourite piece of conference swag?

Besides, isn’t all video ‘mobile’? I mean, the pictures move.

Besides, isn’t all video ‘mobile’? I mean, the pictures move. published on No Comments on Besides, isn’t all video ‘mobile’? I mean, the pictures move.

Originally posted on BlogWorld

The day ended with a session on video, chaired by Susan Bratton of Personal Life Media, and featuring Dermot McCormack, Executive Vice President of MTV Music Group Digital; Dick Glover, CEO of Funny or Die; and Jim Louderback, CEO of Revision3.

There were some great moments, including the revelation that the budget of a typical Funny or Die video is… drumroll please… what’s that? We can’t afford a drumroll? That must be because the figure is only $2,000.

But the moment that grabbed me early on was the emphatic statement by one of the panelists that one huge factor affecting the future of video right now is the rise of mobile. And given how many conversations I’ve had with people who are still trying to get their minds around just how huge a platform mobile is, well, that spurred this cartoon.

Toonblog: Mark Penn and Karen Hughes on the state of digital politics

Toonblog: Mark Penn and Karen Hughes on the state of digital politics published on 2 Comments on Toonblog: Mark Penn and Karen Hughes on the state of digital politics

Originally posted on BlogWorld

For your consideration, notes from Karen Hughes’ and Mark Penn’s opening statements on the morning panel. It was a lively session (especially once some of that voter discontent started to bubble up from the floor!).

Toonblog: Darren Rowse on building community on your blog

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Originally posted at BlogWorld

This one’s from a great session by  Darren Rowse, co-author of Problogger, looking at building community on your blog. The ideas were coming far faster than I could capture them; I’ve tried to capture the highlights here.

Toonblog: Mark Penn and Karen Hughes

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Originally posted on BlogWorld.

For your consideration, notes from Karen Hughes’ and Mark Penn’s opening statements on the morning panel. It was a lively session (especially once some of that voter discontent started to bubble up from the floor!).

I set my politics aside while I drew this. It. Wasn’t. Easy.

Toonblog: Behind the wristband with Doug Ulman and Rohit Bhargava

Toonblog: Behind the wristband with Doug Ulman and Rohit Bhargava published on No Comments on Toonblog: Behind the wristband with Doug Ulman and Rohit Bhargava

It was an emotional and fascinating hour, starting with Rohit Bhargava‘s call for everyone in the audience whose lives had been touched by cancer to stand. Livestrong CEO  Doug Ulman touched on how Twitter can sometimes be less daunting than blogging, how transparency and authenticity are transforming non-profits, when a logo can take away from an organization’s efforts, and why Livestrong focuses more on supporting families living with cancer than on research.

And it ended with the announcement that PayPal and Swagg would sponsor a 5-cent-per-tag bounty for every use of the hashtag #beatcancer for 24 hours – plus a $1 contribution for every pledge to download Swagg’s free iPhone app when it’s released. See BeatCancerEverywhere.com for details.

That’s not why they call it a “blog feed”

That’s not why they call it a “blog feed” published on No Comments on That’s not why they call it a “blog feed”

Originally posted on BlogWorld.

Chris Garrett wrapped a bang-up presentation on creating killer content a little while ago, and one of his slides jumped out at me. It was a good slide, even a great slide… but I thought it could use just…a little…extra.

(My belief that almost nobody cares what you just ate has been magnified for the purposes of this drawing, actually. It all depends on what you’re aiming to do with your blogging.)

Watercooler 2010

Watercooler 2010 published on No Comments on Watercooler 2010

Originally posted on BlogWorld.

The full title of this session was “Convergence of media and the future of unscripted drama on the web.”  Brian Solis (author of Engage and creator of the Conversation Prism infographic you’ve used in at least three slide decks so far this year) interviewed Survivor creator  Mark Burnett on how networked communication is challenging, supporting and transforming shows like his.

It was a fascinating conversation, starting with the essential importance of story to both blogging (something Solis speaks about so eloquently that I wonder if he might have the same kind of spec screenplays buried on his hard drive that I do) and shows like Survivor, where Burnett invoked Joseph Campbell and walked us through the show’s imagery of life, death and  rebirth.

From there, the two looked at the way the online backchannel has transformed water-cooler conversations. Those conversations now start during the show itself, and take place everywhere, Burnett said. “The water cooler is now omni-present.”

Cartoon: two people at a water cooler. One asks: 'So, didja see the liveblogging for Survivor last night?'

Burnett tells Solis, I pitched 'Joe Lieberman's Connecticut, but nobody bit.

The conversation ranged over football legend Jimmy Johnson’s appearance on a rescheduledSurvivor to the MTV Movie Awards, before they launched into Burnett’s latest project, Sarah Palin’s Alaska. He described Alaska as “epic”, and we became the first audience to see promotional footage from the upcoming show.

Then, at the end, Solis announced a surprise: the footage was being released to the world not through the usual channels, but  via Steve Garfield’s YouTube channel. (Burnett acknowledged the plan may have initially caused some agita in the executive suites at TLC.)


TLC exec's head exploding. But tastefully. And educationally.

My sketchbook for the flight to BlogWorld in Las Vegas

Flying into BlogWorld

Flying into BlogWorld published on No Comments on Flying into BlogWorld

This was me arriving at BlogWorld on Wednesday.

I’m there through Saturday, toonblogging the whole thing. You can read the latest cartoons on the BlogWorld site – and be sure to follow the #bwe10 hashtag if you’d like to read the Twitter backchannel.

By the way, here’s my sketchbook from the flight:

My sketchbook for the flight to BlogWorld in Las Vegas

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