I will be speaking on the Google campus in March. This is for the alumni group from RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York) where I matriculated. You don’t have to be an RPI alumni to attend. If you would like to come and hear me speak either register or let me know and I can add you as a guest of my registration.

RPI Speakers Series — Social Media/Networking
Thursday, March 18, 6:30 p.m.
Google Headquarters, Mountain View, California

RCNC is pleased to announce the next RPI Speakers Series meeting for Thursday, March 18, 2010, to be held at the Google Facility in Mountain View.  Our speaker, Chris Christensen ‘83, ‘84G Computer & Systems Engineering, has been the Executive Vice President of Engineering and Operations for a company in Silicon Valley (LiveWorld) that runs online communities for companies like eBay, Marriott, American Express, Campbell’s, Kimberly Clark, A&E, and Mini Cooper.  Chris has recently established a consultancy to focus on podcasting and blogging including his popular Amateur Traveler podcast.

Chris will be covering some of the history of social media, the different types of social media and how your company’s business strategy can help determine how best to use social media.  Chris encourages attendees to bring your questions about LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

There is no charge for this event, but we ask that you register.

I wrote a while back about Disney’s Give a Day Get a Disney Day program where Disney was giving away a day at a Disney park in exchange for a day volunteering. I thought this sounded like a great program so I joined and found a volunteer program near me… well sort of near me. Yesterday I took part in Project Homeless Connect in San Francisco. I had volunteered to help people find jobs by helping do internet job searches and mock interviews. There were other opportunities closer to me, but this one seemed like it would be worthwhile.

Project Homeless Connect was an amazing effort to provide services for San Francisco’s homeless. The volunteers were encouraged when we arrived to look around at all that was happening. The DMV was there to provide id cards as was social security. There were medical services, and dentists doing teeth extraction, people performing HIV tests, acupuncturists and a popular group literally providing hands-on help with massages. There were groups providing help finding shelter and several groups dealing with victims of abuse or with people dealing with addiction. There were barbers, podiatrists and wheel chair repair people. Both the number of homeless and the number of volunteers were stunning.

My expectations to simply sit behind a table and wait for people to come look for a job were quickly shattered as I was handed a clipboard and told to talk to people and find those who wanted help finding a job. Some of my expectations of what a homeless person looks like were accurate and some were shattered. I talked to one young man who is a student at USF working on his degree in operations research. One man had just moved to the area and was looking for a job he could start tomorrow. Another man laughed at me that he had not had a job in 20 years. Two men informed me that they could not get jobs because they were homeless. Who would watch their stuff?

When I did get a chance to help a few people with an internet job search I was reminded once again that acts like checking your email, remembering your password and doing a job search that I take for granted are skills that I have learned over time. It was satisfying to help one woman get past her frustration submitting a job application and to provide some guidance what employers might be looking for. I would certainly consider participating in Project Homeless Connect when it happens again in two months. I think that was the point of the Disney project. If you get people to try volunteering, they might just like it.

—

update 2/25 – I just got the stats for the event:

The numbers of people needing your help yesterday at Project Homeless Connect #33 was enormous – 2497. Thanks to the 1598 volunteers we were able to accomplish so much.

91 ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENTS
52 BANKING ACCOUNTS
168 BENEFITS Cal Works, Food Stamps, GA
162 CALIFORNIA STATE ID’s
47 CHIROPRACTOR
124 DENTAL TREATMENTS   300 SCREENED
153 EMPLOYMENT
635 EYE EXAMS & GLASSES
22,727 lbs GROCERIES
115 HAIR CUTS
22 HEARING SCREENS
113 HIV TESTS
162 LEGAL SUPPORT
72 MASSAGES
258 MEDICAL & 64 FOLLOW UP APPTS
125 NEEDLE EXCHANGE
352 PHONE CALLS &  102 VOICE MAIL ACCOUNTS
58 PODIATRY
145 SSI/MEDI-CAL
106 SUBSTANCE ABUSE, MENTAL HEALTH & METHADONE TREATMENT
95 VETERANS SERVICES
78 VETERINARY CARE and PET SITTING
31 WHEELCHAIR REPAIRS
46  SHELTER &  STABILIZATION 52 pending HOMEWARD BOUND

One of the great things about Social Media, I believe, is that it forces companies to be more transparent. It pressures them to create better products and provide better customer service since their missteps will be broadcast in the social media community. But, how will we feel when companies start treating their customers in the same way? If social media will help keep companies on their best behavior could it or even should it have the same effect on their customers?

Living in a World with Feedback – eBay

A world where every customer is rated on how good a customer they are might sound pretty far fetched but that world has been with us for years on eBay. eBay created a system where buyers and sellers rate each other at the end of a transaction. The ability of both the buyer and the seller to transact business in the future is influenced by how quickly they pay, how fast they ship, the quality of the product and the ease of the transaction. What they created was an electronic equivalent of the way markets have worked in the real worked for countless years. The butcher with the unfair scale gets a bad reputation and the rowdy customer gets shown the door. What will happen when companies realize that they can use social media in the same fashion?

What if Negative Behavior had Consequences?

A known issue with TripAdvisor and other hotel review sites is that some customers game the system. They demand additional service and threaten to leave a negative review. They are of the opinion that their negative and unfair behavior will have no negative consequences.  Markets don’t work that way. Markets have a way of evening things out. So what would happen if hotels started using that data? A hotel might not currently be able to deny you a room if your TripAdvisor reviews are always negative, but it might be in their best interest if they could. A positive review has value to a brand and a negative review hurts a brand. So could a hotel offer discounts to people who tend to give good reviews? I can see a day where if you offer to log into the hotel site using TripAdvisor, in much the same fashion that Facebook connect works today, they could reward happier guests. They would then be more likely to get positive reviews and perhaps they would have better morale with their staff if they had more appreciative guests.

What if We Rated Buyers?

What happens when rating buyers extends from eBay to airlines? What if your flight crew could rate you after a flight. You give up your seat to help a family sit together and your flight attendant gives you a great rating. You bitch about the service or are a very demanding customer and the flight attendant gives you a bad rating. If you could exclude the bad customers on future flights wouldn’t your flight crew and other customers be happier? So when customers go to book their next flight why doesn’t the company offer different discounts to good passengers or surcharges to jerks? Some people will protest no doubt, but this is not being prejudiced, it is not violating people’s civil rights. This is treating people as Dr King asked based on the “content of their character”.

Can we envision a day where your reputation becomes public knowledge? This will probably not happen any time soon because no company wants the law suits that would result, but I think this is the way that things are heading. Someday customers and not just companies will have their behavior exposed publicly. That day will be judgment day for jerks and, I think, a good day for the marketplace.

The San Francisco Giants fans were yelling like crazy, slapping high fives and jumping up and down. Two things in particular were amazing about this scene. The first was that they were sitting in the rain as they did this. The second is that they were not watching any game. They were sitting in the seats of AT&T park a couple of months before the first game of the season would be played there.

I had the chance to spend a day last week as an extra in a series of San Francisco Giants television commercials. Using twitter and facebook the Giants rounded up 300 fans with nothing more than the promise of getting in a commercial. There was no promise of payment, tickets or even lunch (although about 5 hours in at 2pm they did pass out hot dogs and sodas). It is at times like this that I am reminded that we get our word “fan” from the root word “fanatic”. The day was cold and dreary and quite often being in the commercial meant sitting in center field yelling while the camera was at home plate. They would move us from section to section sometimes for the same commercial we would be sitting in 3 or 4 different places that the digital effects wizards would merge to create a larger crowd in post production.

I don’t know if you have had a chance to watch a commercial, a television show or a motion picture being filmed, but let’s just say that somethings can try the patience of even baseball fans. Eventually the skies opened and it began to rain. The crowd of extras diminished to around 100 by then, but isn’t it amazing to think of a business that can find 100 people willing to sit in the rain to help it out? Does your business have fans like that? I have a volunteer who is a listener of the Amateur Traveler podcast who has been transcribing various episodes. Now I might sit in the rain for a brand I like but I can’t imagine doing transcription. Another podcaster I know, C.C. Chapman of Accident Hash, was surprised when his listeners put together a 5th anniversary episode for him to celebrate the long running show.

At one point Giants pitcher Sergio Romo came and sat in the stands with the fans in the rain. He was not in that particular commercial, just another face in the background with a Giants cap on. It was a class act from a classy guy and when he comes into the game this year you can bet I will be cheering him on. I want him to succeed. I want his team to succeed. After all, I am a fan… and you know what that means.

I have been working for myself for one week now and I have not yet met all the goals that I have set for my business. While that is certainly understandable there were moments this last week I was ready to panic about that… like Tuesday. Tuesday morning I woke up and thought “maybe this whole adventure won’t work”. What? In one day of working for myself I did not conquer the world? Perhaps I should wait, it occurred to me, until I had worked full-time on the business for more than one day.

I have my long term goals and I have a plan. I also have a whole lot of work ahead of me.

Let’s see how the first week turned out:

Worse than hoped for

• I will probably pass up a consulting project I was considering because of some issues that have come up
• the Vietnam trip I was trying to pull off looks like it will not happen

Better than expected

• On my last day of the day job a client called about some consulting work
• I helped someone on their social media strategy and they in turn are trying to figure out how to include the Amateur Traveler in a pitch to a major airline
• One of my joint ventures may be getting some traction so I spent some time brainstorming logos and URLs

All in all that sounds like a pretty typical week for an entrepreneur. Only one thing to do. Work the plan.

Come join me at the Social Media Breakfast East Bay on February 3rd. The breakfast will be held at the Buttercup Grill and Bar in Oakland, 1000 Colton Street in Oakland, just off 23rd Ave. and easily accessible from the 880. I will be speaking on social media strategies and how they need to be shaped by your brand strategy and you company strategy. We will look at some examples from my 13+ years building web communities.

Sometime last year Victor Cajiao of the Typical Mac User podcast, Cali Lewis of GeekBrief.tv and I started talking about organizing a cruise for podcasters and other new media creators. All three of us got too busy to move this idea forward but since I am leaving my day job in 2 weeks I want to make this idea a reality.

The Idea

The idea is to create a floating unconference on new media. I have had a chance to do a themed based tech cruise and found that it was much more enjoyable and interesting than a regular cruise vacation (bingo is not my game). We will spend the time in port exploring but when the ship is at sea we will have sessions of interest to the attendees on new media and social media.

I want to keep the cost low so I am targeting a 3-5 day cruise with no additional fee for the conference as long as you register through me. By registering together as a group, the ship should provide the necessary meeting space with no additional charge. Also we will sit as a group rotating people through different tables to make it easier to meet people.

What is an Unconference

Again to keep the costs low it is my intention to do this as an unconference where the people attending will decide what sessions we will have rather than paying for speakers to attend. I would like to provide a place where novices and experts alike can learn something.

Who are we?

I am the host of the Amateur Traveler, The Bible Study Podcast and a co-host on This Week in Travel podcast. All together I have published more than 400 podcast episodes (both audio and video).

I am working with Lorene Romero of the Home Based Travel podcast to pull this off because she is a cruise travel expert and knows how to coordinate this with the cruise company and how to help people book their travel, excursions, etc.

For full and fair disclosure Lorene and I will make money on the commissions to help pay for our time working on this.

Where should we go?

If you are seriously interested please comment on this post with your thoughts. Because of the way cruise travel gets booked and cabins get reserved I am planning this cruise in  June – July.

My first choice is a cruise from New York City June 28th 5:00pm – July 3rd 8:00am that cruises north to Halifax and Saint John with two days at sea.

Some alternatives we have identified: 3-4 day cruise from Florida to Bermuda, 5 night cruise from Galveston to Cancun, a repositioning cruise September 19 from Vancouver to Los Angeles, 5 nights from San Diego to the Mexican Riviera

How much will this cost?

It will depend on the cruise and how fancy you want your cabin to be but figure that the base cruise with all meals and with the tip but without drinks at the bar, soft drinks, and excursions to be $110 per person per day or less.  Also remember that internet on a cruise ship is expensive and slow.

Do you want sponsors?

I would be interested in sponsors. If you are interested in sponsorship I would love to find sponsors to:

• host a party the night before the cruise
• fund a group excursion
• subsidize the internet expenses of the attendees

Who is with me?

Comment on this post if you are interested. Also comment on the proposed schedule and destination. Based on what we learn we will reserve a block of cabins and publish the itinerary later this month.

It is a new year and many people are making resolutions and many bloggers are blogging about their resolutions. One effort that caught my attention is that Borders has added an area on their blog with the resolutions of 4 of their employees.

This is notable because no one mentions something obvious like “I will read more books”. Their resolutions instead are:

• I’m Going to Take the Presidential Fitness Test
• I’m going to eat only real food
• I’m Going to Give 29 Gifts
• I’m Going to Save $300 in 30 Days

Will they mention books? David, who is a book buyer, already mentioned that his resolution came from a book he read last Summer. I suspect a book or two will come up in the conversation as I suspect these 4 actually do like books and are avid readers.

Why is this significant?

Borders seems to get that a great strategy in social media is putting a face on the company. Here are 4 real people and 4 real goals. The idea is for me to identify with the people and therefore the company. Each blogger has only posted once so it is too early to predict the success of this campaign… but I will do it any way. I think this will be beneficial to Borders. I think the tone of this site is of a company that understands social media and I am interested to see what they will do next.

I was inspired by CC Chapman’s 2009 in Pictures post to document this year… and what a year it has been.

This year included:

• 3 trips to Mexico – one paid for by Amateur Traveler, one blogger trip and one volunteer trip
• Conferences like Blog World, MacWorld and TBEX
• Trips to Arizona, Chicago, Colorado and Las Vegas
• A Trip to Paris, Geneva, Berlin and Prague
• A new podcast – This Week in Travel – bringing the total to 4
• A great niece
• A 30 year high school reunion
• A decision to start my own company

It has been quite a year

Happy New Year and my best wishes for an awe inspiring 2010!

It’s time to go

We just announced to my team and the rest of the company that I am leaving LiveWorld. My last day will be around the middle of January. My boss Peter Friedman and I are parting on good terms after I have worked for him for 13 and a half years here at LiveWorld and 17 and a half years total. It’s time. If you are reading this blog then you probably know that I have been working 2 jobs over the last 4 years. I worked for LiveWorld as the Executive Vice President of Engineering and Operations during the day and then I worked for myself at night on the Amateur Traveler “media empire”. For now it is my intention to focus the 60-80 hour weeks that I have been working just on my own projects.

Peter, Jenna and the team

It has been my honor and privilege to work with a wonderful team of people all these years. Special thanks go to Peter Friedman (CEO) and Jenna Woodul (Chief Community Officer) who I have worked with this entire time.

Over 17 years is a long time to work for someone in any industry and in Silicon Valley it is simply unheard of (Peter tells me if I had worked for him for 2 more years I would have gotten alimony). He has always been supportive of me both at LiveWorld and in my efforts at Amateur Traveler. He knew that my heart was now in the later and has given me a gentle push out of the nest for which I am grateful as I was still trying to get up the courage to leave. I would not have worked for Peter this long if I did not respect his honesty, creativity and dedication and I wish him and the rest of the team the very best.

Jenna has been the heart and soul of a company that really believes in the value of community both for its employees and for its customers. My thanks to all of the many people who have worked alongside me these many years.

The Ride

I was employee number 4 at LiveWorld and helped steer the company from 4 employees to 256 (by my count) before the dot com bubble burst back down to 15 and then back up to 50-80 employees more recently. It has been a hell of a ride and one of the reasons I have stayed so long is that it felt like 2-3 different companies as we reinvented ourselves from an ad-supported community site (Talk City) to an online event company to a white label social network supplier and online agency. LiveWorld still has some tricks up its sleeve as some of our new products like facebook communities and credit card LiveBar show. I hate to get off before this ride is over but I am excited about my new journey as well.

Customers and Former Customers

I put together a list of some of the brands I have had a chance to work with or work alongside. I am sure I left some off, but wow! My thanks to all of the customers who have made my time at LiveWorld so much more interesting. My favorite part of my time at LiveWorld has been helping solve customer problems. I plan to continue to help customers like these as a social media and new media consultant.

My last day at LiveWorld will be in the middle of January.