Robert Kraft and Baseball Mitt Romney – All Smiles at Red Sox Patriot’s Day Game

Posted on April 16, 2012 by avatar

 

One of the things I’ve learned in 21 years of freelancing, no matter how cool you think a photo or video is, it might just not pique the interest of the professionals who run the editorial desk at major news outlets. That’s why, after taking a bunch of shots today of Mitt Romney (presidential candidate) and Robert Kraft (owner of the New England Patriots), I decided to just post them here on one of my sites.

If you’d like the original file, please contact me in the comments. I’m sure that nobody would be silly enough to just use one of these copyrighted photos without permission, attribution and payment.

Thanks!

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Ten Facts about Me – Twitter Meme; and other Social Media Ramblings

Posted on April 8, 2012 by avatar

Earlier today, on Easter Sunday, I saw a tweet or two from Mark Dykeman that had the #10FactsAboutMe hashtag attached to them. They were interesting little tidbits about Mark and made me think that I should share some tidbits about myself.

If we’ve met, one of my regular comments is that we all can bear to learn something new about our colleagues, friends, partners and even competitors. Further, I have said repeatedly that we often fall short of this goal. One big example in this argument is Mike Langford and his career as a financial specialist. For years, very few people in the social media fishbowl even realized that Mike had a background in financial services.

But that’s neither here nor there. Just provides an example that you can know someone and not really understand where they are coming from or from whence their skills have evolved. So, I took Mark Dykeman’s task to heart and put up ten of my own facts for people to enjoy. Here they are…

Essentially, ten fun little facts about my life that give people a little insight into who I am and what makes me tick. Once these were posted, I went forward with my recovery from surgery (I had an operation last Thursday), mourning the loss of my father (he’s been gone one year this weekend and it’s still very painful as anyone might imagine), and my celebration of Passover and Easter with my extended family.

There’s your Easter update from my little quarter of this planet. What have you been up to?

 

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Gear Giveaway – On JetBlue NerdBird 1 – SXSW Prep

Posted on March 7, 2012 by avatar

One of my colleagues and friends – friend first and colleague second, I suppose – suggested I stroll into my walk-in gadget closet at the Tiny Bungalow and collect some stuff to give away. He – Jim Storer is his name – also implied that I should distribute this gear on the Jetblue flight to South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX. So I agreed.

If you’re in the gate area or on the 8:45am Jetblue flight to Austin, TX tomorrow – that’s flight 1263 at 8:45 from Boston – then I’ll be handing out some of the following schwag. Please tweet at me or leave a comment on this blog post if you’d like to put in dibs for an item.

*Folks I already know who are on this flight include CC Chapman, Steve Garfield, Clarence, Jenny Frazier and Jim Storer.

Here’s the run-down to the best of my memory. I packed the gear giveaway bag last night…

Headphones
Earbud accessories
Callpod charger
Staples Easy Button
Three-port extension cord
Dexim iPhone car charger
Fusegear phone stands
NautiCase for iPhone 4 (waterproof)
Keystone Marine Case for iPhone 4 (waterproof)
DryCase Tablet Bag (waterproof – fits an iPad)
LensPen cleaning kit with Sidekick cleaning pads
Multiple USB drives in 1GB – 4GB sizes
a brand-new duffle bag from CES 2011
and an umbrella I might keep for myself

So, who wants what? Tweet me or leave your comments here. See you tomorrow!

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SXSWi – Jeff’s Pre-show

Posted on March 4, 2012 by avatar

My last visit to Austin, TX was in 2010 when I attended that year’s version of SXSW. I skipped the festival last year for numerous reasons and regretted not making the trip. I DID NOT regret having the extra $2500 to spend on food, tech gadgets and other toys instead of tossing it away on travel, hotel, booze and Thai food at 3AM with Mike Langford.

But, as last year’s event drew to a close I made the decision that I should be where the tech and interactive minds are as much as possible. Especially because I’m looked to as an expert in this field and I enjoy me some networking with the Twitterati. So, here’s the 3rd-person sharing of my steps, in a calendarized build-up, for this year’s event along with a quick (first-person) “what I expect to get out of SXSWi 2012. Enjoy.

March 2011 – Jeff wails loudly that he should be in Austin. He smiles because he saved $2487, but he still misses spending time with fun tech and social media folks. He also misses the barbecue and beer that is prevalent in Austin during SXSW.

Late March 2011 – Jeff reserves a room in downtown Austin for 21 days from March 2 through March 23, 2012. He doesn’t know what dates SXSW will fall on in the coming year, so he decides to take chance out of the equation.

April 2011 – Jeff calls his hotel – reserved for 21 days – and whittles down his stay to a mere seven nights. He still enjoys the smart rate of $249 per night at a top-notch hotel, instead of the prevailing $400-700 per night that is more common when you reserve a room anytime after August for the following year.

May 2011 – Mike Langford moves to Texas. This ensures that Mike and Jeff won’t be sharing the same room at SXSW and will therefore not kill each other. *The prevailing belief here is that Mike would have killed Jeff for his snoring. It’s a win-win for everyone.

June – Sept. 2011 – Jeff waits for JetBlue to put their March flights on sale.

Sept. 2011 – March JetBlue flights go on sale and Jeff buys a seat next to Steve Garfield on NerdBird 1.

Oct. 2011 – Nothing happens other than multiple conferences, speaking gigs, teaching sessions and other real-life ingredients. But we’re discussing the fairy tale land of SXSW, so these things don’t count.

Nov. 2011 – Jeff contacts the SXSW offices and asks them if he can use the pass he got in 2011 but didn’t use, for admission to the 2012 festival. They say YES! Jeff is ecstatic – and in his joyous response offers up his liaison services to the conference committee (thinking they’ll say, “no, that’s OK, we don’t need you” and he’ll get a free badge). That DOESN’T happen. They say they could use Jeff’s help and he is pressed into service, rendering his ‘free’ badge really not free as he has to work for it again.

Dec. 2011 – Feb. 2012 – Jeff works like a dog as a panel liaison. He starts prepping his liver for SXSW. And he contacts people like Aaron Strout, Peter Kim and Chis Anderson to arrange to see and hug them while in Austin.

March 2012 – The festival approaches quickly. Jeff joins Derek Peplau and John Refford in getting strategy together for their assault on Austin. Jeff also joins folks on a Google Hangout to discuss different events throughout the week. Finally, Jeff rents a banjo so he can practice during his downtime at SXSWi.

Goals and Aspirations…

For this year’s SXSWi, I’m looking to do five things. Yes, this is more than the three things your high-school English teacher said you should start with when writing an essay. Deal with it. SXSWi is a big event and three would be too few when it comes to goals. Therefore, I plan to…

1 – …collect and create and share content. Lots of it. I’m bringing a DSLR that I expect to have with me all the time. I plan to share photos to my Flickr site, videos to my YouTube channel and assorted content to Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and maybe some of my blogs.

2 – …take in at least a few educational sessions and actually learn something about technology, the world around me and the people who are making things happen in the aforementioned world. This will likely require me to be at the Convention Center during the day, so that will also happen. Look for me there. I’ll be the one who looks like me and I’ll be wearing an Adam Cohen name badge.

3 – …enjoy some seriously good food. The BBQ, Mexican fare and other dishes in Austin are great. I expect that some of the people mentioned in this post will also join me for a meal or two. I will be sharing information about the food I eat via my Boston Food Fan blog and various social media sites.

4 – …film an episode of NomX3 with Mike Langford. The chemistry, the humor and the intelligence in this show is unrivaled and we’ve come up with a plan to continue the series. Join us in Austin for a live lunch taping of the critically acclaimed NomX3. To see any of our existing shows, visit NomX3.com where you’ll find 45 episodes of genius and good taste.

5 – …discover some new technologies, meet some new people, and do some things I’ve never tried before. I’d like to experience some bluegrass music. I’d like to run into Lance Armstrong. I’d enjoy talking about new tech gadgets with companies that are there to unveil their latest products and services. These things will be details here, over at The Gadget Reporter, or in video interviews that I’ll post to YouTube.

That’s about it in a nutshell. How do you plan to capitalize on your SXSWi visit? What, if anything, would you want me to search out and report on if you’re not going to be there?

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How to Host a Tweetup

Posted on January 22, 2012 by avatar

I’ll admit it, this isn’t a topic that really requires much writing – unlike my first book on mountain biking. So I spent about 37 minutes tonight writing the attached eBook before settling down to watch Downton Abbey on PBS.

This shot taken by Derek Peplau at Nogup3 - a Boston Tweetup - you can find more of Derek's shots at http://www.flickr.com/photos/peplau

The title is self-explanatory. If you don’t know how to host a tweetup, this is the book for you. Just click on the link below and it will download for you. You will know how to host a tweetup and you’ll be the envy of all your friends and business colleagues. This is really Tweetups made easy, and the mystery of successful Tweetups will be solved.

I welcome your comments and ideas for future books. Enjoy!

How To Host A Tweetup

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Content Strategy

Posted on January 1, 2012 by avatar

Have you seen the site XtraNormal yet? If not, I’ll wait while you go take a look. Essentially, it’s a site that allows you to create little skits using a variety of characters and then record that skit to video. THEN, you can upload that skit to YouTube and suddenly have a viral video on your hands.

Well, if it were that simple, everyone would be doing it. But I’ve had a series of clients find some value in the light, easy-to-create skits and I’ve also taken to doing a few myself – see my YouTube channel for an example or two.

The reason I mention XtraNormal is because 2012 looks to be the year of content strategy for a lot of companies. No matter what channel you operate or with whom you communicate (B2B, B2C, public sector, media), the use of content to achieve your goals has never been more important. You want eyeballs, audiences want information. The sticking point is finding the best way to deliver that content so everyone emerges from the content orgy satisfied.

Suffice it to say, there’s no silver bullet. This is still the misunderstood world of social media where everyone things content is free on the Internet and that social tools and engagement are also low- or no-cost. At the end of 2011, that belief took a hit as some agencies jettisoned their smoke-and-mirrors social media practitioners and went back to the hard work and clear communication that had proved successful in the past.

I expect more of this happen in the early part of 2012 and then I think Q2 will be the golden age of content strategy. Companies will be working toward establishing new channels in which to engage their audiences and they’ll require great writers, interviewers and communicators to help them do that.

Over the next couple weeks, I’ll do a few posts on how content strategy works and how anyone can use it to reach their target market. Until then, take a look around your office and see who’s just faking it until they get lucky. The trick isn’t knowing how to schedule a status update, sent an e-press release or host a tweetup, it’s knowing how to identify audiences, craft messages and then communicate those messages in the appropriate channels.

What are your thoughts on how social media will shake out in 2012?

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Girl Bloggers and Boy Bloggers

Posted on December 2, 2011 by avatar

Right now, everyone in social media is doing content marketing. They’re either getting paid well for it or they’re struggling to find work and keep getting fired because they overpromised the returns companies would see from social. I fall into the former category, but I still consider myself a struggling author/content marketer/SocMed Guru because I’m doing the cobbler’s kids routine. I don’t write enough on my own sites to keep people coming back – some people say you need to do something daily and do it well every day to get people to notice…like what the sun does over the water each evening.

Maybe you’ve done it too. You write some magnificent posts that get people thinking. You get some comments rolling and think you’ve got it made. Then you wander away for a few minutes and suddenly months have gone by and the blog is stagnating.

Happens to everyone. But the approach upon return is dictated by your gender. Seriously. Think about men and women and how we cultivate and maintain our friendships. We’re drastically different and I posit we’re the same way online. To wit…

Women agonize over seeing old friends again. They bear the weight of the world on their soul when trying to figure out the right things to say and the right way to break into conversation with friends from ages ago. Maybe these women have shared secrets and fears and more…but separate them for a while and it’s like recreating the relationship.

Men are not that complex. Separate us for four minutes or for four score and you get the same result. “Hey dickface, your Astros still blow. How’s work? Want a beer?” That’s it. If men are real lucky, they’ll get a man hug and maybe some chicken wings…but the angst isn’t there when guys reconnect.

That brings me to my point about blogging hiatuses. When a woman abandons her blog for a bit, she apologizes like a repentant mass murderer when she returns. A guy just jumps back in and says, “here’s what’s going on, enjoy!”

So, read the above one more time so you didn’t miss any nuance or sarcasm and then hear me clearly, “Here’s what’s going on, enjoy!”

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Customer Engagement – Wegmans Style

Posted on October 18, 2011 by avatar

Some of you might know Gretchen, my better, smarter and seemingly more socially influential half. Recently, she was spurred by her love of the Wegmans grocery store chain to organize the #wegupma event – essentially a rented van full of friends and family that arrived and reveled in the grand opening of the Northborough, MA Wegmans store.

She wrote a blog post about her experience at the grand opening and also included in that post a little sadness. During our trip to Wegmans (the grand opening was also attended by 24,994 other rabid fans), she forgot to purchase plastic wrap and paper towels.

Well, Wegmans is on the social media ball. They tweeted at us all day, followed and retweeted our photos of the grand opening. Engaged with us about our experiences. And when they saw that Gretchen forgot her paper towels and plastic wrap, they called her.

Actually, Kevin Russell, store manager at the new Wegmans called her. He left a message saying that he felt sorry that our Wegmans experience was incomplete and was sending a delivery to our house in Hingham. Seriously. TO OUR HOUSE, 47 miles away. Here’s the video of what we found on the porch when we got home today…

So, if you run a company that might be having some trouble understanding the right and wrong ways to engage using social media, I urge you to take a lesson from the Wegmans team. They spend time paying attention to what people are sharing about them on the Web (active listening), and they actually think about what matters to people – being heard and being valued.

If you don’t think this type of activity pays off, ask yourself if your business could benefit from 25,000 people coming to your next grand opening.

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Books We Don’t Need to See. Social Media Musing.

Posted on October 16, 2011 by avatar

Just back from the #bbf2011 (Boston Book Festival), I sat down to think about my books. While this connects peripherally to my girlfriend’s new job at Raising a Reader, it was more of an angst-ridden veiled confession that I have too many books.

And I do. Just take a quick look in this shelf among the “Dummies” books and the books I’ve written (see poster on top), there are multiple social media, classic literary and just plain fun books. But are they really all useful? Should they have been published at the expense of wasting paper, inflating egos and eventually filling landfills and wood stoves?

I say not. But it’s too late for the selection of books on these shelves – I’ll gladly pass some of the good ones along to friends and family who want to read them. Today, I’m going to give you a quick list of fictional social media titles that should never be written (even though some publishers will feel compelled to do so).

Bear in mind that some books that are already out there have some very real value. I’ve even had session attendees ask me for the best books on Twitter – so there is a market for more than you realize. Here we go…

Facebook Status Updates 101 – How to Leverage Facebook to Gain Friends and Influence People

Checking In – Using Foursquare to Get Your House Robbed

Wijacking Your Way to the Top – Using Free Wifi to Save $60 a Month on Fios

Tweetups – Using Twitter to Invite People to a Party

Hashtags and the Rules to Follow

NSFW! The Most Popular Videos on YouTube

Always Be Charging. Why Dead iPhones Happen to Good People.

The Social Media Fishbowl and How to Avoid the Toilet

So, what are some of your favorites of the books already out there? What book would you buy to demystify the Internet – or would you just Google it? And what are some of the subjects and tools you think need no special explanation in today’s socially connected community?

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Speaker Wanted? Call Me. Social Media and Content Road Trip.

Posted on October 10, 2011 by avatar

If you’re familiar with the business environment, companies are increasingly getting on board with social media communication tools. They’re becoming motivated to learn about social media and by extension, they’re hosting more on-site and peripheral training events where their entire … —yes, there’s more—

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