I’ve interviewed a number of social media luminaries and asked them to give me their answers to three questions. To make this game fun, in a Jeff Cutler sort of way, I told them that they could pick the questions. I further told them that they didn’t have to reveal the questions, just provide me with the answers.
If you’d like to provide your answers for this project, send them to me at jeff (at) jeffcutler [dot] com. I’ll put them in the queue and they’ll appear in the order received. *Also include your Twitter handle and one link you’d like included in the post.
I’ve interviewed a number of social media luminaries and asked them to give me their answers to three questions. To make this game fun, in a Jeff Cutler sort of way, I told them that they could pick the questions. I further told them that they didn’t have to reveal the questions, just provide me with the answers.
1. When the ball went through Bill Bucker’s legs in the 1986 World Series
2. I’d only consider it if you threw in Jennifer Anniston
3. Bouncing off the tires of a massive tractor trailer, in a blizzard, while I drive my Chevy Chevette
If you’d like to provide your answers for this project, send them to me at jeff (at) jeffcutler [dot] com. I’ll put them in the queue and they’ll appear in the order received. *Also include your Twitter handle and one link you’d like included in the post.
I’ve interviewed a number of social media luminaries and asked them to give me their answers to three questions. To make this game fun, in a Jeff Cutler sort of way, I told them that they could pick the questions. I further told them that they didn’t have to reveal the questions, just provide me with the answers.
3. A golf handicap of 15, NY Rangers win Stanley Cup again
If you’d like to provide your answers for this project, send them to me at jeff (at) jeffcutler [dot] com. I’ll put them in the queue and they’ll appear in the order received. *Also include your Twitter handle and one link you’d like included in the post.
One of my clients asked me recently to craft a blog post. This post is supposed to introduce a brand to their membership and allow them to feel at once comfortable, informed and energized by the brand’s innate qualities.
This would seemingly be well within my abilities. I’ve been a content producer in print and online since 1988. I’ve got bylines in The New York Post, Technology Review and Gatehouse Media. I’ve been a Technology Correspondent for NPR (WBUR Radio in Boston) and have also been tabbed as the Social Media Trainer for the Society of Professional Journalists nationwide.
In addition to my journalistic content creation – print, audio, online, video and social-media shortform – I’m also a skilled interviewer who gets excited by a challenge and enjoys sharing interesting stories.
What’s the issue? Well, the brand this client wants me to introduce is ME. They want Jeff Cutler to report on Jeff Cutler. Seriously.
What more can I say about myself? Hardly anything that will create value for these readers…but I can tell them what lies ahead. So, instead of stepping into the cocktail-party foyer, let’s jump into the mission control room and examine what I’ll be doing for this client during the next few weeks.
First – this client is commonground. They’re an environmental professional social network. A community of environmental professionals who discuss issues of the day – and now I’m going to be doing some reporting for them in the Gulf of Mexico.
Here’s what their Website says about the organization…
Commonground’s mission is to be the premier business-to-business social network for environmental consultants and information resource where users and providers of environmental, engineering, property assessment, and due diligence services for real estate and asset transactions congregate to discuss relevant topics, gain critical insights, and generate business opportunities. By working together to advance our knowledge, professionalism, and services, we will elevate the visibility and credibility of our industry, which will have significant benefit to all.
Here’s my role with the organization…
I’ll be in the Gulf of Mexico – between Houston and Tallahassee – reporting on the environmental impact the oil spill has had on the region.
I’ll be conducting interviews with business owners, environmental organizations, financial institutions and others to see how this disaster has affected their operations.
These pieces of content may be as small as an update on Twitter to a full, photo-rich and multi-page post suitable for framing and uploaded to the Website dedicated to this content road trip.
From video interviews of people to photos of environmentally sensitive areas, I’ll be using all my skills to get the entire story of the oil spill in the Gulf and then I’ll be sharing it with commonground.
The journey is going to be fun. It’s going to be hectic. It’s probably going to have a number of surprises, challenges and eye-opening situations. I’ll be doing my best to collect information for readers/viewers/listeners that informs, entertains and captivates. I’m looking forward to this challenge as much as I have any project in recent memory.
It’s going to be a journey of discovery for me and for you. So come along for the ride. My dispatches will be open for all to see and I’ll be tweeting my progress along the way so you can keep up. For those of you who follow me because of my connection to food, I’ll also be posting my meals while in the Gulf to my Tumblr site.
Further, I’ll be doing regular posts on the behind-the-scenes experiences. From the equipment I’m using to capture content to the struggles I’m sure to run into finding a good dish of flan. That’s going to be fun, too!
Please put your comments here and interact with me on Twitter. I would love to learn where you want me to explore, what you want me to ask, what you want me to try and learn.
Lots of friends and social media colleagues use BlueMic equipment to do their podcasting. I have been using the Zoom H2 as my mic for 51 episodes of one podcast and for about 40 episodes of another (along with some recording for NPR and other projects). I can say without doubt that the Zoom equipment has served me well, but I wanted to see if there were other mics that I could use in my studio so I wouldn’t have to break out the Zoom every time I wanted to make a Skype call or record a column.
Here’s a fast fast fast first take on the Snowflake Portable USB microphone from BlueMics (they’re at BlueMic.com).
*By the way, here are two podcasts for you to listen to. One was made with the Zoom H2 and the other with the Snowflake. No need to listen to the entire file, you can tell the sound quality once I begin my intro after the lead in by Natalie Gelman and the typewriter.
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Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Now my thoughts…
The bad…
I think the Snowflake is a little more hollow than the Zoom. It has a slight echo and didn’t have the fine-tuning features as the other mic. This made me wonder if I had to go right up against the screen to get the strongest sound. It also may have some build-quality issues as the first unit that was provided to me didn’t work at all and I had to send it back. This unit worked fine, but the head swivels around easily and made me take extra care not to move for fear it would spin and miss some of my words.
The good…
It’s tiny. It’s plug-and-play. It’s affordable for anyone who prefers to use an external mic instead of the onboard one. It looks sleek. It works pretty well – again with some limits. And the customer service at the company is top-notch.
Verdict…
Too soon to tell. I’ve recorded one podcast on the thing and had the one hiccup of a bad unit. I’ll use it some more in various situations and let you know what I think.
What microphones do you use when you’re recording? What camera equipment do you use. I welcome your thoughts. Whether you’re Bob Knorp or Steve Garfield or even Robert Scoble, I know we can all learn something about the technology you use to record.
What do you do when you find yourself face-to-face with someone you have only met on Facebook or Twitter? Tipping Point Labs made me answer that question on tape.
Last summer, as part of my ongoing quest to have new adventures and meet new people, I hooked up with Ray Chang. He was doing an experiment with a Ferrari 360 Modena and I got to go along for the ride. A ride, literally. Sadly I didn’t get to drive it.
Here’s the audio from my trip in the car…
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Well, the interesting thing about hopping in the Ferrari and doing an event for Ford (I hosted a Tweetup for the launch of the 2010 Taurus SHO last summer) is the approach. Ford knows its demographic and their goal is to get people excited about a car.
What Ray has done is used social media and a fantastic vehicle to get people excited about an experience. He’s not in this to sell cars, he’s in it to sell marketers and advertisers an option when it comes to messaging. Essentially, this is experiential marketing. Get someone in the car – appropriately branded with NASCAR-esque decorations and ads – and perhaps they’ll take away an image or a slogan or a memory that somewhere down the line compels them to buy a product or a service.
Does it work? I’m not sure. It’s a cool alternative. And as Ray told me, the supercar as advertising media is proven, tried and true.
I bought into the entire feeling of eyes on the car and on me in the seat as we buzzed around the Fenway area. It was like I was a celebrity. Now imagine that my logo or URL was on the car. Eyeballs would move to the car as it passed, and they would see some people in the car having fun, but they might also take away a message or be moved to check out the site.
Ray says he’s going to continue this program – he even has a site on Facebook to help promote it – with other cars and different locations.
For me, as a consumer, would it get me to buy something? I don’t know. I took a TON of photos (see below) when I was just walking around the car. So it definitely got my attention. What would make it better? If I got to drive.
What do you think of promos like this as effective (literal) vehicles for messaging? I think it’s a way to bring social and the real world together. Only time will tell if the road ahead is bumpy.
Verizon contacted me with the request that I review their new phone – the HTC Droid Incredible – and of course I said yes. I had planned to shop the review to some of my other outlets, but MobileMag.com already had an Incredible in house and were doing their own review of the Google phone. So, here’s my take – and a quick video showing how quick the phone is in comparison to my iPhone.
**I DID NOT GET TO KEEP THIS PHONE – IT IS BEING MAILED BACK TO VERIZON TOMORROW**
First off, it’s slim. As you can see from its profile as it sits next to the iPhone, it’s tiny. It fits easily in my pocket and the only drawback right now is the limited number of cases for the phone. There will certainly be dozens of case manufacturers jumping on board, but in many instances they don’t want to fill the market with cases for a phone that might not be a great seller. I think this phone will be.
Let’s go through the pluses and minuses.
Pluses
Size. It’s slim and easy to use.
Operating system. It’s on Google and allows users to download apps from the Android/Google Marketplace.
The OS also makes it fast as does the onboard memory – 1GHz processor and 32MB of available memory.
Network. It’s on Verizon and I found the signal strength and 3G availability during my test to be great. This isn’t a knock on other carriers, just a comment that Verizon’s network near Boston is pretty strong.
Camera. An 8MP camera took fantastic photos and also allowed me to take videos with ease.
Lock screen. The lock screen was as easy to use as the one on other phones…even the iPhone…and used a swiping, pattern recognition instead of a typed in password to unlock the phone. Cool as well.
Google integration. If you’re a gmail user, this phone syncs immediately and easily so that all your information is suddenly in the palm of your hand. This is fascinating and a little scary. Just remember to lock your phone. But it helps you keep your calendar, contacts and mail all within reach at all times.
GPS/Location. I use Foursquare and Gowalla a lot. The innards of the HTC Incredible had no issue finding me and finding me quickly. This made checking in a breeze. It also made apps like Google Sky Map AWESOME. Imagine pointing the phone at the sky and being able to identify star formations from what the phone tells you. Love that app.
Minuses
Battery life. It didn’t really last as long as I had hoped it would. But I was using bluetooth, Wifi, all sorts of apps and definitely putting the phone through its paces. If you shut down the haptic feedback, vibration, volume, screen brightness, bluetooth and Wifi, you’re sure to get much better longevity.
Size. Not the phone’s actual size, but the keyboard size. Keys – although they are onscreen and not physical – are small just because the form factor of the phone is tiny. I would have liked a key profile that was a hair bigger, but then where would you add the space?
Keyboard function. I’m used to the iPhone and how you use different key sets to get to special characters. With the Incredible, that isn’t the case. To get a hash sign, an exclamation mark or a number (and many other symbols and digits) you must hold a key down. This is most frustrating when you’re typing in passwords that have different characters in them. After a while I imaging typing would become natural, but it also irked some of the folks I let try the phone during my evaluation.
Random stuff….
In all, I like it. Were I not such an Apple fanboy, I might switch today. I have a Verizon account and could well justify moving to a phone that consolidates all my Google data in an instant.
The camera is cool, works fast and has a flash. All great points.
Contrary to what iPhone folks say, the Google Marketplace has a TON of apps and games and useful stuff in it. I was expecting to go there and find two minesweeper games and a maps app. There are radio streaming apps, the aforementioned star chart thing, Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook and other social networking apps and much more. You won’t be wanting for stuff to load on this phone.
So take a look at the video I took, think about the $200 price tag, and make your own decision. I would say this phone wins in my book. At least until iPhone ups its processor and adds more carriers.
Back in the 1980s a friend of mine was really excited about a concept called distance learning. The process was effectively teaching folks using technology. It allowed for entire classes to be in disparate locations while still interacting. The company that was introducing this concept has since been swallowed up, but the concept is more sound than you might realize. Especially if you or your organization has divisions or professionals all over the world.
Let’s take a look at a few ways people can learn anything from social media to food preparation using new tools.
First, there are Webinars. These are discussions led by masters in their field (you hope) on topics as varied as healthcare compliance to bike maintenance. I’m guest hosting a webinar on what to do with your Website after you launch it so it doesn’t languish. You can find me on Monday, May 17 at this location – sign up now if you want to attend.
Other companies are using them to pimp products, share knowledge and build a follower base. Firms like Awareness and Hubspot use them a lot to create buzz around their organization and their company’s products and services. What they offer that you can’t get from attending a conference in person, is the ability to streamline your learning.
It’s great to spend face time with people in the lobby of a hotel, but if you’re looking for targeted knowledge, these online routes are more effective ofttimes.
But how can you sift through the mess, short of spending entire mornings clicking around the Web Googling the word Webinar. Well, that’s where another friend of mine comes in. Rachel Levy started a company called Webinar Listings. This site aggregates a huge collection of these online learning programs so you can tell in a glance what’s happening when and how to sign up.
In fact, if you’re in the Boston area, Rachel is planning to present this company and concept to the attendees at a real-world event on Wednesday, May 12 in Waltham. The event is MassInno and it begins around 6PM…oh, it’s also free to attend.
Going beyond webinars, you can learn in a more formal way by taking classes at online colleges and universities. The one that jumps to mind is University of Phoenix. While these institutions might have been seen as fly-by-night in the past, they now carry accreditation and respect. You can take nearly any class you want and pursue many degree programs from your own living room. Which brings me to the biggest resource of all – the Internet.
While you might be digging around looking for the perfect webinar or session or conference, most of the content from these events and programs is archived somewhere on the Internet. Using Google or Bing or AddictoMatic, you can dig up information on myriad topics that can inform and entertain you for hours, days, weeks or months.
I’m NOT saying that this is a great resource because it’s all true. I’m saying the Internet is a great resource because it has such a breadth of knowledge at your fingertips. When I teach companies, universities and news outlets about social media, I’m very careful to explain how it’s a ‘buyer-beware’ environment on the Internet.
But once you’ve adopted some caution, you can find slide decks of presentations, past podcasts of shows featuring smart people, and even publications from every corner of the world. Your next step is to sit down and digest all this stuff. And become smarter.
What are your favorite resources on- and offline? Share them with others here in the comments.
OnStar and Chevy paired today to make an announcement about the start of Volt production and about some functionality OnStar is offering with a new car-connected mobile app.
Maria Rohrer – Director Chevy Volt Marketing said the car is “very real and on time.”
According to Rohrer, the Volt is an extended range electric vehicle.
To that end, OnStar has introduced and is working toward integrated electical management, stats and communication from drivers to their cars.
Sounds like it’s a robot car.
Additionally, OnStar has launched an app on multiple mobile platforms that allows owners to get car info, communicate and give commands to their car, and even see diagnostic info.
During the OnStar/Volt session, a person in the audience was able to lock the car doors on their Android phone via the app.
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