Today, Steve Garfield was on CBS Backstage being interviewed about video blogging and his new book, Get Seen
Keep reading!
Tags: Boston, cbs, CBS news, Get Seen, Jeff Cutler, steve garfield, video, vlogging
Archive for the “New Media Friday” CategoryIf you’re not a Seinfeld fan you won’t get the partial reference to the Jerk Store joke in the title of this post. No matter. The reason I used that joke is because I’m now an app in the Apple iTunes app store. Really. Just like Chris Brogan’s blog before mine, this very blog has been created into an app you can download onto your iPhone or iPod Touch.
That doesn’t mean you’re going to be happy with the app. I’m thrilled with it, but I like most things having to do with Jeff Cutler. You might not. One thing you should be amazed at though, is that the fine people at MotherApp were able to do this for a blog. Seriously. The technology behind what they had to create is just beyond me and it’s really cool that they took the time and energy to use my site as a test case. If you want to learn more, run over to their site and take a look. In the meantime, I’m excited that many of you will now be reading my blog right on your iThings. Lots of posts coming this week about gadgets, CES, life, journalism and snacks. So stay tuned….iTuned….into my blog. Keep reading! Tags: App Store, Blog, iTunes, Jeff Cutler, MotherAppThis thing was flying around tonight’s press event at the Venetian at #ces in Las Vegas. Not sure exactly what it is, but it totally draws a crowd.
January 1 is a time for gyms to fill up, for hangover cures to be tested and for a mindset of renewal to take place. As a child we used to giggle at my father’s assertion that he was perfect and therefore didn’t need to focus on resolutions or improvement. After embracing this attitude we’d don our ski clothes and hit the slopes (New Year’s morning is the absolute best time to ski because skiers party hard and the mountains remain empty on January 1 until about noon).
Find the original photo HERE Used with Creative Commons Permission. As I look back and admit that I’m not quite perfect, I wanted to thank the people in social media who have had an influence on me since I’ve been actively splashing about in the fishbowl. I’m not going to rush all the way back to 1997 when I started a Web rehab firm with two friends, or to 1999 when I began blogging, or even to my first tweet three years ago. What I will do is share a neat little tool with you and then list out all my Twitter friends – barring some random Twitter burp that has purged people from my list. It’s my take on a massive, New Year’s Day Follow Friday. The tool is called Tweetake and it allows you to backup your Twitter info. Tweets, people, faves, etc., all into a csv.xls file. That’s Excel for those of you unfamiliar with file extensions. With that downloaded list, you can then organize this data any which way you choose. I choose to give you a massive list of linked names over the next few pages. If you follow me and don’t see your name there, leave a comment. If you see others you might want to follow, just click on their name and start following them. You’re empowered. Aside from that, I want to wish everyone who reads any of my Jeff Cutler blogs (20+ and growing), or my traditional media writing (half a dozen outlets pay me to write these days), Keep Reading! That’s actually my main resolution this year. I’m not perfect – as much as I hoped heredity might have helped – and I definitely don’t read enough. To that end, please share links to things you think I should read. I’ll give them a look. Happy New Year! *Because of memory issues, I’m breaking the list over four posts. http://twitter.com/davidgallant http://twitter.com/SkipBensley http://twitter.com/BostonTweetUp http://twitter.com/ThinkDynamik http://twitter.com/peter_anton http://twitter.com/carbBlocker http://twitter.com/TheModernPet http://twitter.com/bloggerengadget http://twitter.com/energysection http://twitter.com/JoselinMane http://twitter.com/Michellemmm http://twitter.com/ortman_social http://twitter.com/CircaPictures http://twitter.com/lazarinkroni http://twitter.com/RetardedDwarf http://twitter.com/StevenRothberg http://twitter.com/CharlesRoberson http://twitter.com/countrywine http://twitter.com/walterjones45 http://twitter.com/CheyanneBrae http://twitter.com/glorialynnglass http://twitter.com/ecashncapture http://twitter.com/Josh_Litchfield http://twitter.com/BeverlySchmitt http://twitter.com/witnessemptysky http://twitter.com/bantershire http://twitter.com/cruciformity http://twitter.com/ScottBourne http://twitter.com/Nikifashion http://twitter.com/EugeneGregorio http://twitter.com/SteampunkRings http://twitter.com/JeremiahCharles http://twitter.com/JoeySantiago http://twitter.com/arthurcooper http://twitter.com/NewPrankCalls http://twitter.com/Franck_Briand http://twitter.com/FrankCarillo http://twitter.com/BubblesAndSoap http://twitter.com/AlfredStehbeck http://twitter.com/globenetcom http://twitter.com/RobertUmpleby http://twitter.com/gravityjack http://twitter.com/FlickrExplored http://twitter.com/Pierre_Paperon http://twitter.com/twittamazing http://twitter.com/GUNGACartoons http://twitter.com/seanphurley http://twitter.com/JoyOfSoxMovie
Last night was #nogup2. An event that had its roots in an impromptu suggestion from Christine Major and Amy Greenlaw in late 2008. Back then, both women were excited (and still are) about their connection with the Boston social media scene. Although they live in the desolate, far reaches of New Hampshire…tickling the Canadian border and perhaps the Arctic Circle, they asked if somebody would host/organize an eggnog-themed Tweetup.
See all the amazing photos by searching the Web for #nogup and #nogup2. And you can see Derek’s photos of the event HERE. If you’re unaware of the word Tweetup, it’s essentially a party/meeting/gathering that takes place practically anywhere and for any reason and is organized using the social media tool Twitter – among other communication devices. Well, the original #nogup took place at Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA. The attendees numbered ten (if you count @robertcollins who was lost somewhere on the chilly metro-Boston street and @clownface3 who suggested that we stop worrying about Bob and put our iPhones down long enough to enjoy some Nog). As reminiscence breeds affection, Christine asked me this year if I thought another Nog-up was in order. I contemplated how tough it would be to get ten people together at a bar in the middle of winter and jumped at the opportunity. Holy cow, holy night, unsilent night! What transpired was memorable, fun and actually charitable. Here are some of the things I recall from last night’s #nogup2 (a list of attendees can be found below that and you can see the invitation and charity details at Eventbrite). Further, if you were there and have some details I missed while I was singing “Pour Some Eggnog on Me” or digging into a massive bowl of Shepherd’s Pie, add them in the comments. Thanks! The bar staff ran out to buy eggnog at the local Trader Joe’s when they realized I was serious that 75 people were expected. Steve Garfield gave out copies of his book…………….cover on little cards to those in attendance early. (Get Seen is coming out soon and is available for pre-order on Amazon) Christine, Kelley, Josh and others sang in front of other noggers – Karaoke is DANGEROUS. The 50/50 raffle, the book donation bin and the gift cards – all done for Room to Grow – were magnificently successful. The Yankee Swap was a little less successful and was called ‘Poopy’ by one attendee. I immediately blamed the economy, the patrons in the Asgard who were not at #nogup2 and the deceptively cuddly badger – which looks really cute on Animal Planet but is really mean. Trooper Gradon Tripp who had to put up with me from noon until 10PM as he attended NomX3 at Bar10 and then kicked off the #nogup with Mike Langford and myself at 4:30 (start time wasn’t until 5:40). People put everything from Baileys to rum to Amaretto in their eggnog – and because we did this year’s Nog-up in the traditional low-key manner (no name badges and no sign-in list) it was a great way to identify who was there for noggin’. Derek Peplau won the evening’s Susan Boyle award when he belted out 99 Red Balloons in German, IN TUNE and with amazing spirit. He thanked the academy and announce that he was soon appearing on Dancing with the Stars – his other great love. Others on stage – namely me – were less able to carry a tune, follow lyrics on a screen or even remember the phrase ‘Pour some eggnog on me’. Were it not for backup singers @pistachio @ellenrossano @stales, I would have been booed off the Karaoke stage faster than @eric_andersen checks into Foursquare. Rich Sands – for turning a four-hour flight from New York to Boston into a cameo at the Nog-up. Great to see him. And also, a hearty smile to both Bob Collins and Gretchen who are now considered Nog-up vets. Shwen popped in for a moment – great to see him. There was even a Dmitri Gunn sighting, another friendly face. Finally, the holiday fairies delivered a burst of snow that made Cambridge resemble a winter wonderland for a brief moment on a chilly December eve. All-in-all, I want to thank everyone for coming and reinforcing my belief that Boston is the best social media city in the world. Happy Holidays! Attendees – or not. As I mentioned, I didn’t sign people in. But these folks signed up to attend and there were many more who showed up without signing up. Allison Frasso Keep reading! Tags: Boston, eggnog, Jeff Cutler, karaoke, nogup, nogup2, tweetup
Nov
20
2009
Bromances. Social Media’s Sordid Little Secret.Posted by Jeff Cutler™ in Column, New Media FridayIt’s not a surprise to anyone that social media professionals are supportive, intelligent and fun people. What might cause you pause is the secret bromances that flourish in this space on a regular basis.
What’s a bromance? It’s the unabashed admiration one man has for another. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve harbored one or two or five bromantic dalliances over the course of my social media career. Here’s a quick look at the who and why of my particular bromances. I’m sure you have your own – please share in the comments. Oh. If you find yourself on my list don’t be alarmed. My bromances are purely platonic and intellectual. But I wouldn’t mind if you listed me on your broamance list if you felt so inclined. Chris Brogan – On my list because he’s genuine in his dealings with every human. He’s intuitive and quick-thinking. He also has talent and charm. He also inspires me to write more. Thanks Chris. Gradon Tripp – While he might be considered by some to be a design geek who should have won the recent makeover contest on Newbury Street, he’s actually a bleeding-heart liberal who does so much for social causes regionally it makes me a little sick. But he’s also a smart, fun and dependable friend. (BTW – Tweetsgiving is coming up – SIGN UP NOW!) Aaron Strout – He wins on so many counts as a top bromance of mine. He’s a Boston transplant to Austin, TX who still remembers his friends back home. Beyond that, he remembers and even honors those of us who were just peripheral friends a year or so ago. Aaron has always been welcoming and entertaining. He’s a fabulous host who treats everyone as a friend. What a great way to be. I admire and commend that attitude. CC Chapman – Smart, driven, compassionate and insightful. I was listening to one of his podcasts before I met him and was thrilled at the way in which he connected with listeners and shared his life with us. He’s honest in his opinions and dealings and empathetic to an extreme. He’s also a Miami Dolphins fan which probably would have put him on the bromance list even if he were a complete dink.
Mike Schneider – Who is this guy? He’s someone I met within the last year. He’s a freakish human who would give the shirt off his back to ANYONE who needed it. He’s compassionate to a fault, a hard-working beer genius who also knows a bit about human nature and marketing. He’s currently spearheading our Movember efforts and rallying people to come together to fight cancer. He’s just a great guy who was unlucky enough to make my bromance list. Mike Langford – Founder of Tweetworks, the lesser-known co-host of NomX3 and a sarcastic, fun and brilliant friend. I tease him about how his two boys will grow up to have more hair and probably get more points on Foursquare. But this coffee fiend is dependable, well-spoken, generally cheerful and a pretty good drunken roommate. I’m glad I met him and that we have become friends. What’s funny to me is that none of these relationships were based on IRL experiences. They were founded and then fostered using tools like Twitter and Plurk and Seesmic and podcasting and unconferences and even an occasional tweetup and lunch. I’ve grinned the whole time while writing this because I really like the people I’m writing about and I love that there will be people who read this that are uncomfortable that a man can genuinely like another man. Grow up people. I’m not stalking these guys. I just think they epitomize what’s right with our tiny little fishbowl. Real people who offer real opinions and real support to others. If you have people like this in any part of your life, hang onto them. They’re more valuable than a simple blog post can illustrate. In this season of giving thanks, I give thanks for bromances. What about you? Keep reading! Tags: Austin, author, Boston, bromance, fashion, life, men, movember, podcast, social mediaFor years, I’ve been in charge of the marketing for a charity golf tournament. The event has raised nearly $2Million dollars in 24 years and it’s been a struggle every step of the way. It’s not that fundraising is supposed to be easy, but doing work with a bunch of people is always a challenge. What brought this to mind was a question I posed last night to Scott Berkun at an event in Boston. I wanted to know the best way to set up a collaborative presentation plan for a team of presenters. To be clearer, I am the point person on the social media training modules for a national journalism organization. I get to create the slide deck and the presentation based on my decade using social media. Then, when the modules are approved, I’ll be the main trainer for newsrooms all across the country. If a paper in Hawaii needs me, I’ll suck it up and go train them. If a TV station in Bangor, ME needs me, I’ll hop in the car and jet into the backwoods. But there will be times when demand outpaces supply and other professionals will have to give my presentation. In effect, they’ll have to train people using a module that has been tailored to my style of speaking, my teaching methods and my background. Berkun cringed when I outlined the scenario and offered some ways to mitigate the possibility of disaster. He said if I were flexible enough to allow other presenters to use their own experiences, substitute some of their own slides, and modify the modules to their teaching styles, we’d all be winners. What I’d like to know is if you’re currently doing something that requires teamwork and collaboration, and how you’re managing the outcomes. Communication is one of life’s biggest challenges for many people, so let me know how you’ve tackled that challenge and won. Put your comments right here on this post. Thanks! Keep reading! Tags: collaboration, Jeff Cutler, public speaking, scott berkun, social media, SPJ
Oct
15
2009
Perspective. When reality isn’t that real.Posted by Jeff Cutler™ in Column, New Media FridayYou hear it almost daily, the urging by others to ‘keep it real’. But what’s that saying mean? Is there some other way to be? Unfortunately, yes. In an age where there’s immediacy in all our communications and something we share can instantly be viewed and archived by others, there’s a reason to be more deliberate in our words and actions. It’s simple to offend people just by saying the wrong thing or by typing an innocuous email or sharing a context-free photo. But are these offenses or simple missteps? Back when you wrote a letter or a postcard, or had phones that seldom dropped calls or inserted static at inopportune times, you didn’t have the same misunderstandings.
So, do we blame the lack of perspective and the prevailing hurt feelings on technology? Or is it the result of an ever-increasing pace of life. Or further, is it just softer skins on people who don’t know how to communicate IRL so their social media and online relationships also lack perspective? I’ve asked a lot of questions here because I’m curious about the drivers of human behavior. Confused? Am I being too obtuse? Then let’s use a hypothetical… Bob and Sharon are joking around on the beach. Sharon sees Bob walking past the women’s changing rooms and takes a picture with her phone. Then she adds it to Twitter and shares it with the world – or her 2000 followers – with the caption, “Bob commits a foul by using the girls’ room to change.”
Clearly to Sharon it’s a joke. Clearly to anyone standing there, it’s a joke. But Bob goes off the deep end when he find out that Sharon did this horrible thing to his good name. He worries that all of Sharon’s followers and essentially the whole world now believe he would do something as heinous as use the ladies room. What’s your take? A. Should Bob pledge to make Sharon’s life miserable every chance he gets because she had fun at Bob’s expense? In a single Tweet? On a single day? Where maybe 10% of Sharon’s followers might see it? Where only the folks following both Bob and Sharon would see the joke? B. Should Bob let it go and chalk up the experience to Sharon not fully understanding how sensitive Bob was about his image? C. Should both Bob and Sharon go to remedial social media school to learn how to communicate using the tools of today? D. Should the event have warranted even these 79 words I’ve used to describe them? THAT’s what I’m talking about when I wonder if people are being too focused on the way they’re perceived and not focused enough on just being good people. There are situations like this going on every day and I’ve got one word for the people who are taking themselves so seriously. Seriously? Have you run into someone who thinks they’re a bigger deal than they are; or who clearly doesn’t understand how to communicate? Please share those experiences in the comments. And if you’re out and about tomorrow in Boston and looking for something to do, put this on your tweetup calendar…see Gary Vaynerchuk, Mike Langford, Thomas Edwards and me at the Estate. We’re Wining Dining and Signing. Tickets are still available. Keep reading! Tags: Boston, communication, gary vaynerchuk, Jeff Cutler, social media, tweetup, twitterThe other day I had one of my car tires slashed. The car was right in front of the house and I was astonished that someone had been so bold. So guess what I’m doing now. That’s right, I’m shopping for infrared cameras. First I’m looking at edealinfo.com, and then after I’ll take a gander at the tech stores in NYC. What would you do if you were violated at home…or at least had your stuff wrecked by people or persons unknown? More details on my shopping and protection experience later. Keep reading! Tags: annoyed, online shopping, slashed, technology, tires
Oct
03
2009
Scarcity of Signal. A Wifi-free journee.Posted by Jeff Cutler™ in Column, Main, New Media FridayHave you been overseas…or do you live overseas? And by overseas I mean not in the United States or Canada. If you fall into one of these two camps, you have lived the rogaine-worthy hair pulling I’ve experienced over the last two weeks. There’s precious little unprotected Wifi in Europe. Contrary to what I’ve heard numerous times on podcasts like Buzz Out Loud and read in Wired Magazine, other countries might be ahead of us in Wifi availability…BUT THEY LOCK IT ALL DOWN. Whereas you can drive into the parking lot of any condo complex or apartment building in the United States and feast on strong, unprotected signal, that’s not the case overseas. Why does this matter? Shouldn’t the signal someone is paying for be locked down? Am I really whining about this? 1 – Beacause if Wifi is difficult to access, people won’t use it. 2 – Yes, if I’m paying for the gas in my car or the rent on my house, I’d rather not have vagrants and interlopers using my stuff. 3 – Yes, because I put on the interloper hat on my trip overseas and planned poorly when it came to securing Internet access. What do you do? Do you lock down your modem with a crazy, unbreakable code or leave the default password of admin, password or 9876543210 on the device? Do you think signals should be shared because Comcast and others engage in packet shaping and other methods that fail to give us the bandwidth and speeds we are paying for? Or do you not care because you spend a limited amount of time online and think worrying about stuff like this could lead to an ulcer? Maybe you’ve got another perspective. I’d love to hear it. Tell me about times you’ve been away from home and had to find Wifi to stay in touch. As Chris Brogan said in a recent post about the abstraction of our shared conversations on the Web…
I wonder where we’ll all going to end up if we can’t even go beyond our front door without the challenge of finding a path online. I strive to be part of the conversations around me – it’s sometimes telling that the way to be part of that discussion is to remain connected online. Keep reading! Tags: BOL, Brogan, europe, frustration, internet, wifi, Wired |
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