Conversationblog

Yesterday I arrived in Iceland for the summit of the International Association of Online Communicators.

For the next 2 days we'll be discussing several topics and papers on online communications with people from different countries and backgrounds. You can see the full program here.

If you wish to follow the conference you can do so on the IAOC blog - I just installed the CoveritLive code and you'll be able to interact with us while the conference is live.

It is great to meet up again with my colleagues from the IAOC again and I am sure we'll discuss the set up of the European chapter is the next 2 days.

I am not the only Belgian here; Luc Van Braekel, our most influential Flemish blogger, is also here and it is nice to finally meet him face to face.

Reykjavik is a great city; small, calm, nice people, by the sea and with amazing views on the Icelandic countryside.

I think I'll come back one day and visit the interior. Luc (who has been here since last week end) tells me that the country has a lot to offer to people who love nature.

I will be posting picture on a regular basis on Flickr as well. Enjoy the conference and please do interact through the CoveritLive interface if you see a chance.

I am currently testing out Scribefire, an add on for the Firefox browser which allows you to write a blogpost while surfing and without leaving your browser window.

This blogpost has been written from "within" the browser and while I have several tabs (webpages) open. Am curious how it will look but the features of Scribefire look great.

For instance, I can insert a Youtube clip right from the interface.



Euroblog 2008 - Day One (13.03.2008)

Or a Flickr Image:




Attentio Graphic.

I'll test it further but it sure looks good.... Helps to be able to blog a story while surfing the web.

What are you using to blog ?
Technorati Tags: scribefire, blogpost, tool, youtube, flickr, blogging, Firefox, add on

Those of you who followed my training sessions on RSS learned already that your online content can travel in different formats via different media (mobile phone, email, SMS etc…).

Today I managed to create a web widget (small online sometimes viral application) and turn it into a real Facebook Application in just 20 minutes. All this based on… indeed, the RSS feed of Blackline.

You can find the widget here and the Facebook Application here.

By doing so I did 2 things:

1. I made my latest blog content portable so that anyone who wished to do so can take my little widget and republish my content on their own website. The content will be updated automatically by RSS, always showing my latest articles.

2. I adapted this little application to the Facebook platform (more than 64 million users) so that anyone who wishes to do so can add my content to their profile page.

Will people do this…? Well, in my case probably only my hardest fans (there are some 76 people who read my blog on their mobile phone, proving that I do have fans !) but imagine you’re working for a gaming company, a B2C retailer, a trend setter like Apple…

It is all about repackaging your content and make it available on as much platforms as possible…

And to close the loop - one of the best ways to do this online is via RSS feeds.

Although I could agree on "most agencies don't get social media" it is not even me saying this but a recent survey by TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony.

The survey, based on 60 responses from marketeers in the US, UK and in France had one clear message: agencies - be it PR, Marketing or Creative/Design agencies - do not understand social media and tend to treat them like any other medium.

One critique that came back from in house marketeers was that agencies themselves have no real hands on experience with these new tools and apply the same communications model they are used to apply.

Here's my take on this, based on my own experience as a freelance consultant/trainer:

• Agencies have been my very first clients; my first training session about social media was with a "traditional" PR agency eager to understand what social media could mean to their business. So do they "get it"...? Well, I think they all know that blogs, RSS feeds etc.. are influencing their profession and are on the agenda of their clients. But that doesn't mean they are all experienced in using social media.
• Each year I track which PR agencies (based in Belgium) have RSS feeds on their websites. I do believe that this is one of the signs that show if you "get" social media or not, as RSS is the basis of good content syndication and information management. Guess what... agencies are very, very slow to get with the RSS game and only 8 out of more than 20 agencies use feeds to promote their content.

So what's the problem...?

It is the model... or rather the fact that the communications model we all learned in PR, Communications, Marketing school doesn't apply to social media at all. It is not about the "sender" and the "receiver" as it used to be.

When using social media we are entering an ecosystem where feedback, two way communications and transparency rule, and most of us are simply not used to this. Many of my colleagues in agency are used to the command and control model and feel very uncomfortable engaging the public online, for all to see and react.

But to be fair - several of my corporate clients feel exactly the same way and need as much information, awareness training and hands on experience before using social media than my agency colleagues. In short, we all have a very long way to go.

Here's a great article about the use of web2.0 tools and services in the US elections....

...So when I heard that maverick congressmember Ron Paul was entering the fray, I got a little excited. And I wasn't alone. The Texas Republican has become the Web's favorite dark horse, harnessing the power of the Internet to turn his long-shot candidacy into a [From One Candidate Mastered Online Campaigning. Too Bad It Was Ron Paul]...

In short.... it is - and will always be - about the content...

Some people are more "visual" than others - concept thinkers, instead of analytical thinkers - and the web has found a nice little solution for those among us who like images...

WebSlides let's you create a slideshow from any RSS feed and place this slideshow on your website/blog in the form of a widget....

Below the result for the RSS feed of Blacklineblog.com, my other blog.

With a new "war for talent" going on in the marketplace companies are looking for - what they call - "innovative" approaches to discover, attract and recruit employees. One of those tools is blogging.

It seems that "a blog to recruit" makes much more sense, or is easier understood by companies than he whole "social media for the enterprise" concept. I do understand why; recruitment is at the core of most organizations today, has a high priority and is very practical with a clear ROI.

Being a former headhunter (don't ask...), I can say that a blog is definitely a very good tool to complete the HR/hiring arsenal.

My first encounter with an Executive Recruiter who blogged was in France and Jacques Froissant from Altaïde is still posting at a very regular pace. Some topics he covers are:

• news from the industries he recruits for - demonstrating he understands the business environment of his clients.
• the latest positions he's looking to fill - obvious promotion.
• human resources news for Managers - showing he follows the latest trends that impact his potential applicants.

Even government organizations like our own VDAB (Flemish service for employment) are using blogposts as a recruitment tool by having job seekers and people who already have a job blog about their experiences.

The set up is very well done; bloggers are allowed to blog during one month and tell their story; how did they find that job, was it difficult, who helped them etc...

Except... the blogposts you can read on the VDAB Joblog are "reviewed" before they are posted. Although they are based on real blogposts by job seekers they have been re-written to a certain standard the VDAB editorial team handles...

Even if this is explained and made public (in Flemish) on their blog page, it still gives me a feeling of "corporate control". Why not publish the articles as such ? Are all job seekers bad writers..? Authenticity is better than mediocre writing no ?

What do you think ? Should blogposts always be posted as such (authentic) or can they be rewritten for the sake of editorial quality ? Fill in the poll and let us know.

Dear reader...

Time has come for me to take on a new adventure.

After 8 fantastic years with IBM I have taken on the opportunity to create a new social media agency together with Leads United, a leading Belgian PR agency.

Today we announced Blackline, a social media consulting agency which will apply blogs, wikis, RSS, podcasting etc... to internal, external and crisis communications. We will also offer training and education sessions on a regular basis and will do both strategic and tactical work.

You can find all the details of this new adventure on - what else - the Blacklineblog.

I wanted to thank you, my readers for the support, the interest and the comments during all these year. In some way you have helped me to take this direction.

Now this doesn't mean this blog will stop. I will continue to blog here as well as on the Blacklineblog and will sometimes simply cross post...

Technorati : agency, blackline, blog, leads united, new media, podcast, public relations, rss, social media, videocast, wiki

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Euroblog, the conference which focuses on (the only) scientific research on blogging, social media and communications in Europe will take place in Brussels on March 13/14/15, 2008.

I was there last year and did a short interview about the findings with the researchers then. If you are even remotely interested in the impact of social media on the communications profession you have to attend.

Here's the Facebook event page and here the call for papers. Please join in and submit your findings, case studies and survey results.

Apart from that, it will take place in Brussels (my favorite city - see Serge's clip), the center of Burgundian life and good food and drinks... and, I am hosting a pre-conference dinner/drink if there's enough interest ! Don't tell me you need more incentives... ;-)

Let me know if you're interested to join me for a relaxed dinner & drinks and I'll set something up.

Technorati : blogging, brussels, euprera, euroblog, research, social media

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Another great clip from Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the Kansas State University who brought us "The Machine is Us/ing us" months ago. (Via Techcrunch.)

Technorati : internet r/evolution, michael wesch, techcrunch, the machine is us/ing us, web2.0, youtube

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