Big Numbers - The video from Ignite Phoenix #4

If you missed the event or didn't get the full picture from the Sideshare presentation, I'm delighted to say that the video of my talk on Big Numbers from Ignite Phoenix #4 is online!



Ignite Phoenix continues to be the very best event in the Valley. And I'm not making that up. It. Is. The. Best. If you don't have one in your community, start one.

I was a lot happier with my presentation this time than last. Why? Because this time, I pushed my arrogance aside (try and picture that) and actually rehearsed. I was prepped. I knew the material. I know what I was going to say and when I was going to say it. I could do the whole 5 minutes without the slides. Yet I left enough breathing room for the crowed to react. And they did, in all the right spots.

Could I improve? Sure. I need to stop moving around so much. Maybe I should only move during the transition. Or maybe it's fine. But if I'm going to do more talks professionally -- no, I wasn't paid to speak at Ignite Phoenix -- then I need to get my body motion as prepped as my ability to nail the slides and the words. Not that I'm not happy. I'm friggin' thrilled with how I did!

Wanna do this? Go ahead. Ignite Phoenix is taking submissions for their 5th event coming up in November. And yes, you know I'm submitting again. What? Not sure... I have time.

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Ignite Phoenix - Big Numbers dry run

I had a fabulous idea recently. Since timing and rehearsal are more important at Ignite Phoenix than other presentations (your 20 slides auto-rotate every 15 seconds without any input from you), I thought I'd do my night-before run in front of the microphone.

And thanks again to the magic o SlideCast by SlideShare, here is the dry-run of my Ignite Phoenix presentation, Big Numbers.

Big Numbers - Ignite Phoenix

View more Microsoft Word documents from Evo Terra.

The actual video of the event will be posted in the coming days. I'm really hoping that turned out well, and that it captured the audiences reaction to my presentation. Which went really, really well. More on that when I can see the video and get it posted.

Oh, and if you live in the Phoenix metro area and are inspired by what you see here, submissions for Ignite Phoenix #5 are open. And yes, I'll be submitting again. How can I not!

Mixing it up at Social Media Club Phoenix

Image by chuck-reynolds via Flickr

I've had a love/like relationship with SMC Phoenix for the last year. On one hand, I love the idea of getting social media enthusiasts together for the purpose of discussing social media. There are plenty of informal gatherings (e.g. #evfn, Gangplank, various Tweetups ...) happening all over the valley all the time. But those are more social gatherings that use social media rather than social media gatherings. The difference is subtle, but there.

In my experience, SMC aimed to do just that, but meetings all too quickly devolved into just another social gathering. A gathering of "usual suspects" who -- without actively trying -- created a nearly impenetrable wall for anyone who was new to the group. I blame no one for this. And I fully recognize that this may be my own misperception of reality. So there's no need to fill the comments with a bunch of "I disagree, Evo" statements.

Because this post is about the future. An unsure future, but a testable future.

Tonight, SMC Phoenix is trying a new direction. It may not be the direction from now on. Hence my use of the word testable. Current-coordinator Jeff Moriarty is tweaking the format and clarifying the scope. Enough to entice me back tonight for what I hope will be the first of many happy returns.

So if you've not been to SMC for a while, give it another shot. And if you're sitting on the sidelines wondering if it's for you, now is a great time to try. I hope to see you there.

Social Media Club Phoenix
Meets the 2nd Thursday of each month
from 6:30p - 8:00p
at Jobing.com headquarters (not the Arena)
4747 N. 22nd Street (between Indian School and Camelback)
Phoenix, Arizona

Trying not to get punched in the face

Hugh MacLeod is very smart. I don't know the man in any way other than reading his blog or looking at his back-of-business-card art, but the smarts shine through.

Today, in this photo, he's accurately represented how I've been feeling for some time now:



And in a strange twist of fate, I'm once again getting more involved in the evil world of marketing and advertising. Hopefully, with less face-punching. More on that in a future post.

If you like Hugh's art, you'll soon be able to get it and more. That one is part of the IGNORE EVERYBODY: Cube Grenades series. Going on sale soon.

Balticon 2009 schedule for Evo Terra

Image by evo_terra via Flickr

I'm off to Balticon again this year. I was thrilled to be one of the Guests of Honor two years ago and had an amazing time. This year, some other hack was named GOH, but Sheila Dee and I decided we'd make the cross-country trek to hang out with some of our fun new media friends.

Here's what slave-driver and organizer Paul Fischer has me doing:

• Five Reasons Your New Media Project Sucks - Fri@ 5pm
  Sheila Dee and I will try and not piss off everyone. Guess my 5 Sucky Things presentations are growing!
  
• Evo @ 11 Live! - Fri @ 11pm
  P.G. will be pulling double-duty, giving his recap and playing the role of Debbie. Bill DeSmedt will be our guest. Phil Rossi has been banned.
  
• Live: Escape Pod - Sat @ 10am
  Sheila and I in stereo as the farm in Rogue Farm by Charles Stross. That should be a hoot.
  
• Writing for Blogs - Sat @ 5pm
  I blog. Therefore, I qualify.
  
• Podiobooks: A Novel Way To Listen - Sun @ 5pm
  Exposing new listeners to the serialized audiobook format. You'd be surprised how many don't know about it.
  
• Creating a Serialized Audiobook - Mon @ 11am
  For authors who want to play in this new media field.
  
• New Media Triage - Mon @ 12 noon
  I'll be triageing (is that a verb) known curmudgeon Dave Slusher. Gonna be tough and fun!

Balticon is a SF/F convention with a great new media track. It takes place on Memorial Day weekend, May 22-25 2009 at Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn in Baltimore, MD. If you're in the area, you'll wanna come by. Seriously. 'Tis fun!

I'm excited about all of these!

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A Twitter plea that kills me

Image via CrunchBase

Twitter is a great communications tool. I manage several different accounts, but focus most of my attention on @evo_terra and @Podiobooks.com. The first is me, in all my glory. Those that follow there know that it's often times not safe for work. But that's the real me, and I'm not at work all the time.

The second is also me, but me as the guy running the day-to-day operations of Podiobooks.com, a site that gives away free audiobooks in serialized form. It's all about the site, new books, existing books, authors, etc....

And as much as it kills me to say this, I need your help.

You see, I've noticed that people like to talk -- a lot -- about audiobooks on Twitter. Especially, they like to talk to others about what they are listening to, what they like and what they don't like. I've been using my Podiobooks.com twitter account to do two things:

1. Follow the real people who follow @Podiobooks.com. No, I don't auto-follow. I look at each and every new follower notice and add based on what I see. I don't add those who've only added for the express purpose of inflating their follower count. That's a very douche-y action. Which is part of why this plea kills me.
   
2. Those who talk about Podiobooks.com or free audiobooks. I facilitate this by monitoring the Twitter stream and picking up on conversations here and there. I figure that an innocuous follow notice is much better than me saying "Check us out for free audiobooks" every time someone asks where they can be found. Think of it as my commitment to de-cluttering the Twittersphere.

And that brings me to my problem. Twitter limits your ability follow more than 2,000 people. That limit is removed when your followers also pass 2,000. In principal, I agree with why they've done this. But in practice, it's causing me pain. As of this posting, the @Podiobooks.com account only has 1,625 followers. And I have dozens of new follower requests every day by real people I'd like to follow back. But I can't. Not until I break 2,000.

So here's the plea: Follow @Podiobooks.com on Twitter? You have no idea how it pains me to ask that.

So why don't I just unfollow those not following me? Well... I don't think reciprocal follows are all that important. I follow people -- on both accounts -- for a primary reason: it allows them to DM me should they wish to. On Podiobooks.com, I get DM requests pretty often. Listeners with praise or issues, new authors looking for more info, and publishers wanting to know what it's all about. And since Twitter -- rightly so -- only allows people to DM you who you are following, that communication point is cut-off.

Well, until get ~375 more followers to that account.

Take a look at how often I tweet over there. It's rarely more than 2 - 3 tweets per day. Very low volume. So it shouldn't impact your existing stream all that much.

I need to go shower now. I feel dirty after this. :(

Re-emerging at RE BarCamp Phoenix 2009

Hi. Did you miss me? Sorry for the hiatus. No major changes. No shifts in priorities. I'm still here.

This coming Thursday, I'm going to spend the day with a pile of Real Estate agents. No, I'm not in real estate. Quite the opposite, as I've been tweeting about recently. But I have found that the Phoenix RE community is hugely ahead of the curve when it comes to adopting digital, social and new media. And since I'm again going to be speaking at the NAR National Conference, I need to keep up with these people.

Thursday is RE BarCamp Phoenix 2009. It's an unconference in that the sessions and topics are generated the day-of by the people attending the free event. Oh goody, you're saying. A chance for real estate agents to get up and try and sell you on why they should sell -- or sell you -- your next house. No, not really. Here's a preview of the planned topics:

• Twitter
  
• Drowning in Useless Metrics
  
• Screw SEO, it’s all about YEO (You Engaging Others)
  
• Blogging 101
  
• Online Niche Marketing
  
• Web 2.0 Doesn’t Count Unless You Follow-Up

And you know who's leading this discussions? Real estate agents. Not a bunch of techno-savvy web-workers who have nothing better to do with their time on Thursday. These are working real estate agents who've grabbed the idea of digital media by the throat and made it work for them.

I love it. I plan on learning a lot that day. Want to join me? RE BarCamp Phoenix 2009 happens this Thursday, April 23, 2009 at Scottsdale Stadium from 8:30 - 4:30. And it's free. You should come. If for no other reason that to see how one industry -- real estate -- is utilizing social media: the right way.