Playing around with Tint!

I found a new social application, Tint, that lets you integrate your various social streams into one layout. I think it's great. Here is how it looks with my Pinterest and Instagram streams. (I'm much more active on Pinterest these days, but came back to Instagram when they added video.)

twitter for website

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SFNetSquared Recap: Craig Newmark Talks About Technology for the Common Good

I just wanted to share a link to the post I just did for SFNetSquared.

I'm a new co-organizer of this Meetup.com group.  The event I planned with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and craigconnects, happened this past Tuesday.

Here is an informal recap of the event: SFNetSquared Recap: Craig Newmark Talks About Technology for the Common Good.

Enjoy and feel free to join the SFNetSquared group if you're interested in the intersection of technology and social change.

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Social Media 101 - A class for beginners (don't be a Weiner)

Next week I'm teaching a class called "Social Media 101 - A class for beginners (don't be a Weiner)."

(Yes, it's a silly title.  I was feeling playful when I was planning the class. Also, I realized I could do it now or not do it at all as the joke would be passé by the time I taught the class and, ta da, I was right.)

The class will be on June 29th from 7pm to 8:30pm at Hive @ 55 in Manhattan.

It's a class that is specifically for people who are new to the social web or who have a little experience but want to learn more.  Here is the class description:

This course will cover the basics of the social web. You'll learn about the big 4 social media sites: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. You'll learn the best ways to navigate these sites. You'll also learn what to watch out for regarding security and privacy.

The goal is for everyone to leave the class with a Twitter account. You'll follow a few people and send your first tweet. If we have time, we'll also send retweets and a direct message; even if you don't send them all during this class, you'll leave knowing what those terms mean. The price includes handouts.

This class is for people who simply haven't taken the plunge and want to know the basics of the social media landscape before diving in. What's required? Please bring a laptop or tablet (iPad or Android tablet) and be ready to learn. This class is a beginner level course. If you're already doing your thing on the big 4 social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube), this is going to be boring to you.

The plan is I'll talk for about 30 to 40 minutes but the rest of the we'll work on getting you a real Twitter account, so you can jump in.  Honestly, even though the concept is basic, I find that people learn best when they're in it.

I'm really excited because I do miss teaching. I've had a chance to do a handful of presentations on the social web and have gotten great feedback.

If you're in the NYC area and would like to take it, you can sign up here: http://skl.sh/mJPpmE

Also, if you know someone in the NYC area who you think would be interested, I would love it if you shared it with them.

Thanks and have a great weekend!

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Social Media is NOT Magic

I might as well start cross posting. :)  I fired up a blog on what I do on Word Press over a year ago.  However, what I realized fast was it was more important to hustle and network to get clients than anything else.  I've fired it back up and here a post that I added yesterday.  I've turned comments off here, but you're welcome to leave me a note there.

---

Photo courtesy of Hryck on Flickr

I've just found a lot of people who seem to think that social media is some mysterious and magical thing. That sentiment has inspired me to fire this blog back up.

As someone who works in this very fun field, I get that a lot. I get this will current clients. I get this with possible clients. I also just see it a lot in passing.

The social web is not magic. It's something that humans have done forever: communicate. I just HATE seeing requests like this:

I am seeking someone who is an expert at this who can take my (whatever it is but redacted because this is a quote) and work your magic.

Look. It's NOT magic, and, honestly, as much as I love the thought-leaders in this space, we're all learning as we go. I'm not going to call any of them experts. This is all new and even the people who have expertise are learning and adapting to new tools and resources that are constantly being launched.

It takes knowledge of the tools. It takes knowing how to use them. It takes strategy. It takes trying, measuring, and adjusting, as needed. It takes reading case studies. It takes reading on what people are doing. I'll also admit it takes sharing what you're doing (and, yes, I've been neglecting that; building a business is HARD.)

However, most important is that a successful social media strategy takes also having GREAT products and/or GREAT content that helps people solve their problems or engages people on an emotional level.

(*Also, before someone wanders in to say people are just using "magic" and similar terms as a figure of speech or play on words and they understand that it takes knowledge and strategy, I'll agree that maybe that's the case, for some. However, a lot of people do seem to then there is some mysterious alchemy going on, and that's not true.)

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OMG! BLACK PEOPLE!

It looks like Twitter's current trending topics have some people on the alert and a bit apprehensive.

Check out this tweet. What's ridiculous is Foolish Julie here isn't alone by any stretch. It shows a complete disconnect with how Michael's death has impacted the black community. I don't watch the BET Awards and only did so because they said it was going to be a MJ tribute. Therefore, guess what? There was a huge number of people watching the show and and we talked about it as it happened.

But riddle me this? Even without that, why is it even an issue that black topics trend on the night of a major black awards show? I guess black folks aren't supposed to actually use the Internet.

Sorry, I have to just say it. These people are just stupid.

The USA is now post-racial? Yeah, okay.

via omgblackpeople.tumblr.com

Are they serious?

Well, thank goodness for screen shots and blogs. Because, yes, morons there are black people on Twitter.

Say it isn't so!!!

Posted via web from Regina's posterous

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Social Media Camp - Internet Week NY

I just love social media and Web 2.0.

When compared to the average person, I know a lot about it too. However, you can always learn more. When I heard about Internet Week NY, I knew I wouldn't be able to attend all of the events. Also, I didn't get tapped as one of Pepsico's IW crew, so I was on my own. There were a lot of events. But, when I heard about the Social Media Camp, I knew I had to make it to that one. It was a day full of learning, networking and socializing. For me, that always sounds like a lovely day and it was!

I really want to thank the Social Media Club folks for having such a great event: Howard Greenstein, Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells. In addition, without the sponsors and host hotel, the Roger Smith Hotel, none of this would have happened.

I registered as a volunteer. That got me in for free, but it was only $25 to register. For an all day event with multiple workshops on social media, that's a steal. Consultants on these topics charge a lot. Early Thursday morning I made the commute by train and bus from Philadelphia to NYC. I was in a rush to make sure I got on the first train into Philly because I was on the 6:30am bus to Manhattan. As a result, I forgot to slap some gauze on the wound that's doing its thing on my forehead. Instead, when I got to NYC, I picked up a box of antibacterial band-aids with the gaudiest big blue bandage ever. I figured a day hanging out with strangers was probably the best day to experiment. It was either a bandage or the carnage of a healing wound.

Here is the list from yesterday's camp:

• Social Media 101 (10:15am) - Winthrop
• Government Blogging and Twitter Advocacy (10:15am) - Starlight 1
• Crafting a Social Media Press Release (10:15am) - Screening Room
• Creating Digital identity (11:15am) - Winthrop
• Wordpress as a Social Media Platform and how to develop content using Social Media (11:15am) - Starlight 1
• Power of suggestion on Twitter (11:15am) - Screening Room
• Lunch
• Social Media tools (1:00pm) - Winthrop
• Basics of Strategy in Social Media Marketing for Business (1:00pm) - Starlight 1
• I’m here, Now + Location based services (1:00pm) - Starlight 2
• Increasing Visibility through Social Media + SEO - Benefits of search (1:00pm) - Screening Room
• Social Media for job searches (2:00pm) - Winthrop
• Maximizing Social Media for e-commerce (2:00pm) - Starlight 1
• Differences and similarities between Facebook and Twitter (2:00pm) - Starlight 2
• Measurability (2:00pm) - Screening Room
• Marketing through Social Media (3:00pm) - Winthrop
• Integrating Social Media Marketing in your Marketing Plan + Kicking off & Increasing visibility for new Internet biz (3:00pm) - Starlight 1
• How to run a business (3:00pm) - Starlight 2
• Open (3:00pm) - Screening Room
• Open Discussion (4:00pm) - Starlight 1
• HTML Primer (4:00pm) - Starlight 2
• The science of ReTweets on Twitter (4:00pm) - Screening Room

There were some things I knew. I know the basics, for sure, so I skipped basic info sessions and focused on marketing and PR.

Since I'm looking for work, I also went to the session about how to use social media in a job hunt. The last session was really interesting. The topic was retweets on Twitter. Dan Zarrella from Hubspot crunched some numbers that gave a bit of insight on how people are behaving on Twitter.

He had an equation that measured something. I plugged in the numbers and my number was 8.01. (I still don't know the significance of that, but I know it's 8.01!) Anyway, if you don't know what a retweet is, basically, it's when someone takes the tweet you sent out and sends it out again. The abbreviation is "RT", and it's all over Twitter.

Here is video from the end of the event. Yes, that's me in the session, note the gaudy blue bandage on my face. As they say, what happens in Vegas stays on the Internet! That's also true for just about everywhere else too ;)



More links:

• The Livestream
• Social Media Club
• Internet Week NY
• A funny but also very accurate take on the vibe at the Social Media Camp
• You can find the Twitter discussion by searching with the event's hashtag #smcamp. Just click, I've already done it for you: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23smcamp
  

#smcamp #internetweek #iwny

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