BrandToBeDetermined

Enabling Conversation through Blog Bars

An Interesting post over at TrendCentral on "Blog Bars". Banks of computers set up conveniently so if someone wants to talk about your brand, they can easily do so immediately. From the site:

Blogging on location

As a way to create a more engaging, interactive and creative way for consumers to experience brands, stores and events, expect to see more “blog bars” (computer terminals which give the public the ability to post in real time and on location) to pop up in such settings. Consumers will have the opportunity to post fresh thoughts and reactions, pose questions, and receive immediate response.

This isn't so different from the online concept of "badging" - having handy HTML that a blogger can copy to make it easier for them to talk about you. And it is a great idea.

Gene McCubbin is blogging (no really)

Gene, who I know both professionally and personally and mostly as a sometimes competitor, is blogging. There have been fits and starts before, but this looks legit. Welcome Gene!

Thanks Typepad for the Featured Blog Post!

  Typepad Featured Blog 9/19/07 
  Originally uploaded by eschipul

A definite giant THANKS to typepad for featuring this blog on September 19, 2007. Oh yes, I will definitely continue to recomment typepad to clients like the Houston Zoo as well. Thanks!

And of course I had to mention the feature to a few friends

Awkward Blog Moments in Bed

Just ran across this post:

11 Mistakes Your Blog Makes In Bed

Congrats to Happy Katie for being all AP Story Ish

Congrats to Happy Katie for being all AP Story Ish! Wow!

This Quote Alone Makes Twitter Worth It

“How hilarious would it be if Vin Diesel were Secretary of Defense?”

    - http://twitter.com/glenda

Proposed Rules to Live By - Sagan

All of the dust is still in the air. I made my opinion known. One comment link pointed me to this article (sorry, lost the source?) below that explores our options on how to respond to the actions of others.

The Rules of the Game (Carl Sagan)
... from the article

TABLE OF PROPOSED RULES TO LIVE BY  

The Golden Rule	Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
The Silver Rule	Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you.
The Brazen Rule	Do unto others as they do unto you.
The Iron Rule	Do unto others as you like, before they do it unto you.
The Tit-for-Tat Rule	Cooperate with others first, then do unto them as they do untoyou.

Well, that about sums it up.

 

Creating Passionate Users Guru Cancels Due to Attacks

Kathy Sierra, a usability guru and phenomenal communicator, was forced to cancel her presentations at eTech because of threats against her personally in the blogosphere.

First and foremost - our thoughts and prayers are with you Kathy on a quick and just resolution.

From Kathy's blog post (please click through and read the whole thing)

Death threats against bloggers are NOT "protected speech" (why I cancelled my ETech presentations)

As I type this, I am supposed to be in San Diego, delivering a workshop at the ETech conference. But I'm not. I'm at home, with the doors locked, terrified. For the last four weeks, I've been getting death threat comments on this blog. But that's not what pushed me over the edge. What finally did it was some disturbing threats of violence and sex posted on two other blogs... blogs authored and/or owned by a group that includes prominent bloggers.

These are not your normal attacks, there are actual death threats. It is one thing for someone to do a nasty blog post, it is another for a human to tip the scales to the really insane side. In this case, the attackers are certifiable. And unfortunately they are hurting Kathy. And the community.

I do not have the skills to articulate a next set of steps. And the Tech community rallying trying to find Jim Gray was not successful. Hopefully this time with log files and research, we will be able to nail the bastards with criminal charges. Some things are definitely not free speech. And this is one of those times.

Now lets see if those blogs, most of which are now shut down, cooperate turning over their log files. Please may common sense rule the day.

I am at eTech as I type this so I'll update if I hear anything. This is beyond crisis comm, this is criminal activity that must be stopped.

Blogging Tutorial Recommendation - TokyoShoes

Someone I recently met recommended this blogging tutorial on Tokyo Shoes. Pretty cool! Thanks Pamela!

Race, Blogging and Issues Facing the Black Community Research Links

Natalie J of KCOH has me scheduled for an interview tomorrow. It should air tomorrow night. Interviews stress me out. Public speaking? No problem. Interviews you really are completely in the hands of the interviewer and as somewhat of a detailed person I like to be prepared. I have opinions and have no problem sharing them, but opinions with facts behind them are always better.

So, to get ready for the interview on the oldest black radio station in Texas(I am a white) I have been researching work I studied while a Political Science student at Texas A&M years ago. Think 1980s. It's been almost 20 years. So I have no clue.

I do recall perhaps the most controversial book in one of our classes read was The Myth of Racist Criminal Justice System. Numerous tenured professors argued the exact opposite. This led me to look for some recent statistics on race and crime in the USA.