One of the reasons we've been interested in Web 2.0 (and beyond) social networking is because we're looking at creating and sustaining a virtual community of people interested in or participating with the International Polar Year or IPY, which runs through at least March 2009 and focuses on scientific studies of melting ice and snow, the situation facing millions of people living in the Arctic, the role of carbon in the climate system, and how polar science has g… Continue

I talked with a group of sr. business executives yesterday -- COOs, CIOs, some marketing execs. All are interested in how community can help them engage with customers. All are stuck on one big obstacle: how to let go of the pervasive command-and-control mind set.

It was amazing to hear just how big an issue" control" is for people, especially legal and PR. The legal people throw up a bazillion reasons why blogs are bad. the PR people are trying to hold on to controlling the message. Ev… Continue

"What's that?" you ask.

"Why it's a resophonic guitar." says I. "Nifty, eh?"

"Why did you screw that hubcap to the top of it?"

And that pretty much sums up the beginning of the conversation. I started playing - or at least trying to play - about 5 years ago… Continue

I'm in the lovely city of San Francisco for O'Relly's Web 2.0 Expo, and I'll be capturing highlights. First impressions:

• 10,000 attendees!
• getting a badge this morning was a mobfest
• Stowe Boyd knows his stuff

Notable points from Stowe's talk, "Building Social Apps":

• "It was blogging what done this to me."
• Social tools are software intended to shape culture
• "The Web is a new third space, and humanity's only real hope."
…

Continue

"What was the book about, Daddy?" I put down Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing, looked at my young son's big, expectant brown eyes, and realized I needed to think quick. "Well," I said, "you want to run a lemonade stand, right?" He nodded. "To sell lots of lemonade, you have to talk to people first… Continue