Leading Questions

Coming May 1 - Age of Conversation 3

The Conversation Continues

The third edition of The Age of Conversation is to be published in the next couple weeks.

 Each of these volumes of short, one-page essays is a treasure trove of information, insight and inspiration.

The proceeds from the sale of this volume go to the Make a Wish Foundation.

My contribution is Your Network is Your Brand.

UPDATE: Here are the sections topics.

At the Coalface

There is much to be said for good strategy, but what happens when the strategy is done? What happens when the time for talking is over? This section is about working at the coalface of social media. It’s about the real world lessons that come hard and fast. It’s about case studies and the stories and events that are much better in the re-telling than in the moment.

Conversational Branding

When we talk of brands, we generally understand what it means. But what happens when a brand ventures into online conversation. What does it mean to participate in these conversations? Is this earned media? Is it paid for? Or is there an in-between space?  How important is brand in the social media space?  How does the conversation shape or change the brand?

Influence

Much is made of influence, but what does "influence" mean in social media? Who has it, and who creates it? Does influence mean different things to different people?  Is it hype or can it make the cash register ring?  Is influence one of the new currencies?

Getting to work

They say that the best approach to social media is dive in. But getting to work with social media can be harder than it first appears. What have you done to quickly get to work?  Or perhaps this section is about how you use social media to get to work — literally.  Is it a viable tool for networking and job hunting?  Or maybe this section is about how social media is changing the face of work.  Does getting to work now mean sitting at the kitchen table in your bathrobe?

Corporate Conversations

There is plenty of coverage of social media when the focus is on marketing or advertising. But what is happening in other parts of your business? How is social media playing within your business and has it surprised you?  Or...if you’re a consultant or agency, how do you introduce social media to the C-level at your client’s business?  How do you make social media more than a fad or seem relevant to the bottom line?

Measurement

Can you measure social media? Many claim you can and many claim you can't. But if you can measure social media, should you? And how do you measure it?  And do you measure it in terms of ROI?  Or influence?  Or ability to do good?  What are the metrics that matter and how do you get to them?

In the boardroom

Is social media a fad dreamed up by the marketing department to get the attention of the executives? What are the hard questions and firm answers that get thrown around the boardroom. And who, if anyone, is best placed to answer?  What role should the C-level executives play in a company’s social media strategy?  Do they just green light it?  Should the CEO have a blog?  Or...from a non-profit’s perspective, how does the board of directors play a role in the organization’s SM activities?

Pitching social media

The work has been done and the late nights are weighing heavily on your shoulders. But it's time to buck up - to pull it all together and wow your client. What do you do to impress? Is there a new art to pitching social media? And is it important to eat your own dog food?  Or, if you’re from the PR side of the table, how are you pitching your client’s stories to social media’s influentials?  Or are you using a different tactic?

Innovation and Execution

People make great claims for social media. Is it the long dreamed of silver bullet? Can the tools and techniques be harnessed to drive innovation? How can you take an idea or a strategy and make it work for your brand or your business?  How do you move from idea to actual execution?  What task or tool has social media eliminated or replaced?  What do you predict it will eliminate in the future?

Identities, friends and trusted strangers

Many people are now living much of their lives online.  Who do you call friend?  How do you set boundaries or decide who to let into your circle of influence?  How do you know who to trust when you can’t look them in the eyes?  How do you define your own identity?  What tools, techniques and sites do you find most useful in creating your online brand?  How do offline meetings or conferences influence your online identity?

Here's a link list for all the authors. Check them out. Get to know them. Start a conversation with them. And get ready to get busy.

Adam Joseph	Priyanka Sachar	Mark Earls
Cory Coley-Christakos	Stefan Erschwendner	Paul Hebert
Jeff De Cagna	Thomas Clifford	Phil Gerbyshak
Jon Burg	Toby Bloomberg	Shambhu Neil Vineberg
Joseph Jaffe	Uwe Hook	Steve Roesler
Michael E. Rubin	anibal casso	Steve Woodruff
Steve Sponder	Becky Carroll	Tim Tyler
Chris Wilson	Beth Harte	Tinu Abayomi-Paul
Dan Schawbel	Carol Bodensteiner	Trey Pennington
David Weinfeld	Dan Sitter	Vanessa DiMauro
Ed Brenegar	David Zinger	Brett T. T. Macfarlane
Efrain Mendicuti	Deb Brown	Brian Reich
Gaurav Mishra	Dennis Deery	C.B. Whittemore
Gordon Whitehead	Heather Rast	Cam Beck
Hajj E. Flemings	Joan Endicott	Cathryn Hrudicka
Jeroen Verkroost	Karen D. Swim	Christopher Morris
Joe Pulizzi	Leah Otto	Corentin Monot
Karalee Evans	Leigh Durst	David Berkowitz
Kevin Jessop	Lesley Lambert	Duane Brown
Peter Korchnak	Mark Price	Dustin Jacobsen
Piet Wulleman	Mike Maddaloni	Ernie Mosteller
Scott Townsend	Nick Burcher	Frank Stiefler
Steve Olenski	Rich Nadworny	John Rosen
Tim Jackson	Suzanne Hull	Len Kendall
Amber Naslund	Wayne Buckhanan	Mark McGuinness
Caroline Melberg	Andy Drish	Oleksandr Skorokhod
Claire Grinton	Angela Maiers	Paul Williams
Gary Cohen	Armando Alves	Sam Ismail
Gautam Ramdurai	B.J. Smith	Tamera Kremer
Eaon Pritchard	Brendan Tripp	Adelino de Almeida
Jacob Morgan	Casey Hibbard	Andy Hunter
Julian Cole	Debra Helwig	Anjali Ramachandran
Jye Smith	Drew McLellan	Craig Wilson
Karin Hermans	Emily Reed	David Petherick
Katie Harris	Gavin Heaton	Dennis Price
Mark Levy	George Jenkins	Doug Mitchell
Mark W. Schaefer	Helge Tenno	Douglas Hanna
Marshall Sponder	James Stevens	Ian Lurie
Ryan Hanser	Jenny Meade	Jeff Larche
Sacha Tueni and Katherine Maher	David Svet	Jessica Hagy
Simon Payn	Joanne Austin-Olsen	Mark Avnet
Stanley Johnson	Marilyn Pratt	Mark Hancock
Steve Kellogg	Michelle Beckham-Corbin	Michelle Chmielewski
Amy Mengel	Veronique Rabuteau	Peter Komendowski
Andrea Vascellari	Timothy L Johnson	Phil Osborne
Beth Wampler	Amy Jussel	Rick Liebling
Eric Brody	Arun Rajagopal	Dr Letitia Wright
Hugh de Winton	David Koopmans	Aki Spicer
Jeff Wallace	Don Frederiksen	Charles Sipe
Katie McIntyre	James G Lindberg & Sandra Renshaw	David Reich
Lynae Johnson	Jasmin Tragas	Deborah Chaddock Brown
Mike O'Toole	Jeanne Dininni	Iqbal Mohammed
Morriss M. Partee	Katie Chatfield	Jeff Cutler
Pete Jones	Riku Vassinen	Jeff Garrison
Kevin Dugan	Tiphereth Gloria	Mike Sansone
Lori Magno	Valerie Simon	Nettie Hartsock
Mark Goren		Peter Salvitti

Age of Conversation 2 - Sort of a Review

My paperback copy of Age of Conversation 2: why don't they get it arrived just as I was leaving town on a business trip. It went in my bag, and I began to read it on the first leg of my flight. I got about a third of the way into the book.

My first reaction? This is not just a great book on conversation, but reading it is like having a conversation with the authors. So, it is an example of what it is about.

Consider this. You walk into a meeting, and everyone is introducing themselves, one at a time. They say their name, and then give a brief description of their thoughts about the theme of the meeting. While it could take up the whole meeting to hear from all 237 people attending, you would get a very wide and remarkably idiosyncratic picture of the role of conversation in business and marketing today.

This was my experience in reading the first 68 pages.

Most of us authors are not full time authors, yet most of us blog. So, we are writers, but not all of us have had the benefit of editors who are constantly chopping up our work to make it readable. That said, I'm very pleased with the content and ability of my AOC2 colleagues. All of them are worth reading. Some will stand out more than others, and all have something interesting or valuable to say. Let point to a few that captured my attention while reading on the plane.

Jeff De Cagna - The Quest for Purpose: Associations in the Age of Conversation, p.11 - Writing about Association organizations he writes, "The true purpose of our organizations is not mere relevance, but the capacity to be generative. The search for deeper meaning is a universal pursuit, and yet one that remains largely unfulfilled for most people, including association members."

Lewis Green - What does the Future Hold Business Conversations, p. 16. " The biggest downside of effective business collaboration is geography, as employees oftenare in different towns and cities, states and provinces, and countries and continents."

Richard Huntington - Control or Influence? It's Your Choice. " If we want to gain influence we have to let go.

Deborah Chaddock Brown - Put Your Advertising Strategy in the Hands of Your Customer, p48.   "What would happen if we looked to our best customers to share in the creation of our advertising strategy?"

Phil Gerbyshak - I am a Marketer, p.57.  "I am a marketer because marketing is all there is."

John Herrington - A Consultant's Life, p. 58.  "It just goes to show that looking at the world through the lens of advertising can truly change your whole perspective. It certainly did me."

Tim Jackson - Not All Accidents Are Bad, p. 59. "Be honest ... share your passion for what you do ... Know why you do what you do. ... Have fun with it."

I encourage you to purchase a paperback copy. It has a nice feel to it, and looks great, and is one of those books that will start a conversation just by its size and design.  I highly recommend the book. I've very pleased to be a part of this unique project.

The Age of Conversation Author Links

Last year The Age of Conversation was published. One hundred business people writing about the role of conversation in business and leadership. Great ideas, insights and practical ways to better engage people in what matters in our businesses.

Editors Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan are at it again. The Age of Conversation II is in the works for a late summer released. Here are the 236 authors in this year's edition, including yours truly.

Check them out. There's some great influence leaders out there who are flying under the radar. A lot of the best ideas are not in your local bookstore, but right here in the blogosphere.

You can read snippets at Ryan Barrett's blog.

Enjoy the conversation.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem