Finally, a wrap up in images:

BlogWorld Expo Banner

Tessa & Stu of ideablob

Jeremy Tanner rockin’ the ideablob shirt

Ezra, never too cool for ideablob.

Julie from b5media sporting a lovely ideablob putty necklace!

BLOB DOWN!!

Community has been on my mind a lot lately, partly because as I mentioned before, I went to BlogWorld with ideablob.com. They’re an online community where people discover, discuss and share ideas (and they have a $10,000 seed money winner every month).

I spent my weekend talking about ideablob to the BlogWorld community because they recognized that in order to be a community, you have to be a part of other communities – not just your own.

One of the things the ideablob team told me was that one of the most important aspects to their community of entrepreneurs is the support that the members give to each other - the comments, the feedback, the advice, the votes for the ideas that are posted each month. It got me to thinking about the importance of community online, even the community that I have here on my blog and the comments and emails and tweets that you all send me. It provides me with the momentum to keep going.

Ever since jumping into the social media world, I’ve been steadily building my own community online, through joining other communities, just like what ideablob is talking about. It’s really the only way that I can navigate all of the sites, services and even the conferences. When I say “my people” I really mean “my community”.

I’m always astounded at how large the online community is  - I had people walk up to me at BlogWorld and after introducing myself, they filled in my last name and knew exactly who I was. I was constantly surprised. But, community is exactly like that.  Any online community is like that - we’ve all got our in-jokes and things that identify us as part of that community. Heck, use the phrase “fail whale” at a conference and you can immediately identify who the Twitter users are for example.

Just get out there and support the community! Regardless of where your community is: be it twitter, facebook, ideablob or on my blog or yours. Give someone some support! It’s good karma!

Oh, and check out my pictures from BlogWorld Expo of my favorite blobbers in Las Vegas! (image source: me!)

A recent article on the BBC about Blog World Expo got me thinking. They talk about the fact that there’s an overall desire to share in the new media world, and the fact that companies are more open to discussing their own ups and downs, failures and successes as they go through life than they were in the past. (image source: Dawn Endico)

The BBC reporter says:

How well these techniques would translate to the larger sites of traditional media companies remains to be seen, but there are a number of profitable new media companies, such as b5media, that not only show that it can be done, but are actively sharing how they have achieved their success and are more than happy to help others to do the same.

This culture of sharing that runs through the blogging scene is one reason that this new medium is such a breath of fresh air to many.  [source]

Is this openness just a facet of the new media/”web 2.0″ world (and have we found a good phrase for all this social networking stuff yet? i hate both those terms) or is it a new form of culture that we’re creating here?

Personally, I lean towards the fact that it’s likely a new kind of culture that we’re creating here. Things that used to be “trade secrets” are now open. Companies are allowed expected to make mistakes in the business world, and the fact that they admit to them and share the lessons learned is even more important.

Is your company part of the new culture or part of the most recent version of the “Old Boy’s Club”?

Blogworld Expo really threw a wrench in my blogging routine. I was scrambling to get packed and ready to leave, and in that scramble, managed to completely miss my entire pre-posting regime that I normally subscribe to. Instead, now that I’m back and awake, I’m scrambling to get caught up again.

So, what do you do if you’ve lost your blogging mojo?

Well, for me, I write posts like this and start looking around to see what others are writing. I go through my (neglected) google reader and find posts that intrigue me. Can I add to them? What are my thoughts? What caused me to save that particular post? (image source: Termie on Flickr)

There’s always something thought provoking out there, it’s just a matter of getting your ‘oomph’ back to find it.  Go back through your starred items in Google Reader. Maybe you declare google reader bankruptcy and start fresh with only the few that are new since you pulled the plug?

The main point is, much like getting thrown off the horse, you just have to climb back on. Your readers want to see your new content, your new thoughts. They want to see what you’ve got to say, so just go say it.  Don’t apologize for your absence. That just draws even more attention to it.

Also, try and set yourself a goal of how many posts you need to have done by the end of the week, or if you’re just climbing back onto the horse today, till the end of the month. Personally, I’ve set a goal to achieve by the end of the month for here and Drinks After Dark to get back in the groove.

I’m writing up a mini editorial calendar and ideas to get covered off in the next few days and ideally, those thoughts will put me right back on track!

What do you do when you lose your blogging mojo? Do you have a good technique that might help me?

As you guys know, I spent the weekend at Blog World Expo in Vegas. The entire experience was unlike anything that I’ve done before, despite having been to both SxSWi and Vegas, respectively, in the past.

I think I might have gotten about 2 or 3 hours of sleep a night, and bounced back the next morning to talk about ideablob.

Some people I talked to, like Guy Kawasaki, had heard about ideablob before, but still liked playing with the putty.  Others hadn’t heard about ideablob in the past, and it was quite cool watching their eyes light up as they “got it”, understood the core concept and you could just see them either thinking about what they were going to submit themselves or they were thinking about who in their lives they were planning on telling about ideablob.

People are so passionate about their ideas, and you can tell right away when you’re talking to someone that the gears are turning so fast that they can’t even keep up with their thoughts.

That was one of the highlights of the weekend, for sure. That and I can’t stop playing with my ideablob putty!

Pictures, video and more, coming very soon!!

Back when my people started talking about going to BlogWorldExpo, I knew I had to find a way to get there. So, I started thinking about ways to do that. I was talking to Lucretia one night and she suggested that ideablob might be interested in some content creation and visibility at the event.

So, I put together a little profile, a little presentation and a little bit of a suggestion and sent it off to darling Annie.

A few days later, I had an agreement, I had a plan an Annie and I were going over talking points.

So, next Thursday, I head down to Blogworld Expo to talk to everyone there about ideablob and what they do. So what do they do?

Well, essentially, idealob is a community of people who share ideas: business owners, entrepreneurs, inventors, philanthropists, nonprofits, free-thinkers and problem-solvers and the like. They post, comment, advise, critique, and compare ideas.  Every month, they decide through voting which idea is worthy of $10,000 in seed money.  ideablob gives ‘blobbers’ the tools and resources for this culture and philosophy to flourish.

What would you do with $10,000 in seed money? Leave a comment here or, better yet, come and find me at BlogWorldExpo and tell me in person!

That’s it. August is over and taking with it, my own official view of summer and lazy days. I’ve been out of high school since 1993 and yet, no matter what, September always feels like the new year to me.

Already, there’s a whole host of conferences coming up, just in the next few weeks. Blog World Expo, which is quickly becoming the geek fall break. Geek back to school? Either way, it’s becoming the Fall version of SxSW.

Running almost on top of BWE, which is kinda silly I think, is Web 2.0 in New  York City. I’d totally want to attend both if they weren’t overlapping.

Instead, be sure to watch out for lots of Blog World Expo-themed posts here at BuzzNetworker, complete with a very cool announcement, coming soon, as soon as I’m allowed to announce it! Stay tuned!

For more upcoming techy events coming up in the next few weeks, take a peek at this post on Mashable, and if you want your event featured on BuzzNetworker, drop me a note and let’s look at a media partnership!

BWE, as it’s affectionately known in my circle, is coming up in September. Together, with Kristen King, a fellow b5 blogger, I entered a contest to win airfare to Vegas and hotel so we could attend BWE.

There was international coordination, crude Photoshop images, an “argument” “break ins” and a subsequent “make up”. It was complicated and required some serious skype conversations to get it all organized.

To even show you these, I have to give you a bit of explanation. See, Ed is the b5 mascot. He’s our social director and various other things. Ed’s the man. Ed’s also the man-equin.

Part of the contest was to tell the b5 Toronto crew what you would do to get a girlfriend for Ed. Kristen professed her love,

I told her she was going to ruin her marriage.

It went on from there.

and on.

and on.

and on. and on. and still further.

And then, a guy came in and usurped us. He made this amazing video at the mall, and I don’t know how he even managed to film in store, but he did. Whatever, dude beat us out.  (but seriously, congratulations Jon. This really did rock)

So now, I have a full conference pass for BWE, but I need to find me a sponsor to cover airfare and hotel. Are you, or do you know, a company interested in sending a prolific blogger to BlogWorldExpo? Someone who will produce stellar images, excellent video content, Twitter almost nonstop and blog about it? All "brought to you by…"?

If you think this might be you, or you know someone who’s alley this might be right up, let me know. You can find me here, here, here, here, or here or call me at 604-837-6748.

Adding video to your company site or your blog can really engage your audience and if you do it right, your video could go viral sparking millions of views. Any company would kill to have that kind of content. Just look at Will it blend?

Zoe Siskos posted a fantastic post over at the Social Media Group blog, about the things you’ve got to keep in mind when creating video. She did her first at Mesh (which I so wish I’d been able to go to!) and learned a lot about creating video content.

Here are her rules to live by when creating video content:

1) Content is king. Can we drill this home enough? Nowadays it doesn’t matter what you are producing, a blog post, podcast, even your product. If it sucks, people will tell you.

2) Educate and Entertain. The MGI media crew have a formula they call E squared, education x entertainment. You want your audience to learn something as well as be entertained. The lesson doesn’t have to be as complex as chemistry but they should be able to walk away with at least a tidbit of new information.

3) Tailor your content. This is the beauty of having so many online options and niches. Do you like knitting? Origami? Steam punk? Make a show about it because, more than likely, there are a lot of people like you that enjoy the same topic. The bonus, as a content creator, is that you get to work on something that you are really passionate about.

4) Engage you audience. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. By participating in different communities you promote your show. This doesn’t mean spamming and leaving links to your show everywhere. Haven’t you learned? Instead, leave comments on other shows and participate in conversations related to the topic of your show. The people you engage will check you out and if you followed rule #1 you’re set.

5) Be regular. As in distribution. Your audience should expect when you are putting content out there. If it takes you two weeks to produce a decent show then take that time. It’s more important to follow the rules above and to be consistent.

What is Media?

The world medium is almost gone. Whether singular or plural, it’s almost always media these days. In a sense, everything is media. Media is the environment we live in.

The definition of the word changes as the world around us changes. The medium is both the message and the medium itself.

Advertisers are no longer competing for your attention. they claim to be, but they’re not. They’re competing to rescue you from your inattention.

(Sidenote: Eric McLuhan doesn’t have a computer! He doesn’t believe in getting too close to them - he thinks you lose your ability to study them)

Every new medium reconstrues the audience. This provides them with a totally new way to imagine things.

The global village is another term that gets bandied about too often. The global village is a very uncomfortable place. Like any small village, there’s no privacy, everyone is interested in everything that everyone else is doing is not and there’s no way to retreat. Just because the people are scattered around the world doesn’t mean anything.

Since television, the global village has been replaced by something called the global theatre. It truly has turned the world into a stage, and means that people are no longer looking for a job they’re now looking for a role. We’re always being observed, and that means that the idea of private identity is now useless and is an encumbrance.

Because of things like Facebook and other social networks, you’ve expanded your network and an extension of your “stage”. Your social network is your audience and gives you your identity, your sense of belonging, and wholeness. The global theatre never ends - you’re always on. The curtain never goes down.

No matter where you are on the internet, you’re everywhere. Your body may be in one place, but YOU are everywhere at once. There and fully functional as a intelligent, sentient being. The only thing you can’t do are physical, tangible things. Most people don’t realize that this is happening - it’s unconscious, and that’s “where all the action is” says Dr. McLuhan.

We’ve moved out of the physical world and into the metaphysical world. You are no longer constrained by your body and through the net, you can do anything, be anyone, go anywhere. It’s almost totally beyond your control because that’s the nature of participation and interaction.

Media is only definable by metaphysical terms. Electronically, there’s no movement of the message… the message is with you everywhere.

The global village is full of gossip - if it arrives to you as it occurs, then it’s gossip, or you’re participating in it, in which case you’re a player in the global theatre. It puts you either directly beside or in what’s happening around the world in seconds. There is no separation between action and reaction anymore.

Where does it all go from here? what is the next evolution of media?

they no longer asked what happened on the news. they now ask how did that feel? the objective data is very small. They’re relying on the feeling, the interaction, the perception and the experience. The thrust of the report has gone from the data and to the feeling. The experience, the effect and the interaction. That doesn’t engage people anymore.

This has been a very academic and deep subject, however, it’s been very interesting. This is very much something I think I need to mull over some more… as with the Chris Anderson event, images will come later tonight.

Final note: copyright is over. It’s gone. It started to disappear with the advent of xerox. Once you start publishing anything on the internet, anyone can use it, and copyright is now meaningless.