Gowalla, Foursquare, BrightKite, Whrrl, Scvngr and now even Facebook’s Places (see my less than stellar impression of this) are among the tech companies driving this wildly popular bandwagon.

There have been clear and useful leverage of LBS for B2C strategies both for large, enterprise-driven brands as well as small businesses as covered by a story in the New York Times.

To date, successful B2C efforts focus on reinforcing brand loyalty and increasing client base through active, frequent participation via check-ins and obtaining rewards in the form of discounts, give-aways, coupon redemptions etc.

As Foursquare demonstates adeptly, a game-oriented element is characteristic of LBS apps. This automatically serves as incentive for users (customers/prospects) imprinting a behaviour that becomes a natural day-to-day activity.

Smart, huh?

But how might one imagine applying these principles to a B2B model? Below are some thoughts that may give you reason to try it out—all of which involve embedding an LBS layer to events.

1. Improve attendance / enhance participation: In addition to confirming attendance (typical email invite), have them check-in to the venue (your corporate office, a conference hall etc) and award swag or a complimentary product or 1/2-hour consultation service to the company with most check-ins (i.e., most number of attendees).

   Granted, the numbers may not necessarily be in the thousands. But this is why I think LBS use for B2B will need to be very targeted (i.e., done thoughtfully to events where active client participation is a key component such as an unconference, trade show or special event where there is more emphasis on networking than talking heads blasting content at participants).

2. Extend brand visibility - complement your corporate blogging initiatives by posting a special event that centers around promoting a book launch by one of your authors or a product launch/refresh.

   Wanna get really creative? Announce a photo essay contest around the book/product launch on your blog and have attendees capture photos, provide commentary on their experience of the event itself (yes, this would be an indirect plug for @Gowalla and yes, it’s my preferred LBS app). And then do a follow-up post on the winner along with all other entries and feedback you received.

3. Showcase CSR campaigns – in a similar vein as #2, imagine a community outreach campaign where you’d rally up volunteers—both from your internal employee community and the external public community—and get them to check-in at the event and have a scavenger hunt, photo contest, etc. Again, using a similar follow up process as #2.
4. Internal employee engagement – see #3 but use within the context of an internal culture shaping activity or morale-boosting exercise like a day long company-wide summer event or even regular get-togethers that encourage interaction, socializing and team-building.
5. Brand distinction (AR component) – if your org is really keen and want to push the envelope, why not consider making available an augmented reality (AR) element to an event (see Exhibitor Booths section – it’s an old post but one of the few that comes close to B2B application). But imagine if attendees had the advantage of knowing your booth is AR-ready: Innovate. Differentiate. Leave a lasting impression.

There’s only one thing: so far, most LBS apps appear to be mainly developed for (and the user experience conducive to) touch screen devices like iPhone, Android. A February post from ReadWriteWeb confirms this.

But perhaps these figures have since changed. And while RIM is the dominant enterprise tool, perhaps the majority of your B2B target audience prefer the “best of both worlds” and are looking for opportunities to explore and learn from location-based technology as well.

What do you think? Is LBS purely consumer-based and oriented to enhance the brand power of physical products?

Earlier in March another ReadWriteWeb article suggests LBS usage to penetrate enterprise within two years.

So I tweeted the question today and asked if anyone else has had specific success in this area. All I got: crickets.

Have you tried any of the above? What has your experience been? What else would you add to this list? How straightforward would it be to execute and measure? Lemme know.

images sourced from justanotherapp.com and fastcompany.com respectively

Title of this post was partially inspired by the title of that film, Le déclin de l’empire américain, and the overriding black comedy flavour I personally see in some (okay, many) of today’s blog posts.

Just yesterday, a Forrester study notes that social networking users are creating less content. Now if you look past the stats and imagine that among these key “creators” are bloggers (like  me) think of it this way: none of us are actually creating new content. End of story. Right?

Why do I think this?

To illustrate—and I mean to purely illustrate through combined semantic and literary analyis of a  given post which struck me (I mean, literally hit me over the head)—why I think the above may be the case, I will extract certain phrases from this blogger’s post and provide my own take on the excerpts.

My interpretations are and always have been purely visceral. They are in no way meant to offend, mud-sling or willfully antagonize any blogger or the one whose content I’ve chosen to use as an example.

The quality of diction is..well, should not, be strained

Some of the more impressionable statements that gave me pause for thought and concern are noted below. I am concerned that the overall tone of these statements tend to border on generalization.

That in an attempt to generate some line of argument, certain states and conditions, which have long pre-existed prior to blogging and social media, are being “exposed” as detrimental to the intricate characteristics of social behaviours the majority of us actually find commonplace and expected.

Again, my own musings. Not directed at any one in particular.

“The world of social media still has a credibility problem in business.”

Hmm..so all those folks I’ve been talking to online and offline about their orgs wanting to be part of social media—whether diving head on or gingerly dipping their toes in—must either be brainwashed into having this inexplicable need OR they actually see the potential for the medium to be credible..and valuable.

“We talk too much about the value of our time rather than putting it to good use.”

For this one, I’ll refer to a comment to bring light to my reaction. I do agree with Angelique btw. Need I elaborate?

“We cannibalize our own.”

Is that phrase meant to say “We are mean to each other?” ‘Cannibalizing one’s own’ is actually redundant. See point #3 of “Influence, Idolization and Idiots“. But seriously, is this really that outrageously unacceptable a phenomenon that it begs further examination and insight?

“We talk about conversation, but we focus a great deal on the tools. And, on ourselves.”

I hesitate to say how overwhelming ironic that statement is, but I suppose by virtue of me stating my reticence, actually makes it pretty self-evident.

The long and short of this post is this: bloggers should be mindful to stick to data and interpreting such data, and to leave the in-depth social analysis to sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, researchers and the like.

Over-analyzing social behaviour for the  sake of crafting something to make it appear as if it’s a whole new thing or ball game is a sure step to demise..of all things borne of educated observation, supported by empirical analysis and expressed with literary clout.

image sourced from ozap.com 

That about sums it up doesn’t it? Well, almost. It’s a starting point, and I doubt one equation adequately encapsulates the full dynamics of a personal brand.

Now, you ask, “Why would I care about a personal brand?”

The age of online networks
The Internet is growing exponentially. Proliferation of online activities are giving way to highly interactive behaviours, creating many social circles (communities)—circles which in turn affect and influence real life individuals and communities.

Establishing a recognized personal brand permits you to navigate through different communities fluidly. You are easily recognized for who you are and what you represent. Your brand is proven and trusted. In effect, your network expands and your relations and reputation become more robust.

A healthy and extensive network not only bodes well for you, but also for those with whom you are associated.

So what does it take to develop a personal brand? My experience to date tells me a lot of it has to do with staying true to yourself and letting things happen naturally, almost by chance.

Branding your own person not persona
Knowledge, expertise, charisma and useful insights make up a successful personal brand.

Although I would add that a trusted personal brand is organically cultivated—not contrived—and emerges as a result of a fine tuned, transparent voice.

What does that mean? In my view, it means a number of things. And they all occur or come together simultaneously, at times serendipitously, including:

• producing content that’s largely inspired instead of canned pieces churned out of an editorial calendar
• inciting productive dialogue through constructive opinions that attempt to examine what’s beyond the obvious
• sharing a variety of topics and news that reflect your interests and viewpoints, e.g., in what you tweet (granted, I’m a bit biased with my interest in technology..just a bit)
• conversing with and listening to your online follows; being helpful, encouraging and getting to know their voice (who  are they? what are their interests and concerns?)
• showing a sense of humour (sometimes sarcastically—yes, marketing snark can be entertaining), at best for comic relief, worse, to express displeasure and/or concern; although I would advise that resorting to wit and intelligence is more effective than the shock value of words fueled by raw emotions
• being sincere and genuinely interested in the ‘man/woman/logo behind the avatar’; earning their trust/respect and encouraging an opportunity to connect offline
• staying real and being yourself instead of overworking what it takes to be perceived as unique. The natural development of your voice alone will define your identity.

Your personality, knowledge/expertise, the content you create and critical thinking you offer, are core ingredients that the determine the quality of your personal brand.

Blogs should not only serve to be useful to others but also provide a view into a host of personal perspectives including your creative and philosophical predispositions. Concurrently, your tweets should amplify certain tones that echo your personality and reflect whether or not you choose to nurture your identity online and reveal how approachable you are.

How you help connect others online as well as the connections you yourself make offline are proof of your serious investment in online interactions. The success of these interactions and connections close the loop and attest to the effectiveness of your own sociability and the visibility and reach of your personal brand.

This is the stuff of networking today.

Can you imagine how it will further evolve? Do you chase after opportunities or allow your personal brand to draw them out?

image sourced from www.avschool.edu.vn

Now there’s nothing wrong with that—if you’re inebriated with hubris and your beer belly betrays a sordid tale of wanton avarice.

But this brief post is not meant to stigmatize FB (ya, @so_char, it’s not all about bellyaching) since FB itself has done a splendid job of doing that through its own awkward mishaps.

Rather, Facebook’s oversized popularity coupled with a series of  knee-jerk like changes to its features make me think that social greed has come to typify its mantra.

ReadWriteWeb notes:

« While it’s true that there is value to the end user in the commoditization of location data, it’s a commodity that many location-based companies likely did not want. Until now, they’ve been able to compete not only on features, but also on the richness, accuracy and completeness of their own geo-location databases. That selling point is now going to disappear, thanks to Facebook. Hopefully, the location-based startups have a few other ideas for retaining their users in this post-Places era. »

Whether or not Facebook’s recent foray into geolocation will indeed stymie the growth of already established players like Gowalla and Foursquare remains to be seen.

That Facebook has set out to aggressively conquer almost every corner of the social space to date is indeed a testament both to its purchasing and staying power. Bravo.

Oddly, despite its incredibly powerful brand and mass appeal, Facebook strikes me to be more concerned about hoarding data than actually sharing it. The iconic face of social media it most certainly is not.

image sourced from lostinyourinbox.com

An awkward and somewhat disappointing experience (as fresh and recent as of the date of this post) with one social media guru (who shall remain nameless) compelled Jared to share his quandary with me. I’ll skip the details but will instead rail against— I mean, cite some thoughts with respect to the title of this post.

Sympathy for the Devil? Not here.
From the perspective of someone who already has a hard time stomaching the perceived clout of social media evangelists (or socialebrities as @ChristinaKudym once coined in a tweet) I admit that I am somewhat biased (somewhat).

Having said that, here are my 2 cents:

• Influence is largely a visceral experience that cannot be quantified.
  There. I said it. So can we stop hemming and hawing about whether or not we can measure it? What influences me to want to connect with and further nurture relations with a professional, colleague, educator, friend, etc. is not something that I look up and calculate. It’s typically driven by a combination of empirical assessment and instinct.
• Admiration is healthy. However, admire the knowledge more than the person.
  We’ve all been in awe at some point over someone’s presentation or speech or whatever content they were sharing that made our eyes sparkle and that bulb light up in our head. Neat, huh? Well, the person who effectively delivered the insight(s) may be awesome, but what was our brain really after? Uh-huh.
• Even the best of the highly educated, enlightened and amicable people are fallible and emotional.
  The road to hell is paved with social media gurus— I mean, half-hearted intentions. None of us are perfect, model social creatures. The collection of Shakespeare’s dramatic works portray the more sanguine human foibles that educate us to accepting our fallibility. So yes, even your most venerated guru will spit on your face if they’re feeling paranoid that day or cornered into a conundrum with the world’s microscope breathing right above them. Meh. We all get that way somehow.

There are many great shakers, movers and even influencers around. And to me, sharing and dialoguing with them are perhaps two of the most useful and gratifying experiences.

I don’t need a signed book, t-shirt or doll to make me fully appreciate the impact of experiencing their um so-called insights.

graphic sourced from www.rachelkashon.com

But before I bullet-point the meaty parts of this post, a stroll down memory lane and some fun facts:

Revolution and dialectics
I refer to ’synthesis’ within the context of Hegelian dialectics, which in principle characterizes the structural elements of most societal revolutions (this tidbit, brought to you in part by an invisible data log wedged in my brain from when this concept was first introduced to me in high school).

Thank you, George Wrobel, wherever you are now..you are the best history teacher ever.

Now that we are spoiled by Wikipedia, I am able to further explain (copy and paste) that Hegelian dialectics is comprised of “three stages of development: a thesis, giving rise to its reaction; an antithesis, which contradicts or negates the thesis; and the tension between the two being resolved by means of a synthesis.”

Ergo, the reference to ’synthesis’ above, which now provides context on the thrust of this post.

graphic sourced from photobucket.com by shibby999955

Apparent novelty
My initial branding of this blog as “reflections on the social media revolution” speaks to a time when social media was still in the thick of the thesis-antithesis stage.

And quite frankly, the idea of social media gaining mass visibility at the time was certainly very exhilarating and ‘revolutionary’.

Now, social media is in the mainstream.

And by that I mean, it’s no longer a novelty: everyone’s on the merry wagon waving their flags, catching their breath or quickly scheming away at how this so-called “social media marketing” model can benefit both personal and financial interests.

But is social media revolutionary?

Inevitable awareness
So here’s the thing: yes, there are some strong revolutionary aspects to social media. It aims to democratize. It fosters openness. It breaks down barriers to entry. It connects people (and now things!) together and in remarkable ways which only few of us were aware since the dawn of the Internet.

And there’s the rub: the Internet. Our experience of connectedness, our heightened awareness of ‘things in motion’ and ‘things to come’ are all possible because of where it they’re all happening: the Internet.

Inevitably, with or without the ‘revolutionary’ descriptor, social media would have taken place organically because of how the Internet has thus far evolved.

The face of ’synthesis’
So here are some bullets on what this state of ’synthesis’ may end up looking:

• Social media will simply be media. McLuhan’s words ring no truer: the media is the message. And that message has gotten far too many of us distracted. A few experienced and well studied folks out there and online understand what this means. That we call it ’social media’ now is purely referential; it gives us a common way to explain what this once seemingly novel phenomenon really is. Will it matter if we call is something else? Not really.
• The ‘Internet of Things’ will make data (and objects) reign supreme. ReadWriteWeb portrays and monitors this movement very closely. In brief, the way RWW portrays the ‘Internet of Things’ may be described as a state in the future where there are more things (i.e., physical objects, sensors) wired together (interconnected) on the Internet than there are people.
• Business will be personal; personal will be our business. Business is already frantically revamping its old institutionalized models as a combination of socially and economically driven factors and influences (thanks in part to social media) conspire to force the way we do business with each other. Conversely, ease of both creating our content (personal or otherwise) and accessing such content is forcing us to make it our own personal business to ensure we understand what private and public lives really mean.
• Relativity will finally be understood and highly valued. As a species, we can be remarkably bright or hopelessly dense. This is a function of our highly evolved brain and that’s fine; not much we can do about that. But what often strikes me most is our indomitable desire to accomplish countless feats and to do so successfully, preferably in states of perfection.The preference to be perfect comes with a degree of obsession with the absolute, which also happens to be a function of scientific endeavour. (I know I seem to be digressing, but I’ll wrap it up shortly)

  Social media and the Internet will force us to constantly question, re-evaluate and transform (a) traditional schools of thought, (b) established mores, and (c) longstanding theories and models as well as consensually pre-conceived and accepted modes of behavior.

  Why? Because we will finally come to realize that we live in realms of relativity yet are forced to obtain absolutes. Once we really appreciate and understand this, then there would be a really good reason to make a blockbuster Hollywood film that captures it all. Oh okay, maybe a book first. Or graphic novel.

What do YOU think will be next for social media? Do see it going beyond the obvious and predictable?

Morning brew
On my way to the Sheraton this morning, colleague, senior communications consultant and longstanding IABC member, Diane McElroy and I quickly shared our thoughts and overall impressions of the unconference.

I felt it went well, while she thought that “there could have been two or three  high level topics identified at the onset or a bit more guidance on how the break-out sessions worked, etc.”

It’s only natural to react to one’s first unconference experience that way, I suppose. Remember the old JAD sessions? Better yet, consider the brainstorming format..it has none! Streams of consciousness are what drive the outpouring and synthesis of ideas. Just ‘make it work’!

How the Queen Mum helped
So I managed to cobble up an impromptu lunch with Chris, @Karenjovi and Jeremy at the Queen Mother’s Café - where the pad thai and quinoa essentially rock.

And we came up with some ideas to consider when planning for the next unconference(s) - yes, we believe there should be more:

• ambiance is key - if at all possible, it would be helpful to have a clear idea (if not do a full live scoping) of the venue. Break-out sessions need to happen in comfortable, relaxed, intimate settings, where people feel less inhibited to talk and have face-to-face interactions with complete strangers.
• prior confirmation of attendance - knowing how many will in fact attend the event will help determine how the ambiance factor will be addressed.
• pre-voting on topic ideas - it is an UNconference so the idea is to not have a pre-organized format. However, it does help to take a pulse on people’s interests and perhaps determine say an overarching theme or number of related themes. This will certainly help spur more ideas.
• discourage..er actually outright ban sales pitching - yeah, it happens. I wasn’t actually in a session where someone proceeded to do a full-on pitch of their services, but what do you do when you’re stuck on the wrong ferry boat, right? Apparently, Linda did a fab job directing the line of conversation to focus more on the topic versus the pitch.
• employ a tool (software) - Chris and Jeremy toyed with the idea of using an app to facilitate unconferences. Guys, I neglected to write down the name of the app you mentioned, so please feel free to chime in here So the tech element needs to be quite evident and present in these sessions (e.g., live tweeting, live blogging, video, etc.) This was done quite nicely at the Sunday session actually. And we look forward to seeing the captures once the editing’s done. But I would really emphasize, in the very least, tweeting sessions out. Note-taking? Meh. That’s conference 1.0 haha
• video capture the event and use as commercial - self-evident and sure to garner much interest. My all time fav tech blog ReadWriteWeb does an ab-fab job with unconferences. Here’s a taste of what they’re cooking up in NYC this Friday: http://www.eventbee.com/view/readwritewebrtw

To me the unconference IS the new black.  Conferences as we know it need a good refresh. Something more raw, organic and takes on a life of its own.

I wouldn’t necessarily say that unconferences are antithetical to conferences..it’s just a heck of a lot more spontaneous, creative and tangible..à la Derrida, deconstructionists and most of the postmodernist movement etc.

What do YOU think? If you attended  last Sudnay, I’m sure our hosts would appreciate some feedback

Finding your own writing voice is typically a long, studied process. And sometimes you’re just a natural. But whatever it takes and however long it takes to do it, I deeply sympathize with those who struggle daily in this pursuit.

But here’s 2 cents of advice: just open your mouth. and project (using your diaphragm). Oh great! Really helpful Autom..you and your smarmy analogies..

I digress.

While appreciative of the encouragement I get from many to write a book, I tend to shy away from doing the guru thang. Can you picture it? HOW-TO-WAKE-UP-FROM-YOUR-OWN-STUPIDITY-AND-WORSHIP-A-BLOWHARD-LIKE-ME

Er..nyah.

Sharing content instantaneously online is more spontaneous, genuine and, wait..there’s that word du jour: organic.

So here I go, yet again showcasing some of the marvelous people who have given me reason and confidence to show the tangible value social media offers: their questions, my answers. No book.

How do I…

reach my audience online and start a dialogue with them? (@eMichaelPower) Create a web presence and start your own blog. Write about frank opinions you have surrounding your own experiences, industry-related trends, legislative developments and comment on precedent-setting stuff that may have significant impact on your clients and prospects. Ask them what they think. And respond to them whenever possible.

prove to academia that examples of social media in action needs to be from outside the educational ecosystem? (@MyriamBalian) It’s a toughie. Myriam and I had a lengthy discussion on the challenges she is facing with her masters programme. It would appear that the curriculum limits sourcing examples of case studies from only within the university’s internal community. The approach is insular and risks omitting more fulsome evidence of practical world applications of social media. So I encouraged her to go against the grain because no sensible post-secondary institution should ever discredit external, substantive sources, especially if the theoretical application is with NGOs and non-profit communities. 

start to effectively build my online community? (@jared_parmenter) Jared’s audience is a particular set. After a few weeks of lackluster reactions on the Twitter account he set up for the film school he works for, we talked about some ideas he may consider to help generate interest from his tough-to-sell crowd. I won’t reveal the specifics of the ideas we hashed out, as they will be part and parcel of a longer term strategic plan he is crafting over the course of summer term right through into fall. But the face-to-face discussion alone helped create enough sparks to affirm his own notions and add a few new ones into the mix.

nurture and grow my online community for the long-term? (@ChristinaKudym) Whatever you do, don’t moderate your blog content. Haha. Yes, that would be you CK. I know you tweeted ” Hmm…I will talk to you more in depth about this before I set up my own moderation guidelines” Well, I’m telling you now: it’s really not worth moderating your content. The experience is jarring, and if you want to encourage the flow of conversation online, you don’t need those types of barriers. I know you’re probably thinking, “but what if I get some atomic comment that blows up in my face?” Then you’d deal with it right there and then. Pronto. No hiding; no backroom whispering and debating. Just respond back and guide your commenter into a line of dialogue conducive to talking about the benefits of your brand.

use Twitter so that I’m not just broadcasting content? (@next2eden) Well first, you need to actually use Twitter on a regular basis Chris. Yep. I know what your hectic schedule is like. But there are mobile apps for that you know..aha! Also, I know you’ve had a lot of great web development work done on http://next2eden.com and right now would be the perfect time to create content that speaks to it and to tweet about it. But to go beyond broadcasting means to spend some time talking to the folks that follow you. Just strike up a convo at the spur of the moment! Ask a question you’ve been reflecting on, or comment on someone’s tweet, or refer them to a link that you thought useful. Get to know who your follows are and speak to (”tweet to”) them more frequently. It’s certainly helped me and my efforts.

So there. A few cents piled up in the corner and thrown randomly onto the mouths of a few fountains.

If someone offered to run a full-on marketing campaign to sell my content like hotcakes and offered to throw in an action figure or two, I’d probably say no. Well, okay..maybe  not to the action figure. Especially if Robot Chicken gets a hold of it.

I may gush and gasp as if Twitter were oxygen to me. So if this bores you, go back to reading Godin— I mean, tough.

Woops. Was that what you expected to hear? Oh well.

Sparks not plugs
Individuals are sparks, balls of energy at times driven by relentless determination. Sparks collide by chance or are drawn to each other and come together in groups. Through regular and deliberate interaction on Twitter, these groups of sparks become tribes and thus, alliances are forged and the power of social networking realized.

When I wrote Twitter Sense and Sensibility I mused that “Twitter is social media’s iconic face”. I thought this because I felt Twitter is the only social network that really understands community-driven endeavours, how “organic evolution” works, and why the longstanding focus on staying true to perfecting user experience is profoundly more valuable than scrambling to make a quick buck out of sheer numbers.

Imagine the painstaking work it took (and still must take) for Twitter to open their ears to a cacophony of voices, to filtering out the weight of sentiments that clearly speak to democratized information, level playing fields, thoughtful transparency, productive collaboration and, yes, even social good.

Utopian? The notion certainly reeks of it. But the credibility Twitter has earned is undeniable, as the social media revolution proceeds to run its due course disrupting many long established paradigms that have rested far too long on their laurels.

Twittography
While the list below is in no way meant to purposefully exclude others in my tribe, it does serve as a wake up call. And if you happen to currently follow me and have just woken up and suddenly realized that you no longer need to follow me, please, feel free. I mean really, BE free.

I can be terribly compulsive when engaging with people online. If I have taken the first step and you’ve followed my lead, then your name, your identity, your story will always be top-of-mind for me.

Below is a list of the folks who’ve made and make Twitter a singularly rich professional and personal networking experience. At first, I didn’t realize how long the list got while typing it out. And then after the fact, its length actually made me smile.

Who needs #followfriday, right?

• @GoToAaron (formerly @aaron116) – among the few CTO I follow and interact with regularly. We’ve been collaborating online since I started tweeting. Encouraging, entrepreneurial and a connoisseur of Stella, Artois that is.
• @CoachKamna, @jenfrahm, @archanaverma – IABC professionals who have been consistently supportive and interactive. I very much look forward to meeting you next month!
• @femelmed – she had me at “devotee of the lowercase”, sharp, witty and fastidious HR communication consultant.
• @dexin – the brain behind TweetBrain, co-founder of Zettar. She planted the cloud computing seed in my head. Dexin and I have exchanged numerous emails, constantly exchanging ideas on how to market technology.
• @erniehuber – IT leader and strategist who introduced me to SaaS and other related aspects of the cloud I would not have even clued into.
• @franciscojsaez – web entrepreneur, biz analyst, developer and very engaging. Tweeting in Spanish has never been more fun and hilarious.
• @Magnuson – more to him than Twitter support (although I feel like he’s the closest brush I have with shmarmy “w00t I know an insider”) Chuck’s brilliant. Period.
• @fredericl – admire this Portland-based tech journalist. For someone so close to the tech scene (where I’d love to be sinking my teeth into *sigh* one day maybe) he takes the time to reply and interact. That’s almost unheard of.
• @charlottehrb – short on positive vibes? look up Charli. Her enthusiasm, charisma and passion are contagious. We’ve collaborated on a number of fronts including testing Google Wave.
• @bergerchris – another IABC-er for whom I have great respect. His candour is refreshing and his blog comments (esp on an HR/recruiting post I did a while back) are most inspiring.
• @spurdave – constantly spurring the movement of novel ideas and setting himself up for me to throw smart-alecky remarks about them (haha) Seriously one of the few whose outside-the-box approach is truly an art form.
• @mktgdouchebag – don’t let the name fool you. His tweets make up the entire next generation of ‘edu-tainment’ fodder this side of the Library of Congress.
• @AdrianEden, @Beckstar23, @Grdeken – along with @charlottehrb, these three always inspire. Adrian for his often insane, unbridled tweets, Grant for his gung-ho attitude and Rebecca for being a long-time colleague and true friend.
• @ajmunn – our exchanges in comments and on Twitter have proven that our educational  backgrounds serve us well. Thought-provoking CMO, Alasdair is an ally to have in your camp.
• @XNetInfoSys, @hessiej – tech talk much? How ’bout Ray Kurzweil, singularity, 70’s sitcom shows, music and things quasi-related to tech? Impromptu engagement has never been easier.
• @dean_cummings, @xxmarypoppinsxx, @StarsandSpace – UK peeps I simply couldn’t live without. I can always drop a line to Dean and Esther and I would always get a tweet with ‘lovely’ or ‘gorgeous’. And Angela! Well, quite special indeed: she is the only person with whom I tweet in verse.
• @RepuMetrix – brother from another mother. Sometimes this guy’s eloquence blows me away. Very lucky to be in his company and be in his good books (so far, haha).
• @ChristinaKudym – sister from another mother. Truly a force of nature and remarkable marketing pro. We once decided to have a chat by phone and the experience was remarkable—as if we’ve known each other for years.
• @MyriamBalian – had the pleasure of meeting this lovely, bright social media up-and-comer. Extremely shy but animated and passionate when you start talking about the things that matter to her generation and present milieu.
• @bodsworth – recent exchanges have proven that we are passionate about the same thing: Toronto’s beleaguered public transport system. We shall overcome! (and if not, then we have our eyes set on Rogers haha).

What about you? Have you paused to think about the wonderful people who’ve made your social media experience memorable and truly valuable?

Who’s on your short list? Is their face top-of-mind?

Well okay, the SXSW fascination is somewhat unrelated and concerns a certain tech journalist (whose company I closely follow on Twitter) who vowed never to go back to the SXSW again. But on a related note, el BS– I mean, LBS was in fact a hot topic at this year’s SXSW.

Aaanyway.

After coming across some splattering of opinions surrounding potential abuses on privacy, creating inadvertent opportunities to rob you (pleaserobme.com) and the rising popularity of LBS apps like foursquare and Gowalla, I’ve determined, despite the negative backlash, that I must strive to identify a happy medium I can comfortably describe as practicing the “art of geotagging”.

Location, location what’s your function 
Remember Sesame Street? (Ya okay, if you weren’t a kid growing up when that show aired on TV then Google it) ♫ Conjunction, junction..what’s your function..♫

The same could be asked about LBS. What is the value of tagging all these places where you’ve “checked in” and left a traceable trail of what you’ve been doing and where you’ve been?

Well so far, in my usual attempt to eagerly explore foursquare and Gowalla, the first thing that popped into my head: marketing. It’s got to be one of the most obvious reasons why these apps were developed.

In my mind, the marketing equation is simple: The more “check-in’s”, reviews and shares you get of your organization/business, not only would this spell more exposure but also additional opportunities to connect online with customers and prospects.

Oh and yeah, as a side note, I prefer Gowalla over foursquare mainly because the user experience (U/X) is much nicer and you can take photos! Trite but true.

And we’ll have fun fun fun..till our privacy is slowly stripped away 
A large part of the geotagging experience is fun. So the clever developers of foursquare and Gowalla naturally built apps that would have game-oriented goals.

And then there’s Google Latitude, which is not quite a game…but I won’t get into that.

So you sign up to play a game (a fun, cool game at that). And hook, line and sinker you start ‘playing’ this geotagging game all the while being encouraged to ‘check-in’ (tag your it), aim to be mayor, founder, galactic ruler or whatever, add places (foursquare) or create spots (Gowalla), leave details about the place, giving it a review and sharing it online.

There’s no material reward. All the badges, pins, stamps on the forehead (I wish they’d include that) are online “want-to-have-must-have’s”. And as you find friends and begin to add them, you’re once again given another layer of interactivity with whom you’re already connected in your social channels or email lists. Inevitably, you become compelled to keep playing the game.

Harmless enough right?

Some privacy folks are cautious. A recent Canadian Press article suggests that most users are oblivious to the ramifications of freely sharing and constantly marking a permanent impression on one’s geographic location.

Last year, in a similar vein, there was much debate over whether or not agencies were effectively disclosing how certain behavioral targeting campaigns work and what they in fact do with the data they collect from consumers. I have not followed up on the issue closely and can only assume that nothing concrete has been resolved to date.

Will unpredictability save the day?
As the collective momentum to “share and share alike” increases to patterns never before seen in history (yes, that’s a visceral observation on my part), and as advances in technology drive many of us to explore with unchecked abandon, I can’t help but ask myself if we are in fact doomed to lead excessively transparent lives.

As with all things that lure you to verge on extremes, balance should always serve as guidance. So if you’re in the ‘explorer’ camp and are keen on sharing but cautious about your overall privacy, here are some tips:

• Staggered Pacing – based on lessons learned from addictive behaviors caused by Twitter, make sure you don’t get too caught up in geotagging every single moment of your life. Focus on your actual life not on the game.
• Randomized Activities – be more spontaneous, less contrived in playing the game and aim to show random patterns of activities. Avoid tagging the same place, at the same time, and in the same series of similar instances. You want to avoid creating discernable patterns.
• Planned Duplicity – sounds awful and wrong but you want to emphasize the notion that your geotagged information is not always going to be accurate. Honest mistakes don’t happen often enough for you to accumulate inaccurate coordinates. You don’t want to wilfully mislead but in an effort to continue randomizing your movements, I’d say feel free to do the odd “oopsie..that’s not quite the name of this place” or “well, I was actually doing the dishes when I checked in at the grocery store down the street”
• Deliberate Absence – like Twitter and many other social networks, no one will really miss you if you’re not tagging your brains off 24/7. Be absent. Stay off the grid for long periods of time and let your next tag be somewhere completely different from your last known location. 

What do you think of all this tagging…when will you start ‘tagging’ to see if you’re ‘it’?