Entries Tagged 'St. Louis' ↓

Losing My Tech Virginity @ #BarCampSTL | The Database Diva: “Learning new social media skills makes my head hurt.  Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, yada, yada, etc., who has time? 

Lori Feldman came to BarCampStL to discover something. She walked away with more than she’d imagined.

Lori shares with us her first experience at a BarCamp. Her first introductory thoughts…

The event was billed as, “Let’s get a bunch of St. Louis geeks and friends together and do something.” I wasn’t quite sure how I would contribute anything of value to these early adopters. Alas, I thought, I’m only a B.I.T. (blogger in training) and not technical. And there were “rules”, which, frankly had me pretty intimidated: “No spectators, only participants.”

And then she went from attendee to presenter…

After introducing myself around, I figured out what I could talk about, and decided to go for it. I would be the bridge between the technology and the business opportunity. Read a recap of my presentation. I got the only presentation slot left–the first one of the morning.

Lori rocked us with her lead in presentation. After that she just didn’t set back and relax. She jumped in and engaged those around her.

The whole experience was better for me because of her presence. Her curiosity, openness, and upbeat attitude kept the conversation and presentations going.

Thanks Lori.

Her final thought…

Time we all lost our virginity to social media marketing technology tools.

Cheers.

Member Profile - Five Minutes With Todd Jordan « St. Louis Bloggers Guild: “If you want to know something about social media and networking, Todd Jordan is THE answer man. Todd blogs about an array of subjects – from parenting and photography to social networking.  When not blogging at his home site The Broad Brush he guest blogs at Remarkable Parents.com and is also a contributor at Dad-O-Matic.com”

The above is the lead in for a profile article on yours truly. It’s an interesting read and might show you a thing or two about me.

Lisa Bertrand did a great job with this. She was very encouraging to open up and share. It’s great to be profiled by someone like her.

You can read the whole series of member profiles.

The St. Louis Bloggers Guild is reaching out to St. Louis bloggers, businesses and community. Please considering joining if you’re an active St. Louis area blogger.

So it just goes to show that if you can’t go to St. Louis, the people will still come out.  That’s right, our second Tweetup in St. Charles county area was a success.  Before you read my take on it though, I’d like you to read Jeff’’s Tweetup post.

Back? Great.

As Tweetups go, this was a great crowd.  We had both techies and non-techies, men and women, and the mix worked well.  The conversation wasn’t just stuck on the latest Twitter tool or tech tip.

Lisa, @StL4Closeures, talked to us about real estate and politics.  Karen, @KarenStL, talked about her recent networking experience at BarCampStL.  Sharon, my wife, jump in and talked about being a parent and bus driver.  It was one busy table.

The location turned out to be busy but well liked.  Trailhead Brewery is located on the St. Charles waterfront area, in the historic area of town.  Trailhead provides a fun and warm atmosphere for getting together, as well as a great selection of microbrew beers.

All these elements made this an above average experience.  How do I judge that? I judge it by the relationship impact.  Huh? Yes, it’s about relationships.

Out of this Tweetup, Jeff, @jpickell, met, Chris, @idonotes, and others that he’d only known via Twitter.  They really hit it off, and I see collaboration coming for those two.  That’s just one example of how real face to face time can be a plus.

What did I learn? On a practical level, I learned to plan the location better, but knowing what circumstance might affect it.  It turned out they were packed due to activities on Main Street.

On a social networking level, I learned that word of Twitter, though fast, isn’t always efficient. I used simple broadcasting to my followers to alert folks of the Tweetup.  This proved less than fully effective.  Where I saw the response was in people that follow me and few others right now.  The more active involved folks on my stream missed the message altogether.

Feedback I received indicates that a more direct and targeted approach would work better.  This would include as much advance notification as possible with an effort to reach as many relevant individuals as possible. Aiding this would be the fact that I keep a group column in Tweetdeck just for tweets by locals.

Another lesson was that not everyone is equally interested.  Some will respond online and honestly be fully committed. Others will reply and not really plan on turning up.  The rest will ignore the offer like it was never heard.   The key is to not worry about the head count but about encouraging folks to come with the intent to add value.

On that last point, and my final one, adding value isn’t about being the most knowledgeable about Twitter, social networks, or Web 2.0.  Bringing value to the table is about your willingness to join the conversation, form relationships, and get over your fears.

Luckily the best way to get practice at these things is to show up to more and more similar functions.  Cheers to those that do.

I look forward to seeing you at an event near you in the future.

It doesn’t look like much. It’s a small white board with some slap dash writing on it. Heck, it’s almost like chicken scratch in places, and the lines aren’t straight.

The board contains the presentations held during BarCampStL, BarCamp St. Louis. Notice the list isn’t formal, neat, and LUNCH is the biggest entry, but that’s how things work at a BarCamp.

BarCamps are about an unconference style versus the traditional way folks get together for conferences.  Instead of elaborate planning and plotting up front, it’s about the dynamics of real people interacting spontaneously.

St. Louis’s first BarCamp went extremely well in part because of this informal style.  It was cooked up by Ryan Keeter, Michael Austin, and yours truly had a hand.  The planning consisted of finding a spot, getting a sponsor (thank you Network Solutions), and posting the date, time and place.  Okay, someone had to work the deal with the City Museum, but that’s part of finding the place.

Real magic happened between the people who showed up and the venue.  There were over a dozen of us that attended, not including the drop ins from the City Museum IT guy and our bartender, Tatyana.  Each person brought their unique point of view and their backgrounds, but they also brought their hopes and visions about the future.

These individuals showed up and presented, listened, took notes.  They learned, instructed, and discussed their plans.  Bonding occurred not just over that, but over the food as well. (pizza, wings, salad, sodas, waters and a round of beers)

Enough about all of that though.  I’d like to just mention one person I bonded with, Karen Goodman, aka @karenstl.  Karen had some great questions about social networking in general, and specifically on Twitter.  Luckily I was able to share some insight in those areas.  In exchange, Karen gave me the grand tour of the City Museum.  Here’s her collection of City Museum photos.

Everyone that attended was a rock star in their own right. I’ll be covering more of my experiences with those folks in upcoming posts, as well as some pictures of them and the City Museum. Look for more link love as well.

If you posted about BarCampStL, please link here and I’ll link back to you as well.

Please show our sponsor some love, Network Solutions.

Just a quick post to let you know about the social aggregation site for Inter:play at Playfest:STL 2008.

The site is hosted by ToastedRav and is found here - http://toastedrav.com/event/interplay2008.

You can also check out my Interplay pictures. I’m only adding about five at a time to begin.

Also, if you haven’t done so, please check out the St. Louis Bloggers Guild site for more about the festival.

PlayStl Speaker Badge

This weekend at the InterPLAY:stl Interactive festival, organized by the St. Louis Bloggers Guild, I’ll be speaking about Social Media and Ethics. Fellow panelists include Jaelithe Judy, of The State of Discontent,  and Matt Homann, of the [non]billable hour.

This will be a  roundtable discussion on the ethical questions surrounding the world of social media. Topics addressed may include: privacy of bloggers and those whom bloggers write about; truthfulness v. artistic license; email and comment etiquette; and more.  The Emerging Ethics of Social Media panel is at 1 PM on Saturday.

In addition to participating as a speaker, I’ll be hosting the Blogging and Social Media 101 panel at 11 AM.  Panelists include Ben Vierck, of StL Bloggers,  Tanner Hobin, and Mike Flynn, of ToastedRav.

A complete list of panels and venues can be found on the St. Louis Bloggers Guild site.  I’m in the coolest venue for both of these panels, Blueberry Hill’s Elvis Room.

Post idea totally stolen from Tanner Hobin.

     Nope, I’m not talking about knitting!  Twine is a new social aggregation site and now there’s a twine for St. Louis.

     So what’s a twine exactly?  A twine is a collection of items about something.  Vague? Yeah. Once a twine is started on a subject, say St. Louis, Twine users can add things such as bookmarks, documents, notes, images and video under it.  As time goes, the collection will grow.

     Users become members of individual twines.  Members can add more items to that subject’s twine as well as commenting on already added content.  Members can also share items, such as bookmarks, with their contacts, or other twines.

     Diversity in what can be shared on a subject sets this apart from a wiki.  Instead of just links, actual descriptions and previews of those links are available, as well as member comments about those links.  And it’s not just links. The ability to add documents and video contributes to that diversity.

     Beyond diversity though is the ease of contribution.  Members can contribute by adding a Twine bookmarklet, posting on the twine page, or sending an email in.

     Twine content is enjoys another benefit.  It’s able to be searched for the instant it’s entered. That’d be pretty interesting on its own, but Twine take it up a notch.  They find key words in the content.

     A great example is on the St. Louis Twine page.  I added the Missouri Botanical Garden website to the twine.  It not only picked up the tags from the entry, but also recognized that Henry Shaw is a relevant person.  The Botanical Garden was actually founded by Henry Shaw. Amazing.

     Will people really find this useful? I’m imagining that the more people have access and get involved, the better a twine will be.  There are already twines with hundreds of members and even more links and items.

     So now you’re ready to get involved but you need an invite.  I can help you there.  Just drop me line with your email address and mention Twine and I’ll send you one.  Once you’re in, invite your friends.  You receive plenty of invites to pass on.

     See you on Twine!

The MidWest Media Conference was a success. What was it you ask?

IF YOU TWITTER, POWNCE, BLOG, SEESMIC OR UTTERZ - THIS IS THE CONFERENCE FOR MEDIA RELATED ISSUES.
HOSTED BY WORKING PROFESSIONALS, IT’S DIRECTED TO EVERYONE INTERESTED IN IMPROVING ONLINE MEDIA PRODUCTION.

The conference was the brainchild of Duane Myers, aka PreppyDude. Seeing the strong interest in St. Louis and having connections, he went forward with his plan. He brought together a diverse set of panelists to help out.

Byron Sletten of Mindactive, headed up the technical side of the conference. His company provided the site, as well as the equipment to live broadcast the conference. Byron himself bookended the row of panelists. He provided valuable insight about site design and purpose for businesses and artists.

Steph Stockman, geologist and science educator, brought her expertise as a developer/implementer of education and outreach programs for NASA to the panel. Not content with mere drawings and a few pictures, Steph has strived to use online media in her education efforts. She’s now quite familiar with online networking and media, for both professional and personal use.

Dana Loesch, professional blogger and talk radio host, has been online and sharing writing and media for decades. An experienced hand at online media from blogs to broadcasting, she shared her experience in getting it right online.

Bill Streeter, a video blogger, blogger and more, is the man behind LO-FI Saint Louis. He brought a strong background in online media publishing as well as production to the table. A good portion of his work has been with local St. Louis musicians and artists.

Frank Ireton, Ph. D., a retired educator and public outreach professional, turned those years of experience to becoming a social media and virtual world expert. He’s created numerous things for clients and private projects in Second Life, including a representation of Belfast Ireland, including a pub that streams live music from Belfast.

Michelle Havens, professional photographer and stylist, worked on both the panel and as technical support for the evening. Her expertise in creating and publishing digital works was a welcome addition to the group.

David Myers, radio host and voice over talent, came with 14 years of radio industry experience. He’s now acting as Operations Coordinator for CBS Radio’s Kidstream Internet station. David played cohost and spurred on the panel.

These people came together to share their expertise and experiences in putting media online and making it work. They handled questions from privacy to investment to get something online.

One of those most interesting things to surface was the panels agreement that up and coming artists, especially musicians, should get their art online and put up an interactive site at the earliest opportunity. Also, the panel made clear that interactive doesn’t mean just a few news updates now and then, but a two way communication, between artists and fans.

Cost to get involved was a big topic. The answer? It’s cheap, just do it. They key is to focus on the quality of the content in general, and not on the gear. There’s no need to invest in $1000 plus camera or recording gear to get started. The panel talked about even using a cell phone to get initial things online.

Though the panel had limited time for questions but also managed to talk about privacy concerns, some pet projects, and what other first steps an artist should take.

The turn out was small for this initial conference but the attendees and panel enjoyed themselves. After the conference proper broke up, the entire group of folks retired to another section of the Roadhouse for dinner and drinks.

Lessons learned:
1. You can put a conference on with no in person meetings.
2. You can put a conference on without tens of people.
3. You can put a conference on in just about any place, even a noisy restaurant.
4. You can put a conference on and have a good time.

5. Noisy restaurants aren’t the best venue.
6. Get their early to set up.
7. Have questions prepared for the panel.
8. Advertise the hell out of it; you’ll get more attendees online and in person.

The biggest success about this conference was that it happened. It’s hopefully a gateway event for St. Louis and a sign of more to come. It’s also a great lead in for the upcoming St. Louis Interactive Festival.

I’m already excited about the next event. What’s great is that you don’t have to be an expert to get involved, just have the urge and energy. Do you have an idea for a one evening conference? One afternoon? Target audience 20 folks or less? Let’s make it happen!

     St. Louis is going to be host to the Midwest Media Conference.  A variety of speakers will be on hand for an evening of stories, questions and answers about online media.  One of my favorite guys involved in social media, Duane Myers, aka PreppyDude, will be hosting the show.

     Three of the presenters are well known folks in St. Louis media, David Myers, Bill Streeter, Dana Loesch, and Michelle Havens. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting these folks in person on more than one occasion.  But not only are locals turning up, like the St. Louis Bloggers Guild, one of our Ohio favorites is joining us as well, Ann Miller, aka AnnOhio.

     Duane and the out of town speakers will be here a bit early. I’m hearing rumors of dinner and drink plans. Be sure to get a hold of these folks and let them know your interested.

Here’s a twitter ID roundup:

@geoSteph

@Fireton

@PreppyDude

@BillStreeter

@Mamalogues

@DavidStl

     Excited yet?  I am.  Come out and join us on Saturday, May 31st, 2008, 34 S. Old Orchard Ave, Webster Groves, Mo.

****UPDATE**** The event will be broadcast live and interactive - go here to sign in.

     The Guild’s first open meeting will be held on Saturday, May 10th at 1 p.m. at Benton Park Cafe, who is generously hosting our meetings. They have fantastic coffees and I’ve eaten and loved everything on their menu.
     All members of the Guild are highly encouraged to attend this first meeting - please RSVP within either the comments or on the appropriate thread in the forums. The Guild will discuss its first big project slated for this fall, among other issues.
     The meeting is open to non-members for a $5 admission fee. If you’re considering joining, this would be a perfect opportunity to see what we’re all about. We’ll also be accepting and registering new members before and after the meeting.

     See the original post on St. Louis Bloggers Guild to confirm your attendance.