My Name is Kate

links for 2008-03-30

• Remarkk! » Bell Canada hands Net Neutrality advocates a gift!
  Wow. Like ... WOW. I think someone might be undergoing some media training.
  (tags: bell+canada media+relations)

Can we talk? Time to get the Age of Conversation!

Last summer, one of the more amazing collaborative online efforts was launched - the Age of Conversation.  It's a book written by 103 bloggers across the globe who shared their insights about social media.  And these bloggers aren't all marketing geeks and social media experts.  They are also t-shirt freaks, harley moms, art enthusiasts, storytellers, philosophers and what not.

And the cool thing is all the proceeds from the book are going to Variety, the Children's Charity.  So, hey, some great thinking on social media AND helping out kids.

This is where you come in.  9 months later, the book is finally on Amazon.  And today is the day we want to rush it up Amazon's charts.  So, go to Amazon and order a copy.  All proceeds, including affiliate revenue from the link, go to Variety.

You can follow the progress of it being rushed up the charts over on Fresh Peel, Chris Wilson's blog.   AOC was originally conceived and organized by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan.

One reason I'm so excited about this book is that I'm going to be participating in the Age of Conversation 2!  I'll talk a bit more about AOC2, the theme and my sub-theme in a later post.  But I did want to acknowledge all the fantastic writers, bloggers and thought leaders that I'll be partnering with to make AOC2 a success.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what we create!  Now, make sure you get a copy of AOC, the original, today!

Adam Crowe, 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 Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, 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, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, 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, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, 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, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, 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 Cribbett, 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, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, 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

Bridging Media - Cool New Vancouver Unconference

I have been remiss in blogging about Bridging Media, a welcome addition to the social media/community-gathering scene here in Vancouver. 

Bridging Media is an event designed to open the channels of communication between the broadcast and digital media communities. We aim to increase an understanding of our respective industries and strengthen our approach to building multi-platform projects.

As I saw at VIDFest last year (Vancouver International Digital Festival), there is an amazing array of talent across multiple digital platforms, but we don't always speak the same language.  Bridging Media hopes to change that.

Possibly my favourite thing about Bridging Media is the team of organizers - six exceptional women across all fields of digital media:

>> Erica Hargreave is a creative producer. She creates concepts, writes, researches, and consults on educational, science and multi-platform projects with a number of other production companies.

>> Megan Cole is a social media consultant, building web strategies and implementing technology and social media tools to assist companies in community outreach and helping clients produce online communities. She works from coast to coast, on projects big and small. Megan writes about community and technology at megancole.org

>> Cinci Csere is a marketing consultant who focuses her talent and energy on public relations, creating memorable events, and strategizing promotions for large and small organizations. You can find her at EAT Communications.

>> Monique Trottier runs Boxcar Marketing with a strong and deft hand. She is an internet strategist who has spearheaded the creation and management of major online marketing campaigns, including Harry Potter. Her leadership is widely recognized within the book publishing industry, where she created the first Canadian-publisher podcast and blog. She blogs about books and other curiosities at somisguided.com

>> Carol Sill has been involved in interactive digital media since the mid-90s. Her background includes international broadcast and non-theatric distribution, new media education and independent production. She currently assists new bloggers with editorial, research and multimedia support through Alphablogs.

>> Monica Hamburg is a freelance writer and social media evangelist/consultant in Vancouver, Canada.  Her investigations and observations on social media, and its relation to business and connecting, form the basis of her blog, Me Like the Interweb. She is a frequent contributor to the popular digital marketing magazine One Degree, as well as a former actor and wanna-be class clown who now uses her dry humour for speaking engagements and in her blog Your Dose of Lunacy.

Kudos to Erica, Megan, Cinci, Monique, Carol and Monica!   Bridging Media's first gathering is this Saturday, March 29.  I believe you can still register.  I'm delighted to have been asked to be a speaker and even more pleased that One Degree is a sponsor.

links for 2008-03-24

• The Blog Usability Checklist - skelliewag.org
  19 point checklist that should be useful to any blogger looking for a practical way to evaluate (and improve) the usability of their blog,
  (tags: usability blogging accessibility design onedegree)
• The State of Blog Relations
  Via Brendan Hodgson. Study that examines relationship between PR Exces & Bloggers. Apparently its a "work in progress" :)
  (tags: pr blogging research socialmedia onedegree)
• How-To: Backup Your DVDs and Watch Them in iTunes- MacLife
  Tutorial showing you how to backup DVDs on a Mac using mactheripper or handbrake.
  (tags: mac software reference)

Laptop Bag Giveaway - Pinder Giddy Up Laptop Tote

With all this cool digital marketing we're doing, you want to have a funky laptop bag to tote your laptop around in, right?  Well, one of my favourite bag designers, Pinder Bags, is giving away one of their Giddy Up Laptop Totes.  I reviewed the Giddy Up a few months ago over on my Funky, Chic and Cool Laptop Bag lens at Squidoo.

To enter the contest, all you do is guess the number of rose petals the Giddy Up in the picture holds.  You can get more deets including how to enter over on my lens.

Deadline to enter: April 15, 2008.  And yes, it's open to Canadians :)

Kinda Creeped Out By Google - How Closely Are They Watching??

Tonight I was playing around with some CSS and wanted to look something up.  There is a tutorial I ALWAYS use for CSS, but I've never bookmarked it - I just Google it and it is usually the first or second entry.  I did the same thing tonight and *this* appeared in my Google results:

I'm sure it's just cookies, but still.

Also, not entirely accurate - I've actually visited that site since Feb 8.  Maybe this is a good thing b/c they are making transparent data they collect and that is already stored about your searches.

But all the same .. creepy.

Update: via Twitter @chesh200pro (aka Jay Goldman) tells me that they've been doing this for a while.  A feature if you're signed in.  So clearly I've never searched and been signed in.  Still find it a little creepy.  I do like how they try to sell it: "follow interesting trends in your web activity".  I don't know if I want to monitor my own activity that much.

links for 2008-03-23

• Open Design Community - Download Free Web Design Templates - OpenDesigns.org
  The Open Design Community (TODC) is provides hundreds of XHTML and CSS based free web design templates available for download. The main goal of TODC is helping to make the internet a prettier place.
  (tags: webdesign templates opensource free design)

Calling Canadian Startups - Make Sure You're Attending a VC Roundtable!

Rick Segal, Partner in JLA Ventures and blogger at The Post Money Value, is hosting a series of VC Roundtables across the country.  These are small gatherings, intended for start-up entrepreneurs to meet with an experienced Venture Capitalist and ask questions - before having to face one in the dreaded pitch meeting.

The schedule is currently as follows, but you can always get the most current schedule on the event page.  You must register; each session is limited to 25 spots.  You can read the post about it on Rick's blog.

April 14th – Halifax  (8a – 10:30a) Sign up here 

April 14th – Moncton ( 5p – 7p) Sign up here 

April 15th – St. John’s (5p – 7p) Sign up here 

April 16th – Ottawa  (10:30 – 12:30) Sign up here 

April 16th – Montreal (4:30p – 6:30p) Sign up here 

April 17th – Toronto Morning (8:30 – 10:30) Sign up here 

April 17th – Toronto Afternoon (4p – 6p) Sign up here 

April  21st – Victoria (8a – 10a) Sign up here 

April 21st – Vancouver (4p -6p) Sign up here 

April 22nd – Edmonton (8a – 10a) Sign up here 

April 22nd – Calgary (3:30p – 5:30p) Sign up here 

April 23rd – Regina (8:00a – 10a) Sign up here 

April 25th – Winnipeg (noon – 2p) Sign up here

April 28th - Guelph (4p - 6p) Sign up here

Personally, I think it's awesome that Rick is offering these. We need more Canadian success stories, particularly Canadian success stories that involve smart, innovative startups getting Canadian funding and making a go of it here in Canada!

links for 2008-03-22

• The Journey from multiple to multi channel retailing - rMen’s blog
  Found this on Richard Menneveux's blog - presentation from Ikea on multi-channel vs multiple channel retailing. All about the customer experience!!
  (tags: onedegree multi-channel-retail ikea)

Help the Privacy Commissioner of Canada design a T-Shirt

OK, I admit, I NEVER thought I would type the headline, "Help the Privacy Commissioner of Canada design a T-Shirt".

But it seems that the intrepid folks at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada are holding a little contest for witty privacy-related sayings for T-Shirts they will be giving away as schwag at conferences, etc.

We want your help in creating  T-shirts we plan to give away at conferences and workshops. We want these T-shirts to be privacy-themed, attractive, and witty. We would like to enlist your help in designing them - by either sending us your best witty privacy-themed tagline, or by coming up with your own original design. The best designs will be chosen for our T-shirts, and the winning designers will get- well, a T-shirt.

The deadline is Tuesday, March 25 - so get to it!

p.s. I love Canada :)