So you want to be more crea­tive, here are the tips from one of my favorite people

1. Ignore everybody.

The more ori­gi­nal your idea is, the less good advice other peo­ple will be able to give you. When I first star­ted with the cartoon-on-back-of-bizcard for­mat, peo­ple thought I was nuts.

And there’s more..

2. Put the hours in
3. Ever­yone is born crea­tive; ever­yone is given a box of cra­yons in kin­der­gar­ten.
4. Every­body has their own pri­vate Mount Eve­rest they were put on this earth to climb.
5. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds alto­gether.
6. If you accept the pain, it can­not hurt you.
7. Never com­pare your inside with some­body else’s outside.
8. Nobody cares. Do it for your­self.
9. Worr­ying about “Com­mer­cial vs. Artis­tic” is a com­plete waste of time.
10. Don’t worry about fin­ding ins­pi­ra­tion. It comes even­tually.
11. When your dreams become rea­lity, they are no lon­ger your dreams.

Links or spam?

File this next report under living and learning on the Internet. I have been blogging for about two years. Like most of us, I jumped in the pool headfirst. I’d been talking social media to my clients for years and it was high time I walked the walk. Having run websites for my novels, I assumed blogging as a logical extension. I figured I could swim as well as the next guy. Besides, I’m a big believer in on the job training. It was time.

Two years in, I couldn’t be happier. Gods of Advertising has changed my life. It keeps me writing. It keeps me informed. It keeps me relevant. It also provides its share of “teachable moments.” I’ve willingly shared my foibles with you because not only do I believe in transparency whenever possible but I also want my readers to learn from my mistakes. It’s the least I can do for all the insight and wisdom you’ve provided me!

So here’s the latest…

A few days ago I was called out for linking my blog in the comments section of various other blogs. The reader, “Ponce” accurately noted that I’d left more than one similarly phrased remark across numerous advertising blogs, pasting the same Gods of Advertising story in all of them. Ponce called it spamming.

Spamming. That’s like a felony in the blogoshere! If I was guilty, I needed to fix this ASAP. My credibility and piece of mind were at stake. I certainly had linked my site in other site’s comment sections. My reasoning was that since their stories related to mine it was okay.

That said I also had a hunch I was being naughty. Like many creative people, I am an egomaniac with an inferiority complex. As I’ve already learned, with regard to promoting my novels, any form of self-promotion is asking for trouble. When Ponce called me out I instantly got that queasy feeling in my gut, kind of like when I was busted for shoplifting in grade school. Instead of defending myself or issuing a denial (what I wanted to do) I intended to face the thing, own it and then fix it. Writing this piece is part of that process.

I decided to ask a few experts for their opinions on the matter. With much gratitude, I offer you their sage advice…

From Alan Wolk of The Toad Stool: It’s never good form to leave a link back to your own blog unless you write a fairly detailed response that contributes to the conversation. It’s also not good form to leave any sort of link on a blog to which you’re not a frequent contributor or friend of the blogger.

It’s okay, in the course of a comment to mention that you’ve done a post on the topic on your own blog and to provide the blog’s name, but you should not make it look like you’re trying to get people to go to your blog. Give the reader the option of going to read the longer version on your blog but don’t make it sound like a blatant sales pitch: you want to contribute to the conversation on the current blog, not siphon away readers.

From David Burn of Adpulp: I don’t know that I’d say it’s Spam, but you do want to be careful about over promoting yourself. For instance, when you leave a comment on AdPulp, it’s almost always a redirect to your site, with or without an actual link. I’d recommend mixing it up a bit. Comment just to comment, then come back and redirect, so there’s some balance.

From Hugh Mcleod of Gaping Void: As long as what you’re linking to is relevant to the conversation, I don’t consider it spamming. But some folk are fussy and passive aggressive.

The area would appear to be gray. It appears one has to rely on their own good judgment. While blogging (or doing many things really) if I get that queasy feeling in my gut it probably means I should reconsider my actions. What do you think, Gentle (or not so gentle) Reader?

Spam my Twitter!

Things have not gone to plan.

The  good news is I now accidentally have a career and a pension. The bad news is this is my first blog in a while.

well time to stop allowing Life to be an excuse for not creating, becuase i have been consuming in vast amounts.

Being a lecturer i am on summer holiday and have used that time to achieve very little.

Time for that to change.

Got lots on, of course, exciting changes at college, great ideas i need to pluck out of my head and show to the world.

Mantra: I Must Work Extremely Hard Doing What I Love…

Take that, status quo!

Hugh Macleod is a renaissance man. Brilliant illustrator, agent provacateur and marketing wizard. Please, please tell me you have his site bookmarked and that you are following him on Twitter. Become a Crazy Deranged Fool while you are at it.

Hugh’s latest concept is Cube Grenades. What’s that? Here’s Hugh…

1. Like I said, my cartoons work best when they’re used as “Cube Grenades” i.e. small objects that you “throw” in there in order to cause some damage- to start a conversation, to spread an idea etc. But other social objects can be used as well- purple milk cartons, homemade cookies, funky mousepads, rubber toys, newspaper clippings etc. It’s the people that matter, not the object they socialize around. I don’t claim to have a monopoly.

2. Repeat After Me: Cube Grenades are Social Objects. Cube Grenades are Social Objects. Cube Grenades are Social Objects…

3. All big change in companies come from the people in the trenches, who do the actual day-to-day work. To change their behavior, you have to change the way they interact. People interact around social objects. Change the social objects, and you change the company.

He continues the list and thought here. Well worth the read.  PSFK has further thoughts on the concept:

Cartoonist and marketing theorist Hugh MacLeod has been developing his concept of “social objects,” now reifined in the form of his “cube grenade” series of illustrations, which he believes are representative of the future of both brands and marketing as a whole. Though it may sound opaque at first, the concept of social objects can be summed up by MacLeod’s thesis that people socialize around objects in meaningful ways, and these peripheral interactions are far more important than the objects themselves.

Making and throwing your own Cube Grenades is a big idea. Maybe too big for you right now. But that doesn’t mean you should sit on the sidelines. Start by printing out on of Hugh’s pictures and put it up on your wall/cubicle/desktop. Start a conversation. Do it today.

I don’t have business cards. I don’t want business cards. And I don’t need them.

Business cards are a remnant of a bygone age. Where people stayed with the same company, with the same job title, for many years. Where business was analogue rather than digital. Where the Rolodex were a staple of the office stationary order.

That era has passed. Job titles are forever changing and increasingly meaningless. Taking self-aggrandizement/irreverence (delete according to personal opinion) to a new level, some companies even allow employees to make up their title. In some cases they act as a useful barometer of seniority. But how long has it been since a manager actually had serious business authority? How many levels of hierarchy call themselves Director? (NB: The old ITV hierarchy was particularly confusing; I reported into a Head who reported into a Head who reported into a Director).

If someone wants to contact me, there is:

• Contact details on my email signature
• My company website
• A general Google search (I’m not the best example as I’m not the first entry)
• A specific Google search (e.g. incorporating blog or twitter)
• Asking for my phone number and entering it into a mobile phone (assuming you don’t have one of these)

The exchange of business cards may be a ritual in some cultures, but it is increasingly wasteful. If I am given a business card, it goes into a drawer never to be seen again (no offence). I have piles of unused business cards from previous employment and job titles.

Business cards may provide fodder for optimistic websites or aspiring artists, but what other reasons are there for needing them? I’m stumped.

sk

Image credit: Gaping Void

Skywriter received a Lemonade Award! The Lemonade Award is for sites which show great attitude and/or gratitude, and this blog has just received it! I trust that it’s because I  have great amounts of both qualities… I’m grateful (ha! there’s the theme!) to Dr. Deborah Bier of http://www.ConcordMA.com/blog  on May 12, 2009 for this award — I’m honored.

Here are the “rules” for this award  found online. You can be certain that I’ll follow them — but only if I feel like it and if it makes sense! Rules for the award:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post. 
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Nominate your favorites and link to this post.

I don’t know 10 blogs to give this award to… heck, I don’t even FOLLOW 10 blogs, but I’ll do what I can. Therefore, I pass along this award to the following:

1.  Gaping Void http://gapingvoid.com  Sage, irreverent cartoons
2. Out the Comet’s Ass  http://outthecometsass.blogspot.com astrological insights
3. Radical Virgo  http://radicalvirgo.blogspot.com Witty, wise views of astrology and life
4. Year Seer http://yearseer.wordpress.com Interesting insights into numerology
5. Vibration Magazine Blog http://www.floweressencemagazine.com/blog  Young and slightly reckless blog of a flower essence magazine
6. North Node Blogspot  http://NorthNodeAstrology.blogspot.com Wise astrological and Jungian commentaries.

May we all discover new ways to recognize the lemonade — sometimes already within the lemons life sends us, just waiting to be revealed…

Follow Friday is a twitter trend to promote Friends, like minded people, people of interest, on Twitter.

Les Cochrane quite rightly noted that a random list of names means nothing, he’d much rather have a select few names and a reason why they’d be good to follow.

I decided to do a bit of both, and use my blog to talk about those on Twitter I follow, and why I think you should follow them too. 

I’ll only recommend a maximum of ten per week and will set up a category so you can find them should you so wish.

This weeks 10, i went with the first ten people I followed on Twitter and so this is actually just as much a gateway into their online presence which is why I followed them and continue to follow them;

@warrenellis: Internet Jesus and Acclaimed writer of Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Global Frequency and the recent GI Joe: Resolute. www.warrenellis.com

@stevegarfield: One of the Internets first Videobloggers and passionate about Online Video. www.stevegarfield.com

@casymckinnon: The former Miss Kitka and award winning producer of Galacticast and a Comicbook Orange. She has also written about online media for the Guardian. www.caseymckinnon.com

@gapingvoid: Inspirational writer, artist, new media and wine marketer. www.gapingvoid.com 

@zefrank: an American online performance artist, composer, humorist and producer of The Show. during which he inspired an Earth Sandwhich, a Song for Ray and Ugly Myspace. Go to www.zefrank.com and all will become clear. 

@rudy: The writer producer of Galacticast and ‘walking media production house.’ Check out the episode looking at Abrams pitch for Star Trek. www.rudyjahchen.com

@zadi: The co-creator and host of the award winning Epic Fu. www.zadidiaz.com

@wilw: Star of Stand by Me and famous for his role as Wesley Crusher in ST:TNG. He emerged as a vocal member of the Geek community. www.wilweaton.net

@amazingamanda: One of the first videobloggers to bring new media to the the general public appearing on ABC News and CSI. www.amandacongdon.com  

@xenijardin: Blogger and tech culture Journalist, as well as Co-editor of the award winning blog Boing Boing and Executive producer of Boing Boing TV. www.xeni.net 

Thats all folks, more next Friday.

Ted Talks have released a serious of videos that are inspirational and worth checking out and I will be coming to them throughout the blogs and reflecting on them.
In the following film Tim Brown, discusses many things that are worth hearing, but what I want to draw upon is in the opening. ‘We fear the judgement of our peers’

It was this fear that caused the failure of my first attempt to blog, I got so wrapped up in what I ’should’ be blogging that I never blogged about anything. Even worse for actually producing anything. 

In her blog ‘Write Here, Write Now‘ Lucy Vee also talks about ‘The Fear’

‘I just know, as soon as I click the return button, the FEAR will strike. Have I done enough? Is the sample good enough? Have I picked the right one?? Is it emotional enough?? Can it be better? Have I missed something obvious? Are there typos or grammar errors? Can they smell my desperation emanating off the electronic form?!’

And this can be true across any form, when I reply to the twitter of somebody I admire or an express an opinion over a subject. I worry that somebody who I perceive as having a more ‘valid’ opinion will just tell me I’m wrong.

If only @Bang2write and I, had listened to Sven Goran Eriksson more closely

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.”

Being creative can change the world, and our fear can halt us before we are even started. With the Chimp,  I have a need, a desire, to tell important, or what I perceive to be important stories.

See, even there, I felt the need to write ‘What I percieve’ defending myself in advance against unreceived attacks on films I haven’t made.

Within my online world I want to live without ‘The Fear’

Which brings me, at last, to the heading of this blog entry. 

http://www.videojug.com/interview/stephen-fry-the-internet

Tim Clague, and this has to be a record for how long I’ve gone without mentioning his name, posted the following diagram to show his understanding of the difference between old and new media and it certainly makes sense to me.

And the conversational element is certainly something that I have missed out on, as I consumed vast amounts of new media trying to catch up with what had gone before whilst also keeping up with what was being available.

And I plan to get involved.  

http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/actiontracker/action.php?action=35

Lauren Feldman in the 1938 Media video ‘Why You tolerate Twitter’ which sadly has been removed and so I can’t present it here, spoke in 2008 of the fact that Twitter was down, yes 2008, Twitter was around and fail whaling long before it became the latest Old Media fad of interest. 

In the video Feldman commented that the reason we except that Twitter is down is because most of us have blogs, and we don’t have any comments. Having Twitter, where people follow us, respond to us and validate us, makes us feel better.

I’m paraphrasing from memory here not having the actual video to quote.

Feldman in his usual gentle tone is right. I love when I get comments on the blog. The fact is when you put time, thought, love into work who doesn’t want to hear that he made a connection with somebody. Who doesn’t want some form of validation?

Kevin Smith The Dark Side of the Internet.

I recently asked Documentally via twitter if there were any Podcasts he would recommend. He retweeted, asking if there were any Podcasts that people wanted to recommend to me. Loudmouthman responded that I should listen to Social Media White Noise his own show, because where is the harm in self promotion.

I dutifully subscribed to the show on iTunes and have found it to be a constantly interesting and it has provided me with some great links to applications for my iPhone as well as other social media developments.

However, in show 3, Loudmouthman had what I considered a tirade against Facebook groups. So I left them the following comment on the shows comments board:

‘Hi guys 

Really enjoying the shows informative and funny. However I thought the mini rant against Facebook groups was a little off base. Sure I too find some of the groups annoying and pointless. ‘I bet i can find a million people who can say their own name’, or ‘I read it in the Daily Mail so it must be true’However, as Stephen Fry said, the Internet is a city, and like a city it caters for all. And Facebook just like any comunity center houses groups for particular needs and thoughts.

So will facebook groups change the world? maybe not. but in an increasingly insular world, its uniting people on a common theme or belief. As fans of a show. Bringing attention to a charity run. It can introduce you to people, however virtually, that you would never have met before.Isn’t that a good thing?

So maybe a facebook group wasn’t responsible for stopping a starbucks in Brighton, but if people could use the group to share information, arrange protests.

Isn’t that a good thing?

Steve

sponsered by the ‘Defend Facebook groups’ group.’

And amazingly, they responded!

nikbutler Says: April 19th, 2009 at 3:29 pm 

Steve, fantastic that your taking time out to comment. I promise we’ll come back to this topic now that Facebook have decided that its easier to make things harder in navigation. Cheers for the ears my friend.

They even twittered that I had commented! It felt good.

The BBC show Pods and Blogs twittered that people should send them suggestions for Pods and Blogs. I sent them the link to www.mrvista.net 

They responded, thanking me for the tip and commenting that they liked the show. Then finally I got the tweet

‘Thanks for your top tip. Mr Vista joining us on Pods this week!’

As part of my Podcast Studies series of articles, I mentioned I’m taking inspiration from the book Come in Alone by Warren Ellis. I emailed Warren Ellis, mentioning my plans and asking if it would be okay with him.

Within the day he emailed me back; ‘Go right ahead. Thanks.’ 

I can’t fully explain how happy it made me, not that he had said it was okay, but that he actually replied. 
Why wouldn’t he? I don’t know, but I have a perception issue of my worth and the worth of my words in relation to others. In other words in my world I am still terribly terribly English.

Once I was alone in a carriage on the Tube, when who should step on

Terrence Stamp I resisted the urge to do or say anything, resisted?and when he got off, he, winked, at me! 

When people ask me about Twitter, I’m bound to say, ‘and I’ve used it to ‘chat’ with Jonathan Ross, yes the real Ross, we talked about Kevin Smith and Rambo’ (not at the same time)

And of course Terrence Stamp and Jonathan Ross go to parties and talk about how they chatted with me.

What was I saying?

So, doing my part, well firstly im going to increasing leave comments on Pods and Blogs that I’ve enjoyed or have created a reaction in me. The enjoyed can be part of the problem, some people produce regular content, and so sending an almost daily message of I enjoyed this might start to become meaningless. Almost need a regular rating system like you tube, so you can show support without always leaving a full comment. Systems like this do exist, so maybe the creation of a kudos system, or if one does exist you can let me know. So I can show my liking of support of a show on a regular basis, if the show deserves it.

So part of what I’ve done is set up a google profile and google reader  to share blog entries that I find interesting and feel that you might too. Kind of like retweetin on twitter which I am more then happy to do, a friend once called me a retweet fiend… 
As well as retweeting, I actively take part in Twitters #follow Friday and a friend (@lescochrane) recently asked surely there is more point in recommending a few people along with a recent why, rather then lists of random names. And I certainly understand his point. Whilst at the same time there are people, outside of the celeb(@valebrity) that I feel once added would add to the Twitter experience.

So what I’m doing is changing my blog schedule, and making Fridays #follow Friday. And what I’ll do is give a reason behind the names I’m suggesting. We’ll see how that goes.  

The reason to do all this is because of the other part of the problem. 

The Trolls!

Or as my old nan used to say, ‘If you’ve got nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all’

Make a difference to somebody’s day, let them know, you know what they’ve done. But in a good way.

And please join in the conversation by leaving your thoughts in the comment section or recommending to me Podcasts you think I should check out.

Lucy started it. Dom tagged Tim. And in Sept 2008 he linked to me. And thus half a year later, here is the meme.

Find a song that sums up what you think it means to be a writer and post the lyrics on your blog and why you’ve chosen it. NB: It doesn’t have to be your favourite song, it just has to express how you feel about writing and/or being a writer. It can be literal, metaphorical, about a particular form or aspect of writing – whatever you want. Then tag 5 others to do the same (reprint these instructions).

I picked Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now by The Smiths.

I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour
But heaven knows I’m miserable now

I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And heaven knows I’m miserable now

In my life
Why do I give valuable time
To people who don’t care if I live or die ?

Two lovers entwined pass me by
And heaven knows I’m miserable now

Now lets remember this is meant to be Inspiring!

www.gapingvoid.com

Writing is a vocation, it’s an art. And as such, we do it even when it makes us miserable, because we need to. We have all gotten a job at some point that hasn’t enriched us, that has made us even more miserable.

What ever your vocation, when you find something you love, pursue it because no matter how miserable you may get, when you get to the good bit, its amazing. Or so they tell me.

If there is a purpose to anything, what is it? Somebody once told me the reason we are here is to create art and I believe him.

Tag:

Amy Harrison

Katie Mccullough

Tom Lane

Kevin Proctor 

Aidan Goatley

Before I discuss the developments on the board and go into any further details, I’d like to one more time make a reference to Tim Clague’s Blog:

www.timclague.com

The Balance

 A question often raised in person but rarely blogged is – how do we earn our cash.

Few people earn 100% of their income from the scriptwriting of dramatic narrative material. Suki directs adverts, Danny as we all know does script reading and I work in the corporate sector.

In the end it all comes down to being clear about your goals and what you want. Even as I write that it seems obvious. But how many of us actually do have that clarity? How long will you continue to write as you have been doing before you change tactics? How are you measuring how successful you are? What is your actual goal for earning money through film making this year? What about next year? What about in 10 years time?

We don’t like these sort of questions. They don’t seem artistic. But we also don’t like them because they hold up a mirror and we may feel uncomfortable. But they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable if we had a plan. Just a quick plan. A plan about balance and slowly increasing our scriptwriting work.

Yesterday I met up with Christina Ferguson from the Development Hell blog. She had an interesting story about how she (kind of) quit her job . You know when your life feels wrong. The only answer is to act.

***extra bit*** Meeting Christina shows me the power of the blog in action. People all over the world coming together to share new ideas. We’d never met – but we had a lot of shared experiences already.

Marton House, the company Tim works for also produced this video:

Caroline Bannock was the youngest ever associate producer for ABC News. She talks about the ultimate work pressure, working in a war zone to tight broadcast deadline – and how she now has achieved a better balance in her life.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7drfj_work-life-balance_lifestyle

That balance is where I failed so often before both in terms of finding a was to earn money that complemented what I was doing, both in terms of me having the opportunity to follow my creative projects and also left me energized to follow them.

And I was constantly failing in terms of balancing between personal life and creative life.

So what’s changed?

Plus I’m practicing what I preach, I can’t get annoyed with them for not producing if I’m not producing, or blogging or developing.

And so by doing this, I should, in theory at least also get better at my job.

And how did I improve the balance between personal and creative life? I’m single!

So I’m no longer failing form a certain point of view.

It’s a life choice I think about all the time a lot of friends my age are now married and children are turning up at an alarming rate. From where I’m not entirely sure.

I’m growing accustomed to the idea of being Uncle Steven, to my friends kids.

Sorry that all got a little melancholy. Anyway…

I edited out of a previous post and put it in here, because well, it seemed more appropriate and was very relevant.

As I said this is something I’m really trying to embrace this year. We shall see what the success rate is.

I’m teaching, full time, Media Production, and whilst it can be mentally tiring and I have a stack of marking to get done, it also inspires me. I’m teaching on the same college course I once studied. And so I feel like I’m giving something back and when quality work is produced, well it’s a good feeling.

So Monday, well who doesn’t want to be inspired on a Monday.

Tuesday, I’ll be showing you some of my old work that I produced, and hopefully to give this whole thing a point, I’ll even be showing new work that I’ve produced as well…

Wednesday, Tuesday is a light day, teaching wise, so I’m going to be reviewing and highlighting Pods and Podcasters that I enjoy or have enjoyed and will even attempt to put some analytical thought into it!

Thursday, I’ll be updating the other blogs so be sure to check them out.

Friday, I’ll update the whiteboard, if something should get added, taken away of heaven forbid put into red, you’ll be the first to know.

Saturday, just in case life should inconsiderately get in the way.

Sunday, I’ll recommend somebody else that’s deserving of your attention!

Who thinks I’ll make a week? And that’s just the blog.

I also aim to achieve an average of 5 Boo Reviews a week.

And the previously mentioned 90% average on my Daily Mugshots.

12 seconds.tv  I’m going to be using to provide brief updates on the different projects that are being worked upon. When I meet up with others working on the project I’ll attempt to get them to do the update to give you a break from me, but no promises.

Note: 12 seconds is not a lot of time at all…

Okay for status updates on non-OnMeJack blogged projects after today, check out their individual blogs.

OnMeJack

On Tuesdays blog I’ll be updating it with the individual writing projects I’m working on which include an audio project, a play and a feature script. 

Lightminded Fringe

 Jimmy and Table Guy

http://12seconds.tv/channel/onmejack/138736

 Self Centered

http://12seconds.tv/channel/onmejack/138742

 Butternut Squash

http://12seconds.tv/channel/onmejack/139002

The Decoys

 Sweet and Sour

http://12seconds.tv/channel/onmejack/139008

 Frank

 http://12seconds.tv/channel/onmejack/139009

 The Decoys

http://12seconds.tv/channel/onmejack/139016

 The Chimp Presents 

 The Youth of Today

 http://12seconds.tv/channel/onmejack/139022

 If You’ve done nothing Wrong…

 http://12seconds.tv/channel/onmejack/139025

So together lets see if these statuss, stati ?!? Anyway, lets see if these actually change or not.

Personally I’m hoping so.

I’ve been on holiday from College for easter and so it has enabled me to work on projects and develop the blogs and that’s been great, but back next week and the challenge will be maintaining the habits I started.

www.gapingvoid.com is a constant them of inspiration for me. here is the first in a series of pictures that I love and want to share.

By Hugh MacLeod

When I’m feeling low,totally fed up with digital marketing and listening to people whining on about doom, gloom and how things can’t be done, a few minutes reading Hugh McCloud gives me my enthusiasm back. His article on creativity is exactly what I have been looking for ever since I heard the MD of an Irish agency a few years ago talking about that left and right brain theory . I’ve always felt depressed at analysis that puts people into boxes (stems from a failure to get into art college and therefore forever branded as “non creative”), so its nice to have a blog to turn to that cheers me up in those dire times. Hugh is also a bit of a branding and strategy master, so its good to have a read of his latest article before you start on that big branding  / strategy job, again, mostly for the drive and enthusiasm it will generate in your soul!

How many of us walk through our lives, saying to ourselves, “I’d wish I were living life on my own terms. “Probably quite a few. It’s easy to feel like things are out of your hands, especially in today’s environment. That’s why I have so much respect for Hugh MacLeod, author of Gaping Void. Hugh is living life on his terms. Making, and selling, art the way he wants to, not the way ‘the man’ wants you to believe it must be done.

It always comes back to marketing

Hugh is embarking on a challenging, rewarding and fulfilling journey, selling fine art prints direct to consumers.

Everything about the venture is pure Hugh. He’s named his tribe Crazy, Deranged Fools, and I for one am interested in joining such a group.

If you know his work, Hugh has carved out a completely unique spot – he draws incredibly insightful cartoons on the back of business cards. Check out some of his work here and here.

But his latest venture are the fine art prints, much larger than his business card work. 

The truth is, most of us are not creative geniuses. But that shouldn’t be an excuse for not living life on your own terms.

Once again, Hugh McLeod articulates exactly what’s on my mind.  And that’s all of you.  Inside and out. Here and there. And *you*.

I’ve heard/read a number of bloggers question the future of blogs recently – some of them writers of very well read international sites with tons of readers. While I don’t think blogging was a fad that’s going to vanish anytime soon, I do think there are a number of trends at play re-shaping the blogosphere as we know it:

Media blogs:

Traditional media owners took their time but have now caught up with the amateur bloggers and taken the best elements of the quick fix, personally written blog and combined it with some appealing new qualities (like the ability to write). Alot of the content now floating around the blogosphere is actually originally generated by journalists that are getting paid to do it. As a blog reader i’ve found myself increasingly cutting out the middleman blogs and going straight to a few insightful content producers writing on topics that I follow (most of them are written by journalists).

Progs:

At the same time many of the key non-journalist bloggers have been around for many years now and have grown from amateur commentators to what i’d call professional bloggers (proggers?): they have a business model based around blogging. Many of these now have the scale and feel of a media company (not necessarily a bad thing) psfk.com for example. Some have actually become media companies such as The Huffington Post. For new bloggers theses sites are pretty hard to compete with as they dominate Google search results on any topic they consider to write about. At best new blogs can hope to grow their audience by acting as a feeder blog (one referenced by these super blogs).

Microblogging:

Twitter is one of the key agents of change in the blogosphere. Many blogs were based around re-posting others content. Twitter does this faster and more efficiently and is much less hassle than typing into wordpress etc. I suspect many (lazy) bloggers that weren’t producing original content themselves are switching over to Twitter to share links.

The future:

Original content on a specialist area of interest for me is the future of blogs. Unless blogs have a unique perspective and a stream of content that isn’t simply regurgitated from The New York Times or engadget I think they’ll start to fade away as blog readers become more settled in their online reading habits and stick with a small number of trusted sources.

(as a non-journalist/progger I of course realise the irony of this post but at least i didn’t pinch it from Gaping Void etc etc)

Update: Bloggasm recently did a quick survey on leading blogs which points out how they are regurgitating content rather creating original stories.

This post is part 1 of 2, and they will effectively be my only link updates for December. A shame considering I kept the updates fairly consistent beforehand, but December isn’t the easiest month to keep on top of things – particularly with ATP and illness.

Anyway…

Social media

• I’ve been using Twitter a lot more recently – I think the main reason is the use of Tweetdeck, which has useful filter features within a great interface. This has allowed me to distinguish signal from noise to a greater degree – something that concerns me with social media. Two posts on the subject resonated with me – Inquisitr’s “Is Social Media Becoming A Social Mess” and The Tumbling Cod’s “I’m Pretty Sure Tumblr Makes You Stupid“

• Most people reading will be familiar with the furore over Chris Brogan’s sponsored post. For those unaware, Jeremiah Owyang has a comprehensive overview of the situation. I think Chris Brogan defended his position well (for the record, I have no problem with it so long as it is disclosed. If it happens more frequently than I’d like, like others I would unsubscribe) while Dirk Singer wrote the best opinion piece on the matter that I read.

• Jeremiah Owyang has an overview of the different ways in which companies can respond to the personal brands of their employees in the social media sphere.

• E-Consultancy looks at social media’s metric problems. A while back, I wondered how best to measure the online sphere in general. I don’t envisage a universal answer being forthcoming anytime soon.

• JP Rangaswami has a thought-provoking post on the nature of asymmetric networks and conversations within the social media sphere, while James Governor also gives his thoughts on the asymmetric follow

• Tamar Weinberg has published the ultimate social media etiquette handbook

• Paul Carr has a typically humorous post on his experiences at LeWeb, and the fallout from the less than perfect proceedings

• Hugh Macleod has put together his manifesto on why social objects are the future of marketing. A brilliant read.

• Graeme Wood has put together a great presentation (with notes) on the future of media

• Mashable argue that relevancy, timing and persuading users to seek out advertising are the keys to Facebook succeeding in overcoming its advertising problem

• A superlist of what not to do in social media

• Bubble Comment is  a new tool that lets you overlay video comments onto websites. I’m not sure whether this constitutes fair use, so it may not be around for all that long in its current form, but worth a look.

The Internet

• Ged Carroll has published 29 not very technical things that every PR should know – some solid advice and some great tips in there

• The Guardian have published their top 100 websites for the year ahead – a couple of notable omissions but by and large a good list

• Merlin Mann responds to the productivity/advice blog genre that has eaten itself. His contention is that it is wrong for people to look for quick tips and lifehacks – the best way to improve is to follow a cohesive and comprehensive plan. We should concentrate on doing, rather than living vicariously.

• Cory Doctorow puts forward a persuasive argument for not extending the copyright privileges of recording artists

• An interesting article in Wired on how a potentially lethal flaw in the Internet architecture was discovered

Research and data

• The latest Trend Blend map is available. Download it along with previous editions here

• I’m a sucker for both data and innovative presentation, so Flowing Data’s 5 best data visualisations of the year was a no-brainer for me

• Research Talk have an excellent article asking just how healthy brand health measurement is?

• I loved this accumulation of elements affected by the financial crisis – whether beer, marriage or personal maintenance

• The year in media errors and corrections – there are some zingers in there

• Dataopedia is a brilliant, free resource pulling together all the publicly available stats for different websites.

A pretty huge list. So, for those that don’t have a lot of spare time over the Xmas period I would particularly recommend Jeremiah on the Izea brouhaha, JP on asymmetric networks,  Hugh on why social objects are the future of marketing, Guardian’s top 100 websites and the latest trend blend map

sk

Last week, I managed to get hold of a limited edition work of art by former Turner Prize winner Keith Tyson.

I was alerted by way of The Guardian, that his website was sending them out on a first come first served basis. Basically I had to enter a few details, and then it instantly downloaded onto my desktop. 1 of 5000. Checked against my IP address so I couldn’t apply for more than one.

I would have told you all about it when it happened, but I’ve had a nasty case of manflu, and haven’t blogged much.

I think the free art idea is a brilliant idea for all manner of reasons. It’s very like Hugh MacLeod’s idea of the social object. Well – it’s probably not his idea per se, but he has brought together the principles in a unique way, and applied them to art, so I’m going to call it his idea.

As an artist – do you do it for love or for money? Would you do it for nothing if you could? It increases the kudos of an artist like Keith Tyson, who has never really cared what the establishment thinks anyway. It gets people talking and generates interest in what he’s doing. People talk about it, and so the meme spreads. It spreads much more than any amount of knocking on doors, showing works in galleries, or chasing lazy over-blown art dealers will ever do.

In fact I’m thinking of doing it myself. I’d far rather you had a piece of my work on the wall for free than not have ANY on your wall because you don’t have the money.

I have spent a good one year on the online front – read a lot of gyan, heard a lot of gyan and now started giving a little gyan. Liking the deal a lot.

Figured out what different jobs in this sector means – the usual – the front end developer, the back end developer, the 2D guy, the 3D guy, the Search Engine Optimizer, the Search Engine Marketer, the founder (no offence – some guys are just this), the worker (the rest).

However, the biggest “buzz” (the word used in purpose) is over Social Media. What do they do actually?

Hugh Mcleod seems to be making another Social Object using the Social Media monster. Like the entire feel to it

[Warning: you may like to grab a cuppa and take your time with this post. It's a LONG one.]

When Andy Bargery announced the London Bloggers Meetup competition where entrants had to state why they felt they deserved a free ticket to Blog08, the day-long conference for bloggers in Amsterdam, I entered for fun. I never dreamed that playing around with Powerpoint with pictures of strange clogs and a tune called ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ could possibly win; it was surely too weird. Regardless, I put the entry together and dutifully sent it off, only to be shocked to the hilt when the bloggers’ website announced I’d won. I really thought Lolly had it in the bag because her entry was so social networking-tastic.

Of course, plenty of people are capable of winning competitions without promising to do something stupid if they win. Not me. In my entry I promised to wear clogs, All. Day. Long. at Blog08 and I also pledged to set up a blog about clogs. When I won, (and being a woman of my word), that’s exactly what I did. Would I do it again? If it involves wearing big wooden clogs painted with a Fresian cow pattern to an event where I know not a single soul, then probably not. However, Clogblogger, the blog I started as a result of the competition, has actually been a surprising amount of fun, so yes to that one.

Blog08 was the brainchild of two Dutch blog prodigies, Ernst-Jan Pfauth and Edial Dekker. Compared to me, these early twenty-somethings are babes in arms but their c.v.s are impressive. For instance, Ernst-Jan is Editor-in-Chief of The Next Web Blog and also of award-winning blog, Spotlight Effect, whilst somehow finding time to write an e-book about the Dutch blogosphere AND plan this blog conference. Meanwhile, his partner in crime, Edial, is an editor of Spotlight Effect and founder of MaptheGap, a mobile start-up. The three of us had chatted a bit online prior to me reaching Amsterdam, and the lads were encouraging about my wearing of clogs; they’d even put a post about me on the Blog08 site. However, Ernst-Jan’s face when he saw me in the Fresian Wonders is something I will not easily forget. His jaw dropped slightly, eyebrows raised high and the forthcoming high-pitched giggle showed that he hadn’t really believed that I’d wear clogs. “They’re…um…. COOL!” he told me, still laughing a bit, “and you match!” That was certainly true. I was black-and-white colour-coordinated with my clogs. Too cool for school. Or not, as the case may be.

Initially, my fellow bloggers looked me up and down and dismissed me as a viable person to talk to as soon as they spotted the clogs. I started to think I’d made a serious error of judgment in wearing these things. Then no one sat in my row so clog-related paranoia set in. There were plenty of rows to sit in about the hall, yet mine remained ominously empty as the rest filled up with bloggers keen to hear the experts’ views on the blogosphere. When a man did finally sit with me and chat a bit, I was relieved, but he made such a quick getaway at tea time that I couldn’t keep up in my cumbersome Klompen.   

Meanwhile, the conference commenced and a tall bald guy in a white suit reminiscent of those worn by the hosts on Fantasy Island, introduced himself as Patrick de Laive, the Blog08 moderator. Then Pete Cashmore taught us his technique for building a blog empire the Mashable way (see my Cashing-in with Cashmore post), and a Dutch chap called Nalden took to the stage to show off what you can do with your blog if you have 150,000 Euros to burn and a talent for merchandising.

At different points there were panels of blogging aficionados inviting active discussion on current affairs of relevance to bloggers, but somehow they always got stuck on one topic so that the tweets from the Blog08 backchannel, being projected onto screens to either side of the stage, would get a bit antsy, referring to stuck records and the like.

The most debated topics were:

• Why aren’t there more women at Blog08? (this was an issue, both on-stage AND in the audience, so a journalist from England was pulled up onto the stage to represent women in one panel.)
• Can you be transparent on the web? (Some say yes; Loren Feldman says an unequivocal NO).
• Is blogging journalism and can journalism use blogging? (Fiery activity on this one; the general consensus was that the two are inter-linked and sometimes inter-changeable but the polar opposite opinions of yes or no could not see eye-to-eye).
• Is blogging dead? Well, obviously not because otherwise what were 250 of us doing at the conference?
• Is micro-blogging the new blogging? Only if you can’t spell or you work in PR, apparently. People either love to tweet or can’t be bothered. The audience was split, even though the Blog08 Twitter backchannel was unavoidably displayed to us with such lively tweet activity that it had to be hidden at times.

After a full-on morning, we bloggers needed sustenance and I have to say that lunch was a bit odd. By this point I’d made friends with some of the more clog-friendly bloggers, so I didn’t eat alone (thank my sainted clogs) and the buffet of filled ciabatta sandwiches was normal enough, but the drinks made me wonder. There were three groups of glasses filled with milk, orange juice or more milk. What? I’d never seen anything like it before, but as my new friend informed me, the Dutch love to drink milk. At least all this milk seemed to complement my cow clog theme. Meanwhile, in the corner of the lunch room, a couple of men watched me with suspicion, as if I might jump up and clogger them with my clogs at any moment. The sense of humour I’d so expected was lacking in such folk and, unfortunately for me, they weren’t alone. 

Back in the lecture hall, we heard a range of speakers, their presentations varying greatly in both theme and viewpoint. Boris van der Ham, a member of the Dutch House of Representatives, talked about using his blog to connect with his constituents , something of particular interest given the 2008 US elections witnessing a  huge boom in political blogging. 

Scott Rafer, the CEO of Lookery, blinded us with science as he told us how his site provides a service to help site owners ‘amplify their audience data’. In explaining the importance of his particular tools, he vented frustration from his dealings with Facebook management, telling us that ‘they don’t care about anyone’. He also recommended considering carefully before signing up to the new Facebook Connect because of data storage concerns which Facebook staff aren’t sufficiently answering. Rafer claims that Facebook is helping Microsoft to gain market share against Google, but that’s hardly surprising in a competitive market. What interested me was that Facebook tracks every search made through its platform, linking those searches with relevant advertisers, which is how we end up getting so much SPAM. According to Rafer this will only intensify under Facebook Connect. Conversely, Rafer’s site, Lookery, was set up according to the strictest privacy laws on the planet, (which just so happen to be German), and they utilise and store their data according to those laws. When Rafer’s presentation ended, the audience sat slightly stunned. The Blog08 moderator thanked Rafer by telling him: “That was a really nerdy presentation!” Nerdy, perhaps, but I’ve already signed up to Lookery to learn more about my audience. So far, so good. 

Next on stage was Loren Feldman, controversial vlogger-stroke-puppeteer, telling us how he got to where he is today. In a nutshell, he found himself to be an ageing actor with plenty to say about everything, so chose the blog/ vlog arena in which to say it. Most of the bloggers in the audience had already seen his Blog08 site vlog post appealing for our help as he claimed not to know where Amsterdam was (this was thankfully prior to his arrival). Did Björk come from Amsterdam? he pondered. I’ll have to dedicate a separate post to Feldman because he was one of the most refreshingly direct and unabashedly opinionated presenters at Blog08, making him one of the conference’s highlights.

Then we heard from Dutch internet millionaire and entrepreneur, Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, co-founder of The Next Web Blog and unnervingly wearing the same white suit as Patrick de Laive. It turns out they’re business partners, so this wasn’t a new Dutch trend, as had occurred to me might be the case. White suits on men are unusual enough in summer; in Amsterdam the weather outside was atrocious, so the white suits looked even more odd. To intensify the surrealism of this, Boris demonstrated his unicycle techniques by riding from one end of the stage to the other, and back again. Just when we were pinching ourselves to check we weren’t in some sort of Fantasy Island circus hallucination, Boris started to explain why he thinks that blog prowess is next to godliness. It was a confusion of philosophy and theology, of technology and circus performance leading to the very special conclusion that (to himself, at least) Boris is God. Perhaps that’s why he wears white. This presentation was strange, yes, but forgettable? Not likely.

Moving swiftly on, an obviously jet-lagged Hugh MacLeod, cartoonist extraordinaire of Gaping Void fame, whose post ‘How to be Creative’ has been downloaded a million-plus times and is due to be published as a book next year, entertained us with his amusing doodles and ponderings on life. I’ll write a separate post about MacLeod, as some of his advice is wisdom on a stick. 

It was the last presenter who made us all sit up and take notice at the end of this nine-hour blog-fest: Gabe Mac, self-proclaimed Bad Mother Vlogger, took the day’s Rockstar theme to the extreme as he pranced around the stage to a funky remix of a classic Scottish pipes tune. He wore streaks of blusher, serious eye make-up and twanged his Wii Air Guitar madly. He had our full attention. His siren of a sidekick sported bright red stilettos and figure-hugging leggings, dancing about him with a giant video camera, causing the feminists in the audience to tut tut and shake their heads. I think that was the point. Then Gabe Mac toked on a spliff rolled for him on stage by Stiletto Chick, crooning “good stuff, baby”, and any thoughts of audience fatigue left the room. Like him or hate him, we wouldn’t be bored by him.

Gabe Mac told us his vlogging evolution story which suitably began in Amsterdam but is now based in Madrid. We watched some of his own favourite posts and tolerated his thespian arrogance and shameless self-promotion. In summary, I think Gabe Mac was acting his pants off for us, but can’t really be sure, just that off-stage he seemed like a much quieter soul than he was projecting to us in his presentation. You probably need to decide for yourself whether or not he’s worth watching. Check the link at the end of this post to see what this Bad Mother Vlogger is all about.

Throughout the day a band of rock musicians called Love OD rocked us awake, literally, so that we’d soon OD-ed on their brand of ‘love’. However, as the theme for Blog08 was “Rockstars of the Web”, I suppose the first theme accessory must be a rock band, so there they were and, in keeping with said theme, the lone freebie handed out to everyone on arrival had been Blog08-branded guitar picks. Somewhat bemused as to what I’d use it for, mine went in my pocket, but I later saw someone wearing a bracelet made with lots of the picks and it looked fantastic. I’d found out too late that the dress code was ‘Rock star’ so hadn’t had time to change my clogs to something a bit zanier, however, at Heathrow I had bought a few rock guitar-shaped pins in aid of the charity, Ability Net, which uses technology to help people with disabilities, so I was wearing one of these to show willing. It also struck me as a suitable charity for bloggers to support.

In summary, Blog08 was a fascinating exercise in debating what’s hot and what’s not on the web today. Transparent or not, microblogger or not, there were strong opinions and plenty of voices willing to air their views. The presenters were a varied bunch, providing us with valuable insight into the blogosphere of today, and the audience was keen to participate. As this was an inaugural event, it’ll be interesting to see whether Ernst-Jan and Edial plan a Blog09. If they do, I’d be keen to attend, only this time I think I’ll leave the clogs at home.

Useful links:

Blog08: http://blog08.nl/

The Next Web Blog: http://thenextweb.com/

Spotlight Effect: http://www.spotlighteffect.nl/

Mashable: http://mashable.com/

Nalden: http://www.nalden.net/#/newsitem/802/

Loren Feldman http://www.1938media.com/

Ability Net: http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/

Lookery: http://www.lookery.com/

Gaping Void: http://www.gapingvoid.com/

Gabe Mac: http://gabemac.com/

In case you missed it, here’s my long overdue review of Blog08 in Amsterdam, written for the London Bloggers Meetup Group site.

[Warning: you may like to grab a cuppa and take your time with this post. It’s a LONG one.]

When Andy Bargery announced the London Bloggers Meetup competition where entrants had to state why they felt they deserved a free ticket to Blog08, the day-long conference for bloggers in Amsterdam, I entered for fun. I never dreamed that playing around with Powerpoint with pictures of strange clogs and a tune called ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ could possibly win; it was surely too weird. Regardless, I put the entry together and dutifully sent it off, only to be shocked to the hilt when the bloggers’ website announced I’d won. I really thought Lolly had it in the bag because her entry was so social networking-tastic.

Of course, plenty of people are capable of winning competitions without promising to do something stupid if they win. Not me. In my entry I promised to wear clogs, All. Day. Long. at Blog08 and I also pledged to set up a blog about clogs. When I won, (and being a woman of my word), that’s exactly what I did. Would I do it again? If it involves wearing big wooden clogs painted with a Fresian cow pattern to an event where I know not a single soul, then probably not. However, Clogblogger, the blog I started as a result of the competition, has actually been a surprising amount of fun, so yes to that one.

Blog08 was the brainchild of two Dutch blog prodigies, Ernst-Jan Pfauth and Edial Dekker. Compared to me, these early twenty-somethings are babes in arms but their c.v.s are impressive. For instance, Ernst-Jan is Editor-in-Chief of The Next Web Blog and also of award-winning blog, Spotlight Effect, whilst somehow finding time to write an e-book about the Dutch blogosphere AND plan this blog conference. Meanwhile, his partner in crime, Edial, is an editor of Spotlight Effect and founder of MaptheGap, a mobile start-up. The three of us had chatted a bit online prior to me reaching Amsterdam, and the lads were encouraging about my wearing of clogs; they’d even put a post about me on the Blog08 site. However, Ernst-Jan’s face when he saw me in the Fresian Wonders is something I will not easily forget. His jaw dropped slightly, eyebrows raised high and the forthcoming high-pitched giggle showed that he hadn’t really believed that I’d wear clogs. “They’re…um…. COOL!” he told me, still laughing a bit, “and you match!” That was certainly true. I was black-and-white colour-coordinated with my clogs. Too cool for school. Or not, as the case may be.

Initially, my fellow bloggers looked me up and down and dismissed me as a viable person to talk to as soon as they spotted the clogs. I started to think I’d made a serious error of judgment in wearing these things. Then no one sat in my row so clog-related paranoia set in. There were plenty of rows to sit in about the hall, yet mine remained ominously empty as the rest filled up with bloggers keen to hear the experts’ views on the blogosphere. When a man did finally sit with me and chat a bit, I was relieved, but he made such a quick getaway at tea time that I couldn’t keep up in my cumbersome Klompen.  

Meanwhile, the conference commenced and a tall bald guy in a white suit reminiscent of those worn by the hosts on Fantasy Island, introduced himself as Patrick de Laive, the Blog08 moderator. Then Pete Cashmore taught us his technique for building a blog empire the Mashable way (see my Cashing-in with Cashmore post), and a Dutch chap called Nalden took to the stage to show off what you can do with your blog if you have 150,000 Euros to burn and a talent for merchandising.

At different points there were panels of blogging aficionados inviting active discussion on current affairs of relevance to bloggers, but somehow they always got stuck on one topic so that the tweets from the Blog08 backchannel, being projected onto screens to either side of the stage, would get a bit antsy, referring to stuck records and the like.

The most debated topics were:

·     Why aren’t there more women at Blog08? (this was an issue, both on-stage AND in the audience, so a journalist from England was pulled up onto the stage to represent women in one panel.)

·     Can you be transparent on the web? (Some say yes; Loren Feldman says an unequivocal NO).

·     Is blogging journalism and can journalism use blogging? (Fiery activity on this one; the general consensus was that the two are inter-linked and sometimes inter-changeable but the polar opposite opinions of yes or no could not see eye-to-eye).

·     Is blogging dead? Well, obviously not because otherwise what were 250 of us doing at the conference?

·     Is micro-blogging the new blogging? Only if you can’t spell or you work in PR, apparently. People either love to tweet or can’t be bothered. The audience was split, even though the Blog08 Twitter backchannel was unavoidably displayed to us with such lively tweet activity that it had to be hidden at times.

After a full-on morning, we bloggers needed sustenance and I have to say that lunch was a bit odd. By this point I’d made friends with some of the more clog-friendly bloggers, so I didn’t eat alone (thank my sainted clogs) and the buffet of filled ciabatta sandwiches was normal enough, but the drinks made me wonder. There were three groups of glasses filled with milk, orange juice or more milk. What? I’d never seen anything like it before, but as my new friend informed me, the Dutch love to drink milk. At least all this milk seemed to complement my cow clog theme. Meanwhile, in the corner of the lunch room, a couple of men watched me with suspicion, as if I might jump up and clogger them with my clogs at any moment. The sense of humour I’d so expected was lacking in such folk and, unfortunately for me, they weren’t alone.

Back in the lecture hall, we heard a range of speakers, their presentations varying greatly in both theme and viewpoint. Boris van der Ham, a member of the Dutch House of Representatives, talked about using his blog to connect with his constituents , something of particular interest given the 2008 US elections witnessing a  huge boom in political blogging.

Scott Rafer, the CEO of Lookery, blinded us with science as he told us how his site provides a service to help site owners ‘amplify their audience data’. In explaining the importance of his particular tools, he vented frustration from his dealings with Facebook management, telling us that ‘they don’t care about anyone’. He also recommended considering carefully before signing up to the new Facebook Connect because of data storage concerns which Facebook staff aren’t sufficiently answering. Rafer claims that Facebook is helping Microsoft to gain market share against Google, but that’s hardly surprising in a competitive market. What interested me was that Facebook tracks every search made through its platform, linking those searches with relevant advertisers, which is how we end up getting so much SPAM. According to Rafer this will only intensify under Facebook Connect. Conversely, Rafer’s site, Lookery, was set up according to the strictest privacy laws on the planet, (which just so happen to be German), and they utilise and store their data according to those laws. When Rafer’s presentation ended, the audience sat slightly stunned. The Blog08 moderator thanked Rafer by telling him: “That was a really nerdy presentation!” Nerdy, perhaps, but I’ve already signed up to Lookery to learn more about my audience. So far, so good.

Next on stage was Loren Feldman, controversial vlogger-stroke-puppeteer, telling us how he got to where he is today. In a nutshell, he found himself to be an ageing actor with plenty to say about everything, so chose the blog/ vlog arena in which to say it. Most of the bloggers in the audience had already seen his Blog08 site vlog post appealing for our help as he claimed not to know where Amsterdam was (this was thankfully prior to his arrival). Did Björk come from Amsterdam? he pondered. I’ll have to dedicate a separate post to Feldman because he was one of the most refreshingly direct and unabashedly opinionated presenters at Blog08, making him one of the conference’s highlights.

Then we heard from Dutch internet millionaire and entrepreneur, Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, co-founder of The Next Web Blog and unnervingly wearing the same white suit as Patrick de Laive. It turns out they’re business partners, so this wasn’t a new Dutch trend, as had occurred to me might be the case. White suits on men are unusual enough in summer; in Amsterdam the weather outside was atrocious, so the white suits looked even more odd. To intensify the surrealism of this, Boris demonstrated his unicycle techniques by riding from one end of the stage to the other, and back again. Just when we were pinching ourselves to check we weren’t in some sort of Fantasy Island circus hallucination, Boris started to explain why he thinks that blog prowess is next to godliness. It was a confusion of philosophy and theology, of technology and circus performance leading to the very special conclusion that (to himself, at least) Boris is God. Perhaps that’s why he wears white. This presentation was strange, yes, but forgettable? Not likely.

Moving swiftly on, an obviously jet-lagged Hugh MacLeod, cartoonist extraordinaire of Gaping Void fame, whose post ‘How to be Creative’ has been downloaded a million-plus times and is due to be published as a book next year, entertained us with his amusing doodles and ponderings on life. I’ll write a separate post about MacLeod, as some of his advice is wisdom on a stick.

It was the last presenter who made us all sit up and take notice at the end of this nine-hour blog-fest: Gabe Mac, self-proclaimed Bad Mother Vlogger, took the day’s Rockstar theme to the extreme as he pranced around the stage to a funky remix of a classic Scottish pipes tune. He wore streaks of blusher, serious eye make-up and twanged his Wii Air Guitar madly. He had our full attention. His siren of a sidekick sported bright red stilettos and figure-hugging leggings, dancing about him with a giant video camera, causing the feminists in the audience to tut tut and shake their heads. I think that was the point. Then Gabe Mac toked on a spliff rolled for him on stage by Stiletto Chick, crooning “good stuff, baby”, and any thoughts of audience fatigue left the room. Like him or hate him, we wouldn’t be bored by him.

Gabe Mac told us his vlogging evolution story which suitably began in Amsterdam but is now based in Madrid. We watched some of his own favourite posts and tolerated his thespian arrogance and shameless self-promotion. In summary, I think Gabe Mac was acting his pants off for us, but can’t really be sure, just that off-stage he seemed like a much quieter soul than he was projecting to us in his presentation. The crowd also seemed to enjoy his interview of Bas from Dutch band, Blof but you probably need to decide for yourself whether or not he’s worth watching. Check the link at the end of this post to see what this Bad Mother Vlogger is all about.

(That’s Gabe Mac with Blof heart-throb, Bas Kennis)

Throughout the day a band of rock musicians called Love OD rocked us awake, literally, so that we’d soon OD-ed on their brand of ‘love’. However, as the theme for Blog08 was “Rockstars of the Web”, I suppose the first theme accessory must be a rock band, so there they were and, in keeping with said theme, the lone freebie handed out to everyone on arrival had been Blog08-branded guitar picks. Somewhat bemused as to what I’d use it for, mine went in my pocket, but I later saw someone wearing a bracelet made with lots of the picks and it looked fantastic. I’d found out too late that the dress code was ‘Rock star’ so hadn’t had time to change my clogs to something a bit zanier, however, at Heathrow I had bought a few rock guitar-shaped pins in aid of the charity, Ability Net, which uses technology to help people with disabilities, so I was wearing one of these to show willing. It also struck me as a suitable charity for bloggers to support.

In summary, Blog08 was a fascinating exercise in debating what’s hot and what’s not on the web today. Transparent or not, microblogger or not, there were strong opinions and plenty of voices willing to air their views. The presenters were a varied bunch, providing us with valuable insight into the blogosphere of today, and the audience was keen to participate. As this was an inaugural event, it’ll be interesting to see whether Ernst-Jan and Edial plan a Blog09. If they do, I’d be keen to attend, only this time I think I’ll leave the clogs at home.

Useful links:

Blog08: http://blog08.nl/

The Next Web Blog: http://thenextweb.com/

Spotlight Effect: http://www.spotlighteffect.nl/

Mashable: http://mashable.com/

Nalden: http://www.nalden.net/#/newsitem/802/

Loren Feldman http://www.1938media.com/

Ability Net: http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/

Lookery: http://www.lookery.com/

Gaping Void: http://www.gapingvoid.com/

Gabe Mac: http://gabemac.com/