Read original article…

Dino Dogan, “The New Groundswell”

• Gutenberg democratized access to information.
• 1% of blogs get 99% of attention. And they don’t deserve it.
• Traffic + ads is an antiquated attention model.
• The next big opportunity is in attention plus influence.
•  If you could get attention without traffic, would you want it?
• Google, Twitter, Facebook had a chance to do something different; they chose to show us ads.
• Always cognitive dissonance when you try to match message w/ influencers who don’t mesh w/ your brand.
• Empires crumble, whether you’re talking about Persian empire, Ottoman empire, or Facebook.
• There’s a flaw in our logic about how to drive traffic. What if Google is not best way to drive traffic?

Dino Dogan, founder of Triberr, speaking at xPotomac

Ken Yarmosh, “Multiscreens: Anytime, Anywhere”

• Too far-fetched to have screens on coffee tables for magazines or to download games?
• What if calls could be seamlessly moved from screen to screen as you walk through your house?
• Every device we have should have the same information without configuration.

Geoff Livingston and Patrick Ashamalla, “Looking through Google Glass”

• A great user design doesn’t demand attention; it focuses it. -Patrick
• Wearable computing technology will make smartphones obsolete in 5-6 years. -Geoff

Photo of Tinu taking a photo of Geoff Livingston with a tablet at xPotomac.

Shonali Burke, “Social Scoring: Are You Worthy?”

• Don’t look at numbers, look for context in influence.
• Technology is not for technology per se.
• Great champions beget more champions.

I was able to win a signed copy of Geoff Livingston’s book Welcome to the Fifth Estate at the beginning of this session when Shonali asked who knew their Klout score. I qualified it by stating that I don’t believe in Klout scores and said that mine was 57. I looked it up moments later to find that it had risen to 58, most likely due to xPotomac activities. As of the writing of this, my Klout is at 59. I’ve compared it to an SAT score. It’s a snapshot, but a number doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about a person. I’ve also compared it to college football rankings. I believe it reflects a certain American obsession with ranking and scoring everything- and on an ongoing, all-too-frequent basis.

Greg Verdino, “Digital Ubiquity”

• Futurists do not predict the future. Who does? Crackpots.
• 500 million devices connected to the internet 10 years ago. In 2008/2009, the number of devices exceeded human population.
• Average home in the US has 20 connected devices.
• Smart paint that tells you when your ceiling is going to crack exists today. It’s probably not in your house.
• If you have a product, you better be prepared to be in the services business.
• A refrigerator should be able to talk to a telephone, or we have a problem moving forward.
• Big data should be looked at as a core asset for your business.
• If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.
• As our population ages, more & more systems fail. We never see the Boomers coming.

Jen Consalvo, “Visual Revolution

• Not a lot of brand activity yet on Vine’s 6-second videos platform.
• 300 million photos uploaded to Facebook every day.
• People connect with pictures. Images gain more engagement.

Andrew Keen, “Big Data Threatens Privacy”

• No surprise photos are central to social media age. We’re in love with ourselves.
• No coincidence that social networks came along as we need to sell ourselves with self-employment, etc. We are brands.

I wasn’t as personally offended at Andrew’s comments as some of my xPotomac associates were. I thought he provided some interesting counterpoints to what we had been hearing all day. Andrew Keen definitely came across as condescending, insulting, and egotistical. Was it a thought-provoking presentation? Yes. Would I want to listen to him again? Not really. Rather than end with his naysaying and the negative feelings that ensued, perhaps it would have been better instead to have started the day with Andrew Keen to merely temper the digital enthusiasm we all felt.

Other noteworthy quotes and insights:

• You have two wallets: money & time. -Kathy Korman Frey, quoting Ted Leonsis
• Social scoring is often more about popularity than it is about influence. -Tinu
• Blogs- purposeful audience builders. These are what social scoring should be taking into account. -Dino Dogan

Also worth reading and reviewing:

Geoff Livingston’s Context Always Mattered, Now It’s Crucial

Sohini Baliga’s Augmented Reality: “Yo, Heads Up!

Jamie Notter’s The Dark Side of the Revolution

Mike Shaffer’s Andrew Keen and the Negative 180s

Geoff Livingston’s Flickr photos of xPotomac reveal the smile of Shonali, the halo effect of Ken Yarmosh, and everything in between.

Eventifier’s compilation of xPotomac photos, videos, tweets, and contributors.

I’d also like to thank other xPotomac attendees who aided my understanding with their insights, comments, questions, and/or tweets: Melanie Spring, Sohini Baliga, Mike Schaffer, Shashi Bellamkonda, Sarah Oyungu, Debbie Friez, Tammy Portnoy, Kiki L’Italien, Colin Storm, Maddie Grant, Jamie Notter, Jim Long, Kathy Korman Frey, Isabel Saldarriaga, RaShonda Rosier, and others.

What stood out to you from xPotomac? What were the memorable moments, quotable quotes, and retweetable tweets? What were the lessons learned? What will you do differently in your business?

Read original article…

“Do executives really value creativity?”

This was the question asked by the Wall Street Journal recently. The article quoted Adobe chief strategist Mark Randall, who said that executives rated creativity higher than integrity and global thinking in the success of their employees. “Managers understand that innovation is the key,” said Randall.

This assertion that managers perceive the need for innovation, and that companies value creativity, appears at odds with the evidence. Companies manage to conformity. The management expert, Gary Hamel, has criticized the persistence of managerial practices that preserve the organizational status quo rather than fostering the uncertainty necessary for realizing potential. As Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant boldly assert in their book, Humanize, “Best practices are evil.”

Too often, management lacks the courage to allow for the unpredictability of randomness. Yet, as illustrated in the examples referenced on this website’s Squish for Business page and in several posts on this blog, it is precisely that deliberate act of being open to serendipity, unmediated engagement and inquisitive conversation that has enabled many of the most notable entrepreneurial, social, and cultural breakthroughs in the last few centuries.

The question then is, do you have the courage to free your organization and allow people to engage in meaningful, organic, conversational experiences?

Jamie was so kind to do a video interview with me on a few key takeaways. Take a looksie -

And a little tidbit, Jamie and I were discussing a few mutual folks we admire and he just happened to mention how much he loves the amazing duo of Joe Gerstandt and Jason Lauritsen. But then again, who doesn’t?

Connect with Jamie Notter on Twitter  and go on over to HumanizeBook.com to get the book. I can’t wait to read it, myself.

And if or if you can’t join the chat, BUY THIS BOOK.

Like most marketing/pr folks out there my bookshelf is loaded with reads from other social media bibles from thought leaders like Brian Solis, Charlene Li, Clay Shirkey, Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, etc. The tools might be quickly antiquated from one publishing date to the next (oh geez, that’s so 2009! *sarcasm*), but the deeper message in these books and in the new release Humanize resonates home (deeply). It’s a call for humanizing business and if you’re as eager to tear through this as I was, then you know exactly the exciting triumphs and sometimes excruciating pain it takes to modernize the “this is the way we’ve always done it” attitude of your organization. Many of us already “get” the tools, but what we need is awakened leadership.

“Creating human organizations requires more than social media. It requires new leadership.”

Did I mention it comes with online worksheets too?!

The authors understand the power and limitations of non-profits and associations in a way few other books out there do.  Through my own strange luck, I happened to meet Maddie and Jamie in the association community two or three years ago (too long here to explain, but let’s just thank my sister KiKi L’Italien and friend Elizabeth Engel for introductions, eggs, and lots of Sunday cocktails amidst flash mob dance practices) and I can only say Maddie and Jamie know their stuff.

Maddie has been a true resource and friend when I started my new position leading digital marketing strategy for a trade association over a year ago. I remember this every time I get tapped to help a friend newly tasked with taking on social media. Believe me, we’re all learning all the time and this book will take you there.

“Follow the white rabbit.”

Join the chat this Friday, Dec 2 at 3pm ET via #ASAEtech. Have a question you’d like to ask Maddie and Jamie? Post it in the comment section below. 

Jamie got me to thinking (as his posts usually do) about why we don’t choose to collaborate more.

My conclusion, envy and ego. We are so afraid of sharing the glory, or seeing someone else get ahead, that we refuse to share the responsibility.

It reminds me of a story I read in Antonio’s Gun and Defino’s Dream by Sam Quinones (as an aside, Mexican Mennonite Drug Lords?). The story was about crabs in a pot of boiling water. When one crab tries to get out of the pot, the other crabs pull him back down; if they can’t get out, why should he.

Envy and ego can destroy an association. Whether it is a staff member undercutting a fellow employee by not sharing timely information, or a board member not fully engaging in a discussion, envy and ego can destroy our attempts to collaborate.

And what makes it worse, is most of us agree that more gets done when you quit worrying about who gets the credit.

I just read Get Me Jamie Notter’s, “Best Practices are Flawed Because We Are Human”blog post. I wondered how many people in our field (one awash with “best practices” talk) might read this. Even if only a few more people do, it is worth passing along here.

I believe we are in the business of promoting creativity and innovation. When we set out to do this in the context of communities, we are automatically engaged in endeavors that happen in unique contexts. The reason people have so much trouble replicating the success of a “best practice” in campus-community partnerships is because it is impossible to replicate the personal relationships, history and culture of the place the “best practice” came from. We need to quit worrying so much about replication and start more conversations about how we might find the courage to create more collaborative, reciprocal partnerships.

Jamie Notter is Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness at MSP. He has been blogging about leadership and associations for several years, mostly on the Get Me Jamie Notter blog, previously on the Association Renewal blog, and also now on generational issues at the Hourglass blog. His writing here will cut across all these topics as well as covering some of the unique challenges of managing associations within an AMC context.

Jon Benjamin is Communications Manager at MSP and is our in-house graphic designer. He will be writing about the unique challenges of providing creative services to a wide range of clients at the same time. In addition he will be sharing graphic design and software tips for designers and non-designers alike.

Angela Pike is the Member Services Manager for the Association of Water Technologies and part of MSP’s Member Services team. As such, Angela is responsible for, inter alia, Membership Retention and Promotion, managing a Certification program, fundraising and convention/technical training seminar planning and facilitation. Angela has a particular interest in information and resources that will help in her quest to grow and retain her client’s membership base.

Heidi Zimmerman is an account exec at MSP and is the Executive Director for the Association of Water Technologies (AWT). She will be writing about her experiences working with Boards and volunteer leaders, as well as serving as the head of her client staff team.

…And more to come!