I have a ridiculous amount of godparents. My mother says she didn’t want any of her friends to be left out so my brother and I have around eight each! This, of course, has many benefits. In my early years it ensured a high yield of gifts on birthdays and at Christmas, and this week I was invited by one of my godfathers to a Livery Dinner held by the The Worshipful Company of Salters. Oh yes!

Out of my league

I wasn’t too sure what to expect. My godfather was a solicitor and having Googled the Livery Companies, I had an idea of the company I would be in plus there had been talk of having to wear white tie and tails…and I am still not really sure what that is. Anyway, I found myself amongst diplomats, MP’s, chairmen of some massive corporations and high ranking chemists, with some of the wearing robes, medals and animal hide! It was patently clear I was way out of my league on so many levels and when I explained I was in the social media, emerging technology ‘field’ there were various glazed expressions and one “…how funny!”. Awesome.

Very minor epiphany

During the dinner I, again, found myself trying to ‘pitch’ the industry to Dr. Gordon, a chemist from Geneva who knew way too much about wine. He was fascinated by the theories and possibilities of social media that I was attempting to explain, but couldn’t see any practical purpose for himself. He used email to stay in touch with his family and had heard of Facebook and Twitter but certainly wouldn’t consider himself a social media ‘user’. Reaching for examples or case studies that I could launch at him, I asked what his favourite pastime was? “Easy, wine.”

“Cool”, I replied, “there are loads of ways to use social media for wine …” And then the minor epiphany happened. He cut me off and said, the only thing he had really done online was buy wine at an auction through a live feed. He went on to say how amazing it was to feel so connected to the actual event and could bid in realtime, see the auctioneer, other bidders etc. “And you said you have never used social media?” I said. “What, that was social media was it?” was the answer!

Look past the tools

My point is that it is so easy to see social media as the tools or platforms that grab the headlines rather than a wider capability to connect you to people and places, which is where the real magic is. Dr Gordon had a ‘real’ human experience using social media for what it is meant to be…and he apparently got a good deal on the wine!

Co presented by @katesjewellery (that’s me!!)

I am really happy with this presentation. Regardless of how nervous I was, I was able to say what I wanted to say. What I find particularly clever about Studio Unbound is that they don’t alter their presentation. They say what they want to say but bring in the relevant people to angle it at their particular audience. So in this case, the relevant person was me.

I was able to give the audience the perspective of the jeweller and social media tools. Keeping it completely angled to their design discipline. Lending my hand to strengthen the Studio Unbound lecture.

We got some brilliant feedback and really want this conversation to continue online!

Here is a snapshot of jewellers who attended Studio Unbound who are on twitter. I have created a list but I know there are people missing so please leave a comment or tweet so we can all join forces and get excited about the stuff

http://twitter.com/RoisinConnolly1

http://twitter.com/dougiekinnear

http://twitter.com/lizziecanskip

http://twitter.com/sarahfinnigan

http://twitter.com/mairiburrow

Hi everyone!

First of all, a sincere welcome to all newcomers to the SA E-learning Newsletter.  You most likely ticked the box on your E-Dayz’09 registration, and that’s great!  Welcome!! If you aren’t new, you will have already noticed that there are changes to this Newsletter.  Firstly, it has a new author…me! [big grin] My name is Marlene Manto and I’m the E-learning Coordinator for South Australia, with the Framework.  I’m inclined to waffle but I’ll do my best to keep to the point while I’m writing this Newsletter [winks].

Secondly, the Newsletter will now be produced in WordPress so you can make comments, ask questions, see archived copies and have access to lots of other links and information. (If your firewall prevents you from accessing any of the resources, just let me know and I’ll find an alternative for you.)

So…let’s get on with it……

FREE MONEY!

Now that got your attention, didn’t it! [chuckles to herself] I’m not making any promises here but I’ve heard that there might be some funding for e-learning projects again next year.  If you were at E-Dayz’09 you may have seen this years projects at the Showcase Cocktail Party.  The 2010 Guidelines aren’t out yet (probably January) however feel free to ring the SA Framework’s Innovations Coordinator (Doug Purcell) for a chat about the possibilities.  You can find him on 0438 824 583 or at douglas.purcell@sa.gov.au Go on…what do you have to lose! 

WHEN IS GOOD FOR YOU?

Is that a question you’ve heard before from some poor person trying to organise a meeting time to suit a number of people?  [sigh]  It’s a pain, isn’t it.  But this might solve

everything!  Came across a neat little tool that does it all for you…it is FREE…no downloads…no logins.  It’s called When Is Good and I’ve even created a ‘How To’ resource for you to follow.  If you’re a manager, flick this on to your admin staff…they will love you for it!

THREE NEW TOOLBOXES

If you deliver training in any of these areas, you might want to check out the ‘hot off the press’ Toolboxes for TAA E-learning E-lectives, Small Business Management (Cert IV level) and the revamped Cybertots for the Cert III Children’s Services.  Oh, and don’t forget that all the learning objects from these and other Toolboxes, are all available FREE from the Toolbox Repository.

SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH RESEARCH

Do you have a problem/issue in your workplace that research might help to solve?  Just need some time (and money!) to do that research? [grin] I’ve just found out that NCVER are offering 10 x $4,000 scholarships for novice researchers working in the VET sector.  Applications close 17 February 2010 and you’ll find more information at the NCVER website.

FREE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

People often ask me where to learn about ‘e-learning stuff’.  Well, the SA Framework Unit runs FREE workshops which are advertised via this mailing list…more next year.  Plus there are the VET SA workshops which will be happening again in 2010.  But if you find it difficult to get away, perhaps an online conference/workshop such as e-Events would work for you?  And the best thing about these, is that they are usually recorded, so you can ‘attend’ them anytime.  Here are some instructions to help you try it right now.  Oh, and don’t forget that some of the E-Dayz’09 speakers were recorded too!

SPEAKING OF LEARNING NEW THINGS…

Amazing how sometimes one can just fall over useful stuff!  I was on a completely unrelated search through Delicious yesterday (sometimes a much better place to search than Google), when I came across ‘15 Free Guides That Really Teach You USEFUL Stuff’ Of particular interest to me was the ‘The Underground Guide to the iPhone’, ‘Twitter: Best Practices & Tips’ and the ‘Laptop Buying Guide for 2009′.  But there’s heaps more…and all quite diverse.

CLOUD COMPUTING…HUH???

Have you come across the terminology ‘Cloud Computing’?  It is a subject that has an explanation problem – people have a hard time understanding it because it’s difficult to explain quickly but here is a short video which I’m hoping will help to explain the concept.  TAFE SA and Flinders Uni are switching to cloud computing for 2010.  And if you’d like to get your head around what all this might have to do with education, then ‘Cloud Computing and Education’ might help.

E-LEARNING TOOLS…WHAT SHOULD I BE USING?

It’s confusing, isn’t it.  When it comes to e-learning, there seem to be zillions of tools, applications and gadgets.  Where do you find them? And how on earth do you know what everyone else is using?   Each year, the top 100 tools for learning are compiled from learning professionals all over the world.  Here is the 2009 Top 100 List…but if you just get familiar with the top 10 then you’ll be ahead of most people.  [grin]  This newsletter will be working through the list over the next few months, telling you more about each tool and providing help to get you started.

ARE YOU A TWIT?

Everyone seems to be all a-twitter about Twitter these days.  I started to write something about this little tool (seeing as it’s top of the list above) however I found this little guide – Twitter First Steps – by Deanne Bullen and it pretty much says it all!  I used to be very sceptical when I first came across Twitter, but now I’m a convert. Hmmm… [puts her hand to her ear]… I can hear you saying “Go on, convert me!”  [laugh] Well let’s start with Nine great reasons why teachers should use Twitter and after that, you might want to check out this video:   How to Use Twitter in the Classroom And don’t forget to connect to me!  I’m marlenemanto on Twitter.

SOCIAL MEDIA…INSIDE ORGANISATIONAL WALLS

Does your organisation have a social media policy?  Should it?  What if somebody posts something offensive about a colleague on YouTube..or encourages students into Facebook without understanding the privacy settings?  Yeeks!  And of course this applies to ALL organisations. Perhaps you might want to first check out ‘Should Your Company Have a Social Media Policy…and then once you’ve decided that you definitely need one, have a look at ‘10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy‘.  If you’d like to look at some examples from other organisations, try this online database.

USING SKYPE IN THE CLASSROOM

Have you heard of Skype?  That great little tool that enables you to chat to your relatives overseas without the huuuuge phone bills?  Well, why don’t you try using it in the classroom?  “Good grief!” I can hear you say..”How and why would I use it in a classroom?”  [chuckles to herself]  OK, let’s begin with this blog posting 50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom which will give you some ideas, but if you find the whole thing a bit scary (or you don’t have a clue where to begin), then check out this article from a teacher who says “I had the hardest time learning to use skype! I had several other fellow educators look down at me for “being so dumb” that I didn’t know how!”  So go on…if she could do it, you can too! 

FUN WITH PHOTOS!

And finally, just something for fun!  Dumpr is a website that allows you to upload a photo…and turn it into..well..lots of weird and wonderful things!  I liked the gadget  that put my photo into a Christmas ornament – that would be fun to make cards for the festive season.  And then I turned it into a pencil sketch…and then a jigsaw puzzle.  OK, maybe it doesn’t have huge educational potential but maybe it could just jazz up that Moodle course.  Or maybe it will just keep the kids entertained over the holidays.  [grin]

Vor wenigen Tagen wurde ein Fall in Kanada publik, wo einer jungen Frau Leistungen wegen Fotos bei Facebook gestrichen wurden. Die Versicherung stellte gegenüber der 29-jährigen, die wegen Depressionen krank geschrieben war, Ihre Zahlungen ein, nachdem diese Fotos von sich veröffentlicht hatte, auf denen sie beim Urlaub mit ihrer Mutter am Strand, bei einer Striptease-Show und beim Umtrunk mit Freunden zu sehen ist.

Unabhängig davon, ob dies gerechtfertigt war oder nicht und ob ein depressiver Mensch nicht auch mal lachen darf, stellen sich mir verschiedene Fragen:
- Was sagen Online-Profile über die wahre Person dahinter aus?
- Welche Rolle spielen virtuelle Identitäten bei der Jobsuche?
- Wie kann ich meine Privatsphäre schützen und dennoch am virtuellen Leben teilhaben?

In einer Zeit in der Kommunikation und öffentliche Selbstarstellung eine immer größere Rolle spielen, werden die Grenzen zwischen privater, öffentlicher und beruflicher Person immer schmaler. Dabei gilt diese Aussage zwar besonders für Personen von allgemeinem Interesse, aber auch zunehmend, wie das oben genannte Bsp. zeigt, für jeden, der am social web teilnimmt. Somit wird es von Bedeutung ein Bewusstsein zu entwickeln, was, wie und wie viel man von seiner Person öffentlich preisgeben möchte. Denn nichts anderes tun wir mit jedem Eintrag bei Facebook, StudiVZ oder Twitter und den anderen Kanälen.

Während sich wissenschaftliche Artikel mit dem Zusammenhang zwischen echter und virtueller Identität beschäftigen, existieren verschieden Lösungen um seine Privatsphäre im Internet zu schützen und zugleich sein Image zu steuern.

In erster Linie bestehen diese in der Kenntnis der Werkzeuge, die Portale wie Facebook liefern. Helfen kann dabei eine Anleitung wie diese zu Facebook und die Privatsphäre von Tobi Weißenfels. Eine kostenpflichtige, aber sicherlich für Unternehmer und Personen des öffentlichen Interesses sinnvolle Variante, wäre auch www.ruflotse.de, hier Vorgestellt von Anya Rutsche.

Selbst wenn man sich entschließen sollte, ganz auf das Internet zu verzichten, wäre dies wohl keine Lösung. Gibt man doch damit ganz die Kontrolle darüber auf, was andere über einen veröffentlichen. Möglicherweise gibt es eine simple und komplett kostenlose Lösung all diesen Problemen aus dem Weg zu gehen. Man folge einfach der ersten Formel des kategorischen Imperativs nach Kant: Handle nur nach derjenigen Maxime, durch die du zugleich wollen kannst, dass sie ein allgemeines Gesetz werde.

Denkt immer daran: Das Internet vergisst nie!

Social media på agendan?
-Vi måste ju vara med på banan. Men vad ger det egentligen?

Ja du. Det ger vad du gör det till. “Räkna inte” med vanlig ROI. Det du måste hantera är istället Return on Engagement eller andra sätt att mäta. Men det är alltid lika märkligt hur en del förståsigpåare ofta vill föra in sociala media i den vanliga PR-mallen. Mallen som utgår från ROI, beräkning av “underlaget, antalet användare, täckning, frekvens, osv. Lägg på lite pushmentalitet så har du ett underlag till beslutande att detta ska vi inte syssla med. -Det ger ju inget!

Ser att IDG ger lite tips, tack @Miriam. Ett annat intressant projekt är Silverbakks Briefing, något @Stenbeck kan ge dig mer matnyttigt kring.

En återkommande frågeställning är hur många som twittrar, eller om det har något värde rent journalistiskt, eller PR-mässigt. Men….you´re missing the point. Först finns det ingen officiell statistik kring antal Twitter-användare. De försök som görs har stor spridning men det spelar mindre roll. En del gör matematiska mediaanlyser av detta och kan komma fram till att endast några promille av svenskarna twittrar. -Det är ju bara 75 000 svenskar som twittrar.  Sedan ser man den siffran som låg mediatäckning och svag som underlag för viktig kanal.

Sure, jag kan köpa vissa argument att hypade mediaformer ska hanteras som hypade ibland och behandlas med rim o reson. Men det är ingen som säger att sociala media ska utgöra den enda kommunikativa plattformen för ditt brand, dina produkter, dina kundrelaterade informationsinsatser osv. K.I.S.S. (google it)

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007388

Ja, jag vet, det finns en senare förväntad beräkning (US) än den ovan.

Men argumentet om att “endast” 75 000 twittrar  (är fler givetvis…) och därmed är ointressant, är fel. Finn svansen. Förstå nätverkslogik (för varje ny nod så…). En kontakt kan vara porten till 1000 andra, mer frågan om VEM än hur många osv. Men även, icke att förglömma, gee… det finns faktiskt en stor andel av våra företag, organisationer, konsulter, gatekeepers, motivators, osv som tänker och agerar utanför “Sverigepölen”.

Slutligen, vid tvekan, ta små steg och ofta. Ingen som har sagt att du ska blåsa på. Testa. Try, you might like it. Var aktiv. Gör inte misstaget att behandla det som push och se det som en anslagstavla utan att själv interagera till dialog.

Andra om twitter, sociala media, push, PR, ROI, ROE och annat intressant.

  Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube create every shade of grey in what used to be a black and white environment: Either professional or personal. One common factor between all social networking sites, and the first image that viewers will see of you, is the profile picture. Networkers have filled this space with images that are as varied as the web itself. However, as an observer, I am always most satisfied when I get to see your face.

Decide if your profile is going to be for professional purposes or for personal uses.

You may not be using social media for professional reasons at the moment, but if there is a small chance that you could do so in the future or if there is even the slightest of a chance that your employer would search your name online, then choosing the right profile picture is of value to you.

 If you want to make a strong first impression online, use the most clean and clear picture of yourself. It is a confident and bold statement. Your clothing should reflect the standards of your profession, especially if your profile is directly linked to affiliates. 

 YOU should be the image in your profile picture.

Obviously, this is my opinion. There aren’t specific rules that say you have to use your face on facebook but, what is the name of the website again? It is all turkey and gravy to have pictures of your adorable dog catching a frisbee at 7ft in the air, I personally would love to see that. But isn’t that why there is a photo album application on almost every social networking site?

I am not a big fan of finding the needle in the haystack. If you are a tiny portion of the image that you use as your profile picture, or are one head in a large crowd, then I am going to have to guess which person could be you. It should be obvious.  

Other images that are commonly used in place of the face are things that represent a cause that you advocate for, or an issue that you feel strongly about. Like photo-sharing, There are many places within the network to discuss all of the things that make you dynamic, but the picture of your face next to those postings and updates is what your viewers want to see. You can spread awareness more effectively by appearing more accessible.

The purpose of the profile picture, and being part of an online network, is to be recognizable. Whether you use it for personal or professional reasons, you should look like you.

 

Social media platforms are big particularly due to the factor of interactivity. Advertisers have seized this opportunity and already began working their magic in these areas.

Like in Habbo, where users make friends and do things together, advertisers have set up zones in the online game. You have American Idol – people get to roleplay as aspiring idols or realise the ferocious threat of elimination due to the lack of votes. Scandals with Idol judges are another story.

There are real celebrities as well all for the publicity. Wouldn’t you love to know how aesthetically-pleasing or quirky it would be to have Lady Gaga perform to ‘Bad Romance’ and try to have a virtual smooch with Gossip Girl Chace Crawford’s habbo character – like they did in ‘Poker Face’?

Hmm.. Titillating?

Perhaps not so much when there’s Second Life. Characters are 3D with options to customise intricate details of the body structure. It was a promising platform, other than fulfiling the primary purpose of expanding one’s social circle, for businesses to break geological differences and have conferences online; brands to set up virtual stores and garner product awareness on top of brand reinforcement. However, users who are charged with testoterone and progesterone, whichever applies, choose to solicit online – most likely due to how real the hot actions can get with user-created scripts.

Characters however are not ‘born’ with their own private parts. Looking at how unsightly my character was without one, I set out to figure out how to get my hands on the crotch – yelling,” Where’s my crotch?”, “Oh, what’s that on the ground, is it a usable tool?”.

Eventually, there was a gay male who enlightened me: Second Life characters have to BUY their own. And he was kind enough to fix my undesirable features and flab around the belly into a dashing male:

The briefs were from him too, of course. Sweet.

ALLTEAMS are now in beta testing with a new product the ALLSTARS Directory which will bring increased profile and new revenues to sports clubs in NZ.  Clubs can showcase their brand and facilities online which will attract new membership interest; but most importantly they can invite the local business community to support them by purchasing a listing in the directory and the businesses receive recognition for supporting the club.

Businesses get fantastic value back from the initiative by increasing their online profile with a mini website, receiving recognition for supporting the sports club they love and being top in results when club members search.

“We have been looking to deliver more value back to the loyal businesses who sponsor the club year after year – and now we can with the ALLSTARS directory” says Kevin O’Brien president of Hamilton Marist

Sports Organisations throughout the country are planning to get in behind the directory as a critical new source of revenue in the coming months; especially as traditional revenue streams such as gaming machine proceeds and public funds face severe challenges going forward.    There is fantastic marketing support for the initiative which clubs can tap in to when promoting the directory to local businesses.  Clubs can find out more information and participate by signing up on the club directory page and Businesses can sign up to support their club here.

Direto a gente lá na Cria! Cultura quebra a cabeça pra pensar em promoções legais pra fazer no Twitter do Conexão Vivo e até mesmo agora, mais recentemente, no @ocaradaprancha. A gente sempre tem muito ingresso de shows e tudo mais, e a preocupação é não fazer o @conexaovivo e os outros perfis “corporativos” que a gente administra um daqueles twitter chatos, que só fazem promoção e nunca indicam conteúdo relevante para o usuário.

Daí eu abro meu twitter nessa semana linda que eu estou de férias, e me deparo com essa promoção aqui:

A promoção do @viver_brasil

Sem pensar na qualidade musical dos 2 filhos de Francisco, eu estou sendo muito chato ou eles vão dar um par de ingressos para o cara que for mais mala no Twitter, e retuitar mais o post, fritando e enchendo a timeline dos seus followers com algo bem inútil.

Acho paia. E acho que o mais importante, em qualquer promoção no Twitter, é pensar em agregar valor para o usuário através da promoção. O cara tem que sair ganhando, e não é só o ingresso pro show. Dando RT igual um louco o cara não ganha nada, só antipatia de quem segue ele [e menos seguidores, provavelmente].

Jeder kennt jeden irgendwie. Oder man wird recht schnell gefunden, kann Leute treffen, Kommunikation und Konversation betreiben über Themen oder Ansichten, die einen mehr oder weniger interessieren etc. Oder auch “Man ist nur so gut wie sein Online-Profil.” .  Die Erfahrung zeigt aber, dass das vielgelobte SocialWeb eigentlich gar nicht funktioniert und eine Erfindung ist, auf die man gut verzichten kann.

Alles gelogen – Web 2.0 und OnlineCommunitys

Ich bin Webworker. Ich habe mehr als 10 Handvoll Blogs zu den unterschiedlichsten Themen im Netz an denen täglich gearbeitet wird. Von mir gibt’s viel im Nezt und doch wieder nicht. Netterweise habe ich noch drei Namensvetter, die genau das machen, was ich auch den ganzen Tag tue. Das beeinflusst natürlich die Suche und nicht alles was im Netz so steht ist wirklich auch von mir. Ich bin mehr als 2/3 des Tages online erreichbar. Den Rest des Tages wenigstens noch per Handy oder SMS und seit mein Mobilteil auch Twitter und Co. kann, könnte ich mich vom Netz gar nicht mehr trennen. Warum mache ich das dann trotzdem? Warum habe ich keine Profile bei Xing, Stayfriends & Co.? Weil SocialWeb eigentlich gar nicht funktioniert.

Meinen Facebook-Account hatte ich genau 20 Minuten. Danach stellte ich fest, das ich das nicht brauche und habe den gleich wieder gelöscht. Nicht viel anders erging es mir mit Xing. Nachdem einige Geschäftskontakte gesammelt waren und Aktionen von mir für diese fast im Sande verlaufen sind, war auch das Profil recht nutzlos. Selbst als Gruppenmoderator hat man dort eigentlich nur das Gefühl, Deutschlands Geschäftswelt hat nicht viel anderes zu tun, als unsinnige Forumsbeiträge über Campingurlaub oder den Soundtrack des Lebens zu schreiben.
Stayfriends ist Deutschlands größte Findemaschine für Schulkameraden. Ich hatte einige gefunden und ein paar lang vermisste Leute. Leider ist ohne Premiumaccount dort keine Kommunikation untereinander möglich. Voller Mist. Auch wenn der Jahresbeitrag “nur” 24 Euronen kosten soll, sind 24 Euro hier und 78 (Xing) hier und noch irgendwelches Geld da, mir viel zu schade. Da der Standardaccount dadurch unsinnig geworden ist, gab es den nach einigen Wochen auch nicht mehr. Die privaten Löschaktionen der vergangenen Wochen brachten allerdings fast gar keine Entlastung oder Belastung  im Mailfach. Zudem kann ich kostenpflichtigen Portalen sowieso nichts abgewinnen. Warum für eine bereits programmierte Leistung bezahlen? Die internationalen Stellenbörsen, die unsere Firma betreibt sind auch komplett kostenlos und leben von Werbung und Spenden? Warum also dafür bezahlen? Anders ist es auch nicht bei unseren Community-Seiten. Gratis. Ende.

Überall wurde allen Kontakten vor Löschung die Mailadresse per Privatmessage mitgeteilt. Jetzt ratet mal, wieviele diese Möglichkeit nutzen? Genau diese, die es vor der Erstellung der Profile schon getan haben. Von alten Schulkameraden oder Geschäftkontakten gab es quasi keine frischen Mails.

LinkedIn und MySpace ist da nicht viel anders. Bringt mir irgendwie auch nichts.
Kürzlich bereitete ich mit einigen Leuten einen Test solcher Portale und von sogenannten YoungCommunitys vor und wollte ursprünglich auch darüber berichten. Doch leider fanden wir Profile, die wir lieber nicht sehen wollten und mussten schmerzhaft feststellen, dass nirgendwo mehr gelogen wird als im SocialWeb 2.0. Grund für eine intensive Schreibpause und Entspannungsphase auf fast allen Seiten.

Die sogenannten Communitys haben mich noch nie wirklich interessiert. Und irgendwie ist das auch gut so. Meine Freenet-Mailadresse bietet mir seit über 15 Jahren ständig Singles in meiner Region an. Na und? Hab ich nichts von. Habe ich auch noch nie angeklickt. Der Test der Communitys für die Berichtsserie ließ erkennen, das nirgendwo mehr gelogen wird. Verheiratete Freunde wurden als Singles gefunden. Die waren sogar gerade online. “Warum bist Du als Single registriert?” – “Nur so.” Na, wenn das die Frau mal rausbekommt…. Andersherum funktionierte das auch. Vergebene Mädels fanden sich als Singles und sprangen bei kurzem Test sogar auf Profile und eindeutige Angebote an. Tzz Tzz Tzz. Wenn man sich da als wirklicher Single mal einträgt, muss man sich irgendwie nicht wundern, wenn diese Kontaktcommunitys irgendwie eher versteckte Verarscheseiten sind und man hier und dort auf der Strecke bleibt.
Es gibt von Roger Cicero einen Super-Song, der das richtig treffend beschreibt.

Vielleicht erwarte ich auch etwas zu viel. Als “Permanentonliner” gehe ich davon aus, das Mails von Personen vor dem Einloggvorgang auf CommunitySeiten beantwortet werden. Manchmal erwarte ich – wenigstens bei Emails – eine Antwort binnen maximal 2 Stunden. Wer in SocialWeb-Portalen rumstreunen kann, kann schließlich auch Mails vorher lesen und beantworten. Das ist schließlich keine Freizeit. Bei SMS erwarte ich eine Antwort meist innehalb von 15 Minuten. Zu hohe Ansprüche, wie sich sehr oft herausstellt. Wenn man alternativ dagegen aber feststellt, das auf 2 Mails nicht geantwortet wurde, aber zur selben Zeit im SocialWeb rumgepostet wird, geht mir persönlich die Hutschnur hoch.

Twitter und Co. sind ebenso unsinn. Es funktioniert in Amerika und in England. Tatsächliche Konversationen unter Freunden und wichtige News. In Deutschland wird oft nur für die eigenen Blogs gepostet und MLMer, Jobbörsen, Schnell-Geld-Verdiener und andere machen das in Deutschland auch nicht besser. In Schweden ist es allerdings auch nicht viel anders. Ein paar Zeitungen posten die Trendnews, ein paar Privatleute dies und das aber wichtig ist das alles nicht.

Wer gerne ein googlesicheres und der Reputation im Internet zuträgliches Profil im Netz wünscht, kann sich an viele Profis wenden. Auch unsere neue Agentur in Vimmerby erstellt solche Profile mit den Vorgaben der Nutzer, sichert diese aber nach außen auf ein gegebenes Mindestmaß an Findbarkeit ab und ist dabei noch preiswert. Gleichzeitig kümmert sich die Agentur aber auch um Nutzer, die Treue und Profile von anderen testen wollen. Auch das klappt bereits hervorragend und zeigt auf erstaunlicher Weise, dass es mit so mancher Beziehung doch nicht soweit her ist. Aber wenigstens beugt es menschliche Fehler durch Unwissenheit vor. Heiraten kostet halt und so mancher hat sich diese Kosten durch kurze Checkups schon gespart.

Probiert es mal aus. Schreibt allen Kontakten Eure Mailadresse und die Notiz, das der Account nicht mehr unterstützt wird. Ihr werdet sehen, Ihr seid doch nicht so wichtig, wie das Profil scheint.

Ikea laat zien hoe je met bestaande sociale media je klanten kunt bereiken. Met relatief weinig middelen bereiken ze een groot resultaat, door op een ludieke wijze klanten ertoe te bewegen zelf het nieuws te verspreiden.

Deze vorm van marketing wordt ook wel ‘guerrilla marketing’ genoemd.

The concept of guerrilla marketing was invented as an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconventional; potentially interactive^[1]; and consumers are targeted in unexpected places.

Bron: Wikipedia

The Social Media Marketing Book

By Dan Zarella

Published November 25, 2009 (Paperback) O’Reilly Media

More Info: Dan Zarrella

OMG – I am so happy this book arrived today!  Out of the blue, of course — the books I want to see always do.  It’s that magical Law of Attraction — I just put the word out yesterday to a few friends that I wanted to learn more about how to use Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  I have a couple of friends who are having monster success on LinkedIn.  I update at this trio, more because I love to write, than knowing what the hell I’m doing.  Well, now I have Dan Zarella’s genius The Social Marketing Book.

A Facebook friend just quipped that the new merger of YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter will henceforth be known as “You Twit Face.”

Back to Dan’s book.   History, tidbits, hints, colorful stories are all packed into a colorful book you can stash in your purse, or maybe even a pocket. With Twitter, your bio is key — and if you use the words “entrepreneur” or “marketer,” you’ll have a lot more followers than if you write “expert” or “author.”

Dan takes you from blogging — the centerpiece and everyone should do it — to social networking like Facebook — launched in 2003 by a Harvard sophomore — to Second Life — a virtual world in which your avatar looks like a cartoon almost 3-D you.  There are graphs and figures showing real social media pages, so you know what you’re looking at.  I have a post-it note packed with teeny writing, reminding me of Dan’s ideas — like link MySpace, which I rarely use, in deference to Facebook, to my website.  Add to my Blogroll.  Add more tags to my videos that are on YouTube.  And, maybe I should post all the pix I have with my author friends on Flickr.  Oh, and comment on other authors’ blogs.  Stated in this book, the ideas don’t overwhelm.

The best takeaway from The Social Media Marketing Book — instead of feeling somewhat mystified and maybe a bit burdened by the concept of trying to find thousands of friends on three social media sites, I finally have a sense of fun about social media.  And that’s the way it should be!

Healthcare communications and social media.

Yeah, I had no clue either. Until I finally jumped on the bandwagon. Took me a bit to get used to losing out on seven characters. Using the hashtag #hcsm is important. That’s five characters, down to 135. I think it’s smart, thanks @EndoGoddess (I happen to follow her, been lurking/watching her tweet although it may have been someone else who started that part of it), to add the topic number before you answer. Usually three topics occur; T1, T2, T3. Two more characters. 133 character conversations. It’s hard!
Here is a link to an FAQ page.

So what is this #hcsm all about you ask? Let’s begin with someone who impresses me daily.

Every Sunday at 8pm Central, Dana Lewis, student of the University of Alabama, #hcsm moderator, perfectionist and funny woman extraordinare leads us down the Twitter interaction train with a topic. Here is some more information about #hcsm from Dana:

“#hcsm, or healthcare communications & social media, is a hashtag conversation that started in January 2009 that has evolved into a large community on Twitter. Using the 140-character messages to enable the conversation, anyone with an interest in health communications can engage in an informative discussion about a wide variety of topics.”

I enjoyed the interaction between some of the participants via this medium. It’s great to read others perspectives and learn from one another. Each person has a different experience in which to contribute to the overall discussion.

“One of the benefits of this medium being “new” and “emerging” is that it is flexible and open-sourced. Meaning, we have the power and opportunity to influence the way we will use it for years to come. This is why I believe #hcsm is important; it gives #hcsm participants & contributors the opportunity to make waves & share their innovative insights with everyone.”

It is possible to say after an hour just maybe I got a handle on this type of interaction. I was RTed. Sweet. I gained new followers. Awesome. Really I just got my patient point of view out there. Nothing wrong with that. I’ve never been one to hold back.

Thank you Dana. You are doing Great work and will continue to do so.

Dan Zarrella is an award-winning social media and viral marketing scientist, writer, and speaker. His new book is The Social Media Marketing Book. In this interview I try to pin him down and tell me when to use specific social media platforms, services and practices to run a business.

Read his interview and learn his philosophy in an interview posted on the American Express Open Forum.

With the continued research into all that is Social Media… can it really be that hard? I completely understand the whole, try it out and see what happens. I think in one’s personal life, as long as you have some sort of common sense, utilizing social media can’t be that hazardous to your health. However, I can see how on a corporate/business level there is more to think about and ponder over.

Aside from continued research… I have found my iriver T10 is completely outdated. Time for an iPod?

Razorfish, famous for their excellent standing in digital marketing, but also their extensive, always insightful research in this field (the latter is probably the reason for the first) recently published FEED: The 2009 Razorfish Digital Brand Experience Report.
They surveyed 1000 so called ‘connected consumers’  analyzing their online engagement and behaviour, especially their buying decisions.The ‘connected consumer’:

• Appears across all ages
• Spends $150 per month online
• Visits community sites and consumes digital media
• 65% of consumers ever had a digital experience that changed their opinion about a brand (this, then, had a influence on the buying decision of 97% of these guys)
• 76% welcome brand advertising on community sites & 40% friended a brand on Facebook /  Myspace
  

More facts and striking figures in the presentation. Even more in the PDF report, but foremost: the ‘connected consumer’ is increasingly becoming the new mainstream:
‘FEED’ presentation:

More sources:
Website: http://feed.razorfish.com/
Full PDF: http://feed.razorfish.com/downloads/Razorfish_FEED08.pdf

GFest – gayWise LGBT Arts Festival 09 came to a celebratory close on 22 Nov. And GFest 10 preparations carried on full steam from yesterday.  There was a lot to celebrate & enjoy in GFest 09 and the general feedback was very encouraging. For the audiences of  GFest 09, London’s LGBT  (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenger) and queer arts fest for all,  artists flying into London from USA to Neatherlands, sold-out nights and standing ovation were some of the special moments. Majority of LGBT & queer artists sent a feedback saying how much they enjoyed and they are looking forward to the next year’s activities.

Key learning points will be fed back into festival activities and its organisation and we are happy to get such a positive response. Particularly, broader coverage of the festival by travel & tourism sector is one such remarkable development this year. British Airways, Eurostar, Best Western Hotels, Red Carnation Hotels, Visit London, Visit Britain coverage for GFest 09 was a great help and encoraged tourists to attend the festival. Several Blogs and online networks & social media news covered the festival news throughout its duration. Apart from London based LGBT and mainstream media sources, GFest 09 news was covered in Norway, Spain, Italy, Japan and several international online event review websites.

Niranjan Kamatkar, artistic director of GFest commented, “For me, a standing ovation after the much awaited Mavin Khoo performance on Friday was the star moment of this year’s festival. I think all the GFest 09 artists worked very hard & contributed to the festival with their best artistic abilities to send a common message – Stamp Out Homophobia. A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL – GFest 09 artists, funders, media, community partners, supporters, audiences and several thousands LGBT community members who helped us and made GFest 09 possible in these particularly challenging economic times.”

Watch this space & GFest online networks for further news and developments of GFest 10 in November 2010.

WISE THOUGHTS  – Arts charity that organises GFest – gayWise LGBT Arts Festival ( known as GFest in short)  in London.

http://www.wisethoughts.org
http://www.gaywisefestival.org
http://www.facebook.com/niranjan.kamatkar

http://www.gaywisefestival.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/gfest

http://www.myspace.com/gaywisefestival

http://gaywisefestival.wordpress.com/
http://www.yoursemotionally.com/
http://www.myspace.com/interviewwithapolitician
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfest/
http://www.youtube.com/user/wisethoughts

Disclaimer: The following Blogpost is for Twitaddicted and Hashtagfetishists only!!!

(Mehr Info zu den #deinetweets und deren Entstehung siehe weiter unten!)

Alle meine bisherigen#deinetweets … (deine tweets zu meinen #deinetweets fehlen ja noch!)

deinetweets sind melodien in meinen augen #musicmondaytweet #synaesthesietweet

#deinetweets sind so schulmädchen, die sind in deinen lehrer verknallt. #bilddirdeinemeinungtweet

#deinetweets sind so nostalgisch, darin kommen noch gar keine @s und #s vor #nohashtagnostalgietweet

#deinetweets erscheinen, aber ich kann dir grad nicht folgen #cantfollowtweet #zweideutigertweet

#deinetweets erscheinen, aber ich kann dir grad nicht folgen #cantfollowtweet

#deinetweets sind wie sweets #bonbontweet

#deinetweets sind die Nadeln im Heuhaufen #schwerzufindendertweet

#deinetweets sind das Zwitschern zwischen zwei Zeilen im Zwitscherstrom #zwetschgenzweigtweet #metatweet

#deinetweets gehen runter wie öl #schmierfließtweet

#deinetweets tanzen allein #katzentatzentanztweet

#deinetweets machen miau und schnurren, wenn man sie krault #catstweet

#deinetweets lassen das Mausen nicht #katertweet

#deinetweets sind wie Flöhe und hüpfen auf mir rum #ungeziefertweet #psychedelictweet

#deinetweets sind sanft wie samt #schmeicheltweet

#deinetweets gehören nicht wirklich dir #twittersTOStweet

#deinetweets können nicht lesen, nur gelesen werden #logiktweet #lesetweet

#deinetweets sind wie Sand im Getriebe #motorschadentweet

#deinetweets sollten mal pause machen #kitkattweet

#deinetweets sind die schwarzen Löcher in der timeline #blackholetweet #darktweet #gossictweet

#deinetweets sind so leicht-sinnig und tragen ein Federkleid #paradiesvogeltweet

#deinetweets sind schwarzweiss #monochromtweet

Nussknackerin: RT @cultureagency #deinetweets sind anstrengender als je zuvor #pubertätstweet☚ #mutterwortetweets

#deinetweets sind 18, strafmündig und haben jetzt den Führerschein #ab18tweets

#deinetweets sind anstrengender als je zuvor #pubertätstweet

#deinetweets sind so tapsig, dass sie manchmal noch stolpern #kleinkindtweet

#deinetweets wachsen und können jetzt schon laufen #wachstumstweets

#deinetweets lassen mich nachts nicht schlafen #schlaflostweet #sehnsuchtstweet ODER: #twilighttweet

#deinetweets lassen mich nachts nicht schlafen

Nussknackerin: RT @cultureagency #deinetweets sind so heiß, dass #twitterbrennt … #hothashtagtweet ; #baggertweet☚ #kollektivschmeicheln

#deinetweets sind so heiß, dass #twitterbrennt … #hothashtagtweet ; #baggertweet

meine #deinetweets reihe scheint es noch nicht zu geben. komponiert weitere, ich werde sie sammeln, retweeten

#deinetweets sind so schön, dass ich zu verlegen bin, sie zu retweeten #liebestweet

#deinetweets sind so kaputt wie Fix&Foxi #comictweet

#deinetweets sind so überflüssig, dass die timeline tropft #flüssigtweet

#deinetweets sind so dumm dass es brummt! #dummbrummtweet

#deinetweets sind so schlau, die können sogar Mathe! #mathetweet

Glaub da mach ich ne reihe draus… Oder gibts schon #deinetweets ???
HIER GINGS LOS!…

#deinetweets … sind nun also eine ganze Serie!

Hier die Entstehungsgeschichte und der weitere Hintergrund:

Man könnte doch etwas Twitter-adequates in der Richtung texten. Und aus dem #hashtag lässt sich doch sicherlich einigs entwickeln und zusammenspinnen, so hatte ich gedacht.
Ich meine – hey – so langsam wird es doch Zeit für etwas neues nach all dem “deine mudda bllsht”

Auf Twitter übertragen funktioniert das natürlich etwas anders und heißt also nunmehr #deinetweets
Was anders ist als bei Muddern ist die Hashtag-Beifügung, die manchem #deinetweets erst den richtigen Sinn oder die Pointe geben.

ok: ob Pointe oder nicht entscheidet immer der Leser – also hoffentlich viel Spaß beim Lesen!

mit dieser Idee begann ich ein wenig zu zwitschern (nein – ich hatte mir vorher keinen in die Kehle gegurgelt oder hinter den Schnabel gegossen!)

Bis jetzt hat sich mein hashtag #deinetweets allerdings leider noch nicht durchgesetzt, was ich sehr schade finde.
Die Kompositionen, die nicht aus meiner Feder stammen, lassen sich leider noch bequem an einer Hand abzählen ;(
Es gibt aber einige Dutzend Eigenkompositionen meiner #deinetweets, die gern als Anregungen und Inspiration aufgenommen werden dürfen.

Viele der kleinen – ich nenne sie doch mal Gedichtchen – können als Komplimente für nette tweaple verwendet oder aufgefasst werden. Wer gern inErmangelung eigener Kreativität auf eine Idee aus den #deinetweets als Kompliment zurückgreifen möchte – bitte.

Einige der #deinetweets sind tatsächlich im reply auf bestimmte Personen entstanden.

Die ersten #deinetweets sind in einer Stehgreifsituation entstanden und es ging so schnell dann mit immer weiteren Ideen, dass ich ca ein gutes Dutzend davon in weniger als 3 minuten erdichtet hatte, im wesentlichen begrenzt nur durch meine physikalische Schreibgeschwindigkeit (also ich gebs zu: ein schreibflash)

Ich freue mich sehr über eure Schreibflashs, aber auch normale Beiträge, die diese Liste erweitern,   über sonstige Anregungen, Kommentare und Kritik…ebenso interessiert mich natürlich, ob euch davon welche gefallen haben und wenn ja, welche?!

in diesem Sinne… #deinetweets sind deine tweets…tweet well

O sumiço prolongado foi por causa do 9º Primeiro Campeonato Mineiro de Surfe, e por causa do meu Projeto Experimental. Meu Projeto Experimental tem o título provisório de “O INSTITUTO CIDADANIA UNIMED-BH E O INVESTIMENTO EM CULTURA: Análise de uma Política Cultural Privada”, e entrego a versão para a orientadora no dia 26.11 (ou seja, eu e Athieda, minha dupla, ainda estamos muito desesperados e descabelados).

Já o Campeonato é, nas sábias palavras do Claudão, um festival com bandas fuderosas de surf music e rock’n'roll, e rolou na semana passada, de 18 a 21 de novembro, na Obra e no Music Hall. É sobre ele que vou falar.

A Cria! Cultura e a Obra são parceiras na realização do Campeonato desde o ano passado. Em 2008 trabalhei principalmente na Assessoria de Imprensa e na cobertura e, em 2009, a Cria! assumiu quase toda a gestão de comunicação do Campeonato. Como eu contribui bastanta para a elaboração do projeto e aprovação na Lei Estadual, fui o designado, junto com a Marcelinha, para a criação das peças e tudo mais.

Somos, eu e ela, social media lovers, e vimos no Campeonato a oportunidade para unirmos coisas que sempre vimos os outros fazerem com aquela parcela de inveja. A ideia: criar uma campanha com potencial para viralização nas redes sociais e com um pé no mundo real, logicamente com pouca grana (é claro – o Campeonato é um projeto patrocinado com recursos da lei estadual de incentivo à cultura).

Daí veio a ideia de criar ocaradaprancha. Nosso querido personagem seria um surfista frustrado, desses que sempre sonharam em pegar altas ondas, mas que infelizmente nasceu em BH. Como não tinha mar, foi pro bar, e veio aquela barriga de chopp. Meio tímido, meio canastrão, ocaradaprancha se mostrou o personagem ideal para ser o principal divulgador do Campeonato, mesmo sem falar palavra nenhuma.

Os desafios iniciais foram principalmente achar um ator, e uma prancha. Não há lugarem que vendam pranchas em BH e fui achar uma depois de deixar um post desesperado em uma comunidade de surfistas de BH, no Orkut (nunca menosprezemos o Orkut). O ator também foi bem puxado, já que o perfil que procurávamos era o de um cara com seus 30 e poucos anos, mais feio do que bonito, simpático e barrigudo. O Torino caiu dos céus, e fechou com a gente por um cachê que achei alto, a princípio, mas depois se mostrou beem em conta, pelo ótimo trabalho que ele desenvolveu.

Com prancha e ator, faltava o motorista, que conduziria ocaradaprancha pelas principais ruas, avenidas e praças de BH. No primeiro dia eu fiz esse papel, mas depois contratamos o Transjanjão, por 10 dias, aproximandamente 4 horas por dia.

Com tudo contratado, e com as fotos para o material gráfico feitas pelo Pedrinho que não tem Twitter (em plena sexta-feira, meio-dia, na Praça 7) era hora da ação tomar as ruas.

ocaradaprancha na Praça 7

O Torino desfilava pelos principais pontos de BH com sua prancha debaixo do braço, com aquela cara de surfista perdido, e com os olhares assustados das pessoas. Circulou principalmente pela Savassi (butecos e cafés), mas foi também para as portas das Universidades (PUC e UNA), para a Lagoa da Pampulha, Praça JK, Praça da Liberdade, bares da Pium-í, e por aí vai. O lance que mais gostamos da ação foi viajar na reação das pessoas ao verem um maluco, de bermuda floral, sem camisa e de óculos escuro, com uma prancha debaixo do braço, dando rolé pela cidade. Surreal! E foi por isso que deu tão certo.

Enquanto isso, o twitter d’ @ocaradaprancha começava a soltar informações sobre onde ele estava, e sua procura pelo mar (ou pelas praias, ou pelas ondas) em BH.Com pouco tempo, as pessoas começaram a conversar e retwittar ocaradaprancha.

Daí veio o lance com a @pizzaburnetsbh. A Rose, amiga da Marcela, trabalha no mkt da Pizza Burnet’s e topou uma promoção em parceria. Quem tirasse uma foto com @ocaradaprancha e postasse no Twitter ganhava uma pizza.

A promoção em parceria com a Pizza Burnet's BH

Aí foi melhor ainda, já que foi a @cortielha, com seus 1.587 followers, que ganhou a primeira pizza. E depois ainda compartilhou a pizza com o pessoal da @aortamobile, o que gerou um Tweet do @rodrigojames, com seus 1.058 followers.

A foto vencedora da @cortielha

Pra completar, o fodão @roxmo (o Roger, do Ultraje, uma das atrações do festival) tabém twittou para @pizzaburnetsbh: “hmmm, pizza!:)“. Decidimos então, junto com a Rose, enviar para ele um Pizza Burnet´s como presente da @pizzaburnetsbh e d’ @ocaradaprancha. Bola dentro, já que gerou mais um tweet positivo do @roxmo (20.218 followers) “@pizzaburnetsbh e @ocaradaprancha puxa, que gentil de vcs! Maravilhosa a pizza, muito obrigado! Que surpresa gostosa, valeu!“.

Enquanto isso, ocaradaprancha comparecia a todas as noites do #9PCMS, sempre com pessoas enlouquecidas, tirando fotos, interagindo e conversando com o personagem.

Além disso, nas promoções que realizamos no perfil do Twitter para que os followers ganhassem cortesias para o Festival, o próprio @ocaradaprancha ligou para os vencedores, gerando uma proximidade com o personagem que tinha tudo a ver com o que queríamos quando criamos a ação.

No fim, o balanço da ação, pelo menos por mim, foi super positivo. Com pouca grana e com o mínimo de planejamento, conseguimos criar um personagem relevante tanto na rede quanto no mundo não-virtual, que teve tudo a ver com o Campeonato e com a irreverência que a surf music propõe.

O flyer "safado" do festival

Agora é esperar o 10º Primeiro Campeonato Mineiro de Surfe, pra ver o que a gente cria =P

NOTE: I apologize in advance to my three faithful readers, you will have to excuse my disjointed writing in this post. This blog was written in four separate chunks over four separate evenings during the past two weeks. Having a seven month old recovering from hernia surgery kind of throws the late evening productivity out of whack…

As I sat down tonight to attempt to find time to view this week’s EC&I 831 elluminate session on Remixing Education I realized that I still hadn’t responded to last week’s session on Understanding Social Media. I really enjoyed this session; it reminded me of the UBC Okanagan Summer Institute class that Alec put on. It was that course that really got me rolling on my masters project and got me into EC&I 831 in the first place.

Alec’s big question for us to consider after this session was “What are the new media literacies, and how should teachers and/or schools address these?”  After considering this question and watching this video I found myself reassessing some of my views on this topic. Perhaps the most important idea I latched onto was the idea that people, and students in particular, are now playing important roles as producers of media, rather than simply acting as consumers of media. As a Social Studies teacher, I have always taught students skills to analyze various forms of media for bias, accuracy, etc. These skills will continue to be important to students as they continue to learn how to derive meaning from all forms of media, be it media created by multinational corporations or their Facebook friends. However, I now feel that it is equally as important that students learn more about their roles as media producers.

Students need to be aware of both the new powers and responsibilities that they have as producers of media.  I say powers because evidence of the impact that individual media producers can have arrives almost daily, be it in the form of an athlete breaking news or in the form of mass political protest. And I say responsibilities because students, and Canadian politicians apparently, need to be fully aware of the impact that media of their own creation can have on themselves and others.  We cannot expect students to learn the about the dangers of “sexting” or posting unauthorized videos on Youtube or Facebook by simply banning these mediums in schools. These new media literacies need to be taught in schools, the question now is whether or not the powers that be will agree.

Who knew that there was soo much to learn regarding social media and Web 2.0?

It seems that all this twittering, facebooking, linkedinning, etc, etc. has brought on a whole knew way of communicated. As a casual user of each, I had no idea that while I had signed up just for fun to see what all the hype was about, these tools were making leaps and bounds possible for people to get their ideas out there.

I will continue the research and move ahead. What can it bring for me?

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While I don’t like to equate social media with ROI, but rather positive measurement, here is some good stuff:

The technical definition of ROI is (x-y)/y where x = sales and y = investment.

Social media is a marketing tool (as well as other functional organizations’ tool such as customer support). Marketing is NOT sales – Marketing increases the probability of sales by creating awareness and generating qualified leads. While this is still an endless debate in companies, marketing should not be measured on sales. There are other applicable measurements that should be made to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing. A sales organization wins sales, but they require the support of marketing (and many other organization partners).

Hoe kan het dat ondanks de vele en snelle ontwikkelingen van de laatste jaren op het gebied van informatievoorziening via internet op allerlei platforms, er op het gebied van kennisoverdracht nog steeds zo weinig veranderd is? Waarom heeft de opkomst van social media en social networking zo weinig invloed op de manier waarop we mensen opleiden en kennis overdragen?

Ondanks alle ontwikkelingen op het gebied van e-learning, blended learning en virtual classrooms worden de meeste opleidingen en trainingen nog klassikaal en frontaal gegeven. Weliswaar worden er meer interactieve werkvormen gebruikt en heeft internet zijn intrede gedaan in het lokaal, maar de basis is nog steeds eenzijdige kennisoverdracht van docent, leraar of trainer naar de student, leerling en cursist.

Bij de huidige generatie die nu opleidingen en trainingen volgt werkt dit nog steeds prima. Deze generaties zijn gewend aan de klassikale vorm van kennisoverdracht en zijn in staat hier van te leren.  Hoe zal dit veranderen als de “digital natives”, de generatie die nu opgroeit met Google, Twitter, Hyves en MSN, en volgende generaties gaan studeren en trainingen gaan volgen of zelf trainingen gaan geven? Zijn deze generaties nog in staat om kennis op te nemen en zelf over te dragen op de manier zoals wij dit nu doen? Ik denk het niet.

In mijn optiek zal leren en kennisoverdracht in de toekomst meer in het teken staan van het uitwisselen en delen van kennis. Hierbij verdwijnt het sequentiële of lineaire aspect van het opleiden en leren. Het aanbod van kennis zal veel meer moeten worden afgestemd op de kennisbehoefte van het individu op een bepaald moment. Wel op een zodanig manier dat er de rode draad in de opleiding zichtbaar blijft of in ieder geval kan worden terug gevonden.

De docent, leraar of trainer zal meer de rol van facilitator gaan aannemen en richting geven aan de leerbehoefte van het individu. Studenten en cursisten gaan meer van elkaar en van oud-cursisten leren dan van de trainer. Eén en ander ondersteund door communicatiemiddelen die op dat moment en op de plek waar men zich bevindt voor handen zijn en het meest geschikt zijn voor die specifieke vraag of situatie. Social media, social networks en communities worden een onlosmakelijk deel van de leerervaring.

Hoe we deze ontwikkelingen vanuit het opleidingsinstituut of onderwijsinstelling gaan faciliteren blijft natuurlijk een belangrijke vraag. Ik wil hier graag met de bezoekers van ETC verder over na denken.

Marcel van den Berg

Klik hier om mee te denken met Educate the Crowd

It is that time of the year again. There are lists popping up everywhere. I started reading this last week and it coincided with some discussions about digital tools in other forums at work.

The Jane Hart has compiled her annual list Top Tools for Learning. It is always interesting to note the changes, what is up and what has gone down The Top 100 Tools For Learning 2009  can be found on this page as a list and also as a slide show. This final list (Nov 15th) has been compiled from the Top 10 Tool Contributions of 278 learning professionals worldwide.

There have been debates about what should be and what is allowed to be used in schools. Recently one principal was asking about what should teachers be allowed to access whilst they are at work. She was basing her question around reports that many workplaces were banning social networking tools. I am disappointed some of the comments made by some educators, teachers and admin people. Many of those who can’t/don’t see the point are those that are not using these tools. They often have not tried to see what others may be doing and also seem to simply think Facebook or Twitter are all there is. They base their ideas around some of the more sensational news media reports without any or very little actual experience of the tools. I cannot believe that any learning (curriculum) decisions based on such limited and weighted information are going to create 21st century learning experiences in schools.

I find that I use many social networking tools to help me with my everyday work. Many times I have been able to obtain answers to my questions, help with problems and notice about interesting articles, events, etc. via twitter or other online devices. My personal learning network has increased amazingly over the past 18 months and I rely on it as one of the key ways to  keep my professional learning/skills up-to-date.

So it was not surprising to me to see Twitter has risen up the ranking. many people I know are now using it but think I was surprised that it is now considered the Top Tool for 2009. Coming third was YouTube, which has risen fifteen places from last year. I know that this tool is used widely by staff and students in my school. Tools new to the list that have become favourites with me and/or others I work with include Wordle (30), Animoto (31), Tweetdeck (43), Glogster (55), Dropbox (71), Flip(simple digital camcorder) (71), and Picnik (71) and Prezi (quite a new tool) is already in 28th place. Social annotating tool Diigo, which has become my main bookmarking and annotating tool, is up to 22 from 35.

The “losers” this year were Delicious (from 1st to 2nd) and Google Reader both moved down one place and Powerpoint (13) moved down 5 places, Firefox (the winner in 2007), Skype and Facebook all went down 7 places, Word is down 14 places and Bloglines down 56 places (12th in 2007, 3oth in 2008 to 86 in 2009) . Interesting also to see  Wikipedia at 17th, .

Most interesting to me is how many of the sites and tools (often included at high places on the list) are on the “blocked list” for many Australian education institutions. Some it, could be argued, were not set up as educational tools and can be easily misused  therefore could be seen as valid exclusions based in but for others it seems that we should/need to come up with other options than just blocking. At my school we cannot use either Skype or Elluminate, both of which have been used with great success in other schools and allowed students and staff valuable real-time learning experiences.