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It’s as busy as ever before at the Social Expedition news desk, particularly in the legal department. Some headlines we talk about:
- Google executives convicted in association with YouTube bullying video
- Google conviction affects Internet workers
- Yelp sued over extortion
In the cracks in between those topics, Matthew and Ansley share examples of how customers who are converted are the most loyal, and Matthew busts out some serious opinions about obscenity and Apple’s decision to clear the App Store of explicit content.
All that and more happen in the main section of this week’s podcast.
Our guest this week was Kerry Crawford Trisler, better known to some, she reports to us, as “That Girl With the Blog.” You might more officially know her as the human being behind the @ILoveMemphis Twitter handle and related web and social presences, notably the I Love Memphis blog.
Elizabeth Cawein, Dave Barger, Kerry and Matthew Crawford Trisler
Crawford Trisler talked to us about her role at the Memphis Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, where she’s technically known as “social media specialist” — she lets us in on the myriad ways that title just can’t quite capture a typical day on the job.
We also talked to Kerry about her favorite tools and platforms, the evolution of the CVB’s social philosophy and how she measures their social footprint. Though Kerry’s techniques are a bit more analog, it’s a topic we’ll be diving into this week on The Core Conversation.
We’re hoping to pull in representatives from some different firms who have tools on the market for measuring social analytics to weigh in on the podcast. Either way, we want to hear from you, as always – how do you measure social interactions? Or is it like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree? You tell us, Friday at 11:30 a.m. CDT. Call in at 646-721-9429 or listen live here.
And of course, join us for next week’s Expedition breakfast. It’s already March? We know, it can’t be — but it is. So be there to hear more from Kerry, who’ll be joining us as our guest speaker. You can RSVP and learn more through MeetUp.
Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.
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We’re not typically ones for the bandwagon, but when it comes to iPad jokes, we just couldn’t help ourselves. We touch on its utilities, dip our toe in the iPod Touch v. iPad debate and skim through some of its features, sure. But mostly? Like the classic Seinfeld line, we’re left wondering about the marketing geniuses who came up with that one.
Elizabeth, Beth Sanders, Matthew, and Dave
It’s not all jokes this week, though, as we talk about the inundation of the White House Facebook fan page in advance of last night’s State of the Union address and the Edelman Trust Barometer. Dave explains that the folks at Edelman release a study every year around the concept of consumer trust. Apparently Chinese consumers have more trust in American corporations than Americans do (ouch), and in 2010 a high-earning company does not necessarily earn automatic high marks. In the past, success has been fairly easily equated with trust; this year’s study reveals that our attitudes on that are changing.
And as corporations look to enhance trust in their brands, no doubt they’ll be looking to social media for solutions this year — a recent study shows that social is the top priority for marketers in 2010. It feels like a “duh!” moment for Elizabeth, but Dave notes that this shift is something to be wary of, as more megaphones are likely to appear and begin broadcasting messages on these channels.
And of course, if you haven’t heard about Google Xistence, it might just be the next best thing in virtual living.
This week our guest was Beth Sanders, a communications guru and self-proclaimed geek. As Dave points out, she’s the uber-early adopter, so we picked her brain about what she’s been into lately. What we got back was a laundry list of location-based services to check out: GoWalla, CauseWorld (which allows you to earn “karma points” that translate to real dollars for charity), Whrrl, Loopt and of course, FourSquare. We also opined a little bit about the possibilities awaiting us with the upcoming tablet announcement since we sat down with Beth prior to the unveiling of the iPad. (Giggle.)
We wrap things up with some very intellectual discussion on the virtues and pitfalls of cupcakes, but mostly about a cool local kid who’s selling them to raise money for Haiti. You can find him on Facebook. We also touch on our upcoming events, like next week’s breakfast (featuring our own Dave Barger speaking on social tools for the enterprise) plus this week’s Core Conversation, which goes down at 11:30 CDT on Friday as usual. We’ll be talking about what to do if you get hacked, and you can join us by calling 646-721-9429, or you can listen live here.
Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.
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This is our 16th episode. We’re growing up so fast – and Elizabeth still hasn’t gotten the hovercar somebody promised her. And while we’re coming of age, social media shows no signs of stopping its growth and constant reinvention.
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) took place recently, and the nascent gadget freaks in us await January’s unveiling of shiny new toys as though it were Christmas proper. Everyone wants in on the act.
Even Google and Apple unveiled or are unveiling new products this month, and though the true identity of Apple’s product won’t be known until it’s announced Jan. 27, everyone seems to think they know what it is.
While we’ve been telling people for a long time to go ahead and grab the Twitter username you want before someone else does, it seems that Twitter will soon begin releasing usernames that seem to have been abandoned.
If they delete and release these usernames all at once, expect there to be an absolutely insane landgrab, like when Facebook suddenly allowed custom usernames and URLs.
Unfortunately, when it comes to usernames, you can’t always get what you want. But if you try canonical URLs, you’ll get what you need – an easy way to tell your audience how to find your social presence.
Elizabeth Cawein, Matthew Crawford Trisler, Eric Mathews, and Dave Barger
Eric Mathews stopped by our office to drop some knowledge on us about how two Mercury Technology Labs startups – Marks Menus and Into Outdoors – are leveraging social technologies to achieve their goals and provide functionality.
Eric notes that if Memphis wants to maintain a vibrant entrepreneurial community, then what’s going on in that community needs the city’s attention.
The Memphis Flyer gets that – and “20 Under 30,” the cover story of their latest issue, takes that idea to the general public. The story focuses on 20 of the most influential Memphians, most of whom bring attention to how great it can be to live here – and at least two of them are local social luminaries.
Stephen Hackett made the list – not for his “#gojgo” campaign, like Matthew says in the podcast (he hadn’t seen the paper yet, just the list of who was on it) – but for a post on his blog, Fork Bombr, about how if we want Memphis to be a better place, we need to take responsibility for making it so.
And there’s @ILoveMemphis herself, Kerry Crawford Trisler, married to our own Matthew Crawford Trisler (whose heart beats faster at just the sound of her name). Her efforts on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and the I Love Memphis Blog have earned her not just a spot on the Flyer’s list, but the cover.
Congratulations to everyone on the list – that’s a big honor, and you all deserve it!
Please join us tomorrow – Friday – for the Core Conversation podcast. This time around we’ll be talking about Creative Commons, Copyright/Copyleft issues, and promoting music online with the Creative Commons Foundation and Eric Maskol, who wrote our crazy-catchy theme music.
Do take some time between 11:30 and 12:30 to join us. You can call in to the Core Conversation at 646-721-9429.
As for the Social Expedition Podcast we’ve been talking about all this time, you can Download it here, listen in the player at the bottom of this post, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.
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We’re all Google-y eyed for our 15th show, talking about Google’s recent stand off with the Chinese government and a patent that might see the company placing real-time ads into your street view in the near future.
But it wasn’t all about Google — we gave Facebook a little attention as well, mostly because lately Dave can’t stop talking about the Suicide Machine. Facebook has blocked access to the service, so if you want to delete your Facebook presence you’ve still got to do it the old-fashioned way. Dave sees this as a potentially big faux pas on the part of our friends at Facebook — Marky Z, as Dave calls him — but we’re not all in agreement on that point.
And of course, our guest this week is the lovely Rachel Hurley — perhaps better known to some of you as Rachel And The City — who manages the social media happenings at Ardent. She talks to us about the evolution of social media in band promotion at Ardent, but also lots of stuff she’s learned along the way, from the true value of Twitter to finding the right kind of followers.
Be sure to join us tomorrow as usual for the Core Conversation, kicking off at 11:30 a.m. CDT. We’re talking about the recent Social Fresh conference in Nashville as well as online privacy — when was the last time you had a look under the hood of your Facebook profile to see just what the man knows about you? Call and weigh in at (646) 721-9429 or listen live here.
You can download the podcast, stream it via the player below, or subscribe in iTunes.
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Here’s the consensus in our office: 2010 is pronounced “twenty-ten.”
Today we’re talking about snow days – Elizabeth apparently got out of school for rain once.
"Snow Elvis Statue" by mrbrent62 on Flickr
We’re also talking about something you might do during your day off – the Facebook’s Community Council – helping to police for offensive content on Facebook through crowdsourcing.
You might also want to drink something warm, like coffee – and Google’s new Caffeine search engine algorithm may or may not be released, but it’s certainly going to affect the way social activity reflects in your search engine rankings.
But what’s kind of lame about snow days is that they make it difficult to get out and mingle with friends – say, at tweetups like the one we had Tuesday at South of Beale, welcoming Jeremiah Owyang to Memphis for a brief stay, or to our Social Expedition Breakfasts, like the one Wednesday, where Eric Mathews presented.
Rather than drive to events like that in snowy weather, it might be safer to just call a good friend. Thom Rigsby, for example, joined us on the phone from Huntsville, Ala., where he lives and works as a blogger and social media strategist.
We talked with him about the importance of getting out and meeting people in meatspace, and what he thinks 2010 will bring to the social sphere.
Don’t forget that the Core Conversation call-in podcast will start back up on Friday – We’ll be talking about the rise of the Mobile Web.
You can download the podcast, listen by clicking the player below, or subscribe in iTunes by clicking on the logo below.
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This lil guy from South of Beale needs a home
On this week’s Social Expedition podcast, we cover a surprisingly wide range of topics, from Mashable’s Open Web Awards (we liked their “Most Interesting Twitter User” and were fairly nonplussed by their “Best Breaking News Site“) to why the iPod’s interface pwns Guy Kawasaki’s linking. Also: puppies found by South of Beale, Ardent Music, and a disturbingly extensive display of soap opera knowledge among all of us.
Conversations are already starting to sprout up about the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference in Austin, TX.
We brought in Kerry Hayes, the Special Assistant for Research and Innovation from Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton’s office to talk about the mayor’s use of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media in communicating with Memphians and keeping us updated on what they’re doing. We also cover Net Neutrality and bringing high-speed internet access to all Memphians.
Join us on Friday for the call-in Core Conversations podcast for predictions about what 2010 holds in store for social media, tech, and emerging Web technology.
You can download the podcast here, click the player below to listen on this page, or click the banner to subscribe in iTunes.
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Time passes all too quickly, and we’ve reached our tenth episode. Though we weren’t sure what the traditional gift for the 10th anniversary is (turns out it’s tin or aluminum), we have always known what we’re here for – celebrating the ideas behind and progress of social media, as it expands into both our personal and business lives.
Google seems to have jumped the gun a little bit on releasing their new real time social search. It’s going to drastically affect the way businesses and marketers behave on social networks, even if it doesn’t much change the way people search.
One major risk faced by businesses who wish to optimize their social networks for the new social search is that they’ll put their customers off with their behavior – this is more critical than ever, given that Facebook’s new privacy settings make it easier than ever to make annoying business practices (and annoying relatives) disappear from your personal profile.
Shawn Danko of the Kooky Canuck
We talked with Shawn Danko from downtown Memphis’ Kooky Canuck restaurant about how he got into using social media to promote his business and build relationships with customers.
You can find Kooky Canuck’s social efforts on Twitter and Facebook.
We also give a nice shout out to the Peabody Hotel’s social networking – they are our Memphis Tweeter of the Week.
As for upcoming events, Friday will see our next Core Conversation podcast, the first of a two-part series on predictions for 2010 and what you think will happen with social media and the internet.
Lastly, if you’re a podcaster, or if you’re looking to get into podcasting, or if you’re just curious to meet other people who are addicted to listening to podcasts, we’re having MemCast – a gathering of Memphis podcasters and podcast enthusiasts – on Monday, Dec. 14. For information about that, follow MemCast on Twitter.
You can download the podcast, click the player below to listen on the page, or subscribe in iTunes.
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On this week’s podcast, you get two guests for the price of one! We sat down with blogger/actor/comedian/social media enthusiast Brent Diggs and his friend the infamous Dr. Toboggans.
In addition to his indentured servitude to Dr. Toboggans, Brent manages a laundry list of online presences, belonging to him, his band Danger Couch and his church, LifeLink. We talked to him about that very juggling act, and also the challenge of maintaining authenticity — even, in some cases, while being entirely inauthentic.
Matthew, Elizabeth, Dave, and the (in)famous Dr. Toboggans.
In the midst of our conversation, old Toboggans himself burst in to the interview (no doubt upset that Brent had chosen to record our podcast without him). We had a few minutes to find out about Dr. Toboggans’ Mind Over Memphis project and how he’s helping to stomp out good deed doing all over Memphis.
We also get into the FourSquare game in this episode, talking about the merits and utilities of this newest social media sensation, and even making some predictions about where it might be headed in the future. And that big letter from Mark Zuckerberg floating at the top of your Facebook page? Yeah, we get to that, too.
As always, you can download the podcast here, subscribe in iTunes, or click the play button at the bottom of this post to listen on this page.
Be sure to join us on Friday for The Core Conversation — this week’s topic is social media and the holidays. How will our holiday traditions and behaviors be changed or influenced by our social media usage? Weigh in at 11:30 a.m. Friday by calling (646) – 721-9429.
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During this week’s Social Expedition Podcast, we visit the office of the University of Memphis’ Dr. Kris Markman.
Together, we chat about UofM, living in midtown, and – most importantly – podcasting. Given her radio background and current academic focus in social media, Dr. Markman is a perfect choice for an interviewee.
So perfect, in fact, that our interview with her is the whole podcast.
Dr. Markman will also be the guest speaker at the Dec. 2 Social Expedition Breakfast, which I think we may have mentioned before.
You have the same listening options as usual: Download the podcast, click below to listen, or subscribe in iTunes.
Enjoy, and have a great Thanksgiving!
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Carrie Corbett, Matthew Crawford Trisler, Elizabeth Cawein, Tania Castroverde Moskalenko, and Dave Barger
As we’re approaching Thanksgiving, we’re finding it hard to shake the feeling that the year is disappearing faster than we can come to a consensus about what we’ll be calling next year.
Even November is more than halfway through – the midpoint being marked by BarCamp Memphis. Even mid-November is bookended by tomorrow’s Core Conversation call-in podcast, wherein we’ll be hosting a BarCamp Memphis – oriented Feedback Friday. We’d love for the next BarCamp to be even better – and we need your help to make that happen.
It seems that Bebo, the social network popular in the UK, is improving themselves, too, by including a button to report abuse – not for spam, but for trolls and bullies.
Facebook is similarly trying to improve themselves, but with some tweaks to the options available to advertisers – but in a way that may ruffle a few feathers.
Our feelings about Twitter’s new built-in retweeting function are similarly mixed.
Mpact Memphis, however, is unassailably positive. No qualms here about saying that we like them. That’s why they’re our Memphis Tweeter of the Week.
We sat down with The Germantown Performing Arts Centre’s Carrie Corbett and Tania Castroverde Moskalenko to talk with them about their social efforts, and how they use Facebook in the everyday life of the organization.
As always, you can download the podcast here, subscribe in iTunes, or click the play button below to listen on this page.
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