• TONIGHT! The Wordpress Memphis Kickoff!! – 6pm at the LunaWeb offices, 5180 Park, Suite 305
  (FREE)
• LaunchMemphis presents After Hours with Larry Farrell – Sept. 13^th, 5:00 –7:00pm at LaunchMemphis (FREE)
• LaunchMemphis presents a Book Signing with Larry Farrell and Bridget DiCello– Sept. 14^th, 6:30 –8:00pm at Davis Kidd (Also FREE)
• WordCamp Birmingham, Sept. 18 & 19 – http://wordcampbirmingham.org/
  
• BarCamp Jonesboro, Sept 25 – http://www.barcampjonesboro.com/
• Ignite Memphis, Oct. 20, 7:30 pm at Playhouse on the Square
• BarCamp Memphis – November

So go! Jonesboro is only an hour or so away, and we’re trying to put together a caravan to go to Birmingham for WordCamp.

But besides our raves about BarCamps, the podcast also includes a great interview with Michael Synk: the business man, the consultant, the book club organizer. In one of his many roles, Michael coordinates the In-Synk Executive Huddle, a peer group for entrepreneurs and CEOs. In the same vein, he has also formed a Business Book Club, which he describes as “the book club for people who don’t have time to read the book.” RSVP here for the next meeting, which is tomorrow, September 3, 8 am at Davis Kidd, when they’ll be reviewing Blue Ocean Strategy.

After you listen in, find Michael on the web at www.in-synk.com, or on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook!

Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.

The Expedition ventures into the world of video with Chris O’Conner and Prodigi Arts! Chris showed our attendees today just how powerful the impact of video can be over a still image. Even adding a little animation to a company logo can add the pizazz needed to make the impression you want. Chris suggested a few tools, including Adobe Premiere, After Effects, and Final Cut for anyone who wants to try their hand at some DIY video. For Dave’s pretty mind mapping of Chris’s presentation (which includes more suggestions for tools and tricks!), click here!

For the core conversation, we split into three groups. One group continued down the video road with Chris, Beth Sanders answered some Wordpress questions with another group, and the last huddle compared Foursquare to the brand new Facebook Places. One Expeditioner shared the harrowing tale of a young man who has already faced a solid grounding due to Facebook Places when a friend shared his location, which was not where he told his parents he would be. Facebook, however, definitely has the upper-hand in visibility since even people not using Places are able to see where their friends have checked in right in their feed.

On the Wordpress side of the room, the big confusion seemed to lie in the difference between Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org. For a great explanation of the difference, click here, or better yet, head to LunaWeb TONIGHT for…

The Wordpress Memphis Kickoff!! – 6pm at the LunaWeb offices (5180 Park, Suite 305)

Other upcoming events include…

• LaunchMemphis presents After Hours with Larry Farrell – Sept. 13^th, 5:00 –7:00pm at LaunchMemphis
• LaunchMemphis presents a Book Signing with Larry Farrell and Bridget DiCello– Sept. 14^th, 6:30 –8:00pm at Davis Kidd
• WordCamp Birmingham, Sept. 18 & 19 – http://wordcampbirmingham.org/ (If interested, see about joining our caravan!)
• BarCamp Jonesboro, Sept 25 – http://www.barcampjonesboro.com/
• Ignite Memphis, Oct. 20, 7:30 pm at Playhouse on the Square
• BarCamp Memphis – November

Then there’s that big news in the social space this week: Facebook Places. We are curious as ever to see how the launch affects the established location-based services, like Foursquare and Gowalla. We are still big proponents of Foursquare rewards in Memphis, though, and we’re even starting a website dedicated to it! It’s not live yet, but it’s on the way!

So join us for the breakfast for sure, on September 1 at 7:30 am at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn. Chris will share some more insight into the world of video, and then we’ll jump into the core conversation in which we talk about what social media issues are on your mind! RSVP here.

The September Twilight Camp will be on September 16th, at LunaWeb this time (Davis Kidd must be getting tired of us, after all). 5:30 to 7:30, don’t miss it!

Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.

We were delighted to have some new-comers, and of course, always great to see some of our regulars. Once again, we did not get kicked out of Davis Kidd, which is really a shame because…

The next Twilight Camp will be at the LunaWeb office! Though I suppose it still wouldn’t be wise to get ourselves barred from Bronte Bistro. After all, there is that yummy chicken salad.

Now for the recap. The conversation kicked off with the news of the hour (of the literal hour), Facebook Places launched in Memphis at approximately 4:30 yesterday afternoon. As of the meeting, only one of us had gotten to use it at all, but what information we did have:

• There aren’t any prizes, badges, or any other “game” element to it.
• You can push check-ins from Foursquare to Facebook Places, but not vice-versa.
• You can tag your friends in your check-ins to let people know they are with you. This could be potentially problematic.*

*If you do not want friends to be able to check you into Places, go to “Account” in the Facebook toolbar, then “Privacy Settings.” Look for “Customize Settings,” then scroll down to the second section, “Things others share.” Find “Friends can check me into Places.” Change the setting to Disabled, and you’re done!

A matter of hours impacted some of the arguments from last night’s discussion of Foursquare vs. Facebook Places. Today, Mashable featured an article on the travel rewards program that will now be affiliated with Facebook Places. Topguest, the service that’s tapping into Facebook’s API, is fresh off the market, rendering its partnerships limited. So limited that, for now, rewards only come in the form of discounted hotel stays, watering down our argument just a bit, but it’s not null and void just yet – and we don’t expect it to be so any time soon… if ever. As for the privacy issues, well, they are still there. All this in mind, it seemed we all agreed that Foursquare is our preferred check-in app/game/stalking mechanism. It seems that it’s becoming that way for many others too. While we were Twilighting, Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley (@dens) was tweeting: “Just heard from The @HarryH that today was @foursquare’s biggest day ever in terms of new user signups. #dball4life.” Because Rachel isn’t giving up anytime soon, stay tuned for http://www.foursquarememphis.com/ (not yet live).

Also in Location-Based news, did you know there are different levels of editors in Foursquare? Well, I know at least one of you did. When you’ve checked in enough, it seems you can become a “Level 2 Editor,” which enables you to combine locations. So, if two people created two different check-in locations for Davis Kidd, say “Davis Kidd” and “Davis Kidd Booksellers,” a Level 2 Editor could merge the two locations into one. Who knew? Andy Glover did!

In iPad news (and there’s always iPad news, isn’t there?), Andy has an awesome new case with a very clever strap on the back to slip your hand through so you can easily hold the device with one hand. So simple, yet so brilliant. Then, our iPad scholars sang the praises of the Academic research sharing application, Mendeley (also available for desktop!).

Is the iPhone coming to Verizon? Well, of course, none of us know for sure, but signs point to… maybe. Verizon customers thinking about switching to a smartphone might want to wait a bit longer to see if any more evidence leaks (and we all know Apple has some trouble keeping their announcements under wraps these days).

Wordpress bloggers – check out the Zemanta plug-in! This thing is nifty. Once you install it, start writing a blogpost. The plug-in combs your content and recommends links, photos, Wikipedia articles, etc., and it’s super easy and awesome. I know another plug-in that does pretty much the same thing was mentioned. What was the name of that one, Andy?

Don’t miss the breakfast on September 1!

First up, we’ve got a brilliantly practical new idea from Andrew Maguire of InternMatch.com, a new and expanding website linking college students to local internships. Find them on Twitter, too, at @internmatch.

Next, Dave speaks with another innovator in the job hunters market, Carmen Hudson of TweetaJob.com, which offers job seekers the opportunity to sign up for free and receive only tweets about positions in the location and industry they specify. Their general company handle is @tweetajob, and Carmen can be personally found @peopleshark.

Moving onto the more privacy oriented interviews, Dave speaks with Becky Pezely from the Common Data Project, also on Twitter @commondata.

Lastly, we’ve got Howard Fried from Secret 123, a service which adds an encryption button to Microsoft Outlook to code your emails! Find them on Twitter @secret123.

Hope to see you tonight at Twilight Camp at 5:30, but if you can’t make it, don’t miss the breakfast on September 1, with guest speaker Chris O’Conner of Prodigi Arts. See you soon!

Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.

• BarCamp Conway – Aug. 20
• BarCamp Birmingham – Aug. 28
• WordCamp Birmingham – Sept. 18 & 19
• BarCamp Jonesboro – Sept. 25
• BarCamp Nashville – Oct. 16
• BarCamp Memphis – Nov. 13

The date isn’t final yet, but BarCamp Memphis will be coming up in November! As a sponsor of the event, the Social Expedition was delighted to sit down with another happy patron of the event, Beena White. Beena is a public relations and marketing professional, as well as a journalism professor at the University of Memphis. Find Beena on Twitter at @beenawhite, and definitely keep an eye out for her new company, cocoabeens communications, which will be launching its website soon.

We’ve also got thoughts on the HPOA Girl, the Facebook/Placebook scandal, and the future of geolocation services. Don’t miss the upcoming podcasts, too, when Dave will send back soundclips from the several tech conferences he will be attending during Seattle’s Geek Week.

Twilight Camp fast approaches. We’ll be waiting for you and your tech enthusiasm to join us on August 18th at 5:30pm in the Bronte Bistro at Davis Kidd!

Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.

In our social media news, you’ll hear a little of this, a little of that, a little of Twitter, and, as always, a lot of Facebook. In this case, Facebook Questions, which the Social Expedition hopes will eventually become a great compendium of knowledge, and not a forum for silly questions. And don’t be too disturbed if that link takes you to a page that says “We’re not ready for you yet.” The feature is being rolled out slowly.

Android has viruses, Google has multiple account sign-in, and Rdio sounds cool but simply isn’t as free as Pandora. Companies and brands who are having trouble keeping up with all their location-based presences (on the ever-growing number of platforms) will be excited for Geotoko.

Don’t miss the chance to ask questions or have lengthy app-filled conversations on these topics at our Twilight Camp on August 19th! It’s 5:30 at Davis Kidd in the Bronte Bistro. Come chat with us and enjoy a cup of something iced!

Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.

Elizabeth Cawein, long-time friend of the Social Expedition, loaned us some of her time from Memphis Music Foundation to speak at our August Breakfast. She shared with us some of the ways in which social media is helping Memphis musicians grow and thrive. Besides the usual Facebook and Twitter, Elizabeth also recommends artists utilize sites like bandcamp.com and the old-standby MySpace to connect with their audiences, build relationships, and expand their fan-base.

Plus, Elizabeth issued a challenge to everyone present at the breakfast, and we in turn are extending it to you and everyone in Memphis – Support just one Memphis musician. It can be as simple as signing up for their email list or going to a show. Every bit helps keep Memphis’s rich musical heritage going!

Find the Memphis Music Foundation on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or check out the blog!

Plus, Dave filled us in on some upcoming BarCamp events within driving distance:

• BarCamp Conway – Aug. 20
• BarCamp Birmingham – Aug. 28
• WordCamp Birmingham – Sept. 18 & 19
• BarCamp Jonesboro – Sept. 25

Let’s put together a caravan? And be sure to RSVP for Twilight Camp on the 19th!

In the remainder of the podcast, the Social Expedition grants ‘Yays’ to the new Bump application for iPhone and Android, Amazon and Facebook’s integration,*** and (of all things) MySpace. Emphatic ‘Boos’ must be given however, including to Google’s backlash at Yelp and Facebook’s deletion of the “Most Recent” news feed option for some accounts. Check out the other Yay’s and Boo’s by downloading the podcast below!

Then join us next Wednesday (August 4) for our monthly breakfast at the U of M Holiday Inn to hear more from Elizabeth! It’s at 7:30 in the morning, and we promise the delicious buffet is so worth getting up a little early! RSVP here.

***At the time of this posting, this feature seems to have disappeared. Boo.

Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.

Wait, Organizational Development and Change? What what? What does that mean? Well, the hint is that it has a lot to how social media has changed not only business, but the customer and how they choose to interact with a business. To learn more about it, check out the podcast. Andy seriously has some interesting observations to share.

He promised to send us some resources for those who want to look further into the ideas he’s exploring in his doctoral program. When he gets that over to me, it will replace this very sentence. Then, go find Andy on Twitter and at his blog!

For the rest of the show, we present to you the “illions.” 500 million Facebook users. 100 million Foursquare check-ins a day. We’ve got the statistics.

Then, aggregation tools are so in. The iPad app Flipboard is pretty, but overwhelmed by their traffic. Yet another location-based service (LBS), Scvngr makes us long for check-in aggregation. Enter FourWhere and Check.in, and they’re just two of the many that are popping up. Ping.fm is kind of the opposite of an aggregation tool- it will take a post and shoot it to your Twitter, Facebook, blog, and any other networks you hook it up to. It’s a great idea to set it up to be an emergency broadcast system, but we definitely discourage using this method for your regular posting. After all, Twitter and Facebook are different for a reason.

Lastly, we didn’t have time to cover this in the podcast, but we definitely want to encourage people to participate in YouTube’s Life in a Day project. Take some video on Saturday, July 24 that reflects your daily life, and send it in. The most compelling video will be compiled into a feature film that will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival. So pull out your cameras and take part, folks!

Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.