In Dave’s absence, we kept our sights on the pressing issues of technological importance, like comedian Betty White’s upcoming appearance on Saturday Night Live, thanks in some part to a Facebook fan page demanding such an event. We like Betty White, but mostly we’re impressed at the idea that a fan page (and its almost 500,000 fans) could impact the decisions of a major network. It’s not exactly social change, but it’s proof that even giants like GE are paying attention.

We also talk about Launch Memphis‘ 48 Hour Launch, which went down this weekend and has Matthew still recovering. Eight teams worked tirelessly throughout the weekend to go from pitch and concept to functional business. Some of the start-ups launched are already on Twitter – Tourney Caddy, TippJar, One Song Concerts, and Matthew’s The List of Bands. Keep an eye out for these startups’ Facebook pages, too – and don’t forget that they have real Web sites, as well.

Our guest this week was Rod Kirby, success coach and editor in chief of The Success Center. We met Rod back in September at Social Camp, where he gave two presentations on blogging topics. One of those was “Treating Your Blog Like A Magazine,” which we explored with Rod a little further, delving into advertising, readership surveys and building community. You can check out the full presentation on SlideShare.

We also picked Rod’s brain about keeping content fresh, his forays into video blogging and his recent Ebook release. If you want to hear more, be sure to join us in April for the Social Expedition breakfast. Rod will be joining us as our speaker; check back to the MeetUp site soon for full details on his presentation.

Don’t forget Friday’s SxSW Core Conversation, and of course check back here next week for podcast No. 24, featuring guest Amanda Mauck of LeBonheur. Amanda was one of the team who headed to Haiti following the earthquake to administer medical aid — you won’t want to miss this one.

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

visit IntoOutdoors.com

Our guest this week is Josh Bell, the founder of IntoOutdoors.com, a specialized social network for hunters and anglers. The site has only been live for about a month, and already it has 300 active members. Josh talked to us about the goals and plans for the site in the next year, what it’s been like trying (for four long years) to bring his idea to fruition and, to that end, his relationship with LaunchMemphis. (Particularly topical, of course, with 48 Hour Launch happening this weekend.)

Aside from our time with Josh, we also offer some highlights from the Core Conversations at this week’s March Social Expedition breakfast, which focused on social metrics and blogging.

In the social metrics conversation, the talk went across the board from how to start and install Google Analytics to measuring Twitter impact (check out oneforty.com) and tracking shortened URL clicks (through sites like bit.ly, 3.ly, tr.im and bud.url).

The blogging discussion centered more around the creation of unique and fresh content — Matthew said much of it was spurred on by a comment made by our speaker, the Memphis CVB’s Kerry Crawford Trisler, that it takes her two hours to do a typical blog post. The bloggers talked about the time constraints they face while still trying to keep things as updated and content-rich as possible. A possible solution offered up was the idea of guest blogging, which can also be an excellent tool in promoting your blog and your brand to a new audience of readers.

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

Kerry walked us through all the facets of the I Love Memphis social presence, from the blog to Facebook to Twitter, as well as talking about her full process for each blog post. Every piece of content that goes up on I Love Memphis will also post to Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, UrbanSpoon, Mark’s Menus and FourSquare, not to mention photos hosted on Flickr and videos on YouTube.

In talking about how she measures successes and failures, Kerry first noted that she had no real job description or expectations when she set out on this project, other than to start a blog. Being able to learn through trial and error has been the greatest asset to maximizing the success of the campaign, she said. Now, managing a Facebook fan page that boasts more than 5,000 fans and a Twitter handle with more than 1,800 followers, Kerry says those numbers are the ones that matter the least. What she’s more concerned with is the number of actual interactions she has with the humans behind those social profiles, because that is more telling of true engagement.

She also shared with the group plans she has in the pipeline for FourSquare, including creating several FourSquare tours of Memphis (a foodie tour included, don’t you fear) and working with local businesses to try to create and implement unique FourSquare promotions, like deals or discounts for mayors and other tie-ins.

While Kerry said a lot of her work with FourSquare is focused on out-of-towners — they use the platform to explore the city most, she said — the spike in readership of the I Love Memphis blog on Thursday and Friday suggests locals are becoming a huge chunk of her dedicated audience, even if just to scout out what’s happening this weekend.

In looking at the Google analytics overview for the blog, Kerry noted a few stats she’s particularly proud of, like the average one minute and forty seconds being spent on the page by visitors. With an average that high, it’s safe to assume that most people who visit the site are taking the time to consume at least one post.

Following a little Q-and-A, the room separated as it typically does into two groups for our monthly Core Conversations. This month the topics were social metrics/measuring success and blogging, both of which were particularly topical given Kerry’s presentation. You can hear a brief rundown of those discussions on this week’s podcast, which you’ll find here later this week.

If you missed this breakfast, definitely mark your calendar to join us in April, and take a listen to last week’s Expedition podcast featuring Kerry Crawford Trisler.

• 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.

But it’s not all bad! We’re joined this week by a new member of our team, Ansley Fones, and our guest Jonathan Lyons, public relations and marketing coordinator for the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. Jonathan gave us the scoop on how the Peabody is using social technologies to create community among its guests and among Memphians, including crowd-sourcing ideas for the perennially popular Peabody rooftop parties. You can find the Peabody on Facebook and Twitter.

Dave Barger, Elizabeth Cawein, Jonathan Lyons, Matthew Crawford Trisler

Also in this episode you’ll hear our thoughts on some new random chat services, particularly ChatRoulette and Omegle. While Elizabeth is creeped out by the very idea, Matthew and Ansley throw in some ideas on how the random chat concept could be a great addition to the social scene with the right tweaks and filters. Of course, Matthew’s opinion may have been influenced by this potato chip bear, shown to him by someone from an Omegle chat.

Be sure to join us this Friday for the Core Conversation, happening at the usual time (11:30 CDT) and in the usual place (listen here or call in at 646-721-9429). We’ll be talking about everything new and next in social business, including the possible uses of Google Buzz, new social features in Outlook and other platforms like Chatter. Next week’s Expedition podcast will feature Kerry Crawford Trisler, better known as @ILoveMemphis on Twitter, who will also be joining us at our March Expedition breakfast. (RSVP here.)

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

Students in the MILE program are juniors and seniors at the University of Memphis, but it’s the seniors who have spearheaded this effort, under the direction of Leadership Memphis alumnus Austin Baker. The idea, Baker said, is to turn the city’s “bashers” into ambassadors. To remind the citizens of Memphis that we have a rich, abundant and cultural place to call home. To inspire people to fall in love with the Bluff City all over again.

The main event of the campaign happens in April, as more than 90 Memphis-area businesses will be asked to host events citywide in celebration of three themes over the course of a weekend. On Thursday, April 8, the theme is favorite music; on Friday, April 9, it’s favorite food day; and on Saturday, April 10 it’s what you love about Memphis. The idea is to get your co-workers, family members and friends involved in your neighborhood or your office by hosting your own gatherings and events under the themes. Suggestions for ways to celebrate can be found at SpiritofMemphis.org.

Friday’s rally was the kick-off to the campaign, bringing out leaders from across the city to share what they love about living in Memphis. From events like Memphis in May or Live at the Garden to amenities like the zoo or intangibles like the community spirit, our philanthropic heart or our small-town feel, the list of reasons to love living here seemed endless.

Despite a slight change in schedule – the rally had to be postponed due to our blanket of ice and snow last week – the ballroom was full on Friday, of people and spirit for the movement of positivity growing throughout Memphis. One notable face was missing from the crowd, as Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton was unable to make an appearance at the rally. He did, however, send his thoughts in a letter that Austin Baker shared with the attendees. Wharton’s closing comment resonated: Let’s make the pep rally for Memphis a year-round event.

No, we spent just about all of this week’s podcast talking about Google Buzz. We couldn’t help ourselves, since Google has pretty much gotten all up in everybody’s Kool-Aid with this one. It’s location based, it’s social, it’s a status updater, it’s an auto-friend-finder, it probably folds your clothes and tells you your butt looks fat in those jeans.

Dave Barger, Elizabeth Cawein, Bob Hazlett, Matthew Crawford Trisler

We recorded our first segment prior to our interview with this week’s guest, digital marketer and blogger Bob Hazlett (@OneHalfAmazing). So you’ll get to hear us before and after Buzz — though Matthew had it on his iPhone yesterday morning, Dave and Elizabeth’s Droids weren’t hip to the new fad. But by the time Bob joined us we’d all gotten our coveted Buzz invitation screen, so we spent some time chatting about it with him, too.

We also talked to Bob about his recent entry into the iPhone app store with a dedicated app for his blog, OneHalfAmazing.com.

Don’t forget to join us for the Core Conversation, happening at the same time and same place as usual — 11:30 a.m. CDT here or by calling in at 646-721-9429 — when we’ll be talking about more social enterprise topics and also how social technologies have influenced dating and relationships.

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

In light of the recent Twitter phishing attack, we talk torrents as well as plug-ins and features of different browsers that will help you create and keep track of multiple safe passwords. Dave introduces us to Aardvark, a site that allows a user to enter areas of expertise (as well as physical location) to make themselves a resource to other users looking for answers to questions.

We also talked a lot of Memphis in this episode, including a trip over to TweetFeel, where we found that 52 percent of recent tweets about our beloved city were, in fact, positive. Hopefully that number will skyrocket tomorrow with the Spirit of Memphis kick-off pep rally; we’ll be there and blogging!

Our guest this week, Memphis’ most web-savvy Realtor Joe Spake, gave us some hope for the home-buying market but also shared with us his social experiences with the Center for Southern Folklore and his thoughts on the demise of Memphis landmark the Zippin’ Pippin.

We’ll be podcasting live tomorrow as usual for the Core Conversation, so be sure to join us at 11:30 a.m. CDT by calling in to 646-721-9429 or listening along here. The topic this week is social tools for the enterprise.

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

Dave made reference to one of the phrases that has been a staple of the Expedition for some time: “Social” is a philosophy and a shape-shifter– not just a marketing tool. When it comes to the enterprise, Dave said, “social business’ is the philosophy, and it’s not just about bringing your workplace online.

He talked first about determining the health of your business’s ecosphere. By mapping out all the important nodes of your business — from customer service to clients to providers to marketing — and looking at the connections between them, you can see the ideal version of your business ecosphere and identify current weak points to achieve that ideal.

No doubt several of the nodes in your ecosphere, no matter your business, will be internal. Creating transparency and enhancing communication within the enterprise are just as critical to the social business philosophy as those actions taken outwardly like a Facebook fan page or Twitter handle. Dave ran through a laundry list of platforms and methods businesses may use to achieve this, from wikis to discussion boards to presentation tools like SlideShare or traditional social networks.

Dave then introduced the Expeditionaries to a handful of sites specifically designed for enterprise social, talking most extensively about SocialCast, which was recently adopted by LunaWeb. You can find out  more about SocialCast and others like Yammer and SocialText on this week’s Core Conversation podcast, where we’ll be continuing the conversation on social in the enterprise. You can call in at 11:30 a.m. CDT (646-721-9429) or listen live here.

More essential than the introduction to the tools, though, was the underlying philosophy and benefits of use: creating peripheral vision across the enterprise, sharing knowledge, allowing executives to offer praise and set the tone and pace of business and allowing employees to get help and access data easily are just a few examples.

If you missed out, you’ll definitely want to join us for the Core Conversation this Friday.

————–

With such a rich, vivid cultural tradition both past and present, there are millions of reasons to love living in Memphis. It’s easy for any of us to forget that — we get bogged down in the day to day, in our little frustrations and don’t appreciate the treasures we have right here in our hometown. Sometimes, we all need reminding. And that’s what Spirit of Memphis aims to do.

This Friday they’re kicking off their efforts with a pep rally at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn (RSVP to the event by dropping them an e-mail). The idea of the campaign is to inspire Memphians to take ownership of the city and be proud ambassadors of everything Memphis has to offer. Friday’s pep rally is only the beginning — events will be happening all over the city in April during three themed days of celebration. Thursday, April 8 will be favorite Memphis music; Friday, April 9 will be favorite Memphis food; and Saturday, April 10 will be what you love about Memphis. On those days, Memphians will be encouraged to create their own brand of “pep rally,” whether it’s a potluck lunch at work, a Memphis music swap or simply organizing contributions to a local charity.

Between now and then, more details will be available about specific events. Spirit of Memphis will be hosting several throughout the city on the final day of the April celebration. You can keep up with the plans as they develop by following @SpiritofMemphis on Twitter or checking in regularly at SpiritOfMemphis.org. We’re going to be covering Friday’s rally, so check back here or on Facebook for photos of the festivities.