Matthew Crawford Trisler, Rick Tarrant, Dave Barger

So that’s it for 2009, huh? We’re marking the end of the decade with a new face voice in your ear, some makeshift electronic repair, and a look back at the year’s trending topics on Twitter.

While it seems that social news has kind of drifted out of focus until the end of the year, with favor being given to the traditional end of the year list, there has been word about the very likely Google Phone – the Nexus One – and Google’s press event coming up on Jan. 5.

We also introduce our new intern, Shannon. She’s cool, knowledgeable, and most importantly, shares our expeditionary spirit.

We got so caught up in talking to Shannon, about the requirements for being a social media expert, the concept of 1000 true fans, and what she’s studying, that it ended up taking up almost half of the episode.

We brought in Rick Tarrant of Rick Tarrant Productions for the second half of the episode, and Rick’s trying to find his place in social media and podcasting after a career in radio – just listening to his voice, you can tell that he earned his keep as a radio guy.

He shares with us what he’s been learning, and how. There’s a great wealth of recommended reading and listening to be gleaned from Rick’s interview, from Leo Laporte to Gary Vaynerchuk.

As you go about getting your 2010 underway, keep in mind that we’ll have Eric Mathews from Mercury Technology Labs and Launch Memphis as our guest at the Jan. 6 Social Expedition Breakfast.

We’ll also pick up the Core Conversation podcast again on Jan. 8th, after a holiday-enforced break.

And keep your eyes peeled – we’ll be having a tweetup on Jan. 5, welcoming Jeremiah Owyang to Memphis. Details will be announced shortly.

You can, as usual, download the podcast, play it by clicking the the player below, or subscribe in iTunes.