And that idea is this: “Collaborative Consumption describes the rapid explosion in swapping, sharing, bartering, trading and renting being reinvented through the latest technologies.” Basically, the social world has created an opportunity for expansion, collaboration, and efficiency. Last week, we were discussing some movies (The Social Network) and TV shows (Six Feet Under) at the office, and decided to just swap out titles out amongst each other, rather than renting them elsewhere. Ultimately, collaborative consumption magnifies “what’s mine is yours.”

That said, you should try it out. Here are some sites ready for you to consume, collaboratively:

Need a car ride? http://www.zipcar.com/

Random stuff? http://www.freecycle.org/

Place to stay? http://www.airbnb.com/

Non-bank money? http://uk.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/

So what do you think about it? Let us know. Pass your ideas our way, and let’s hang out next month!

Today’s breakfast had a great crowd, which was fantastic because we crowd-sourced our topic! To kick off the year, we decided to ask Expeditioners for their Predictions for 2011 in social media and technology. It seems many of the members are placing their bets on QR codes and mobile devices. Of course it’s all speculation, but it’s fun. We know the Next Big Thing could come from a completely unpredictable source, but here are a few of the developments we’re looking forward to…

2010 saw mass migration to social media, but 2011 could be a different story. Expeditioner Lorrie predicts that the rate of new adopters will drop in 2011, but that previous adopters will get even more savvy, increasing the quality of their engagement and conversations.

Mary anticipates that (like we did with our topic today) more brands will crowd-source ideas, and then award those who contribute. They won’t have to send out surveys or call for customer feedback, they can just ask for suggestions on their Facebook page. Doritos, Pepsi, Dominoes, and Starbucks are already experimenting with crowd-sourcing their product advertising, and we’re thinking it’s about to boom.

Then, Aaron thinks 2011 will see the rise of mobile. The Verizon iPhone, affordable Android phones, the new iPad, and new tablets will put mobile devices in more hands than ever.

Ansley’s prediction goes hand-in-hand with the popularity of mobile – the decline of the app. In 2010, there was “an app for that.” In 2011, we’re likely to see “a mobile site for that,” where brands turn to HTML5 to create a beautiful, interactive, touch-screen compatible site instead of spending time on a stand-alone application.

Tim thinks there will be no white iPhone in 2011. Joe says Google will dominate the world. Or at least dominate the cloud with their new operating system, Chrome OS. It’s in beta now, but this OS stores all your data from photos to music to documents online (in “the cloud”), so you can access them from anywhere.

On a serious note, net neutrality will become a major issue. It will also be the topic of one of our upcoming breakfasts. We will begin to explore what it means for the Internet to be a truly global community, and we will face censorship conflicts. Privacy will deteriorate even further as what walled gardens are left become translucent, and (we believe) people will continue to share online despite the risks.

Most Expeditioners peg 2011 as “The Year of the QR Code.” These (so far) under-utilized bar codes could be everywhere pretty soon, as more people have the smartphones to read them. Make your own QR code with BeQRious or ScanLife, or with a URL shortener like Goo.gl, Bit.ly, or Budurl. Then, get an app on your smartphone to read them! The ScanLife app is good one.

Once we’ve got all these QR codes, and people are scanning everything, we’re also likely to see a rise in push notifications for coupons. Someday soon, your phone may know you’re on the grocery store aisle with the tomato sauce, and send you a coupon! Read up on this new trend on Dave’s blog.

A few other resources (not really predictions, per se) that were mentioned during the breakfast:

• Quora – a Question/Answer site that hasn’t been loaded up with a lot of junk (like Yahoo Answers).
• New Facebook Messages – Get the new Facebook messaging system that will integrate your texts and email.

Our final predictions come from Dave, who anticipates a rise in apps geared towards cutting down on technological distractions. For instance, there could be an app to collect your new message notifications and consolidate them into a single digest that comes to you ever hour, or every five. More vitally, perhaps we’ll see better apps to cut down on texting while driving, an issue AT&T takes up in a compelling ad. Find more of Dave’s predictions here.

Don’t forget about Twilight Camp on the 20th. Plus, get ready for the 48 Hour Launch – a great chance for any entrepreneurs and skilled collaborators to give life to the Next Big Idea!

Can using your cell phone on an airplane cause the controls to malfunction? Apparently not. But since take-off and landing are the most likely times for some kind of problem, the airlines probably ask you to “turn off all electronics” so you aren’t distracted in the case of an emergency. Or perhaps, as Andy Glover suggested, they’re just trying to ensure that BrickBreaker is not your last act on Earth. Learn something new everyday!

Our holiday Twilight Camp was nice and chill last night, but of course, we all got a little excited when the conversation turned to the iPad 2. Right now, it’s all conjecture, but we hear the iPad 2 might be here as soon as April, with a retina screen and two cameras just like the iPhone 4. How do we feel about it? Well, “Eeee!” about sums it.

Then we launched into the Aggregator/Distribution conversation. Is it okay to push the same message to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn? Here at the Social Expedition, we stand behind the idea that different social media platforms deserve different messages, taylored to their unique format. That said, running several social media accounts can be time-consuming, so we can definitely appreciate a good multi-platform management tool. That is, as long as it isn’t used to publish the exact same message to many sites. We tend to favor Hootsuite, but several folks at Twilight Camp swear by Tweetdeck. They’re both free (Hootsuite up to 5 social accounts free), so give them a try and let us know which you prefer! We’ve been hearing good things about SproutSocial, a premium social aggregation tool, and we’d love to hear your feedback if you’re using it!

Another tip for our multiple account managers: when you use a URL shortener like Bit.ly or Budurl, set up different shortened addresses for Twitter and Facebook. That way, you can look at the stats later and know where you’re getting more traffic from!

In other Twilight Camp discussions, we found that FBML landing pages are so hip, cloud-based services are on the rise, and we all want to get our hands on the Chrome OS netbooks that Google is giving out for free. Sign up here if you want to apply for the Pilot Program!

Last question – do you prefer reading on the iPad or an e-reader like the Kindle?

It’s our yearly Show and Tell Breakfast! Every once in a while, we like to open up the floor to our Expeditioners to wax eloquent on any social subject that strikes their fancy! This time, we were treated to an array of tools in the “Web 2.5″ space (as one of our Expeditioners said in his presentation), from apps to social searches.

First off, a huge thank you to everyone who showed and told. We certainly learned a lot and brought back a nice long list of tools to check out in the next few days. Dave, ever the iPad champion, extolled the virtues of Flipboard, an RSS and social feeds aggregator. What makes it different from competitors, though, is it’s beautiful magazine layout.

Tim brought us a fun and insightful presentation on how far the internet has come in the last few years. Are we still in Web 2.0? Have we moved on to Web 3.0 yet? Tim argues we’re in Web 2.5. We just have to be flexible, keep evolving, and not end up like the Dodo bird.

Lorrie Jackson taught us about social marketing tools like Socialmention.com and Involver.com. Then she shared some other great resources, like Twitterfeed.com, which pushes your blogposts to Twitter, and Pagemodo.com, an FBML template service.

Rachel presented us with her virtual business card on Flavors.me, a social aggregator with a sleek, professional look. Just to give you more options, About.me is a similar service with a slightly less silly name.

Will anyone use Path? Let us know if you are. We’re all so curious. Is it Instagr.am? Is it just Twitter for 50 people?

Mary suggests Outbrain.com for increasing site traffic and Polaris, a desktop platform for Google Analytics. She also found BackUpMyTweets.com, which I believe is self-explanatory. And it’s free! Maggie likes Sproutsocial.com to find new potential customers for ecommerce, Dave likes Blekko.com for “slashtag searching,” and we all feel a little ambiguous and apprehensive about content farms.

And finally, Beth has a QR code on her business cards! Thank you so much to all of your for contributing and making this a really interactive breakfast. See you all after the holidays!

But enough about the cupcakes (or is it, really?), Jennifer Marshall is one peppy, fun lady and we were thrilled to sit down with her to talk about her social media efforts. Jennifer has a cupcake business called BFF Cupcakes, and she and her boyfriend hand deliver their delectable desserts to the Memphis area in their outrageous pink Jeep (see photo). One of the most interesting things about their business to us as Expeditioners/Expeditionaries is that they do not have a website, but instead focus their online presence entirely on Facebook.

BFF Cupcakes makes great model for any small business who may not have the time or resources for a full website. Even if a website is the eventual goal, you can always buy the URL address you’ll want, and just point it to your Facebook page in the meantime!

Listen in for Jennifer’s take on some of the benefits and downfalls of this small business solution. Then, we get into some of the current trends, from “easy” mobile app development software to Rachel’s new Foursquare badges.

When you’re done listening, head over to the LunaWeb offices at 5:30 for some geek speak and pizza (a truly inspired combo) because it’s Twilight Camp tonight! We’re at 5180 Park Ave. Suite 305, and it’s free and super casual. Just bring yourself (mobile device optional), stay as long as you can, relax and recharge (your iPhone? Ba dum CHA!).

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

• 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.

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.

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.

Twitter revised their search to include people, Apple is definitely having a bad time right now, and Microsoft has some mobile developments coming out. Speaking of mobile, listen in to find out what exactly we think of “Mobile App Discovery” (or if you just want to know what it is). Plus, we hardly even mention Facebook at all!

Next week, we’re sitting down with local blogger and IT guru Andy Glover, so don’t miss it!

Lastly, we send a big ‘thank you’ to Aaron for his story ideas. We’d love to get comments with any interesting tidbits you’ve picked up or guests you’d like to hear us interview. You may even get a chance to meet Aaron in person at the Twilight Camp tonight – 5:30 at Davis Kidd. Check out the event at Meetup.com.

*** Corrected on 7/16/2010: Aaron Prather does not, in fact, work at the organization Skatelife Memphis, although he was delighted that they got a shout out in our post. Once again, thank you to Aaron, and sorry about our blunder!

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

Today in our weekly social media expedition, we discover Social Media Day. This holiday, apparently backed by Mashable.com, went unobserved in Memphis, but maybe we’ll catch the next one. Honestly, we didn’t even hear about it until a few days ago. Then, MIT has some exciting news about lightning-fast optical internet connections, but have we heard this before?

Facebook actually takes a step forward in privacy, and we discuss why Facebook applications never took off (except, of course, Farmville). Then, we project that Facebook will go after Google’s lunch with a search engine, but Google might be getting even by launching a whole new social network soon. And an iPhone on Verizon? Let’s not get too excited just yet.

Lastly, our local listeners might be interested in this: A Memphis Marketers and Social Media Tweetup! It’s next Thursday (July 8), from 6:30 to 9pm at Dan McGuinness on Spottswood.

And don’t forget about the Social Expedition’s own July Meetup on the 15th, 5:30pm at Davis Kidd’s Bronte Bistro!

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