CheapThrills

237 crazy bloggers write a book. The Age of Conversation II now available for sale!

Last week brought a whirlwind of emotions on me, so I’m a bit behind the times on this announcement  (sorry fellow authors!!!): The Age Of Conversation II—Why Don’t They Get It launched last week and is now for sale via Lulu.com. Excite!

I participated in this little blogger experiment last year… 104 bloggers wrote 400-word chapters, which all came together to be part of an e-book called The Age of Conversation. At the time, I had only met 2 of the 104 authors. Now—thanks to my company, Blogger Social and its superstar organizer CK, editors Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan, and this funny thing called the World Wide Web—I think I’ve met around 60. But this year my task might be harder, because the project has become much, much bigger.

237 authors bigger.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G. Kofi Annan, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw and James G. Lindberg, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem, G. Kofi Annan, James G. Lindeberg

A few months ago I created a page of enticing short chapter excerpts supplied by several of my co-authors. Feel free to check 'em out here. And this is mine:

Sure, some people disagree with my views. Some commenters call me a moron. A loser. LAME. But so what? It’s hard to get a good game going without engaging your Queen.

These blurbs are just teasers though. For the real deal you really gotta buy the book. All proceeds go to Variety, the Children’s Charity.

And a special shout-out to my Digitas co-worker Lori Magno, C.B. Whittemore and Cam Beck - for their general AOC-buzz-generating awesomeness.

Teeny tiny snippet from my Age of Conversation chapter - contributors, send me one from yours!

Update: I've started cataloging all of your excerpts here. Check out what your co-authors are writing!

The Age of Conversation 2008 is now on its path to production. Today, 275 bloggers are slated to send their 400-word chapters to Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton, creators and editors of the book. This year's topic, Why Don't People Get It, will be sure to garner some fiery responses. Of course, we won't be reading chapters in their entirety until August 21st (when the book will be released for sale on Lulu.com), but let's post one- or two-line snippets from our chapters... just for a little taste of the awesomeness to come.

Here's a little bit from my chapter:

Sure, some people disagree with my views. Some commenters call me a moron. A loser. LAME. But so what? It’s hard to get a good game going without engaging your Queen.

Contributors - comment here or e-mail me an excerpt from your chapter and I will post them all on my Age of Conversation dedicated page.

How exciting :)

Ryan's media diet

David Reich—PR guru, author of the blog my 2 cents, and friend—tagged me to answer a seemingly simple question started by C.B. Wittemore: What’s your media diet? Ok David, you asked for it… my response might be a little disturbing.

First of all, I don’t read print newspapers. Like, ever. Unless I’m visiting my father, who has been saving important Philadelphia Inquirer papers since the early 90’s (for context, he’s a Professor of Mass. Comm.).

But I do read books. Lots of them. I try to read at least a book a month – usually a memoir. I always keep a book in my bag just in case I get stuck somewhere… you know, to fend off any imminent boredom.

During my 10-minute commute to work, I generally like to read, listen to music, or watch video content on my iPod. Sometimes I spend the whole time creating a killer On-The-Go playlist for the ride home.

Once I’m in front of my computer, I first open my work e-mail and read through everything. Always. Then I open the windows that will remain minimized in the background of my screen for the whole day: GMail, CNN, the New York Times Caucus blog, Huffington Post (ooo, it updates itself! What fun!), Ben Smith's Politico blog, AdAge, Jezebel. Then I read through my MediaPost Digital Marketing daily and scan the industry news. And then I go back to my “always on” sites and scan them for any interesting articles or threads.

Then I check all my bookmarked blogs for new content (about 30 in total – and actually, I probably check them every 3 hours). If a headline catches my eye, I’ll follow the link to the blog post itself and read the whole thing, along with the comments. Sometimes I will post a comment of my own.

If any interesting post or thread comes up on Jezebel during the day, I will usually comment. The cool thing about Jezebel is that all comment threads are conversations, not just one-liners or “FIRSTT!?!?!” type of comments. It’s great – like an ongoing convo with a bunch of friends going on all throughout the day.

At the end of the day, I put in my earbuds (headphones) and walk to the bus. If I can help it, I try not to bring my laptop home. Too much laptop is a bad thing.

But when I get home, I turn on the television. Usually to CNN. I’m kind of obsessed with CNN’s “Best Political Team on Television” – I think they’re smart, but I also like to try to figure out all the team’s behind-the-scene politics. I’m sure there’s a ton. I also like to watch MSNBC – Olbermann is the man, and it’s always fun to catch Pat Buchanan say something terribly, oh what’s the word, racist?

I’m not gonna lie, I also watch MTV and VH1 shows. If there’s an America’s Next Top Model marathon playing on a Sunday, I’ll be glued to the tube for hours. I also love CW programming – Gossip Girl rocks my world (umm, last night’s show?! What the hell?!?!?).

When it comes to movies, my first choice would be to view a film on the big screen. I try to see most of the films nominated for Oscars while they’re still being played at that the cinemas. Watching movies on DVD is second choice, and then on-demand would be the third – unless it’s a craptacular old movie like Mystic Pizza. Then I’m all about the Free Movies on Demand (thanks Comcast!).

What else? I don’t use the Internet on my mobile phone. That might make me lame or behind the curve, but I don’t care. I don’t want the Internet following me around wherever I go like a stalker. Sometimes I use the wireless on my iPod Touch… but only when I NEED to Google something and it can’t wait – to settle little disputes with friends, for example.

I watch TV while I run at the gym. If nothing good is on TV, I have trouble staying on the treadmill for more than 10 minutes. But if there’s some crazy E! True Hollywood story playing, I can go for miles.

I don’t shop online. I find it tedious and tiresome. Totally defeats the purpose of shopping, in my opinion.

I blog whenever I feel that I need to. Usually 4 times a week. But I’ve always got a long list of blog topic ideas and an actual post or two I’m working on. At all times.

When it comes down to it, I think I’m a blog gal. I read blogs more than I read mainstream media, I interact with blogs more than I interact with other types of social media platforms (Facebook has gotten SOOOO BORING), I share opinions on blogs more than I share “editor’s pick” type of recommendations. Does that make me crazy? Or just terribly bleeding edge? You decide.

Since this is a meme, let’s hear from Greg Verdino, who’s been living in the social media landscape for ages now, and Arun Rajagopal, who blogs the marketing dish from Oman.

The power of great customer service: Market Leverage turns my frown upside down

Remember that awful time I had at Market Leverage’s booth last week in San Fran at ad:tech? Water under the bridge, my friends!

A day after I recounted the rude encounter here on my blog, the president of Market Leverage (Sal Guarino) commented on the post offering his apologies. I went into a little more detail on what happened, and he contacted me directly via e-mail asking me for my mailing address.

Two days later, a package from Market Leverage arrived at my office.  The package contained a handwritten note fro Sal, a formal letter from their marketing manager, a thick stack of Cashinator Tickets… and an even thicker stack of $2 bills. Translation: I will be paying for my daily grande non-fat Chai Latte in $2 bills for the next 2 months.

Wow. I’m shocked. What attentiveness from a company. Large companies should take a page from Market Leverage’s playbook. Rather than being frightened of receiving negative feedback, Market Leverage embraced my criticisms. And instead of being angered, they turned this seemingly dismal situation into an opportunity to make a friend. What a great case study.

So all you companies out there, listen to your fans and your critics! Embrace them, learn from them, grow from them. You won’t regret it. And they won’t forget it.