Five Killer Applications for Twitter...

Someone DMed (direct messaged) me on Twitter the other day and said, “Wow. You really really love social media.” Yesindeedlydo. And out of all the tools I use, I love Twitter by far the most. Which often perplexes colleagues, friends, and family who say they just don’t “get” Twitter. So while I am sure lots of people have blogged about why they love Twitter, I am hoping that by sharing a few of the concrete things that I have actually done with Twitter lately, it might help a few folks who are still standing at the other side of the chasm get over it.

1. Getting a Gig. I got my job through someone I met on Twitter, albeit somewhat indirectly. This was written up on Mashable and on MarketingJobWire.com. In a nutshell, all I did was get active on Twitter and a chain of events unfolded that made me a partner in an agency and gave me one of the biggest, coolest challenges of my career.

2. Conversely, I use Twitter for Recruitment. I chuckle quietly to myself when I get calls from sales reps from job sites that want me to buy recruitment ads, because I generally don’t need them, and they don’t understand why. Twitter is why. I am not at all likely to hire anyone who is not active on Twitter and several other social tools.

3. Q&A. Two days ago, I was in a meeting, and needed an insider point of view on a Greek word from a Greek person. I tweeted “I need a Greek person. A really, really Greek person.” and with in seconds @spoon had hooked me up with the fabulously helpful @im_X1 and my question was answered. Also personal Q&A, which I use much more rarely to avoid being annoying. But yesterday, when I was standing in Nordstrom and having trouble deciding between two pairs of new shoes, I tweeted a photo and again, within a couple of minutes, had several “second opinions” that confirmed my decision. Sometimes, when you don’t have a friend with you, or the “right” friend for the task at hand, Twitter is like having hundreds or thousands of friends in your pocket. If you’re in the “I don’t need Twitter, I have Facebook” camp, like one friend who shall go unnamed, the feedback and interaction you will get on Twitter is much more real time and instantaneous than Facebook, which is the main reason it is my first love; I am all about instant gratification.

4. For “little people” bloggers like me (not that I am, you know, a dwarf. What I mean to say is that I am extremely minor in the world of blogging), Twitter is a primary blog traffic feeder. Sure, if I spent more time blogging and more time on SEO, I might be able to eventually rank high for certain relatively obscure search terms. In the mean time, Twitter is really the only decent way for me to point the three or so people who read my blog here on a regular basis. Granted, if you’re not yet digging Twitter, there is a high likelihood that you don’t dig blogging, either. But, once you “get” the Twitter, anything is possible ; )

5. Twitter chats. There is a Twitter hashtag chat for everything from Agriculture to Young Nonprofit Professionals. There is a list here. It’s a truly great way to immerse yourself in whatever topic you are trying to learn more about.I try to do Sunday night #blogchat whenever possible, hosted by the inimitable @mackcollier, and I never fail to walk away with some great ideas and great new people to follow. And this and conference attendance are the main ways that I get new followers, too. If you want more information about how to participate in a Twitter hashtag chat, I can help you set that up.

There are lots of other things that you can do with Twitter. What other “killer apps” do you use Twitter for? Help me beef up the list for those who have not yet experienced the wild bounty that is Twitter.

There is also a great new book that just came out called TwitterWorks written by some of Milwaukee’s finest Twitterpreneurs. If you want to learn more about Twitter, I recommend it highly.

P.S. This post is dedicated to @markfairbanks, who really loves lists.

One Week Later, Still Ungeeked....

Is it really possible to summarize three days in a room with >100 brilliant minds in a short post? Um, no. But the #ungeeked conference was such a phenomenal experience, I have to say something. I can’t possibly do every presenter justice here, but just hit a few highlights. There are many more that should be mentioned here, had I had the foresight and the time to blog each day of the show. If you’re not mentioned here it doesn’t mean I don’t think you rocked. Also, I’ll come back and link to these presentations once I have the links, hopefully tomorrow.

My good friends @TranslatorXD did a stellar job setting the stage with a rousing talk about user experience. “They (users) don’t want a window. They want a view.” is now being touted as one of the memorable sound bites of the conference. Translator then went on to create a truly engaging experience for all of us at the first night after party, with Pokemon-style social media trading cards of and for each attendee and a Twitter-team-based game. It goes to show you what happens when you take the filters off and free your thinking, as they have.

Joe Sorge @AJBombers was one of my very favorite presenters, with his truly unplugged, one-slide, straight-from-the-heart talk. Would have liked to have seen more of that, overall. Finn Digital’s @billfinn nailed it the same way – with notes from his Moleskine notebook and a super-smart product called BoothTag that he quietly “sold” by creating utility, not by giving a pimpy sales presentation.

I did not know of @kellyolexa before this conference, but was so glad I dragged my tired butt out of bed to see her at 7AM on day two. Fiery, funny, and just plain nice, Kelly was part of the Ford Fiesta movement. She fascinated me. I definitely recommend you check her out.

We love Chris Brogan. I love Chris Brogan. I would love to have seen Chris Brogan unplug the Powerpoint and do some improv/Q&A as was the intent of the conference.

What does one say about @jwillie? I’ve never seen anyone turn a presentation into a drinking game before; we were supposed to drink every time he said “Sharepoint”. And while it made for a hilarious and engaging show, I would also like to have walked away having learned something about Sharepoint.

I’m such a dork that one of the biggest highlights for me personally was the presentation from @bhalligan from Hubspot. It truly was like a giant mental inbound marketing-gasm. Hubspot must be a little busy, since I’ve requested a demo of their analytics package, oh a week ago now, and received no response.

But no one – NO ONE- can touch Sally Hogshead as an engaging, FASCINATING presenter. Holy. Crap. Sally has done the hard, crazy-smart work and real research (3-and-a-half years’ worth) to create content that goes way beyond the usual retreads and “check out this shit I made up about X”. Her new book, Fascinate, about seven triggers to Fascinate people, is a must-read, and I am in awe of her as a creative force. After her presentation I seriously was so mind-blown that I wanted to go lock myself in a quiet room for a week and just think. Extremely inspiring.

Honestly, the biggest benefit by far is just feeling so much closer to you, my amazing community since the conference. There’s really no substitute for spending real face time with people; I wish I could have done more of that, but Mom duties called loudly at night, and that’s job #1 for me. Nonetheless, I got to spend time with the hysterically brilliant @SaraSantiago, and get to know @raffel and @angeloakley, and finally meet @thebrandbuilder, among the many others of you who I’m lucky to know.

I have learned – am learning – so much from all of you, every single day, and I thank you for that.

One thing we all seemed to agree on was this: major, major kudos and congratulations to @thatwoman_soho for making this all happen.

What were highlights for you? Or if you weren’t there, what would you like to learn more about?

How Strong is a Mother’s Love?...

True story: my Mom came out of a coma to say goodbye to me.

It was 1995. Fifteen years ago now, and it feels like 15 minutes. Six months earlier, Mom was diagnosed with a rare form of gynecological cancer that also afflicted her sister and her mother. They survived. She did not.

I was there in Las Vegas, where she lived, when she had major surgery in January. The surgery was so extreme that afterward she commented that she felt like a gutted animal. A few months later, I went for a visit, and then was called to London on business. A photo shoot for a brand campaign for a product that never even launched. While I was in London, I got the call: Mom is in the hospital. It doesn’t look good. I caught the first flight back to the states the next morning, stayed overnight at my home in Minneapolis, and caught the first flight to Las Vegas.

I arrived at the hospital on Mother’s Day, carrying a bouquet of her favorite yellow roses. But she had fallen into a coma. Not from the cancer, from a staph infection. I sat by her side and cried. I held her beautiful hand, and told her how much I loved her, thanked her for being a great Mom, and said I was sorry for so many things. I told her it was OK for her to let go, that we would all be OK.

She came out of the coma. Just for a moment. She said “I love you, too.” and then she slipped back away. A week later, she was gone.

That is the strength of a Mother’s love.

And I am so lucky to feel that same love for my son now.

Thanks, Mom.