The event itself was orchestrated by the American Chamber of Commerce Canada West, Edmonton Chapter.  Representing “AmCham Canada West” was Norman Leach, Executive Director, and the Edmonton Chapter’s new Managing Director Leslie MacDonald.  

 The luncheon was sponsored by PCL, represented by Doug Stollery, introduced Ambassador Jacobson. Carrying a folder with the Presidential Seal on it, took the podium and spoke about the importance of maintaining a strong relationship between our two countries.  Strengthening security at our border by increased use of the Nexus program, and of course, “a trip to Alberta wouldn’t be complete without discussing the Keystone XL Pipeline”, stated the Ambassador.  He spoke of the fact that US President Obama couldn’t approve the pipeline project without an approved route.  Seems the Republican Governor of Nebraska objected to the proposed route and the hearings held in that State obviously didn’t go well for TransCanada.  He estimated that should there be another application by TransCanada the soonest it would most likely be in a situation to be approved would September or October of this year, not before.  

I enjoyed the event, it was a great opportunity to network, and meet-up with old friends and colleagues.  Further, it accomplished the goal of announcing AmCham to the Edmonton business community.

I have no doubt that with Leslie McDonald at the helm of the Edmonton Chapter the next time Ambassador Jacobson comes back to Edmonton the room will need to be a lot larger to accommodate all the members and he may attend yet another Oilers victory over the Hawks as was the case last night.

Does your Edmonton business currently use social media?  We’d be happy to help you get started and develop a plan to properly implement social media.  Whether your Edmonton area business is a one person operation or has 5000 employees, we’ve created digital strategies for all types of businesses.

In the meantime, check out the cool Flowtown infographic called the Social Media Cheat Sheet.  The complete infographic is at this link: Social Media Marketing: An Easy Guide

Walter Schwabe, Chief Evolution Officer, fusedlogic Inc.

It was with great anticipation that the first Social Media Breakfast Edmonton of 2012 (SMBYEG) kicked off this morning. With 50 participants in attendance our very own Walter Schwabe-@fusedlogic, Edmonton Social Media Consultant and Digital Strategist was the featured guest speaker. It was fast paced, extremely relevant and in the words of @redneckmommy: a bang up presentation! We learned to not take ourselves too seriously, the importance of monitoring stats, and that Commerce sites that use video sell 45% more. In other words: the value of Social TV.

We also noshed on @PrairieMill ‘s sweet treats, provided by @EdmNextGen and were entertained by @HedgeHodge ’s discussion on sweet tweets.

If you missed this great event, either in person or via live streaming, do not fear, we have Walter’s prezi here for you!

I’m still formulating some thoughts on my presentation approach.  I’m leaning towards doing our own version of a “Tweetchat” as my actual presentation rather than go the standard presentation route.  Communicating key points about socialTV in the form of 10 questions in which the audience can participate directly by answering via Twitter.  There’s no wrong or right answer, everyone  on Twitter contributes to the overall conversation, as well as, in the room.

Example:

Using such hashtags as #smbyeg #socialtv we can encourage other social tv curious/enthusiasts to join in, probably from the East coast primarily…

I will post 10 questions, one at a time on the big screen for those in the audience who’d like to share on twitter, see the following.  

Q1: How would you describe SocialTV? #smbyeg #socialtv

A1: TV’s that talk nicely…:) #smbyeg #socialtv

Everyone can answer on their own if they choose, again using the hashtags for the tweetchat…

In between each question and answer I’ll fill in details, and my thoughts with images and other goodies to keep things interesting.  After all, more than just being the eye candy, I’ve got a job to do.

The audience members in the room who are not on Twitter still get to participate directly by being there, using the microphone if they choose when I open the floor up to comments.

Also, as everyone who’s ever been to a Social Media Breakfast in Edmonton knows, there are prizes offered up, and everyone in attendance get’s a chance to win one of 3 or 4 great prizes available.  In the past, this has usually been in the form a an on the fly quiz by the presenter.  This of course, falls to me this time around. 

I must honestly say at this moment I’m stuck, and could sure use some help on how to make the prize giveaways unique…I suppose we could have people guess the color of each other’s underwear…on second thought…any suggestions?

All in all, I’ve got a Prezi nearly ready to go if we decide not to go the Tweetchat route, but I like pushing things out of my comfort zone and that of the audience whenever possible and this relaxed, social media savvy crowd may just be the right formula…

What do you think?  Please vote here in the comments…Prezi or tweetchat, along with any thoughts you might have…  

Also, please don’t forget to give this a G+ hit and share it with others who might want to attend the event. 

Social Media Breakfast Edmonton #13 tickets here while they last. 

Rapid video content creation – 2 million live and recorded viewer minutes served!

Social media plans for small, medium and large businesses…Please call 780-640-9339 

Please don’t hate us if you missed those great prices…Stay tuned, you just never know what’s coming around the corner. 

Interestingly, this issue touches on a few points I think you’ll find interesting.

1.) Many get excited about the technology first.  This isn’t really a “twitter” issue, despite being the primary social technology platform used for communication in this case.  Evidence within the sentiment of this online discussion state it’s a “moral” issue for many.  ”Do you like drunk driving?  Do you want drunks on the road?  No, then don’t tweet locations.”  Based on retweet evidence within the #yegtraffic and #checkstop hashtags on Twitter, this is the majority sentiment, punctuated by Lindsey Robin.

The response is ghost accounts created simply to tweet #checkstop locations, and snub those who speak out against the practice.  As with different issues in the past, this inevitable pattern persists. 

2.) Another popular but minority sentiment stated, is that since it appears to be acceptable to broadcast photo-radar locations (which are provided in advance to print media by policing services) that it should be acceptable to broadcast checkstop locations.   As always, what you tweet reflects on who you are, and what you stand for.     

Social media etiquette

With respect to protecting your brand and business here’s a tip.  Always remember to provide recognition for someone else’s work if you’re going to reference it or try to benefit from it.  

For example, if we were going to create a video in the hopes of generating awareness for our brand.  Say in this case, a video about this checkstop discussion.  First, we wouldn’t want the message to appear as if we had really been the first ones to recognize a pattern of behaviour, because in reality, it was CTV.  The professional thing to do is to give credit, and reference those who did the original heavy-lifting. 

Credit here is due to CTV Edmonton and Sean Amato for first identifying the discussion and doing a segment on it. (Disclaimer: a segment that I was in)  Anyone who positions themselves as being ahead of the curve on this issue, and doesn’t give CTV recognition for doing the ground work is suspect at best.  Common courtesy and etiquette should always come first.  Not providing credit or recognition says something negative about your brand.  If you see this tactic being used, my recommendation is to stay away.  

Once again, my sincerest thanks to all of those too many to count who retweeted me on the weekend for thanking CTV Edmonton about their efforts to raise awareness of this issue.  I believe this entire issue serves as an important reminder to be responsible in our decisions, whether that’s when consuming alcohol, tweeting or conducting business.      

Clearly a mental lapse, which was brought to Twitter by a since fired employee of New Media Strategies, the agency handling the Chrysler account. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chrysler also cut ties to New Media Strategies in March as a result of the above tweet.  

This is further evidence that in the social web, even though you can delete a tweet, it doesn’t disappear if it’s been retweeted.  Rather, it lives on forever in follow-up blogging by AdWeek in this case, and articles like the ones here and Chrysler’s own response here. 

Appropriate response?

Did Chrysler take the appropriate steps in your mind?  Should they not only have ensured that the employee of New Media Strategies was immediately fired but also end the business relationship with the agency themselves for a single tweet?

If this happened to you, what would you do?

Fun Free Gift

If 20 people participate and sign-up as per the instructions below, starting now and ending at 5pm MT today, then all 20 people qualify and will get a FREE (5) minute video produced by fusedlogicTV.

1.) Email info@fusedlogic.com and let us know you want your free (5) minute show, ask questions about the process in the email and we’ll be happy to answer them. 

2.) Schedule the show with us, and produce the show in our studio or via Skype

3.) Promote your show to the world online or just to your family.  

Small Print

The show is yours when it’s done, we’ll supply you with a digital file so you can upload it where you like.  We don’t do gambling or pornography focused shows or anything that promotes illegal acts or subject matter.  We reserve the right to refuse service. You agree to allow us to include our branding, logos and show production credits.  We will post your video to the internet if you would like.  

So, picking up where I left off in my last post about not paying for social media profile services.  This is where you pay someone, or a company, to set-up your shiny new Twitter page, Facebook profile or YouTube channel for you.  

Next, look to avoid blindly creating “chit chat” or continuous “self-promotion” as the core of your new content development strategy.  

Here’s the question you should ask “before” you agree to work with any individual or company on your social media presence. 

First, you want to converse with others in the world, digital or otherwise.  Having said that, ask your new “social media guru” what their content plan is for you.  If they answer by saying, “we’re just going to start talking and engaging” put your cheque book away. What they’ve just told you is that not only do they not understand social media strategy deployment, they also don’t understand you, your customers, your culture or your business objectives.  Yet, they intend to announce your brand to the online world and you’ve just paid them to do that.  

Why would you cut corners on your digital strategy?  

The web is filled with case studies of companies who leverage social media in unique ways to grow their businesses, brands, influence and presence.  Yet, for everyone one of those success stories there’s another thousand who hired the lowest quote, and just started babbling on Twitter.  Worse yet, the plan is to beg for followers.

Gaming social media to pump up numbers, pump up perceived influence isn’t valuable, it detracts from your brand, reputation and real world influence.

Has your organization been down the following path?

1.) Start twitter account

2.) Start tweeting about yourself

3.) Not much initial response, so you follow 1000 accounts thinking everyone will automatically follow you back.

4.) You deem your 100 new followers as twitter success

5.) Reality sets in that you’re not gaining any new business from the first 2 weeks on Twitter and abandon the effort.  

Thank goodness you didn’t spend much money on this plan in the first place…but…

6.) You buy twitter followers thinking that somehow this is a win for your organization.

Instead, think of context, think relevancy and think of how you can provide value to your community.  You’ll build a reputation in the right way and for the right reasons.  A reputation built on pure values rather than fake numbers.  This is a marathon not a sprint, lay a strong foundation and be committed to the long-term.      

Ultimately, you have a choice.  

Hire someone who’s adding social media to their list of other services or hire a dedicated digital agency.  Of course, I have an opinion on which way you should go, but it’s your brand, your company and your budget…

Was this post helpful? 

I’ve found that many companies and organizations have their priorities misaligned when it comes to exploring and implementing social media.  In fact, for years now things have changed very little.  

Step one: Company executive says to subordinate “we need to start using social media, get us a quote”.

Step two: Google search, phone call, meeting(s), proposal.

Step three:  Award contract to lowest bid that includes setting up the usual social media profiles, and a training session on how to tweet, update a Facebook status and start a Linkedin group.  Which can all be accomplish in a day for $250.00 per the quote, this can now be supplied by anyone.  If you must pay for it, I recommend that you hire a student for that task.  

Twitter is filled with people who are dying to share their knowledge in this regard, so is Facebook and LinkedIn, which means they carry that urge with them daily in their work lives too.

Businesses who value this type of social media project, and hire companies who market this approach have the same misaligned priorities.  That’s why it works I guess, at least in the beginning.  There’s clearly a market for the cheapest price, lowest value option.  I give you the Dollar Store.  The logic in this approach?  If that’s all the social media experience you have, and someone still values it then I suppose it’s pure capitalism rules at play, plain and simple.  I don’t consider it to be moral but it is capitalistic.   

We’ll do it for FREE!

If your logic is that you don’t care about having a proper social media plan that will focus on moving from “conversation to conversion” and you only want the cheapest quote to set-up your social profiles fast then fusedlogic will do that for FREE!  It’s your choice, your brand, your company, but don’t pay for that service!  

At fusedlogic, we won’t take advantage of people like that.  Now, if you want to learn how to align your business objectives with social media.  Build with the proper integration in mind as part of a digital strategy, then we can address that with a quote. Included will be the “right” social media profiles for your business, established with your direct collaboration.

Whether you consider this blog post to be helpful or not, my hope is that you’ll consider other factors beyond just the technology and the price.  

You don’t have to come to fusedlogic for your digital strategy needs.  However, we are dedicated to the social media and digital strategy space and that has benefits in terms of experience, professionalism, and results.  

After you meet us, you’ll learn more about that key difference, our philosophy to protecting your brand and the value of our services.

Don’t pay someone to set-up your social media profile. (Unless you’re hiring a student.) Give a kid a job.  

This means that through this special COSSD video service as provided by fusedlogicTV, customers can now generate a unique looking video right from their office and desk using Skype with excellent production value.  This service immediately increases the effectiveness of businesses in the Alberta energy sector once they realize, and understand how rapidly they can create high production value videos in order to increase brand awareness online.

Alberta energy sector businesses can use this service for direct and immediate communications with investors, sales and marketing, employee recruitment and labour relations, crisis communications and a lot more.

We’re excited at what this new MOU and business relationship with JuneWarren-Nickle’s Energy Group represents in terms of new services.  JWN customers are going to enjoy having access to cutting-edge digital video production, and how it will help them communicate to their global customer base in new ways.  

Have a look at a couple of COSSD focused examples of this new video production service now available to all COSSD customers.

The first video demonstrates the possibilities with an interview style, on-camera host and virtual set.

In this next video, Rob Pentney, Director of Sales for JWN demonstrates how a customer using Skype at their desk can host their very own video segment.

Contact the team at JuneWarren-Nickle’s COSSD to book your video production project.

Your sacrifice will never be forgotten. 

In Flanders Fields

Knowing how to set yourself apart from the crowd is critical if you are to succeed in business.  Sometimes, it’s because you roast your own beans in house.  Other times it’s the special rub on the brisket that has been passed down for generations that creates killer bbq. Maybe, as in the case of Double Tree Hotels, it’s the chocolate chip cookie you’re greeted with when you arrive.

Or maybe, you’re one of my favourite companies, Thinkgeek.com  These guys are really unique right down to the cool monkey.  No wonder they’re sold out of their “singing monkey balls” seen here:

Thinkgeek is wonderfully unique and dedicated to their space.  In fact, I’d say they “own” their space of special geek swag.  Nearly 400K followers on Twitter agree with me too.  They do a heckuva job engaging with customers in all of their social media channels.  Simple, happy, geeky effectiveness.

Let us know if you have a favourite niche company that you love. 

In the area of social media however, uniqueness doesn’t always win the day.  In fact, quite the opposite.  For many it’s about their automated content.  There’s an audience who just want the top ten things you can do to make something better.  There are large amounts of twitter users who believe that the best way to use their account is to push other people’s content without creating their own.  Don’t get me wrong, RT’s and links to content are great but not solely.  At least in my opinion.

The flip side is true.  One shouldn’t be so unfocused so as to not be known for something or lose your purpose.    

Whatever your uniqueness is, celebrate it.  As annoying as Bill Zucker is for his use of upper case letters for EVERYTHING he says, he’s managed in his own way to entertain and engage, a tactic that for him is working just fine.  Is he getting more gigs as a result?  A question maybe the Zuck will answer for himself here.  I will say that general brand awareness has definitely increased over the past year or so I’ve been observing.  People love quirky entertainment and Zucker doesn’t take himself seriously and has a lot of fun with his fans.

 Check out the #damnyouzucker hashtag.  

This all started when he was working on a online video project with Kelsey Grammer called The Kelsey Grammer Bill Zucker Comedy Hour.  One of the bits they did was Zucker would steal all the toilet paper on Kelsey and he’s scream….you guessed it – “damn you Zucker!”

For us here at fusedlogic, we don’t steal people’s toilet paper.  That said, we feel we’re unique because of our live video streaming business – fusedlogicTV.  That really sets us apart from other digital agencies in terms of services offered.  Add to that our strict dedication to digital strategy development for years, our great clients, and we’re very different than the other guys. Well I suppose that, and my unique aerodynamics but that’s another story.   

Communicating a clear advantage is often difficult.  Lack of creativity, lack of experience, and in larger companies, the lack of internal processes or champions to support such thinking.  Often though, it’s a lack of guts.  Business people become experts in “the way it’s always been done”.  Now if you’re Coca Cola, then you’ve been taught by your customers to keep Coke’s formula the way it is. However, Coke has been an innovator in countless other ways since the new Coke fiasco.  A pretty tough thing to do in the beverage industry.  

Question of the Day

What sets you apart from the mundane in your industry?

I realize this isn’t a purely social media question, it’s a marketing one.  The social web is the perfect channel to amplify your unique message once you’ve identified it.  As we’ve seen above.

Get it right and people will want to come work for you.  Get it right and customers will want to buy from you.  Get it wrong and nobody will care about you.  You’ll blend in.

Who do you think is highly unique?  Is there a person, business or thing that’s super different?

I’ve been thinking about this today as I listen and watch Jeff Pulver’s 140 Conference in New York or #140confNYC.  However, “humanization” has been on my mind for a while now.  

Do people really want to peer behind the curtains here at fusedlogic?  I know our competitors do, but what about clients?  I know they do too.  How about our audience on fusedlogicTV?  Yes, people love to go behind the scenes…  

Does exposing our corporate culture and soul help our brand?  I think it does but what’s more important is do you?  Why is this important to consider?  Well, because we ARE human.  We do business with other humans, our team is human, our friends, fans, followers….well you get the point.  

I’ve also learned that so many brands resist this openness because of a fear of losing credibility but maybe more importantly their perceived control.  I’ve seen our brand grow in general awareness from our work online and offline, our largest gains are when we show our true selves.    

Who is fusedlogic?

fusedlogic, loves to give back to the community.  We love to innovate.  We work very hard for our clients.  We’re honourable, loyal and love to laugh.  Although sometimes, we need to spend more time socializing than staying in the studio.  That’s probably my fault.  I’m introverted by nature.  You might find that odd seeing as I love to speak publicly.  I’ve probably been more introverted these past few months than at any other time in my life.  Now because the fusedlogic brand is so in tune with who I am as the owner that has had an effect.  

How would you describe us?  What has been your experience with us online or else where?  

Community

What does a “humanized brand” mean to you?  To your company, your customers, your friends?  The social web experience is so much more rich when people are genuine.  Community managers who are good at what they do are just every day people who care, and know how get customers or audience members what they need.  They operate in both the social web, and also offline at networking events and they’re often the most human element to your brand online.   They study human behaviour so that they can anticipate needs and be ready to respond.  

To understand this concept better I recommend this valuable post from Charlene Li of Altimeter Group on Socialgraphics. 

Discuss

We have meetings at work about who we are, and who we want to be, not every day but we do.  This is important in a culture where we’re innovating every day, trying to learn something new and experimenting constantly.  Our last major shift was the launch of fusedlogicTV almost a year ago now.  

What about your team?  Do you truly understand internally what you’re all about?  How do you approach this process?  Is it discussed openly or behind closed doors?  

The more human and real you are, the more return on your social media investment.  That’s been our experience anyway. 

Several including Ben Parr at Mashable, and Brian Solis have been quick to respond with blog posts today. That’s great, we love the idea too, which is why I’m blogging about it now.

Having said that, Google is receiving increasing heat today from many who consider this to be a restricted roll-out of the service to a few select brands.  Words like “unfair” are being used…not sure if Google’s Vic Gundotra, Senior Vice President of Engineering was looking for this kind of g+ love when he blogged about the new Branded Pages service on the Official Google Blog today.  The optics of this effort could have been better.  

Here are some of the comments that Ben Parr generated on Google Plus with his post about the Google + introduction today.  Starting with my favourite comment:

Michael F. Feeney  -  Agreed! Premature nerdgasm.

Scott Hilgendorff  -  I was a journalist before the Internet let everyone be a ‘journalist.’ This would be a bad day in the newsroom for making a mistake this big in announcing something that wasn’t actually true yet.

Nick Seabrook  -  What is funny is that you can’t use your business Google/Gmail account to make a G+ Profile [since you have to use a real name - not a business name] to then make a G+ Page for your business. Hope there is a way to use an “admin” account, so to speak!

Stephanie Cañarte  -  Well this is kind of yes we have the pages ready but not quite ready. How much longer can this take google??? Make brand pages available already!

I could have went on all day, the comments are flying.  The sentiment of 99% are negative related to the way Google released information about this service.  For a company filled with incredibly smart people who all had to guess the number of jelly beans in a bus before getting hired, this “introduction” feels like a “limited, exclusive” roll-out for a few premium brands.  That’s what people are saying.  

We all know (except Google it appears) that the innovator group (probably most of all) who first jumped on the Google + platform likes to have instant gratification.  Much of our behavioural patterns today exist simply because we want it our way, and want it now!   

Was this all just a large marketing tease effort by Google?   What’s your opinion?  Let me know on Google + profile or here. 

UPDATE:

As of this afternoon, Google opened up Branded Pages to everyone.  Not sure why the delay but we’ve created a fusedlogic Google Plus Branded Page today.

I, along with about 100 volunteers and members of  the City of Leduc’s Council including Mayor Krischke were very fortunate to have the opportunity to hear Ms. Crooks speak.  

I was really inspired by her talk about her life as an elite athlete, and how volunteers played an incredible role throughout her life in sport.  She credits volunteers, and the time they spent helping kids like her turn into a 5-time Olympian and Canadian silver medalist in track and field.

As part of her presentation she showed a video of Dr. Maya Angelou reciting the poem “Amazement Awaits” while we watched images from a number of Olympiads over the years.  After hearing Dr. Angelou speak, I can see why she has been given over 30 honorary degrees.  The word “inspirational” doesn’t do Dr. Angelou or Ms. Crooks justice.  

Watch the video of Dr. Angelou below. 

What a tough act to follow, however, I was fortunate to have a great crowd stick to take in my presentation on how volunteer organizations in Leduc can use social media.  

As is customary for me I like to take pictures of the audiences as part of my presentations and tonight at the Executive Royal Inn in Leduc was no exception.

Having volunteered as a hockey coach, I understand the nature of why people decide to give back to their community in this way.  Countless hours and a ton of work by so many people, I was honoured to speak about social media. 

This was a packed night of information because after my presentation Brent Collingwood from the UofA School of Business was to present on the roles and responsibilities of volunteer boards.  Thank-you Brent for allowing me to take 5 minutes of your time. 

Overall the evening was terrific, I met great people, had a great dinner, and was inspired by the great presenters.  I’d like to thank the City of Leduc for the invitation to speak at their special event.

What about your volunteer organization?  Does it use social media effectively?  If not, feel free to ask a question.  

The evidence shows that releasing public data, although an important first step is often resisted by public servants and elected officials behind the scenes. 

For example, in an article in the Guardian newspaper released earlier this year, Professor Nigel Shadbolt, who with Berners-Lee was instrumental in getting the data.gov.uk portal set up, says that the past year has seen “a great deal of progress” but adds that “there is a huge amount still to do. We have to change the behaviour of public servants and Ministers so that they make data available without being asked.”

Further, Open Data doesn’t really inspire citizens to take much action at all, it’s never been the silver bullet to increased citizen engagement.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s the right thing to do, especially for holding government accountable, but as part of a broader Open Government vision.  

The problem is that there’s still a lack of vision and awareness.  That’s most certainly the case here in Alberta.  I’m also commenting on the lame excuses I hear from some within government.  ”We don’t even know if we want to go with Open Government,” one public servant responsible for strategy in a small town told me.  Lame, lame, lame.   

We are seeing simple levels of progress in terms of releasing data, but of course, it’s not the end solution.  The passion for this movement is waining while the frustration is rising, and for the majority of everyday citizens, it was never there.  This isn’t about the Data, it’s about us.  Our spirit to change or lack thereof.  Government IT departments are still managing systems, and networks with a zero access footprints to Web 2 technologies.  Which is embarrassing for those who would like to use technologies like Skype for example to communicate more effectively thereby saving taxpayer dollars.  Rather than the IT department using all of their know how to enable while protecting the system, they stick with the status quo approach to system administration. Although I will say that for many in government it would be nice to have machines capable of processing something more complex than email.

Data doesn’t excite citizens en mass other than nerds (we include ourselves in that group).  Even nerds get bored with it if they can’t make immediate returns.  I refer to the lack of interest and sustainability with respect to application development from the private sector using public data.    

Up to now, the perception seems to be that much of this is for show.  My excitement for the Open Government Partnership of which Canada has recently joined is muted by the reality behind the scenes.  Resistance to change is still so rampant, the “status quo” mongers frustratingly wearing down the advocates for innovation.

This is all our own fault.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  However, then who’d be around to advocate for the internal power struggles and protection of departmental silos? 

Elected officials need to commit (for real) to this concept, and smack IT departments around until they buy in.  Second, everyone honestly support the change.  We’ve always needed to look beyond Open Data, and towards a change in culture internally within government before citizens will recognize the value in all of this.

Yes, I know the release of data and direct engagement can be uncomfortable for elected officials and public servants alike.  Why? Well for all sorts of reasons.  What if your efforts to date behind the scenes has actually sucked? An O’Reilly Radar article written by Audrey Watters today asks a great question. ”If you data mining practices were made public would you be nervous?” 

We all need to do a better job and realize that it’s far more than Open Data, it’s about an Open Culture with a can-do attitude in support of this “right to data”.   

Once in awhile you come across extraordinary individuals whose spirit and energy fills the room with positive vibes.  So much so, that it inspires people to take action.  Well, that’s @kikkiplanet in a nutshell.  I had the pleasure of recently attending the launch party for Edmonton’s newest social media driven entry into the local community consciousness –  kikkiplanet.com.  

While sipping my cocktail, I asked the woman of the hour what the purpose of the site was,”This site is all about giving back,” said Kikki. “I wanted to showcase young Edmontonians who are giving back to the community, and it was the Twitter community that really encouraged me to do this,” she added.  For the launch, the feature Edmontonians were revealed.  Woman to Watch, local radio talent Brittney LeBlanc of iNews 880, whom I first met when she came to a Social Web meetup, and gave everyone a free radio.  And Man About Town, Seth Glick, owner of Edmonton’s friendliest window cleaners – Clear Skies.  See below:

Continuing to sip my fiery, cinnamon chocolate goldschlagger concoction, looking as swanky as a man with my aerodynamics can I asked what the business model was.  Kikki responded,”we haven’t really thought about that just yet…”  

Don’t be fooled into thinking there’s an absence of entrepreneurial talent behind this project.  That’s not the case, kikkiplanet.com was pulled together by a fashionable, talented group of women (save the enigmatic Mr. Kikki) who worked hard to get the site ready for the swanky launch at the Daffodil Gallery on 124th st in downtown Edmonton.  Delicious food was provided by DLish Urban Kitchen and Wine Bar located right next door to the gallery.  Still love those killer chocolate stuffed pastry balls.  I would drive from Sherwood Park to DLish just for those, and yes I just wrote “pastry balls”…twice.  That’s what local social community influencer ZoomJer and I called them anyway.

What social media enthusiasts and business owners might take away from this is that connections created online, in this case on Twitter, can translate directly into real world action.  Often the most powerful events are driven by an integrated approach with a small tribe of people at the core who feel strongly about something.  Social media amplifies these human connections.  Social media doesn’t replace the need for direct human contact, it amplifies it efficiently.  This is the humanization of the web.  You can’t stop it, to stop it would be stopping ourselves from what we truly desire.  Human interaction and validation from our peers we’re on the right track.

I enjoyed the “swanky” launch party for kikkiplanet.com very much.  Great hosts, great food and great fun with some of the best Edmonton has to offer.  Visit the site and support this very cool project that’s definitely on the right track…be sure to let Kikki and her friends know that you like their efforts…

The name of the Twitter chat was called #leadfromwithin which was first started by its originator, motivational speaker Lolly Daskal.  I was fascinated and not sure what to expect from this particular chat.  I wasn’t disappointed.  If you’re looking for a philosophical, motivational, inspirational and emotional out pouring of thought, then #leadfromwithin is something you should search on Twitter often and conversation you should join.

My experience was disruptive – in a good way.  So often in business and in life you get caught in the “grind”. This was an hour of group reflection and streaming consciousness.  Seriously!  It was. You may be reading this and think that’s ridiculous and be moving on.  That’s perfectly fine but you’d then be missing the best part.

RoR – in this case I define, not as Return on Relationship as many might think.  In the context of this chat, I only really knew one person, still a great return for sure.  Having said that, my definition in this case is Return on Reflection.  There were so many great tweets that I simply couldn’t include them all in this post.  However, one “really” resonated beyond all the others.

“You are not your circumstances”  - Dr. Steven Eisenberg

It’s been no secret that the last several months have been very difficult for me personally, none of which I’ll highlight here again.  However, the circumstances I have been in have been pretty overwhelming.  This one statement freed me from a ton of personal feelings that I know was holding me back from being myself.  Changing my thought patterns in this instance brought on by this one tweet, and overall twitter chat experience has brought prosperity in the form of new deals this week.  My return on investment of that one hour on twitter will go far beyond these new deals this week.  Far beyond…  

How can you measure the change within a human spirit?  

Thank-goodness I was open to suggestion, none of this would have happened had I’d been closed minded.  Thank-you to all of the contributors of the #leadfromwithin twitter chat tribe.  

Also, a very special thanks to my friend Josepf Haslam for doing what you do.  

Finally, a special heartfelt thank-you to a woman in New York, whom I’ve never met in person, and only to date have had minimal but meaningful exchanges on Twitter with- Lolly Daskal.  A human being with a boundless spirit of inspiration – thank-you.

I started my public speaking career primarily to challenge myself because it scared me.  I did my first business focused presentation approximately 13 years ago, and haven’t look back since.  I constantly look to improve my skills and relish the feedback from audience members.  Especially when I suck, I need to hear it so that I can improve.  That’s part of the business, one should always look to improve, although today’s presentation generally went well.  Despite hearing something negative from an audience member (which is thankfully rare), I love it!  I mean, really love it. 

Today’s presentation on Social TV was unique for three reasons.  One, it’s the first time I’ve presented this particular material on SocialTV, and second, because for the first time I had a public heckler.  Well, atleast my form of a heckler.  During questions, Robert Manolson from the crowd suggested that producing a 5 minute video for a small business owner wasn’t a good thing.  He said it was a “disservice” because we were just handing over the video without any marketing advice, and (essentially leaving the small business owner twisting in the wind) – my words.  

He of course, missed the beginning of the presentation that explained how we would always be willing to help out a business owner in need regarding social media strategies.  How I talked about an integrated approach – “baked in, not bolted on.”  Sure, the price would go up for that advice, depending on what the customer wanted, and that’s business.  The idea is that the customer can choose what level of service they’d like, and we “always” have our clients back!  

Robert rated my presentation on meet-up as not being relevant for the business owner audience in the room.  Well, I believe all businesses should consider social media, video production, and an integrated approach to marketing, while keeping up on new trends like socialTV.  Not sure how that’s not relevant.  You can’t please 100% of the people 100% of the time.  I missed the mark with Robert but it also seemed like he just wanted to banter, sometimes that happens.

I’ve included my presentation to give you a chance to review some of the material I presented and make up your own mind. Robert is certainly entitled to publicly state his opinion at the expense of mine, but I believe the presentation went well and it was relevant.  The feed back I received was very positive and supports my statement, there were several follow-up questions.  I also have a stack of business cards to follow-up on which is always positive and a great litmus test overall.  Thank-you everyone, we certainly look forward to doing business with you.  

Oh yeah, and here’s the third!  I soft launched a new price for fusedlogicTV video production services.  

$199.00 for 5 minutes of studio time.  (some restrictions may apply)  For more information contact us. 780-640-9339 or info@fusedlogic.com 

I’d like to thank everyone who attended my presentation, it was great to have a packed house of enthusiastic business owners.

Here’s the presentation in case you’d like to review it.  Enjoy and please let us know what you think…   

Starting with lowest to highest Twitter reach and discussion:

Doug Horner: 3,709 people reached

Rick Orman: 4,616 people reached

Gary Mar: 7,879 people reached

Ted Morton: 8,402 people reached

Alison Redford: 8,554 people reached

Doug Griffiths: 16,332 people reached

Now as you can see these samples were taken yesterday evening and cover 50 tweets.  To have a more interesting look, one might take these readings hourly throughout a 24 hour period.  However, I’ve got a life and won’t be doing that.  This is simply a snapshot of the ebbs and flows of Twitter conversation related to the leadership race of the Alberta PC Party.  I still find it interesting though.  The folks in the movie industry take detailed research on Twitter to predict whether a movie will be a financial winner based on the conversation, volume, sentiment, influencers associated etc…

I think this is too small a sample to truly have any real significance but it’s still interesting to see.  What do you think?

UPDATED

Based on the interest and my own curiosity I thought I would do a quick update of the numbers, so I took some more samples between 12 and 1pm today Saturday.  Take into consideration the time of day, also that this is now a weekend day and more people have the freedom to be online.  Also, it’s important to take into consideration the idea of “sentiment”.  Having a really high reach number but having a percentage of the tweets be negative attacks by opposition party supporters etc…so we should keep things in context.  Also, I like to look for breadth of accounts, are the tweets just made up of a few supporters or do we have a large list of people engaged?

Here are samples taken just a few minutes ago:

Again they are organized in ascending order.

Rick Orman: 3,062 people reached

Doug Horner: 3,808 people reached

Ted Morton: 4,863 people reached

Doug Griffiths: 11,472 people reached

Gary Mar: 13,126 people reached

Alison Redford: 18,073 people reached

What would be most interesting would be to dissect these samples to see the account demographics for each candidate, that would require a lot of work but it would reveal at least by appearance if for example Alison Redford is getting a majority of twitter conversation from women.  I wonder how much of the vote will be affected by those types of subset variables.  Further, is Doug Griffiths getting the 18-34 year old vote?  Where are the brands sitting in this regard?  

What do you think? 

UPDATED SATURDAY AT 5:00PM

All samples are in ascending order, we can see once again some have shifted in terms of general activity and discussion around their account.

Doug Horner: 3,748 people reached

Rick Orman: 5,114 people reached

Ted Morton: 7,126 people reached

Gary Mar: 7,150 people reached

Alison Redford: 10,338  people reached

Doug Griffiths: 14,365 people reached

Well, approximately 5 hours later, it seems the Griffiths camp continues to engage online, while the other camps have dropped considerably.  With approximately an 1.5 hours left until the poll stations close this will be the last update I’ll probably do.  Noticeably in this batch of samples is the discussion of Simon Ostler of CTV Edmonton news.  He shows up in all but Doug Horner’s stream… 

Thanks very much for reading and your comments on Twitter and here on our blog.

The hope is that you’ll carry the “branded” hashtag and conversation on Twitter well beyond the show air date which often happens. Now those loyal viewers turn themselves into a tribe that turn out to watch more shows and discuss the topic of the moment.

This becomes very interesting when you now want to further justify advertising costs, if you’re CNN, you’ve just drawn that engagement into the equation for advertisers.  

Sure, what transpires is a vast amount of conversations and micro-discussions that can be hard to quantify in terms of direct value. To truly understand the dynamics you have to be embedded in the community and know who the influencers are in order to draw out the impact for a particular brand if there is one.  Most of this impact is passive association and brand awareness.  This can be difficult for people to invest in solely.  Most would rather social media always be a direct marketing environment.  I push out a flyer, therefore my phone rings type of deal.  Social media and indeed, Social TV requires more patience, finesse and understanding.

Brand awareness is ok, positive brand awareness is even better.  At the heart of every purchase should be a feeling of trust.

Interestingly for businesses this is where Social TV is really shining.  Integrating audience into your corporate video work is powerful when you get it right.  For the audience it’s a chance to learn more about the company and ask direct questions.  For the business they get to build rapport with a target audience.  Doing this consistently can open doors, it’s happening for fusedlogicTV and our customers who do this.  

However, you should have a strong social media strategy already, this will make the integration far easier to accomplish.  This shouldn’t happen in a digital vacuum.  

You should strongly consider Social TV for your business or organization and its marketing.  The price of our program has been called “ridiculously cheap.”  Here’s another post with 19 ways you can win with our program so you can learn more.  

Have you ever created a video for your business?

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6. Interview anyone, anywhere around the world via Skype.
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8. The simple conversation format allows for you to explore the topic effectively. 
9. Integrate other types of media like pictures, websites, video clips, presentations into your show.
10. Increase your Search Engine Optimization opportunities, quickly and easily. 
11. Post your new shows on all of your social media profiles.
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16. Do a product demos.
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19. Greatly impact your ability to service your customer base by introducing them to this concept.

Typically, the cost per finished minute of a corporate or promotional video will range from $500 to $2000.  In other words, a complete, 5-minute video can be produced for anywhere from $2500 to $10,000.  But, the truth is, not all companies can afford it.

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One shouldn’t expect a formal Open Government Framework designed specifically for the Government of Alberta as a political campaign announcement.  However, today’s announcement suggests that Mar will put himself on the line with enough specifics to be held accountable.  Always a tough thing for candidates to do and he is the first to make a specific effort regarding “open government.”

You can throw words out like “open, transparent, accountable, responsiveness” as Mar has done, and to the average Albertan they may seem little more than political positioning.  That said, this is no slouch of a statement, we have enough to hold Mar accountable should he win.

I’m sure we’re all looking for specifics beyond broad statements like “major decisions made in an open and accountable manner,” so here’s what I pulled from his campaign in their release today as a start:

1. Live-streaming cabinet policy committee meetings
2. A new model for civic engagement
3. Pre-budget discussions with Albertans
4. Public Service Innovation Task Force

Evone points out a point of view that’s unfortunately all to prevalent among citizens and elected officials and administrations.  Rather than seek to understand the true impact of Open Government, large assumptions are made about losing control and the case is closed before it begins.

If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less”.  - General Eric Shinseki

Has old thinking doomed rural Alberta?

If you’re a taxpayer, business owner, community member in rural town Alberta, life is incredibly challenging.  You’re most likely led by an honest, hardworking and well-meaning town council charged with making tough decisions.  Also, your town council is probably supported (or directed) by an honest, hardworking and well-meaning town administration.

Now if you’re lucky, you might have a town mayor who stands at the podium exclaiming the virtues of “moving foward”.  They recognize, a desperate need to be innovative, to do business differently, in a word…Change!  The good news is that the majority of council, and some elements of your town administration recognize the same needs, and put a plan in place to head in that direction.  After surveying the community in many different ways, the word comes back.  ”We like it, we’re behind you, but do it this way.”

Innovation in rural Alberta?  Why?

Well to start with, brain drain.  For years, your young talent has been leaving town by the truck load, heading to where the action is.  This problem is so bad in many towns, that small business owners on main street can’t find anyone to man the cash register for an hour while they attend a chamber of commerce luncheon.

The world of government is actually a very competitive environment in its own way.  The economic survival of all communities big and small depend on jobs, business, education, quality of life, and doing it better than the town down the road.  Sure, there’s collaboration among communities and jurisdictions, but make no mistake, jealousy runs deep too.  Someone always wants a better museum, better library, more convenience, bigger this and fancier that…we read about it all the time.

Unfortunately, economic development in rural Alberta is often relegated to cheering about a hotel, strip mall, and a Walmart if you’re lucky. Not that this type of development isn’t welcomed taxes, jobs and convenience, but it’s hardly innovation, and it often leaves large holes on historic main street.

Now lets say your town mayor and council have been able to see past the standard issues that plague the docket of all small town council meetings, and they start thinking big.  They realize that for the town to not only survive in the 21st century but thrive, drastic measures are called for, big ideas needed.  Sure, this might be the 21st century, but this is also rural Alberta.  We’re a conservative province, have been for decades, and I don’t see that changing.  There isn’t anything wrong with this, except when it paralyzes decision-making or causes innovation to die on the vine while wasting taxpayer money.  We all know that life requires more than planning, it requires intelligence and decisive action in order to be successful. So if you claim to be about innovation in your planning, then you need to be innovative in your actions.  Otherwise, you’re spinning taxpayer wheels fuelled by taxpayer dollars.

Opportunities lost.

Think of the opportunities lost every day rural Alberta doesn’t consider and plan for Open Government.

Imagine over time potentially saving your town millions of dollars in process expenses.  Imagine having an open and transparent local government that saves citizens time and money when interacting with their local government.  Imagine having a town administration strapped for resources now having more to work with simply by doing business differently, more efficiently. Imagine gaining strong economic development opportunities in the tech sector that will retain some of that young talent, and potentially attract others back into the community.

Imagine….just imagine, every small town in Alberta inspired to consider, analyze, and think about this, then set goals specific to their situation and implement communication strategies that get the community organized and focused on these goals, together collaboratively.

More money, more efficiency, better trained.

Your town administration becomes more efficient, has tools that make their job much easier and that might actually be free, they’re happier and we’re happier.  Sure training and education comes first, and there’ll be the stick in the mud laggards resisting but that too will pass.   We don’t need old thinking today in rural Alberta.  We need to bridge the gap between where we are today, and where we need to go, and we must start now.

If I was the mayor of a town and I stood publicly saying, “we must move forward” and I heard our town managers in charge of strategic thinking say “we’re really not sure we want to go towards Open Government”.  My tendency would be to fire them on the spot, (this maybe a harsh gut reaction, that’s true) and this is a huge mistake, one that will take years to recover from.  Years that many small towns may not have.  The Undertaker is measuring many small towns around the world for their wooden boxes, just search it…

Is Open Government in rural Alberta a pipe dream?  Maybe, the reality is, things need to change.

My experience and a show of hands is that 85 out of a 100 hard working Chief Administrative Officers (CAO) and Town Managers have never seen a Google Analytics or Web Trends report on their town website.  When I was selling website development in 1998, it was standard practice to include this step for business clients, as it is today.  Often these CAO’s are supported by managers of strategic projects, managers of economic development, managers of communications, managers upon managers who put down the idea of Open Government (if they’re even aware of it) simply because they’re scared of what they don’t understand.  When I converse with them, it’s clear they haven’t done their homework, and in an instant have doomed their town to last century thinking.

Band-aid solutions?

Don’t be fooled by “band-aid” thinking.  Saying the words “Open Government” doesn’t make it so.  Just like having 48 followers on twitter doesn’t justify you charging people to show them how to set up an account.  422 communities in Alberta have access to the Alberta SuperNet.  Broadband Internet access is a great thing, did it eliminate the digital divide?  No.  Did tech companies warp into your small town and create a technology utopia?  Ummm, no.  Did it help?  Sure, but it’s only one unfinished pre-requist step of many.  How did some communities leverage this power?  They installed video conferencing rooms at an average of $40,000 a piece to connect to other towns.  Unfortunately, they’ve realized that this is a low impact closed circuit system, which you have to travel long distances in Alberta winters to get to, and they sit dormant the majority of the time.  No amount of ads in the local paper is really going to change that…a different way of engaging rural citizens is required, and I’m not talking about starting with a new website, or Facebook fanpage.

Enable evangelists.

Face to face exchange of ideas that lead to action held accountable by the administration and the citizens.  This is precisely what happened in the City of Edmonton and is happening around the world.  Practical, low tech communications led by citizens, young and old, with administrations and political leaders at the table.  Sure there’s a unique structure and plan to these meetings that makes them different, but the results are undeniable.  Open Government takes hold, and a citizen led “movement” is created, to benefit of all, whether they’re initially aware of it or not.

Open Government IS governance for the 21st century.

Sad news!  Until yesterday I thought we had at least one small town in rural Alberta that was ready to be an amazing rural leader, and at least begin the conversation about Open Government as part of their communications mix.   Their official documentation suggested they were.  Many in the community I interviewed suggested that innovation is needed, but more work and clarity was required.  Unfortunately yesterday I heard things that just made my heart sink.  Today I’m saddened to say that the choices made by this town administration will set them back dramatically.  We cannot jump over dollars to pick up dimes, we can’t think 2-dimensionally, and do things the way they’ve always been done.  As citizens, (or “rate-payers” as I heard this one manager call you and I so she didn’t have to use the word “tax”), we need to think about replacing our strategic planners who advocate yesterday’s thinking, and who put the brakes on Open Government thinking.  Should citizens demand they be replaced for being asleep at the wheel during the biggest revolution to happen in governance in over a century?  Albertans have demanded resignations for less.  

In my opinion, you don’t stop Open Government discussions because you have too many documents to scan in preparation for Open Data, and you don’t delay Open Government because of “legacy systems” still in place…both excuses demonstrate a lack of understanding.  More importantly to you and I, it demonstrates that the internal culture of your town administration is in trouble and will cost you more money than it should.

That said, the future is bright

I’ve written this blog post as a commentary regarding decisions made by one well-intentioned town administration in the hopes that others may learn and be inspired in some small way to consider Open Government.

Do you want an Open Government discussion to happen in your town?  Would you like to help your town save money, be open and transparent allowing citizens to collaborate with it better?  Would you like your town to be a part of a global movement and yet, benefit locally?  Do you just want to know more about what Open Government is?

Let us know, we can help kick-start the discussion in your town, meet with your leaders, administration and citizens to explain what Open Government is and how it benefits you…please call us.  780-640-9339

As is our style, we’re also opening up the show to questions from the online audience and are encouraging Albertans to post questions on our Facebook fanpage that we will look to include in the show and pose to Doug Horner.

This show is not an endorsement of Doug Horner or any one candidate that may appear, we’re simply providing Albertans with an opportunity to learn more about each candidate that appears, and an opportunity for you to ask a question or two…

What do you think about education, healthcare, energy, the environment or anything else that’s happening in Alberta.  Post a question…

Why?

What’s not evident in their announcement is why they’ve decided to stop the Edmontonian.  Possibly their close friends know, and maybe if it’s appropriate at some point they’ll let us all in on the deal.  Regardless, it seems that Edmonton may have lost a popular blog, but not the popular bloggers – that’s the good news in all of this.

What now?

Samsonow claims “their heads are bursting with ideas and schemes,” and of that, we have no doubt.  Although we didn’t get a chance to work directly with Jeff and Sally, we respected their tireless work to bring the world interesting stories about Edmonton.  A blog is a huge amount of work and commitment, a work load they clearly embraced for two and a half years.  We respected the quality of their work and ability to make us and I suspect countless others laugh.   Are there other Edmonton focused blogs to fill the gap?  In a manner of speaking, sure, but I suspect not with the same wit for sure…

Good-luck Jeff and Sally, we at fusedlogic wish you both all the best with the next chapter…stay in touch.

I vowed that when I was ready I would do something to give back in his name.  My dad was the most giving person in the world, if you were stranded, needed help and he was physically able to help, he didn’t hesitate, not for a second.

Here’s what we at fusedlogic would like to do.  We’re going to dedicate one hour of video production at fusedlogicTV per month FREE to non-profit and charitable organizations in Alberta.

What does FREE video production at fusedlogicTV mean?

Simple, we’ll be setting aside (4) 15 minute show slots for non-profits.  As a non-profit or charitable organization, you would “like” the fusedlogic Facebook Fanpage and then tell us what you’d do with the free 15 minutes of recorded talk show format video produced in the fusedlogicTV studio.

The top (4) ideas with the most Facebook likes at the end of the available voting time on our fanpage will win the available production slots for that month.  You will have to host your own show, prepare your own simple script, and promote your own show as you see fit.  As part of the provided free production service, fusedlogicTV will supply you with the ability to Skype in up to (2) people, and you’d also be able to invite up to (2) in studio guests.

Once completed, fusedlogicTV will supply you with your digital file, you’ll own the content.  However, you will have agree to allow us to include production credits but your branding will be front and centre.

We’ll be starting this program formally in September, and just thought we’d give you an advanced  heads up.  I’m very excited about this, and hope that you’ll take us up on the offer once it’s officially launched.

Stay tuned…and get your creative juices going…if you’d like to see what these shows can look like, visit and subscribe to the fusedlogic YouTube channel.

I applaud the fact that Redford proposes to do this should she win and at some point become Premier of Alberta.  That said, the question must be raised as to why it’s taken till 2011 and into 2012 to do something this simple in principle?

Only the beginning

This is certainly a positive step should it come to pass, AND it’s only the beginning of the required level of transparency and accountability we need in Alberta.  Is this truly a change in “attitude?”  I’m not ringing the change bell just yet.

What I believe would serve Albertans even more than a single act like this one would be for a political candidate to explain how they intend to deliver an “Open Alberta.”  A comprehensive Open Government Framework, a concept that I’ve written about multiple times in the past year or more.  I’ve even called for these candidates to “pledge” an Open Government as part of their administration.  Yesterday we announced on our blog that this Thursday on Gov2TV, I’ll be speaking with the Government of British Columbia’s Minister of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government Stephanie Cadieux about the status of her government’s Open Government activity.

While at the international level, the US was releasing their public data in 2009, making it available for the public to work and innovate with, followed by the UK in 2010.  The United States then dubbed 2010 the year of “participatory platforms.”  Here in Canada we’re still in the “pilot project” stage.  Yes, it also seems some are attempting to get their Open Data groove on by working on Open Data licences as written by David Eaves earlier this year which is cool.  However, noticeably absent in this effort is Alberta.

Here at home, we’re talking about helping the public better understand how MLA’s get paid as a shift in transparency.  No doubt this is important, and yet, we have a long way to go regarding our actions on transparency and accountability.

Further, it’s not enough for a government to simply launch a Facebook fanpage, Twitter account and say, “we’re social and being transparent.”

To do this properly I believe a leader must understand the needs of Albertans today, and into the future.  Ensure that at every policy discussion there’s someone credible to speak to the integration of social or Web 2.0 technology into that policy, and the impact of same.  Speaking from experience that exists beyond having 98 followers on Twitter.

We need to raise our game, we need someone in the Government who is plugged in globally on this issue, who is advising on global best practices as they develop and who can advise the next Premier, and working together with Albertans quickly position Alberta as a leader and global partner in being Open.

Why is an Open Alberta so critical?

An Open Alberta leads to innovation within government, business and the community-at-large in a multitude of ways.  Improving the sharing of information and reducing costs, while ensuring proper privacy and security in areas like education and healthcare as is happening around the world.  Transportation and infrastructure can be positively impacted.  The environment, water conservation, and yes, land usage, can all be included in this mix of areas that Open Data.  This as a foundational linch pin in a broader Open Government plan can improve services for Albertans.  The best part will be that Albertans using public data will create digital eco-systems important to them, while working with government to change Alberta for the better.  Then as I’ve written about last year, we won’t have a broken link at data.alberta.ca.

This concept isn’t perfect, there’s still a lot to learn, the great thing is, we can learn together.  There are Open Data and Open Government models, policies, licenses etc, being constructed all over the world, replacing old tired systems at every level of government and it’s happening almost daily now.  Underneath those new systems is the support of a new breed of leader, and culture that embraces citizen opinions, and rather than just saying “we’ll work together with Albertans,” they actually do it openly.

An Open Alberta isn’t work done behind closed doors.

I’ve heard through the grapevine that at least one or more of the Alberta PC leadership candidates and some within the Government of Alberta have been reading my blog on this topic, and all of us here at fusedlogic appreciate that.  I’ve also heard that apparently there’s work being done internally within the Government of Alberta in this area.  Not sure what that means, but here’s the concern. Why is the Government of Alberta doing any of this behind closed doors?  Open Government is just that, you facilitate an open discussion on our future.  For example, that’s precisely what ChangeCamp did for Edmonton.  We as citizens publicly contribute in meaningful ways, and the government facilitates our collective wishes based on stated priorities.  Not go into Santa’s workshop and have the elves build some shiny new toys (you think we should like) to hide under the tree only to be revealed on Christmas Day.

Further, I sure hope that a large vendor hasn’t swooped in to save the Open Government day, and that we’ll learn of a large enterprise purchase made on behalf of Albertans being spun as a big first step solution.  No offence to any one vendor such as Google, Microsoft, IBM or Open Text, but Open Government is not an excuse to simply buy more software.  Not until a lot of work and discussion with citizens on engagement, culture and policies is done should we consider the technology platforms for participation.  And Open Source must absolutely be a part of the discussion.  Premier Stelmach didn’t take a leadership role publicly on this issue.  The next Premier of Alberta must.  That’s where we start.

Regardless of your political party, if you want to be Premier of Alberta, this needs to be a primary part of your policy platform, technology permeates every single Albertan’s life in some way.  This is a shift in attitude, one that in my opinion represents true leadership for Alberta into 2012 and beyond.  Although a strong message, it’s certainly more than a promise to help Albertans know and understand the pay structure of provincially elected officials…

Who is Minister Cadieux?

Stephanie Cadieux

Stephanie Cadieux serves as Minister of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government, having been appointed on March 14, 2011. She formerly served as the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development. Stephanie was elected MLA for Surrey-Panorama in the 2009 general provincial election.

Stephanie resides as chair of the of the Cabinet Committee on Open Government and Engagement. Formerly, she servied on the Special Committee to Appoint an Information and Privacy Commissioner, and is also a member of Agenda and Priorities Committee, the Select Standing Committees on Health and on Children and Youth and the Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Living with a spinal cord injury since a car crash at the age of 18, she became a strong community advocate for programs to assist people with physical disabilities to achieve their goals and regain independence. In 2007, Stephanie worked with 2010 Legacies Now to develop an Accessible Tourism Plan for BC.

Stephanie worked with the BC Paraplegic Association for eight years, most recently as director of marketing and development. She has been an active community volunteer and was the president of Realwheels Society, Ambassador for the Rick Hansen Man in Motion Foundation, as well as a member of the advisory panel and a researcher with International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries (ICORD).

Stephanie was voted one of Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40, in 2007.

Stephanie has lived Surrey for seven years with her husband and enjoys sailing and travel.

This will be an honour, and a great opportunity to learn more about where her portfolio and indeed the Government of British Columbia is in its effort to continue increasing transparency, collaboration and operating as a platform for British Columbians and Canadians.  For background, here is a press release from Premier Christy Clark and Minister Cadieux on Open Data and their new direction.  You can also review the BC government’s Open Data website and blog.

Who should watch Gov2TV?  Citizens concerned about government efficiency regardless of their country of origin.  Political leaders and administrators looking to learn about the latest news within the Open Government movement and mainstream media should also watch for story ideas.

Questions for the Minister?

Please add them here, or join our chat room at fusedlogic.tv/live this Thursday live and we’ll look to add them to the show.

If your government is doing something interesting in the Open Government area, please let us know so we can have a chance of featuring it on Gov2TV.

What has me thinking of this?  Kiwis.  No not the fruit, but the great Nation of New Zealand, recently ravished by devastating earth quakes.  Despite disaster and rebuilding, New Zealand has released a Declaration on open and transparent government in New Zealand.  Absolutely brilliant!

And here we are, this magnificent Canadian provincial powerhouse called Alberta still partying in government as if its 1999.  I’m speaking directly about the ridiculous behind closed doors, power struggle, silo protecting, short-sighted reactionary culture of government.  I literally had a public servant yesterday on twitter argue against “participatory budgeting” in Alberta because he thought it showed a lack of respect for Treasury employees.  This is simply a lack of understanding.  The Open Government movement around the world isn’t about disrespecting public servants and saying they suck at their jobs.  Open Government is about government operating as a collaborative platform where citizens can directly engage digitally “with” public servants.  Do things on behalf of government with Open Data.  Open Government is truly “Our Government.”  Now for those leaders who simply want to dictate to Albertans, well, now you can see the disconnect.  They of course, would never come out and say that’s what they’re doing, but actions speak louder than words.

The time has come for this to end, for a “real leader of the people” to emerge, willing to take the “Open Government” folder currently buried on the desk of the Premier, and not only set it on top but actually open it and get to work.

I’ve heard several times from different sources within the Government of Alberta say, “they’re aware of it.”  As Albertans, you should be angry, you may not think this is a priority for your life, and yet, we should all realize this hits all areas of government, every public servant, and looks to change the culture.  Making service for you better.  Which is why it’s so freaking scary for many bureaucrats and politicians alike.  All except the brave visionaries.  The brave visionaries realize that they grow in altruistic strength and power with this movement.  Alberta goes global overnight, and for a positive reason for a change, instead of always being embattled and on defence.  Let me just say, we won’t have to spend another $25 million to rebrand the province again either.

Yesterday, I tweeted this:

fusedlogic Walter Schwabe    I’d like to know which #pcldr candidates would have a “Minister of Open Government” in their cabinet? #ableg #pcaa #AB #opengov

How do I know this?  Well here’s the PDF outlining the deal between the City of Edmonton and Google regarding the Workspace Edmonton Program.  If you’re young, hip and want a working environment that’s hyper-connected from anywhere, and cutting-edge fusedlogic is your first stop.  However, if all of those things apply and public service is on your mind, then consider the City of Edmonton’s IT Branch as the perfect home.  For those of you who don’t know, Edmonton’s IT Branch is led by a strong group of people and its CIO, Chris Moore.  Full disclosure, Edmonton’s IT Branch is a client of ours, and Chris Moore has been on fusedlogicTV several times to talk about Open Government.

He is not only a real advocate but as you can see above, he and his team are people of action when it comes to creating efficiencies, collaboration, and increasing transparency among their team on behalf of Edmontonians.  The world is literally now, their oyster when thinking of all the ways collaboration can happen across great distances.

This is a fantastic example of what cities and towns need to do, Chris no doubt will be able to speak about the pros and any cons that come out of this migration to Google, and it’s Enterprise level Google Apps Premier Edition. Using Apps such as Google Mail, Google Docs, internal YouTube for training will dramatically save the team time.  Not to worry Microsoft, (Disclosure: another client of ours) Office and SharePoint are still a part of the picture as required.  People have a choice, imagine that.  Also, Edmonton’s public servants have had access to Yammer, a Twitter clone designed for internal communications, now with over 1000 people on it. In the case of the BC Government, they’ve been using Yammer for well over a year now with great success.  Glad to see the City of Edmonton embrace real-time communications internally as well.

Overall, this step into the Cloud is fantastic, congratulations to the City of Edmonton, the IT Branch and to Chris Moore for walking the walk.

I want to believe that people are honourable, but my “faith” in humanity has been repeatedly tested.

Despite being impossible, life can also give you a shot in the arm.  For example, Terry Paranych joined other great clients, such as, the host of Focal Point – John Cutler, and Mommy Talk’s Narissa Singh to name two, all of which are rock solid human beings.

Also, last night a gathering took place that seems to represent precisely what I want to surround myself with in terms of human spirit.  I was invited by John Winslow (@sirthinks) to attend an organizational meeting for an informal group who’s looking to raise donations for Edmonton’s Terra Association during their upcoming annual Baby Heros campaign in October.

Our non-partisan group, comprised of PC MLA’s Doug Elniski, and Honourable Thomas Lukaszuk.  Also, Wildrose hopefuls Kyle McLeod, Wayde Lever, John Corie, and other caring citizens like Tamara Stecyk and @GuitarKat has pledged to raise enough funds to purchase 65,000 diapers for young single moms in need.  Did you know that Terra helps approximately 600 young moms in this way?  My daughter is 6 years old but when we bought diapers I remember that was no small monthly bill.  Roughly 200 diapers per month is the average.  If you’re still in high school, and have a child that means a minimum of $100.00 per month, $1,200 per year is required, a $1,200 bucks many don’t have.

There is simply nothing more precious in life than our children.  Working with people like this on such an important need will go a long way to restoring my faith in humanity and I’m going to do all I can to help.

Please join our cause and help by letting John know, all political parties are welcome, and by no means do you have to be politician to help.

At minimum, I hope you’ll support this cause with any sized donation, although a $100 or more when the time comes would be fantastic.

The first question I have is, are you invested in this process or are you absent?  You must invest, and below is a series of ways you’ll need to expend effort, and in some cases budget in order to have any possibility of driving new sales for your business via social media.

For us at fusedlogic, it’s a different story than those really big household brands I mentioned.  We’re not about consumer goods or point of sale items.  The sale of our social media related services primarily happens based on relationships, referrals, awareness too and great customer service.  If we mailed you a flyer stating that fusedlogic is your answer for social media strategies, would we get any business from you?  Maybe, but doubtful since we’re not business to consumer.  Having said that, our client Terry Paranych has done a show on fusedlogicTV and spoke about his “flyer program which nets him huge business results.  Terry understands the need for an integrated unique approach to marketing to consumers.  He understands the value of building relationships in numerous ways, added to things like direct flyer marketing (not really about relationships) is the use of social media – all about relationships and communication.

Social media allows for you to reach out directly to the fusedlogic team, to our clients, and to potentially millions of people in a meaningful way.

Here’s how properly increasing your sphere of influence can increase your sales regardless of what industry you’re in.

1.) Search Engine Optimization – your content if properly positioned will be found by new prospective clients, giving you a shot to start a sales discussion.

2.) Reputation Management – we may have met at a business luncheon, or other networking event, social media allows us to maintain our discussion inbetween face-to-face meetings.  Keeping in touch allows for acquaintances to turn into friends and advocates.  Big difference.  When the time is right, this fact alone will lead to business opportunity.  Chris Brogan’s book Trust Agents speaks in many ways about being that trusted source.  Good book, you should download it.

3.) Realtime Customer Service – rather than wait for hours on a phone line, many companies can improve customer service through options like Twitter.  A great customer service experience here and it’s passed on to multiple networks, screw it up and the same result is true.

4.) Targeting Trends – things happen in a flash in social media, and if you blink you could miss real opportunity.  Being timely and relevant is often critical.  Many people parachute in to Twitter once a day for 2 minutes to push out a tweet and then leave and wonder why their phone isn’t ringing off the hook.

5.) Not a Silver Bullet – sales comes from credibility, value, trust, awareness, rapport, relevancy, convenience and time investment among other things.  Especially, if you’re relatively unknown.  If you’re Google, well that’s different.  Using social media can provide you an opportunity to do all of this work more efficiently, as long as, you commit to it and have a plan.  Be patient!

6.) Content Creation – you know why Terry Paranych will continue to dominate in Real Estate awareness online in his markets?  Even more so since he became our live streaming video client?  Increased content creation relevant to his target audiences.  He’s literally out-gunning his competition.  Add to that his commitment, hard work, listening to customer feedback, learning and of course a budget and you’ve got a recipe for a win.  The Real Estate market in Edmonton was unprepared for Terry to take this next step, he’s changed the game again!  There is no other agent, Re/Max or otherwise certainly in Alberta and possibly beyond with their own series of live weekly streamed shows.  When a consumer goes to do research on the Terry Paranych Team Re/Max Elite, they’ll quickly realize that his marketing plan is more advanced than the others for lots of reasons but especially his live shows.  Ultimately that will translate into new business.  What scares me in a good way is if Terry starts to promote his shows in other areas of his marketing efforts…

7.) Routine – this doesn’t mean “automation” so much as working a plan of what works.  I’m guilty as the next person for not always doing this, as life gets in the way sometimes.  That said, when I can correct my course and get back on track, we see results.  What do I mean by this?  Simple, there are lots of examples of suggested daily routines and Chris Brogan has put out some dandy examples.

Be human not a robot!  Engage and support one another.  Respect others, and for goodness sake, do what you say you’ll do.  That is so rare, people will respect you for that alone.  All of this is definitely hard work, but worth it in the end.

Many in the Edmonton Real Estate scene already know that our client Terry Paranych has been burning up the live streaming web with his shows and they’re going very well.  Terry is incredibly excited about the feedback you’ve been giving him about this shows and he’s already done more than one show answering your questions as supplied on his facebook fan page and on Twitter. However, now we need your help to convince Terry (I haven’t told him yet about the Google Plus angle) to include you in his shows live.  So, regardless of where you are in the world, if you’re a Real Estate investor, consumer or agent let us know that you’d like one of 10 Google Plus spots on Terry’s show and we’ll look to get it done.

Further, we’ve got other shows, like KrytonLIVE, the soon to return Gov2TV (hosted by yours truly) Play and Learn Toy’s Mommy Talk and AutoMojo…we’re going to start opening up our shows even more to you.

Remember, if you’d like to have your own show, let us know info@fusedlogic.com  We’ve generated great awareness for our clients and well over 1,000,000 viewer minutes…it’s powerful!

I see top executives running for cover, I see political campaign managers cringing at the prospect of having a not so favourable blog written about their particular candidate.  The echos of “see I told you, there’s nothing good about social media.”

The fact is, here in Alberta we’re dealing with really serious issues.  Our economy is only “ok” and not spectacular by any stretch, healthcare is a complete and utter mess, teachers are getting laid off, and the list goes on.  Families are struggling here in Alberta, albeit not as badly as in other parts of Canada and certainly not like the US.  Often you don’t get to know who you’re doing business with until it’s too late.  In politics, it’s really important to understand who we’re dealing with “ahead of time.”  Which is why I offered a special one hour live debate to both Doug Griffiths and Rick Orman.  One person on twitter suggested that Orman was “staying on message” by not answering my direct invitation.  Not sure if that’s true but something to consider.

Some organizations stand up for what’s right, some executives stand for respect and others run and hide.  I took a couple shots last night from Orman supporters, or people who thought I was simply being “whiny.”  Ok, everyone’s entitled to an opinion, if you’re unwilling to take comments, and sometimes criticism, constructive or otherwise, then don’t publish content.

At the time, I felt like Alberta PC Party leadership candidate Rick Orman was snubbing me in particular, I’m not sure that’s ever a good idea when it’s a politician and a voter.  Some people think it’s ok to allow people to walk all over them, that I should “get over myself…”  I forgive people for a show of lack of respect but last night, with Rick Orman, I decided not to.  I’ve had support via DM come in to confirm my impressions from others. But really…does anyone truly care whether Rick Orman insulted me or not?  Well, curiously, the late night crowd did as our analytics would suggest.  Does that mean they’re not going to vote for Rick Orman as a result of my blog post?  I wouldn’t go that far, most people prefaced their comments on Twitter or on the blog by saying…”I’m not a Rick Orman supporter…” so today is another day in the realtime web and we’re all moving on.  Today seems to be about Mar’s thoughts on healthcare in Alberta, more Edmonton Fringe discussion and whatever’s important in your life…

Doug Griffiths to my knowledge is continuing to look for another candidate to debate live on Alberta LIVE.  I think a 1-1 debate with an hour of air time would really be great for Albertans.  Much better than the 30 second sound bites they currently offer.  I hope he finds someone, and yes, if Orman comes back into the picture I’ll consider it. (Not to sound too much as one person commented, a “whiny Rupert Murdoch,” that cracks me up.)

Hey Doug, Gary Mar apparently is going to privatize healthcare or so it’s being reported.  Maybe he’s game…

True to the form I’ve witnessed from you already, you showed little respect for those with whom you were communicating with. Now the other Alberta PC leadership candidate that was involved in our discussion is probably much more aware of your abrasiveness since he’s clearly met you, and might be willing to forgive your ignorance towards him, although I certainly won’t speak for him.

However, I’m an Alberta taxpayer and voter, someone who a leadership candidate for the PC’s or any Alberta political party should consider respecting.  I also own two companies, fusedlogic and fusedlogicTV inc.  I admit, I’ve not generated the same type of tycoon status in business that you have Rick, in fact, we’re just this tiny little company out in Sherwood Park, Alberta working hard as a team to make a living.  Your status has clearly emblazoned you with an arrogance that countless millions of dollars can provide. (I’m not saying all millionaires are assholes to be sure.)

Having said that, I tried to see past your arrogance tonight on Twitter, and give you the benefit of the doubt.  I even warned you to conduct yourself as if media was watching our exchange.  Despite that, you openly insulted a voter who hasn’t made up his mind yet AND you did it in fine style by leveraging the realtime web like a complete neophyte.  You don’t think we here at fusedlogic have “any distribution?”  We do.  Do you think being ignorant towards a voter isn’t news?  To some it just might be.  That I don’t care about.

You deliberately disrespected me by not answering my questions directly.  On Twitter, and frankly anywhere else in civil society that’s a direct insult.  Rick Orman, you acted like a pompous ass.  Now we all do from time to time, Lord knows I certainly have, and I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong.  However, when Albertans take a look at your twitter stream by going to search.twitter and searching #pcldr hashtag tonight, they’ll see that you intentionally ignored me when I was being respectful but firm in not allowing you to avoid my direct question about agreeing to come on fusedlogicTV along with Doug Griffiths and have a one to one debate on the issue the two of you were discussing.  Now sure, it’s your prerogative not to answer me for any number of reasons.  Especially if I was being grossly disrespectful.  I admit I was calling you out for being evasive about the invitation, and you still are.  Most recently also to Griffiths based on his last tweet regarding this issue.

So here’s the thing, I own fusedlogicTV, you want to be on it, you’ve got to respond to me publicly on Twitter with an apology.  Mr. Orman, I don’t care who you are, you don’t treat people like you did me tonight.  If you want to be leader of the Alberta PC Party, you need to learn some humility and manners.  Secondly, you sure as hell won’t be rewarded after insulting me with a special opportunity to promote your campaign free of charge on my network which will then be shared with mainstream media, bloggers and website owners.   Who the hell do you think you are?  I’ve told you who I am, I’m a honest, hard working Albertan with a family and I’m a voter, just like millions of others.  Including Stuart Thomson I suspect, who beat me to publishing a blog post about tonight’s exchange.

Rick, I already knew you clearly had a lot to learn about the social web, but I never thought I’d have to remind you of your manners as well.  Albertans will decide once reading this and the information provided whether they liked your demeanour and value it in their choice for leader of the PC Party.

For all the time you spend online using social media, regardless of whether you’re from Alberta, do you think social media will help to change anything in Alberta regarding the discussion around key issues?  I’d love to hear your opinion, is social media helping to influence your thoughts on the issues below?

1. In Edmonton, is social media in your opinion influencing you and your thoughts regarding the debate about Katz Group’s bid for a downtown arena district?
2. Will social media influence the outcome of either the Alberta PC leadership race or that of the floundering Alberta Liberals?
3. What about things like Bill 50?  I know of some power companies in this province that really want Bill 50 passed and they want it done quietly.  Has social media influenced your thoughts on it in any way?
4. Do you care about the land use legislation as a result of finding out more information about it online?

There are certainly many more issues then the four I’ve listed here, so if you have another issue that ranks high in your world please by all means list it in the comment section, IF you think social media influenced your thoughts about it.

To be clear, I’m not referring the social technologies specifically, rather the on-going discussion, chit chat, pow-wows, debate, stare downs and tweeted zingers you are experiencing or creating within the social web.  This would include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube and of course blogs comments just like the ones I hope you’ll offer here.  You spend so much time of your life doing this, it would be neat to know where you and others like you think it’s having an effect.  I have an opinion (of course) but I don’t want to influence you one way or another by offering it here.  Please comment and offer your opinion and then ask others what they think.  This issue is on many people’s minds from decision-makers to the every day Joe and Judy.  (My apologies in advance for speaking on behalf of all Joes and Judy’s)

Who’s talking?  Many who spend time following the #pcldr hashtag seems to be a small grouping.  This is partial speculation, however, with as explosive as politics can be, this is really low engagement overall.  People just don’t seem to care about what’s being said, at least enough to spur on discussion and content generation online outside of the current observers.  The group actively participating in this Twitter discussion, predominately led by candidate supporters is even smaller.

Taking samples such as the one below over a week or more, the players on the list move up and down but generally stay the same. You’d think that the best time to see the most activity would be during or right after a live debate.  That is generally true, although policy announcements help, yet the amount of people being reached on Twitter, is in my opinion, very small considering the importance of this.  I do expect this to heat up as we get closer to the first ballot in mid-September.  Here’s a screen shot from tweetreach.

Now lets take a look at the Wildrose Alliance Party and their hashtag #wrp, who are not currently in an internal leadership race.

By comparison, the Downtown Arena District hashtag #yegarena discussion as of late has heated up but in the last 24 hours is on a bit of decline.

Go beyond this one small view, and take into consideration the amount of main stream media coverage this issue has generated in the last 6 days or so surrounding the Enoch and MLA PR issues have reached well over a million people.

The reasons for the low digital engagement regarding the PC leadership race in part would include accounts with small follower counts engaging.  A small cross-section of account variety engaging in the discussion.  That said, I’m not including the #ableg or #pcaa hashtags in this post, and that would normally need to be sifted through and considered for a more accurate reading of issue reach.  Also, the various campaign camps might want to consider the activity of their own teams in particular.

When building a better understanding of a digital footprint, one should consider several factors.  To measure more accurately, say as part of a formal project report, I would consider all primary elements that make up a digital footprint.  From the content created, the attention given to that content, the influence of those engaging, the sentiment of the comments, and the reach of that content across all relevant digital channels, such as Facebook, YouTube, Linkedin, political blogs and mainstream media websites, then compare that with conversions.  This is a lot of work.  Some may be fooled into thinking that a single piece of software might handle all of this, and they’d be wrong.

To interpret what’s happening within that PC tweetreach stat above we need to ask some key questions.  Sure hired guns can create white noise to look busy but is this translating into increased interest in their candidate?  I’m seeing more impact based on direct comments made by a particular candidate.  As it should be.  How about the volunteers?  A small group of 5-7 or so per candidate quick to defend their candidates is evident, but are they convincing voters to join the discussion, donate to their candidate, buy a membership and become advocates?  I’m seeing a bit more positive evidence of this lately based on some of my own real-time analysis, that said, I wouldn’t suggest evidence of a “landslide” victory for any one candidate.  Pretty safe to assume this is going to a second ballot.

Curious as to who is getting the most traffic to their website?  I consulted Alexa.com which provides a global ranking for all websites. The higher the number, the more websites with better traffic than your website.  You want a low number.

In order of Alexa ranking worst to best:

 
When asking why these rankings are the way they are, there are several reasons.  From a commitment or lack thereof to digital content generation, and existence of an actual digital strategy versus those who haven’t focused on it.  In the case of Rick Orman, a concerted use of traditional advertising driving awareness.  He is also an outlier and less of a known entity as compared to the other candidates, plus he throws all other candidates under the bus every chance he gets.  Having said that, the proof is in the conversions pudding.  Each campaign will know whether this traffic is translating into meaningful membership conversion.  I would hope they’re modifying web content based on their internal web analytics AND what they’re hearing at events.  However, the above evidence supports that this work is beyond some of these campaigns. In at least a couple of the campaigns, this is likely a lack of knowledge and understanding.  In others, I would add a lack of prioritizing resources to focus on this.
Just for fun I also looked up the various Party websites.

 
Clearly, this is only a fraction of the information that one should consider before making any serious judgements, recommendations or moves.  However, if one or more campaigns takes a critical look at what they’re doing, and can figure out the flash points that drive membership conversions for them in particular among voters, and then repeat it, some late gains can be made.  I will say though, there is little help for those without any strategy.  The numbers above separate those who are simply going through the motions from those making a concerted effort.

Also, one final little tid-bit, currently with respect to “sentiment,” Doug Griffiths and Alison Redford are reaping more positive comments related to their efforts in the last couple of debates, Doug Horner, Gary Mar and Rick Orman are not inspiring noticeable jumps in positive sentiment, the majority is “neutral,” and Ted Morton is leading with respect to negative sentiment.

One other key thing to monitor is the low “attack” factor.  Generally the Wildrose is leading the political attacks with one NDP supporter being vocal.  That said, the PC candidates are generally not being challenged as much as I would have expected.

For me, as far as personal voting goes, demonstrating an understanding of technology is important to me regardless of Party. Technology permeates our lives, whether you’re 9 or 90 years old.  This isn’t the only consideration to be sure, but it’s important, and it drives me nuts that in this day and age, we still have to explain to business and political leaders that there’s this little thing called the “Internet,” an environment that should definitely be respected and mastered.  For me, the above numbers suggest there’s a fair amount of work yet to do.

All of this data from comScore is coming from their Video Metrix service designed to focus on the online video landscape.  Below is a graph that outlines viewership for June.  Pretty insane numbers overall, which continues to suggest that you should definitely have video as part of your overall digital marketing plan.  This trend is why we launched fusedlogicTV, with live, plus recorded, plus digital marketing included in our packages, they are incredibly powerful and affordable.  Have a look below, I was actually surprised to see Yahoo ahead of Microsoft.  Another interested item is that Facebook is generating viewership, people love to watch video and look at pictures on Facebook.  It will be interesting to see in 6 months if Google plus will start to erode this as the migration of something new continues to take over.  That said, Facebook has over 600 million users and I don’t see them being crush tomorrow, but it’s nice to see some more competition.

 This information provided by comScore goes on to cover ad networks as well:

Other notable findings from June 2011 include:

• The top video ad networks in terms of their potential reach of the total U.S. population were: Tremor Media at 44.3 percent, BrightRoll Video Network at 38.5 percent and Break Media at 37.6 percent.
• 85.6 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
• The duration of the average online content video was 5.4 minutes, while the average online video ad was 0.4 minutes.
• Video ads accounted for 13.6 percent of all videos viewed and 1.3 percent of all minutes spent viewing video online.

Before the first episode of Mommy Talk

By reading the title of this blog post you might have thought that I had gone mad, I admit it’s not your typical title for our blog here at fusedlogic, and that’s because today’s topic is not typical in many ways.

Our client Narissa Singh of Play and Learn Toys is working feverishly to build the brand of her online toy emporium.  A shiny new website built by Monolith Digital is about to launch and being new to the Greater Edmonton and Strathcona County area, it’s important that Narissa make friends, as it is for all of us.

As part of her plan to grow her business we included a new live show to help separate her and her business from the pack.  ”Mommy Talk” launched today and everything in today’s title was a part of the discussion in the show.  Never before has fusedlogicTV had a show cross so many fun topics in one episode.  The energy was great, and so were the guests.  Melanie Schmidt from Little Belties was the first guest on with Narissa to talk about being a mompreneur and to demonstrate her cool products for little kids.  I’ll be picking up a belt for my daughter, she’ll love it.

Next up was Tanis Miller, TheRedNeckMommy herself, who has taken the tragedy of suddenly losing her son Shale, and bravely focusing that energy into sharing thoughts on “all” aspects of her life (less fighting with her husband) with the rest of the world resulting in amazing success.  Something so devastating that if I were to experience it with my daughter I know I wouldn’t have the strength to do.  Never mind the originality of the content, the fact that Tanis and her husband carry on every day is a miracle in itself in this blogger and parent’s humble opinion.  Inspiration for us all.

I’d like to say thanks to both Melanie and Tanis for coming on to “Mommy Talk with Narissa Singh,” she’s a terrific client, a brave soul for listening to me and my ideas, and did a fantastic job hosting her first ever live show…keep it up Narissa, you’re global!

Terry Paranych and Michael Kryton

Today marks the launch of “Inside Real Estate with Terry Paranych,” the first of three shows we’re producing for the Edmonton region’s top Real Estate Agent here at fusedlogicTV.  Terry has a tremendous amount of experience in real estate, producing results at the highest level.  Being a top five Realtor in the world doesn’t happen by accident.  The fact that he wants to share his knowledge and educate the home buying and home selling public with his first show says a lot to me about his business acumen, and character.

Every time Terry comes into our studio he leaves a positive lasting impression, his energy and belief in what he’s doing is “unshakeable.”  Frankly, he inspires me, not only in business but also of course in learning more about real estate, how to invest in it etc…

We’re excited, about all of his shows, #2 comes out tomorrow – “Terry Paranych LIVE!” designed for Realtors around the world and helping them grow their businesses.  Then #3, “How to Create Amazing Wealth by Investing in Real Estate.”

We hope that you will find time to view one or more of this shows live or on-demand.  Also, all of us, Terry included want to hear from you, your feedback will help to refine the shows going forward.  Have questions, comments or concerns, tune in or leave a comment here or on Terry’s blog, we want to hear about them.

You can contact Terry’s office at 780-457-4777 or visit www.paranych.com

You can contact our team at 780-640-9339

Terry Paranych

Pushing boundaries is nothing new for fusedlogicTV’s newest client Edmonton Real Estate Agent Terry Paranych of Re/Max realty.  Well known throughout the Edmonton area, and Alberta, as the Real Estate “Superman,” Terry has worked incredibly hard to become the “brand of choice” when it comes to selling homes.

When Terry came to understand what fusedlogicTV does, produce live, recorded and market customized video content unlike anyone else, he knew our program was the next major step in the evolution of his brand and his real estate business.  We’re excited to welcome this business leader to the fusedlogicTV client list.  The local Edmonton real estate industry will see and witness incredible value coming from Terry’s show.  He’ll be providing insight into his massively successful marketing programs, as well as, sharing his experience and elements from his seminar series for Real Estate Agents to improve their sales dramatically.  In fact, there’s so much content and value here we’re working on organizing it all for you. There has never been a show for real estate like the one we’ll be producing with Terry and we’re all very excited.

Michael Kryton interviews Terry Paranych on “A Brilliant Idea Every 60 seconds.”  This show is packed with stories…we’re looking forward to seeing and hearing more from Terry very soon.  If you want to ask questions of Terry, be sure to tune in to his show.

A bright, sunny day on Saskatchewan drive in Edmonton played host to the grand opening of Incite Solutions‘ new digs, in this case, marketing that moved a couple hundred people to take in the festivities yesterday afternoon, enjoying tasty beverages, delicious food and cool music.

I first met Jared and Ted when I launched fusedlogic back in 2000.  They had an office in the Boardwalk market downtown Edmonton and I wanted to learn more about what they did as a marketing firm.  I must admit their whole model was very different, and I didn’t really understand all the nuts and bolts, probably by design.  Jared especially, has a knack for communicating in a way that is specifically vague and yet very pleasant.

The Incite event was an energized example and proof positive that their approach to business works.  A who’s who of the local business community showed up, and then there was Michael Kryton and I, just honoured to be invited.  The picture above is just before Jared and Ted cut the ribbon and gave a couple of speeches.  Among thanking the many people that helped them and their company along the way, one key statement Jared made stuck out for me.  How the new office had 3 chairs for their mentors and the importance that mentors have played in their growth.  (I didn’t have much opportunity to take a lot of pictures as there were lot’s of terrific people to chat with, however, here’s the second floor of the office and I like the wall).

Having recently lost my father, my most important mentor, I’ve found myself really missing those almost daily discussions. It was great to hear Jared and Ted make mention of the importance of family yesterday, I have no doubt they will continue to play a pivotal mentoring role and that is certainly to be cherished.

People were certainly soaking up the upbeat and positive atmosphere, just as you’d expect from a celebration of an important business milestone that the Incite Solutions team has achieved.  Not resting on their laurels, the Incite gang was encouraged by Jared at the end of his speech to get out there and “close some business.”  Reflecting on the past to predict the future, I have no doubt new opportunities will come their way.

Once again, congratulations Jared and Ted on your fantastic success over the years, and to the Incite team from all of us at fusedlogic, we wish you nothing but continued massive success in the future.

Many in business spend their days talking about social media.  Sure we talk about it too.  We also use it in a very targeted way to build business.  Many people spend all day being “social media rockstars,” building up their own account numbers.  We spend time tending to our relationships, when we can….but we’d never call ourselves “rockstars.”  Thankfully, a lot of the time we’re doing client work, and using the power of social media to drive new opportunities and revenue for them and us.

Using Linkedin, I reached out to some key people in the Alberta Oil and Gas sector.  The ensuing conversation via LinkedIn led to Skype calls and discussions of potential social media and live streaming projects for fusedlogicTV.  Which brings me to my quick trip to Calgary to meet with a few different firms at the Gas and Oil Expo and Conference on the Calgary Stampede grounds.

Steve Zurakowski from Dynamic Vision (shown above on the left) appeared on “A Brilliant Idea Every 60 Seconds” on fusedlogicTV a week ago.

Once again, social media has enabled me to reach out in ways I never could have in the past, it’s an absolutely critical business development tool for fusedlogic.  Building relationships in person is incredibly important, social media opens doors, and draws us closer in between face to face meetings across Alberta and beyond.  Today I met with people from Dubai, China, Calgary, Ft. McMurray and Halifax, all from a simple “inmail” within LinkedIn and within the next week or two we should be announcing a very exciting and major new global project.

After walking around the exhibition and meeting with a couple of clients, I ended up at the Xtreme Hot Oil and Pressure Service tent for a tasty beverage.  Frankly, they had the tunes cranked up after the Expo closed at 5pm.  I like these guy’s style and I was like a moth to a flame.

Due to the fact that this new business relationship isn’t quite signed off on yet, I won’t mention all the folks I met with today. However, in one case, we’ve agreed to announce a new powerful global relationship very soon.  Stay tuned and thank-you for your support…

One of the primary reasons I haven’t committed is available time, or timing of the ask.  Another reason I’ve said no is because my spidey sense suggested that the candidate wasn’t as genuine as I expect, and didn’t follow through with anything they said they’d do. Further, when push came to shove, one or more weren’t truly about change despite the sound bites.  I don’t want to paint a picture that every politician is disingenuous, or likely to mislead about their intentions for change.  That’s certainly not the case, I’m only highlighting the main red flags for me personally that drove my reservations to commit my personal reputation to a candidate.

What is spurring on this post today is no other reason than I happened to see this tweet by Doug Horner, one of the PC leadership hopefuls (shown below, not picking on you Doug, it could have been any candidate doing the same thing, they all have).

This tweet inspired me to quickly review the social activity of many of the politicians/candidates in this province.  My personal opinion is that overall that activity could use some help sprinkled with a little rant here or there.

8 points for politicians on why this isn’t about “ME” it’s about “THEM”:

I’m adopting this image by David Armano to make a point about the impression most politicians are making online in my opinion.  Most state they’re about “grass roots, about change, and doing politics differently.”  However, if we consider the amount of content creation by the “grass roots” about a particular candidate or party the list gets really short, really quickly.  The list of Trolls supporting one party or another, and engaging in attacks is larger than ever.  The smart thing is NOT to engage them, they’re children stomping their feet and looking for attention.  Mature voters see them for what they are.

1.) Be genuine – Most people don’t actually care about all the locations you’ve visited in the past with the exception of your competitors.  If you really want to communicate location, use a geo-location app like foursquare to check into a location, send that to Twitter and Facebook, and leave it at that.  Hint – become the foursquare mayor of these locations around Alberta, and I’ll really be impressed with your outreach efforts.

2.) Engage on the issues – granted twitter is not optimum for this, and a blog is more suitable.  Write 250 word replies to individual Albertans and their key issues from your heart, and then reply on twitter to that citizen.  Don’t like writing?  There’s always short burst videos comprising a video blog (vlog), you can say that same 250 words in 2 minutes, and YouTube is perfect for that because it’s shareable.   This takes time so be focused with your responses to the issues.  Don’t have the time?  BS.  This isn’t a priority because you don’t understand what to do, and how to deploy the multiple technologies for effect.  Frankly, most don’t believe social media will help sway opinions enough to cast a vote.  This little tidbit is good for those who disagree with that statement.  Social media when used correctly builds rapport, it’s not the silver bullet it’s a main component that should be baked in to all campaign activities.  Voters take that into consideration.  Parties who understand behavioural patterns online can really make a lot of headway.  Others…,the dinosaurs, well they’ll tweet to seem envogue, and be doing it blindly, broadcast all about “me” tweets to no real tactical advantage.  Sure, promote things that you’re doing, but also be prepared to engage in debate on policy and solutions and it’s better when citizens promote what you’re doing.

If you’re about “grass roots and change” for real…Set aside an hour a week for a public online debate.  Cover It Live is one example that could be installed on your website, or you can simply be on twitter during a designated hour using your hashtag to answer any questions thrown at you.  Schedule so that people know when they can engage with you.

3.) Use video for citizen responses, questions and engagement.  Mr. Horner, the travelling is impressive, I would have been even more impressed had you provided video footage from each of those stops with people stating why they’ll vote for you.   However, I’d be over the top if any candidate generated a bunch of content by citizens pledging their support voluntarily.  If politicians truly inspire, then the evidence will be there. Granted not all would get in front of a camera but some will.  In today’s digital landscape where the digital divide is still very real, learn to solve these problems, rural folks have a camera phone for a picture or an impromptu video, share life as it happens with Qik.

Coincidently, the most watched live Alberta Live! episode was when I interviewed Danielle Smith, Doug Griffiths is second, Dr. Raj Sherman, and newly elected Alberta Party leader Glenn Taylor are on fusedlogicTV too.  Here’s a hint, albeit a self-serving one.  fusedlogicTV is your very own Web TV Network for hire and Alberta is our strongest province for viewership for obvious reasons.  See any of your competitors airing a regular (unedited) TV show that works live and on-demand?  People are still watching those episodes, the campaigns and parties can promote these episodes at no cost.

4.) Teach citizens and volunteers to share – if campaigns taught citizens how, where to tweet, how to post a twitpic, where to post a picture on Facebook fanpage, a video response to Youtube, a comment on a blog…well you get the picture.  Of course, most campaigns don’t contain this knowledge or focus on it because many don’t believe these technologies will actually have any impact on the vote outcomes.  I have to say based on usage to date, I completely agree.  I’m incredibly uninspired.

5.) Engagement beyond evangelists – true penetration online is demonstrated in the analytics when more than your 4 campaign supporters get online and “create” content about you and what you stand for.  Time is precious, politics is hotly contested and heated debates ensue online so if people blog about you on their own, you’re reaching them.

6.) Lead don’t follow – Quite often, and some parties have more than others, the Trolls come out to play.  Now I could call these appleheads out here but giving these arrogant, self-indulgent, political know it all experts more ink is out of the question.  Anyone following the various political hashtags knows precisely who these boneheads are.  The funny thing is, some of these people actually believe they have credibility when they blog or tweet while they hide behind “just because we have a differing opinion doesn’t make us trolls” mantra.  Yes, actually in my mind it does.  Here’s why.  Leaders don’t build on a foundation of bullshit sniping.  Leaders lead by providing a positive message, solutions and action, by pointing out the positive for citizens not by tearing others down.  Leaders hoist others on their shoulders and carry until exhausted.  If you’re so “right” then lead and prove it rather than being a follower of a negative mob.  If your blog post simply tears others political views down for your self- gratification, then do us all a favour and at least have the guts to call yourself what you are, a political narcissist.   You know another reason why I didn’t run, I didn’t believe I was good enough to take on the important challenges that the citizens would need me to do.  My mind is one of business, and in my heart I can’t stand a system that often has to rip others up to get a job done.  The political system is broken and many supporters of various parties out there are ridiculous and it makes their parties look even more ridiculous.  If these folks ever take a step back to reflect, one out of 10 will be ashamed of their actions.  The others will defend their positions.  Why do you think there are so few “real leaders?”

7.) Data, data, data – it’s all in the data.  Well ok, not all but most of it.  Most campaigns won’t have the resources but Google Alerts are simple email notifications and Google Analytics on your website, Tweetreach for Twitter reach is a real basic start.

8.) Tell your story and that of Albertans – Get beyond the “vote for me for a better future” BS.  What does that mean in real terms for me and my family?  Tell that story, and if you’re a leader you’ll have stories about how you’ve already done this.  This will be about the Albertans and the lives you’ve changed.  Storify combined with Twitter is a great way to do this.  If you search, Edmonton Journal and Storify you can see how they have been using it, most recently to cover the U2 comments by Edmonton residents and others who experienced the concert and used the concert hashtag #u2360edm.

Ultimately, politicians in Alberta don’t capture the stories that affect us all, that we can relate to.  They’re even worse at sharing these stories beyond the podium or stage, and finally, as is evident in the one tweet by Doug Horner listed above but similar examples exist in all political twitter streams, true engagement is next to non-existent.  The expectations of your constituents has changed, it’s not about you, it’s about them, their needs and how you’ll lead this province “with” them, not behind closed doors but out in the open.

Do you have the “most digitally engaged” candidate? Let us know here, share the links to show off the digital footprint and we’ll invite you on to Alberta LIVE!

Leaders are not afraid to lead!

As a result of reading this blog post today, the following tweets by Strathcona County Councillor Roxanne Carr speak for themselves.

Councillor Carr follows up…

CouncillorCarr Roxanne Carr

@TricommStrategy @fusedlogic I am at #fcmhfx conference +would love to connect with residents back home #shpk#strathcoHow is Monday 3pm?

CouncillorCarr Roxanne Carr

Any other polis interested in a poli tweet on line with residents? #strathco #shpk Monday 3 pm?

1 hour ago

CouncillorCarr Roxanne Carr

@fusedlogic Thanks will put it in my blog – would like it open to all interests + topics #shpk #strathco

51 minutes ago

CouncillorCarr Roxanne Carr

@TricommStrategy @fusedlogic like I said any topic: budget, pot holes, Council priorities, even cats….lol …ps cats don’t herd well!!!

24 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Alberta Political Candidate Commitment to Open Government

Open government is the movement to improve government by making government more transparent, participatory, collaborative, accountable, efficient, and effective. Open government will help build the public’s trust and satisfaction in government, will improve government’s delivery of services, and will create new opportunities for innovation.

I, _______________________, commit to support the following principles of open government:

Transparency: To increase accountability, promote informed public participation, and create economic development opportunities, the province shall expand access to information.

Participation: To create more informed and effective policies, the province shall enhance and expand opportunities for the public to participate throughout decision-making processes.

Collaboration: To more effectively fulfill its obligations to citizens, the province will enhance and expand its practices of cooperation among departments, other governmental agencies, the public, and non-profit and private.

With the rise of new technologies and an increasingly connected population, a growing pressure has been placed on government leaders and government entities to adopt these open government principles. I will take steps to ensure Alberta meets these demands and supports citizens’ needs.

By supporting open government efforts, Alberta will build on and enhance opportunities for citizens to inform government; will further develop the province’s transparency and accountability; and develop a platform to support innovation.

Furthermore, I will support developing a legal framework to support open government, and I will ensure open government efforts are appropriately funded and managed, which will help build a culture of open government.

Although Alberta is not yet a leader in supporting innovation through sharing government data or a leader in the open government movement, we should be.

I will ensure the province and all of its departments continue in this direction to create the model of open government.

I commit to working with federal, provincial, city and town officials and the public to ensure open government and innovation continue to grow in Alberta.

Date:

Signed,

_______________________

The signs they are a changing.  Secretly, many Strathcona County employees have been chomping at the bit to start Facebook fan pages, YouTube channels, twitter accounts, LinkedIn profiles and blogs.

This is terrific and yes, it’s clearly early days for the County, and it’s exploration of social media.  However, this shows a small cultural shift internally towards what I hope is the foundation of a more digitally engaged Strathcona County community.

How do we get there?  Simple, we connect on and offline.  We hold events like this social media workshop in Council Chambers tonight that I’ve been invited to participate in by Councillor Roxanne Carr.  Thank-you Councillor Carr this is going to be fun.

Keys to building the Strathcona County community online.

1.) Train everyone! If people don’t understand why they should engage online, where the value is for doing so, they won’t.  Proper training will empower people.

2.) Self-organize. Don’t wait for Strathcona County employees to drive this initiative.  Come together offline at regular tweetups and meetups to connect with your community and then follow-up online.  The County employees should look to attend.

3.) Tell stories in your own way.  You may like photography like I do, so you may want to use Flickr as your photo-sharing hub.  Many simply use Facebook for this purpose.  Look at your world from these four primary content areas.

Text:
Micro-blogging http://www.twitter.com
Blogging http://www.wordpress.com
Presentations http://www.slideshare.net
Document collaboration http://docs.google.com/
Bookmarks http://delicious.com

Images:
http://www.flickr.com
http://www.facebook.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/

Video:
http://www.youtube.com
http://www.vimeo.com
http://www.viddler.com/
http://qik.com/

Audio:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com
http://www.podbean.com/

Social Media Sources:
Alltop http://social-media.alltop.com/
Mashable http://mashable.com/
Readwriteweb http://www.readwriteweb.com/
emarketer http://www.emarketer.com/
Techcrunch http://techcrunch.com/
gigaom http://gigaom.com/

And of course, http://www.fusedlogic.com and http://www.fusedlogic.tv

4.) Develop an Open Strathcona County Framework. Open Government is the next step, using social media doesn’t constitute an Open Government.  Collaborative discussions on this should begin right away.  I hate to say it because the word “camp” is so overused, however, “County Camp” should happen and we should invite folks from the Greater Edmonton area to participate. The purpose of such an “unconference” would be to discuss Open Data here in the County, as well as, a framework for process improvements within government based on case studies from here in Alberta and from around the world.

Here’s the prezi that I presented tonight at the Strathcona County tweetup so that everyone can review.  Thanks for all your questions tonight and contributions to the event.  Great job by Thelma Scammell and the entire Strathcona County Communications team, there’s lots of great things ahead.  It was terrific to meet everyone in person and I look forward to the next event.  Special thanks to CrowdMap.com for their great map on the wildfires in Slave Lake.   This prezi was built from this presentation on slideshare.net.

Pre-Game Warm-up

I went live earlier than expected as we pulled the show together and prepped, while I did this I took time to mention OpenGovWest in Portland, Oregon on May 13th.  Looks like it will be great fun.

OurSay.org and O’Reilly Media

We had Lihn Do, (@lmdo) one of the co-founders of OurSay.org out of Australia Skype in from the United Nations in New York City.  We also had a last minute addition of Alexander Howard, (@digiphile) Gov 2.0 Correspondent for O’Reilly Media out of Washington D.C.

This was a lot of fun, we discussed several things surrounding citizen engagement, showed several examples like OurSay.org, our own futureedmonton.ca, as well as, a post by Alex on a new Online Identity framework brought forward by the United States Federal Government.  We also inserted a video of Chris Moore, City of Edmonton CIO that we shot last year on the topic of Open Data.

We talked about building frameworks in general, and both Lihn and Alex held my feet to fire while clarifying a couple of things on different topics through the show which I appreciated.  I did mention that I would like to see more transparency from our provincial government in this area, but the point I was trying to make about old school methods and new methods got mixed up a bit, it wasn’t my best delivery I must say and I’ll work harder next time to get it right.

That said, I emphasized the need for an Open Government framework here in Alberta and wished we had a Minister of Open Government just like the Province of British Columbia.

All in all, I think it set the foundation for a great series moving forward.  The feedback has been very positive thus far, and I’m looking forward to next week when we’ll have even more great contributors on the show and lot more to discuss.

Oh and I almost forgot to tell you, our inaugural episode will be translated into Portuguese by a team led by Francisco Cavalcante, CIO for the municipality of Fortaleza, Brazil.

Here’s his tweet.

Local and international story ideas 3-5 minutes in length are welcome.  What’s going on in Washington DC?  How about London, England?  What about Manor, Texas?  Maybe you’re a blogger working for Cook County, Illinois…or you’re on the social media team for the City of Ottawa, City of Seattle, or our own local City of Edmonton or Calgary, Alberta.  Maybe, you’re the Minister of Open Government for the province of British Columbia, there’s a story or two I imagine.

Either way, run right out and start getting approvals from your bosses or go tell your boss to get off their duff, rattle a few IT chains and install Skype, because we want to know how your organization is helping government run as a collaborative platform for citizens while saving tax dollars.

Even though we’re streaming Gov 2 on fusedlogicTV live, we record everything which means you can brag to your department heads, colleagues and citizens about how much you rock – “forever!”  I know, I know, being in government means you don’t rock the boat, you disappear in a crowd because there’s less chance of being fired.  Well, that’s not the open government way, we need to stand up, communicate and work together to make everyone’s lives better.  We look forward to telling your story on a future episode…

Gov2 on fusedlogicTV

Why? Simple, there’s a huge need for a regular live show on this topic.  Do you know how many government employees there are around the world that are interested in this topic?  Millions. Why?  It’s changing their work lives every day right now.  We’re going to report on the latest developments in the Gov 2.0 and Open Government space.

Open Talent

I say “we” because this will be a collaborative effort brought to you by some of the best known thought leaders and Gov2 evangelists on the planet.  Am I overselling it?  I don’t think so.

If you’re a news maker, evangelist, CIO,  in this space, there’s no need to travel on air planes to our studio in Sherwood Park, just outside of Edmonton, Alberta, all you need is a Skype account and you can be on the show from anywhere in the world with several others simultaneously.  Isn’t life awesome?  Do you have something to say about Gov 2.0, have a big announcement?  Simply get in touch on twitter and you could be asked to be on the show.

To kick things off, some contributors have already said yes to being on the show, this includes, Adriel Hampton, John Moore, Nick Charney, Bowen Moran, Mark Kuznicki and I’ve spoken with a number of others around the world who have to run things by the powers that be to allow for their participation.  Things are moving fast, and this list will continue to grow over time to keep you the audience informed and entertained.  Suffice it to say, this will be an international show from the start with very credible guests and co-contributors.

Gov2 on fusedlogicTV will aim to be your weekly live and on-demand source for what’s hot in Open Government from around the world.

Special Offer

Also, another terrific opportunity, since this is a brand new show, we’re going to open up the opportunity for anyone in the space to sponsor the show at a special rate of $1,000 per 30 minute episode.  More details can be had by contacting us directly.

This will be a live show for citizens, public servants and those generally concerned about government being more transparent and open.  Your direct participation is absolutely encouraged.  Thanks in advance for supporting this new show.

See you next Thursday at 1:30pm MST LIVE for Gov2 on fusedlogicTV.

As you might expect, this has been a very trying time in my life, draining every ounce of energy I have most days since his passing as I miss him very much.  He was the Chairman of my Advisory Board and provided me with council and support as a father does with his son.  He was also the inspiration and reason I became an entrepreneur, and I cherished our talks about business and life.  There’s no doubt I wish I had more time with him.

I’m writing this very personal blog post as a form of remembrance, and also, as a public thank-you to all those, including our cherished clients and vendors who have supported me, my family and our team as we press on, just as the Chairman would have wanted.  As you can expect it has had a profound effect on all of us in many ways.  I am slowly returning to full speed, I’m interacting more online, starting to deal with more each day and feeling a bit more like myself.

If I’ve not been responsive to you these past few weeks it’s not because I don’t care, just that I’ve been consumed with other thoughts.  Thank-you for understanding and for your patience.

I also want to specifically thank Evan, Maria, Michael, Dan, Derrick and Brenda for their strong support and hard work while I was away from our office.  You guys are terrific.

There are a couple of other interesting stories brewing and I’m wondering if they’re making a difference in the hearts and minds of the youth vote.

First, take a look at “vote mobs” being organized across the country at Leadnow.ca.  Students on campuses across Canada are using social media, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to self-organize and hold rallies in support of getting out the youth vote. This is very cool and there is certainly lots of main stream media evidence to suggest this is catching some steam, just search “vote mob.”

Now here’s an interesting twist on things.  What if this momentum regarding vote mobs suddenly shifted towards the Elections Canada and their recent citing of Section 329 as a reminder to all tweeting Canadians that it’s still on the books as it were.  The Edmonton Journal’s Paula Simons, has written an excellent piece on this a few days ago.

FYI, I’m not advocating civil disobedience and here’s why this scenario is interesting.  We already have significant evidence of self-organization online on the “vote mob” front.  A faction of this movement could ignite civil disobedience online and Elections Canada should at the very least be monitoring the situation online already.  Although I suspect they’re ill equipped to do this effectively.   Also, not a single Canadian needs to tweet any result for Elections Canada to be in a pickle.  US based twitter accounts could of course communicate the results and Elections Canada would be at a loss.  This is why this is so difficult for regulatory agencies. This is the world wide web with a hyper-connected society leveraging technology to it’s potential.  While analog agencies like Elections Canada still try to remain relevant with some of their old legislation.

Frankly, for Elections Canada to prove their point of enforcement of S329, and I’m not a lawyer, but I suspect they’d simply need one person, who has correctly self identified themselves on Twitter, to violate the law as they see it, and bingo they have a case.  I wouldn’t want the hassle or expense of being that person, would you?  This is why in part I believe many will not violate the twitter ban on May 2nd.  Further, I have found evidence of those online who have stated they want to respect the law which is another reason that I believe the majority of twitter users/voters in Canada will not overtly violate this rule.

This should be interesting to watch.  What about you, do you believe people will violate S329 on May 2nd via Twitter or Facebook, vote mob or otherwise?

Inexperience, fear and lacking the will to engage.

Many government administrators and elected officials I’ve spoken to off the record don’t actually want “citizen engagement.”  It’s political suicide to say this publicly, but behind the scenes they’d rather we as citizens simply pay our taxes, get out of their way, and “let us do our jobs.” Until it’s time to vote of course.

Some elected officials exclaim they are “engaging” constituents or residents because they upload a YouTube video that answered a question from a citizen posed via a private email form, as was the case with Premier Stelmach and the Ask Premier Ed program. However, he was only prepared to answer a few select questions and post a few videos over a short period of time.  I would have preferred on-going “real-time” engagement with citizens, however, most politicians and administrators are unwilling to answer questions from citizens live and on camera.

This shouldn’t surprise us as many elected officials are surrounded by “advisors.”  These are the folks who are recommending these placating options to their bosses.  ”Better control of the message, and we’ll look innovative and engaging because we’re using social media.” they’ll say.   Personally, I wouldn’t consider the above initiative as innovative or truly engaging, but it is better than nothing.  Government innovation is often a much more benign interpretation when compared to the private sector, so it can be tough to swallow for many of us.

I’d rather learn about the leader’s ability to lead and think on their feet regarding important issues that mean something to my family and I, rather than the watered down safe answer constructed by someone else behind closed doors.  I don’t care what tier of government we’re talking about in this case, municipal, provincial, or federal.  Will the real leaders step forward please?

Why am I referencing such an old project?  Simple, it’s Q2 2011 and I’ve been reflecting on how far we’ve come in the last couple of years in this regard.

How far have we travelled since this post in 2009?  Has the bureaucratic culture changed?  I’d say not much, if any.  The majority of elected officials, administrators, heads of communication departments are still fearful of change, loss of control, innovation and citizen engagement.  That’s at the core of why it takes 18-24 months to construct a social media policy document.  The official response is, “we need to consult with all departments.” Ok, but does this need to happen over 2 years?  What they’re also doing is learning, about a world they’re not a part of by attending seminars and workshops, and learning is always a good thing.  A seminar or two doesn’t make them experts by any means, but it definitely does provide a foundation, as long as, the sources of information are experienced.

How much does this cost?

Let’s add up the conservative and approximate cost of a government social media policy document.

A team of 2 or 3 government communications employees, holding several meetings over 2 years internally in the comms department – $3,000.

One workshop attended – Add $2,500.

Then involve people from other departments as part of the “stakeholder engagement” meeting process – Add $20,000.

Several revisions of the draft document, unofficial updates to bosses, supervisors, along with official updates to Council or Ministers – Add $15,000.   All calculations used in this example are estimated at $20/hr per government employee for a hyper conservative $40,500 in resource time spent.

Add to that the shear enormity of opportunity lost to improve citizen engagement, government processes and delivery of services across an entire government over 24 months, and the number gets ridiculous.  Government is expensive, not only because it’s big but mostly because it’s inefficient.  And remember, just because we now have the guidelines for the use of social technologies, doesn’t actually mean these departments will know how to be effective or generate results.  They still need to be trained and most will report to someone who has no interest in becoming involved in social media, leading to more frustration for those who really want to make a difference with this new found opportunity.

Citizens need to participate too

Sitting on the couch on election day is irresponsible.  Ignoring elected officials while they govern our lives is irresponsible. Citizen complacency is rampant, so even when a daring government agency actually wants to engage with us and get an honest opinion about their project, only a fraction of the voices come forward, that has to change.

This is our government, they work for us, so get involved.  I realize that most citizens don’t understand how our governments work, what actually happens to our tax dollars, or how to actually engage with their government effectively.  Frankly, we’re a disengaged, cynical bunch.

I think a great start to changing that would be to rather than complain, participate positively.  Self organize in person and online, and ask questions, blog, post videos, tweet, call, email, write the editor, show up for events, and for heaven’s sake – VOTE!

Where’s your Open Government Framework?

We need more Open Government initiatives in Alberta and in Canada, more adoption of Web 2.0 technology, more governments operating as a platform for citizen engagement, more data released…just like what Cook County has just announced regarding their data.

I imagine an Open Strathcona County someday and I wonder where Alberta’s Minister of Open Government is? Way to go British Columbia!

Remember, a set of social media policies doesn’t a strategy make, and a social media strategy doesn’t an Open Government Framework make either.  Unfortunately, it seems, we still have a long way to go.

However, to get all of the government communications employees started with some examples of policies at least.  Here’s a long list of social media policy documents to reference saving you months and months of work, and taxpayer dollars – Socialmediagovernance.com

Do you care about your customers?  Did you care before Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, WordPress, Digg, Hashable?  Of course you did, and you remain concerned about their needs today.

Despite loving your customers, your organization may not be in support of radical innovation or large culture shifts in order to grow. This may be what’s still holding you back from entering and using the social web to your advantage.  This doesn’t have to be a scary move for you and your colleagues.  You just need the right guiding principles and also, you need to understand that customer expectations have and will continue to change.

Can you survive without using social media?  Probably.  However, just as you would be concerned about a new product innovation launched by your competitor, so should you be concerned about how effective their moves are within the social web.  Strategic advantages to further brand credibility and social capital are at stake.  Your competitor may be top of mind because they’ve spent the time and effort to increase their “presence” online.

Are you more adaptable to change than your competitors?

If you’re not already immersed in social media, the answer may be obvious.  There are many organizations in the Edmonton, Alberta region that we speak with who have yet to engage.  After working in this area for 7 years and having personally just surpassed 10,000 hours of experience in the social space, I can’t believe I’m still sending out the same message – time to get on your horse!

Here are some discussion points to start a conversation with your colleagues and customers about social media.

1.) Are we already communicating differently then we did a year ago?  Use of mobile devices are essential to today’s business person.  Is your organization using this device to its full potential?

2.) Are you listening to what customers are saying about you outside of email, letters and phone calls?  Blogs, Twitter, Forums, Facebook are all integral forms of communication for your customers today, are you listening?

3.) How do you say thank-you to your customers?  What forms of appreciation are standard, can you do a better job?

4.) Do you know who your brand advocates are?  In the social web, if you’re effective, you’ll find both people who will defend you when you screw up, and those who will stomp on your guts.

5.) Can you handle criticism?  Most business and government leaders can’t, and fear of this prevents them from using social media.  As if, blocking all social technology from their office PC’s will solve anything.  Their heads are in the sand, and if you work for them, you’re in real trouble career wise.  This isn’t to suggest that one shouldn’t be aware and concerned about being criticized.  These instances are often tremendous learning opportunities, and a time for serious reflection.  This is a mindset issue and one that will haunt those who cannot get beyond it.  People are increasingly losing their jobs over their resistance to change in this regard.

6.) If your presence isn’t felt online, do you really exist in today’s marketplace?  You may consider this a philosophical question.  I don’t.  To date, you’ve built websites or things that seek the attention of your customers.  Without presence and providing a needed solution, this is a difficult approach.  The time to consider building things that your customers seek has been here for a long time and currently you’re out of the game.

Create a balanced strategy to establish a presence, grow your influence, create and nurture new relationships.  That’s what this technology enables on a mass scale, it also enables your competition.

Ultimately, “social” organizations learn how to scale one to one business relationships and conversations, and embrace the world in a new way.  This benefits the organization immensely in the mid-to-long term.

Business is a delicate balancing act to get right.  Many businesses are currently off balance on this issue.   Have you been able to get people at your office to work through their fears related to social media?

(iPhone 4 adjusted for the nice and bright Samsung flat screen)

Some reports have this year’s South By Southwest with a 100% increase in attendance.  Not having a frame of reference from past years, I just assumed that this is how “South By” rolls.  For more on the attendance question watch this interview of USA Today’s tech writer Jon Swartz, done by my new friend from San Antonio, Texas as part of his Storify – Dale Blasingame – @normalguyguide

As Dale and Jon discuss, estimates have the attendance of this year’s South By Southwest exceeding last year’s total of 13,022 as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

That would put the 2011 attendance numbers somewhere north of 26,000 attendees.  I believe it.  There’s no avoiding the lines anywhere, not for power, coffee, food, exclusive VIP parties, or the free beer and grilled cheese.

I’ve met more than my intended goal of 200 people here at sxswi with the countries represented as Canada, US, Belgium, Colombia, Brazil, Japan, France, England, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Australia and counting.

Some of the most fun I’ve had has been by hanging out in the Samsung Blogger Lounge.  This is a great mix of opportunities to learn, network, eat, drink and of course blog.

There’s an eclectic group of people that come and go from this hub of influencers.  From Michele Price – @prosperitygal who helps authors and speakers promote themselves while also being the host of a successful radio show called Women In Business out of Houston.  She’s also a prolific networker and always on the go meetings someone.

However, probably the most prolific networker here is Josepf Haslam (in the hat) who hasn’t stopped meeting people every minute of the conference, the man is a networking machine.

Of course the risk of writing about specific people is that you run the risk of offending every single blogger, business person, presenter that you didn’t mention.  I’m here to tell you, please don’t take offence. I’ve really appreciated hearing everyone’s story about what they do and their company.  There are so many that I haven’t been able to do justice to and when I get back home tomorrow, I’ll be able to rest and reflect on all the great memories that you helped create here in Austin.

Like all conferences, it’s all about the people.  However, at a uber-connected conference like South By Southwest, it’s often about unplugging for a period of time from checking in on foursquare or Gowalla, registering for that next start-up app or RSVP for that killer hyper-exclusive VIP party and just be human.  Being willing to engage in conversation with the blogger next to you can propel you into interesting discussion that can lead to business.  I’ve had an amazing human experience here at my first sxswi.  I’ve stayed true to my philosophy of just letting it flow and not beating myself up for missing anyone session, party or opportunity to connect.  Now I’m not professing to be saying anything new here.  Relationships and human connections has always been what social is about…however, sometimes we forget.  We forget that our word is our bond, we forget that if we say we’re going to follow-up with someone after the conference that we’re supposed to mean that.  We forget that behind every business deal there’s a family that is supported.  Behind every app there are people connected in one format or another, emotions generated and hopes and dreams created. Being true to your human existence first, means your online experience should be richer as a result.  At least that’s been my first sxswi experience.

Staying true to my word, I’d like to re-introduce you to James Laughlin, co-founder of mycod.es, a start-up that was launched during sxswi.  I had suggested to James on day one that we should do an interview and then in true “let it flow” style we didn’t meet face to face again until today.  The two of us were moving around so much it seemed like we were always missing each other. Thanks for your patience James and I’ve very excited for you and the mycod.es team.  I predict great things in the future for you.

Human, it’s what sxswi is all about.  It’s where the human “backchannels” exist.  There are definitely several Twitter backchannels here, including the one started by Jeff Pulver at the 140conf sxswi 2011.  So many conversations on the go, one per session as there’s a custom hashtag per session, some die out right after the session and some endure.  Just like the personal meetings I suppose.

While standing in line to shake his hand, the good folks at Loopt were handing out free copies of Kawasaki’s new book listed above.  Guy was gracious enough to autograph my copy and many others which was very cool of him.  The mob was so big he stopped everything to go on stage to take a quick picture of us to post on his Facebook.  Look for that later.

I need your help.  I can’t read what Guy wrote to me on his book.  What do you think it says?

I didn’t get a chance to ask Guy as he was in the swarm.  On a side note, I was able to photobomb a number of pictures taken of Guy by folks after me just because I was caught against the curtains…still fun though.

I’m heading to another session for the day, while I ponder this and other things.  I’ll try to get another post out later today as I had a great chat with Brian Solis who kind enough to provide me with a signed copy of Engage!  I already bought it for my iPad and it’s great to have the paperback signed for my collection…

Both of these guys are incredibly smart, innovative and on the top of their games.  So much to learn and to appreciate.  Thank-you to you both for your time.

My experience thus far has been one of exploration, openness and free wheeling.  Wrap all of that with intense opportunities to learn from and network with others and I end with an exhausted smile on my face each day.  The people have been energizing, refreshing, and open to sharing.  There is no air of unapproachability and I want to thank everyone for being so open to meeting others.  There seems to be an underlying trust that when you meet someone else at the event it’s genuine, this of course is very dependent on the individuals but certainly that’s been my experience thus far.

Gould-Davies from Sapient Nitro stated in their session that “60% of people need to hear something about a company 3 to 5 times before they believe it.”  They claim trust is on the downward trend.  The assumption of trust when one meets someone for the first time online is eroded.  I believe that to be true in many cases.  Gould-Davies defined trust as “confidence in the future, it’s a guess of what is going to happen.  We review the potential of the consequences and if there’s something at risk it becomes much more important.”

Do you have a sense of trust with the people you have met here at SXSWi?  I’ve had no untrustworthy introductions and exchanges to date.  The one poor experience I’ve had was with an Austin Pedicab driver.  I asked how much to go to the Hyatt?  I was told by a different driver in the group that they worked for tips.  Then when I got to my destination at the Hyatt, the driver said, ” I know we didn’t discuss a fair, but typically it’s $20 to go over the bridge.”  I found that incredibly dishonest and opportunistic, either they work for tips or there’s a stated fair.  I can only hope this is not a true indication of all Austin pedicab operators.  See his picture below.

Here are some of my experiences many positive experiences from yesterday and today where I met some great people and learned a lot.

I was on my way to another session when I bumped into Kris Krug – @kk and his significant other Danielle Sipple – @fiercekitty while they were rushing to his session.  Glad we were able to say hi, it’s been awhile since we’ve chatted offline.

Tim O’Reilly and Jason Calacanis had a great chat, it was interesting to hear Tim’s sentiment on is almost obsessive pursuit the “big idea.”  As it turned out due to location, I was the first to step up and shake his hand and say hello.  When it came to taking a quick picture I picked the one guy at sxswi who didn’t know how to work an iPhone camera and he didn’t get the shot. Below is one I shot afterwards.

Here are some of the “ebbs and flows” of sxswi.

Next it was on to a panel on a proposed Social Media User’s Bill of Rights, my thanks to moderator and OpenGov advocate Alex Howard – @digiphile

Working left to right is lawyer and Quora admin @LisaBorodkin, USC Law Prof @JackLerner and tech policy geek @gagnier

The panel was discussion our rights as users of the social web and provided a website to review the proposed bill of rights.  You can vote here: http://snubillofrights.com/ This was a fascinating discussion around what we as “data centers” need to do differently to be better stewards of our own data, as well as, businesses and how they should develop processes that will allow for better privacy, access to our data when we want it and not use in ways we don’t approve of without our approval.  IE: Facebook.

After the sessions at the Hyatt, I bumped into the NYC start-up contingency and while at the Iron Cactus I met Elizabeth Fuller – @jumpingship who’s just started a company with a friend called domainful.net which is designed to allow you to register web domains by SMS texting.  Kind of cool and a very simple concept.  I’ve run into a lot of people from New York and have come across some terrific start-ups and people.  New Yorkers here are much more friendly than their reputation suggests.

After the Iron Cactus, I walked over to the Driskill Hotel, a magnificent historic hotel and awesome networking opportunity. There I met several people, too many to list here but it was great networking.  Then on my walk down 6th street to pick up a shuttle I came across this little staged event.

Please share a sxswi experience regarding trust.

Do you trust the sxswi people that you’ve met?  Is there that gut feeling of credibility or one of mistrust?  That hasn’t been experience, it’s been quite the opposite.

Despite the bad res on the above instagram and the expected long wait time to get the badge all went really smoothly.  Now this was in no small part due to meeting my new found Austin friends.  First up is @JoeyMcGirr, who I first shared a chat with on Twitter prior to heading south.  We agreed to touch base once I got on the ground and set-up a coffee meeting this morning before standing in line for our sxswi badges.  As there was no conference shuttle running today, I was on my own for transpo and Joey immediately volunteered to come pick me up.  Such a cool thing to do, so obviously I had to buy coffee at the very least.  The line-up was great I was able to meet @abbisiler from Arkansas and @laughlinjames from Austin.  Coincidently, James told me about his new start-up mycod.es which launched into public beta yesterday.  The company will allow QR code creators to “redirect” or repurpose existing codes instead of having to generate new ones all the time.

Just before leaving for the ATX Start-up Crawl

While sitting at the Chevy Volt power up centre, I introduced myself to Orian Marx, the head of a new start-up called Siftee out of NYC.  He asked me not to elaborate on what he was doing but did share a private beta experience with me and let me say, I love his Twitter related app.  After that fascinating chat it was time for some @srcasm or Jesse Middleton, another NYC native who’s a part of another supercool start-up called GetMinders.com. GetMinders will help everyone remember their meds and medical needs, this is really well positioned as our population grows older and more tech savvy.  He was actually down at sxswi as part of #hashable’s contingent.  I was quickly introduced to many hashable users including the CEO Mike Yavonditte.  This is what your profile looks like on hashable.  I would describe this as a person to person connection engine, and the top connector is the man in the hat speaking with Mike in the image above.  Josepf Haslam, a very friendly guy, who helped organize a group of us for the ATX Start-up Crawl.

First up was 3-D Porch and moodfish.com, stereowagon.com all working to carve their piece of the net up.

It was nice to also touch base with Michele Price, but you may know her as @prosperitygal on Twitter.  We had a nice chat but as I was checking out the first location on the crawl, she and some others stopped for a bite to eat, we’ve agreed to touch base again later this week.

While on the crawl shuttle, the girl to the left in the picture was taking a picture with her friend, and Amber Osborne (a.k.a. @missdestructo) photobombed these folks.  She’s also a game piece in a local meet-meme.com scanvenger hunt and the photobomb is listed as her superpower.  Indeed!  I’ve set a goal to try to photobomb her during the conference if the opportunity presents itself.  We’ll have to see, she’s a cagey veteran at this…

This is a very large bird’s nest meeting room at Smiley Media, an ad network in the Omni center here in Austin.  Great offices, notice all the smiley stress balls on the floor, they were everywhere.

I had a short stop at Mutual Mobile who are some custom app developers with Google, Audi and others as clients, and then it was off to Gowalla HQ.

I wasn’t able to speak with CEO Josh Williams about our missed chance to have him on my radio show as he was busy with other folks but it was fun to see the offices and meet some of the folks.

My thanks to all the companies who put on a great party during the ATX Start-up Crawl here at South by Southwest Interactive.  That was a terrific first day on the ground here in Austin.

The official day one of the conference and here’s my vantage point at the moment.

So far I’ve met 22 people on my quest to get as close to 200 as I can.  Sorry if I missed you in this post, but I’ll usually really good at following up after a conference.  So if you’re interested in having a conversation or meeting here at sxswi this is me – @fusedlogic. Reach out on twitter…have any great stories or blogs to share about your experience here, I’d love to seem them, leave a comment and a link…

Have you exposed your brand to negative buzz?  Starting with good intentions, have you started a negative firestorm online?

What should you do?  Ignore or engage in a verbal sparring match as many do everyday on Twitter, Facebook and in forums?   Here are a few simple tips to consider when confronted with negativity online.

Assess the situation

Everyone should be listening to the Internet and monitoring channels and communities important to their business.  Look to identify the source, the ignition point or statement that has set things in motion then consider these questions.

• Is the information factually accurate or inaccurate?
• What is the level of credibility of the person, account or organization responsible?
• What platform is the negative activity happening on?
• Does this person, account or organization understand the technology and community they are operating within?
• Is there an ongoing conversation already as a result of the statement for you to research?
• What has been the sentiment of the initial responses to the negative statement?
• Is the discussion growing in size quickly or is it isolated?

What if any social media action should be taken?

Your options here are fairly simple, however, how they’re executed may not be.

MONITOR: This needs to be an ongoing activity for your organization so that you’re not taken by surprise.  This can allow you to assess in near real-time if the issue is progressing and if so how.  Be careful, ignoring issues completely can place you in a position where a conversation between two people on twitter can quickly turn into a firestorm of international media exposure in hours.  Do your assessment quickly and learn to act fast.  Generally, most issues do not reach firestorm stage but the potential is always there.

ENGAGE: You can choose to engage in a sparring match with the individuals and organizations involved.  This is rarely a good idea, you almost always look like a bully.  I experienced this during the airport debate, even if I was looking to offer facts available to me, it was usually still a negative outcome.  Rather than spar, I recommend remaining factual without emotion.  Your detractors will attempt to initiate personal attacks, do your best to not add validity or take it personal whenever possible.

Instead focus on clearing up misconceptions, admitting mistakes quickly and zero in on providing solutions to move ahead with. This is very difficult sometimes as often a mob mentality can ensue, don’t attempt to try to control this conversation, it will only make it worse.  You may however want to nudge the conversation in the right direction and your supporters should look to reinforce that.  No surprise that where this routinely happens includes politics, the environment, and government related communications.

Pre-emptive social media strike

Often there’s an urge to attempt to get your message out before anyone else can generate the story flow on your behalf.  Let’s say mainstream media writes an unflattering story about your brand or you have been misquoted, and it’s on their website.

If you feel compelled to respond, do it on their platform first, in the comments section, where you can most likely put things into context, to expand you may then want to use your own blog or website to follow-up and explain if required.  Resist the urge to jump straight to Twitter where the conversation may not be underway, and jump start it yourself.  This will almost certainly draw out trolling behaviour, and open up the opportunity for facts to be twisted 140 characters at a time, igniting a firestorm which you were trying to avoid in the first place.  One which could last a few hours, days or until someone gets fired.

Not a perfect science

There is definitely an art to this type of communication situation and the above tips are not intended to be perfect.  Continue to provide positive, share-worthy information and support others doing the same.  I’m of the belief that there is definitely an audience for that worth being a part of.

So how does your behaviour on the micro-blogging platform Twitter spread an idea, and how can you learn more about it?  You may have a different opinion but I believe that one needs to examine the pattern details of sharing, influence and technology.

The two-way flow of influence

There has been a lot of political unrest in the middle east, especially Egypt as everyone knows.  Main stream media tells stories which in turn influences our online publishing behaviours, and an idea spreads online.  Conversely, Web 2.o technology enabled digital communities and the individuals who comprise them one at a time become aware of things happening in the world as they participate on the ground as citizen journalists.  Which in turn makes main stream media aware of the story, who then tell forward the story thereby influencing the non-technically savvy and which reaches the coffee shops and boardrooms and away we go.

Back in 2000, when I started fusedlogic this effect as explained above was almost non-existent.  The technology didn’t exist to support this type of sharing cycle.

Micro-tribes of people still shared ideas, thoughts and concerns and looked to influence opinions but it was still done more face to face, via email and rarely but increasingly through static websites.

Why do governments, businesses and organizations need to respect social media?  How do you position a message or specific platform so that many can see it?  There are many principles simultaneously that could be examined, however, today we’ll focus on watching what happens when people get emotional online, which is often the fuel that drives viral responses.

On twitter today I was made aware of a”gephi” graphical representation made by Andre Panisson of how the Egyptian Revolution spread on twitter using the hashtag #jan25, the suspected date of Mubarak’s resignation.  Although preliminary, this shows how an idea or story, (in this case an national uprising) can spread on twitter.  Ultimately this is about patterns of behaviour and influence.  Nothing new for social media explanations really but for those who are working on better understanding this “social media thing” it might help and I really like cool visuals.

Things to watch for.  Pay attention to how micro-tribes form related to key influencers and how others look to spam and don’t end up getting much retweet momentum.  As a single individual, one couldn’t hope to know each one participating in this discussion personally and as a result of a offline relationship.  However, smaller groups carry things forward.

The Egyptian Revolution on Twitter

Obviously this type of impact doesn’t happen with every idea, story, blog post, sales pitch or tweet in general, a revolution within a country is a unique occurrence to say the least.  Most of the time people’s reach online looks something like this truthy project pattern image.

The above image is closer to the reality of your personal network interest level at any given moment.  Maximizing this effect is about allowing others to take ownership of the message or idea and spread that across their sphere of influence.  Corporations and governments typically fear this effect because they want to control what you see, hear and think.  That’s a mistake and is the perfect recipe for a revolution.

There is simply no doubt that done well, a SuperBowl ad campaign is automatically integrated into the digital conscious and can create ridiculous buzz for the primary brand, it’s agency and those who helped create it.  If done well.  Denny’s although not my favourite cannot dispute the uptake of their efforts at previous SuperBowls.  I’d love to see the numbers and hear the reasons for why they chose to abstain from SuperBowl 2011 festivities.

The only thing I can come up with as a possible reason is pressure from Animal Rights supporters etc.  Here’s another example.  Maybe that was all it took, many of the related chicken videos have been taken down.  Gary Vaynerchuk first asked the question in 2010, what do you think happened?  The above is my response to why they stopped.

Enough with the Denny’s chickens, bring on the Bud Light  Ostriches, “here we go.”

If you’re interested in learning more about the online ad discussion there are a few different ways to watch everything evolve.

“CrashtheSuperBowl”

First, here are some of the major brands who will most likely participate and they will invariably use YouTube to distribute content.  Doritos is back this year with the “CrashtheSuperBowl” YouTube channel.

Volkswagen Passat: The Force

Frankly the early leader, and so far my favourite.

BrandBowl 2011

Now to watch the most popular ads be graded by your fellow Twitter followers head to brandbowl2011.com

Here’s the current stats at BrandBowl2011.com of Volkswagen’s The Force commercial at the time of this post.

Twitter

The main Twitter hashtags that I’ll be following the rest of today and tomorrow are as follows.  If you have one to suggest please let me know.

#superbowl, #brandbowl #NFL #adbowl

In addition to using search.twitter.com, I’ll also use Tweetreach.  A current snapshot of the #brandbowl discussion on Tweetreach provides a periodical review of the ebbs and flow of the conversation.

For researching a particular Twitter account’s latest action, I like to use Twittercounter.com.

Enjoy your SuperBowl Sunday, regardless of which team you’re cheering for or which brand you prefer, there will be lots of ways to watch AND participate in the spectacle.  Feel free to let us know here which commercial you enjoy and why.

Ultimately, there are millions of dollars at stake during this weekend, and as a consumer you are right at the centre of it whether you know it or not.

SUNDAY UPDATE:

Here’s a screenshot of Tweetreach and the #brandbowl hashtag at 10:22am MST

We’re finally getting down to the brass tacs of our newsletter, something it seems we’ve always been too busy to commit to. Further, and this has been a long time coming, there will be less emphasis on me.  As the owner/operator of a one person consulting firm, which is where fusedlogic got its start, my name and the brand have always been closely tied together.  To some degree that will never change, but expect to see our team members take more of a leadership role digital community wise.

As some may have noticed, our business is shifting more towards live streaming content. In fact, we currently have two custom branded Networks operating on fusedlogicTV with more on the way.  So with our new website for fusedlogicTV, look for interesting ways to track our reach, stay up to date with your favourite new shows and interact with the hosts of those shows…

Our goal for fusedlogicTV is to further become the content creator and/or distributor for stories you can’t find anywhere else.

We are providing an exciting realtime and on-demand avenue for business, government, non-profits and private citizens alike to be able to do their own LIVE Internet TV show. A cross between affordability and high production value is key, as is a keen sense of audience engagement.

I know our team is incredibly excited about what’s ahead; we’ve come off a successful opening month of 2011 as we continue to drive thousands and thousands of viewer minutes per show, per network and it’s only going to climb with your help and interest in the new shows we’re putting together. We hope to surpass 1 million viewer minutes by June 2011. With the increase of cool content and a more regular schedule for you, the audience member, to tune into either live or on-demand, I know we’ll do it.

Certainly Raj Sherman’s show, The Examination Room, launching this Wednesday on the Well and Wise Online Network will help.  Not to mention that Leanne Young, the host of Well and Wise Online’s second show “Well Beyond” is also launching on Thursday February 10th.  This week we’ll also see the first official show from Brenda Jones, on her newly formed branded network “Jones Index.”  She has some really terrific ideas and lots of interesting people and companies like Ocean Developments to bring forward.  International real estate will never be the same.

We’ve got other things in the works and it’s a bit too early to mention them here at the moment but stay tuned.

In the meantime here’s a look at the shows we are currently running or will launch in February 2011.

Thanks for your continued support and feedback; it’s always appreciated.  Also, if you have a show concept or idea that you’d like to see on fusedlogicTV, let us know.

THANK-YOU FOR A GREAT 2010!

MacEwan University, NorQuest College, Government of Alberta, City of Edmonton IT Branch and Communications, Parkland County, Aggression MMA, City of Grande Prairie, Randal Clark, Lutheran Church Canada, Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research, Mary Ann Stanway, Health Canada, Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dorward and Company, Yardstick Software, crazedCoders, Fluik Entertainment, Edmonton Humane Society, Well and Wise Online, Microsoft Canada.

I’d also like to thank our team for all their hard work. Evan Adnams, Maria J. Politti, Derrick Bradley, David Bates, Sunita Kaul, Michael Kryton and Tracy Schwabe.

See you in 2011!

With that in mind, I have a few questions.

Does this mean that the City of Edmonton knows what to do with the information generated?  Just because of things stated in this post, should someone actually inform Mary Pat Barry?  What happens when “troll like” statements are made by a city employee?Such has been known to happen on Twitter when Andre Darmanin makes disparaging remarks regarding the city he now lives in, and is employed by, and that makes it into a blog post?  Should anyone care?  Of course, there are clear codes of conduct for city employees regarding freedom of speech and personal opinions, political or otherwise.  I also believe that the use of social media by City of Edmonton employees is important, so I’m a clear proponent of using and respecting the power of social.  I’m just wondering about the perception.  How should one interpret the perception of this or any other employee’s conduct online?  Would that even resonate with those monitoring with Radian6?  Would they know what to look for?  That is clearly a very large task.

How far reaching will the information gathered about this post travel?  All the way to city council?  All the way to Mayor Mandel for instance?  If as a city employee you are reading this blog post, and you don’t think it’s important enough to include in your reporting or important enough to include in briefings to the mayor, could you be fired as a result of missing something this important?  Is this important? I’m not a City of Edmonton taxpayer, I live in Strathcona County, does that matter?

I’m curious, what’s the point of monitoring if you don’t intend on taking some level of action based on the information?  That said, let’s assume you will take action.  What action (if any) should be taken?  Who has the power to take that action?  Does the City of Edmonton use social media to respond publicly or ignore this post?  Will ignoring this post only fuel my curiosity, causing me to ask even more questions?  That’s tough to determine.  So then, does one respond here on my blog, and publicly acknowledge this post, giving it recognition?  The safer route may be to ignore it, then again, this entire post is about how the city is listening which would automatically suggest that a response should take place.  Whatever you decide is fine with me.

What about sentiment?

I suppose one or two within city administration might be trying to determine the “sentiment” of this blog post at the moment, an important endeavour to be sure.  Am I being positive, negative or neutral?  But wait, won’t the software take care of that?  Can you truly trust a software solution of any kind to make that determination?  If not, that means that there will need to be many city employees sifting through results, and trying to make that determination.  How much time should be spent going down that rabbit hole?  How much research should one perform on me as the blog post author in order to determine the importance of this blog post, and possible implications if ignored?  Is that time and money well spent?

At what cost?

What of the expense of Radian 6, and how they bill their clients partially based on the number of searches being returned?  If the searchers are not in tune with what’s to be monitored, searching inaccurately could mean substantial cost down the road with very large surprises.  I imagine the City of Edmonton would generate considerable search results across the entire enterprise, and then you have to ask, can one solution be trusted to do the job effectively?

What about influence and/or respect?

Do I have any?  Or am I just a troll taking a pot shot at the city?  Do I have any reach or respect at all?  I suppose that would be determined by who you asked.  This blog gets very little traffic in the grand scheme of things.  It’s possible that no one is reading this blog post at all, except for you. And still, it’s possible that members of the mainstream media are reading it, and will decide to inquire as to the cost of this program to taxpayers after the trial is over.  As they might with any city expenditure, that’s quite routine actually.  What should you do?  Report this to your superiors now?  Across how many departments and supervisors?  There’s nothing like reading a headline in the Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun or hearing about city spending on the 6 o’clock news is there?  Is this money well spent?  I think the activity itself if done correctly is an important one, and yet that’s simply my opinion.

I hope those reading will agree that I’ve asked some important questions here that deserve follow-up and strong consideration. Not only for those within the City of Edmonton, other areas of the public sector but also the private sector as well.

Season One finale aired on Saturday Dec 11, 2010 on Edmonton radio station The Team1260 and includes an interview with Chris Rasmussen, Living Intelligence Evangelist, US Intelligence Community who speaks with Walter Schwabe about Intellipedia and the barriers facing this powerful intelligence wiki.  Another great segment by the Internutt is also included regarding social media.

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Walter Schwabe speaks with Robert Scoble or Scobleizer as many refer to him as.  Walter asks Robert about LeWeb10, Mozilla, MySpace and many more including his top apps for 2010.  The Internutt talks about “social skills.”

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The Stephen Duckett “cookie” story and healthcare in Alberta lead the way this week.  Walter Schwabe speaks with CTV Edmonton News Director Glenn Kubish about how the story unfolded and the impact social media had on its international reach.

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2011 is the “year of integration.”  We’re ready for more public servants to get on board, we’re ready for more citizens to embrace this movement.  We’re ready for more government silos to come falling down.

I define “integration” in this case within a government as an inclusion of technologies, a sharing of knowledge, information and data across different ministries, departments and teams.  A unification of process where government learns from itself and citizens-at-large.  A reduction of duplication and foolish waste, a “gutting of the status quo,” as mentioned in this post by Stephanie Hayes.   Now I know this type of high-level discussion makes some within government shiver in their space boots and that’s ok, that’s what is required to change the course of the tanker sometimes.

Resistance is the thing that perplexes and frustrates many about government in general.  Resistance causes apathy, people often just give up because of the resistive status quo.  The above image was drawn by a government worker describing their work environment while in one of our workshops.  Citizens become cynical, public servants become cynical, young brilliant minds get pounded into submission or leave altogether.  They forget “why” they’re working in government, and all too often it ends up being an exercise in watching the clock towards retirement and a pension.  This of course isn’t only a government issue, it happens in the private sector too of course.

So as I prepare to enjoy the upcoming Open Gov West BC event, I’m reflecting on the writing I’ve been doing for my book, (currently titled Escape Velocity) the interviews and knowledge I’ve gained from those conversations and I’ve recognized that in each and every case there’s a consistent theme.  These people are their own version of Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers.  The book is about people working in government, having an idea or inspiration and taking action.  In almost all cases, overcoming huge resistance, apathy or barriers of some sort such as technological and succeeding.  Integration was always a key part of these stories.  How did this interesting pilot project get integrated back into the fabric of the organization?  I think 2011 will show that we’re ready for even more of these stories, more public participation, more integration of technology into process that allow for increased sharing and learning.  Increased solving of real problems and less “build the app because we can,” type of innovation.  We will pass beyond the early-adopter (rogue evangelist) stage and “cross the chasm to smarter governments.”  Is this just my private utopian view or will it be reality?  You decide.

Also, I was asked by the OGWBC convener team to provide a short video answering the question, “What does Open Government mean to me?” Here’s my response, I close by saying “Open Gov Victoria,” oh well, the symptoms of getting a little bit older I guess. I’ll ask the convener team where the other responses are so I can pass them on too…

Walter Schwabe’s Introduction for Open Gov West BC from fusedlogic TV

Back in 2004, I was intrigued by the “blogosphere,” not a blogger myself at the time I wanted to learn more.  In 2005, I felt I had something to share via a blog, and thus, fusedlogic.blogspot.com was started.  Struggling with finding my blogging voice, and not being a natural writer, I stretched and pushed myself to get better.  Along the way I met other bloggers online, such as Hugh MacLeod, owner of the unique “gapingvoid” blog.  We’ve had exchanges in the past and he was the first to introduce me to Twitter in a manner of speaking.  That aside, Hugh is often rude and abrasive in his approach and that’s exactly how he and his audience like it.  He’s also quite ingenious in the way he’s built his business model – living on his own terms, and being true to who he is, regardless of criticism.  I find these types of stories fascinating, especially those that centre around how daily struggles of business passion turn into business success.  The blogosphere is filled with these stories…your stories have been my personal inspiration over the years to learn more, experiment more, and deploy within the social web on our behalf, and that of our clients. Your stories have formed the foundation for our stories.  We listen, learn and create our own solutions based on our interpretation and input from the outside world, in that way, I think we’re all connected.  It’s this connectedness that drives the social web in many ways, and it’s that connectedness that drives our company.  Everyday we’re striving to be better, everyday we look to perfect our sole purpose for being – social web engagement.

We stand for taking on challenges, we stand for “thinking digital first,” we stand for the best customer service we can possibly provide, we stand for exceeding expectations, we stand for high quality.  We stand for honor and fairness and respect.  We stand for educating ourselves and those around us, we stand for having a plan and for having flexibility in that plan, we stand for change.  We stand for being leaders in our own way.  We understand there’s risk in business, we stand for powering through that risk with knowledge, we stand for overcoming fear.  We stand for “fail forward fast, we stand for learning from our failures.  We stand for all night thinking on a client problem, we stand for “where there’s a will there’s a way.”  We stand for our community, we stand for giving back and for sacrifice, we stand for you and for our clients, we stand for success.

Often it’s clear that you’re not sharing your stories with us here on our blog, rather you’re simply observing us and that’s ok too.  I’d like to inspire you to share what you and your organization stand for, here, or on your blog, on Twitter, wherever it suits you.  Knowing why you do what you do, and what you stand for is important.  We’d really like to hear your story.

We do this work because it inspires us and yet we were passionate before we started.  We do this work because it’s focused in learning about people, communication, speed, collaboration and yes technology too.  We’re a part of a special and ever growing tribe.  A digital tribe, a social tribe, a business tribe, an inspirational and passionate tribe, and we love it.

The Open Gov West BC convener team deserves a lot of credit for selling out the one day conference in Victoria taking place next week on November 10th.  There will be so many great opportunities to learn from terrific speakers throughout the day, and I’m excited that I’ll have an opportunity to play a small role and be a part of all the fun.

I’ll be playing second fiddle during the opening keynote to Nick Charney and Nick Charney’s hair, (isn’t everybody?) and enjoying every minute of the entire experience.  Like previous events such as this, I anticipate meeting great people, sharing great stories, and learning from really smart people.  So in anticipation I’d like to share some survival tips with you.

Survival Tip #1: Be mobile and bring little extension power cords.  Seems obvious but there’s always someone who asks, “Hey do you have a mini usb, my blackberry just died?”  As I stare back at them with my iPhone 4 in hand…Also, watch-out, there will be bloggers in the room and they’ll give you a Gordie Howe elbow to get access to a power outlet later in the day.  Some of the best seats will be near power, and it would be cool as with GovCamp if there were power-bars throughout the venue but you can’t rely on that.

Survival Tip #2: Preparation never hurts.  There are great speakers lined-up for this conference, although not everyone has a blog, here are a few to get you started.  This is not meant to be a complete list, but a jump start.  You can find more links on the speakers on the OGWBC site.

Nick Charney – http://www.cpsrenewal.ca/

David Eaves – http://eaves.ca/

Chris Rasmussen – Interview

Andrea Reimer – http://andreareimer.typepad.com/

Sean Holman – http://www.publiceyeonline.com/

Survival Tip #3: Have a favourite Twitter monitoring app ready and installed with the conference hashtag #ogwbc.  Many will be familiar with Tweetdeck and Canadian offering Hootsuite.  You may also want Twitterfall fired up and to measure the reach of the discussion using hashtags and Twitter accounts, there are many and I like Tweetreach.

Survival Tip #4: Tag everything!  One of the key things that is often missed in sharing content is consistent tagging. Regarding Twitter, the hashtag started for this event by the organizers is #OGWBC of course other important ones would probably include. #opengov #opendata #gov20 #yyj

Survival Tip #5: Buy and bring a flipcam. If you don’t have an iPhone 4 you may want to get a Kodak Zi8, here’s a great video review.  If you have mobile video recording capabilities you can then possibly get a great interview like I was lucky to get at the last OpenGov West in Seattle.

Survival Tip #6: There’s an app for that.  To record audio interviews I like to use Voice Memos and here’s a nice video explanation of working the files into mp3 files from unconverted m4a’s.  Also, great mention of Audacity, I like this program.

Survival Tip #7: Pictures rock. Take a ton of photos and distribute them on Twitter, flickr and Facebook.  Please don’t forget to tag them with #ogwbc at minimum and it’s always nice to get the names of the folks you shoot and ask them for permission if it’s a small group of 4 or less in the shot.

Survival Tip #8: Blog, blog, blog.  Let the community know about your blog, if you don’t have one, there are multiple options based on your level of understanding and commitment.  Here’s a comprehensive blog software review.  Although you may like even simpler solutions such as Tumblr, I haven’t used my tumblr blog in awhile as you can see.  Also great for micro-blogging purposes is posterous, which is great for syndicating content quickly.

Survival Tip #9: Share!  Share your own Open Gov West BC survival tips here or on your own blog.  The more you share before the event, the more people will get to know you and that will make the event itself just that much more friendlier and enjoyable.  Don’t be shy, let us know your content generation and sharing ideas, thoughts and nuggets of efficiency here.

I’m really looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones in Victoria next week.  See you there.  Also, if there is something you’d like to see happen during the keynote, a specific question or topic, and in addition for Nick maybe something related to acrobatics and hair products let us know…

Walter Schwabe speaks with Shawna Randolph, spokesperson from the Edmonton Humane Society about how their nonprofit is using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate more effectively.

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My take on this is I think we need a balanced approach.  In order to keep momentum and reach a place of sustainability, I’ve written recently that we need to focus on citizens or “the individual” as Di Maio writes.  In order to accomplish this I agree with Moore’s sentiment that city, town or department heads must be more pro-active and involved.

That said, if it weren’t for some evangelistic, (some might say maverick) CIO’s in Canada, we’d have even less to cheer about in this country regarding Government 2.0.  Without the initiatives such as Open Data, app contests and Gov 2 events to discuss this topic such as the upcoming Open Gov West BC we wouldn’t have any movement at all I believe.  I disagree that we should “stop all CIO’s” from doing the things that many more today are either doing or planning on doing for a more transparent and efficient government.  Like it or not, technology is a key component in the optimal end result.  I do agree with what I think Moore’s general sentiment is, that administration and elected officials need to “get off their collective duffs” and get on board in support of this new reality.

I call for a balanced, collaborative Open Government approach that includes elected officials, administration, CIO’s, and citizens as the four key pillars of this Open government tactical team.  When one of these stakeholder groups doesn’t buy in, the Government 2.0 four-legged table topples over.  I believe the optimal environment is that all to some degree must be involved.

What do you think?  Do you agree with Andrea Di Maio, is Government 2.0 disappointing you?  Has it lost it’s steam already?  Do you agree with Moore, are CIO’s and technology the last thing we need leading this charge?

The first method I mention is Google Alerts.  Staying in touch with a topic that’s important to you in this way can help you be better informed and positioned ahead of your competitors in business or just keep up with current trends.  Follow this link to set-up one or more alerts.

The second method I speak about with Jacqueline is about Twitter.  Many people would like to know more about Twitter but do not want to join the micro-blogging platform in order to learn.  Although there’s little to be afraid of, I provide a way for you to observe conversations on Twitter without an account.  If you head to search.twitter.com you can search just about anything, and then see what types of things are being said while at the same time identifying the sentiment of those comments as well.  I quickly referenced that Twitter uses something called a “hashtag” to organize conversations.  For example, #yeg represents the majority of conversation related to Edmonton on Twitter.  For more information on hashtags, the searchenginejournal has a pointed post about them.

Now if this segment has peaked your interest and you’d like to know about even more solutions, Mashable.com has a post that outlines “brand monitoring” and offers some more ideas or you can contact us directly and we’d be happy to help you out.

Thank-you very much for watching the segment on ShawTV.  Also mentioned in the interview was “Getting Social with Schwabe,” Canada’s only radio show dedicated to social media.  You can listen to past episodes here on our site, download them on iTunes and listen to upcoming shows airing Saturday mornings at 7am on The Team1260.

Learn more about Open Gov West BC and about Open Government as Walter Schwabe talks to Nick Charney and Donna Horn about the event and related topics.

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http://www.pbs.org/engage/blog/new-signs-government-openness

When talking about Open Government people use words like “transparency, collaboration and innovation” to describe the primary reasons for pushing this concept forward.  There’s no doubt, I agree that a government which focuses on these goals is headed in the right direction.  Let me also re-state that Alberta needs to employ an Open Government framework and my hope is that it includes steps for “sustainable integration.”

Allow me to expand.  If you polled the vast majority of people in your town or city, statistics would most likely show that they wouldn’t know what a hashtag is, or want to use one.  They wouldn’t have used an iPhone app, let alone report a pothole, and frankly, they’d pass right by any opportunity to attend an Open Government “unconference.”  If you disagree with me feel free to speak up but I believe there simply isn’t a critical mass of interest yet.

I’m not talking trash here, I am however stating that we have a lot of work to do.  Sustainability is key.  Reaching new audiences is key, and I wonder if governments are considering ways to satisfy this need before they’re at the Open Data stage of the equation…I believe this is an important step.

There is a terrific opportunity for government to close the gap with citizens but is this happening beyond the Open Government evangelist level?  Is it still too early to expect more traction?

For every person who cares about the topic of this post, there are literally tens of millions who don’t.  They wake up each day and do everything but think of their government except to complain about roads and the other usual suspects such as public transit etc…I frankly don’t expect this to change.  I expect that how people will access information in the future will be different than how it is done today, and people other than evangelists will simply just experience it.  In fact, it’s probably something they’ll have to be forced to do out of necessity because they won’t care otherwise.

How does the Open Government movement reach the uninterested?  Is it through limiting available options to interact with government or by some other means?  We must think sustainability from growth.  By the way, “laggards” operate within government too.  Don’t assume that everyone inside government understands, or in many cases even wants an Open Government movement to hit their town, provincial or state department.  Instead they’d like to continue the next year or so “as is, where is,” while they put their time in before retirement.  Not everyone is like that to be sure, yet I’ve had several conversations where that was the sentiment.

In the Open Government space people talk about “transforming” education, government, healthcare, defence…but what is behind the actual “transformation?”

Here are three things that I think need to happen, are they your three things too?

1.) Internally, transformation must include behavioural changes within IT, providing access to more Web 2.0 technology.

2.) With access to the right tools, I believe governments need to “integrate and share” information while removing internal silos.

3.) We need to continue to educate and empower citizens to co-create with governments beyond simple feedback mechanisms.

I believe at the heart of Open Government, we’re  talking about transforming “people’s attitudes.”  Without reaching beyond the early adopters and creative class, I fear that we won’t reach a strong foundation of sustainability.  At some point we have to reach beyond the funky and cool app contests.

I know many in local government are only now still exploring the implementation of social media, and they’re still a long way away from publicly releasing data.  However, I’m excited to get beyond the “look at how cool our city, provincial/state or fed government is for this app or that catalogue stage, and get to the empowerment of the “unconnected.”

In fact, Open Government has been implemented long enough in some circles to actually have the analytics and research come back to see if the leading governments in this game have truly increased their level of transparency within the minds of citizens as in this NextGov post.

I’m not proposing that as early adopters we leave the job half-finished, in fact, I believe the above statements are really about finishing the job properly…and integrate even more people into the mix, there must be a positive legacy in place before we move on.

Do you have a story of sustainability that’s happening in your area?  Let me know.  Disagree with what I’m saying?  Let me know that too…

Jury Konga was kind enough to notify me of his presentation, it’s a good one, have a look…

Let’s talk about why this is actually quite a positive response to the Gap although it may not feel like it at the moment.  First, if you’ve read “Lovemarks” by Kevin Roberts, you would have learned about something Roberts calls “loyalty beyond all reason.”  One of the examples he offers is the backlash to “new coke.”  Customers are so loyal to the Coke brand that they rebelled against any change to the now “classic” formula.  I believe there is evidence of Gap brand loyalists speaking up within the social web.  The Gap is experiencing what it’s like to have customers, and then by extension, elements of the social web who could probably care less about the brand itself but want to spoof a major brand speak up.  What the Gap should do is understand that if people were indifferent to their brand, little would have been said, the new logo would have been put in place and millions more spent heading down the wrong direction.

People care about the brand enough to write about it, spoof it and chastise it in their own way.  Not a pleasant process I agree and yet there is something positive to take away.  Our family doesn’t shop at the Gap and this logo flop won’t change that, but for brand loyalists, it’s clearly on their mind.  This is not so pretty, most likely unintended but still very valuable form of customer crowd-sourcing and there is lots to learn, not only for the Gap but also your brand as well…(I understand that branding is more than a logo, I feel it’s an emotional reaction by the customer, clearly this new logo generated lots of that).

Next time, maybe the Gap could include their customers in the rebranding process and allow them to have partial ownership.  Not an easy thing to get executives to agree to, especially those who don’t understand or believe in social.  However, I’ll bet there are more than one or two executives at the Gap who are believers in the power of social today as opposed to yesterday.

Would you participate in a re-branding process if a major brand invited the public in?

Watch this video collage of some of the most viral moments online and see if there’s anything there that you’ve spent money on in the content.  I recognize in advance that much of this content is simply private citizen calamity, misfortune and rudeness, so it’s good for a laugh.  The point is, a laugh, and very little else (unless you’re the head of the Diet Coke division).  Just having the numbers, (this video is well over 7 million views) doesn’t always equate to a whole lot unless in this case you attach advertising to this YouTube channel.

As part of this discussion we should remember that most on the Internet still like to “watch” versus “create” content as stated in this recent GIGAOM post.  So then, one could say that viral may still reach and create buzz among this large group of the online community and that may depending on the campaign trickle into financial gain.  For the men out there, when did you last buy an Old Spice product?  The better question might be, have you received an Old Spice product from your wife or girlfriend lately as inspired by over 110 million Old Spice brand views and that of Old Spice Guy, Isaiah Mustafa?  All indications from Neilsen are the numbers are up.  Also, Old Spice didn’t get these numbers from listening to bloggers and “specialists” whose main piece of advice is “just go play and have fun” with social media.  Watch out for that.

I believe that viral is more fleeting than social engagement.  Viral drives the “fad culture” of the net, whereas social engagement strategies look to influence through more meaningful discussion, sway opinion and inspire action as an end result.  Can an organization connect the two?  Absolutely, that’s precisely what Old Spice did.  They provided a balanced approach through multiple channels, including traditional media coverage.

Consider the much talked about “InspiredbyIceland” tourism campaign.  Certainly their iconic dance video went viral and here we are talking about it, and yet, my bags aren’t packed to catch a plane.  So is there value in viral?  Yes on a buzz awareness level there is no doubt, this campaign is getting Iceland talked about months after it launched.  In fact, before this campaign I don’t think I’ve ever spent this much of my time even considering this country.  Still to date, none of my hard earned cash is flowing into the Iceland tourism industry but that’s not to say there hasn’t been some impact.

Visitor numbers jumped 12% last year to around 1.23m people, or about four times Iceland’s population, with German, French and British visitors topping the list, and the trend is set to continue this year.

This research isn’t directly tied to the video campaign but I feel confident in saying that there is a segment of those tourism results that were influenced by the Iceland Tourism Board’s efforts.

There is continued response provided by some of the over 43,000 Facebook fans of the Inspired By Iceland Facebook fan page.  In order to find out the real impact however, one would have to do an analysis of how many of those fans actually hopped a Icelandair jet this year or inspired others to take a volcanic tour.

We should also ask ourselves if this viral campaign has served to increase “trust” in Iceland.  Iceland used to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world based on it’s financial industry.  That was all but erased with the global economic meltdown of 2009.  I’m not sure if dancing icelanders suggests that their banking industry is on the road to recovery but it certainly highlighted that there were deals to be had to visit this beautiful northern landscape.

There’s a business adage that says, “it’s always easier to sell an existing client than try to find a new one.”  Increased tourism equates to increased opportunities for a business relationship in other ways.  Visit on a holiday and possibly meet new people you may end up doing business with later.  That scenario happens every day around the world.  The money doesn’t flow overnight but it flows nonetheless.  Rarely do we see public evidence of this phenomenon at the granular level, rather it’s the stories over lunch that get told of how that deal was done, or this lead was generated.  Still it is possible to draw a correlation from viral video to tourism “krónur” to sustainable economic development but you have to dig and it’s much more than touting simple online traffic numbers.

Viral needs to cross the “fad chasm” and enter engagement before social media can claim victory and as suggested in a post written by Liana Evans on Clickz.com which inspired me to write this one, I believe viral and social media are very different, and should be connected.  Building a campaign with that in mind has a much greater chance of success than simply trying to do the goofiest thing in front of a camera you can think of to garner viewership and drive numbers.

Our firm has been hired by the Office of the Information Commissioner, who has partnered with Microsoft for the Right To Know conference here in Ottawa.  And I had a terrific opportunity to speak with Commissioner Suzanne Legault today after our live Right To Know Week video streaming production had ended.  The Commissioner is very aware of the need to open the data up in a searchable format.  Her organization is very small by government standards, yet she has influence and there is every indication that she is moving forward in a way that will protect Canadians and yet facilitate the release of public data appropriately, this is very exciting for Canada. We need more leaders in these positions to “give a damn” about Open Data.

Further, the decision-makers need to say good-bye to “zero tolerance lawyers.”  David Eaves made a continued strong case for this today at the conference. We need lawyers who can educate themselves about this situation and find a way to coexist with the needs of an Open Government.  Zero tolerance doesn’t work.

There has been progress over this year but we need more.  Releasing public data catalogues and holding app contests are a terrific first step across this country in the short-term, however, many jurisdictions in the United States, and other countries are already tackling “sustainability.”  While we’re showing off our applications built by private citizens or businesses (a great thing), others are analyzing the data from months of usage, and forming opinions as to the impact of that data, including behavioural patterns, advantages and disadvantages.  They’re already moving through a revamp of their Government 2.0 policies and initiatives. They’re entering Government 2.5 and we’re behind!

This has a tremendous amount to do with leadership.  So, just a quick note about heading into October 18th, 2010 to vote for your next mayor and council.  Please consider in the back of your mind whether those candidates even have a clue as to requirements of Open Government, and the digital age we live and compete in.  Core services for all levels of government should now include the release of public data so that it is searchable, just as a start and these candidates should at least be able to hold a conversation about this issue.

Want to get a crash course in Open Government?  Watch the Right To Know conference live tomorrow starting at 10am EDT or follow the #RTK hashtag on twitter, I’ll look to provide highlights.

So far, and as suspected, social is a key story in this election, and I suspect it will continue as more and more campaigns get their collective heads in the game.

To kick things up a notch, the team and I go into studio tomorrow morning to record Episode 8, which will be a special election edition of “Getting Social with Schwabe” airing this Saturday, September 25, 2010.

Be sure to tune in this Saturday at 7:00am to the Team 1260 or you can listen later by checking here.  Either way you’re not going to want to miss this show…

We provide brand monitoring and intelligence gathering as a service and have had great success matching client outcomes with real-time research and results.

In the case of the municipal election in Edmonton, I’ve been enjoying comparing some snapshots of Tweetreach.com for representing some of the serious contenders in the race for Mayor and I thought you’d like to see them.  Again, this is not the entire picture by a long shot, it’s not even all the candidates running, but fun to review nonetheless.

In no particular order…

Disclaimer:  These totals change moment to moment and there has been more activity from the time these were recorded till the time the post was published…Also, David Dowling and Andrew Lineker are not in this post as there was little data, if they’re upset they can let us know here.

Tim Hay, writer for Dow Jones VentureWire and producer of a blog for the Wall Street Journal talks with Walter Schwabe about the mobile space, and location-based apps and what he learned at AppNation.  The Internutt talks about the pros and cons of letting people know about your location and Evan Adnams walks us through such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Get Glue.

Visit your outsourced CFO at Dorward and Company Chartered Accountants.

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At first, I have to admit that my reaction was “wait a minute…!”  Then I let it sink into my thick skull for a minute.  She was absolutely right.  Do you agree?  Let me go further and explain.  Obviously, I think social media is “potentially” valuable when communicating on behalf of any campaign.  Leilas’ point was that the “potential” wasn’t being realized by any one campaign, and I completely agree.

This was substantiated by my conversations I’ve had with a number of campaigns and candidates.  In one case, as I stated on Getting Social with Schwabe this morning, a campaign manager behind a candidate for Mayor (I won’t say where), stated they didn’t think social media would have any effect whatsoever on your vote.  Well, I suppose if that’s your campaign strategy, you’ll find a way to ensure social media is irrelevant.

“Social influence” is about using social media to influence human beings online.  As the municipal elections progress, I’ve been looking for evidence of social influence strategies.  Difficult considering that this field of candidates is for the most part, relatively new to social media, at least on a mass coordinated deployment basis.  As many know, it’s easy to set-up an account, much more difficult to inspire voters to inspire other voters on and offline.

There are those out in the world who would have you believe that you don’t need to understand Twitter, or any other social technology, “just experiment and play around” they say.  In an election, 30-days is a very short period of time to influence people to vote your way.  Not having any idea as to how to accomplish that, and then venturing out into the social web and asking people for help in normal circumstances might be fine, but during an election, this may lead to demonstrating unpreparedness, and allow competitors to exploit this weakness on how to engage in the middle of an election.  Maybe this is your strategy if you’re a blogger with little to lose.  This unsophisticated approach can put your personal brand, and/or campaign at risk.

Voters could infer that if you’re coming into this election, and you didn’t think social media would play a role, that this would say something about your leadership capabilities.

What kind of things are voters looking for from candidates?  Certainly voters are using social to gather information in general, as was evident in the answers provided to my question on LinkedIn.  So an integrated communications strategy is key.  At some point people are going to want to learn more than your calendar of events 140 characters at a time on Twitter.

Most candidates in the Greater Edmonton Region, this includes surrounding areas like Strathcona County seem to be simply communicating their locations, events attended, and little else.   However, whether this approach is as effective as it could be is up for debate.

For example, does the candidate have “health buddies?”  Or better yet, a cluster of health buddies.  In a recent MIT study that suggests that social networks influence behaviour, in this case related to health issues, researcher Damon Centola, an assistant professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, assigned participants a “health buddy” to measure the effect on whether social networks could influence behaviour on health related issues…and the study suggests that “yes” influence and subsequent action did take place.  The study found that how people were connected had a direct impact on how information flowed, the reach and the rate at which it spread.  This wasn’t solely the number of connections or “buddies,” but also the dynamics of those relationships that influenced actions.

Connections count, but the same amount of quality connections and shared experiences count more.

STUDY: “The rate of adoption in the clustered networks proved to be four times as fast. People were more likely to participate regularly in the health forum if they had more health buddies who registered.”

So my question to candidates in this municipal election is, are you focusing on building “micro-tribes of influencers” who support your position as a result of continued shared experiences?  Or are you simply taking up digital air?  This is now a very short race, those who had an understanding of this going in will ultimately be further ahead on election day.  Those who listen to bloggers who suggest candidates should simply wing it without any real advice or plan do so at their peril.  Voters like “fans” appreciate a real experience with the person of interest over event planning updates.  Voters appreciate real engagement.

Here’s an interesting example of how a political candidate, in this case younger than most running in the Edmonton region managed to build a core of support online that then translated into evangelism, and she states that she won in large part because of it.  She does suggest that meeting people in person, door-knocking was also valuable which demonstrates that shaking hands works too.

Watch a CNN interview to learn how Elise Hall used social media to influence voters to help her win her election for the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

Is your favourite electoral candidate demonstrating a higher level of understanding related to engagement and influence?  List them here, show your support.  As voters we should look for evidence of “political action versus broadcasting content,” if you think your candidate is generating action via influence make a case for it here.  Maybe others will agree with you, and your candidate will end up generating more momentum with people telling two friends or (two thousand) and so on and so on…

Retail is an incredibly competitive landscape, in this episode Walter Schwabe speaks with Jay Myers, Lead Web Development Engineer out of Best Buy headquarters in Richfield Minnesota about the Semantic technologies he and his team have embedded within BestBuy.com to improve your online shopping experience.  Retailers of all sorts and sizes won’t want to miss this interesting show about how the retail industry is changing as a result of the social web.

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I’m announcing that we have been asked by Envision Edmonton to provide social media help and since this is a service we provide, we’ve agreed to help.  I wish we would have had more time, however, we’re here to help our clients and we don’t shy away from tough projects, as in a heated debate like this one, that just means we’re going to have to work hard and quickly.  The bottom-line is our services are needed by an honest client and we’re going to provide the best service possible.

Consider us on the “Demand the Vote” side of things.  Even if you’re for closing the airport, you should still support letting democracy rule the day via a public vote.  Volunteer to help collect signatures, if you’re undecided take a look at the documentation and the facts.  If nothing else, read Kevin Libin’s column today in the National Post about recent developments.

I then put my customized link out on Twitter asking the question of those listening whether they though this idea worked.  The response was immediate.  The link was quickly ReTweeted by Jas Darrah (you should follow him by the way) and then I was engaged in a short but interesting discussion about the value of this project with Thom Kearney here are his tweets during our exchange.  You’ll need to scroll down to read up, sorry for the reverse flow of the content, I simply cut and pasted it…

1. fusedlogic

   @thomkearney Be sure to “Run To The Hills….” 24 minutes ago via TweetDeck in reply to thomkearney

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2. thomkearney

   @fusedlogic I look forward to learning more about influence and how to measure it. 26 minutes ago via HootSuite in reply to fusedlogic

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3. thomkearney

   @fusedlogic lol Yes there is value there in this conversation. And my brain hurts. Have to rest up for IronMaiden tomorrow. Goodnite. 27 minutes ago via HootSuite in reply to fusedlogic

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4. fusedlogic

   @thomkearney I think you make a fair point. This is a very simple exercise. 28 minutes ago via TweetDeck in reply to thomkearney

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5. thomkearney

   @fusedlogic Sure I guess there is value in the study. Just think the measure is superficial. Not sure how you would go further. 30 minutes ago via HootSuite

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6. fusedlogic

   @thomkearney See Thom, I look at this discussion with you as interesting, and it all started because I sent out that link…:) 31 minutes ago via TweetDeck in reply to thomkearney

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7. thomkearney

   @fusedlogic Influence is an interesting subject…how much influence will I keep if I send you to links that provide no value to you? 32 minutes ago via HootSuite in reply to fusedlogic

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8. fusedlogic

   @thomkearney Well, that’s the study point. Does it? Influence is important, and does this shed light on it, is there value? 32 minutes ago via TweetDeck in reply to thomkearney

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9. thomkearney

   @fusedlogic IMO it just seems kind of shallow. Does clicking on that link really do anything for you or @kanter – is that real influence? 35 minutes ago via HootSuite in reply to fusedlogic

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11. fusedlogic

    @jdarrah thanks for the RT Jas, the engine is growing in real time, kind of cool. 36 minutes ago via TweetDeck in reply to jdarrah

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12. fusedlogic

    @thomkearney I first saw the link from @kanter because I respect her work, that influenced me to click in the first place. 40 minutes ago via TweetDeck in reply to thomkearney

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13. thomkearney

    @fusedlogic at first glance it looks like bs to me. Influencing me to click a link that does not provide value is empty. Maybe I missed it. 43 minutes ago via HootSuite in reply to fusedlogic

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15. fusedlogic

    Does this work? What’s your opinion? I’ll be covering this on the radio show…http://fcinf.com/v/coyf about 1 hour ago via Fast Company Influence Project

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16. kanter

    Checking out @fastcompany influence project http://fcinf.com/v/dcnc about 1 hour ago via CoTweet

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I found that exchange with Thom valuable, he makes great points about the value of the entire process, one that I’ll find interesting to watch over the next few months.  FYI, if you click on my link (much appreciated) http://fcinf.com/v/coyf and sign-up FastCompany will include your picture in the November issue.

Also, I’ll be heading into the studio tomorrow and I’d like to include this as part of the show, so if you participate tonight I’ll be watching how this all unfolds and will hope to mention this activity…

The default reaction might be to think this is “facial recognition” software.  According to Annika Heinle of Facebook Corporate Communications, “this is not facial recognition software in the sense that it recognizes specific people. Instead it is a facial detection feature that finds faces in photos.”  There in lies the difference, a big one. The intent of the software is to make it easier to tag photos – which I think is a good thing.

This all stems from the recent corporate acquisition of Divvyshot, the creators of this software.  A smart investment since there are over 100 million photos uploaded a day according to Odio.

Still, one might ask since Facebook continues to struggle with a large segment of users who are revolting against their privacy policies, will this go any further?  Some might see this as yet another step in the wrong direction, albeit a small one in this case. Certainly Facebook’s track record with respect to privacy is abysmal, bad move after bad move so there it is reasonable to question the social networking giants’ intentions.

What do you think?  Conspiracy, smart acquisition, don’t care either way?  Leave your thoughts here and we’ll use them on the radio show…

UPDATE: Canadian lawyer launches class-action suit against Facebook as covered by CTV, and Canadian Press.

Do you think this lawsuit has a chance?  Would you participate?

I registered so that I could investigate the site and see what it was all about.  I found myself in a live chat with Kelsey Grammer himself within the site, discussing his recent goal to achieve 1 million followers.  This is truly the interesting thing about the social web.  One minute you’re reading a blog post about the future of the social media, or at least one perspective on that topic at AdAge and the next you’re live chatting with the same person who portrayed a slightly neurotic psychologist.

Here’s a shot of the site.

While chatting with Kelsey, he mentioned that he’s in New York City right now in the middle of a Broadway show entitled “La Cage aux Folles,” and he shared with me that the show is nominated for 11 Tony Awards, the turnout has been “fantastic,” he said.  With an 8 show per week pace I find it even more amazing that Kelsey Grammer was up as late as he was and building community at what was past 3AMin NYC.

My impression of the TODHD live streaming network is overall positive AND yet there is work to do.  This is a stand alone newly formed online community that has some interesting content deals in place with major sports leagues mixed in with folks I’ve never heard of before and then stars like Kelsey Grammer, which I think makes it really unique in its own way.  I will be interested in learning more and watching some content over time.  Finally, I want to applaud and thank Kelsey Grammer for the opportunity to chat.

Frankly, I found the whole interaction a bit surreal, this was Dr. Frasier Crane for heaven’s sake…and HE WAS LISTENING…!