There’s a lot of trademarking going on lately. Between Apple’s iSlate and iGuide, and HP’s Zeen and Airlife, it’s relatively obvious that efforts towards making new and sexy mobile devices is a focus for both of these companies. Apple already has a dominating presence in the mobile device arena, and it’s been this way for quite a few years now. Having established those standards, however, the rest of the world has been steadily trying to catch up.

What will happen in the next year or so will be full of wonder and excitement, as more manufacturers look to create their own mobile devices featuring innovative designs, new options for integrated communication functionality, and associated networks and cloud-based services to make the operation of your new mobile device a thoughtless activity.

Appealing to consumer convenience, businesses are finding themselves anxious to monetize the mobile industry. A new long tail has been created, with revenue opportunities coming from mobile application platforms, virtual goods, the localization of contextually shared content and search-turned-recommendations based on the aforementioned revenue streams.

Creating mobile extensions of nearly everything we already do on a daily basis can be big business, especially when it comes to the centralization of services into a single device. This lends itself to a necessity for the centralization of other things, such as finances, mobile access to the Internet, and a desire for improved mobile technology overall. The rapid expansion of money-making opportunities gives several businesses a strong desire to enter the market early and strong. This is evidenced by both Apple and HP more recently, with Google, T-Mobile, Verizon and Microsoft being heavily involved in pushing these trends as well.

For consumers, I still think a major concern will revolve around the privacy factor. The ability for any of these major companies to monopolize the industry or even the information you need for personal purposes is imminent, especially as many consumers find the upcoming services to be rather cnonvenient. Personal mobile devices are certainly the way of the future, and a new economy will rise along with them.

I’ve mentioned that I’m campaigning for the Really Goode Job contest. In the process, I’m noticing things, learning things, and making notes for future reference.

What Do You Need to Get the Job Done

My personal opinion, and I could be wrong, is that you don’t need – in fact, probably shouldn’t be – an expert on wine. I think knowing wine, having a familiarity with wine, and enjoying wine is a definite advantage. I think you need to be able to hold your own in a conversation with the winemaker, but being an expert might be a little much. The job is also a learning experience and more importantly, a sharing experience.

I do think you need to have a handle on marketing. I know they call this a Lifestyle Correspondent position, but in all seriousness, this is a “marketing the winery” position that leverages social media. You need more than to be a member of a couple social networks, you need to be able to join and influence the conversation. That was a shift that happened to me yesterday. I stopped having to campaign quite as hard because people were now asking me, “How can we help you?” I had become part of the stream of information at that point, as opposed to shouting at the stream to listen.

Never Discount the Power of Traditional Media

From what I can tell, there are a lot of entrants (there are around 400 of us after all) who are focusing purely on the social media/email aspect of the voting.

I sent press releases.  I sent them to local media and to my friends who work in marketing and PR (and could send them on). It got me a guest blog post on the web site for our local alternative weekly and a write-up from the wine blogger/writer for the Dayton Daily news, among other things. It also raised awareness. It got more people talking – people I couldn’t reach through Twitter or Facebook. A friend of mine will be on a popular local morning radio show on Friday and she’ll promote the video as well. Yep, I’m trying to leverage radio, a one-way communication medium. But again, you just can’t reach everyone through Facebook and Twitter, etc. You can only reach a certain demographic. Are things like AdWords traditional media? Even Murphy-Goode didn’t own the AdWords for this contest, which surprised me. I bought AdWords on the day I entered the contest.

Unclear Guidelines but New Friends

I think a lot of us entrants are a bit confused on exactly how much effect the popular vote has. At first, it seemed like the popular vote was more of a MacGuffin, distracting us. Now I’m not so sure. Does it show that you can drive traffic or does it just raise awareness for Murphy-Goode? Just yesterday I learned that voting continues for a week after the submission process closes, but that also coincides with the week that the anonymous HR firm is picking the Top 50. So do the popular votes matter? I still have no idea.

Via Twitter, I learned today that once the Top 50 have been chosen, the voting slate is wiped clear and voting begins again. Yep – the Twittersphere is going to be full of Vote for me! through at least July 7. But again, how much do the popular votes really matter? Is driving traffic what’s important, or personality? CV/resume and experience or just a damned good video? It’s like entering a beauty pageant without knowing the categories. So, is there an evening gown competition or just swimsuit?

Some candidates are receiving outside support from a company called VinTank. I’m a little weird about this, as I count a few of those candidates as my friends, as well as several of the folks at VinTank. I don’t really know what it means that they are being provided with “resources” during their campaign, which is why it makes me a bit uncomfortable. Once the final 10 are chosen, VinTank will be educating all of them on wine industry social marketing, if I understand it right, as well as whomever wins, regardless of whether they were part of the original VinTank endorsement.  Yeah, I’m a little squishy on this whole topic, but I felt obliged to mention it. (Oh, why aren’t I endorsed? I came late to the party due to some family issues, so it wasn’t even an option for me.)

On the plus side, a lot of the overall confusion is driving the entrants to talk to and support each other. It’s fun to meet all these other folks, everyone with a little bit in common. A support group full of the competition – you have to love the Internet. Whomever wins, I have to believe they’ll receive the full support of everyone in the competition.

Everyone is Doing It

So it started with what probably is the dream job – a year on a gorgeous island off the coast of Australia. Now it’s Murphy-Goode’s Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent. I got a blog comment yesterday promoting the Why I Need A Break contest. A “mom and pop” wine shop is sponsoring a contest to give you a vacation, but first you have to enter a 1-minute video, yada, yada, yada.

Find a new angle. My husband last night said, “The video thing is getting old.”  Actually, the video thing is rather an old technique, used on TV – what’s the difference between this and winning a prize on America’s Home Videos? Well, the prizes are certainly better this time around, but that’s about it. I don’t know – how do you, as readers, feel about everyone jumping on the “submit a video” bandwagon? Annoyed or Amused?

Even more interesting is where this is leading. My younger brother, soon to be a senior in college, is getting scared about entering the “real world” in a year. To score an interview at a marketing firm for a summer internship, he had to submit a video.

Exploitative? The Whiff of Desperation

I’ve had a few people take an entirely different perspective on the entire contest. In fact, it has turned them off of Murphy-Goode completely. Why? Because in a crappy economy, they see Murphy-Goode as exploiting many people’s need for a job. It’s true that as you watch the videos you’ll come across a slew of people who mention they’ve been laid off, are unemployed, recent college graduates, stuck in nowhere towns … In fact, I’ve seen a lot of LinkedIn group posts and blog posts that sound truly desperate. “I’m unemployed – I really need this Really Goode Job.”

Murphy-Goode is getting a ton of publicity from this stuntcasting job application process. So are they exploiting those who have desperation just rolling off of them in their video?

My take is no, they’re not, and I’ve thought about this a lot, watched a lot of videos. I think the video is a little like a super-quick job interview. Remember that old antiperspirant ad: Never Let Them See You Sweat. It applies here. I think if I was unemployed, I’d bill myself as a freelancer, not “laid off.”  I’d spin it. I would not put it in the video. Why am I a freelancer? That comes later, once you make it past the Top 50.

That’s just me, but it’s also why I don’t find this exploitative. Those who mention their dire straits are doing so intentionally, for reasons of their own. Murphy-Goode has no control over who enters their contest and why. Plenty of employed folks have entered the contest and are dreaming up ways to leave their current job for 6 months.

Learning About Myself

I never think I’m overly competitive until I do something like this and my competitive spirit rears its ugly head. I try to dampen it – in this case, I almost have to. On the off chance I make it to the Top 50, I’m going to Alaska for two weeks on vacation. I won’t be twittering for votes from the cruise ship or hiking trail.  In truth, that kills me, although the vacation will be good for me.

I’m also obsessive – something else with which this contest is forcing me to grapple. I’m trying, quite intensely, to not lose focus on Real Life in exchange for putting all my energy into acquiring the Goode Life. Reminding myself that I need to be part of the information stream, not the shrill voice at one end or the other.

Finally, I’ve been shocked at how much I actually want this job. When I first went into it so late, I figured I didn’t have a shot at all. But there’s always hope, and I haven’t let go of that glimmer. I also have hope that, after all is said and done, someone will look at what I created with Rainbowgoode.com and say, “hey! We should hire her to do our social media and marketing!” Basically I’ve created a portfolio just for this position that I can maintain as long as I want, whether I get the Goode job or not.

So there you go. Obviously I’m learning a bit about myself as we go through this process, as well as a bit more about marketing (and winery marketing) in general. There’s so much more going on with this contest than just a 1 minute video.

__

Visit Michelle @ http://www.wine-girl.net

Help Michelle Land Her Dream Job: http://bit.ly/reallygoodejob
Vote for Michelle and then tell all your friends!

More information at http://www.rainbowgoode.com

by Brian Solis

I’m just returning from my trip to Next09 in Hamburg Germany where I had the privilege to serve as one of the event’s keynote presenters among a cast of some of those whom I most revere. During my session, I discussed how the event’s theme, “The Share Economy,” equated to the Social Economy and the laws of diminishing attention.

We’re constantly struggling and learning how to discover and in turn, personify our place within the perpetually evolving social universe.

It is the ongoing saga of bridging the distances between who we are and who we want to be and furthermore, manifesting this presence outward.

I believe we are creating our online persona with every status update, tweet, video, picture, review, comment, and post, we share. We’re forging networks through a fusion of traditional relationships and friendships and also contextually – following and friending those whom we admire and respect based on their ideas, vision, and experience. It’s how we share, discover and learn. The nature for how we view and establish relationships is evolving before us and eventually we will change how we interact based on the contextual network we’ve built. Most of your “friends” don’t care about your profession exploits. Concurrently, your peers and professional contact are not better off for knowing anything about your personal endeavors.

There will be a collision and ensuing fallout.

What’s next?

Multiple Personality “Order.”

Don’t be surprised if eventually, if for only a short time, we maintain multiple online personas in the networks that are important to us as a consumer and also as a producer.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story:

Next09

Andrew Keen

Stowe Boyd

Chris Heuer

Andrea Vascellari

Brian Solis and Dennis Howlett

Nicole Simon, Tobias Kaufmann, Martin Recke

Stephanie Frasco

Stowe Boyd, Matthias Lufkens, Dennis Howlett

Pictures of Hamburg and other things that caught my eye:

For more pictures from Hamburg and Next09, please visit my album on Flickr.

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by Brian Solis via PR 2.0

Following the solo media vs. traditional media race that led Twitter into both relevance and irrelevance, the result is that the carefully guarded community and its unique culture are now permanently altered – for better or for worse.

According to estimates sourced by Engadget Editor-in-Chief Ryan Block, Twitter grew by 1.2 million users simply as a result of the “Oprah-effect.”

TechCrunch’s MG Siegler also explored the process for estimating Twitter’s path into the mainstream.

1.2 million

So, how many new users really joined Twitter as a result of the celebrity-fueled popularity contest?

I’m not sure the answer truly matters. If we explore it from a sociological perspective, I believe that the culture of Twitter has been introduced to a significant event that may indeed shift interaction and behavior overall.

Going into the race, estimates pegged the active userbase anywhere between 5 – 8 million. Now post race and the Oprah-effect, over 1 million people were introduced to the service guided by a “follow me” mentality. This “overnight” expansion represents a potential 10-12% saturation ratio. These new users will participate and build communities around them based on their interpretation of the network as framed by those whom they follow. Remember, we are measured by our last 20 tweets or updates within each social network. Take a look for yourself, www.twitter.com/insertusername

It is what it is. The real question is, what do you want to get out of these connections?

In the end, we are still responsible for creating our own experience within the community and that is one of the true advantages and rewards of Twitter. We foster and cultivate individual ecosystems that bind us contextually.

Competing for Attention

Perhaps what is most interesting and prevalent is the behavior transformation in content consumption that is taking place in “Twitter time” and it’s establishing a new world authority. For many of us, we’re migrating away from destinations and potentially RSS readers as well as our primary source of news, relevant information, pleasant distractions, and trending topics. We’re quickly focusing on Twitter, Facebook News Feeds, FriendFeed and the statusphere as our highly curated and personalized attention dashboards.

As content publishers, producers, and creators, we need to acknowledge, understand, and embrace this critical disruption.

Let’s take a look at Twitter as an example. Before the April’s madness of follower contests, Comscore reported that Twitter had experienced a new record of 9.3 million visitors in March, which represented a 131% jump.

As you can see, the growth curve is practically vertical. And, we’re sure to see yet another surge in growth when April numbers are released.

However, Comscore is also observing what I believe to represent the hope and potential future for traditional media.

When they examined the percentage of visitors to Twitter who also visited the top online news brands and compared it to that of the total U.S. Internet audience, they discovered a strong level of overlap. The result is that the average Twitter user was often 2 and 3 times as likely to visit the top online news brands as the average person. For example, while 17 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience visited CNN.com in March, more than double that percentage (38 percent) of Twitter users did so.

Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed and active online social interaction breathe new, and measurable, life into great content where it’s hosted, simply by connecting it to the potentially attentive people where and how they are currently engaged.

This is the Statusphere, a new ecosystem for sharing, discovering, and publishing updates and micro-sized content that reverberates throughout social networks and syndicated profiles, resulting in a formidable network effect of viral activity. It is the digital curation of relevant content that binds us contextually and through the statusphere we can connect directly to existing contacts, reach new people, and also forge new friendships through the friends of friends effect (FoFs) in the process.

In order to compete for prominence in the future, we must first compete for attention where and when it’s captivated. While we contribute to the evolution of new media and the supporting cultures within each network, we are responsible for what we contribute and what we gain from the interaction. We earn the relationships we deserve.

Connect with me on:
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words and pictures by Brian Solis

It was a beautiful day in Northern California. We all had more than enough work to lock us indoors for the remainder of the day, but we had a different idea.

Robert Scoble, Jeremiah Owyang and I opted instead, to host a last-minute Tweetup in at the Miramar in Halfmoon Bay. The Pacific Ocean served as the backdrop and great friends provided the ambiance. Overall, it was a wonderful way to spend the day.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story…

Shirley and Jeremiah Owyang

Maria Ogneva and Gregarious

Gregarious

Krystel Ariel

Karen Hartline

Brian Solis by Robert Scoble

Christopher Peri

Krystel Ariel and Francine Hardaway

For more pictures, please visit my album on Flickr.

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words and pictures by Brian Solis

And you thought the TechSet + Windows Mobile Rat Pack at the Belmont party was slammed…

Digg hosted a live episode of Diggnation at Stubbs BBQ during SXSW Interactive with thousands of the show’s most ardent fans in attendance. It was simply mind blowing. The cult-like phenomenon that served as the undercurrent for our Geek culture is now broaching pop status. Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht represent a new genre of celebrity and if you don’t believe me, just ask any one of Kevin Rose’s 375,000 friends on Twitter.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story…

Jim Louderback takes the stage

Alex Albrecht and Rad Zach, Zach Luye

LaLa, Lara Doucette

Alex and Kevin rev up the crowd

Jay Adelson, Alex Albrecht, Kevin Rose

Alex Albrecht

Jeremiah Owyang, Kevin Rose and Brian Solis

Sarah Austin and Zach Luye

Diggnation

Diggnation towers over the crowd

Lara Doucette and Brian Solis

Tamar Weinberg

For more pictures from Diggnation @SXSW 2009, please visit my album on Flickr.

Please read:

The Human Network: The Social Economy is Influenced by How We Communicate Online & Offline (My philosophical analysis of what makes SXSW so special)

Which parties did you hit or miss?

Check em off at Diddit: SXSW Interactive Festival 2009 Party List

Pictures:

SXSW – The Calm Before the Storm

SXSW Day One

TechSet + Windows Mobile Rat Pack 2.0 Party

SXSW Day Two

Diggnation Party at Stubbs

We Flashmob the Driskill

AllHat @Allens Boots

Brian Solis Book Signing @SXSW

Are PR Agencies a Dying Breed: Brian Solis joins the panel

Kirtsy, AllTop Party @Allens Boots

Pool 2.0 – SocialMediaClub

SXSW Day Four

Paul Nelson Performs in the TechSet + Windows Mobile Blogger Lounge

Dell Adamo Premiers at SXSW

Power Geek Girl Tweetup in the TechSet + Windows Mobile Blogger Lounge

Rackspace + Scoble Party

Blurb + Mashable Party

SXSW Day Five

WorldSings.com

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words and pictures by Brian Solis

During SXSW Interactive 2009, interesting, notable, and unexpected geeks as well as the Internet Famous filled the streets in and around the conference and the after hours parties.

Some of my best encounters happened simply by walking from point A to point B.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the stories…

Corvida

Drew Olanoff shows us the bid-winning @melaniemitchell tattoo

Chris Brogan, @geekmommy, Justin Levy throw up Hashtag signs

Dan Patterson of ABC

Sarah Townsend performs on a random Austin street corner

Gregarious Greg Narain vs. Corvida

Scott Beale of Laughing Squid and Brian Solis

Violet Blue, Robert Scoble, Alexia Tsotsis

Frank Gruber channeling Johnny Cash

Sun/Nokia Fogo De Chao

Francisco Dao, Lynne Johnson

Brian Solis, Jessica Berlin, Ilana Arazie, Gregarious

Please read:

The Human Network: The Social Economy is Influenced by How We Communicate Online & Offline (My philosophical analysis of what makes SXSW so special)

Which parties did you hit or miss?

Check em off at Diddit: SXSW Interactive Festival 2009 Party List

Pictures:

SXSW – The Calm Before the Storm

SXSW Day One

TechSet + Windows Mobile Rat Pack 2.0 Party

SXSW Day Two

Diggnation Party at Stubbs

We Flashmob the Driskill

AllHat @Allens Boots

Brian Solis Book Signing @SXSW

Are PR Agencies a Dying Breed: Brian Solis joins the panel

Kirtsy, AllTop Party @Allens Boots

Pool 2.0 – SocialMediaClub

SXSW Day Four

Paul Nelson Performs in the TechSet + Windows Mobile Blogger Lounge

Dell Adamo Premiers at SXSW

Power Geek Girl Tweetup in the TechSet + Windows Mobile Blogger Lounge

Rackspace + Scoble Party

Blurb + Mashable Party

SXSW Day Five

WorldSings.com

Connect with me on:
Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Plaxo, Plurk, Identi.ca, BackType, or Facebook

by Brian Solis

Dave Morin, Sarah Lacy, and I co-hosted the West Coast leg of Julia & Randi’s Bi-Coastal Birthday Bash last night at Rosewood in San Francisco.

Julia & Randi are celebrating their birthdays with us on both coasts this weekend, San Francisco (Fri, Feb 27) and New York City (Sat, Feb 28) in an effort to raise awareness and donations for Charity: Water and Women for Women International. The theme honored the charities by promoting the colors that uniquely represented them, blue and pink. It created a wonderful ambiance of continuously shifting fashionable decor, which complemented the intimate mood set by the Rosewood’s stylish motif.

Julia and Randi, you are amazing and wonderful. I can’t express that enough. Thank you for always being there…And, thank you for sharing your special day with us and also for raising awareness of two very important causes. Happy Birthday!

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story…

Randi’s Birthday Cake

Randi Zuckerberg and Chris Kelly

Meghan Asha and Sarah Lacy

Tim Ferriss

Aubs and Daisy

Cupcakes

Oren Michels and Lane Becker

Birthday Cocktail

Tim Ferriss

More about Charity: Water

Charity: Water is a non-profit bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Right now, over 1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. Charity: water funds sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need. Just $20 can give one person in a developing nation clean water for 20 years.

For more pictures from Julia’s and Randi’s SF Birthday Bash, please visit my album on Flickr.

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