Past speakers include Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Frank Gehry, Paul Simon, Sir Richard Branson, Philippe Starck and Bono. TED was first held in Monterey, California, in 1984. In 2001, Chris Anderson’s Sapling Foundation acquired TED from its founder, Richard Saul Wurman.

So what is TEDx?

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx – local, self-organized events that bring people together to share TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

TEDx Ottawa Key Information and Dates

The event will be taking place on Sunday, Dec 6th starting at 10am and will span about six hours. It will consist of TEDtalk video presentations and a number of live speakers in addition to lots of time for hallway discussions.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Title: TEDx Ottawa
Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada
Link out: Click here
Start Time: 10:00
Date: 2009-12-06
End Time: 16:00

See You at TEDx Ottawa on December 6 originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

As is usual when wide-scale changes happen at a company (or, in this case, on a digital stream), there are both fans and dissenters to the new proposals. That’s normal. But what if Twitter could bypass the need for changes like the retweet one?

Twitter’s reasoning for the change is that it can be a confusing mess for new users, and it’s one of the reasons a lot of new users give up within the first month.

While that’s true, a lot of that comes down to the fact that Twitter itself doesn’t offer a great user guide for newcomers. A really simple FAQ or intro sheet emailed to new users would make all the difference, and then they could advise of user-created options, how they fit in and how best to use them.

This would help settle in new users and create something similar to the WordPress community, where you’d have the official tools as well as the community-created ones that existing users can help with. It’d help people settle in more quickly and get the sticky factor that Twitter needs (if reports that 40% of all new users quit after one month is accurate).

But why stop there? There are other areas that Twitter could help keep new and existing users stay happy.

Kill the Private Spam

This is a major problem for Twitter. We know there’s a chance our public streams will have some spam content. But I don’t recall signing up for private message spam from third-party platforms that I didn’t even register for. Pirate games and mafia clans are just two current examples. How can they get into my private message area when I’m not a user? Not good, Twitter.

Make the Suggested Users List Relevant

When you sign up for a new account, Twitter gives you a list of suggested users. The problem is, this list is usually filled with either celebrities or Twitter “power users”. These accounts can often be amongst the most active and busy as far as content goes – how can that be a good introduction when you’ve just joined? Instead, why not work with something like Twellow, ask a couple of simple questions and use these keywords to offer suggestions that actually make sense? So, people in your locality, industry, interest zones, etc, and ease new users into the system as opposed to scaring them off with hyper feeds to follow.

These are just some options that Twitter could take to make the experience better. They’re nothing major, yet they could possibly make a big difference (at least from a user-friendliness viewpoint).

How about you – how would you make Twitter more sticky?

photo credit: Dustin Diaz

Making Twitter Sticky originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

Add to that some really bad wisdom tooth pain, a lot of community planning for a special November 12for12k collaboration as well as normal day-to-day stuff and little sleep, and I was feeling a little bit frayed.

Then an email landed in my inbox that changed everything with two simple words: “Thank you.”

The email was from Sasha H. Muradali, a great upcoming PR pro over in Miami who has a pretty cool blog over at Little Pink Book PR. It mentioned her newest post, and the fact that the post was tied to one of Sasha’s earliest ones in April of this year.

It turns out that I was one of the first to share Sasha’s blog post on Twitter, and this email from her was to say thank you for that. And that just floored me and made me smile in a big way. I know Sasha’s a busy person; I know she has a lot of things on the go; I know that the reference Sasha was making was almost 6 months ago.

Yet she still remembered, and took the time to say thanks personally. And these two little words turned a frazzled face into a wide grin. Or, as Sasha herself put it, “all gushy feeling semi-girlie inside” (yes, you got me, Sasha!).

There’s something for us all to learn from Sasha. Agree?

photo credit: annia316

The Powerful Effect of Simplicity originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

Something a little different this week (and I realize it goes against my reasons for taking it to the blog – just listing names – but there’s a reason this week).

Everyone featured today fits into many different categories but one thing they all have in common is that they’re proud wearers of the 12for12k avatars. Designed by iGoByDoc, it’s a fun way of showing their support for a worthy cause outside of normal (and much appreciated) donations.

Apart from that, they’re all incredibly cool people doing amazing things offline as well (and I’ll be featuring them in much more depth in upcoming #FollowFiday posts, if I haven’t already).

So, what are you waiting for – check them out (each link opens in a new window so you don’t need to click back)! They are:

@_sarakate_; @DominickEvans; @judithsthoughts; @LibbyUnwin; @JamesAWoods; @allenmireles; @arikhanson; @bluestreak23; @HighEdSalesGuy; @iamkhayyam; @iGoByDoc; @JASunshine1011; @JGoldsborough; @JonAston; @KatieMDesigns; @KyleJudkins; @mickeygomez; @MSchechter; @nataliekeiko; @PromoMarketer; @rachelakay; @raekaye; @shannoncherry; @SocialPMChick; @iggypintado; @StaciJShelton; @suzemuse; @thebassman; @ZenMommy; @Rich_at_Dell; @mjleonard; @websuccessdiva; @12for12k; @MarketingProfs; @abarcelos; @AnneHyde; @nsbmom; @freelancerant; @AvenueZ; @_djh; @briancarter; @tmaduri; @concierge; @GinaLaGuardia; @jamiecalder; @johnhaydon; @liajen; @nakeva; @ramartijr; @SarahRobinson; @southplatte; @CherylFehlberg; @storyassistant.

If, by chance, I’ve missed anyone out, please let me know and I’ll sort that immediately!

Thanks for being who you are guys – your support means everything, as does everyone behind the 12for12k idea.

Normal #FollowFriday recommendations will resume next week. Have a great weekend!

From Twitter to Blog – #FollowFriday Vol. 3 originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

It’s been an interesting last 24 hours. Abusive emails, character attacks on Twitter and questions about my ethics. Just another day in the life of.

Time is an interesting commodity.

On the one hand, we love it when time passes quickly so we can see a new movie, or buy a new product, or see a new date. On the other, we complain there’s never enough time in the day.

Online connections simply increase this problem. As we connect with new people on new networks, our availability factor goes down.

You don’t mean it to; you try avoid it; but it’s a simple fact that as we connect with more, the less we can offer. This may be less time for people you used to converse with more; less time for generic conversations; and less time for things in general.

Sure, you can use tools to help you manage your time better. Yet at the end of the day, the tools are only as good as the person using them, so perhaps I need to brush up on my time management skills.

Yet the attacks/criticisms that came my way over the last 24 hours would probably have come regardless of time management, by the nature of them. The suggestion of “having time for some people but not for others” being the main theme.

Again, it comes back to where to try and divert your time. While this isn’t an excuse as such, a lot of my time at the minute is taken up by:

• 12for12k
• Legal clearances for promotional materials for this month’s charity
• Conference calls with charity partners
• Social change events
• Client projects (since all 12for12k efforts are free of charge)

If you add in personal time, offering help where possible to people asking for advice and residency issues in Canada to name just a few, you might see where I can get sidetracked.

As I say, it’s not an excuse but an explanation. I appreciate the connections we have and I’ll try my best to manage them as best I can and help wherever I can. However, there will be times that some people and actions slip through the cracks.

So, here’s a suggestion.

If you’ve sent me something or asked me something and I haven’t responded in a couple of days, send me a nudge. Failing that, email me – my contact details are on this blog, or my website, or on my Twitter background. I’ll try my damnedest to respond.

And if I haven’t replied straight away, please don’t take it personally.

With regards the ethics question, I certainly don’t always make the best decisions but I always believe that whatever they are, they are for the right and ethical reasons. Of course, it’s anyone’s prerogative to doubt this, but I’m happy to live with my decisions.

How about you? Are you finding yourself with less time for the stuff that needs more time? How are you managing your conversations?

photo credit: Joshua Davis

The More We Connect, The More We Lose Touch originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

This integration and interaction is especially true for bloggers, when you want to connect with other bloggers as well as the community that you’ve built around your own blog.

So, in no particular order, I thought I’d share some tools that might help you (as bloggers) connect more. Feel free to use or abuse.

BackType. It’s no secret that I’ve been a huge fan of BackType since its launch. Allowing you to follow the conversations from anywhere you’ve ever left a comment online, it also allows you to see what the people you’re interested in are saying, and where.

Now, with their new Connect option, they’ve just taken it to a whole new level.

You can see comments from other blog’s about you; how many times your post has been referenced on Twitter, Reddit, Digg, etc; and allows you to see the other conversations that your blog commentators are having. Here’s an example of it in use on this blog (just scroll up a little and you’ll see the info just above the trackback link).

I can see a lot of potential in this addition to BackType’s services and if it helps promote more blogs and conversations into the bargain, that’s got to be a good thing. (If you’re on BackType, you can connect with me here).

Scribnia. This is a pretty new service and one that has just gone into private alpha, so you need an invitation (you can email them for one). What I really like about Scribnia is the idea behind it.

Basically, Scribnia will be an online resource that rates and reviews bloggers, journalists, reporters and more. Using a metric system based on context ratings and mini-reviews that Scribnia members provide, you can soon see who’s worth reading in your areas of interest.

I’m testing it out at the minute and so far it looks a really useful way to sort out the stuff that you really want to read. Think of it as your personal feed recommendation engine. (If you’re on Scribnia, you can connect with me here – note, you  need to be logged in).

MyBlogLog. If you blog and have a Yahoo account, then MyBlog Log is something you should definitely check out. Almost like one huge online community, MyBlogLog has a ton of features that bring bloggers and readers together.

Every time you visit a MyBlogLog-enabled site, your details are remembered. You can then choose to become a member of that blog’s community (see the sidebar plugin on this blog), connect with the blog author, or see other like-minded readers and connect with them.

You can also display all your online identities, so anyone using MyBlogLog can connect with you there as well. The only real downside is that you need a Yahoo account so it may not be for everyone. (If you’re on MyBlogLog, you can connect with me here).

These are just three tools that offer bloggers a great way to connect. There are a few more, and I’ll be looking at some of these in a future post.

How about you? Do you use any of these services? If so, what do you think about them? Or are there others that you’d recommend?

Connecting the Dots originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

I may be the bus driver, but you’re the passengers that make the journey so enjoyable.

So, just to cement our community that little bit more, I’d like to get to know you better. For the community to get to know you better. So here’s the deal:

1. If you had to choose one blog post to offer everyone a view of who you are, what would it be?
2. Why this post?
3. If you don’t blog, where else can we find you online? Do you mind sharing and connecting?
4. Tell us one thing about you that might surprise us.

That’s it. But here’s another quick favour to ask. If someone shares a blog with us, let’s make sure we visit it. And if we like it, let’s make sure we subscribe. After all, isn’t that what our community is all about?

Over to you – the comments are yours. Tell us about yourself. I’m going to get comfortable so I can enjoy getting to know you.

photo credit: Ethan Hein

Introduce Yourself originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

Now, instead of trying to remember where you are and trying to get all that info to someone who asks, it’s all in front of you. Signing up is easy and then it’s just a matter of updating your account with your networks.

While similar ideas have been done – MyBlogLog, for example – what I like about Zooity is that it offers less popular networks that other sites often leave out. It also breaks them down into niches and sub-genres, so you have video, music, social bookmarking, blogs and more. You can also customize a network if it’s not on Zooity and add it yourself.

There are a couple of things that could improve. If you’re checking a link and hit the back button, it appears to duplicate the entry. Also, it looks minimalistic at the minute. This may be the design plan and if so, fair enough – yet it’d be nice to be able to customize your page a little.

Still, these are very basic quibbles on what’s an otherwise cool little service. When you take into account that Zooity creator James Cross is only 19, then it’s even more impressive and something well worth checking out.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment and subscribe to my RSS feed or via email to ensure you can enjoy the latest updates.

Find Your Online Home at Zooity originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

For anyone that’s connected to me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ll have probably noticed that my profile avatar for both sites is blacked out.

Far from being the results of a broken browser, it’s blacked out for a reason (the basic gist is a week-long protest at planned Internet laws in New Zealand). It’s led to questions why it’s blacked out, which has led to more knowledge about the cause it’s in support of – so, that’s good, right?

Not necessarily, it would seem.

One of the reactions my avatar received today was the suggestion of a principle-based unfollow on Twitter because my face wasn’t on show. Ari Herzog, someone I have shared numerous great conversations with, mentioned that I wasn’t being transparent or authentic. My avatar being black meant I was hiding. Does an avatar say all that?

One look at my Twitter profile shows you all the main information you need to know. Name, company, what I do, contact details, blog, website – basically the works. So that should cover the transparency angle. As far as authenticity goes, I’d hope that this would be down to people’s opinions through their interactions with me, rather than an avatar.

But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the real power is in the avatar? Certainly, my blacked out one has raised many questions so people obviously notice any changes. So what’s your take?

Is the power in the picture, or the words behind the picture?

photo credit: Torley

Picture Perfect (Or The Power Of The Avatar) originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

Allowing you to record a video snippet and then have it displayed on your Twitter page for any new followers or visitors to see, bubbletweet is simple and fun – always a good combination.

It also has a lot of potential for both personal and corporate branding. Imagine being able to tell followers your latest news or information, but instead of tweeting it you can say it?

It also offers a further personal touch to the already social Twitter experience – giving your followers a look into who the person behind the bio is.

Since bubbletweet uses a custom URL to host your video message on, the best way to use it is as a link from your blog, website or email signature. Once your visitors have seen the video and the bubble window closes, it then reverts to your normal Twitter URL so you control its use.

I’ve seen this application used on blogs before, but not Twitter. It’s a great little tool and I recommend you check it out, as well as Kevin’s Twitter profile for an example as well as other apps he’s created, while I disappear to record my own message. Look forward to seeing yours.

Is BubbleTweet The Coolest Twitter App Yet? originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.