Tuvel Communications Blog: March 2005 Archives

March 31, 2005

The Bad Blogger Manifesto

The Trend Junkie reminds us how good Sean Carton really is by passing along his Bad Blogger Manifesto. Sean makes the very good point that much of what you read today on blogs in insular (bloggers linking to bloggers that tell the same story).

Bloggers would probably say that repeating the story is a way for mainstream media/MSM to take notice. Linking is also a nifty marketing tool. Sean's post reminds me of Michael Gilbert's Email Manifesto. At the time (2001), Gilbert's assertion that "Email is more important than my web site!"was radical.

Anyway, The Bad Blogger Manifesto:

1. I will post what I want, when I want, for whom I want.
2. I will not take ads. Nothing against ads, but the hassle with dealing with them and the ugliness they bring isn't worth the effort.
3. I will not be an outlet for press releases. If you want me to flack for you, pay me.
4. I will not put my life on hold to keep this up. I already have a job. I don't need another that doesn't pay.
5. I will listen to nuts. I like nuts.
6. I will not argue my points. Go ahead and comment, but you ain't changing my mind.
7. I will not worry too much about punctuation, spelling, or grammar. If you don't like it, read something else. You gotta pay me to worry about stuff like that.
8. I will not look at my stats. Ever. If I wanted to worry about circulation, I'd start a real publication.
9. I will not worry about what my employer thinks. I happen to like my employer, but this is MY blog, damnit!
10. I will not not worry about being boring. Or interesting. I'm not writing this to entertain anyone.
11. I will not worry about "trackbacks" or "blogrolls" or "permalinks" or any of that other stuff. I've got enough details in my life.
12. I will not hide the fact that I'm a geek. Or can be really uncool. Or might be interested in stuff you don't think is cool. It's not worth the energy.
13. I will be honest and will not edit myself to make anyone happy. When I write for pay, I'll worry about editing.
14. Trendiness is for people who lack imagination. If it's been covered somewhere else ad nauseum, I'm not going to waste electrons.

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March 30, 2005

Cluetrain free for the reading

I just found the Cluetrain book entiely online and free for the reading. The book has become required reading for bloggers (thanks to Steve Rubel for pointing to Hugh Macleod that pointed to the Cluetrain website).

It doesn't seem that long ago that the Cluetrain boys came to Washington, DC and spoke to Netpreneurs...

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March 29, 2005

A man called Jeff

UPDATES (via Dan Gillmor)

This is the story that keeps on giving. This time, Jeff Gannon's at the National Press Club discussing blogging and journalism!

The National Press Club Welcomes ... Jeff Gannon?

UPDATES: Jay Rosen (Pressthink) has a great piece on the Jeff Gannon affair:

In the Press Room of the White House that is Post Press

Before the certification of "Jeff Gannon" as a White House reporter there was the Bush Administration's de-certification move against the Washington press. These two things are deeply related.
=============
Have you been following the Gannon/Guckert story? John Aravosis has it all and then some here. I wonder what appeal this story has beyond the beltway...

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Open Standards – A Call To Action

NTEN stands for Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network and is an organization that "works to support the diverse people and organizations who help nonprofits understand and employ technology effectively".

Their blog has an interesting post on open standards:

Open Standards – A Call To Action
http://nten.typepad.com/forecast/2005/02/open_standards_.html

Despite recent innovations, technology in politics and the social sector too often limits rather than enables people and organizations to collaborate, share information, and solve problems.

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March 25, 2005

Podcasts Serve Up Uneven Audio Buffet

And, yet another article about John Edwards Podcast

Podcasts Serve Up Uneven Audio Buffet (WashPost- free reg req'd)

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Many Advertisers Find Blogging Frontier Is Still Too Wild

Cindy Webb points to a (free for 7 days) WSJ piece on blog advertsing and citizen journalism:

Many Advertisers Find Blogging Frontier Is Still Too Wild

Blogs' reader commentary can take unpredictable turns -- which is why it takes a thick-skinned company to experiment in this medium. On Weblogs' Autoblog and Engadget blogs, some ads are followed by a link that says, "Comment on this automobile," or "Comment on this product/service." On Engadget, 24 readers did just that, offering praise, suggestions and criticism about the ad and the products for Griffin Technology, a Nashville, Tenn., maker of Apple accessories.

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March 22, 2005

Word-of-Mouth Marketing: Temper Your Enthusiasm?

Pete Blackshaw, of Intelliseek wrote an interesting column on the challenges of the still nascent online word-of-mouth marketing movement. it seems that this business is quickly being divided into those that do things the right way and not.

Now, it's just a matter of figuring out what 'the right way' is.

This reality, consumer opinion on multimedia steroids, threatens to hold advertisers to a much higher level of accountability. Try to deceive or trick the consumer with sketchy ad claims, and blog-fortified "copy cops" go to work. Screw the consumer, and search engines will remind the world of your stupidity for eternity by ranking the most scathing testimonials at the top of the search shelf.

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Every Child Matters Uses the Internet to Get Out the Vote

Here's the link to an article we penned for Convio's current newsletter. This article is on a recent viral, list building campaign we executed on behalf of Every Child Matters- a children's advocacy group based in Washington, DC.

Every Child Matters Uses the Internet to Get Out the Vote

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LISTSERV Choice Awards

disclaimer: L-Soft powers AdMarketing, and other Morino Institute lists that I'm involved with. I also like the company.

L-Soft, the email management list company, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with the LISTSERV Choice Awards. The Awards recognized the "seven most interesting, creative and innovative LISTSERV e-mail lists in the world".

The award list is interesting. DorothyL: A Unique Community of Mystery Lovers won the The E-Mail Community Award Winner. The other study to check out is: E-Mail Marketing Award: Stockholm International Fairs.

"Today our database contains over half a million registered email addresses of visitors who receive their exhibition tickets and other information via the Internet," explains Kinna Jonsson, project manager at Stockholm International Fairs. "By using email we are able to deliver customized information and new services to optimize visitors' experiences."

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March 21, 2005

Awards Salute Best in Blogging

More blogging news from The Post: Awards Salute Best in Blogging

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March 20, 2005

Yahoo! actually does acquire Flickr

I think I speak for everyone when I ask: How much did you guys get??? :P

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March 19, 2005

More PR Than No-Holds-Barred On Bosses' Corporate Blogs

The Washington Post says that company blogs have a long way to go. The Post also says that most CEO's 'don't get it' and try to use the blog as a repositioned press release. It sounds like corporate PR depts. also have a long way to go on the education curve...

The issue is still control with Corporate America~~, sometimes with good reason,~~ unwilling to give it up.

More PR Than No-Holds-Barred On Bosses' Corporate Blogs (free reg req'd)

Web logs -- or blogs -- started as a way to talk about new technologies, vent about life and interact in a no-holds-barred forum. Since blogs became the next big thing, an increasing number of companies have come to see them as the next great public relations vehicle -- a way for executives to demonstrate their casual, interactive side.

But, of course, the executives do nothing of the sort. Their attempts at hip, guerrilla-style blogging are often pained -- and painful.

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March 16, 2005

Creative Commons Is Rewriting Rules of Copyright

Link: Creative Commons Is Rewriting Rules of Copyright (free reg req'd)

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- When Chuck D and the Fine Arts Militia released their latest single, "No Meaning No," several months ago, they didn't try to stop people from circulating free copies on the Internet. They encouraged it.

The result has been the creation of a flood of derivative work ranging from classical twists on the hip-hop piece to video interpretations of the song. The musicians reveled in the instant fan base. They were so pleased that they recently decided to publish their next entire album, due later this spring, the same way, becoming the first major artists to do so.

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March 14, 2005

Low-Literacy Users

Jakob Nielsen's current Alertbox column: Low-Literacy Users has implications for users with disabilities and a host of others as well. More:

Long experience shows that improving usability for users with disabilities typically increases usability for non-disabled users as well. Similarly, improving websites for lower-literacy users can also help higher-literacy users. That said, some sites are targeted mainly at higher-literacy users:

* B2B sites that target business professionals, managers, and decision-makers
* E-commerce sites that sell expensive or intellectual products
* The public relations and investor relations areas of corporate sites
* Content sites that cover scientific or other advanced topics
* Intranets for knowledge workers

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March 12, 2005

Ten Reasons Why Blogging is Good For Your Career

Tim Bray, of Sun Microsystems, has an interesting list of Ten Reasons Why Blogging is Good For Your Career. His blog also carries an interesting disclaimer (read it on lexBlog):

I work at Sun Microsystems. The opinions expressed here are my own, and neither Sun nor any other party necessarily agrees with them.

The list: # 9 Reason Why Blogging is Good For Your Career:

If you’re in marketing, you’ll need to understand how its rules are changing as a result of the current whirlwind, which nobody does, but bloggers are at least somewhat less baffled.

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March 11, 2005

When will Microsoft finally start "getting collaboration?"

A great perspective on the Groove Networks aquisition by Microsoft comes from leading community builder Nancy White:

Microsoft buys Groove... do you think they will get colaboration now?

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March 10, 2005

Technology Columnist Shannon Henry Leaving The Washington Post

Say It Ain't So... Shannon Henry leaves the Post tech scene... Goodbye (saw it on Potomac Tech Wire)

For those of us fortunate to have lived before and after the bubble, Shannon Henry was an anchor in the storm. We followed the newsmakers and trends through her weekly column. We'll miss you (and your ink) Shannon. Good luck on the newest book!

Wonder if Shannon will start a blog like Cindy Webb did?

I'll be watching to see if and how this new future takes hold, but I won't be writing about it in these pages. After seven years, this is my last Download column. I'll be working on my second book and be mom to a young child. I will still write occasionally for The Washington Post. You can continue to read about the local tech scene by following the work of my colleague Ellen McCarthy. What I'll miss most is the day-to-day interaction with readers. I've enjoyed a great conversation with all of you about Washington's high-tech culture, and I thank you enormously for being part of it.

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KFC opera

Now that the BK Subservient Chicken Campaign had been dissected, it's only fair to take a look at a recent KFC opera campaign (compliments of BrandShift)

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Bloggers, Meet the Pod People

Steve Rubel beat me to the punch by pointing out Leslie Walker's Washington Post colum n on podcasting and bloggers. Interesting article, more interesting podcasts found here and here.

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March 09, 2005

Recommendations on RSS/Really Simple Syndication Readers?

A recent post to the AdMarketing list:

Hi everyone-

On a recent trip, I pulled up my RSS/Really Simple Syndication newsreader only to find that all of my web feeds were missing! This means that all of the content that I was automatically getting at the press of a button was gone for good. These days, loosing your web feeds is kinda like loosing the inbox. I was using the FeedReader newsreader...

Anyway, does anyone have recommendations for a newsreader that you like? Some of the popular brands: feedster, bloglines, newsgator. If you send me recommendations directly or even post them to my blog, I'll return a list of AdMarketing favorites. There are many newsreaders out there (link to a list follows). It would be good to see what other AdMarketers are using.

March 08, 2005

What is community?

commoncraft points to an interesting conversation on Corante's group blog, BrandShift. The intro post by Jennifer Rice is good, the comments are great.

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Blogs Draw a Blank, Mostly

It's been the year (or so) of the blog, which is funny because most Americans say they are not familiar with the online sites.

That's the conclusion of a new CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, which found that nearly three-quarters of the public -- 74 percent -- is "not too" or "not at all" familiar with the sites.

this quote is actually part of a larger Washington Post story on the new DemsTV.com: Democrats to Launch An Online Talk Show (thanks to AMERICAblog for the pointer)

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March 07, 2005

But, did it increase sales?

Dissecting BK's 'Subservient Chicken' Campaign
(as seen on MarketingVOX)

NEW YORK On April 8 of last year, something odd emerged on the Web: a chicken dressed in garters that could do seemingly any command viewers requested.

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Why doesn't KMWorld have an RSS feed?

Recent meetings with government contractors has led me to KMWorld; a good place to find out about trends and technologies in the knowledge management space.

I'm thrown for a loop though. One place that I surely thought to have an RSS feed would be a publication on knowledge management and collaboration! Problem is that they don't have a feed, making it more difficult for me to get to their content.

I could always order the print publication but may risk tossing it in with the other magazines that "I don't have time for". This is a good magazine-- I'll have to try and remember to visit the website each month.

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March 03, 2005

XBRL

I was at a business lunch today and there was a fellow there from Business Wire. He told me that XBRL/eXtensible Business Reporting Language is very hot when it comes to distributing news. More:

XBRL is a language for the electronic communication of business and financial data which is set to revolutionise business reporting around the world. It provides major benefits in the preparation, analysis and communication of business information. It offers cost savings, greater efficiency and improved accuracy and reliability to all those involved in supplying or using financial data.

XBRL stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language. It is one of a family of "XML" languages which is becoming a standard means of communicating information between businesses and on the internet.

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March 02, 2005

Blogs Keep Internet Customers Coming Back

BL Ochman points out an interesting WSJ article on... blogging. The writing's been on the wall for some time now. The smart marketers know that the business of marketing and communications has changed. Value is in, in-your-face marketing is out.

Blogs Keep Internet Customers Coming Back

It's a new way of communicating, rather than marketing," says Charlene Lee, an analyst at Forrester Research. Like other forms of publishing, blogs attract the largest audiences when they avoid overt commercialism and deliver compelling and credible content, Ms. Lee says.

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