DogBalls Blog

Woodstock 2.0 Expo

After spending a week with family in up-state New York and with the BlogHer Business conference fresh on the brain...I had an idea. One that I'm excited about and that I hope resonates with others in the Internet community.

Woodstock is a town in upstate New York and is best known for what DIDN'T happen here... The Woodstock Music Festival took place about 70 miles away in Bethel, New York after the town elders of Woodstock passed on the idea of having one million (the expected number) revelers dragging mud all through town.

Despite their unwillingness to be a part of 60's History, Woodstock has its own identity as an Artist's Colony that makes for a very welcoming community that embraces the arts...all of them...including film, music (and internet.) See where this is going yet?

What is Woodstock 2.0 Expo?

In collaboration with a very successful film festival, in its 8th year (dogballs!...it's bashert) The Woodstock Film Festival has agreed to partner with me to develop a conference that will begin one day before the main festival and be dedicated to the internet topics that most interest me, my business associates and friends. SXSW started w/ music and so did this festival. ;-)

I'm inspired by past  "un-conference" conferences like: Chris Pirillo's Gnomedex, Noah Kagen's Community Next, Jory, Elisa and Lisa's BlogHer Business conference and Mike Macadaan's upcoming, Twiistup. 

Come for the Internet conference and stay for the film festival (or vice versa.) The content will be largely formed by those who want to attend but I've sketched out a rough list of topics on a wiki that focus on SOCIAL MEDIA topics. Please take a minute and share your thoughts in the comments below or within the wiki. The password is: 'millstream' in honor of the stream that runs through the town of Woodstock.

Woodstock 2.0 Expo: One room...no powerpoints...no sales pitches....just [fresh] content and demos. In my estimation, Woodstock is the perfect venue for the list of topics I'm proposing: the sharing of thoughts, ideas, creative insights and all things that are open-source.

The event will take place in the town of Woodstock in mid-October, 2007.  Which topics would you like to see covered? What speakers would you like to see there?

Scottish Golf Course Picture of the Day

DSC01377
Originally uploaded by mil8.

Tee box @ 8th Hole @ St. Andrews Old Course @ St. Andrews, Scotland, 2005.

BlogHer Business oh-seven Wrap-up

The allure of the "un-conference conference" is definitely the opportunity for attendees to network with one-another in an environment that encourages the sharing of ideas with one another. BlogHer manages to fulfill on that promise but does it with a passion that is simply unrivaled in the industry. Perhaps because everyone almost everyone has something in common...they're women.

In two days time I met some very very very talented and entertaining bloggers who were so engaged in the content and interested in connecting with others in their field. It was truly a pleasure to be a part of such an amazing conference. And despite this blog's embarrassing title, I was welcomed with open arms.

HIGHLIGHTS:

+ Shooting the event with flash on-loan from Kirsten Hammond
+ Spontaneous discussions about 'What the heck is Twitter!?'
+ Redefining success metrics for business blogging (Show Me the Money!)
+ del.icio.us auto-post trick
+ Julie Crabill on the Social Media Press Release
+ Google's Vanessa Fox on 'How to build an audience'
+ Yahoo!'s Nicki Dugan on Corporate Blogging
+ "Typepad therapy" from six apart's Ginevra Kirkland
+ Bling/Widget/Badge/Flair/Flare talk at meet the experts
+ Meeting the payperpost team (No...I am not being paid to blog that) ;-)
+ Yahootini's
+ Surprise attendee, Lindsay Campbell from Wallstrip

Special thanks to the entire BlogHer team (especially Jory, Elisa, Lisa and Kristy.) It was a home-run event and we look forward to seeing you all again in Chicago. Whether your're a BlogHer or a BlogHim, you could not pick a better conference to attend in the blogger space.

Blogher Photostream

BUR -> JFK via JetBlue

  wing clouds, sunset 
  Originally uploaded by jodimarr.

Google goes after CJ

In a move that I would call both elementary (duh! why didn't I think of that) and advanced (how the heck are you going to pull THAT off?) Google raises a giant middle-finger to both affiliate networks like Commission Junction and to all the arbitrageurs out there who make a business out of using search to power their affiliate network profits.

Google announced today yesterday that they are creating a new marketplace to go along with CPC (cost-per-click)... PPA (pay-per-action.) Advertisers will now be able to cut out several middle-men in their efforts to drive maximum ROI. It's a great move that will do many things, including drive up effective CPC's for Adsense/Adwords because advertisers will no longer be as dependent on the middle-men. Great strategic move...we'll now just have to see how the advertisers and publishers respond to the offering. [I can only imagine how the affiliate networks are.]

PHOTO SOURCE: Niall Kennedy

Dog Destruction Photo of the Day

  Lola's chew toy 
  Originally uploaded by mil8.

Half-way through dinner tonight I realized that I left my money-clip and wallet at home. "Eating for Free" was not the first thought that came to mind. It was "OMG...Lola is going to eat my wallet."

Well...luckily I scooped up my wallet earlier this afternoon to the office to order up some new MOO cards. (So you could say that MOO saved my wallet from certain destruction at the 'hands' of our sweet Weimaraner, Lola.) The money clip? Not so lucky...

Looks like she didn't swallow anything (this time.) All pieces were present and accounted for....she just went to town on the 1's and 5's. Click through to the flickr pic to get the down and dirty details.

What has your dog destroyed of yours?

Blogging Like a Girl

  Sydney - Vlogging
  Originally uploaded by mil8.

Next week we'll be in New York to attend the inaugural BlogHer Business conference. There has been some recent "blog-buzz" (hat-tip to Chris Pirillo) about the male/female ratio of speakers at industry conferences and this one will surely tip the scales.... BlogHer speakers are *all* women who are experts on their respective topics. I'm looking forward to it. (Yes...men are also encouraged to attend.) Dogballs Blog could use a woman's touch if you ask me...Sydney has been making some recommendations. ;-) Let me know if you'll be in New York next week by posting a comment below.

Food Video of the Day

On the heels of a four-night stay in Austin for SXSW, where my caloric intake was on average 2x my normal (and I'm apparently not alone) I stumbled upon this video of how to cook a steak. I know it's a compelling video when, even after Austin, I still want another steak. MMMmmm...Enjoy!

SXSW in Review

What a week... music, internet and film all rolled into one overwhelming "un-conference conference", punctuated by official and unofficial parties every night along 6th street and throughout downtown Austin. Standouts from the week included sessions on ad networks for web-publishers, a case-study on the lonelygirl15 phenomenon and mobilizing the masses with SMS, winner of "Best use of an alliteration in a SXSW session" ... two years running ;)

I also managed to catch a SXSW Jury Award winning documentary called, An Audience of One, directed by Michael Jacobs, two musical performances from Chris Pierce and a kick-ass set from The Little Ones at "Yahoo!'s Bar Tab."

The lonelygirl15 (I never caught onto the craze) was interesting because they touched on a couple issues I was curious about, but had never heard them discussed previously. Just how did they create the following initially? If you looked at the lonelygirl15 vlogs they weren't necessarily stand-outs among all other other vlogs that launched daily on youtube. Some have suggested that the professional lighting set-up may have helped; however, that myth was also debunked during the session. (They were just really thoughtful in their set-up and took the time to perfect the lighting...it was not the benefit of high-end equipment.)

1. lonelygirl15 began began 'friending' other youtube users (creating "her" own social network.)

2. lonelygirl15 next began to seek out popular videos and began commenting on them with regularity (creating name-recognition among an even broader audience of those who are viewing these popular videos.

3. lonelygirl15 began posting her own videos and her friends began posting responses and the masses who view popular videos linked through to her after reading her previous comments...the rest is history....huge traffic and a loyal fan-base.

The power of social networks helped lonelygirl15 reach the critical mass the ordinary vlog post could never do. Once lonelygirl15 was "outed" and everyone discovered that she was an actress, the episodic adventure changed and it has now become an "ARG" or Alternate Reality Game in which the vlog has its viewers attempt to solve mysteries along with the cast of the lonelygirl15 world. Like all ARG's, lonelygirl15 blurs the lines between the real-world and "the real-world" fake world and her fans are along for the ride.

Check out all the SXSW pictures on flickr.