Conversational Media Marketing

I was offered a wonderful opportunity that, unfortunately, I had to pass up... a trip to Hawaii to be part of the Aloha Summit, March 18-19, a masterminds workshop on social media hosted by two of the tech and marketing end of the blogosphere's most notable figures, Dave Taylor and Andy Beal.

Here's how Andy describes it...

The Aloha Social Media Summit will be run like a workshop–in the vein of Elite Retreat–and will be limited to just 28 attendees. That way we can guarantee that you’ll come away with valuable, personalized knowledge you can use.

Even though I'm missing out, you don't have to.

If you think this might be something you'd like to attend (considering that it's in Hawaii, who wouldn't want to go), you better get in while the gettin's good. You see, it's limited to only 28 participants.

While the price is steep at $2499, Dave was kind enough to offer the readers of the Conversational Media Marketing blog a discount.  If you use the promo code "chaney" when you register, you'll get $250 off the registration.

Consider what you'll receive... two days of intense training sitting at the feet of masters of social media theory and practice, including Dave, Andy, Roxanne Darling and other experts. (Just think what you'd have to pay these gurus for two days worth of consulting. I bet it would be a heck of a lot more than that!)

Not only that, the event is being held the Hilton Waikoloa Beach, one of the most beautiful conference venues on Earth. And, they'll feed you too!

Why don't you go and register right now before you change your mind. If you do decide to attend, please let me know. Oh, and I expect pictures.

While most everyone else is following the current race for the White House, there is another contest that's captured my attention --, the race for platform superiority between , Pownce and Seesmic. Didn't know such a race was going on? Well, it is, or will be at least.

If you're an Outlook user and a Twitterer, you're going to love this. Now, you can stay updated with Twitter inside Outlook using a lightweight app called OutTwit. (cute name, huh)

OutTwit comes from TechHit, a company that makes utilities and add-ons for Microsoft Outlook.

Here's the blurb...

If you are an Outlook user, you probably have it open all the time. Now you can update your Twitter status and follow your friends without having to open any other applications. OutTwit seamlessly integrates Twitter into Outlook.

I've added it and, let me tell you, it's sweeeet! Now, I can spend all day on Twitter and have it look (to my boss) as if I'm actually checking and responding to email. (I'm sure I can get away with that for at least a week before I'm caught. Never know!)

Say the word "twitter" and , of course, birds come to mind. For many of us, so does a quirky little social networking app  that's taken off in popularity, much to the surprise of many.

I say surprise, because many people have yet to figure out quite what is supposed to be. According to the , it's a "service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

Only thing is, nobody answers that question. Which, in my view, tells me that Twitter is an app open to interpretation. It can become almost whatever you want or need it to be... so long as you can express your message in 140 characters or less. That's because it was designed to be used primarily via SMS (text messaging) or IM, which it's not. Most people use their Web browser.

After a long, dark and rainy drive, I made it to the event, Got Social Media. The conference is about to start (I think) and, apparently, folks in Houston get social media because there's a bunch of folks here.

I did meet one of the organizers, Erica O'Grady, who is wearing a pink boa (not sure why, but you can't miss her!). Anyway, here's some video for your enjoyment. BTW, this is the first such event to be held in Houston.

Anyone that knows me can tell anyone who doesn't that one of the driving passions of my life is to evangelize and teach about how to use blogs and conversational media as a marketing tool. It is my distinct privilege, therefore, to announce that I've successfully converted my beloved spouse,  Amie, to join the blogosphere.

She's blogging over at Active Rain, the preeminent real estate social network. And, even though Amie has just started, she's already the 2nd highest-ranking member in our local parish (that's Louisianan for "county"). The #1 spot goes to....well...to me. Yea, we've got Lafayette parish pretty well locked up!

Even though I no longer blog there, during my days with real estate technology firm Blogging Systems I managed to rack up quite a few points during my stint. (But, enough about me.)

I'm attending a one-day workshop/conference over in Houston this Thursday called Got Social Media. Most of the speakers hail from Houston, so it will be interesting to get their take since social media has yet to really catch on in the south. I'm hopeful Houston is ahead of the curve.

If you happen to be attending the event, please let me know by leaving a comment. I'd like to make your acquaintance in the "real" world as well as the virtual.

I'm a member of the LinkedIn bloggers group where the following question was asked by one of the members...

I have toyed with the idea of merging my e-newsletter & blog, and just going with the blog.  The e-newsletter actually inspired the blog creation, and I used the topics from my newsletter to begin my blog.

My question is this: Have any of you ever merged your blog & newsletter?  If you did, any advice?  Would you do it again?  What would you have done differently?

I've blogged about this before, but felt a solid reply was needed again, so here it is...

Show of hands. Who follows links in now more than links in your feed reader?

That question was just raised by Amy Gahran, one of the blogosphere's most prolific bloggers. She confesses to following that practice and, once I thought about it, I realized I do as well.

So, the question is, "why?"