What is TechCamp?

TechCamp Memphis the bi-annual Memphis tech, social & online marketing conference. Spring ’12 TechCamp will be held May 12, 2012 in the Bornblum Library at Southwest Tennessee Community College (Macon Campus). Doors open at 7:30 am, with the conference running 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

The Spring ’12 TechCamp has 3 tracks: Developers, Content Creators & Curators, and Online Marketing. Session topics can be found HERE. Click on titles for descriptions of sessions.

How do I register?

Registration is through Eventbrite there may still be a few discount tokens available. Use “joe” for the coupon/discount code, while it lasts.  You can also register at the door.

I will be presenting

Not that it’s any huge deal, but I will be participating on a panel with Liz Jostes and Beth Sanders on Social Media Strategy.  I will also be prepared to do a short Introduction to Google Plus.  You may have noticed that I am advocating (maybe even evangelizing) Google Plus.  I figure when prominent social media folks like Brogan, Scoble and Kawasaki are strong proponents, Google + deserves a closer look.

Networking

I have been to a lot of  ”camps”, and I can guarantee you 2 things: 1) You will learn things that will improve your business, your knowledge, or just make you a better person; and 2) You will benefit from NETWORKING with everyone who interests you.  There are no elitists at TechCamp, so feel free to approach anyone, discuss your ideas,  and get to know them better.

See you there!

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

Screenshot of DiggDigg bar from Mashable

Here’s a new mantra – to the tune of  Beyoncé’s Single Ladies: If you liked it, then you shoulda put a +1 on it.

The Mashable post, Growing up Google: How Cloud Computing is Changing a Generation is all about Google.  as you can see from its DiggDigg bar at the left,  it got 131 Facebook Likes, over 1,500 tweets, 291 LinkedIn shares, and 433 Stumbleupon shares; yet this post about Google got only 9  Google  +1 s.

I am perplexed that readers make the mouse click effort to share to other platforms, yet neglect the +1 button.  Many of  us Google proponents would rather have the +1 as a show of appreciation than the FB Like.  It’s just one little  mouse click. Why not give it a try right now:

New functionality of the +1 button now allows for a direct share to your Google Plus feed, if you have one, with just one more click.  Believe it or not, lots of folks are using Google Plus regularly,and Google is looking at where those +1′s are going.  So don’t be stingy with your +1 love.

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

 Tech Camp Memphis happens Saturday May 12, 8:30AM-4:30PM.

This is not your marshmallows around the campfire kind of camp, but more along the lines of  of BarCamp, an open-format, UN-conference, driven by volunteers.  TechCamp Memphis will have a little more structure with 3  pre-defined tracks running simultaneously.  There will be something for Memphis techies across the spectrum, from newbies to developers.

The Tracks

Developers – for the true geeks, topics could include  sessions like: Data encryption, Developing against SQL injection and other hacks, Mobile payment development, jQuery primer, .Net, PHP, Native mobile apps, etc.

Content Creators, Curators, and Consumers – Bloggers, podcasters, musicians, film makers, photographers – those who create and those who sift through the infinite amount of content on the web and try to make sense of it all.

Small Business Builders – Online marketing across a wide spectrum of skill and experience levels, including the most popular social media platforms; geared to small business do-it-yourselfers,  those managing online engagement for others, and  individuals wanting to learn more about social media and online marketing.

 Sponsors Needed

Does your company want to sponsor a cool even, targeted to Memphis’ tech community?  Sponsorships are available at all levels.

Presenters

Are you knowledgeable in a tech topic, advanced or basic?  Would you like to volunteer to present or facilitate, let us know. Click here to volunteer

Location

The beautiful Library at Southwest Tennessee Community College! Thanks STCC!

5983 Macon Cove
Memphis, TN 38134

Time: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Doors open at 7:30 am.

Stay in touch

Follow us on Twitter @techcampmemphis and our  Twitter Hashtag #TCMEM for the latest information.  On Facebook  at Facebook.com/TechCampMemphis .   Google+ or the  Website - http://techcampmemphis.com

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

[Joe Spake Weblog Blast from the Past -Originally posted October 4, 2009 - and not much has changed]

Recently I attended a brainstorming session sponsored by a local business to help the decision maker decide how to move forward with the organization’s implementation of Social Media.  The decision maker had little more that a conversational grasp of Twitter, Facebook, etc, and there he was at the table with the local SM literati. A conversation like that can quickly get esoterically out of hand, especially for those decision makers who are at the you know something is happening but you don’t know what it is, do you Mr. Jones? stage.

This video will first have you ROTFL;  but you will go back and listen to the words and message again. Caution: Strong Language!

It seems that everyone who can figure out how to open a Facebook account or do a few Tweets is a social media expert these days, and if they want to bill at a higher rate, they are gurus.  Almost everyone  seems to be jumping on the bandwagon that’s running down the yellow brick road to a gold mine. It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon, but it takes a little more effort to book passage on the Cluetrain.

I am not criticizing Social Media consulting .  I really believe that the Integration of Social Media into PR , Marketing and Advertising is vital to business. The question is which thought leader do you follow? I oftenre-read and  link to Geoff Livingston and Beth Harte’s Top 25 ways to tell if your social media expert is a carpetbagger.

There has been an interesting conversation on the RE.net about the most influential social media users in the real estate business.  The analysts make lists based on statistical data, and now Inman News is having a popularity contest (Oh please vote for me so my ego won’t be bruised any more than it has already been by not being included on the other lists). The big question is Who Cares?  Are there really no better ways of measuring credibility and competence than inclusion on a list? [2012 -well, now we have Klout and Kred, but is that much better?]  If I were hiring a SM guru, or reading his/her posts, or considering buying his/her books, or advising a client on how to make the choice, I would refer back to Livingston and Hart’s 25 ways and other posts along the same theme, like this one from Terry Ellwood or this one I wrote a while back.

Now, write me a check for 5000 Euros and I will say adios.

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

According to eMarketer, US spending on online advertising will exceed spending on print advertising for the first time in 2012, and the trend will continue as advertisers find more value online.  Online advertising  spending in 2012 is predicted at $39.5 Billion, compared to $33.8 Billion for all print advertising.  By 2016, the projection is  $62B for online vs. $32.3B for print.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, more and more of us are getting news and information online.  Think of how much time you spend online – work, research, news gathering, social media, compared to the amount of time you spend with print media – newspapers, magazines.  I think it’s obvious that print advertising will not be making a comeback.

What’s your opinion?

Related Articles:
US Online Ad Spend to Close in on $40 Billion – emarketer.com
US advertisers to spend more on digital than print: study – breitbart.com
Online Ad Spending to Surpass Print for First Time in 2012 [STUDY] - mashable.com

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

UPS came up with this catchy holiday jingle.

When its planes in the sky for a chain of supply that’s logistics.
When the parts for the line come precisely on time that’s logistics.
A continuous link that is always in sync that’s logistics.
There will be no more stress ’cause you’ve called UPS, that’s logistics.

It’s a pretty high impact ad.  We hear the word logistics more often these days than we used to, especially here in Distributionville, Memphis, Tennessee.   Bottom line: Logistics is Getting Stuff There – from origin to destination.  So here is my holiday logistics story.

Time Line

December 3 – I sent some .jpg files to Snapfish for normal 4×6 prints, requesting standard shipping.  I like Snapfish; they are efficient, quick, inexpensive and produce good quality prints.  In this case, though,  it took them 10 days in the lab.

December 13 – Snapfish turned my completed order over to Streamlite (a logistics company).  Streamlite tracks the packages they handle.  The best I can tell.  They find the best shipping solutions for companies like Snapfish (That’s Logistics!).  According to Streamlite’s tracking, my package arrived in Memphis 2 days later.

December 15 – Scan reads Location: “Jet Cove Annex 381″   “Activity: Accepted by USPS“.  Obviously the package had made it to Memphis.  There are 2 notes under the scan info: “Expect delivery in 2-4 business days.” and No further events will be provided for this package.”   Might as well have said, “not our problem anymore.”

December 19 – Began to look real hard for the package.   Asked a USPS employee, who didn’t seem familiar with the Streamlite process.  Another USPS employee referred me to USPS.com.  After a number of emails to Snapfish, they refunded my order.

December 20 – Called Streamlite to inquire what could have happened to my package since it had arrived in Memphis 5 days before.  A very polite customer service rep empathized nicely and told me they had no control after turning a package over to USPS.  She also told me they had been advised by USPS, that packages Streamlite rendered to USPS might not be delivered for 10 days.

December 22 – I related all this to Snapfish via email, and they advised to give it 2 more days, and if it didn’t arrive, they would re-ship the order priority.

December 23 – Package Arrives

[note: during this same time period, I ordered a camera part from Shanghai, China.  It was shipped China Post-USPS, and arrived in 12 days from order date.]

A three-way fail

So if I were the type who gets angry at such things, who would I blame for this 20 day turnaround?   Snapfish took 10 days just to process my order.  Streamlite seems to have done their job efficiently, but readily denies responsibility beyond the time they had the package in their possession.  They did put the bulk postage on the package turning it over to the post office as “Standard Mail”.   The USPS’s estimated time of delivery (from the usps.com site) is 2-9 days, however it includes the disclaimer “The USPS does NOT guarantee delivery of Standard Mail”.  So USPS met their rather loose commitment, getting the package to me 8 days after they accepted it.  So everyone’s cool, right?

Well, that’s logistics!

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

Pre-release advertising for the Kindle Fire is very impressive. I am interested in checking out the Fire’s browser feature as well as usefulness of the apps. Amazon is taking pre-orders for the Kindle Fire’s November 15 release. I predict Amazon won’t be able to keep up with holiday orders. Check it out and pre-order here:

Kindle Fire, Full Color 7″ Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi

Price: $199.00

(17 customer reviews)

17 used & new available from $174.99

(affiliate link)
[reposted from spake.com]

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

As more and more people adopt Twitter as a viable communications platform and follow more Tweeters, time and information management becomes an issue.  The twitter lists feature is a basic for power users.  Lists let you categorize, prioritize, and group those you follow, and are very useful if you use Twitter clients like Hootsuite or TweetDeck.  I will get into Twitter efficiency, those clients, and more  in some future posts, but for now here’s a quick screen cast on how to make a new list, or add someone to an existing list.

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

MS FrontPage?  Say What?

Websites were the new shiny toys when I got into real estate back in 1996. I was kind of a techie back then, and even though I started my business web presence with a templated, low functioning website, I yearned to design one of my own.  So I designed my first version of spake.com sometime in early 1988 in Microsoft FrontPage 97.  [Disclaimer:  I am currently affiliated with Revid Realty and not any of the companies show in these ancient screen shots.]

spake.com - late 1998 - First screenshot from Way Back Machine

I had no talent for design, but not many others did either.  I just wanted and efficient site that would bring business my way.  Even though the last version of FrontPage was 2003, I think, I hung in there with it until just this month, when I cut over to the WordPress platform.   Here is a short trip down Memory Lane:

spake.com in 2003

spake.com - 2006

I don’t have the very last FrontPage version, but this is the last capture from the Way Back Machine (2009)

spake.com -2009

The all new and improved spake.com is up and running.  Check it out!

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

Soon you will be seeing a lot of these:
[Note: the + button seems to take a while to load in some browsers - If you don't see the button above, try reloading the page.]
I wanted to be an early adopter of the Google + button.  You will see it in the upper right sidebar throughout this site,  and I am sure there will be a plugin soon to put it on individual blog posts.

If you’re wondering what the +1 button is, here’s what Google has to say. +1 is shorthand for “this is pretty cool” or “you should check this out.” Let visitors recommend your pages right in Google search results and help your site stand out.

Google’s answer to Facebook’s Like Button?  Well you are not likely to see Google saying that.  But I am giving it a try.  Click the +1 in the right sidebar, and we will see what happens.

To get you started,Agent Genius brings  a list of things you should know about the Google + Button, or just do a Google search on Google +

Related articles

• Google’s +1, Facebook’s Like & Twitter’s Follow Button (bubblecube.wordpress.com)
• Introducing +1 – Google’s New Like Button (webcontentxpress.net)
• Like Button for Google: +1 (mgitecetech.wordpress.com)
• Introducing Google’s +1 Button! (susanheim.blogspot.com)

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.