WordCamp Victoria 2012
Posted by Paul Holmes in blogging, events on November 14, 2011
I have had the absolute pleasure of hosting WordCamp Victoria for the last 3 years, and we are set to have another one on January 14th, 2012. Unlike the last 2, I am going to speak at this one.
My topic is Social Comment Systems: Integration and Comparisons.
To make it easier for people to comment on your blog, there have been numerous social integrations in the past few years. The goal is to make it easier for people to authenticate themselves, and make it easier to login. So, rather than creating an account at every blog you post a comment on, you can login using Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo!, Google, using your OpenID or other networks where you already have an account.
There are numerous ways to integrate WordPress with various social platforms, including Facebook, Disqus, IntenseDebate and more. I will explore the pros and cons of these, talk about some features people should be looking for, and demonstrate the integration and configuration for Disqus.
The target audience for this talk will be bloggers, web developers, community managers, etc. I will cover the basics, but will also cover the integration, as such I have listed it as an “Intermediate” skill level.
Want to learn more about my speaking, click here.
Still haven’t registered for WordCamp? Click here to register now.
A Subjot about Heello … Well, it’s better than TwitPic!
Posted by Paul Holmes in social media on August 15, 2011
You probably heard the news that on the very same day that Twitter started hosting images directly on Twitter.com, the makers of the popular Twitter picture sharing tool TwitPic also coincidentally launched their new Twitter-like service, called Heello. It had been rumoured for awhile, but we can presume the launch had something to do with Twitter’s new feature.
It looks like a misspelled “Hello,” but if you pronounce it like they say it’s pronounced, it sounds like a place in Hawaii.
Being an easily distracted social media addict, I naturally jumped right in. Hot on the heels of Google+, though, this is getting to be a bit much.
Initially, I like the layout. It’s missing some features from Twitter, but the layout really is superior. It also has real-time feeds that appear automatically (vs. click for more on Twitter.com). It seems to have attracted a zillion teenagers and many fake (though fun) accounts. According to a Ping (that’s Heelloain for Tweet) by one of the developers, they do plan on allowing some of these for-fun accounts to exist, but mark them somehow as “parody” accounts.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t pay much attention, but, as with Google+, the growth rate out the door on this new service is astounding (though not as astounding as Google+). According to the Twitter feed (irony there?), it’s growing by about 100,000 accounts per day. Not bad for week 1. We’ll keep our eye on this one!
I figure the key ingredients to launching a new platform are:
- A nicely designed, simple to use User Interface (check)
- Persistent user growth in order to reach critical mass (check)
- Lots of buzz (given the launch date, and the company launching it, check)
Twitter, once the darling of third-party application development and tools, has been slowly “integrating” many features into the “core” product, including an official iPhone and Android app, the List feature, shortened links, and now, images. In all cases, however, they still permitted the third-party apps to co-exist. Nonetheless, tools like TwitPic, Tweetphoto and even Flickr are bound to see some traffic drop with this latest development.
Of course, many Twitter clones exist, and some have come and gone:
- Identi.ca is one of the first, and it’s still around. The user interface is a bit nerdy, but it works well.
- Jaiku is still kicking.
- meme from Yahoo! is nice, but it hasn’t caught on.
- Plurk has also been around for ages, and still is.
- Sadly, Koornk, YouAre and Utterli are no longer with us.
- And now, there’s another Twitter clone called Subjot. It has some cool twists, like categories.
- Did I miss any? Add your favourite of today or yesteryear to the comments.
Population of Facebook Now Exceeds Population of G7
Posted by Paul Holmes in business, internet, social media on June 27, 2011
Mashable has declared the population of Facebook – measured in users who have logged in at least once in the last 30 days – is now 750 million.
Much has been made of looking at Facebook as though it was a country, so you could compare it with others to see which countries have the largest population.
So I thought it was notable that this latest figure exceeds the population of the entire G7 – the (misnomer) Group of 7 most industrialized nations (notwithstanding the latest economic wreckage) – France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States and Canada.
The population of the G7 is 744,342,375, according to Wikipedia.
Of course Facebook has some work to catch up to India, China or the OECD, but at this trajectory, it doesn’t seem that crazy.
Thugs, Cheerleaders or Citizen Journalists?
Posted by Paul Holmes in internet, photography, social media, society on June 17, 2011
The wounds are still fresh in the minds, and on the streets, of Vancouver.
We are angry, frustrated, and embarrassed about what some people made of the beautiful city of Vancouver on June 15th. As people around the world fight for freedom, and against tyranny, we smash cars and windows, ostensibly, because of a hockey game.
Much of the outrage heard on talk radio, the blogosphere, and social media itself, is about the so-called cheerleaders who stayed when the police asked everyone to leave. They kept their cell phones running, taking photos and videos, and posting them.
In social media circles, this could be called live-blogging.
So, did their presence instigate the problem, or were they getting in the way of the Police? Probably a little of both.
But the larger question is this: In an age of Citizen Journalism, were they Citizens or Journalists?
I guarantee that somebody will offer as defense in court over the next few months that they were exercising journalistic freedom by staying after the police asked them to leave.
After all, the traditional media didn’t leave. They were doing a public service, right? And, yet, no doubt, their presence inspired the rioters to continue, too.
Here’s the reality: There’s no Press Pass for a riot.
So where do we draw the line? If you have a popular blog, are you a journalist? If you have a Facebook page, are you a journalist?
Can you see police announce over a loudspeaker: If you have a Klout score below 62, you must immediately leave the area.
We’ve seen numerous other “publishing” laws apply to individuals (typically to the Facebook user’s surprise and detriment). In this case, we will see push back from self-styled citizen journalists who claim their presence was no different than the TV camera, or the newspaper photographer.
Are they correct? I suppose this will be for the courts to decide.
I’m willing to bet some lawyer with a name to make will drag this one as far up the court system as possible. I anxiously await the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in 2015.
As a total aside, love them or hate them, much of the citizen journalists’ content is helping police catch the real instigators.
Photo by Rebecca Bollwitt
Canadian Election Choices … in song.
Posted by Paul Holmes in politics on April 25, 2011
Stephen Harper
Michael Ignatieff
Jack Layton
Elizabeth May
Gilles Duceppe
LinkedIn Answers
Posted by Paul Holmes in business, internet, social media on March 16, 2011
So at Eat. Drink. Tweet. in Penticton this past weekend, I taught a session on LinkedIn. As mentioned in my previous post, I built a Canadian Wine Group on LinkedIn, and it now has 26 members. (One of the things I’ve been working on–quite passively–for the past few years is a wine site. Our company owns Corks.ca, and it’s on rendition 3, but I’m planning rendition 4 in Fall, along the same business model of Foodie.ca, which has been wildly successful so far.)
At the conference, I had all of 70 seconds left to talk about LinkedIn Answers (my session went on a bit long). But pre-conference, I posed a question about wine on LinkedIn, and I promised I’d post an example on my blog.
You can see that in only a few days, I have had 10 really fantastic answers to my question.
Not being an avid user of LinkedIn Answers myself (but working with clients who use it regularly), I was already convinced of it’s value, but I thought I’d take the opportunity to share this with the people who may have been at my session.
LinkedIn or Bust … uh, literally.
Posted by Paul Holmes in business, social media, speaking on March 12, 2011
I’m putting the finishing touches on my presentation for Eat. Drink. Tweet. in Penticton, British Columbia.
It’s all about LinkedIn.
For those of you who follow my blog regularly (thanks, Mom), you’ll remember that I rated LinkedIn #2 overall, and Twitter #1. In the next rendition of my Top Social Media List, I’m certain these will reverse.
Why?
Twitter is great, and I love it to bits, but the reality is there’s more money to be made building a serious business network. And that’s what LinkedIn does the best.
- BONUS: Canadian Wine LinkedIn Group
The Answers app is the best ever, hands down. Forget about Quora, and Yahoo! Answers is history. And Google retired their attempt.
Forget about also ran’s Plaxo, Spoke, and XING. Forget about this Viadeo … just found this one tonight. LinkedIn is the category killer for business networking, just as Facebook is the category killer for personal networking. And Twitter is … well, just awesome … but different.
Check out this cool swag I got in my hotel room…
Thanks to Cannery Brewing, Tinhorn Creek and Black Cloud for the gifts!
There’s a special bonus during my presentation if you can name the person who stated the following:
Unless you’re dying, dead, retired forever, or too young to join, you should be on LinkedIn!
Quite simply LinkedIn is the future of business networking. Period.
Hint: It was me.
Campin’
Posted by Paul Holmes in blogging, events, social media, speaking on January 25, 2011
I wrapped up the one-day WordCamp Victoria 2011 on Saturday, January 22nd. And, without pause, tickets went on sale for Social Media Camp 2011 – with a goal of putting on an absolute top-notch, world-class Social Media event right here in Victoria.
If you were at the last Social Media Camp, the next one will be even better! And longer, with two full days of speakers, networking, workshops and more!
When I got into the tech business 20 years ago, I honestly never thought I’d be organizing events like this. It’s a lot of hard work, but I really do love it!
This past one was the third WordCamp I organized in Victoria, Victoria’s largest to date, and the largest WordCamp in British Columbia history, with about 165 people in attendance. We had 2 panels, 17 presentations, a busy Genius Camp and a busy coffee lounge.
The very cool part was the way people finally started getting the “camp” concept. It’s not a conference; you get what you want out of it, and you help other people learn. In previous WordCamps here, people would make their way from session to session, doing very little networking and very little one-on-one or small group sharing … I saw this totally change this time, and I was so thrilled to see things take shape.
In the feedback, many people mentioned how they enjoyed the Genius Bar the best.
I can’t wait for the next event … June 3rd and 4th at the Victoria Conference Centre. See you there!
Learn WordPress, Support A Great Cause
Posted by Paul Holmes in blogging, events, social media on December 14, 2010
The Cridge Transition House for Women
If you are even half as excited about WordPress as I am, please join!
In conjunction with the upcoming WordCamp Victoria on January 22nd, I am presenting an Introduction to WordPress workshop for our inaugural meeting.
The meeting fee is $20, to be split with the new group, and The Cridge Transition House for Women, an important local charity in Victoria.
So, if you want to support a great cause and learn WordPress all at the same time, this event is for you!
Social Media Presentation in Vancouver
Posted by Paul Holmes in business, events, social media, speaking on November 7, 2010
On October 18th, I was invited by the Cambie Village Business Association to speak about social media for businesspeople in their organization and community. Many in attendance were retailers, but there were several other types of businesses represented too.
I often speak about social media, so that’s not the particularly interesting part.
What was very cool was that it was in an old restored movie theatre – The Park Theatre on Cambie Street. They have a fabulous new projector, and have done a phenomenal job updating the old theatre.
Its also the largest screen I have ever projected PowerPoint on!
A few folks asked for my slides, which are not terribly self-explanatory without the dialog. Here they are:
Next time, hopefully, my name will be in lights!
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