Yesterday I attended my first unconference since being back in Vancouver. Since it wasn't really a topic at the top of my priority list and most of my closer colleagues and friends were not attending, it gave me the opportunity to re-examine the art of live blogging / tweeting / shouting an event.

Since the rise of social media over the past five years, many look to these “live reports” from participants to give a next to live view of what is happening or if any significant announcements are being made. The form of course can be as a full blog post on a hosted site or short bursts or “tweets” using Twitter or the many similar status updating services.

Over the past year, newcomer Foursquare is making impressive roads into the “update” forum through the iPhone and other smartphones… but as a service, it's focus is more primarily on WHERE the updates are being made and not so much on what you are doing. Thoughts and muses, something which has been the focus of Twitter and other services, doesn't seem quite in place there even though a “Shout” feature allows a generic short update no different in any way than a regular tweet.

So SHOULD someone use this when sharing live information from an event or conference?

My initial feeling right now is that it shouldn't. The interface on the iPhone and website for Foursquare really does on the location in every possible way and it is much more difficult to follow the flow of “thoughts” of your contacts, other than their new badges earned or another mayorship they took over from another unsuspecting soul. “Gamish” things followers looking for inspiration don't find very much inspiration in.

I would love to see someone come forward as the poster child of “LiveShouting” of an event. Let's keep our eye SXSW.

Thoughts?

Technorati Tags: foursquare, posting, posts, Twitter

Technorati Tags: 2010 Vancouver Olympics, olympics, vancouver, Vancouver Olympics

Well, it’s another birthday.  Celebration worthy? Lamentable? Meh. Just another candle in an already candle-crowded birthday cake. Right?

The feeling I have this year is simply – gratitude. I have a wonderful partner who I care for dearly and am proud to have beside me through every adventure around the globe. A fabulous extended family who are supportive and loving far beyond the boundaries of family obligation. And I have friends and colleagues… LOTS OF THEM! All over the world. They reach from Nagoya, Tokyo, Kyoto, Sapporo and Osaka, Japan to Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Seattle, San Francisco, St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Milan, Athens, Novosibirsk, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Manila, Durham, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Honolulu and many, many more.

Being a global gypsy has had a price – but it has had far, far more rewards.

I truly look forward to this coming year – and years to come. I feel good about the future and I hope to have the strength and ability to give far more than I ever receive.

Thank YOU for passing by and sharing this brief moment reading this. Cheers and help me blow those candles out!

Technorati Tags: birthday, burning cake, global gypsy, gratitude

This past week Google introduced a new social media service no one saw coming – Google Buzz.  Labeled as the new “Twitter Killer”, thousands of tech enthusiasts buzzed, rebuzzed and commented on each other’s buzzes on how this was something new, fantastic and MUCH better than any other social media service has ever been before. Yah, not quite.

The whole experience reminded me of another “tech frenzy” which occurred in early 2008. Tech Star Kevin Rose had introduced Pownce, a new micro blogging service with features far superior to anything else (at the time Twitter and Jaiku).  It could do links to audio and video, allow for easier conversations, less noise, etc. etc. Sound familiar? While the promise was there, Pownce quietly shut the doors at the end of 2008. Twitter had won.

Granted, this time around a much heavier player is involved – Google. With a large portion of the North American market using Gmail as their de facto email client, it seemed for many a “closer fit” to do what many don’t realize is already being done in other services for quite some time (the most  similar being Friendfeed).  The “instant engagement” factor dazzle many people and soon the day slips away as every single sneeze from recognized names is being liked and commented on.

I don’t like it. Not so much for the form it has taken, but more because it is not where most of MY engagement takes place. It totally makes sense if the big tech names such as Robert Scoble, Leo Laporte, or Loic LeMeur LOVE this platform… it works best for them. They can cough on their keyboards and 65 people from all over the world will ask them if they are OK within seconds. For me, Facebook is my present place of choice where colleagues, friends and relatives comment on my sneezes – and I appreciate that. Oh, I’ll broadcast those sneezes out to the rest of the services through Ping.fm (including Google Buzz) and will attract individual engagement here and there, but it’s not the same. Interesting but different.

I like it when companies like Google push the envelope and try to make present technology better or more integrated. They’re not evil. I’m just a little bit more cautious and cynical when I read comments like “I’m with Scoble. I’m going to do exactly what he does”… for no better reason than, well, Scoble says so.  The only words that come to mind are – TECHSHEEP. Hate ‘em, hate ‘em hate ‘em!

But back to Buzz… my feeling is it will by a part of many people’s  (and company’s) online strategy but in and of itself, it’s not really a game changer. Already the best use I’ve seen so far  has been by Pete Cashmore of Mashable getting feedback for stories being written, which totally makes sense since his blog’s constituency is Social Media. No “follow me because I say”. Just simple “Our writer’s are working on this story. What do you think?” kind of stuff. Totally gets my admiration and respect.

What are your thoughts? Being a “Buzzard” is game changing or just another social media brick in the wall?

Cheers.

Technorati Tags: Buzz, Friendfeed, Gmail, Google Buzz, Jaiku, Kevin Rose, Mashable, Pownce, Robert Scoble, Scoble, social media, Twitter

Even though I’m in the eye of the storm for the Olympics, last night was the first time I truly participated in ANYTHING to do with these events. I chose to participate in the 2010 Olympic Torch Community Celebration in Richmond, Canada.

These festivities, and the remainder to be held during the games, are in Minoru Park, the centre of the municipality. The area has been designated the O Zone, complete with venue facilities and a grand main stage.

Entry into the park was relatively easy and orderly. Admission was free and security felt much more like entering a night club or concert than it did looking for nasties wanting to do something heavier than sneaking a can of beer into the grounds.

Once in, you were immediately hit with the objective of the grounds… one big red maple leaf self-hug. Though the demographics of Richmond are mostly Asian, the majority of the participants were not. It truly was a mixed crowd of both locals and international well wishers wanting to take part in the party to bring in the torch.

Other than a faux pas of calling the venue “Surrey” by the host at one point (to boos in the crowd) and an instrument malfunction for the Delhi 2 Dublin band (which cost 10 minutes of uncomfortable stage silence for the 15,000+ crowd), the evening was fun, fast paced and lively. I truly enjoyed myself, even after getting “bonked” on the head by a rogue Coca-cola crowd beach ball.

The climax of the evening was suppose to be Rick Hansen ride up the stage and lighting the Olympic cauldron. Though it was a wonderful moment, the real fun came in the exit to follow – an absolute disaster. Imagine 15,000 people with children or elderly parents elbowing each other to squeeze through 4 double door exits at the same time. I never felt ANYTHING so chaotic and uncomfortable, even on a Tokyo train in a morning rush hour (which I have experienced many times). Where was the crowd control? Where were the police? The RCMP? I was amazed to see far, far fewer of them than I did when the event started. One middle-aged woman was in tears and obvious discomfort as she sat on the curb outside the door immediately after the squeeze out – her partner comforting her as best he could.

If the exits continue through the Olympics as they did last night, I would suggest to stay away from the O zone if you have smaller children or elderly members of the family. Or at least come and go at the non-peak time to avoid any issues.

To the O zone Richmond organizers – thanks very much for the free party. You did do a great job and I did enjoy myself up to the end. Just clean up that last bit of organizing to avoid any further more serious problems. Please.

Other shots in the area:

Technorati Tags: crowd, crowd control, o zone, olympics, relay, richmond, richmond o zone, rick hansen, torch, van2010