Everybodysagenius’s Weblog

Danger Wheels

Hey Boarders,

I just found out that I am ridin on wheels that were recently recalled by loaded. I just wanted to spread the word.

Taken from Consumer Product Safety Commission:

Description:The recall involves Orangatang “In-Heat” skateboard wheels. They were sold in two styles: 75mm/purple/83a durometer and 75mm/orange/80a durometer. The words “orangatang,” “In Heat,” and the size and durometer are written on the sidewall of the wheel. The wheels were sold in sets of four.

I was ridin the purps. So if you got these wheels send ‘em back. They already have cases of:

The recalled skateboard wheel’s core can shear and blow-out causing the wheel to separate from the skateboard truck’s axle and bearings. This poses a risk of serious injury to riders.

Needless to say, I have to get replacement wheels. But, I wanted to put the word out. Has anyone heard of a personal blowout story? What happened? Also, check out this longboarding forum on the subject and other people’s experiences with these wheels on SilverFish Forums.

Check out more info here.

Ride on,

Will Flavell

Hey Everybody,

If I am ever having a bad day or am really bored. This video always inspires me. It is titled simply and aptly Go Longboard. I hope that you enjoy it. One of the reason that I love longboarding and social media, is the freedom that they provide. They both give you the opportunity to try out new things and to teach yourself by challenging yourself. I hope that you enjoy the video.

Hey Everybody,

I wanted to share this Flickr slideshow for all the skaters in Omaha and all my friends who skate, but have moved away. The sport is alive and well in the city. Longboarding is really picking up steam here too. If you want advice on where to slide and what hills to bomb, drop me a quick comment or an email.

Photo credit: Noahconstrictor on Flickr.

But if you have a minute check out the slideshow here. These are all images submitted to Flickr that have been tagged with skateboarding and Omaha. It is a little city skate who.

Best,
Will Flavell

Hey Everybody

It seems that I hear more and more people saying that there is nowhere to skate in Omaha. Well, check out this site: http://www.nebraskaskateparks.com/.

Above: Roberts Skatepark.

So get out and skate everybody.

Best,

Will Flavell

Hey Everybody,

If you are from the Midwest and reading a blog then you probably heard about BIG Omaha. It was happened last Thursday night and all day and night Friday. It was amazing.

Here is a brief description of the event from the BIG Omaha site:

What happens when the country’s foremost creatives, entrepreneurs and innovators descend on one place? That place explodes. Which is precisely what we plan for Omaha.The energy will be impossible to contain. We will begin building communities, companies and friendships. We will inspire new thoughts and completely new ways of thinking. We will develop visions: personal, shared, and civic.
Speakers will come from some of the most innovative companies in the nation. And you’ll hear fantastic stories from numerous emerging businesses.In the end, you’ll take away a network and an energy that will propel those new connections to greatness. For you. For your business. For your community.
Come to the heart of the Midwest. And let’s rebuild this country from the inside out.

I have to agree, the energy and the connection of an event like this can really spark a community. I am really excited to see what will come in the next few weeks. I wanted to write a quick post to say thanks to Jeff and Dusty for putting this event together. Thanks guys, you really made your vision come true.

I also wanted to share a few quotes from some of the speakers that I really liked. So here goes. A little wisdom from BIG Omaha, in case you couldn’t be there:

Jason Fried of 37Signals
“You know more about a project while you are working on it, then you do before you start.”
“Whenever you make something, you make something else. We are in the business of byproducts. Ruby on the Rails was a byproduct, our book was a byproduct.”
“What can you share? What can you teach?”
“Pay attention to what won’t change. Think of Amazon, they invest in customer service, shipping, selection. Don’t always be chasing the next fad.”
“Nobody gives a shit about Dell.”

Adriana Gasciogne of Girls in Tech
“Of all the fortune 500 CEOs, only 8 are women, but women make up 46.5 percent of the US workforce.”

Micah Baldwin of Lijit Networks
“We all say ‘it was a learning experience’ — no it wasn’t it was a failure.”
“Sometimes the best way to learn to duck is to get punched in the face.”
“It’s about being open to the idea that your plans will change.”

Ben Rattray of Change.org
“If your company didn’t exist, would anyone really care?”

Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV
“The Internet, this platform is going to fundamentally destroy everything (media)…TV is fucked.”
“The middle man is losing the game because the Internet as a platform is changing things.”
“One good business strategy — WIN.”
“I can’t beat math.”
“Everything that I believe in didn’t exist five years ago.”
“If you don’t go out and get it. I will.”

Here is a list of the amazing speakers that came to BIG Omaha. Thanks guys:

1. Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV
2. Jason Fried of 37signals
3. Jeffrey Kalmikoff of Threadless
4. Adriana Gascoigne of hi5 and Girls in Tech
5. Ben Rattray of Change.org
6. Micah Baldwin of Lijit Networks

Best Wishes and see you there in 2010.

Will Flavell

Saw this hilarious video the other day and wanted to share it:

Hey Everybody,

This is me as Bill the Blogger.

If you are a long time reader than you know that I also write a few blogs for clients. One of my favorite projects is coming up this weekend.

It is blog that I write for Borsheims that follows the Annual Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder’s Weekend in Omaha, NE. It is a really great experience. My job is to shoot video, stills and write posts on all of the events of the weekend. I try to provide a surrogate experience to all of the shareholders who can’t come to the event.

The event gets huge numbers of attendance. This year they are expecting more than 35,000 people. It is also a really fun time. Berkshire and Warren Buffett are big search terms during this time period and this blog allows our client to contribute to and gain from some of that high search traffic. Needless to say, the blog gets a lot of hits. Check out this case study from last year’s performance.

Anyway, if you are a reader, I hope that you will check out the blog. And if you are in Omaha, NE this weekend, maybe you will see me at the event.

Best of luck,

Will Flavell

Good Morning Everybody,

I am sitting in a social media presentation today and around every corner, our speaker relates each tool to social capital. So what is social capital.

Well, wikipedia defines social media as:

Social capital is a concept developed in sociology and also used in business, economics, organizational behaviour, political science, public health and natural resources management that refers to connections within and between social networks as well as connections among individuals. Though there are a variety of related definitions, which have been described as “something of a cure-all“^[1] for the problems of modern society, they tend to share the core idea “that social networks have value. Just as a screwdriver (physical capital) or a college education (human capital) can increase productivity (both individual and collective), so do social contacts affect the productivity of individuals and groups”.^[2]

To me, social capital is not about the amount of readership, but the richness of the relationships. I am fine with 10 readers a day on this blog. I am okay with less than 100 Twitter followers. As long as these relationships are real. My power to disseminate information and create motion online is directly proportional to the authenticity and authority of my relationships.

One quick example of what I mean: The other day, I needed to find a social media intern for the marketing company that I work for. In about thirty minutes, I put out a few tweets, a post on our Facebook group and made about three phone calls. In the next few hours I had more than 30 replies back from interested students.

Now if I had just auto followed thousands of people, I would probably have more followers. But I couldn’t expect as much action.

Remember social media tools are not publication and dissemination tools. They are conversation tools. More eyeballs does not equal more market power.

Enjoy,

Will Flavell

@swept14

Hey Everyone,

Omaha, not the town you would immediately think of as the forefront in tech and entrepreneurship, is hosting this amazing event that features both this summer. It is called big Omaha, (www.bigomaha.com). Anyway, if you check out the site you will see that I don’t even need to sell it here cause it is so amazing. I will definitely be there.
Here are just a few of the speakers:

Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk, self-trained wine expert, is revolutionizing the wine industry. His blog, Wine Library TV (affectionately known as The Thunder Show), boasts a cult-like following resulting from his enthusiastic, unconventional, and often irreverent wine commentary.

Adriana Gascoigne

Adriana is the Director of Corporate Communications for hi5. Launched in 2003, hi5 is now one of the world’s largest social networks – ranked as a top 20 website globally and the #1 social network in 31 countries across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. In March 2007, Adriana launched Girls in Tech, an organization focused on touting women’s achievements in tech and beyond.

Jason Fried

Jason is the president and founder of 37signals, a Web interface design and usability consultancy based in Chicago. He spearheaded the concepting, design, and development of Basecamp, 37signal’s web-based project management tool for designers, freelancers, and creative services firms

Jeffrey Kalmikoff

Jeffrey is your average 29-year-old tattooed metal-head with an eye for design and nose for tomfoolery. The focus of his work as chief creative officer for the Chicago-based, community-business-centric skinnyCorp who is best known for their multi-million dollar tee shirt business Threadless.
Matt Mullenweg

Matt is the founding developer of the popular open-source blogging software WordPress and writes a popular blog Photo Matt. After quitting his job at CNET, he has devoted the majority of his time to developing a number of open source projects and is a frequent speaker at conferences. In late 2005, he founded Automattic, the business behind WordPress.com and Akismet

Ben Rattray

Ben is the founder and CEO of Change.org, a social network for nonprofits, political campaigns, and engaged citizens around the world. He’s also a frequent speaker about how organizations and activists can use the social web to advance social change and is a graduate of Stanford and the London School of Economics.

Shira Lazar (Host & MC)

Shira has has worked for companies such as Yahoo!, AOL, Movies.com, Hollywood.com, and Verizon. Recently, she has been the host & moderator for several tech conferences including Twiistup, Digital Family Reunion and Girls in Tech.

It is on May 7th and 8th, and it is only $179 if you register by March 25th.

See you there,

Will Flavell

Hey Everybody,

Haven’t posted for a while, but I just wanted to share a set of guidelines for starting a new corporate blog. Blogging can be an amazing marketing tool. If you are thinking of starting a blog to help interact with your customers/ shareholders. Check out this plan and advice sheet. Hope you enjoy.

OVERVIEW

Listed below are guidelines that will help the you make the most of your new blog. These guidelines will help you to grow your blog into a powerful conversation tool. The guidelines are separated into five easy steps:

Step 1: Listen

The best advice anyone can follow before entering into a new method of communication is to become familiar with the tools and voices within that medium. Before a blog launch:

1. Take a month and read relevant blogs in the blog’s category.

2. Check out competitors’ blogs.

3. Subscribe to podcasts related to the blog’s industry.

4. Find groups on the social networking sites (SNS) that pertain to that industry.

This process can be as easy as visiting directories for each of these mediums and searching relevant keywords or industry stories. You can then follow trending stories and learn who the most popular influencers are in this category. You should join these relevant conversations and subscribe to receive updates from influential content producers. The following tools are suggested as a means to locate relevant discussions in different categories online:

Blogs:
Technorati (blog search engine):
Google Blogsearch (blog search engine):

Podcasts:
iTunes:
Podcast Directory (podcast search engine):

Groups:
Facebook:
Yahoo! Groups:

Once part of a group, your bloggers shouldn’t just sit back and watch. They should take a side on a relevant issue affecting their category. They should put their opinions out there for others to read. Before they begin their own publishing, they should let people know who they are and start building their reputation online. This will help the blog develop a relevant audience when they start to post.

Step 2: Plan

To please both the search engines and readers, it is important to regularly post relevant content. Plan ahead and post often. Make a schedule of who is going to be posting about what topic and when. Stick to that schedule. Try to post two to three times a week. Feel free to post more often if there are many product developments or a lot of news. It will be helpful to identify which blogger is exceptionally passionate early on and make them the default writer.

Ideas on Good Posting Content: Good content consists of breaking news, product innovations, money saving ideas, internal visual content such as photos or videos, humorous anecdotes and personal stands on trending stories in your industry. The best content is original, injected with personality and demonstrates authority.

Examples of Bad Posting Content: Bad content is blatantly self-serving content. Your bloggers shouldn’t spend the whole time talking about their products and services. The posts need to be interesting to everyone. Bad content is also content that meanders without a specific theme. And if the blog lacks focus, it will lack an audience.

Step 3: Socialize

Allow comments on the new blog (it’s not a conversation without comments). Respond to all comments in a timely fashion. Link to other bloggers, outside sources of information, and even competitors. Hopefully, they will link back to the your new blog. By providing a very robust source list, the new blog can become the ultimate source of information for users on this subject. This practice also provides the blog with a lot of valuable links and indexible information, both of which will help increase the new blog’s search engine ranking. If the new blog becomes the best source of information, users will submit the blog to social news-sharing sites, tell their friends and bookmark its stories.

Make social bookmarking and social news-sharing links available. Try to make it as easy as possible for users to share your blog’s content.

The new bloggers should make themselves personally available to their readers. The new blog should provide contact information such as a phone number, email and/or Twitter address to a real person. Once a relationship has begun to flourish online, the bloggers should meet up with their readers in real life. Tweetups, tradeshows, and group lunches offer great outing environments that will help the bloggers further connect with their readers.

Step 4: Customize

Blogs are one of today’s most versatile mediums. In fact, many companies are using blogs as their main Web vehicles. Your bloggers can easily add widgets or applications that do almost anything imaginable to the sidebar of their new blog. Some examples of widgets available today are current weather displays, news readers from major newspapers, games, photo albums and much more. Most of them are free. Visit Widgetbox or Google Gadgets and add them to the side bar of the new blog.

Add RSS feeds from other relevant blogs and online news sources to the blog’s RSS feed blogroll.

Write personal and detailed about-the-author pages. This is an often-overlooked opportunity. Don’t let the descriptive pages sound too corporate or be too short. Many readers will judge the blog’s personality and authority from these pages.

Step 5: Tracking

You should equip your new blog with Google Analytics. This tracking service will allow your bloggers to learn where their visitors come from and how they interact with the new blog. Use this information to research and contact sites that refer traffic to the new blog. Tune the blog to match the most popular keywords available to your industry.

It is also a very smart idea to employ an online reputation management (ORM) tool to follow the most relevant and trending stories within your category. ORM tools can help the your bloggers identify key influencers online and trending stories that the your blog can post on. This will take a lot less time then searching through all the blogs, podcasts and groups manually and is an easy way to inject this new blog into the heat of the most relevant conversations going on today which will help expose the new blog to new readers.

TOP 15 TIPS

1. Read other blogs and follow online conversations.

2. Comment and contribute to online groups and other blogs.

3. Develop a schedule and stick to it.

4. Write about what you know.

5. Write about what you are passionate about.

6. Take a stand on relevant issues.

7. Share photos and videos.

8. Allow comments.

9. Tell a compelling story.

10. Link to many other sites.

11. Go meet people in real life.

12. Customize your blog to fit your readers’ wants.

13. Keep an up-to-date and relevant blogroll.

14. Create a great about page.

15. Track and tune your blog’s messaging.