Join us at an Informal Third Tuesday Calgary Social Media Meetup

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Third TuesdayBrendan Hodgson and I will be in Calgary to speak at a Canadian Institute Conference on Social Media on September 24 and 25.

The prior evening, September 23, we’re planning an informal Third Tuesday social media meetup. We’re hoping to meet folks from Calgary who are interested in talking about the evolution of social media and how Calgary communicators, developers, marketers and designers are adopting and adapting it to serve their needs and those of their communities.

So, if you plan to be in Calgary on September 23 and you’re interested in an evening of discussion with others who share your interest in social media, register to attend at the Third Tuesday Calgary meetup group.

UPDATE: Kate Trgovac will also join us. She’s in Calgary on September 23 to present a day long workshop on social media.

Meet the AideRSS team at Third Tuesday Toronto

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AideRSSSince launching in July 2007, Waterloo-based AideRSS has been generating positive buzz among bloggers and analysts.

AideRSS’ PostRank algorithm provides bloggers and readers with a means to identify the content with which others have become most engaged. This saves readers time, enabling them to filter for only the most engaging content. It also helps content authors to focus on content that their readers want to have.

Now, Third Tuesday Toronto participants have a chance to meet and hear from the people behind AideRSS. Ilya Grigorik, Co-founder and Chief Technology Office, Jim Murphy, VP Development, and Melanie Baker, AideRSS’ Community Manager,  will speak at Third Tuesday Toronto on September 16.

Third TuesdayIlya, Jim and Melanie will talk about how they are building a company around Ilya’s PostRank concept. Melanie will talk with us about the approach she has taken to building and sustaining a community of users. And Jim and Ilya will give us insight into their plans for future growth and innovation.

I’m very big on AideRSS. I think that PostRank could well supply a significant piece of the social media measurement puzzle. And I’m looking forward to this session.

If you happen to be in Toronto on September 16, register online to attend Third Tuesday with AideRSS. Third Tuesdays are always a great place to meet and talk with others who are interested in new developments in social media. And the session with AideRSS will give us a chance to talk with the people behind one of the most promising Canadian social media startups.

Thanks to our Sponsor, CNW

As they have for the past year, CNW Group is once again underwriting the cost of the sound system. This is our largest cost item and CNW’s support enables us to keep Third Tuesday a free community-based event. Thank you CNW!

Read these posts for more background on AideRSS

Melanie Baker talks about the role of community manager at AideRSS

AideRSS’ Journey from Founders’ Dream to Professional Leadership

Ilya Grigorik explains PostRank

AideRSS’ PostRank Measures Engagement

AideRSS at DemoCampToronto14

BlogOrlando – Pulling back the curtain on the mistakes I've made

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BlogOrlandoI’ve been told that the best kind of presentation is one that tells a story with which the presenter has some emotional involvement. If that’s true, then the session I’m leading at BlogOrlando should be a good one.

Josh Hallett has just posted the session description. It reads:

You’re enthused about social media. You see its potential to change the way you and your company relate to your customers, your industry and those who share your interests. And you want to seize these opportunities. So, what do you do?

Joseph Thornley asked himself this question in 2005 as he decided to launch Thornley Fallis and 76design into the world of social media. He will talk about the approach he and his company adopted. What worked? What didn’t? What mistakes did they make? What lessons did they learn? Now, Joseph’s companies are reviewing and revising the way they integrate social media into their existence. Call it Social Media 2.0. How are they changing their approach in the future?

In this session, you’ll gain insight into the do’s and don’t’s of bringing social media to your company. Profit from Thornley Fallis’ and 76design’s experience to gain insight into the pitfalls that you can avoid and the best practices you can adopt.

If you’re anywhere near Orlando on September 27, come out to BlogOrlando and watch me bare my social media soul.

Seriously, Josh has attracted a roster of topic speakers, including Jake McKee, Phil Gomes, David Parmet,  David Alston, Paula Berg, Spike Jones, Chris Thilk and Leah Jones. They’ll be leading four tracks of topical discussion about social media, community, journalism and marketing/PR.

Blog Orlando. Well worth attending.

What topics would you like to discuss at Third Tuesday this year?

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Third TuesdayWe’re extending the invitations to speakers for the first Third Tuesday Toronto and Third Tuesday Ottawa meetups of this autumn’s season.

This year, we hope to feature some of Canada’s best new social apps and the developers and entrepreneurs behind them.

Who would you suggest that we invite to talk about their social apps or Canadian startups? Leave a comment here or in the Third Tuesday FriendFeed room.

Where the Hell is Matt? At Gnomedex, of course!

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Gnomedex 8What makes Gnomedex such a special conference?

It marches to its own drummer – or at least the drummer of the crazy smart, unique Chris Pirillo. Every year, the speakers and participants at Gnomedex are like no other. If anything, it is regularly compared by attendees to Ted.

The speakers on the first day of Gnomedex this year included Danny Sullivan posing provocative questions about the intrusive potential of ubiquitous online search, Ben Huh providing the backstage story of the phenomenal success of icanhascheezburger, sixteen year old Web serial entrepreneur Mark Bao in a discussion about Generation Y with Boomer Francine Hardaway, Beth Kanter and Amanda Koster providing profoundly moving testimonials to our ability to use the Web to do good, conference attendees organizing a drive on Twitter that raised close to $3,000 within less than two hours to help send a Cambodian girl to school and artist Nathan Wade illustrating his use of 3D art to force us to think about … (OK, I have to admit that this one was just a step beyond my ability to keep up. And that`s good, because I want to be challenged beyond the same old same old.)

At what other conference could you find that range of imaginative, thought provoking presenters and subject matter? And that was just on the first day of the conference. (A hat tip to Maryam Scoble who this year worked with Chris and Ponzi Pirillo to assemble the speakers roster.)

And at what other conference would you expect this range of speakers to be featured in a single track? All conference attendees – academics, developers, marketers, Canadians, bloggers, uber geeks – participate in the same experience and share their different perspectives. Truly a unique learning experience.

And what other conference would close with Matt of Where the Hell is Matt fame leading the conference attendees in a mass dance on the conference stage?

If you didn’t make it to Gnomedex this year, take my word, you should plan to attend next year. You won’t be disappointed. Gnomedex is a unique conference that is sure to stimulate your creativity.

Who would you like to hear talk about what they are doing in social media / Web 2.0?

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Who would you like to hear speak at a Third Tuesday social media meetup or the Social Media Breakfast?

Third TuesdayThe volunteers organizing the Ottawa Third Tuesday and Toronto Third Tuesday and Social Media Breakfast are reaching out to our contacts to in order to put together this season’s program. We’re looking for speakers who

  • have something unique and thought provoking to say about social media;
  • are developing social Web apps; or
  • have applied it to community building, communication, public relations or marketing.

Of course, the quality of an event series is driven by the participation of the people who attend. So, we want to invite speakers who you you want to hear address the topics that you find interesting.

We’ve had some great speakers in the past, including: Shel Israel, Shel Holtz, Richard Binhammer, Mathew Ingram, Michael Geist, Mark Evans, Colin McKay, Anthony Williams, Rob Hyndman, Michael McDerment, Saul Colt, Katie Paine, Marcel LeBrun, Stephen Taylor, Paul Wells, Marshall Sponder, Mitch Joel, Alex and Ali de Bold, Darren Barefoot, Jesse Brown, Brendan Hodgson, Giovanni Rodriguez, Danielle Donders, Ryan Anderson, Marc Snyder, David Jones, Terry Fallis, Julie Rusciolelli, Keith McArthur and Martin Waxman.

We’ve established a tradition of great speakers and strong participation from attendees. Please help us to continue in this way. Let us know who you’d like to hear from and what topics you’d like to have addressed.

Can You Help us bring Social Media Breakfasts to Toronto?

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Bringing Social Media Breakfasts to Toronto

Social Media Breakfasts are coming to Toronto.

We have the organizers. We have the will. We have the network to reach out to and attract great speakers. And we know we have a lot of people interested in attending.

Now, we need help with two final essentials.

Can you help?

We need help finding a location in Toronto where we can hold the Social Media Breakfast. Do you have a meeting room or open concept office that could accommodate up to 100 people for a 7:30AM to 9AM meetup? If so, would you consider hosting the first breakfast?

Even if you can’t host the event, would you be able to help us by sponsoring the breakfast or sound system?

What can we give you in return for hosting or sponsoring the Social Media Breakfast? Recognition in blog posts, on the Social Media Breakfast Website and at the event itself. And the sincere gratitude of a large and growing social media community.

About the Social Media Breakfast

The Social Media Breakfast was Launched first in Boston in 2007 by Bryan Person. Since then, it has spread to cities throughout the United States and elsewhere. The concept was brought to Canada earlier this year by Simon Chen, Rob Lane and Ryan Anderson, who organized Social Media Breakfast Ottawa.

Social Media Breakfasts provide people interested in social media and Web 2.0 with an opportunity to network and hear from business leaders and thought leaders.

Who is behind the Social Media Breakfast in Toronto?

Social Media Breakfast Toronto is being initiated by the people who organize Third Tuesday Toronto. The Third Tuesday Toronto community has grown to over 1,000 members who meet once a month after work to hear social media thought leaders talk about the newest developments in social media, online communities, Web apps, marketing and public relations.

We’ve decided to organize a Social Media Breakfast series to meet the needs of Toronto social media enthusiasts who want to network and discuss the latest developments in social media, but who find that mornings are better for this than evenings after work. And for the most committed social media enthusiasts, we can go to both events. 🙂

Over to you

If you can help or know someone who can help us with a location or sponsorship, please leave a comment on this post or send a direct message to “thornley” on Twitter or an email to joseph.thornley [at] gmail.com.

More about the Social Media Breakfast

Recap of Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 1

Mark Blevis podcasted the Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 1

Andrew Alexander’s Flickr photos from Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 1

Simon Chen talks about bringing the Social Media Breakfast to Ottawa

Highlights of Overlay.tv CEO Rob Lane’s presentation at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 2

IABC World Conference rescheduling is a disservice to Canadian IABC members

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Here’s an unfortunate situation. The International Association of Business Communicators has rescheduled its annual World Conference to the same weekend as Canadian Public Relations Society National Conference.

The CPRS announced some time back that the 2009 CPRS National Conference will be held in Vancouver June 7-9, 2009. Now, I’ve received word in the IABC’s member newsletter that the IABC World Conference has been rescheduled to overlapping dates, June 7-10, in San Francisco.

Canadian Public Relations SocietyLike many Canadians, I belong to both the IABC and the CPRS. The principal benefit I receive from these associations is the opportunity to attend their professional development conferences. By attending these conferences, not only do I have a chance to keep abreast of the latest thinking about communications, but I also have a chance to meet and discuss these ideas with other communication professionals from across Canada and North America.

Scheduling these conferences to occur on the same weekend is a terrible waste of resouces and potential.

In this case, it appears to me that the party responsible for this conflict is the IABC, which changed its conference date. Now, some might say that this doesn’t matter. They may see IABC as primarily a US-based organization. But to those, take a look at the number of active IABC chapters in Canada, including the largest IABC Chapter in the world, Toronto.

So, here’s my call to the leaders of the IABC: Serve your members better. Coordinate your conference dates with the CPRS so that your Canadian members can have the opportunity to participate in all of the professional development conferences that you offer.

Update:

I wasn’t alone in my annoyance at IABC’s move. PRWeek reports that “Derrick Pieters, director of communications, Department of Justice Canada, Prairie Region and the North in Edmonton, and CPRS president, said they were surprised, and not initially warned, of the date change. “It is unfortunate there is a conflict, but it was just an unfortunate set of circumstances as to how it happened,” Pieters commented. The article quoted me as saying that “the IABC, as the bigger, international organization, has ‘not played nice in Canada.'”

Help organize the Third Tuesday Social Media Meetups

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A chance to give back

Are you interested in helping to organize a monthly event that gives social media enthusiasts in your community an opportunity to to meet others who share their interests, learn from one another, and hear from some great speakers on social media topics? If so, read on, because I’m going to ask for you help.

Third Tuesdays: social media and the culture of generosity

Third TuesdayOne of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in the past two years has been to be part of Third Tuesday. Third Tuesday has provided me with a great opportunity to mix with others who share my interest in social media and to learn from them.

During the past two years, some top speakers have been part of Third Tuesday: Shel Israel, Shel Holtz, Richard Binhammer, Mathew Ingram, Michael Geist, Mark Evans, Colin McKay, Anthony Williams, Rob Hyndman, Michael McDerment, Saul Colt, Katie Paine, Marcel LeBrun, Stephen Taylor, Paul Wells, Marshall Sponder, Mitch Joel, Alex and Ali de Bold, Darren Barefoot, Jesse Brown, Brendan Hodgson, Giovanni Rodriguez, Danielle Donders, Ryan Anderson, Marc Snyder, David Jones, Terry Fallis, Julie Rusciolelli, Keith McArthur and Martin Waxman. And that’s just the Ottawa and Toronto line-up.

By the way, all of our speakers donated their time and efforts to us. Our speaking budget is zero. So, a special thank you to our speakers! You truly have acted in the spirit of generosity.

A community needs organizers

Third Tuesday in Toronto and Ottawa were originally established by a group of bloggers who followed one another’s writing online. We thought it would be a great idea to meet in real life as well as virtually. And we thought that it would be even better if we could open it up to others who shared our interest.

In Ottawa, the founding group included Colin McKay, Ian McKinnon and Brendan Hodgson.The original Third Tuesday Toronto group included David Jones, Terry Fallis, Chris Clarke and Ed Lee. During the past year, Donna Papacosta, Michael O’Connor Clarke and Parker Mason have joined the group of Third Tuesday Toronto boosters and organizers.

In 2007, Third Tuesday groups started in Montreal, Vancouver, and New Brunswick. And now there’s a group of people who are coming together to organize a Third Tuesday Calgary.

Thanks to those who spontaneously organized Third Tuesdays in their communities: Michelle Sullivan, Mylene Forget, Chris Moore, Nicolas Cossette, Marc Snyder, Pierre Bouchard, Mitch Joel, Tod Maffin, Tanya Davis, Monica Hamburg, Lisa Rousseau, David Alston, Dan Martell, and Chris Nadeau.Woof. That’s a lot of people. That’s a lot of commitment.

Keeping it relevant; Keeping it inclusive

Every good event and group evolves with the times and with the changing composition of its participants.

A good community event should reflect the interests of the community it serves.

As we look forward to the third year of Third Tuesday in Ottawa and Toronto, it’s time to ensure that we don’t become stale and inward looking. And the best way to do this is to open up the direction and organization of Third Tuesday to a broader group of people.

So, if you share our enthusiasm for exploring social media and you’re prepared to contribute your time and energy to making sure that Third Tuesday serves the community, please consider being part of the organizing group.

What can I do?

What’s required of the organizers? Well,

  • Meet face to face twice a year. The rest of the time we connect and organize via email and Twitter.
  • Contribute your ideas of topics that people would be interested in discussing.
  • Have a network of people who could speak on one or more of these topics and be willing to extend an invitation to our speakers.
  • Be willing to act as M.C. at a session.
  • Be prepared to help coordinate the logistics (find us suitable locations; obtain gifts for guests, etc.).
  • Attend the events, look for new people and make sure they are introduced to others. This is about community and the best communities welcome new people and make them feel like they’re at home.
  • Spread the word about upcoming events and share what we’ve heard and learned by posting about each session on your blog.

Where do I sign up?

If you’d like to lend a hand to the organization of this year’s Third Tuesday Toronto, Third Tuesday Ottawa or Third Tuesday Calgary, leave a comment on this post or Twitter to “thornley.”

I’ll pull together a meeting of the organizers in early August.

What about money?

Of course, before you get involved with something like this, you’ll want to know whether it carries some type of financial commitment.

Well, we’ve been very fortunate for the past year in having a lead sponsor, CNW Group. (Disclosure: CNW is a Thornley Fallis client.) CNW has covered our largest single cost item, the sound system. We’re talking to them right now about supporting us again this year. More on that soon, I hope.

Pass it on

One final thing. If you’ve attended a Third Tuesday in the past and you’d like to see the series continue, please let other people know that we’re looking for others to join us in organizing. Twitter, post, podcast about it. Pass it on.

WordCamp is coming to Toronto

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If you’re a blogger, if you’re interested in a day of good discussion about social media, or if you want to know more about the best blogging platform around, you’ll want to attend WordCamp Toronto on October 4 and 5.

WordCampToronto

WordCamp brings together bloggers, designers, developers, podcasters and all kinds of social media enthusiasts to learn, share, talk and explore the potential of social media and the WordPress publishing platform.

WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg has been booked to speak at the conference. Matt has said, “WordCamps are my favorite events to go to because there’s something about the core WordPress community that attracts smart folks with good philosophies that are fun to hang out with.”

Other speakers already confirmed include Brendan Sera-Shriar, Mike Ellis, David Peralty and Michael O’Connor Clarke (Yes, that Michael OCC, my co-worker at Thornley Fallis.)

The preliminary list of session topics includes:

  • WordPress Talk
  • Business Blogging
  • Blogging for Boomers
  • Podcasting
  • 30 Tips to Make Your Blog Better
  • Social Media for Dummies
  • Running Your Blog Like a Pro
  • Vidcasting
  • Entertainment Blogging: A Panel Discussion

Centennial College Student CentreThe organizing group for WordCamp Toronto is being led by Mathieu Yuill and Melissa Feeney. The even is being hosted at the Centennial College Student Association‘s Student Centre at Centennial’s Progress Campus. (Disclosure: the CCSA is a client of 76design.)

Thornley Fallis and 76design have settled on WordPress as the best all round publishing platform available today. And because we’ve benefitted from the work others put into developing it, we’ve tried to give back by developing two free plug-ins, FriendsRoll and TopLinks, that we hope bloggers will use to revitalize their blogrolls.

I’m keen to attend WordCamp Toronto. Not only because the blog posts and Twitter stream from other WordCamps have suggested to me that I’ll be able to mix with a particularly smart group of participants, but also because I’m hoping we can get some feedback on FriendsRoll and TopLinks from this social media savvy crowd.

If you want to attend, WordCamp Toronto, you can register at Eventbrite. I hope I’ll see you there.