Tag Archive for 'blogs'

The Latest Blog Day Post

Published
by
Ehren
on September 1, 2008
in Mentions, blogging and technology
. 3 Comments

I just decided to dub this post the latest because I’m sure by now those who intended on participating in the Blog Day festivities have done so already!  My excuse is that I just got back from Ohio — I blame the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for making me stay there for so long, and my mom’s excessive shopping.  Lucky for me, she doesn’t read this blog :)  Actually neither the Rock Hall or my mom has anything to do with this.  The true story is that I was away and when I came back, I checked out Shey Smith’s blog (as I regularly do) and found out about Nir Ofir’s initiative — Blog Day 2008.  I’m skipping a few steps that were outlined in the instructions but what the hay … I’m already late!

When I run across blogs I typically look for something unique about them that really invites me to partake in the conversation.  A lot of blogs tend to be a one-way street (i.e. probably mine, because of all the ranting) and there are many that are thriving realms of conversation, but there are also many that don’t necessarily need to be literally a two-way conversation in the comments section.

Here are 5 Blogs that always provide me with inspiration, and really everyone should check out:

Rands as Repose:  He doesn’t blog frequently but when he does, the world has the opportunity to re-think how things are done and maybe, just maybe how things can be improved.  Okay maybe only I think that.  Rands writes some extremely insightful and detailed articles on management and tech life.  One article that I think everyone generally loves, and that I always point to is The Nerd Handbook.

YongFook:  This guy doesn’t blog frequently either.  In fact he believes the blog is dead.  What he has instead is a pure lifestream.  But then again, he still blogs — in some sense.

So Misguided:  More likely to blog than YongFook and Rands, this blog is powered by internet marketer Monique Trottier who is well acquainted with the Canadian book publishing industry. I always enjoy hearing her perspective on issues surrounding the book industry and her take on different events or new technology.  Posts ranging from books to technology, pretty good eh?  I have to note the heavy presence of Harry Potter :)  [Yes I admit I'm not a big fan...]

hughmcguire.net: A good thorough dose of philosophy, ideas, and technology — at least good for me!  I generally enjoy reading his take and opinion on the various newsworthy and off-beat items he decides upon ranging from Marc Garneau’s website to how the book industry needs a shake-up [wow, don't get me started on that one!].

Ke5ter.com:  Nathan W. Kester has an awesome blog.  That pretty much sums it up.  The fact that he ponders about various topics without resorting to long winded ranting like I do simply illustrates how much better he writes.

I know Blog Day asked for five blogs but since I was a day late, I figured I’d add a sixth.

Mara Triangle Blog:  No one should go a day without reading about what Joseph Kimojino and his fellow rangers do at the Mara Triangle

Thanks to Shey once again for pointing me in the right direction.

Blog Day 2008

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Whilst at Book Expo…

Published
by
Ehren
on June 16, 2008
in Interests, Mentions, books, fun, marketing, web 2.0 and work
. 0 Comments

So I’ve spent the past weekend at Book Expo Canada.  A few of my colleagues are generally much more enthusiastic (and in some cases optimistic) than I am but I nonetheless tag along because it’s both amusing and fun to see my co-workers have so much fun (… right, and because it’s all part of the job of course).  Lots of meetings, lots of free books (more given out than received… or in my case — none).

The funniest thing that seemed to pop up in various conversations was the fact that whether it may be publicity, traditional or online marketing — the question from management always seems to be:  “Can we do it for less?” or “Can we do this for this small amount of $$?”

photograph by http2007

No this isn’t Book Expo Canada but if they offered free food, it might as well be!
Photograph by http2007

The answer is usually very simple.  You’re either going to provide me with the monetary resources or you are going to provide me with the time work on some form of initiative — either way, it’s not “free”.

What I found most amusing was that as soon as I got home was that my mind got hit with three ebooks.  Mind you, they are all books that are marketing and business driven so they don’t necessarily serve as the literary world’s finest examples but they do indicate how books can be more than just another book.

I ran across Dave Balter’s The Word of Mouth Mouth Manual Volume II which I should add is available in PDF format to download for free.  Haven’t fully read it yet but the few pages I have scanned have impressed me thus far.

I then ran across Dave Balter’s book again on Seth Godin’s own blog which reminded myself and all his other readers about Seth Godin’s Ideavirus — also free for download in PDF format.

And then … I was reminded of Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo’s recent book on social media Getting to First Base which isn’t free but I did purchase it out of support for a great introduction to social media.  Despite the fact that I did get the ebook a while ago, I haven’t finished reading it yet — about half way through and it’s good for anyone who needs to hit management on the head with some sort of wake-up call, or even those in management themselves!

Seriously, I need an ebook reader … Amazon Kindle where are you in Canada?!  While we were all busy marketing books at a trade show and conference — the word continues to spread about books available online, one way or another.

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