Recently I ran some training sessions with an Aussie client in Melbourne, and as I normally do I used some of the great video content that’s out there to highlight some points I was making about this crazy social media world we live in.

Here are a few of my personal favourites, but I’d love to expand this list with your suggestions - so please leave me a comment with links to any videos you’ve found compelling.

• Information (R)evolution, Michael Wesch

I love this video. You can tell I’m a geek as it never fails to give me goosebumps. The theories in David Weinberger’s Everything is Miscellaneous distilled into a 5 minute video.

• Social Media Revolution, Socialnomics

Cool song, some interesting stats - not sure if they’re all that accurate though.

• Social Media in Plain English, CommonCraft

Everything by commoncraft is brilliant. There’s a series like this including blogs and twitter.

I’ll post their RSS video as well, as it’s the best explanation I’ve seen of what can be confusing technology.

• Where the Hell is Matt?

This video doesn’t describe social media… it ‘is’ social media. Entertaining, but a worthy way to reflect on how the Internet is shrinking the world.

“In recent years, I have had no desire to do anything but work and be with [son] John. I hear people talking about going on a vacation or something and I think, what is that about? I have no desire to go on a trip. My perfect day is sitting in a room with some blank paper. That’s heaven. That’s gold and anything else is just a waste of time.”

“Your busiest day might be watching some ants carrying bread crumbs. Someone asked Flannery O’Connor why she wrote, and she said, “Because I was good at it.” And I think that’s the right answer. If you’re good at something it’s very hard not to do it. In talking to older people who’ve had good lives, inevitably half of them will say, “The most significant thing in my life is that I’ve been extraordinarily lucky.” And when you hear that you know you’re hearing the truth. It doesn’t diminish their talent or industry. You can have all that and fail.”

- Cormac McCarthy in the Wall Street Journal

Image from nasser.gazi on Flickr.

Big news in geek-world this week as Twitter and LinkedIn announced a new partnership - or as they bill it a perfect combination ‘just like peanut butter and chocolate!’.

Now as a long-time user of both services I was happy to see them linked. But as a global communicator I was a little nonplussed by the heavy use of the peanut butter and chocolate analogy (they even made a nifty graphic!). You see, outside of the US of A (where both Twitter and LinkedIn were founded and are headquartered) peanut butter and chocolate ain’t necessarily viewed as a ‘perfect combination’, in fact… many would say it’s downright weird.

It’s a light-hearted analogy for sure, but I doubt that Reid Hoffman and Biz Stone realised how quickly there choice of PR messaging would highlight the American-centric nature of their thinking… and this for two global services with most of their potential growth to come beyond Uncle Sam’s shores.

Down Under we’d probably see ‘vegemite and cheese’ (pre iSnack 2.0) or ‘beer and a bbq’, while Dr Mihaela Vorvoreanu tells me the Romanian equivalent would be mamaliga cu branza (polenta and cheese). While we’re at it - what’s the ‘Peanut Butter and Chocolate’ style ‘perfect combination’ for your culture?

I’m proud to share the news that our Converseon client Lion Brand Yarn has been awarded two of the awards I most respect in the social media world: Forrester’s Groundswell Award in the highly-competitive ‘Talking‘ category and a Society for New Communications Research award for best use of online publishing in the corporate division.

I’ve previously blogged a detailed case study on LBY’s outstanding results in social media, including sharing the presentation I delivered alongside LBY’s smart VP of Marketing Ilana Rabinowitz at the Internet Retailer Conference earlier this year.

The Forrester Groundswell Awards attract a large amount of entries, and I was blown away that we beat out the likes of the innovative Mad Men Yourself campaign and USA.gov from the Office of Citizen Services amongst the 23 entries in the B2C talking category. Meanwhile, the Society for New Communications Research has the support and involvement amongst its fellows of the smartest thinkers in our industry. We’re humbled by the recognition.

This post ain’t all self-horn-tooting though, to add some value I’ll share some quick thoughts about the ’secret-sauce’ of the Lion Brand case study:

• Connect with people around their passions

Knitters and crocheters are extremely passionate, their hobby is one of their greatest areas of interest. Not every brand has as direct a link to a passion as LBY does, but every brand can work to find the point where they really ‘matter’ for their stakeholders.

• Social media is a marathon, not a sprint

We’re receiving these awards 18 months after we launched the podcast and subsequent blog efforts. The greatest returns for this program have came in the 12-18 month range. First you need to build community, then you need to market to it.

• Do it wrong quickly (as Mike Moran would say)

You can’t measure what you’re not doing. LBY gave themselves the time to do corporate social media right, before worrying about strict ROI and proving a business case for resources. If this initiative hadn’t shown success, they could have stopped at any time. But continual measurement and improvement proved the case for more time and energy.

• Organizational culture matters

At the core of good social media strategy you need to care about your stakeholders and be prepared to openly connect with them. You can’t pay lip service to adding value to the online community - you really need to walk your talk. Focus on relationships and building trust over time.

• Anyone can succeed in social media

Who would have thought knitters would be one of the most passionate online audiences you can find? Stop making excuses for why your brand can’t do it, and get out there and try something.

Fifty People, One Question: “We had an idea. Go to a place. Ask fifty people the same question. Film their responses.”

Great concept for a video series, one simple question leads to compelling content.

In particular I’m a fan of the New York City vid. In 5 minutes the video encapsulates so much of what I love about NYC - the sheer diversity of the people and cultures, and also the fact that New Yorkers (like most people) are generally intrinsically ‘good’. People often scoff when I suggest that New York is one of the friendliest cities in the world… but really, the fact that this many people coexist on such a small piece of land really shows that we can all just get along.

Check it out (RSS Readers click through for video):

Fifty People, One Question: New York from Fifty People, One Question on Vimeo.

Many thanks to Nicky Yates of my favourite non-profit charity:water for the link via Twitter!

Demographics don’t work in social media communication - which is a blessing as they’re completely inefficient in a complex world of niches linked by common-interest.

I’ve long pushed clients away from thinking of their audience as simply eyeballs and demographics. Even more complex segmenting of their audience can still miss the mark. In social media the trick is to find the point of connection between a brand and its target audiences passions and interests, and then build a mutually beneficial relationship over a period of time.

With this in mind, it was pleasing to see AdAge point to some more detailed research backing up my long held assertion:

The 2010 Census is expected to find that 309 million people live in the United States. But one person will be missing: the average American.

“The concept of an ‘average American’ is gone, probably forever,” demographics expert Peter Francese writes in 2010 America, a new Ad Age white paper. “The average American has been replaced by a complex, multidimensional society that defies simplistic labeling.”

The message to marketers is clear: No single demographic, or even handful of demographics, neatly defines the nation. There is no such thing as “the American consumer.”

The census is the biggest market-research project of the decade. The Census Bureau will spend upward of $15 billion to count the population as of April 1, 2010, and amass a treasure-trove of data on U.S. consumers.

“The decennial census will tell us quite precisely how American consumers have changed in the past decade,” Mr. Francese writes. “It also will give us clues about where the consumer marketplace is moving. The census is the gold standard against which the results of all major consumer-research studies are benchmarked.”

The Census Bureau will begin releasing data in spring 2011. Mr. Francese, demographic trends analyst at WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather, New York, and founder of American Demographics magazine, now offers projections and insight on what the census will show.

His 32-page report, available at AdAge.com/2010America, will give marketers a window on what the census will show and how to adapt those findings in a marketing world reliant on broadscale demographics that no longer exist.

Selected findings of 2010 America:

• U.S. households are growing ever more complex and varied.
“This census will show that no household type neatly describes even one-third of households,” Mr. Francese writes. “The iconic American family — married couple with children — will account for a mere 22% of households.”

The most prevalent type of U.S. household? Married couple with no kids, followed closely by single-person households, according to Mr. Francese’s projections.

The Census will give Americans 14 choices to define household relationships. Mr. Francese says this will “enable the Census Bureau to count not only traditional families but also the number and growth since 2000 of blended families, single-parent families and multigenerational families, as well as multiple families doubling up in one household.”

That presents boundless opportunities for marketers and media in how they target and segment households.

• Minorities are the new majority. “One fact says it all,” Mr. Francese writes. “In the two largest states (California and Texas), as well as New Mexico and Hawaii, the nation’s traditional majority group — white non-Hispanics — is in the minority.” And in the nation’s 10 largest cities, he says, “no racial or ethnic category describes a majority of the population.”

Mr. Francese notes how diversity varies greatly by age, “with the younger population substantially more diverse than the old.”

To quote Don Schultz from his excellent keynote on media consumption at the recent iMedia Summit: “18-35 year old women? I’ve been with 18 year old women and I’ve been with 35 year old women… and let me tell you they’ve got nothing in common!”

Came across this great New Yorker article this week on the ’secret of self-control’ highlighted by Walter Mischel’s research in personality theory, in particular the infamous (and new to me) ‘Marshmallow Experiment‘.

Essentially, 4 year old kids were given a marshmallow and told they could eat it straight away, or wait 15 minutes for the researcher to return and give them an extra marshmallow (if the first was untouched). Sound simple right? Well for a 4 year old the challenge of not gulping down a marshmallow is roughly similar to my efforts not to look at Twitter every 45 seconds. Here’s a quick, hilarious, video of a recent reprisal of the study:

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

The kicker: research shows that the 1/3 of kids who manage to resist the temptation of the marshmallow (and hence delay gratification) wound up being more ’successful’ in later life.

I didn’t immediately see the link to social media, but a smart colleague sent me this quick note in response to a couple of links around this research:

I can’t help but think there is a corollary between this experiment and those brands who demand immediate ROI for their social media efforts…except in our case they get a bag of marshmallows if they are patient.

He’s right on the money. The return on relationships of social media efforts takes time - every true relationship takes time, whether online or off. The challenge for both the researchers, and us in the social media world, is how to better define and separate the success metrics so we can be sure exactly what behaviour will lead to long-term gains.

Please note: This post is a cross-post first published by me on my employer Converseon’s corporate blog.

A feature of the recent iMedia Brand Summit we attended in sunny Coronado Bay was a series of ‘One Minute Meet Ups’ between brand marketers and agency folk.

iMedia throw an excellent event, and this section gave me access to influential marketers from brands like Honda, QANTAS, Target, Disney, AT&T, General Mills, Accuquote and more.

Rather than taking a sales approach (you want to know Converseon in 60 seconds? Google us!) I took the time to poll each brand marketer on their personal use of social media and their opinion of how it would impact their business with two simple questions.

Here are the responses from 33 high ranking marketers from a mix of Fortune 500 and other household name brands:

1. Which of the following social networks do you use personally:

• Twitter = 19
• Facebook = 32
• LinkedIn = 33

Facebook and LinkedIn are nearly universal tools for savvy marketers these day, with Facebook just getting its neck in front of LinkedIn and both being used by over 90% of those polled. Twitter was a different story… while only 19 out of 33 used Twitter, this number was also watered down with a number of people saying ‘I have an account, but don’t use it’ and responses were marked by the reticence of many towards the current social media darling.

2. On a scale of 1-5 (1 = not at all important, 5= incredibly important) how important would you say social media is for business?

• 1 (not important) = 2 brands
• 2 (not very important) = 3 brands
• 3 (somewhat important) = 7 brands
• 4 (important) = 14 brands
• 5 (very important) = 7 brands

Given that I’m in the employ of a social media agency, I was very happy to see big brand after big brand acknowledging the importance of social media. ‘Very Important’ was the most likely response, and two thirds of the marketers rated social media either a ‘4′ or a ‘5′ - the highest end of the importance scale. Only 5 brands put social media towards the low end of the importance scale - and these brands were either agriculture focused or blocked by regulation.

For some more great coverage frome the iMedia Summit check out this great article from Sean Cheyney of Accuquote recapping our CEO Rob Key’s presentation.

This week Vegemite announced the results of their Australia-wide crowdsourcing effort to brand their new Vegemite/cheese concoction… the winner? iSnack 2.0

What has the response been? Well… why don’t we turn to Google (check it out 279,000 results for this unique search term in just 6 days):

1. It’s Official: iSnack 2.0 Declared ‘Epic Fail’ - Brisbane Times (Google News)

The disaster that is Kraft’s attempt at naming its new Vegemite product line iSnack 2.0 is spreading, with an online clothing retailer awarding it “epic fail” status on the internet.

2. Vegemite iSnack 2.0 is the Future of Disgusting Australian Spreads - Gizmodo

It takes a lot to get Australians riled up, as they’re all descendants of violent criminals (just ask Giz’s Danny Allen, whose grandparents murdered a Prime Minister). But a new version of Vegemite called iSnack 2.0? Get the pitchforks!

3. Crowdsourcing Done Wrong: the Vegemite iSnack Naming Disaster - AdAge

Dozens of mainstream media articles have lambasted the name as have countless posts on Facebook and Twitter, where it was a trending topic for a time. A website called “Names That Are Better Than iSnack 2.0″ has popped up.

And it’s selling t-shirts for $29.99 a pop.

4. Vegemite iSnack 2.0 - The Guardian

launching a product under a brand as ferociously worshipped as Vegemite - half brown toast topping glop, half symbol of national identity - has to be pretty risky. But to consider calling the Vegemite cheese spread “iSnack 2.0″… yes, that’s right … can only be the biggest steaming honker of an egregious publicity stunt in recorded history.

5. Hitler Finds Out About iSnack 2.0 - YouTube

6. Kraft Abandons iSnack 2.0. Thank God. - Gizmodo Australia

Apparently, Kraft is so displeased with the public reaction to the name that they’ve chosen to change it. Well… colour me surprised. Confirmation of this act of mercy as it becomes available.

7. iSnack 2.0: Vegemite Gives Its New Product a Stupid Name - Now Public

Relevance to snacking?! Dude, you’re f&cking fired. Seriously. Clear out your desk and get the hell out of the marketing industry just as fast as you can, so that Zimbu the Monkey can take over your job and get settled in. Just go.

8. @iSnack20 - Twitter

Add me to other Kraft products, like Marlboro cigarettes, for a bold, smooth flavour.

9. iSnack 2.0: Iconic Australian Spread Gets a Makeover - PSFK

It will be interesting to see Kraft’s response to the online banter, with some bloggers already touting iSnack 2.0 as the lamest name ever.

10. iSnack 2.0 Infuriates Fuhrer - Defamer Australia

KRAFT, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING NAMING THE NEW VEGEMITE iSNACK 2.0!?!

That we’d all be talking about how stupid you are on countless social networking sites? And you wouldn’t have to bother paying for much publicity? Well played. Dare I say your conduct was rather… krafty?

A big thank you to my good mate Bryce Tom who just sent me a link to this superb Slideshare presentation from Tara Hunt, ‘Your Social Media Strategy Won’t Save You‘:

It’s not often I click through an 86 slide preso nodding my head the whole time! I couldn’t agree more with the way she shapes up the social media opportunity for brands. Now… off to Amazon to buy her book.

Check out the epic New York Times magazine piece The Holy Grail of the Unconscious on the upcoming printing of Carl Jung’s infamous ‘Red Book’.

A sample:

ONE NIGHT DURING the week of the scanning in Zurich, I had a big dream. A big dream, the Jungians tell me, is a departure from all your regular dreams, which in my case meant this dream was not about falling off a cliff or missing an exam. This dream was about an elephant — a dead elephant with its head cut off. The head was on a grill at a suburban-style barbecue, and I was holding the spatula. Everybody milled around with cocktails; the head sizzled over the flames. I was angry at my daughter’s kindergarten teacher because she was supposed to be grilling the elephant head at the barbecue, but she hadn’t bothered to show up. And so the job fell to me. Then I woke up.

At the hotel breakfast buffet, I bumped into Stephen Martin and a Californian analyst named Nancy Furlotti, who is the vice president on the board of the Philemon Foundation and was at that moment having tea and muesli.

“How are you?” Martin said.

“Did you dream?” Furlotti asked

“What do elephants mean to you?” Martin asked after I relayed my dream.

“I like elephants,” I said. “I admire elephants.”

“There’s Ganesha,” Furlotti said, more to Martin than to me. “Ganesha is an Indian god of wisdom.”

“Elephants are maternal,” Martin offered, “very caring.”

They spent a few minutes puzzling over the archetypal role of the kindergarten teacher. “How do you feel about her?” “Would you say she is more like a mother figure or more like a witch?”

Giving a dream to a Jungian analyst is a little bit like feeding a complex quadratic equation to someone who really enjoys math. It takes time. The process itself is to be savored. The solution is not always immediately evident. In the following months, I told my dream to several more analysts, and each one circled around similar symbolic concepts about femininity and wisdom. One day I was in the office of Murray Stein, an American analyst who lives in Switzerland and serves as the president of the International School of Analytical Psychology, talking about the Red Book. Stein was telling me about how some Jungian analysts he knew were worried about the publication — worried specifically that it was a private document and would be apprehended as the work of a crazy person, which then reminded me of my crazy dream. I related it to him, saying that the very thought of eating an elephant’s head struck me as grotesque and embarrassing and possibly a sign there was something deeply wrong with my psyche. Stein assured me that eating is a symbol for integration. “Don’t worry,” he said soothingly. “It’s horrifying on a naturalistic level, but symbolically it is good.”

This past Thursday in NYC, Converseon won the SAMMY Award for ‘Best Social Media Agency’.

My CEO Rob wrote a nice wrap-up on our corporate blog. We’ve been doing this stuff since 2001 and I’ve invested no small share of blood, sweat and tears in the place since moving over to the US to join the team two and a half years ago. It’s nice to see some industry recognition for all the cool stuff we’ve been doing with clients.

It’s not an Oscar, an Emmy or even a Dally M… but I’ll take it!

Last week I presented at the Ragan conference “Corporate Reputation and Strategic Communication in the Age of Social Media” alongside former Dell exec and now Ants Eye View founder Sean McDonald.

Thought y’all might be interested to check out my presentation:

My goal with this presentation was to first prove why social media is a critical concern for corporate reputation, take a high level view about how we at Converseon guide client strategies to influence and protect their online rep and then bring the theories to life with some real world examples.

Right now I’m at the iMedia Brand Summit in San Diego - another top notch conference. If you’re interested in my thoughts on the content here then check out my wrap up of day 1 on the Converseon blog.

This is a cross-post from the Converseon blog. I wanted to share it here as well as its a client I’ve worked on closely. Sydneysiders amongst my readers will recall this example was one I was talking to at Social Media Club Sydney recently.

The Challenge

Establish an authentic and relevant online voice for a beloved 130 year old crafting company and institute best practices that help build relationships with passionate consumers of online knitting communities.

The Approach

Lion Brand Yarn was not sure if its customer demographic would be likely to engage in social media but was willing to experiment with the new technology in an attempt to engage and connect with its passionate consumer base. They engaged Converseon to help them listen to the online conversation about knitting and crocheting, better understand their customers social media behavior, identify opportunities for engagement and develop a coherent and measurable social media strategy.

The brand’s approach to social media hinged on an open approach to conversation and a employee driven content and relationships. The brand focused on ‘talking’ to its customers and prospects and expanded its efforts in social media as the rigorous measurement framework indicated success. Lion Brand Yarn has taken a long term approach to community building and it is now, 18 months after the initial launch of the Yarncraft podcast, that the brand is seeing the most success and measurable return on investment.

Implementation

Lion Brand teamed with Converseon, utilizing our Conversation Mining technology to map the knitting/crocheting online community, identify influential online voices and identify opportunities for engagement in social media. This listening uncovered a deep, interconnected and highly engaged community of passionate users spread across blogs, podcasts and even dedicated knitting/crocheting social networks.

With Converseon’s strategic guidance, the ‘Yarncraft‘ podcast was launched. Hosted by a pair of LBY employees, the podcast was produced bi-weekly and focused on knitting and crocheting topics. The podcast was posted to a dedicated blog, distributed via iTunes and also given away as a CD in store for less tech-savvy consumers. The podcast was designed to be a conversation with customers and knitting community figures moreso than ‘internet radio’ in the broadcast model.

In April 2008, the ‘Lion Brand Notebook‘ blog was launched, providing content and links to other knitting sources. The blog was also powered by Lion Brand employees with content ranging from customer polls for product development through to ‘knit alongs’ that combine online/offline access allowing customers to knit the same project together. The ‘knit alongs’ alone have proven to be a measurable driver of ROI for the brand as each virtual event drives a direct link to increased sales of the yarn featured.

Results

• Lion Brand is one of the 2009 Internet Retailer’s ‘Hot 100′ Retail Websites, their site receives over 2 million visits a month
• The podcast regularly has 15-20,000 downloads while the blog attracts tens of thousands of readers each month
• A Lion Brand survey of 30,000 of their customers found that those customers who have interacted with the brand through social media are 83% more likely to identify as ‘very brand loyal’ than non-social media users and are several times more likely to recommend the brand to others
• Traffic analysis shows that traffic from social media routinely converts at a much higher rate than most sources, outperforming email marketing and banner ads
• From June 16 – July 16, 2009 traffic coming from the brand blog to the brand e-commerce website converted at 41.21% higher than the brand’s average traffic.
• From June 16 –July 16, 2009, the average per visit value of the blog traffic was 39.44% higher than the site average

Conclusion

Lion Brand Yarn initially set out to build relationships with the online knitting community by talking with their customers via a corporate blog and podcast. As a result of an investment in people rather than products, they found themselves with a passionate and brand loyal group of knitters, who not only engage with the brand but impact the bottom line by buying and using products as a result of social media engagement.

Further Resources

PR Week Case Study: Lion Brand Yarn finds success in measured approach to social media,

Slideshare presentation from 2009 Internet Retailer Conference:

In addition, the presentation above is a series of customer endorsements quoted verbatim from a survey of the LBY blog and podcast audience asking them to share their thoughts and feelings about the two venues.

To connect with Lion Brand Yarn online subscribe to the Lion Brand Notebook blog, listen to the YarnCraft podcast, follow them on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

News Limited’s new The Punch blog asked its readers to submit some suggestions for Australia’s mooted ‘new national marketing slogan’. I was stoked my suggestion make the cut:

Last week when Simon Crean announced a plan to rebrand Australia, we sought your suggestions for a new national marketing slogan. Penning a line is one thing - but to get the full impact, it may help to see how some of the stand-outs read on a poster.

If that doesn’t make sense then click through for bogan.

I tend to spend a bit of time on the conference circuit in the States these days, I’m lucky enough to be doing plenty of client work that other people find pretty interesting.

Here’s a few upcoming events:

SPEAKING: Ragan ‘Corporate Reputation and Strategic Communication in the Age of Social Media‘ - Chicago, IL - September 9-10

Ragan tell attendees that the conference will answer the following questions:

• Is your PR and crisis communication plan strong enough to withstand a social media firestorm? (Example: When you saw the repulsive Domino’s video, did you think, “Are we prepared for this?”)
• How have you weathered the economic downturn? Is your reputation intact?
• Have you tapped into the power of social media to extend your brand? If not, why? (Did you know that 72 percent of respondents to a recent survey used social media to research a company’s reputation for customer care before making a purchase?)
• When is the last time you updated your strategic communications plan? Does it include all things Web 2.0?

I’ll be speaking alongside Bob Pearson, current President of the Social Media Council and former head of social media at Dell. I’ve long admired the Dell work and Bob was a key figure in leading it, so I’m looking forward to get the chance to talk through some of Converseon’s process and case studies alongside him.

Our panel is described thus:

Web 2.0 World: Advancing your corporate reputation using social media
A clear understanding of your stakeholders’ online habits is crucial in developing a successful online corporate reputation program. Are they heavy Internet users? Do they transact online? What sites do they regularly visit? Answering these types of questions will improve your ability to reach your target audience online with your key messages.

• Creating a Web 2.0 corporate reputation strategy
• Social media corporate reputation building
• Blog monitoring and search engine optimization

Attending: iMedia Brand Summit, San Diego CA, September 13-16

Converseon will be heavily involved in the exclusive iMedia Brand Summit. My CEO Rob Key is speaking on ’social media from the inside out’ and I’ll be there as backup. This really should be a stellar event, I’m excited to see Don Schultz speak again - last I saw him was years ago as an undergraduate at CSU Bathurst.

Begging: SXSW Interactive, Austin TX, March 12-16 2010

Finally, I’m lucky enough to have my name added to one of the 2000 + proposed panels for next year’s SXSW. It seems like everyone in the industry has been asking for support, and I’d like to add my voice to that chorus.

My Converseon client and good mate Bert Dumars, VP of E-Business and Interactive Marketing at Newell Rubbermaid, is putting together a great panel ‘Building a team that embraces social technologies‘. Alongside myself, Bert has invited the recently departed Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang (who just joined the Altimeter Group), Dell’s Chief Blogger Lionel Menchaca and PR blogger Kami Huyse.

For all the details click through to the panel detail here, and while you’re there I’d greatly appreciate it if you could lend the panel your support by signing up for an account and clicking the ‘thumbs up’ for the proposal!

If I’m going to be in your neck of the woods during my travels drop me a line and we’ll try to catch up.

It’s really funny where all the data we throw around online can turn up. My best hit to date was a picture of me with the Free Hugs guy getting picked up by an Israeli magazine (in hebrew).

That was until yesterday, when a three year old picture of me on Flickr turned up on the ‘Stuff Hipsters Hate’ Tumblr.

Check it out.

My question is… am I supposed to be a hipster? Or do hipsters hate me? (The consensus on Twitter is both).

You gotta love this video (via Mumbrella) of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, in Parliament, not only quoting a journalist’s Twitter feed, but also admitting “I’m a bit of a fan of Twitter”.

(RSS Readers click through for video)

There’s been plenty of social media nay-sayers in Australia, but when our PM is diving into it at the same time Comscore are reporting 3 out of 4 Australians visited social networks in June - you know you’re onto something.

From Comscore:

2 Million More Australians Go Social in 2009

Social Networking Audience in Australia Jumps 29 Percent in Past Year as Use of Facebook and Twitter Soars

Nearly 9 million Australians visited a social networking site in June, making it one of the most popular content categories on the Web. Facebook led as the most visited social networking destination with more than 6 million visitors and growing 95 percent from the previous year. MySpace Sites ranked second with 3.5 million visitors, up 5 percent, followed by Windows Live Profile with nearly 2 million visitors. Twitter witnessed the most substantial growth, surging to 800,000 visitors in June, up from just 13,000 visitors a year ago. Orkut also achieved significant growth reaching 252,000 visitors, up 607 percent.

Those of you who know me well will know that I’m a diehard fan of the St George Dragons - the proudest club in Australia’s National Rugby League.

The Dragons are having an epic season this year and currently sit atop the premiership table as the finals approach (it pains me to be missing it - the only games I’ve seen have been at 4am NYC time), but are starting to run into some negative media attention from some tabloid muckrackers because controversy sells papers.

This looks to be reaching a crescendo at the moment after the Dragon’s star Fullback Darius Boyd gave this ‘interview from hell’ at training this week - offering one sentence answers (on camera!) to the journo scrum (my favourite part is the last question ‘Are you Fair Dinkum?’)

RSS readers, click through for the video. Or click here if the embed isn’t working.

My advice to Boyd and the Dragons? Take a page out of the Shaquille O’Neal playbook and become the media. Shaq is my favourite follow on Twitter, and I’m one of his nearly one million Facebook fans. Throughout it all… he comes across as a top bloke, oozing personality (a bit of a juxtaposition from the above).

Don’t battle with the press - they need you much more than you need them. Blog, send out your own video content on a Facebook fan page, Twitter (a few Aussie sports stars already are: Lote Tuqiri, Mat Rogers, my good mate Kurt Fearnley to name a few), connect with your fans where they’re already talking about you.

Most importantly: define yourself before they define you (oh, and while you’re at, will ya finally win a bloody premiership for me?).

Was just sent me a link to this Lisa Williams tweet and it was too good not to share:

“Statistics are like bikinis – what they reveal is interesting, what they conceal is vital”

Google tells me it’s originally an Aaron Levenstein quote.