Blogs and Feeds

VCs and Podcasts - More Takers

Last week I wrote on how VC Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures has begun accepting podcast elevator speeches from those eager to present their business ideas to him. Katherine Heires of Business 2.0 offers an expanded list of VCs who are listening to podcasts. So, would be entrepreneurs do be sure to add them to your next VC distribution list. They include:

• David Hornik, a partner at August Capital in Menlo Park, CA
• Rick Segal at J.L. Albright Venture Partners, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Wikimania 2006 in Boston

Summer 2006, Wikimania will come to Boston, MA, and I am already getting excited. To me wikis are fascinating, and I look forward to having an opportunity to steep myself in Wikimania. The local organizing committee is already hard at work laying the groundwork for this conference.

I'll be blogging on this conference as it comes together, so expect to see more about the plans in coming months.

What Are Those Travellers Thinking?

One of the many excuses for why I have woefully neglected this blog is that I have been traveling. I've been coast-to-coast and a lot of places in between. Planes, trains, buses, and cars have played their part in keeping me on the go. But, as I have traveled, I've been struck by these curious thoughts.

1) Why is is that when a flight is oversold, and the airlines ask for volunteers to get on a later flight, it is almost never the obvious pleasure/leisure travelers who take up an opportunity to get a "free round trip ticket?"

2) Why is it that the five-foot two inch, hundred pounder is always battling the 75 pound piece of carry-on luggage? I've seen smaller steamer trunks than some of the beasts of luggage hoisted into overhead bins, usually with lots of help from those who fear having the monster slip and cleave their unsuspecting skulls.

3) Why is it that the bus always stops right in front of a large greasy puddle? The same puddle is always very generous in sloshing the unsuspecting, but eager traveler.

4) Why is it that it always rains, or sleets, or snows when you get home, not while you are away and wouldn't care anyway?

5) Why is it that, if you have the aisle seat on a long flight, the person in the middle will be both large, clumsy and listening/playing with a device that you can hear in your seat?

6) Similarly, why does it happen that if you have the aisle seat, those in the middle and the window seat will have to get up at least once every hour of the flight even if it means awakening you?

7) And, if to forestall the above, you select a window seat, why does it happen that a small child throws a tantrum wanting your seat?

8) Why does it always happen that those immediately ahead of you in the security check lines still believe that you can get through the metal detectors with a rodeo prize belt on and seem annoyed when asked for the second time to step back?

9) Why does it always happen that when you rush to the airport -- arrive a little early -- your flight leaves a lot late.

10) Why do parents let their children crowd the luggage belt when there is no way they will be able to muscle any luggage off the belt -- is it some sort of dare devil dance to see if they can escape without injury?

I'm just not sure, but I've seen it all in the past few weeks. I guess that I will continue to muse on these topics as I cruise the country on business and pleasure.

Try Podcasting Your Elevator Speech

Want to get the attention of a VC. Maybe you should try making it a podcast and pitching it to the VCs for their listening pleasure. According to The Boston Globe, Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures invites entrepreneurs to upload their pitches to his blog, so that he can listen to them on an iPod as he bikes to work. Now, you do not have to worry about bobbling the ball or shanking your one and only chance to score those VC dollars. Now, you can just upload your pitch and maybe, just maybe, it will be heard.

Now let me get up on my high horse for just a moment -- about the biking and listening to the iPod. As a cyclist who persists in threatening my life and limb by biking in areas where cars dominate, I consider it an act of hubris to bike while listening to anything. I don't care how wonderful the tunes are or the elevator pitch is. Listening simply shuts out too much of the sound -- the potential warnings of danger. Exit high horse for now.

PR Web™ Invites Bloggers to be Guests at eComXpo Oct. 6-8, 2005

Ever wanted to attend a virtual trade show or not sure what a virtual trade show is? Well this is a chance to attend for free. Yes they do charge registration fees for you to sit at your computer and participate in a 3-day virtual trade show event. PR Web™ invites the first 250 bloggers who register for a complimentary Exhibit Hall and Keynote pass to the completely online eComXpo show, October 6-8, 2005, conference organizers are sweetening PR Web's offer by offering to convert bloggers' standard passes into full conference passes.

While you are at the virtual trade show, do stop in for my sessions. I'm one of the many speakers who will be participating in this event. Getting ready for it has been quite a trip. Each speaker pre-records their presentation, submits it with the requisite slides on a USB device furnished by the trade show. During the show the presenters are online during scheduled time slots. I've never presented virtually before, so it will be new experience for me.

And, just in case you take up the offer for a complimentary pass and are unfamiliar with PRWeb, here's a little something about them. PR Web™ is a fully integrated press release newswire service. They are the largest newswire catering to small and medium sized companies and organizations and one of the largest online press release newswires. I use their service on a regular basis.

By the way, if you visit my other blog Best Blogs on SEO-PR, you will discover a secret many search marketers have found. PR is good food for search marketing campaigns.

Search Engine Marketing, Inc. -- A Must Read

You could fill a shelf with books on search engine marketing, read them all and still not have a grasp of what really goes into search engine marketing. To the unsuspecting it seems easy -- just content and code twiddling. There is a new book that rips the covers off of any misconceptions about search marketing that you might have. It is Mike Moran and Bill Hunt's Search Engine Marketing, Inc.

Bill Hunt is the Preisdent of Global Strategies International, a search engine marketing firm and Mike Moran is ibm.com's Manager of Site Architecture. Bill Hunt is a regular speaker at Search Engine Strategies and other industry conferences.

This is the book that I have been waiting for -- a truly strategic focused book that includes plenty of how-to. From information that will help the only marginally technical understand a dynamically-generated URL and step-by-step instructions for paid search optimization to how to configure a search marketing team and navigate the shark-filled budgetary waters.

This is not just a book on how to improve the search positioning of a small business site. This is for those who must deal with the problems of the truly industrial-sized sites. And believe me I know from my own experience, they come with industrial-sized problems -- different goals for different areas of the same site, different teams responsible for different areas of a single site, globalization and other challenges. Bill and Mike present lots of helpful advise that even the most seasoned of search marketers will find useful.

RSS and The US Government

Want to get a daily image fresh from space or hourly weather observations sent directly to your RSS reader? If so, you might want to browse the summary page on First Gov that details the agencies with feeds. The feeds available from the Census Bureau alone are more than many individuals track on their readers.

It is not until you dig a little that you can find all of the information that Uncle Sam makes available via RSS. Give it a whirl and you'll be surprised at what you find. I was.

The Media and Blogs

Don't let anyone fool you into believing that the media do not read blogs. Nothing could be further from reality. When I wrote Remembering George A. Smith IV almost a month ago, it was my intent to honor the memory of a special person.

Here is what has resulted. I have been contacted by tv producers, newspaper reporters and freelance writers all grabbing onto this story. They have been relentless, pursuing me by e-mail and even somehow contacting me at my spouse's cellphone number on a Sunday morning while I was out of town. As I have told them, it is not my wish to comment on this story.

It is my only hope that the law enforcement looking into the truth about what happened to George are as relentless as the media. 

Remembering George A. Smith IV

On July 7th I received an e-mail that George A. Smith IV was missing on his honeymoon. In subsequent weeks accounts of George's disappearance have been splashed across newpapers and television shows across the country. These reports all tell bits and shreds of a tragic loss, but little do they tell of the George that I had the pleasure of knowing and working with for two plus years.

George was a special guy. I will always remember his dry sense of humor. We were a small research department, just myself and two analysts, and our department created numerous reports for clients. Proofreading is a must-do chore. George and the other analyst would swap reports for proofing and signify that they were proofread by initialling the copy. George would proof a report and initial it, but he would write "B+" and "Try Harder" or "Nice Work, B-." In context, it was very funny, since the quality of the work and the "grade" were totally disconnected. It added a note of levity to some serious work.

George was a special guy. I will always remember how fond he was of his family. Several years ago, he went on a cruise with his parents and his sister. For many young adults the thought of going on vacation with "the family" is anathema. George looked forward to the trip, so it was no surprise to me that he was on a honeymoon cruise.

George was a special guy. In the two plus years that he worked for me, I cannot remember him ever having an unkind word for anyone.

George was a special guy. No matter what task I put before him, he would forge ahead, meet the milestones, occassionally ask for clarification and dependably got the job done.  No whining, no complaining, no but must I's. That was not him.

George was a special guy. He had his wisdom teeth removed on a Friday and assured me that he would be in to work on Monday. Being more familiar with the process than he was, I had my doubts, so I was not surprised Monday morning to see his desk empty. When I got into my office there was no phone message either. But, I was not prepared for the email that was awaiting me. It had a digital picture attached of him with an extremely swollen jaw. The picture was worth thousands of words.

No matter what happened that fateful night on the waters between Greece and Turkey, the real story about George A. Smith IV is not the sensational disappearance. It is the patchwork of memories that those who knew him will hold in their hearts forever.

Basted, Roasted, Toasted and Fried

Thanksgiving will never be the same! I know how the turkey feels as it is basted and roasted. I did my personal turkey simulation at the US Rowing Nationals in Indianapolis, IN, July 20-24. I had the privilege of being a referee at this amazing event. It was fun, but the climate performed with temps in the 90s and all the humidity we could stand.

Instead of a delicious savory juice applied by a cook, I basted myself with SPF 50! sunscreen (Yes! sunscreen lovers, it does come in SPF 50). The temperatures were so intense that frequent rebastings were needed to prevent burning. Even so, I came away with a wonderful tan -- a healthy pre-cancerous glow, so to speak.

The month of July has left me roasted and toasted. Having lived for most of the past 20 years in coolish climes, I'm not much of a hot weather person. Extended periods of intense heat -- such as the week in Indiana and some days here in Boston -- leave me totally abstracted. Toasted! Chilled air (air conditioning) just feels like refrigeration.

Frying has taken the most time. This process started with the completion of two books in less than 6-months. It is a thrill to see the book, A Call to Action,  that I edited for Bryan and Jeff Eisenberg zoom to the top of the charts, however, it was a considerable effort for all involved. Like a short order cook, while this book was on the front burner, my own book Business Blogs: A Practical Guide was awaiting final editing, by me. That done, plus some fascinating client projects, has left me fried.

So when the dog days of summer arrived, I decided to snooze on the porch with the other dogs instead of blogging. For recreation, I've chased a little white ball across very nice lawns (golf courses) instead of blogging. As summer comes to a close, my blogging efforts will increase, my golfing will decrease, my swimming will decrease, my boating will decrease, so there should be plenty of time for thoughtful blogging.