Celebrities. Socially Speaking.

In the Spring of 2009 – I will be officially launching “The Vyne Group” or Vyne™ an Agency dedicated to helping Celebrities maintain and grow Social Media Channels to connect with their audiences in organic new ways. Celebrities have built websites, some have even started blogs, however; there are very few that have really entered into the “Social Space”. This could be due largely to the “transparent” nature of Social Media – however; our theory is that – with a well defined Online Reputation Management strategy in place – Celebs will not only take a greater deal of control over the media perpetuated about and around them online – BUT they will actively be able to connect with their fan base in a creative new way. 

Over the weekend – the Vyne™ team took a leap of faith and decided to launch the Official (un-official) Tyler Perry Fan Twitter Page. We did this for two reasons… 

1. From a Online reputation management standpoint – we quickly realized that Tyler Perry was not in ownership of his Twitter domain (http://www.twitter.com/tylerperry) and being BIG TIME Tyler Perry Fans we would not want the “Michael Jackson Twitter Effect” happening to him… Get the details here.. http://www.twitter.com/michaeljackson – NOT GOOD 

2. We realized that there is huge leverage that we could gain by helping someone that we are Fans of – by forwarding people to Tyler Perry’s official website and keeping his Fans connected to the relevant Tyler Perry information found online… 

All in all – We are pretty excited about what we are seeing with the Tyler Perry Twitter account. There are many of his Fans on Twitter and Connecting with him Organically – We are hoping that the Fans start to create a demand for Tyler Perry to exude his own voice, and to become active on his own behalf. This is our hope as well… What are we getting out of this? The satisfaction that we helped someone that we admire start a trend that we feel will change how we all connect with Celebrities. 

NOTE TO THE TEAM AT TYLER PERRY: Our goals is simple. To help. We will faithfully update  your Twitter profile with all of the wonderful things that you are doing in the industry. We are indeed taking your advice – We are “actively dreaming” in hopes that one day – The Vyne Group will become THE OFFICIAL Social Media Strategy team that will help you connect with your Fans. They want to connect with you – connect with them.

For more information about The Vyne Group email me at: 
vincent@thevynegroup.com

Liberated. Me.

Okay. This post is going to be more therapeutic than anything, however; I am hoping that through this post – IF you are reading carefully you can learn something significant. Something that might change your life. 

Liberated. Me. 

I am calling this “Liberated. Me.” because after about 2 years of soul searching and mis-calculated career moves – I have come to a very disturbing conclusion, and a revelation all at the same time. NOW – how I got here is probably how many of you have gotten to where you are in life. You have tried your hand at many things, and discovered that you are not only good at a diversified set of things but you are indeed. Great. You have come to realize that you are really “dynamic walking”. BUT this is where it gets sticky… Life has trained you, me, us all – that we should discover what we do, and do that thing “until the wheels fall off”. We embrace a “title” and live in what I now call “The Title Box” and miss out on a great deal of your lives purpose – and perhaps, unique DNA. The problem comes in when you start to feel burned out in the Title Box – and because you have not let your Colleagues, and Networking circle know that you are actually great at more than just one thing, but you are indeed a “Swiss Army Knife” with the ability to do many things – your Title Box actually becomes an “Expectation Trap” that does not allow you to explore the opportunities around you. Wow right?

Here is a “flip” way of looking at this… A Friend of mine Hajj Flemings told me one day – he said… “Vince – Why do you lock yourself in a “title” that only scratches the surface of what you do? AND who you truly are?” NOW THAT was relevant and transforming. Then one day when I was sharing this with my wife she said… “Makes sense…” WHY WOULD you do that? So this started my mind racing in 100 directions. The conclusion – I had to find a way to let the world know what it is that I do, in a way that allowed them to find what they needed from me in a very simple way. So as I started thinking about this – Hajj comes back to me and says… “Vincent, been thinking… How come you do not use a Personal Brand Cloud? It’s LIKE a tag cloud except it deals with your Personal Brand…” So there it was… My Ah Ha! Moment…. In that instant I was now the Brand: Vincent Hunt™ governed only by a Personal Brand Cloud that grows based on a path of self-discovery.

I immediately started designing my new Business Cards, aborted a business plan that I was assembling (which would have boxed me in all the more) and decided in that instant – that I was, or AM the Brand and that what I do and how I do it is unique to me. My Unique Value Proposition. I developed my tag line: Nothing Deep. Just Relevant. – and I execute business based on my Unique Value Proposition. 

From time to time I am challenged in this new way of thinking… In fact, today, a design client of mine says… “Hey Vince… I wanna tell some folks about you and what you do…” Instantly I started asking myself… What is it that I do? That ONE thing? And in that moment I was arrested. The Design Client knew me as a Designer, and that was cool. Very cool. She also knew me as a Creative Thinker, an Influencer, Project Manager, and Collaborator – BECAUSE during our experience together she had the opportunity to get a good taste of my authentic DNA – My Unique Value Proposition. End result? Design Satisfaction and an remarkable DNA imprint made in her mind. 

So why am I talking about this, and telling this? Because there are others who are probably struggling with what I did until I “liberated” myself – removed my “Title Boxes”, and decided to live my professional life, according to my DNA and UVP. SO today – Make a conscious decision to dig deep inside, and find out all of the things that you do. Not the ONE thing but the many things that you have been programmed to do – and start to become relevant in the areas where you have relevance. NEVER EVER LET ANYONE PUT YOU IN A TITLE BOX – this will bring on things like: Burn Out, Frustration, Anxiety, Missed Opportunities, Feeling of “Incompleteness”, Unhappiness, Limited Resources and a One Dimensional Personality. 

Vincent Hunt™
Nothing Deep. Just Relevant.

There’s Nobody In The Lobby: Part 2: Authentically Social

About a month ago I published a blog post, a quite lengthy one if I must say, called “There’s Nobody In The Lobby. An Introduction to Social Media…” that got a LOT of attention. I Got TONS of emails and kudo’s from the Readers of this blog, and others that caught the article on my MediaPRO profile and in other places that I placed the article, where I thought it would add value. 

What bothered me though, was the fact that the blog post was only surface at best, and there is a whole piece that I have written that I took from to produce that “snap shot” which has now become quite the discussion piece. SO with that – I decided… “Heck let’s continue to tell the story, it’s helping people…” So here is what I am now calling: There’s Nobody in The Lobby: Part 2: Authentically Social… If You have not read “There’s Nobody in The Lobby. An Introduction to Social Media” read that first… It will 1. Help you, 2. Make this MAKE SENSE.

 

… SO after you realize what has just happened, and after you have made your way back over to the couch in the lobby, you sit down to catch your breath. You have about 100 thoughts running through your mind all at one time and you are trying to get a grasp of all of the NEW information that you have found. You are overwhelmed by all of the people that you have met, and what’s amazing you the most, is that though many of the people that you met were NOT in your line of work, and were NOT your USUAL SUSPECTS, you somehow felt “a connection”. And in that moment – you felt alive and rejuvenated about the business that you are in, because somehow it just felt more “dynamic”. 

As you look at your handful of business cards and yellow Post-It stickies, you start to realize just how “un-connected” you have been, because you realize that your business card resides only in the hands of those you THOUGHT or FEEL will appreciate your business, the ones that you picked out and targeted to give your business card to. You start to think about all of the elegant systems you have in place to get your business cards in the hands of these “Chosen Few” and you quickly start to understand that “business as usual” is NOT so usual anymore. 

You look down at the table, where you in-fact, left your business card – and surprisingly enough it was still there. You reflect on how when you were engaged in the Facebook room – you were able to talk about your business, and project just how excited you were about what you did, and how excited the people that you talked to where about your business. Scanning over the empty Lobby you started to understand that, THINGS HAVE CHANGED, yet you, until now, were still the same. And the question of – “How come I can not get my cards in front of enough people?” starts to fleet and become a memory. 

Renewed with new information, you travel to the parking lot and you get into your Fresh New Car, the one you bought when you accomplished the big Corporate Brand account the month prior. And in THIS moment you realized, THIS IS WHERE ITS HAPPENING. You turn on your cell phone and you start making calls to the Business Cards and yellow Post-It notes that you had ascertained. You start talking to contacts and building REAL RELATIONSHIPS with them, inviting them to lunch and to social events that your company had put together 6 months ago, but were still trying to figure out how to get people there. You had posted the companies social events under the tab 

What We Are Doing At My Company

on your website, but looking over your websites site statistics, you know that only a few people even visited that tab. SO you knew that your company events would be more “elbow rubbing” with your own team mates than anything else. BUT NOW you were engaged, you were more aware than before, and you were connecting more organically than you had before. The people that you talked to on the phone you told them… 

“I don’t want to keep you on the phone forever, I know you are busy, but check out our website at www.mycompany.com if you want more information about us, and see you next week for lunch!” 

and the more you did this, the more you realized that your business card and your website were much the same. In a time where they WERE the tools to have, you used them, even optimized them, however; you are now in a time where they are simply what they are – TOOLS. They are the residue of real interactions. The residue of real conversations and real relationships. You realize that in today’s information driven marketplace, the leading edge resides where it always has… Real Authentic Human Interaction, and HOW and WHERE we communicate is as diverse as the Restaurants we frequent, the meeting rooms, the boardrooms, and the conference halls – except now they are more agile, and easily accessible. Restaurants are now called Rejaw, meeting rooms are now called Twitter, conference halls are called Facebook, and it’s in these places that we have to become authentically social. 

Have a business card? YES! Have a website? YES!! Become Authentically Social? HELL YES!!!! As we consume more information, as business speeds up, and connections are being made at the speed of a “click”, we no longer have the luxury of sitting in “The Lobby” – It’s back to what Gary Vaynerchuk calls Hustle 2.0. It’s back to getting in front of people, in real-time. REAL PEOPLE with real stuff going on. So from the seat of your car, you make real connections, you hire people (if you do not have the time) to connect with people WHERE THEY ARE from within your company,get someone that is a “Twitter Fanatic” or a “Rejaw Maverick”  because I am telling you… The audience you are trying to reach, IS NOT coming to sit with you in The Lobby anymore.

I Never Claim To Be An Expert In Muddy Water…

The Internet is an amazing space. One minute you are building Rich Media Experiences the next you are being an Experience Leader. There has always been a balance between man and machine, and that balance will always be relevant. At least I “think” so. In an environment that is always emerging, the best that you can do is read all you can, execute as much as possible, and always try to stay ahead of the curve. Never claim to be an Expert in muddy water…

Who Are The REAL Social Media Experts?

“The Social Media “Frontier” if I can call it that, is a vast playing field. From Community Experts, to Blog Consultants to the RSS Guru’s… I could go on forever…”

This morning I was doing my usual “information snacking” using my favorite tool on the planet “Snackr” when I came across a Blog Post that was written over at the labs at Read Write Web. The blog post was covering “Seven Social Media Consultants That Deliver Value“. This instantly caught my eye because of two reasons 1. I wanted to see who they pulled from the literally thousands of people who carry their own weight, 2. I wanted to see what the field of “authentic” Consultants looked like so early in the game. Reason #2 is what I really want to hit on in this Blog Post BUT I have to delve into #1 as well – THOUGH I know it may get me in some trouble.

Over the last 24 months we have all seen an emergence of information pertaining to the Social Media space. We have seen companies popping up everywhere – my agency even being added to that mix, all claiming to be the “Lords of Social Media” “Guru’s” and “Experts”. This concerns me, because at this stage of the game – WHO can authentically say they have it all figured out? AND who can say that their theories and ideals ARE THE ideals that will re-shape or even shape how a brand will perform in such a young space? Now – without a doubt, Social Media is here to stay. And even as I typed that statement, I realized that again – THAT was an assumption. If you follow my writing at all or if you have come into contact with any of my past work – you KNOW that I am a Social Media Evangelist all the way – BUT I can honestly say that I do not have it all figured out. I can indeed speak to you intelligently, and even elegantly about how I “feel” Social Media will indeed transform the world BUT that’s only my take on the matter. We as Industry Professionals have not lived out the Social Life Cycle LONG enough to authentically produce the solid “goods” on what works. Let’s be real about it.

I get literally 3 – 5 emails a day asking me to beta new Social Media tool that will change the whole way we do things. Some of the tools are hyped versions of tools that are already on play – and SOME are totally innovative, BUT this is not the point here… THREE to FIVE is and at a rate like that – WHO can keep up with all the static without playing “favvy’s” or being “partial” to the mix? We can probably all agree that Twitter has made a HUGE dent in the game, and Facebook is building momentum (a lil lost with the re-design) – BUT at the end of the day… It’s literally impossible to tag “Expert Status” to any of it.

So this raises the question… Is Social Media going to be yet another paradox in the whole – “Its not what you know but WHO you know” trilogy? Are the “Powers to Be” going to formulate who they feel are “The Experts” early on – and indeed locking out some of the new and up-coming Pioneers who are truly doing the real research behind the Social Media scenes – building yet another class of “Experts” that you have to “rub shoulders with” to get into the game? I really hope not…

The big question is this… Are the “Social Media Experts” NOW saying anything different than the “Social Media Enthusiast” at this point that clearly defines them as Experts? Are there enough case studies in anybody’s portfolio that substantiates them as being the “Elite” in such a young field? So my question -

Who are the REAL Social Media Experts?

I could rattle off a whole list of people that I personally “like” in fact a couple of them are on the Read Write Web post “Seven Social Media Consultants That Deliver Value” – BUT that would be a highly opinionated view of the bigger picture. Yes – the article says “…. That Deliver Value” – BUT we all know what that means in the Social Media World, in fact let’s get down to it, it could have easily read “Seven Social Media Consultants That You Can Trust” and that’s where all of this gets real relevant.

So now that I have “ranted”, let me conclude with this – because I know it’s going to be a long day after this post… The Social Media space is still being defined. Social Media is still in it’s early periods – we are all still feeling our way through. Some are feeling faster than others, and some are reaching deeper into the shift, revealing the connections between Metaverse interactions and Social Media, the true implications of Web 2.0 and Social Media, The Personal Brand and Social Media, Social Media and the Enterprise – sheeez – I could go on and on… So before we start making trying to reveal the true Value Leaders in a space that’s still proving it’s value, we may need to get some big wins under our belts, NOW THATS VALUE. Heck I wanna meet the team that put Barack Obama’s Socail Media Campaign together – NOW THAT’S V A L U E…

Social Publishing?

“I really feel that giving the Users more control of their own experience is going to be the new mandate of online publishing as a whole. Talking “at” people is becoming stale AT BEST, talking WITH people has ALWAYS been better…”

Yesterday we (Vyne Interactive) released Urban Epic, a Lifestyle Network focusing on Urban Music, Art, Fashion and what we call “The Revolution” – anything that deals with economics, social conflict, politics and the such. Releasing Lifestyle Networks is definitely part of what we do (scheduled to release 10 total in coming months) however; WHY we do it is really the big part of this post.

One of the biggest debates that looms around the publishing industry (behind closed doors, and in the shower in the morning) is: “Are people still reading???” – Well this really goes without saying – heck YOU are reading this, so we can forwardly say – YES people are still reading. I feel that the question really stems from two things and I could be wrong – I am a Tech/Creative Guy not a “Publisher” per say.. BUT here is my observation:

1. Economically – the “balance sheet” looks like people ARE NOT reading…
2. Emerging trends suggest that people ARE NOT READING…

So I conclude with this… “It’s not that people are NOT READING, they are just reading Differently…” With all of the different forms of publishing available these days, there is ample “stuff” to read in fact – there are companies who do nothing but help people sift through all of the potential “readables”. Today’s Forward Thinkers are reading WHAT they want WHEN they want… It’s just that simple. AND what makes it really tricky is that not only do they read WHAT they want and WHEN but now they want to be able to interject when they have something to add to the conversation… and YES there’s that word again… CONVERSATION, and as soon as we understand that we have grown beyond the “Information age” and into the “Conversation age” the sooner we can get on with it!

So here is a concept… Social Publishing. I am not talking about Blogs, nope, I am talking about 90% User or in this case Reader generated content. NOW PAUSE! I know what you are thinking…

“This guy has lost HIS mind…”

I would have to agree with you, IF this was post 2005. However; with the advent of self publishing and all the other advancements that have come along and changed the landscape, what’s crazy is that WE have not changed in our thinking. I know… I know… I am being brash – BUT SO ARE THE READERS!! And we can see their protest in many different forms:

1. Lower newsstand sales
2. Lower newsstand sales

OH!! Did I mention? Lower Newsstand sales… Social Publishing… 90% User generated content. Giving the Readers a platform to speak from right? The concept is indeed a bit “out there” BUT it’s relevant… Ask yourself this…

“If you KNEW that an article that you wrote on a site somewhere would show up in print somewhere, would you buy the print version? Somewhere?”

Let me answer this one for you… YEP!!! By the PEOPLE for the people – Open Source content generation…

So as I “fade” this “rant”… Do not be surprised when you start seeing digital turn to print “authentically”. Do not be surprised when you see the words Social Publishing spawning in this vibrant landscape…

Network Development: SFC Online

Wild couple of days… Been stuck in a design/development loop with the SFC Network (built on the Ning platform) http://www.sfconline.ning.com. 

I am pretty pleased so far with it’s turn-out. This is the first to hopefully many Ning integrations that will be done in the Vyne Labs. The Ning platform is indeed “Social Friendly” and I love the easy of navigation presented by it’s interface. Before I started developing on the platform – I visited and joined a few other Networks built on this platform to get a feel for it’s social loop. I would be considered a bandit if I did not mention the Networks I joined… 

1. MediaPRO and… 
2. Smaller Indiana (my home State)

Both of these networks are indeed thriving and rich with content. The Smaller Indiana crew is simply AMAZING and I am looking forward to spending more time within its walls learning the people and “trying” to be a Contributor to an already “savvy” crowd. 

Check out SFC Online - still in “beta” mode and let me know how ya feel so far. 

DISCLAIMER: We are still developing so do not mind the mess… 

Social Networking Strategy: The Mind Map.

About 12 months ago when I first started looking into what’s now the biggest chunk of conversation for me – Social Media, I quickly understood the power of the new medium. Another thing that I caught my attention was the vast amount of possibilities presented by the medium. When I first began I was looking at the front line tools of 2007 – which were quite a few, and to name the obvious IM’s and the such would be redundant at best – BUT if you look at the medium today you can easily see that the number of tools at your disposal, Twitter, Rejaw, Facebook, MySpace, Ping.fm, and countless others grace us with ease of use and of course – connectivity to one another. 

An inherit problem to all of this is organization. This morning I thanked God for Spaces in the Leopard Operating system – because without it… I would be insane. However; another tool that I have used over the last 3 years for ALL types of projects is Mind Mapping. Now – you may be scratching your head – but if you stick around for just two minutes I may be able to share a piece of technology that will give you a toolset that you can employ to help you keep all of this “stuff” organized. 

What is Mind Mapping? Mind Mapping is a way of organization that uses images instead of list or (primarily) words to organize data. A Mind Map is a visual representation of what is in your head… LOL!! Yeah sounds crazy huh? Here watch this Video by Tony Buzan – Creator of Mind Mapping (this is like a primer…) 

Okay… Now that you have this “Old School” version lets get technical with it… There are various Mind Mapping tools – I personally use Personal Brain  It’s light weight and sits right on your desktop with ease. NOW the winning question… How do I use the tool to keep my Social Networking Practices in order?

As “the rules” of Mind Mapping suggest – you start with a central point. This central point is YOU. And from you there are indeed the branches and these are mine… 

1. Blogging
2. Micro-Blogging
3. Networks (Major)
4. Networks (Minor)
5. Publishing
6. Creative

Blogging
Under the Blogging Branch I have any Blogs that I Author 

Micro-Blogging
This is where Rejaw, Twitter, Tumblr – so on and so forth go…

Networks Major
This is the home of Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning Networks and so forth…

Networks Minor
For me.. I list FriendFeed, Mashable, and like networks

Publishing
This is where your Squidoo pages and Zimbio data goes

Creative
You guessed it.. .Flickr and Adobe stuff….

Now this is where it gets nice. Now that you have a clear map of all that you have going on. Adding new sites and tools is not a problem. Your Map gets a LOT bigger BUT you have a clear view of all the madness. At Vyne Interactive – the very first thing that we do for each client is build a Mind Map of what we are doing with them and collaborate this map across our entire team. This way we can keep a solid pulse on where we are and what we are doing. 

This view is Surface at best – BUT this is SurfaceBurn – so what do you expect? What you can take away with you? 

1. A new understanding of Mind Mapping 
2. A Killer tool that you can use for creating your Mind Maps “Personal Brain” 
3. The beginning of a clear strategy to use in your Social Networking practices!

Cheers!

The Millionaires Secret. Revealed.

By way of Kyle Lacy’s blog I discovered Gary Vanerchuk – which I must say, even from a brief encounter, I WILL be learning more, is a Pioneer of the new Generation. No doubt. BUT he (Gary V) said something that affirmed something that a Millionaire told me once. This Guy – Kozel Boren of Gulf Industries told me – he said… 

“Vincent… The greatest thing I ever learned, was the art of buying and selling degree’s…” 

Whoa – NOW that was revolutionary. In a piece that Gary V did on the show Big Idea – he talks about the importance of investing big into your talent. Your people. and it was like a “Ah Ha” moment as it came together for me… Gary – like many other really wealthy people value their people in a way, and invest in them in a way – that brings on eminent success. 

Just had to throw that out there…

How Many Conversations Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Brand?

“I can remember as a kid growing up watching the commercial with the owl licking the lollipop saying… How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop…” 

Now here I am over 25 years later wondering… “How Many Conversations Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Brand???”… And what’s even all the more intriguing is, the idea that some big companies out there are absolutely oblivious to the idea that people are authentically trying to figure this out! 

How many does it take? Do you want me to tell you?

One. 

Yep. One. All it takes is one conversation, over 15 networks and over 5,000 people (maybe a few more or less) talking about your brand for the new wave of “Web Savvy Pioneer” to get to the “center” of a brand. What’s scary about this idea is that what’s discovered at the center just MIGHT not be your best characteristic. It might be that thing that you may have thought was hidden in the Boardroom under one of those yellow tablets of paper that you get from the drugstore on your way to the office – because you know you are going to have that all important “downsizing” meeting that EVERYONE is dreading… Why did I pick “Downsizing”? Because see… THIS is where your brand can unravel in the matter of minutes – where before you could go on, invisible to the world YET highly visible to those affected… Let me dig a bit with you… Trust me, I am not losing my mind. This will help your thought process. 

Take Jack. Jack is a pretty loyal Team Player at your Brand Site (company) and he is a “Die Hard Brand Fan” of yours. Jack attends EVERY company function and does EVERYTHING to a level of Excellence. JACK IS INDEED T R U S T E D by everyone around him, his word is GOLDEN. He is in modern terms – “The Man”. One characteristic about Jack that is working in his favor – is that he is totally “Social”. This guy, at 25 years old knows half of the planet. His Blog is KILLER and everyone admires his drive, and loyalty to his Brand… YOUR COMPANY is second to none.

For the sake of time… Let’s fast forward… 

It’s 9am on August 26, 2008 and your Company is facing some real stuff. Budgets are upside down and things are bleek at best. You know you will have to let go of some of the team – and it’s NOT because you want too – BUT because you HAVE to. You know that you are going to have to cut in order to survive. SO this is where that trip to the Drugstore comes in – THIS is where the yellow pads of paper come into play – SO play attention… 

You arrive at the office (as normal) with some pretty heavy burdens on your shoulders. You make the announcement to the Receptionist (who too is quite the Social Butterfly, and has one of the hottest MySpace pages EVER) that you need everyone to meet in the Boardroom at 10am… 

At 10am you feel like your life is coming to an end… And the meeting starts. So here you are. You and your team, and little to their knowledge - some of them will not make it out this room with their jobs. The meeting starts… Let’s fast forward… because this part is grim. 

It’s 11am and the meeting is over. People are packing up their desk – and among them is Jack and the Receptionist. Jack – is totally dismayed, discouraged and quite honestly a bit confused. The Receptionist is totally blown away because she called the meeting that ultimately took her income away. See where I am going with this? Let’s make it clear… 

Jack goes home and fires up his MacBook Pro (the one he is worrying about making the payments for now) and pulls open his only tool for comfort right now… His Ping.fm account. He pulls this tool out because in an instant he can broadcast to over 15 of his Social Networks with just one click. He starts off with… 

“My company did something really sucky to me today…” 

From there over 1200 of his Twitter friends know that something is up – Jack is NEVER negative, and 500 Rejaw friends, and 1000 Mashable friends, and ummmm… Get the picture? Next post… 

“My company XYZ Favorite Brand fired me with no warning…” 

Whoa – the plot thickens right? Because now people are really listening and chiming in… Someone who was not hired by your company comes back via their Ping.fm account and says something like… 

“Yeah!! XYZ Favorite Brand discriminated against me and did not even give me a chance!!!” 

And this is where it gets really sad… Remember the Receptionist? Well she always felt that the opportunities for her at your company were slanted – just never said anything to you about it… When she get’s home (because she is subscribed to Jacks RSS feeds – this is how she keeps a pulse on what’s happening at your company in “real time”) reads jacks post, and tracks back to the “Discrimination post” posted by someone that was never even working for your company…. The Receptionist writes a Blog post (to relieve her stress) and she does it in MySpace (remember she has like the hottest MySpace page EVER) and she post a bulletin in MySpace that says… 

“THIS IS WHY CORP AMERICA SUCKS… READ MY BLOG…” 

Wow. I could go on… BUT if you are not already thinking… 

1. Corporate Training in Social Media 
2. Social Media Teams
3. Online Reputation Management
4. Conversation Tech’s

Then there is nothing I can personally say OR do that will get you to see the future of brand positioning, or plain good old fashioned brand integrity preservation. Nothing. So I ask again… 

“How Many Conversations Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Brand?”