Listen to the Doers

Last night was among the more memorable of my career.
 
I had the unique opportunity to dine with social media strategists who work for three giants. Joining me were (pictured above left to right) Michael Brito from Intel, Tony "Frosty" Welch from HP's personal systems group and Richard Brewer-Hay from eBay. (Note: I consult to Tony and RBH and their companies since they are clients of Edelman.) The event that preceded dinner also included Angela LoSasso, Social Networking Manager at HP. A full summary is here.
 
I always love when the clients open up and share their experiences. Sometimes I wish we would pay more attention to what these such individuals say over what every Tom, Dick and Harry who calls himself a "social media guru" utters.
 
These are "the doers" - the ones who are on the front lines of change; innovators who are taking risks and getting things done.
 
During dinner we discussed the triumphs and tribulations of living as a social media strategist inside a big company. Sound easy? It's not. It requires finesse, good judgment and technological savvy. A lot of us think we know what works. These guys do because, well, they actually do - as in execute - strategies.
 
So my suggestion to you if you want to learn more about social media is to tune into "the doers." There are many if you know where to look. It's "the doers" more so than thinkers who increasingly have all the answers.

Lifehacks: Three Tips for Managing the Stream Before it Manages You

Image via Zee on TheNextWeb.com

The following is also my column in next week's AdAge...

Three Tips for Managing the Stream Before it Manages You

Tweets, texts and feeds - oh my. It's enough to make any one go batty if it lets you. But like it or not, as I mentioned in my last column, we need a new set of skills to "keep up" and manage our streams (vs. letting it managing you). Here are my three favorites...

1) Find a Digital Curator You Trust and Stick With It

Years ago I met with one of the more influential thinkers in the social media space. I asked her how she keeps up. Her answer surprised me. She only reads the Social Media Smart Brief, a daily digest newsletter. I too find myself turning to curators like the SmartBrief as well as TechMeme, Tweetmeme and Regator. Find one that tracks the verticals and people you need to follow.

2) Don't Subscribe and Read, Archive, Search and Skim 

In the personal productivity world,  some eschew sorting documents and emails in folders in favor of just throwing them into an archive where they can be easily searched later. The same approach works well for managing your stream. 

Use a tool like Google Reader to subscribe to lots of content, including say all your friends on Twitter. However, view it as a personal, searchable database rather than another collection bucket you have to read and clear.

3) Make Unusable Time Usable Again

Since I got my iPhone two years ago, I can't remember the last time I was bored. Time that was once wasted - waiting on line at the DMV, riding the subway, even waiting out a rain delay at a ball game - is now once again usable.

One site that I rely on more than any other is Instapaper.com. You add a special bookmark to your browser that can be used clip any article on Instapaper for later review. Then, pull up Instapaper on any mobile phone and it will present you with a lightweight versions of those articles . There's also an iPhone app that makes all articles available offline.

(Additional tips can be found here from Amber Naslund.)

Related articles by Zemanta

• Regator for iPhone: The Web's Trending Topics in Your Pocket (mashable.com)
• What I'm doing to fight the social media echo chamber (myventurepad.com)
• Google Reader lets you snoop on friends' feeds, Digg with ease (digital.venturebeat.com)

Streams from the Road: I Believe the Children are our Future

In this episode, which lasts about five minutes, I discuss how to get your CEO on board with the need to engage in social media. Also, I cover two new gizmos that help me travel easier - inflight wifi and my turn by turn navigation app for the iPhone.

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Thoughts from the Road: Rage Against the Machine

Kicking off a new feature here - short podcast all created and mailed in via my iPhone 3GS. In this episode (03:45)...
 
* why suddenly is there a rage against the services we once loved - Twitter, the iPhone and perhaps even Friendfeed?
* will this push power users more toward open systems like Android?
* will this push users to trust only themselves and and perhaps return to blogging?
 
What's your view. Listen in and leave a comment below. Audio follows.

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Data: Google Updates Trends and Insights Tools

"Over half of the most popular Google search queries are predictable in a 12 month ahead forecast, with a mean absolute prediction error of about 12%."

via "On the predictability of Search Trends" as posted on googleresearch.blogspot.com

Google today updated its two trending tools. What's notable here is that they both now forecast trends. However, Google notes that their ability to do so in the social networking and online communities vertical is fair. Join the club! There's also a PDF link on their blog to some more in-depth research.