We're just like this guy ... every day

This blog has been a wee bit quiet lately, because there’s a lot going on with us.

I thought it might be helpful to get the word out about some of the upcoming excitement.

BarCamp Auckland: 17 July 2010

(That’s this Saturday!) BarCamp is an unconference, which means anyone can speak, which includes me. I’ll be debuting my Ragtag Leadership concept and look forward to some great discussions.

Online Marketing & New Media Masterclass: 19-20 July, 2010, Wellington

Our 2-day masterclass will be in Wellington on Monday and Tuesday next week. It’s very soon, but I don’t think BrightStar would mind a few late registrations! These are comprehensive and very interactive, we always come away with some good questions. Register here.

NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants, Auckland, July 27th

Social media affects everyone, including accountants. This presentation will look at how social media is affecting internal communication, and also introduce some Ragtag Leadership ideas. Register here.

Wordcamp, 7-8 August

I won’t be speaking but will be attending this gathering all about the popular blogging platform (and for many sites, including this one, a full content management system) WordPress. Details here.

Marie Workshops, Auckland, 18 August

Our very successful one-day workshop continues in Auckland at the University of Otago centre on Wednesday August 18th. We’ve had great feedback from these workshops, particularly about the personal touch we bring to the workshops. We’d love you to join us if you’re new to social media (or even in need of a refresher course).

Google BarCamp Auckland

Another BarCamp, but this time all about Google. Not speaking, just attending (as long as I’m in Auckland) and listening and learning! Info here.

3rd Annual Marketing Education Services Summit, Wellington, 25-27 August

I’ll be holding a special one-day workshop for educational marketers wanting to harness social media to reach potential students. I’ll also be giving a presentation in the main summit, alongside some pretty high-calibre presenters including our friend Charlotte Mayne from Lincoln University, who’ll talk about how Lincoln revitalised its brand without losing its essence. Register for the summit here.

We’ve also got some exciting in-house engagements with clients coming up, including a talk to some research scientists, educators and PR people. It’s really exciting to see awareness of social media’s influence beyond marketing and PR. These are truly exciting times to be alive.

If you’re interested in getting us in for a workshop, or to speak at an event, please contact us.

Why websites don’t work

Okay, so maybe I exaggerated. Websites do work, and our website plays an important part in letting people know who we are and what we do.

But most of our enquiries don’t come through our website. Our latest two speaking engagements came through Twitter and Facebook respectively.

A simple benefit of social media is being available on multiple channels, so you can serve your clients/customers more effectively.

Also interesting; these enquiries came through a personal channel, rather than the official Twitter account or Facebook page. Again, it points back to the increasing importance of personal brand.

More on this soon!

(Clever calendar pic borrowed from this ingenious page)

He’s also been involved in social media for quite some time, and sees beyond the technology to some of the social good it can generate.

Technically, this post should be called “Vote for Us”, but the English language doesn’t have the nuances of Polynesian languages (matou = “us, not including you, the listener” and tatou = “us all, including you, the listener”) so we’ll go for “Vote for You” instead.

Yes, it’s a political message, and it’s a real-time example of how social media can potentially transform all walks of life.

Here we are in 2010, looking at the local body elections in 10 months’ time.
I’m seeing the same old approaches to the campaigns. My opponents are, largely, doing the ‘Vote for me’ approach, and there is the ‘Vote for this’ with the fielding of a team of élites claiming to represent the people of Wellington’s best interests.

What about, I wonder, ‘Vote for us’, the Wellingtonians like you and me?

We are in an age where real democracy is within reach. Our elected officials can, ideally, have blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. As well as face-to-face meetings with citizens, we can engage people and hear their thoughts directly.
No more intermediaries, no more polls. The technology exists for us to hear directly from Wellingtonians.

When I set up the Your Wellington website, in advance of my own mayoral campaign announcement, I signalled that the next mayor is not someone who has his own agenda.

The next mayor is a mayor who pushes the agenda of all Wellingtonians, based on what is learned from them through citizen engagement.

However, it would not be unreasonable for those who have watched past elections to be sceptical about this proposition.

They would point at the 2007 campaign run by mayoral candidate John McGrath, which indeed employed Facebook and a blog, yet netted the restaurateur so few votes that he trailed councillors such as Bryan Pepperell.

However, McGrath erred on two counts: his Facebook page was set up so late that while it gained followers, it never engaged them in any depth. His blog was, meanwhile, closed to comments.

It defeated the whole purpose of blogging or, for that matter, having an internet presence for a mayoral campaign.

Still, one needs to acknowledge that he was, at least, prepared to explore social media—something which his opponents did not do. Instead, they mounted sites that were particularly one-way.

The difference in 2010 is having a record that shows one at least appreciates that we are masters of this technology. One must be willing, in particular, to engage our 18–45 group, notorious for our low turn-out at local body elections.

For us, there is little point starting a blog now and feigning interest in this group, one which comprises nearly two-fifths of our city’s population.

But if one has constantly listened and engaged, then that at least bypasses the very sensitive detectors this media-savvy group possesses.

In fact, this is the very means through which Mark Blumsky found himself successful in his mayoral campaign in the 1990s.

While he did not have an internet in as advanced a stage as we have it now, Blumsky engaged his retail customers and employed a mailing list, which numbered in the thousands, to make the 18–45 group feel like their voice mattered.
Anyone who sees himself as a representative of the people of Wellington must have the humility to engage, not just in person, but through the new media which its citizens find second-nature.

Blumsky did, at least for a good proportion of young voters in Wellington.
In many respects, this is a 21st-century development of the face-to-face approach that Sir Francis Kitts was known for. But in a larger and more diverse city than what Sir Francis saw, we must employ technology to bridge the gap. We need to reach voters through more channels.

What I am doing with Your Wellington is, then, part of the journey from Kitts through Blumsky to 2010, encouraging more Wellingtonians to have a greater say in our future.

I foresee this to be the way campaigns will head in the 2010s, as blogs, Facebook and their ilk become the norm for over half of our population.

This effort begins now. Beyond my seven years of blogging about politics and my love of Wellington, I have put up some basic issues at Your Wellington for discussion. There are some areas where I am a specialist, but I would be very arrogant to claim that I know it all.

Over the next nine months, my team and I will build this website to cover more and more issues.

By the time of the local body elections on October 9, 2010, I will have presented myself as a candidate who has listened—not just in the last 12 months, but in the last seven years of blogging and engaging. Armed with the knowledge and hopes of Wellingtonians, I can move forward representing what the people have told me they want.

Wellingtonians are not impressed by élites that drive away our hope and future. The Mayor must listen, and show that one has listened.

The Your Wellington blog will continue if I am elected as a Mayor for all Wellingtonians, as a means through which we can respond to city policies as we see fit, rather than demand we attend council meetings to voice our concerns. I will also spearhead other social media tools through which Wellingtonians can have a say in our city.

By saying that we all have a say in our future and using tools that have been around for years, Wellington can become a model city in true representation.

I see Wellington as a leader, both technologically and democratically. Throughout my 22 years in business, I have tried to show off just how great our city and our country are.

I haven’t suddenly emerged this year as a mayoral candidate because I want votes. My belief in this city, and my accessibility to all people, are a matter of record, especially online.

Next year, I hope we will “vote for us”—namely, a mayor and council who believe that power resides in the people, not in the same-old arguments, personalities or élites.

International online marketing strategist Sharon Crost will run an interactive, enthusiastic session about unleashing your inner super hero:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And Melbourne-based social media specialist Stephen Johnson from DraftFCB will be addressing best practices in building brand advocates:

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’ll be putting up part 2 of our interview with Stephen over the long weekend. Subscribe to iJumpTV to make sure you see it!

Other speakers include Chris Brogan and David Meerman Scott , both legends in the small world that is social media, and ‘Google guru’ Jim Stewart .

The conference starts on Wednesday, 15 April, at Te Papa in Wellington. I hope to see you there!

This Thursday Auckland , Wellington and Christchurch will be the first places in the world to kick off a worldwide Twestival .

Twestival is like a normal tweetup , but it’s raising funds for CharityWater .

For just $10 at the door (or paid on the website) you can enjoy:

• meeting other "imaginary friends" (people you know on Twitter but not in "real life")
• free alcohol
• possibly some music
• being part of a world event that’s doing a lot of good!
• and if you don’t even know what Twitter is, it’s a great opportunity to find out!

iJump is supporting the event and we’ll be saying a few things about social media and how it’s changing the world on the night. But only for a few minutes

The Auckland Twestival 2009:

• Venue: Sale Street Brewery
• Time: 5pm – about 9pm
• Cost: $10 – all proceeds go toward Charity Water
• Partners: Zendesk is the main sponsor; Sale Street Brewery are contributing; and little old iJump is helping get the word out.
• HELP NEEDED: We’re still looking for someone to provide a laptop, large screen/projector and internet connection, so we can hook up with all the other Twestivals around the world! Contact Justin Flitter to help, or just leave a comment.

And thanks so much to Joi Design for putting together the nametags at such short notice.

These events are for the more technically inclined, but there are social media tie-ins.

Webstock has social media consultant Derek Powazek and Flickr’s community manager Heather Champ , as well as New Zealand’s own Russell Brown (publisher of the Public Address blog and community) and Nat Torkington (organiser of KiwiFoo and a regular tech commentator).

Web09′s speakers will be talking about interface design, open APIs, iPhone apps, mobile and creating a great user experience. Lets hope many designers and developers get that message!

photo credit: nyki_m

We’re about to enter a slightly crazy time of public speaking engagements, which means just as much listening and talking – if we do our job right.

Here they are, in short order:

• Monday, August 4th , 7:30am – 9:30am, at Lowndes Associates ‘ Business Intelligence Workshop , at the Stamford Plaza in Albert Street, Auckland. Subject is “Online Strategies for Non-Online Businesses” Bookings here .
• Thursday, August 7th , 12pm-2pm, at the Marketing Association ’s Southern Luncheon at the Hotel Grand Chancellor , 161 Cashel Street, Christchurch. Subject: Making Sense of Social Media. Bookings here .
• Wednesday, August 13th , 2:30-3pm as part of the day-long Digital Future Now summit, at the SkyCity Convention Centre in Auckland. I’ll be on a panel with Paul Reynolds and Nicholas O’Flaherty discussing how social media can help business. Bookings here .
• Monday, September 15th , 4:15-5pm as part of the day-long 6th Annual Media Relations Conference at the Wellington Town Hall . I’m chairing a “champagne roundtable” (hic!) on exploring the potential of social media. Bookings here .
• Tuesday, September 16th , 1:30pm-5pm in a workshop entitled Blogs: Friend or Foe? Also at the Wellington Town Hall . Bookings here .

And if you can’t make it to any of these, we’ll still be producing the weekly Jump In video podcast , and appearing from time to time on Radio NZ National’s Virtual World segment with Jim Mora .