Transistioning Back To Normal Life

It’s now been three days since PodCamp Toronto 2008 wrapped up and about time I posted something.  This was the 5th one I’ve attended, and the first I’ve helped organize, and I had an absolute blast doing it.

I gave 2 sessions this weekend: one on how I’ve been slowly abandoning desktop application in favour of web-based alternatives, and the other one was a getting-started session on TalkShoe. I also moderated the ever-evolving Mentor Lounge, and sat on a panel called “Twitter 101″ to a standing-room-only crowd.

As this was my first time helping to organize one of these events, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I ended up doing a lot of registration desk sitting and hallway monitoring over the weekend, just to make sure attendees were able to find what they came in to see. It was really interesting to hear the reasons why people were showing up throughout the day.

I want to give a big thanks to Connie Crosby, Dave Fleet, Rob Lee, Katherine Matthews, Sean McGaughey, Jay Moonah and Eden Spodek who were all involved  in organizing the event. I also want to congratulate Mark Blevis, Bob Goyetche, Rob and Katherine on the very successful “Zero to Podcasting” track they put on this weekend. There was a lot of buzz in the halls about it.

I’ve always supported the idea that PodCamps, as a whole, should learn from our own mistakes and over the weekend I took a number of notes about what I felt we did right, and wrong, so that other events such as NYC, Ohio and Pittsburgh can learn from where we slipped and better their own events. This can the let us better our own event in 2009.

I’ll be posting more about the weekend as the next few weeks go on. That’s it for now.

My Twitter Suitcases Are Packed

If you follow me on Twitter, or heck, if you use Twitter at all, you know that they’ve been experiencing things that are “technically wrong”. Now, perhaps this was intentional on their part to show off the new error message, but they’re really starting to push the limit on what’s acceptable for down time.

Customer Service Went First

I keep my profile on Twitter protected. Not so much because I don’t want people following what I say (I do) or because I have things to hide (I don’t) but simply because if I don’t protect my profile, my Twitter page jumps to the top of Google and out-ranks my own web site. That, for some reason, bothers me. I’d like to see Twitter implement a “no index” option, so I can keep my profile public but not have it show up in Google, but alas, that’s likely a dream.

Nearly 3 weeks ago (Jan 14th, to be exact) I noticed that when I clicked on  the friend request link on the side I received an error. I emailed support about it. I received an answer on the 16th stating that it was a bug, they were aware of it, and were working on a fix. I replied on the 20th looking for a workaround as I saw the number of requests grow from 1 to 5 to 8 to 11. Nothing. I emailed again on the 28th, now at 14 people. Nothing. I’m over 20 requests now. No word from support. No workaround. Still broken.

Ready To Move On

After the issues I’ve had with support, and now with the large amount of downtime - I’m ready to pack it in. Permanently. I won’t, yet, because Twitter currently provides much too much value to me to abandon it. It sounds though, to me, like the sentiments throughout the Twitter community are starting to sway the same way. If they pass that all-too-famous tipping point, I think Twitter will be looking at a mass exodus.

And hey - maybe that’ll help with the stability issues.

Following The Leaders?

So, yesterday, Chris Brogan started the TwitterPacks project - designed to help answer the question “If someone were joining Twitter today, who might they follow?”. He kicked it off with a blog post, and a bunch of tweets. Now, there was some debate between myself and various others via @s and DMs and it seems people are confused on my position… So I thought I’d clarify.

Drawing The Line

I’m a fan of the idea. Twitter is a vast, vast community of people and trying to find groups of like minded individuals in it is getting more and more difficult by the day. I’ve been able to find other local Twitter users using the built in search, but finding other people who like, say, bowling, or who work at a specific company is not easy. So the idea of a list that answers “Who on Twitter is into bowling?” or “Who on Twitter works for ACME, Inc” is a really useful tool. I can understand, too, that not everyone is a fan of the search field, or fills in profile details, so a “Who on Twitter lives in Anytown” is also handy to have.

What I’m not a fan of is the execution - but I’m going to be a little shadowy here, so as to not hurt feelings. At the time of writing there are 8 people listed in the Toronto Pack. Now, in the interest of disclosure, I was following all of them prior to the pack’s creation. Had someone were to ask me “Who in Toronto should I follow on Twitter?” I would have probably rattled off a list of 10-12 people. Only 5 or so of the pack list make my list of recomended folk, despite me following all of them. I can also list people I feel are missing from the Montreal, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, PodCamp Pittsburgh and PodCamp Toronto packs.

So… Why Not Add Them?

The comment came up when I mentioned my stance to someone last night, that I could just add the people I feel are missing. The site is, after all, a wiki, and was designed specifically for any user to be able to add people. I have added a couple of people (Never myself, I don’t ever add myself or my projects to wikis), but then I decided I didn’t want to play anymore. Why? Well, what am I supposed to do with the people I DON’T feel should be on the list? I guess I leave them alone, right?  What’s to say they didn’t add themselves to the pack just to get a large number of followers? Or maybe Jane added John because she values his opinions - but she’s the only one who does?

The few people I added, were added because I either value what they say, or feel they bring unique perspective to conversations. Or both. I didn’t add myself to any of the packs I’m on, and I’m not sure who did, but I hope they did so looking at what I post to Twitter (Or my blog, or elsewhere) and added me based on who I was and what I have to say, and not simply because I know then through a specific channel or because we’re friends.

Next For Me

The TwitterPacks project is a really neat one to watch, but I’m not sure of a really neat way to FIX it. There has been some discussion on the original blog post, as well as on Chris’ follow-up, of new ways to “fix” the project, but I feel any method would be fundamentally flawed. A voting system can be gamed, a central body can be bribed (And sway based on personal opinion) and an open system, well, we’re seeing how well that one would work right now.

I chose to step out of the TwitterPacks project based on the fact that the decentralized, all-access system simply has too many holes. While I’ve been a fan of Wikipedia for years now, I’ve been known to critique them for similar issues. The major difference is that Wikipedia entries, most of the time, can’t be looked at as popularity contests. I’ve never been one to add or remove details about myself (or work I do) to any wiki, this one included - I only correct details. I’m not sure what the “removal” policies are on TwitterPacks, but I could easily see someone angry at this post removing me from the lists I’m on - and that’s OK by me.

I’ve always discovered new people to follow through word of mouth, or in-person events - and I’ll likely stick to that. A comment from someone else suggesting I follow you is a thousand times more valuable to me then seeing your name on a list. And finding me on a list of people? Well, hearing that someone personally recommended you follow me is a much larger compliment then any list could ever be.

Disconnected - My 3 Rs For Early 2008

So, welcome to 2008! While I’ve never been much of a guy to make large-scale promises or resolutions at the dawning of a new year, especially public ones, I’ve always been able to find something I’m willing to toss onto a wall to see if it sticks. Some of my personal hopes and goals for 2008 include local volunteering and folding 1000 paper cranes. I’ll elaborate on both of those as the days and weeks unfold, but I want to take this chance to look at my digital goals in this upcoming year.

If you follow me closely, you’ll know that I turned off my Twitter account at midnight, just after a, highly appropriate, tweet consisting of “</2007> <2008>”. I’ve had a lot of very interesting responses to my doing this, but the most common has, by far, been along the lines of “Are you crazy?!”, “Are you joking!?” or “Is this… forever?”. Watching people react to seeing someone close up shop on Twitter has given me a really neat perspective (And lots of notes) on the Twitter community. I feel I should answer the three questions most asked though - Possibly, not at all, and no, it’s not.

One of my first tasks for the year is to renew my digital world. Over the next days and weeks, I’ll be going through each and every blog, podcast, video podcast, twitter feed and so on that I follow and -evaluating their value to my life. Twitter, as much as I love it, is a non-stop distraction to me, and so I feel it’ll just be a lot easier if I step out of the stream for a while. I still get @ messages, and DMs, and will randomly hop on to read messages, but the “always on” aspect will be turned off, and my tweets will be fewer and further between.

In addition to feeds, I’m also re-evaluating every tool I use, both on the web and on my desktop, to see if there is a better one out there for me. I’ll, quite likely, be the proud owner of a new laptop in the coming weeks, and I want to make certain that the tools I’m using are the ones that will allow me to get the most done, in the least amount of time, while fitting within my existing (and currently evolving) lifestyle.

My personal branding is also being refreshed during this opening portion of the year. I began that with a “mostly done” change of the blog appearance. If you’re picking this up via RSS, stop on by the site to take a look - I’d love to hear what you think. I’ve got time set aside for things like Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter, too… So keep your eyes peeled wherever we’re connected to see how this unfolds.

There  are some other things that are being done to help with this process, too. I’m getting a new desk, for example,and re-positioning furniture in the office to help me make the most of physical space, I’m taking a look at some of the personal projects I own or play active roles in and will likely stop or change many of them (even if those changes aren’t visual) and am working my way through a number of personal productivity books in a desperate attempt to make my life more manageable.

So that’s what’s going on - and why I’ve been pretty quiet, recently. It sure seems like things are going to be busy. What about you, though? What do you have planned, digitally, for 2008?

Introducing: The Limestone New Media Group

So, last night the handful of us new media guys in town got together at The Merchant Taphouse to hang out and talk new media over a few drinks and some wings. We’ve now establish a name, a domain is forthcoming, and a frequency. We got a lot of work done too on where we want to go with the local new media stuff, too. More details on that will be established as we go forward - but the wheels are in motion for some exciting things in Kingston.

Thanks to David Bailey and birthday boy Francis Wooby for making the trek downtown to be a part of last night’s meetup.

Want to join us for the next one? It will be held on the second Monday of December (That’s the 11th) and will be held once again at the Merchant Taphouse once again at 7:00pm. Are you coming?