Part 2 of the Molly Flatt Interview discussing the social aspects of social media and making a change

Posted by Chris in My Blog & Guest Posts,Top Class Interviews,Video,general,innovators and leaders on April 29, 2010

More passionate and enthusiastic conversation with Molly Flatt (@mollyflatt) from 1000 heads. I hope you feel as motivated and as energised as I did after our chat. Watch it and then go make some changes in what you do for the better…

Here’s part two of the interview:

Agree or disagree, you can’t fail to love her passion and enthusiasm for her work and her life.

What do you think?

Want to hear & see a refreshing approach to social media? This is part one of my interview with Molly Flatt from 1000 heads

Posted by Chris in My Blog & Guest Posts,Top Class Interviews,Video,general,innovators and leaders on April 27, 2010

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting up with Molly Flatt (@mollyflatt) from 1000 heads. Across about an hour we had a chat about how she feels social media needs to change, modern ways for brands and organisations to communicate and generally putting the world to rights.

Here’s part one of the interview

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what Molly and I talked about.

An American’s perspective on Likeminds & other UK conferences from Trey Pennington

Posted by Chris in Guest Blog Posts,Top Class Interviews,general,innovators and leaders on April 7, 2010

I’ve met up with Trey Pennington on a number of occasions and he’s someone I’m now lucky enough to call a friend.  Our last meeting was at the Likeminds conference in Exeter about 5 weeks ago. One of our conversations was based around the differences between the UK & the US in how they treat social media events .

Here follows his thoughts.

An American perspective on LikeMinds 2010

Chris Hall is a community-builder. I’m thankful he’s included me in his community and asked for my thoughts on the differences between conferences in the United States and the United Kingdom.

For me, the conferences in the United Kingdom are quite rewarding. Only in the UK do y’all appreciate my distinctive Southern accent. In the US, no one notices.

It seems British audiences are more vocal about expectations and the thwarting of them. Y’all are quick to voice critique. I had thought Americans were demanding and vocal—the criticism of Jeff Pulver’s 140 conferences in the US was downright brutal, for instance. (Then again, I’ve also thought American politicians wouldn’t last very long under the scrutiny of Questions to the Prime Minister.)

American criticism seems to focus more on things (the attacks on Pulver’s 140 focused on lack of Wi-Fi, being in a basement without access to cellular signal, and lack of power outlets, for instance). British critique seems to focus more on content and people.  Criticism of specific speakers or specific content doesn’t seem so pronounced in the US.

One might make a case that Americans think first of comfort and convenience while Brits consider content. I can’t say one way or the other. What I can say is, it seems the critique proffered by my British friends would serve to increase the speed of evolution for things that matter.

Scott Gould with Trey Pennington on the London Bridge after the 2009 LikeMinds Conference in Exeter.

I can also say the British have received and treated me exceptionally well. I’ve been amazed at the hospitality showered on me by Scott Gould, his extended family, and the whole community of friends associated with LikeMinds. Y’all have enriched my life considerably and I’m immensely thankful for you.

What are your thoughts on UK/US conferences and their approach?

Sarah Evans Interview – where we talk being two, not thinking too much & being a freak

Posted by Chris in My Blog & Guest Posts,Top Class Interviews,general,innovators and leaders on March 22, 2010

Sarah Evans is a public relations and new media consultant. She works with many non profit, social good and technology companies. But it’s her personal mission—to engage and employ the use of emerging technologies in all communication—that connects her with a rapidly growing base of more than 40,000 people.

A self-described “social media freak,” Sarah initiated and moderates #journchat, the weekly live chat between PR professionals, journalists and bloggers on the microblogging platform, Twitter. She is a guest writer for Mashable, one of the most popular social media blogs in the world runs her own blog at PRsarahevans.com and shares a daily resource for PR professionals called Commentz.

Here follows our interview.

1. At what point did you decide the career path you’ve chosen and what drew you to it?

I was drawn to public relations ultimately because I liked connecting people. I can trace my draw to the profession back to when I was a two-year-old planning tea parties. There’s something fulfilling to me about connecting people through a meaningful experience and even better when they talk to others about a positive experience. Working in public relations has allowed me to create meaningful and memorable experiences, connect with people and get great results.

2. What excites you most about the growth of social media?

Social media allows us to break boundaries. There aren’t any spatial constraints where you find yourself talking with Read more…

Can we learn from how large companies engage with social media?

Posted by Chris in My Blog & Guest Posts,general,innovators and leaders on February 26, 2010