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I am sitting at the TWTRCON SF09 conference. This is the second Social Media Conference I have been to in the past several months. These types of conferences are truly something to behold. Meeting people in this atmosphere is really cool, because everyone has one big goal: to succeed in this new era of communication. What does that mean? Sitting here writing this I will come up with just a few quick observations that I think are interesting:

1. Social Media conferences are the only place sitting at a table pounding away at your computer or being on your blackberry texting is OK. In fact, it is encouraged. Almost everyone here has got a computer open, there are power strips at each table so everyone can plug in, and two large screens are posting the conference twitter feed.

2. You have to be caffeinated in order to soak it all in. If you are a passive person who wants to learn from long speeches or presentations or even powerpoint presentations, you are in the wrong place. Your attention span has to be on high alert and having superior typing skills (or agile thumbs).

3. Even though the presenters won’t say it and everyone pretends they don’t care about it, everyone wants more followers. It is one of the few easy ways to show progress. It may not signify success for your social media strategy, but face it more eyes on your account eventually means more people have a chance of understanding your business.

4. Where else do you get to see MCHammer talking about personal branding, revenue sharing, and building a business. What a great story. From huge fame to bankruptcy, to having hundreds of thousands of followers!

Get with this program friends…

The challenge many communities face is how to sustain their post-manufacturing economy. I know that is the problem they have in my hometown, where they have been trying to do it since the 1980s’. Even communities that want to rebuild their downtown have the same idea. If we can merely rebuild and reconstitute, recreate, do something to bring people back to the downtown, we could have a more vibrant city. But is this the best thing to do? Several communities having faced very severe deterioration in their downtown or in former working class neighborhoods. Instead of spending millions of dollars trying to create something that can’t survive the have gone the other way. Here are some articles about this strategy that has reared its head in the current financial dilemma:

Youngstown, Ohio

Buffalo, NY
Buffalo Neighborhoods
More Buffalo

Flint Michigan

Is planned shrinkage a viable strategy? Let me know what you think? How about for communities that are doing well, yet have micro-neighborhoods or areas that are suffering? Pull services, and save money?

What is your take on the financial crises or recession or the current state we are in? Have you pointed your finger at someone to asses blame? An excellent article in the current issue of the New Yorker attempts to explain the current financial crisis. In the article, “The Death of Kings“, Nick Paumgarten describes the meltdown from the viewpoint of hedge fund managers and others who were there. Here is an excerpt from the article and it is all you will ever need to know:

“This crises is a culmination of events and trends reaching back, depending upon your perspective, four, seven, seventeen, thirty-eight, sixty-five, or a hundred and two years…The causes are technological, mathematical, cultural, demographic, financial, economic, behavioral,legal, and political. Among dozens of contributors and culprits are the personal computer, the abandonment of the gold standard, the abandonment of Glass-Steagll, the end of fixed commissions, the rating agencies, mortagages-backed securities, securitization in general, credit derivatives, credit-default swaps, Wall Street partnerships going public, the League of Nations, Bretton Woods, Basel II, CNBC, the S.E.C. disintermediation, overcompensation, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, Phil Gramm and Jim Leach, Alan Greenspan, black swans, red tape, deregulation, outdated regulation, lax enforcement, government pressure to lower lending standards, predatory lending, mark-to-market accounting, hedge funds, private equity firms, modern finance theory, risk models, “quants“, corporate boards, the baby boomers, flat screen televisions, and an indulgent, undereducated populace… Much abridged, a few familiar words will do: debt, greed, hubris”.

Enough said. Your thoughts?

Is your mind wasting away? There was a commercial a number of years ago, I believe for the United College Negro Fund that had the line, “The mind is a terrible thing to waste”. It was true then, for the fund, and it is true now for anyone. Is your mind wasting away? With the onslaught of information and data coming to us from all directions it is easy to get forgetful and muddled these days.

Let me suggest two things that are in my bag of resources whenever someone asks me for recommendations for staying organized. First to clarify your thinking, particularly for big projects and complex issues I like to use a technique called mind mapping. This is merely an enhanced level of diagramming and doodling. There are a number of books written about the technique. When I adopted it I used a book written by Tony Buzan, who claims to be the originator of the modern concept. I’ve been using the mind mapping technique since 1991. I also use a mind mapping software called Mindjet, which is very powerful and comes with all types of tools.

More recently I have enjoyed David Allen’s techniques outlined in Getting Things Done. This book gives you the lessons one needs to de-clutter your brain and develop skills that will leave your “mind like water”, or on other words like a pond, clam and still ready to accept a pebble or a huge rock, whatever might come it’s way. By the way, David Allen is a fan of mind mapping.

Check into these two unique resources, and tell me if they helped you.

Are you a leader of something? Why should someone, anyone follow you? What has the internet and social media done for leadership. It seems anyone can get connected just by blogging or posting a tweet. Along with the 6 employees I have, I have at least 225 followers last count who follow me for some reason or another on Twitter. Maybe we have a connection.

Many of the people who read this blog I would think are leaders. Many members of the Board of Directors of the organization I lead are leaders. They wouldn’t be on my board if they weren’t. So who gets to lead, and who has to follow. Seth Godin in the TED video below talks about leadership, the tribe and creating a movement. Check it out:

Are you ready to create a movement? Let me know what movement you are ready to start by commenting here.

Have you ever stopped and really listened? What do your hear? Really, what do hear specifically. Concentrate and try to see what you can pick out, or is it just a bunch of sound making things mashed together?

I wrote most of this in September of 2005 while in New York City at a professional conference and while visiting a friend in Brooklyn. Ever since going out into the still morning as a teenager with my Father on hunting trips I’ve always been intrigued by the question of whether there is any place on earth where you can hear “nothing”. Sitting in the cold woods of Northwest Illinois, waiting for a deer to show him or herself I had time to think about these things. Today, I still broach the subject some of the time, like in 2005 (with recent edits and additions). This post has nothing to do with anything I usually write about but I hope you enjoy my foray into another realm:

City Hum

I’ve noticed it before. In other places, but it was more apparent to me now. A hum, a constant amalgamation of thousands maybe millions of cars, buses, trucks, generators, taxis, compressors, subways, jackhammers, garbage cans, sidewalk vendors, footsteps, all in a congruent symphony of noise. In New York, Chicago, and other big cities it is always the same, and the hum is always there.

This time I noticed it standing atop the Empire State Building, the grand lady of the city and once again can be claimed as New York’s tallest. Brooke, my assistant insisted that we go and see it, even though the free champaign at the post-awards ceremony we were attending as part of a professional conference beckoned my strongly and fought for my attention. I grew up on a family of champaign drinkers and when it was free, it was pretty attractive. Allowing a young, inexperienced (at least in my mind) employee wander around the frightening Times Square did not seem prudent. Yet she seemed brave and could have done it without me on her own. Feeling like her paternal protector prevented me from letting her wander in the biggest of big cities. I needed and wanted to protect and advice her, although there was no doubt, hundreds and thousands of “Brookes” were wandering and fending for themselves in what is an ubiquitous and endless sea of people, buildings, cars, subways systems and people.

The generators of noise all blended together on one sound. Standing atop the Empire State Building, you can hear it all. The sound arises from the subways, the streets and makes its way 86 stories to the observation deck. The last three times I have been in New York City the Empire State Building has been the tallest building…2002, 2005 and today September 2006. All my recent visits have post 9/11.

I don’t believe residents of New York notice the hum. I’ve never asked my good friend who lives in Brooklyn. I don’t know if they ever stop to think about it. I have always thought about noise and sound. Every once in awhile I like to stop right where I am and listen to the the “noise” or the confluence of sound right here, right now. Is there ever a place where one cannot hear something? Is the lack of sound created by human or nature sound itself? The quietest place I’ve ever been was the Grand Canyon. I was there in January standing at night, at the edge of the South Rim, and frankly could not hear one bit of noise.

New Yorkers are all very busy coping and managing their existence, I believe to hear the sound around them. Catching the subway, it with its subterranean existence and deeply resounding vibrations, one line crossing another over and under another and amazingly efficient in moving people through the city, faces saddened and glum by their plight having to move through the city, having to live in outer suburban neighborhood and having to travel underground at high rate of speeds, waling walking walking through the maze of tunnels and stairs and broken sidewalks people don’t think about the sound around them. The move quickly to get to the location they will occupy first, and by themselves. They are only bothered or removed from this world through the trance-like interruption of their ipod’s and other devices that forces them into some catatonic netherworld.

The vibration translates into a sound that becomes part of the dissonant symphony that works its way through the thin layer of asphalt and metal steel panels covering what I assume to be large gaping holes in the streets. Looking at street corners and other areas these monolithic yet sheer pieces of steel cover temporary holes in the endless miles of asphalt, I imagine the holes to possess some strange unearthly creature that live in the caverns and places below New York. Maybe they are the ones making all this noise. Enough books, stories and imaginations of writers, and fantasy purveyors undoubtedly have created wild and creative stories about this world, so I won’t delve into it here. It is sufficed to say that these holes exists everywhere.

If one were to assume the subway below and the cars, taxi’s trucks and buses above are the progenitors of noise your assumption is misguided as the vehicles above and subways below while making their own noise, play the steel plates, asphalt, light towers and traffic signals like their very own reed on an alto sax or other instrument. It’s a combination of human action and infrastructure that combine to create the urban music.

Where I live, when walking down the street, and one hears a horn, one assumes the driver is getting your attention because they know you. When you hear a horn you look up to wave, because the driver has been kind enough to recognize you and require your acknowledgement of that recognition. It is a nice way to say, “I hope you see me!” Very rarely and sparingly so, does one use the horn to move someone along. In New York City if you don’t use your horn while driving I imagine it is because you really don’t know how to drive. Here in the Midwest if you use your horn, you usually get an angry response from the other drive that you used that horn against. They give you an angry look, throw their hands up in disgust or in the very worst of circumstances they throw you the one finger salute. It is enough to ruin the next few minutes, morning or afternoon whatever time of day it may be. In the big city, if one does not use their horn they are looked upon as a rube or unknowing tourist caught up in traffic.

Upon visiting New York the use of the horn became very immediately apparent. The clear and present danger of taxicabs speeding along popping their horn is ubiquitous. The horn as used in this city is a device that says, “Move it, get along, get going, or wake up.” Or, in another function, it says, “here I come so you better get moving, (to a pedestrian) cross the street faster, or better step back up on the curb mister.” The initial inclination is to think the horn is somehow rude or obnoxious, rather it is really a polite and New York way to provide a measure of safety in a swiftly moving community.

Sitting in a coffee shop called Ozzies’s on the corner of Garfield and 5th Ave. in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn I have heard the sound of horns at least a dozen times. There have been more horns blasted, but perhaps after nearly a week of being here I have become accustomed to them. I can count a horn blast at least a dozen times while writing this narrative.

Imagine a horn being suppressed somewhere in this community of 8 million people every moment in time. Somewhere in these five boroughs a horn is being blown at someone or something. As sound of these horns no doubt is contributing to my city hum. There is one long constant ongoing cacophony of music rising to the heavens, along with the vibrations and timbre of cars, trucks, subways and steel plates.

On top of the Empire State Building I remember leaning over the rail to the extent that one can… I noticed the hum. At the top of the City’s tallest building the city hum is constant. It doesn’t really go away. No matter which direction you face, north south, east or west you can hear it and doesn’t sound too different. I don’t imagine that it changes much during the night or day. Perhaps the volume is lower at night.

The city hum is not necessarily obnoxious or pleasing to the ear. It is just there, always there, like the constant breathing of your dog lying at your feet. It’s the canary in the coal mine…Without it, you would know something is wrong. It is always there like the air we breathe, the sky, clouds, and oceans. One always expects the city hum to exist.

So why should I , Mr./Ms. Business Person bother with social media? This is just a passing trend and fad. “My Customers prefer I pick up the phone and talk to them”, you might say. That’s ok today, but when your customer passes on his company to their twenty something kids, how will you reach them with your phone call? They won’t be near a phone, they will be texting there new vendor telling them how lame you are for trying to call them on the phone and sell you their services.

Should you bother with Twitter, Facebook, and any number of other social media programs? What is your opinion?

I attended an “unconference” today, which is just a cute name for a really large discussion group. Sponsored by Ragan Communications, a leading Chicago based publisher of public relations newsletters and promoter of educational events and conferences, this specific event was targeted towards people using social media.

Whether used for internal or external communication, the topic was all about how social media can best be used for business purposes. It was a great event and I made a lot of new friends. I was the ONLY economic development professional in the crowd, and I am convinced that the Bloomington Normal EDC is ahead of the game when it comes to using best practices in the realm of social media for economic development.

Here are some questions and answers I heard:

1. What is the ROI or “return on investment” for delving into social media?
Answer: What is the return on investment to talking a client to lunch, a golf outing, or ball game. Can you measure that? Then what is the ROI on ignoring all this social media crap? Ask yourself this question and the answer will be clear to you. Challenge me with your response.

2. Is this a fad, a passing trend? There will always be something else.
Answer: Fad, no. Trend, yes. Passing, no. Yes, there will always be something else, but that is the job of business…to adopt to change in the marketplace and find new ways to make money. Social Media is how business and individuals are communicating into the future. Just look at the trends for the loss of advertising in traditional media like newspapers, magazines, television and radio. If these traditional media and advertising sources don’t change they too will be caught looking like a deer in headlights.

3. What about email?
Answer: Dude, email is so 2006!

4. How do sell to people with a 140 character Twitter post?
Answer: You don’t. You use it to build a relationship and use all the tools in the social media toolbox to bring them to you website, store or service.

5. What are the four “C’s” of Social Media?
Answer: Community, Content, Conversation, and Constantly Changing.

Consider attending any number of online webinars, or programs on social media. Or consider attending the EDC’s Social Media Workshop on June 10th form 11:30 to 1:00 in the Bank of Illinois Community Room on the 4th floor. The cost is a mere $10.00 to hear local and regional experts talk about social media and how it impacts your business.

If you can’t make it the workshop, there will be a special BNBIZ Radio show on June 9th from Noon to 1:00 on WJBC 1230 am or WJBC.com. Co-host Beth Whisman and I will be talking to experts about how to small business can use social media for their business.

Finally, if you are signed up for Twitter, come to a Tweetup (a social gathering for Tweeple, i.e. Twitter users) at Medici on June 11th at 5:30. Local users of the popular social media tool will gather to share stories, strategy and have a good time.

It is unofficially social media week in Bloomington-Normal the week of June 8-12!
One more thing, if you want to follow me on Twitter my handle is “bnedguy”.

Are you stressed? Well I guess not all the banks are either.I like the way the the Treasury has handled this portion of our banking dilemma. It seems logical and methodical. How did the banks do?

It looks as thought there are some banks that will need to raise capital, but the Treasury doesn’t seem to think that the banks are in trouble. They have enough capital and aren’t at risk to fail, unless…unless the economy continues to take a dive down farther than it has. But many signs are pointing up. See my previous blog and you will see the signals are mixed and while there is bleeding the bleeding is not that bad. This apparently is a good sign.

Banks with over $100 billion in assets were tested. A list of the banks tested and the results shows PNC who recently purchased National City($600 million); Regions Financial ($2.5 billion); JPMorgan Chase (nothing); US Bancorp (nothing) We will still see smaller banks failing, but the FDIC has got them covered.

In total all of the largest banks need to go to the capital markets and raise $75 billion. After all we’ve neen through I can’t remember if $75 billion is a lot of money? Is it?

I have been going to all types of trade show most of my professional career. I remember one of the first ones I went to was a teenager with my dad to what was then called the “International Machine Tool Show” or IMTS. The show was in Chicago at McCormick Hall. The show was so big, that they only held every two years. What was fascinating was the size of the show. Vendors would truck in giant metal cutting machines that stamped out sheet metal, I-beams, cut our widgets from blocks of steel and aluminum. One company in Rockford, 90 miles away had machines so big they couldn’t justify setting them up at the show so they bused interested participants all the way back to the factory in Rockford. In later years I went to IMTS as a vendor with a small Rockford software company and later still in my role as an economic developer.

The other interesting trade show I’ve spent a lot of time at is the International Council of Shopping Centers held every year in Las Vegas. Attended by shopping center owners, developers, real estate brokers, financiers, and end users (retail stores), this show is the hardest working store I have ever been too. These folks work hard all day putting together real estate deals and party hard at night obviously celebrating their success during the day.

The size and scope of the trade show industry is huge in the United States as well as globally. The business and tourism economy in Chicago relies on trade shows for as a big part of their economy. Thousands of people using hotel rooms, buying food, drinks, parking, etc. are the basis for a lot of tax revenue, salaries and jobs. Even smaller communities like Bloomington-Normal generates a fair amount of revenue from smaller regional conferences and meetings. A large part of our local Convention and Visitors Bureau effort is trying to get these people to visit the community.

I can’t help thinking while I attend trade shows, and I write this while I am here in Chicago being part of a booth with the Illinois Development Council at the Wind Energy show (big), that there is some level of futility at these shows. Why? How could anyone get any business done a t a show like this. There are literally hundreds of vendors selling everything from rebar to electrical equipment, to windmill blades, to measurement devices to software. They have to make an impression on people walking by and hope that they can make some type of future sale or impact on their business. I wonder, can they really make an impression, or is this to some degree a bit of mob mentality. In other words, do vendors feel if they don’t show they will they be noted for their absence? Is there an industry out there that has decided that a trade show is no longer the way to highlight their industry?

I feel sorry for the small businesses that show up for these conferences and meetings and have to sit for hours on end on a trade show floor. It is clear to me that many don’t want to be there, which is demonstrated by their total disregard for a proper “sales posture”. Instead they sit in the corner of their booth looking totally bored, reading the paper, nearly falling asleep. They won’t sell anything, they will talk to a few people, get a few leads, and in the end be happy only because of the great steak they had at Morton’s or some other great Chicago steak house.

Maybe a new form of virtual trade show will eventually be created. Or perhaps one already exists.

The news this morning is mixed. But the good news is “bad news’ is on the wane. I have often thought that this recession and many other economic downturns are a matter of confidence. Once confidence about our economy and future improves, our actual economy will improve. Let’s look a the mixed information:

1. Jobless claims on a weekly basis are down. Yet some jobs go wanting.

2. Sales are up at Wal-Mart. Is this a good thing, or does it show that people, hurting from the downturn, are shopping at places like Wal-Mart?

3. Is the banking industry out of hot water. Stress test results are due today and Banks have 30 days to come up with plans to generate additional capital.

How is the Bloomington-Normal area doing? Check out this report from PBS’s Nightly Business Report. The Bloomington Normal is doing OK, but we not recession proof as many people like to say. We are, however highly immune.

How is your business doing? Are suffering from a recession in your business?