“Every person is a new door to a different world.”
– from the play/movie “Six Degrees of Separation”

I am blessed to know many people and have many people, both online and off, who I consider to be good friends. Some of these friends I have known seemingly forever – since public school. Others I’ve known for the past 20 years or so that I’ve been a “grownup”. Still others I’ve met only in the past couple of years. Some people I consider friends are people I’ve never even met face to face.

As I’ve gotten older, my definition of what makes for a real friendship has changed. When I was a little kid, my best friend was the one who I could play Barbies with for hours on end without getting bored. When I was a teenager, my friends were the girls I could talk with on the phone for hours about the cutest boy or the coolest music. As a young adult, my closest friends were the ones I would stay out with, whooping it up till all hours of the night and morning. Now, in my mid late thirties, my friends are the people who I rely on most, to share good times and bad. They are the people who enrich my life with their wisdom, kindness, generosity and love.

I’ve come to the realization that the reason I’ve been so blessed to have so many amazing friends is at least partially due to the fact that I try to be a good friend to them too. You see, REAL friendship – I’m talking the non-ego, unconditional, no strings attached, giving, loving type of friendship – is a two way street.

With events like the Shorty Awards, which aims to praise those people who are doing well at social media, I figured I’d share some of the reasons why I think being a good friend makes you good at social media.

It Feels Good to Help
In any friendship, there are times when your friends need help. As a good friend, you step up to the plate, and do whatever you can to assist. You do it without thinking about what’s in it for you. And when it’s over, you feel good that you were able to do your part. Sometimes, you are the one that needs the help. If you’ve been a good and helpful friend, you’ll find that, without question, your friends are now ready to step up and lend a hand to you. That’s what real friendship is about.

In your social networks, what kind of friend are you? Are you helping out when it’s needed, without expecting anything in return? Are you asking for help when you need it, without being too demanding? Find that balance of helping when you can, and asking for help when you need it. You’ll feel great, and your online experience will be richer for it.

For Good Times, and Bad Times
Ah, the 80′s. A time of bad hairstyles, worse clothes, and Dionne Warwick and Friends. OK, so the song was a bit over the top and cheesy (hey, it WAS the 80′s), but its message was clear. Real friends are friends no matter what – when times are good, it’s great. When times get tough, friends stick together.

As we head on into 2009, I am so optimistic about the possibilities that lie ahead. I’m excited to be involved in collaborations with amazing, talented people like Danny Brown and Kathryn Jennex. I’ve got some business opportunities that are going to change things in a big way. I’ll be teaching college students about new media and social media, and loving every minute of it. At the same time, the economic climate is far from perfect, and this is going to present some unique challenges for all of us. But I am a firm believer that there is strength in numbers. Together, we can celebrate all the good that has come to us through social media, and we can be there for each other as we go through our various struggles. It’s a comfort to know that I have so many people that are part of my online life, who are there for me, just as I am for them, no matter what the future holds.

Social media has changed the way we view friendship. It’s amazing how close I feel to some people; people I’ve never even met face to face! Those that don’t spend a lot of time in social networks may find this a hard concept to grasp. I guess what it comes down to is that this online space is inherently a place of open communication and sharing. The fact that we are able to nurture these aspects of human relationships here naturally lends itself to the creation of valuable and lasting friendships. And that’s a pretty powerful thing.

In what ways are you a good friend?

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I’m reading Daniel H. Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future”. In it, Pink presents some really compelling reasons why we are moving out of the Information Age of the last half of the 20th century and into the Conceptual Age, where success is going to be less based on “book smarts” or left-brained thinking and more based on high concept, high touch right-brained skills like design and creative writing.

This excellent book ties in nicely to some recent observations I’ve made.

We have three co-op students working with us right now, they attend Algonquin College’s Interactive Multimedia Developer program. In addition, we have a video editor/shooter freelancing with us, he is a recent grad of the Television Broadcasting Program at Loyalist College. Coincidentally, I am a graduate of both programs. I graduated in 1990 from the TV Broadcasting Program and 1997 from the Multimedia Program. Aside from tremendously dating myself with that claim, the comparison between where I was at upon graduation from these courses and where these guys are at is quite remarkable.

The work that these recent grads are able to produce is impressive, to say the least. They design, shoot and edit like people who have been in the business for years, and their work ethic is terrific. They take initiative and are excellent problem solvers. I would have no issue with leaving them in a room full of clients to represent us.

I’ve been wondering what is so different about these guys. Why did I seem so unprepared when I graduated from college? And the other day it dawned on me. These young guys were born in the late 1980s. When computers and the internet started to get popular in 1996-98, these kids were only about 10 years old. That means that they have been using computers and the Internet for a large portion of their lives. They are of the generation that learned about web site design in high school. And, they have probably always had access to some sort of video recording equipment, be it their parents’ Handycam or a camera at their high school.

By comparison, my first computer course was offered when I was in 10th grade, and it was pretty useless (BASIC programming and WordPerfect version 1.2). Personal video cameras in those days cost about $2000 and weren’t really marketed to the average consumer. Serious hobbyists like my Dad were the only ones that bought them, which was fortunate for me as a budding TV producer at the ripe old age of 15. My brother first showed me the Internet in 1996, when I was 26 years old and had already had 1 career under my belt.

My point is, young people today are FAR more experienced with technology by the time they hit college because they have been dealing with it their whole lives. These days, college really only serves to streamline their knowledge, give them some practice and issue them a piece of paper – still good things to have, but definitely a different spin than when I was in college.

What does this mean as an employer? When I graduated from TV school there was NO WAY I would have gotten any more than a gofer job at a network TV station. Nowadays, students are graduating from college and jumping right in to decent entry level jobs at good agencies doing real design, development and production work. Why? Because the average college graduate, at 22 years of age, probably already has 10 or 12 years of experience working with computers, designing their own web sites and making their own videos. As time goes on, this trend will become even more obvious. Why? because I expect my 7 year old nephew to start making his own web site any day – and he’s already a better cameraperson than me.

It’s not just the Conceptual Age, people…it’s the Conceptual Generation.

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This is a great article from mediacollege.com containing tips and techniques on how to interview people well. A good resource for anyone doing interviews for podcasts, documentaries or other media projects.

If there’s anything I’ve learned after 18 years of producing media in various forms, it’s that a good interview can make or break a piece. I’ve worked with some super-talented on-air people over the years and I learned almost everything I know about interviewing from them. Why? Because they were able to quickly establish a rapport with their subjects and draw out precisely the information that was needed for the piece.

These techniques are not difficult to learn, but they are crucial to the success of your projects.

Anyone have a great interviewing tip they want to share? Please comment!

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About 10 years ago, I used to hang out at a little pub in my neigbourhood. It was walking distance from my house, and I would say that I was probably there at least 2 or 3 times a week. Often more. Sometimes I’d just stop in after work for half an hour, sometimes I’d be there the whole evening.

At the time, I was single, lived alone, and was extremely independent. I worked hard at my job and I liked it. I had plenty going for me, so you would think that slumming around some bar was not exactly a healthy thing to be doing so often. But hanging out there had very little to do with drinking for me.

I’d walk in this place and no matter what time of day it was, there was always someone there that I knew. I could strike up a conversation with anyone. We talked about everything. Neigbourhood gossip, world events, local news, or just what was going on in our lives. If I was having a bad day, I could show up there, chit chat with one of my bar buddies and inevitably I’d feel better. If I had a problem, there ways always someone there who could listen and help.

It was the kind of place where everyone was accepted for who they were. There were the loud and boisterous types who always just wanted to have a good time, nothing too serious. There was the kinda creepy but harmless guy at the end of the bar who just sat, observing what was going on around him. There were the essentials, the barflys who always sat on the same stool, drinking the same kind of beer, who spent the afternoons and evenings holding court. And there were those who you could grab a table with and spend hours having enlightening conversations.

Sure, there were conflicts. Heated conversation would sometimes lead to arguments, fueled by beer. Someone would hear about a situation that happened to a regular and the gossip mill would start to grind in a big way. Everybody would spend days talking about it, but eventually it would fade away.

This little pub was my community in those days. It was someplace I could go and feel like I was contributing, engaging with other people, and it was piles of fun. Sure, I had a life outside that place – lots of friends who weren’t from there, a great family and a work life that was completely separate. But I always knew my community was there, that I could drop into any time I liked, and that I’d be welcome.

Not unlike the online social network, don’t you think?

Photo by mindexpansi0n at MorgueFile.

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I have been thinking over the past couple of days how much things have changed online in the past several months. Social networks have gone from early adoption stage to pretty mainstream, and now the early adopters of business are starting to really grab hold of social media as a way to enhance their online presence. Within the next little while, the business community at large is going to start to catch on in a big way and then it’s going to really get interesting.

Along with this shift has come a shift in the way that people use the Internet. For example, online media and communications wizard Jeff Pulver talks here about how he uses Facebook as a business communication tool. Lots of people, like Collective Thoughts’ Brian Wallace are talking about why Twitter is so important to the new Web.

A year or so ago, my Internet experience was as follows. My home page was the Google Home page, in which I had customized widgets for reading the CBC News, my horoscope, TechCrunch, Wired Magazine and a few others I can’t remember. If I wanted to find information on something I went to Wikipedia. I chatted with people using Windows Messenger and Google Chat. If I was bored I hit the StumbleUpon button a lot and looked at some LOLcats and cute puppy pictures.

Today, my surfing experience is entirely different. My home page is Google Reader and I follow over a hundred blogs and I comment on several blogs a week. I write my own blog and people read it and comment often. I follow and connect with people on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pownce and FriendFeed, and I share lots of bookmarks in del.icio.us and lots of photos on Flickr.

Notice the words I used to describe my surfing habits a year ago. Reading, finding, looking, bored. Notice the words I used for today’s version of surfing. Following, commenting, connecting, writing, sharing. Which do YOU think sounds more fun and worthwhile?

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My brother, Mike has been making amateur videos for quite some time and uploading them to the Internet. He’s into antique restoration and has done a series on restoring an antique radio, and has also done some fun stuff using his two boys as subjects. They are pretty good little actors, too! You can check out his stuff on YouTube . I am trying to convince him to set u a blog to showcase his work, as these days YouTube only gets you so far, and the quality is pretty lousy, compared to Viddler. or blip.tv.

His latest production is a video that he put together for my parents’ Square Dancing Troupe, The Village Squares.

We’ve decided to post it not only on YouTube, but on blip.tv and Viddler as well. It’s a great little promotional piece about Square Dancing in general, which is a great social and physical activity. The Village Squares attract mostly the senior set, but I’ve noticed since working on this project and checking out other square dance groups that it’s definitely catching on in the younger set too. However, you will not catch me dosado-ing any time soon, I am WAY too uncoordinated. I’ll stick to videography, thanks.

The Village Squares approached Mike about doing a little promotional video for them, and he enlisted my help to do some of the videography. It was a fancy, two camcorder shoot! But my bro gets all the credit for the editing and directing. I think he’s done a terrific job of it! So here is the debut of the Village Squares on the Internet, done by First Kick At the Cat Productions.

Ok I can’t get the video embed to work, if anyone has any suggestions let me know, but you can see the actual video here on Viddler.

Just a note about my folks. In addition to the square dancing, they are definitely web-savvy seniors. A few years ago I taught my Dad HTML and Dreamweaver and he picked it up quick! He is now the webmaster for the Village Squares web site. My Dad is a webmaster, digital photographer and a madman in Paint Shop Pro (he knows more about how to use it than I do, for sure). My Mom is an expert Facebooker and Instant Messager. They are a great example of seniors making the most of the Internet.

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I’ve recently come into contact with a lot of people who don’t know a whole lot about the whole social media thing. When I try to explain the stuff to them, I either get a yah, but….or just a blank stare. It’s true, there is SO much going on in this space right now that it’s hard to even know where to start or who to listen to.

A year ago, much like many other people, I barely knew what a podcast was let alone an RSS feed. I didn’t see much point in having my own blog. I would read the odd blog here and there, but I really couldn’t distinguish between what was worthwhile and what was a waste of bandwidth. I too, was confused.

The shocking part was I’d been working as a web designer since 1998. I was there when all this World Wide Web business started! I’m an oldtimer! I was an “industry professional”! How did all of this social media stuff pass me by? How come nobody told ME about it? I realized very quickly that if I didn’t get out there and learn about it I’d be left behind.

So I went to Podcamp Toronto.

For me, that was where this new world opened up. I learned about WordPress, Twitter, Talkshoe, Skype, RSS and a ton of other stuff, and realized the future of the Web. I met some great new friends who answered all my silly questions (and they still do, thanks guys!), and what I didn’t have answers for I figured out on my own. I farted around with it. I set up blogs and broke them. I mean, I really screwed them up bad, man. I made RSS feeds that didn’t work and played with them till they did. I clicked on every link I saw. Read every blog post I could, till my eyes went blurry. And I figured it out.

We have some new interns working at our office. Great bunch of guys, fresh out of college. Unfortunately the educational system always seems to be about 1 year behind the real world in what they teach, particularly when it comes to technology. The reason is that curriculum is set too far in advance. By the time they are teaching the classes, the technology has already changed. This happened back in ’98 when I graduated from my college Multimedia programme. We were focused mainly on CD-ROM development. We had only ONE DAY of HTML coding, using Notepad and Netscape version 4.7 because our school computers had not been upgraded to the new version 5.0 yet. We had a couple of in-class demos from some company we’d never heard of called Macromedia, showing us these new tools called Flash and Dreamweaver, but we really didn’t see any practical use for them at the time.

Within weeks of graduating, I was hired by one of my instructors to – believe it or not – TEACH web site design! So me, with my demo versions of Dreamweaver and Flash and my “Teach Yourself HTML in 7 Days” book, set to work to learn everything I possibly could about this stuff. 3 weeks later, I successfully taught a class of 20 students how to make their own web sites and put them online. I succeeded, not because I had any special training in it, but because I was curious about how it worked. And I sat there at my computer, and frigged around with it for days, till I got it right. Thank God I had no social life back then.

I sat down with “The Interns” today and had a serious talk with them about social media, something they (remarkably) haven’t really touched on in school. Told them everything I know about it. Got them excited about it. Gave them a bunch of links and said “Just go in there, play around with this stuff, listen to these guys, they know what they are talking about, and have fun with it. Explore it. Get curious about it. This is going to be your career.”

There is no magic tool that is going to make you an expert about the Web or about social media. All you need is a computer, a web connection and a browser…and extreme curiosity. Oh, and lots of coffee.

Oh, and by the way? If you want to figure out what all this social media stuff is about, click on some of the links you see in this post. That’s a GREAT start.

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Here’s a guy that totally gets it. Gary Vaynerchuk, of winelibrary.tv didn’t just throw up a little web site with a few videos on it and then sit back and wait for it to go viral. He didn’t think – “gosh, nobody else is talking about wine on the Web”, because he KNEW that lots of people are out there talking about wine on the Web. Instead, he developed a brand – HIMSELF.

10,000 of the people who watch his show don’t know or care anything about wine. But they are interested in Gary. Why? I think it’s because he is not at all the kind of personality that is normally associated with a wine expert. He’s loud, bold, and cusses a lot. His abundant enthusiasm for the subject of wine is enough to draw you in, and his personality gets you hooked. The implementation of his site is fantastic. First, he’s using Viddler, my favourite new video app. Second, his site is all about how you can link up and connect with him. I follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Viddler , I subscribe to the RSS feed for his show so it’s in my Google Reader, and if I wanted to I could follow him on LinkedIN, Pownce and Cork’d too. What does this mean? He’s EVERYWHERE! I can’t go a day without seeing some sort of update from the guy. And that doesn’t even count all of the other blog posts he’s appearing in these days.

Here’s what I find really interesting about the success he’s had with the Gary Vaynerchuk brand (besides the fact that now just about everyone can spell “Vaynerchuk”). He’s had to get an agent. Mainstream media is noticing him and putting him on their shows (Ellen, Nightline, Conan, to name a few). Hollywood is calling about doing reality TV shows. As he says, mainstream media is beginning to source its new talent from the web.

It’s like an open casting call out here on the Internet right now. You can be sure that the talent scouts are spending more time surfing YouTube and vlog posts than ever before. But I don’t think they are necessarily looking for the next big talent. They are looking for people who are making a brand for themselves and building their audience based on that brand.

What does it mean to content producers? The time to start building your brand is NOW. Quick, before someone else does it.

Watch what Gary has to say about this here:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/richschefren/videos/50/

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I have a confession to make. I watch Oprah. I LIKE watching Oprah. It’s my unwind-from-a-long-day, think-about-something-completely-different, guilty pleasure. But at this moment, I’m glad, I watch Oprah.

For all you non-watchers out there, Oprah is doing something cool these days in the online media space. She is touting a new Book Club Book, called “A New Earth”, by Ekhart Tolle. I don’t usually pick up the Oprah books, but I have always been interested in spirituality and religion, so yes, I picked up the book. It hasn’t transformed my life yet but it raises some very valuable and interesting concepts that I’m willing to continue to explore.

But this post isn’t about the book. Do a Google for Ekhart Tolle and I’m sure you’ll find plenty of reviews. This post is about how she’s talking about the book. On March 3rd, she is hosting a “web event”, what is being called an “online classroom“. There, she and Tolle will discuss the book and take video, audio and text questions from the audience. The class will be running Monday nights (EST) over 10 consecutive weeks. As of yesterday, over 300,000 people had signed up.

What I find fascinating is how this is being implemented. If one wishes to sign up for the class (which is free, by the way), they go to oprah.com and sign up for an account (And it’s nice that you can opt out of all the newsletters, etc. up front). Then you just register for the class, and at 9pm EST on Monday, March 3 you tune in.

I was wondering how they were going to do this. 300,000 people (sure to AT LEAST double or even triple by next week) all logging on at the same time, can you say, crashy crashy? But today, they sent me an email prompting me to download and install the Move Networks media player onto my computer. Of course I went to check them out, and yah, these guys have pretty much got their #$*@ together. They offer superior quality (it’s spectacular) and a scaleable system that allows simultaneous streaming to millions of people at once with no crashy crashy. It also collects lots of data about the users – experiences, demographics, geography – all the juicy tidbits of information Oprah’s advertisers could dream of. They’ve got it down.

As far as interactivity goes, well, viewers can record video or audio questions, and submit text questions as well. There are discussion forums so that if you are not one of the lucky few that gets to actually talk to Winfrey and Tolle, you get to talk to each other about the class and the book.

Maybe I’m expecting too much, maybe not, but this seems to me like a pretty nifty idea. I’m sure it will be successful. 300,000 people, including celebrities like Jim Carrey and Valerie Bertinelli have signed up already. (The star factor will only make it more popular.)

This could be the beginning of a trend with mass-market broadcasting, possibly the beginning of true interactive television. And I’m so in. Maybe I’ll get a spiritual awakening, maybe I’ll just be entertained. Maybe I’ll get both. Say what you want, but if there is anyone that can move millions with online media, it’s Oprah. I’ll let you know how it goes – but then again, you’ll probably sign up too…won’t you.

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James Koole from Tucows presented this afternoon at Podcamp Toronto on enhancing corporate communications through social media.

Tucows is doing some really neat stuff as far as creating a social media focused web presence. He’s showing the group that it’s not rocket science and all it takes is some creative people willing to invest a bit of time to improve their company’s profile.

At this session, they were talking about how to convince “the powers that be” in companies to embrace the power of social media.

It’s a challenge I come across often when talking to clients. How does one make a good business case for social media? How do we communicate the real value of social media to our clients, to convince them that their corporate communications can be greatly enhanced by not only getting online but getting linked in to the industry through blogging or podcasting, or even Twittering and Uttering?

As podcasters, bloggers, media creators and storytellers…what do you think our communications strategy should be?

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