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Category: SocialMedia

If you’re talking about similar things, you’re probably Simler

If you’ve spent any time on any social network or microblogging platform anywhere, you know as well as I do that there is one request that tends to crop up far more than any other: “I wish we could have groups.”

Twitter—thanks to a grassroots effort by Chris Messina—tends to handle that grouping with #hashtags. Local microblogging site CitySpeek made groups part of the process of posting your updates. Friendfeed handles it with groups. And Facebook—which incidentally owns Friendfeed now—does… well whatever it is that Facebook does. Fan pages maybe? I don’t know.

Point being, everyone starts with what I’m—or you’re—doing and then tries to wedge that content into a group. What if, instead, we started with the topic as the central focus? I mean, instead of the user. Well, now you can give that idea a try. With Simler. Read More

Jive Market Engagement promises to help companies monitor—and effectively participate in—social media

There are any number of techniques for listening to what’s happening in the world of social media, from simple Google Alerts to complex Yahoo! Pipes. But what happens when you’re a company that wants to move from lurking to participating?

Well, Portland-based Jive Software has announced a new solution that may help, Jive Market Engagement. Read More

Oregon’s next governor: Assessing 14 candidates’ online presence and social media savvy

Yesterday—upon learning that Marshall Kirkpatrick had seen a Facebook ad that John Kitzhaber had decided to mount another run for the Oregon governor gig—I started to do a little digging into Kitzhaber’s social media presence.

Then it dawned on me, instead of just taking a look at the one candidate—even if he was the one who had served as governor during half of my residence in Oregon—it would probably be wise to look at all the gubernatorial candidates, their online presence, and their social media savvy.

Sounds like a pretty good idea, doesn’t it? Shall we? Read More

John Kitzhaber takes a page from the Obama social media playbook for Oregon gubernatorial bid

[HTML2]Former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber, who served two terms from 1995-2003, has decided to throw his hat into the ring for another gubernatorial bid. His Kitzhaber 2010 campaign launched this week.

And even though he hasn’t been out of the political dance that long, quite a few things have changed since his last bid—roughly a decade ago.

I mean, you might remember that Obama guy and his whole social media thing. Based on the initial rumblings from Kitzhaber camp, I can guarantee that the folks working on his campaign do. Read More

Internet Strategy Forum: Jeremiah Owyang in Portland for Summit, Steve Gehlen hands over the ISF reins

It’s that time of year again. The time when hundreds of name brand Web types show up to hear from the best and brightest in the industry about how corporations are making the most of the Web. That’s right. It’s time for the annual Internet Strategy Forum Summit.

And this year, popular Twitter type and Senior Analyst: Social Computing at Forrester Research, Jeremiah Owyang, will be among the esteemed keynote speakers. Read More

Who killed social media? Ask these folks

Portland-based NEMO Design, in conjunction with Group y, brought a bunch of marketing folks together to listen to a panel of social media savvy folks, including Dave Allen, Lee Crane, Matt Savarino, James Todd, and Tony Welch all moderated by Marshall Kirkpatrick.

[HTML3]Last week, Portland-based NEMO Design, in conjunction with Group y, brought a bunch of marketing folks together to listen to a panel of social media savvy folks, including Dave Allen, Lee Crane, Matt Savarino, James Todd, and Tony Welch—all moderated by Marshall Kirkpatrick.

With a great group of opinionated speakers, the lively conversation jumped from topic to topic. And even though it got a little derailed by an SEO-focused comment and perhaps a little too much “Twine, drink!” it provided a great deal of insight for the “marketing savvy but potentially social media uninitiated” folks in attendance.

So, who killed social media? Like the seemingly unanswerable “how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?” the world may never know. But here’s what folks had to say. Read More

Social Photo Talk looks to help frame social media for photographers

The social Web could provide a number of valuable interactions. Aaron Hockley was smart enough to realize this. And now he’s looking to help his photographer peers with Social Photo Talk.

You likely spend a ton of time interacting on the social Web. Using Twitter. Updating Facebook. Uploading to Flickr. Posting code to Github. Sharing presentations on Slideshare. Writing blog posts. Leaving content here and there that inspires others to comment and respond.

But, unfortunately, the vast majority of people don’t engage in—or even understand—this type of behavior.

That’s a shame. Because for many folks, the social Web could provide a number of valuable interactions. Aaron Hockley was smart enough to realize this. And now he’s looking to help his photographer peers with Social Photo Talk. Read More

SoMe Awards winners: Who walked away with the social media crowns?

Remember Encyclopedia Brown? He was this kid detective who could always figure out random stuff using random clues? He was kind of like the MacGyver of the youth sleuth scene.

Well we had a little bit of a mystery going on ourselves tonight in the world of the Portland, Oregon, social media scene that needed some solving:

Who had taken home the honors from the Social Media Awards—the coveted SoMe Awards?
Read More

SoMe Awards announces social media finalists for its inaugural ceremony

Social Media AwardsThe SoMe Awards, a new award designed to recognize compelling uses of social media and outstanding campaigns, has announced the finalists for the inaugural SoMe Awards ceremony on April 23.

And the finalists are:

[UPDATE] Whoa whoa whoa. Not so fast. Hold your horses, there’s been a little recount due to some dangling chads. The list of nominees below has been retooled a tad.

Social Media Award changes

Bloviater

Costa Pacific Homes
Edelman

House Party

Conkling, Fiskum & McCormick
Shizzow
Portland Trailblazers

Next big thing

TwitalyzerWeb Analytics Demystified
Grady Britton
Logobama
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide – Twendz

Scrappy

Anvil Media John McPhee
LiP Service and Big DealPR
@Notatsxsw

Sugar Daddy

StepChange Group
The New Group
Marcelino Alvarez

Wildcard

GoSeeTell Network
IntelBryan Rhoads
Supporting Characters – Carri Bugbee

On Thursday, April 23, one winner from each group will be selected—based on their “originality, effectiveness and creativity”—as the inaugural recipients of the award.

Cost of attendance is $15 and space is limited. No word on whether the event will be streamed.

For more on the event, visit the SoMe Awards.

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Intel + Social media types = Interesting tweetup opportunity

Little ol’ Portland is no stranger to the occasional visit by a well-known Web or tech type. I mean, we’ve had Robert Scoble and Jeremiah Owyang in town for conferences, Sarah Lacy swung by for her book tour, Gary Vaynerchuk and Mark Shuttleworth have presented, and Chris Messina and David Recordon are through here on a regular basis, to name a few.

Plus, we’ve got those well-known-in-tech-circles folks who actually live here. People like Ward Cunningham, Linus Torvalds, Rael Dornfest, Andy Baio, Dawn Foster, Josh Bancroft, Raven Zachary, and Marshall Kirkpatrick.

Enough name dropping. You get the point.

Each impressive in his or her own right. But for sheer volume of internet fame in one room, this Thursday may rival all of those previous visits.

How?

Well, this Thursday, as part of the Intel Insiders program, Intel will be hosting a who’s who of social media types here in town. And on Thursday night, they’ve scheduled a meetup in conjunction with the Social Media Club of Portland.

These folks are literally the who’s who in social media and technology and they’ll be in P-town checking out Intel’s tech and touring their fabs and research centers. As a special bonus, they’ll be heading downtown in the evening to join several folks from Social Media Club PDX at The Green Dragon Pub for chit-chat and beer.

Sweet, huh? Join your fellow Portland Social Media Peeps on Thursday, April 16 from 7:30 to 8:30 for a Tweetup at the Green Dragon. And if the notoriety of these Insiders isn’t enough to spark your interest, Intel will provide the first round of beers (depending on how many people show up).

So who’s going to be there? Well, let’s take a look.

Sarah AustinSarah Austin (@pop17)

Sarah Austin was one of the first live streaming, life-casters popularized on Justin.TV and now hosts a weekly live show in conjunction with Pop17 at Mogulus.

Cathy BrooksCathy Brooks (@cathybrooks)

Cathy currently serves a multi-faceted role at Seesmic, overseeing marketing, assisting with business development, and driving content. She was also instrumental in helping Seesmic founder Loic Le Meur develop LeWeb, now one of the largest and most well know tech gatherings in Europe.

Tom ForemskiTom Foremski (@tomforemski)

In 2004, Tom became the first journalist from a leading newspaper to resign his position to pursue a career blogging full-time. That decision launched Silicon Valley Watcher. He is often cited as one of the most influential people in Silicon Valley.

Frank GruberFrank Gruber (@frankgruber)

Frank is best known for his blog, Somewhat Frank, which covers social media and emerging technology. In an effort to facilitate startup community, he co-founded TECH Cocktail, an organization that “that offers events and community-powered projects open to bloggers, technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs & professionals interested in technology in under served technology communities.”

Irina SlutskyIrina Slutsky (@irinaslutsky)

Irina is the co-founder and host of Geek Entertainment TV which has been on air since November of 2005. She also put together the Vloggies, an award ceremony for video bloggers.

Whoof. That’s quite a line-up.

So, if you get the chance, please swing by the Green Dragon, this Thursday (April 16) at 7:30 or so. Not only would it be a great opportunity for you to meet this interesting group of people, it would be yet another chance for us to expose some very influential folks to the amazing Portland tech community.

Plus, to repeat: free beer.

And if you’re interested in video on the Web *cough* Strange Love Live *cough*, I’d doubly recommend that you try to make it. Since there’s a heavy contingent of video savvy folks—Sarah, Cathy, Frank, and Irina—in this little gathering. I’m just saying.

Strangely enough, for a “social media” gathering, there wasn’t anything on any of the social event services. So I added the event to Calagator and Upcoming. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

Hope to see you Thursday.

(Sarah Austin image courtesy Pop17; Cathy Brooks image courtesy Dave Sifry; Tom Foremski image courtesy Denise Howell; Frank Gruber image courtesy hyku; Irina Slutsky image courtesy TheBulBrothers.com)