Dallas Opportunities – Charity Golf, NPR interview, Great Art, Biz Success & more

GOLF & NETWORK 4 CHARITY. Join us May 21st at our 4th Annual Autism Charity Golf Tournament. I have one slot on my foursome still available if you sign up for the $150 President’s Club.  We have over 40 golfers, including sponsors Stillwell & Stone, Automatic Products, Brandt Engineering and On the Cutting Edge Engravers. The early bird price of $65 expires Saturday.  Enjoy a great course, lunch, door prizes, a free year of Golf Digest, and more.  Network with local executives like Doug Batts, JD Smith, Greg Sarro, Paul Kirch, Andrew Rhykerd, and Karl Stanley.  Please support this great cause. Sign up now! LAST CHANCE FOR GREAT ART. Our dear friend Loretta Reinick is leaving Dallas.  She will be missed. We thank her for hosting many of our events.  Her gallery, Visual Image Fine Art Publishing (14320 Midway @ Proton, Dallas), is having its final artist reception today (Friday) at 5:30pm.  Come check out all the wonderful art.  Directions. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CEOS 2: Everything Old is New Again. Digital Conversations are not a “New” Marketing Paradigm. Over 10 years ago the Cluetrain Manifesto proclaimed that the revolution had already started.  People had taken control of markets from corporations.  Social media and marketing is no longer a fad or hip.   It’s mainstream. Customers aren’t ad targets. They are beyond being just stakeholders. They are active creators and owners of your brand. Read more and reply if we can help your company. KERA NPR RADIO OPPORTUNITY ALERT. KERA is doing a story on people who have become self-employed and how it’s working out.  They seek to interview professionals who have made this transition, whether it was voluntary or not (layoff) and whether you’ve been successful or not.  You can be in any industry or profession.  You’ll need to be available for an in-person interview today or early next week.  If interested, reply or write marc@dallasblue.com ASAP with subject “KERA Interviewee” with your full contact info (email, phone, address), and a few sentences or more about your story. ARE YOU READY FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS? A Taste of the Tribe is your introduction to business success. Share your business and current issues and receive expert guidance and suggestions.  It’s free business consulting.  Plus you’ll get a glimpse of how Tribe Blue builds your venture one step at a time with our structured approach that includes coaching, consulting, and accountability.  Our next Tast is Monday.  Register now. NEW AD AUCTION. Join past sponsors like The Wizard Network and DFW Team Realty and bid as low as $10 for free advertising here in our newsletter and Display Ad issue.  The top winner is featured at the top of the DallasBlue home page seen by 50,000 visitors a month. BLUE CALENDAR Entrepreneurs, Business Owners, Executives Wednesdays & Fridays Tribe Blue, The Business Accelerator Business coaching, consulting, and accountability that’s powerful and affordable. Application required TribeBlue.com Entrepreneurs, Business Owners, Executives Monday May 17, 11:45am-1:15pm A Taste of the Tribe Get FREE entrepreneur and small business advice. Learn how you can use Blue resources to build your business, launch marketing and social media programs, find new partners, and generate leads. Reservations required. Margarita Ranch at Mockingbird Station, Dallas TasteTribe.com ALL Blue readers Friday, May 21 4th Annual Autism Charity Golf Tournament Golf, sponsor, or volunteer! Support a great cause and network with other DallasBluers. Registrations include Lunch, 18 holes with cart, Contests, Great door prizes, Free golf gift bag, Mulligans, and 1-year subscription to Golf Digest. Chase Oaks Golf Club, 7201 Chase Oaks Drive, Plano DallasBlue.com/Partners/FocusSpEd

Social Media for CEOs 2: Everything Old is New Again

Digital Conversations are not truly a “New” Marketing Paradigm.

A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets (people) are getting smarter — and getting smarter faster than most companies.

These markets are conversations. Their members
communicate in language that is natural, open, honest,
direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or
complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is
unmistakably genuine. It can’t be faked.

Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk
in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission
statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-importantto-
us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder
networked markets have no respect for companies unable
or unwilling to speak as they do.

That and much  more were written over 10 years ago during the Internet go-go years.  It’s the Cluetrain Manifesto by Locke, Searls, Weinberger & Levine with an update here.

Social media and marketing is no longer a fad or hip.  It’s mainstream.  Customers aren’t ad targets.  They are beyond being  just stakeholders.  They are active creators and owners of your brand.

Social Media for CEOs 1: Play or Fade

This post kicks off a series based on my recent presentation for CEOs –  “Digital Conversations: The New Marketing Paradigm.”

Social media is very real.  It was bleeding edge ten years ago.  It’s mainstream today.  Facebook has grown to 400 million users.  LinkedIn has 60 million business  members.  Growth is starting to tail off, but only because the market is starting to become saturated.  It’s embedded in how people interact and communicate.

If you don’t participate, you condemn your organization to irrelevance.  Look at the music industry.  The major recording labels refused to embrace digital technology and changing consumer behavior.  As a result they’ve been left behind.  It’s a business in freefall.

The stock market reinforces the impact of social media. Two year old video site YouTube was bought by Google for $1.6B.  NBC TV has been around for over 70 years.  The major TV network is worth about $6 billion.

In the phone field, eBay bought Skype, another 2 yeard old company for $4.1B.  Qwest is a former Regional Bell Operating Company and over a century old.  It has 30,000 employees and a market valuaton of  $9B.

Major new media publisher Facebook is estimated to be worth $4B.  Compare that to the NY Times Co., which owns a stable of top newspaper and magazine properties and a valuation far less of $1.7B.

Are you ready to play, or have your consigned your company to fade into oblivion like the record labels?

Chimp tech

Ladies, your battery-powered super-studded vibrator isn’t anything new in the animal kingdom. Humans aren’t the only beasties to use tools for romantic pursuits.  Horny chimps employ leaves to catch the attention of the ladies. That’s much like the gold bling I use to wear briefly when I was 16, my shiny bald head now serving that purpose. Presumably the chimps then use the leaf to roll a relaxing joint after the act is consummated. Read more in this science article.