Phänomenal!

Wenn das mal kein Phänomen ist; jetzt habe ich doch tatsächlich nach all den Jahren surfens im englischsprachigen Raum die lokale Blogszene entdeckt!
Als angeblicher "Spontaner Idealist" finde ich diesen Artikel und das Video dazu klasse.
Spontan habe ich mich deswegen zum Social Web Breakfast angemeldet, hoffentlich sind nicht nur technik-afine Gäste da sondern auch Vertreter von Kunden, für die ist sowas nämlich eher gedacht und hilfreich. Die Ankündigung liest sich jedenfalls interessant.
Ansonsten gibt´s die Woche viel zu tun; updates folgen.

On Content

"No, I don´t want you to make a photo right now." she told me after the dinner in a restaurant I usually would recommend visiting due to it´s nice atmosphere, the food and the very friendly employees.

Which made me think on how blogs may be like restaurants in the way that what is presented is as important as how. Which leads to the question what could be added to the already so vastly amount of statements/conversations going on.

When browsing today I surfed through this one which lead to this one with a presentation on the topic and also I found this all having a connection to here again in a wider context.

So it could be e.g. a list of links, adding content to the conversation or a personal statement.
Finally it´s the sites content which makes it interesting to the readers who puts in their time and interest to read it and come back. And also that the content presented is said in a way that is acceptable to the readers even when no consesus is reached, which enriches the conversation by providing different point of views.

Nothing new; but why do so many write? Just to write or also to be read?
And why do we like to have conversations? Just to talk or to technically exchange information?

A major part what makes human communication remarkable is obviously in the non technical part which is expected to be meaningful for the participants. So for my part I have choosen this essay like approach and not a conversational one which gives me more freedom in form and content than a theme oriented one.

"It´s 99% luck."

An interesting article I recommend reading is today from David Maister whose blog I regularly read: http://davidmaister.com/articles/4/103/
He writes about personal styles of employees and he muses on whether those preferences, which he compares to animal stlyes are flexible or not. Imho I think that strongly depends on the background, experiences and vision people follow. The most interesting part of the article is that neither of the styles receives a "label" putting some sort of judgement on it but is described to clarify which decisions have to be made when dealing with human resources.

Browsing through some old entries I found an update with an interview of Warren Buffet Darren Johnson did, where he describes the concept of "circle of competence" and the importance to stay in it.
In my area this has been a mixture of software development and project marketing, with effort being put on survival against outsourcing trends. Now I am following the trend and you can find my profile here.
[via darrenjohnson]

Web 2.0? 3.0 will be even better!

In the last week I had various discussions on how people use the tools and gadgets available today and as expected SMS, IM and even mobile phones and Ipods are handled differently by different persons who are more or less the same age. I think the main social impact Web usage has will be seen in a few years as extensive due to the possibilities offered to the participants. I am often stating that the web makes real what the phone has promissed but could not fulfill; making it easier to connect their participants. Many years ago e.g. calling family members in Mexico was expensive and exchanging letters took weeks. Now the pictures of the kids of my cousin came via webcam, giving a call to someone far away is very affordable and my mother started kind of blogging (after having been "motivated" by me).
My favorite communication method is still the personal dialogue when possible, but the web substitute just gives additional possibilities which are personally sometimes very important.

Due to some minor issues I spend the whole Friday without my mobile. The greatest surprise was that just walking around the city without any device was a quite "relaxing" experience.
Connectivity and availability, or better the luxury to be not always accessible may become also a kind of tool to manage.

It´s not just a small world after all, it will even become smaller for those able and willing to communicate.

First post 2007!

So this is the first post this year after a fabulous week in London.
Sunday is always good for reading, writing and a little napping :)

Links noticed so far:
Seth Godin quotes an article form the Guardian on How to be remarkable. I prefer to post the link to the original article because what´s most important is what is said after the obligatory 10 bullets. Read yourself.

The second one is also from Seth but handles another topic. Tactic & Strategy but maybe it´s just about thinking or life planning. Mainly it says that it depends more on doing the right thing than on doing something right. What is which is as always in the eye of the beholder.
A good book on thinking and success bought this week: Tactics by Edward de Bono.

The third one:
ITU Report on digital.life.
A lot has been written on wikis, social networks, IM and other technical solutions on how to communicate or collaborate. My parents still don´t have internet access and my mother rejects to start blogging from a distance, which I consider a plausible alternative to start it, so still some miles to go.

Mass media this week: iPhone, therefore I am.