Happy New Decade! (We are all tired of hearing “New Year” at this point.)

WHERE I’VE BEEN

Things have been very busy over at THINK, in addition to co-founding and organizing the inaugural WordCamp Atlanta with Brandon Sheats, one of my perpetual partners-in-crime, and moving to a very cute new apartment in the Poncey-Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta. I also didn’t seem to be able to stay away and, as of a couple months ago, have rejoined the Atlanta Rollergirls, flat-track roller derby league.

While I’m catching up on things, here is a quick run-down of my upcoming speaking engagements.

UPCOMING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
January 9
WordCamp Atlanta (Atlanta, GA)
Making Your Blog Your Business: Scale & Monetization

January 11
Social Fresh Nashville (Nashville, TN)
Social Media in the Music Industry (10:30am)
Corporate Blogging (5:30pm)

January 29
SoCon 2010 (Kennesaw, GA)
Blog Monetization (not yet titled)

February 8
Social Fresh Tampa (Tampa, FL)
(panel to be announced)

March 12-17
SXSW Interactive (Austin, TX)
The State of Music Blogs in 2010

March 29
Social Fresh Portland (Portland, OR)
(panel to be announced)

If you’re looking for a speaker for your upcoming event or conference, I’d love to be a part of it. Feel free to contact me about availability.

DIGITALUTIONS FOR A NEW DECADE

Phew! Now that most of the catching up is taken care of, here are my “digitalutions” for the new decade. My digitalutions are my digital resolutions (see what I did there?) that I am going to try my best to keep up with over the new few years or so. Each of the resolutions are influenced, if not powered by, my digital presence and interactions. My resolutions usually trend around a 60% long-term achievement rate which I am pleased with — let’s hope the same is possible for these longer term goals.

1. 1. BLOG DAILY
   It doesn’t have to be on the same blog every day but contribute at least one thought-out post per day. Between TessaHorehled.com, Drive A Faster Car, Tumblr and a small handful of other niche ones I’ve collected, I should never fall short of subject content.
2. 2. TAKE ENOUGH BREAKS AND SLEEP REGULARLY
   Nothing good comes from a lack of proper downtime.  I often sacrifice sleep because I tend to get very project-oriented in the middle of the night when there isn’t half as much incoming email, text messages, tweets, phone calls and other communication. Take two steps back from the computer, phone and every other potential gadget.
3. 3. SPEAK MORE
   I enjoy speaking and attending conferences/events very much because it offers a terribly unique environment for learning, networking and socializing. They’re almost little microcosms of the social web reflecting very similar offline (and mobile) behavior and roles.  Public speaking is something I have done a fair bit but a skill I would like to spend more time sharpening.
4. 4. SPEND MORE TIME ON DRIVE A FASTER CAR
   I have very big long-term plans for Drive A Faster Car and a detailed plan for how it will all be executed.  Unfortunately, I tend to stay pretty busy and DaFC is usually the first to suffer when things get stressful.  I need to determine the best way to tackle this massive but deserving project effectively without sacrificing my other activities.

What are your digitalutions for the year or decade? Any bad habits?

Today I have an exciting announcement — I have accepted a full-time position with the Atlanta-based “interactive idea agency” THINK Interactive as Senior Strategist, Social Media. I have been working in-house at the agency over the past month to see whether this would be a good fit for both myself and THINK and am very much looking forward to seeing what our future together develops into with this new step.

Since 1994, THINK has focused on helping companies and brands increase the value of their digital investments. The shop’s services entail digital strategy, digital experience design and delivery, digital marketing media and campaigns, and digital channel measurement.

My role as a Senior Strategist is focused on Social Media and encompasses activities such as social research and strategy, management of social research tools and thought leadership in the interactive and social community. Along with client initiatives, I will also be leading internal education at THINK — broadening our overall understanding of the evolving social media landscape, trends and best practices, as well as sharpening up THINK’s social presence.

It was over 500 days from being laid off during Super Deluxe‘s merger with [adult swim] before I was able to find a company and position that could motivate and excite me as much as my role at SDXE. THINK has casted this opportunity for me and I am eager to become a part of their growing team.

Last night was the inaugural IgniteATL!

About Ignite

Started by Brady Forrest, Technology Evangelist for O’Reilly Media, and Bre Pettis of Etsy.com, formerly of MAKE Magazine, Ignite was inspired by Pecha Kucha Nights, where speakers are given 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds, giving each speaker 6 minutes and 40 seconds of fame. The first Ignite took place in Seattle in 2006, and since then the event has become an international phenomenon, with gatherings in Helsinki, Finland; Paris, France; New York, New York; and many other locations.

Ignite has two parts: the Ignite contest, where people make things, and Ignite talks, where presenters get 20 slides and five minutes to make their point. You can opt to only have talks, but the contest is fun and can serve as a great warm-up for the talks.

I helped organize the event with Colin Ake, Michael Mealling and Brandy Nagel and had almost 500 people RSVP for this kickoff event! The crowd gathered at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Midtown excited and curious of what the evening had in store.

We saw presentations about everything from beer to liquid nitrogen and transportation to artificial intelligence! Huge thanks to all of our sponsors, especially MailChimp who enabled our great afterparty at Octane Coffee. An official wrap-up of the event will be over on the IgniteATL site soon with links to the presentations, photos, and video coverage of each.

In addition to my help coordinating the event, I also contributed a presentation on “How To Identify A New Media Douchebag (And Save Yourself From Becoming One).” I don’t have video of it yet but below are the slides with commentary — some of which I got to during the presentation, some of which I didn’t (numbered in coordination with slides)! I definitely need to practice with the 15 second time restraint before my next Ignite presentation.

2. You really think you know more than everyone else? Nothing left to learn? Does your intellectual discipline manifest as a divine incarnation? On whose authority?
3. Yeah… because you attract spam bots with the amount of trending topics you partake in and social media lingo you drop. It’s about quality, not quantity. Forget the numbers and pay attention to the value.
4. My Twitter team twold me to twost a twerrific tweetup! He twit. He twat. He twot.
5. Yes! We saw that post you made on Facebook. And FriendFeed. And Twitter. And Digg. And Tumblr. And…
6. Always armed with Flip cam, iPhone, Blackberry/Android/Palm Pre, MacBookPro, digital SLR, USB modem, etc. Always flashes socially and will eagerly discuss with anyone. So where’s the content again?
7. It doesn’t always fit. Just because you have seen it done, know the tools and have read all the critics and evangelists, doesn’t mean you know how to apply those to a company.
8. There’s a big difference between SEO copy, SEM copy, tweets, Facebook status updates, blog content, mailing list content, and so forth. Stop and rethink while considering the format, audience and function before your next communication effort.
9. The 250 is a term “describing the small, cliquey group of self-appointed Web 2.0 insiders who seem to spend their days blogging and Twittering about each other” giving off the appearance that they feel they are “the only people who matter.”
10. Don’t model yourself after this idea and create your own cliques. There’s much less room for fresh ideas, innovation and growth when you’re in bubble.
11. Read or don’t read. Learn. Form your own opinion. Relate it to your own efforts. Don’t imitate.
12. Who would you rather have a drink with? Who would you be able to learn more from? I’d choose the Snakeoil Salesman — at least he has his own stories.
14. These sheep hide easily and many don’t even realize that they are sheep. Look for those with past experience, who work hands-on with fit metrics designed to drive results, and have developed their own roadmaps and processes.
15. Don’t try to impress — try to help. If you are being hired, that is what your client is looking for.
16. Metrics are unique to every project and effort within. What do they mean in relation to these? Does it affect your next steps? Should it?
17. This is where the magic and progress occurs.
18. Not all social networks are created equal. The type of messaging that may be appropriate for one platform, doesn’t necessarily fit on another. Observe and learn the differences.
19. The social web is developing rapidly and because of this, there is always something to learn. Be open to listening to others and evaluating their points before dismissing.

One of the biggest conferences of every year (and my personal favorite) is SXSW, held every March in Austin, TX. The entire conference comprises of Music, Interactive and Film tracks over a two week period. Last year, I attended both Music and Interactive which was a great experience though quite exhausting!

This year, I am pitching to speak on a panel with a friend I made through a mutual contact at SXSW 2008, Greg Swan, Editor of Minneapolis music blog PerfectPorridge.com. The topic of our panel is “The State Of Music Blogs In 2010.”

Panel Description:
Just how important are music blogs to the industry today, is that prominence growing or fading, and how will new technologies and strategies impact the marketing mix in the coming year? Join prominent music bloggers, record label and PR firm executives to discuss the state of the industry, what’s around the corner and how musicians and record labels can develop relationships with these blogging influencers.

Questions We Will Discuss/Answer:

1. Journalist or super fan: what does it mean to be a music blogger these days?
2. How will the new FTC regulations on freebies to bloggers impact today’s marketing practices?
3. How important are aggregation sites to a band or record label’s marketing strategy and bottom line?
4. If video killed the radio star and blogs killed the music mags, what will kill the music blogs?
5. While the RIAA is suing fans for illegally downloading music, bands and indie labels are begging blogs to give away their albums for free. What’s the future of profitability in selling music versus giving it away?
6. What new technologies (e.g., mobile phone, embeddable players, interactive video) are being used by bands to reach fans directly and what’s next?
7. Will microblogging and lifestreaming of musicians directly interacting with fans affect traditional marketing strategies?
8. How do burgeoning and established social networks help and hinder artists?
9. What’s the worst pitch you’ve ever received and why?
10. What’s the guaranteed strategy to position a band for ultimate blogosphere buzz?

Please vote for our panel on the SXSW Panel Picker! Today is the last day for you to do so. The Panel Picker partially determines which panels are chosen for the conference. SXSW should begin to announce the chosen panels in October.

For those of you who enjoyed my IgniteATL presentation last night on “How To Identify A New Media Douchebag (And Save Yourself From Becoming One)” should check out the “How To Not Be A Douchebag At SXSW” panel as well.

Just try saying that one five times fast. Tonight is the tweetup!

Here’s the dealio:

• Center For Puppetry Arts is located at 1404 Spring St. NW at 18th Atlanta, GA 30309 in Midtown
• The tweetup is from 7PM to 10PM. There will be guided tours of the museum from 7:30-8:00 and 8:30-9:00. You are free to roam at will for the entire duration.
• There will be a CASH BAR. Go to the ATM right now while you’re thinking about it.
• The tweetup is 21+ because all of ours are and there’s a cash bar involved.
• Hashtag everything with the #atltweet hashtag! Tweets, photos, etc.
• Speaking of photos, you CANNOT take any photos while inside the Center For Puppetry Arts. Sorry!

For those of you who aren’t into puppets, we’re disowning you. (Kidding!) We are also meeting both BEFORE and AFTER the Center For Puppetry Arts at Marlow’s Tavern in Midtown (950 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30309, one block from the Midtown Marta station) for food and adult beverages.

If you get lost, confused or just need help (preferably in regards to the tweetup), feel free to ping either @maigh or @tessa / 917.512.3650

Also, YES, the Center For Puppetry Arts is on Twitter — @CtrPuppetryArts

See everyone tonight!

The recession is affecting everyone. This is nothing new. What is new? Scores of individuals are now looking to the internet for how they can empower themselves with the tools to self-supplement and sustain income beyond traditional options.

This afternoon, I was invited by the ever-awesome Hollis Gillespie (humor columnist, author, radio commentator, and morethanyoucanhandle) and Mike Alvear (Huffington Post blogger, co-host of HBO’s Sex Inspectors, author) to contribute to their “Blog Your Way Out Of The Recession” workshop. I spoke with a group of about 15 who were interested in starting blogs — about three had already taken the plunge.

I began by discussing blog publishing software such as WordPress, MovableType, Blogger and Typepad. While all viable options, my personal favorite and the platform I recommend exclusively to others is WordPress. This website is powered by WordPress as are many of the biggest news sources online including the New York Times and The Washington Post. WordPress is fantastic for a number of reasons. Among the notable: It is very easy to use for individuals who are not tech-savvy; and it is very robust and pliable. WordPress can be very slick and professional aesthetically or you can opt for a more plug-and-play traditional blog format. Whatever suits your fancy.

I continued to discuss the upmost importance of owning your domain and the benefits you sacrifice when not opting for a self-hosted blog, tracking and analyzing traffic and referral information, recommended WordPress plugins, how search engines communicate in regards to your blog, and monetization options for both short-term and long-term revenue growth.

For future workshops, I am very interested in putting together a presentation that focuses on the meta of blogs. It will cover meta-tagging, post tagging, categorization as well as archiving and sitemaps. This may be my project on my flight to NYC next week!

All-in-all it was a great time. I highly recommend you check out both Hollis and Mike online for some fantastically entertaining reads. Stay tuned for future workshop collaborations between the three of us!

Some quick cheat-sheet links:

• I register domains with GoDaddy.
• I host with A Small Orange.
• I use WordPress for all my blogging needs.

I will be doing a blog post about my recommended plugins and traffic/analytics tools soon — check back.

I feel like Spring flew by. We are already approaching Summer and there is so much going on! Lately, I have been consulting social media professionals on everything from Best Practices to effective workflow management, a few startups and locally-based companies about social media campaigns, and throwing much of my energy behind the upcoming relaunch of Drive A Faster Car.

There are a lot of tech events coming up I plan to hit as well and suggest you do the same if you’re in the area.

The web’s official guide to all that is social media, Mashable, is hosting the first ever Mashable event in Atlanta in partnership with local startup, Regator, this Thursday, May 14th at the Trolley Barn in Inman Park.

Mashable team members in attendance will include Adam Ostrow (Editor-in-Chief), Sharon Feder (Features Editor), Adam Hirsch (Chief Operations Officer) and Brett Petersel (East Coast Events Director). The event will feature socializing galore (it is a social media event afterall) and top-notch networking opportunities along with an open bar, DJ set from Preston Craig, and light hors d’oeuvres. The event is a sold out a few times over but you will likely be able to follow it online via Twitter.

It’s just about time for the Atlanta May Tweetup and Field Day! You know you’ve been itching for sack races and netless volleyball and a good, old fashioned Frisbee smackdown since the first leaves turned yellow last year and you packed up your shorts for the season. Now you can, thanks to the magic of teh interwebz!

Swing by Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or your favorite local takeout place (or even, place a Zifty.com order from the park), grab your favorite sport accouterments and join us at Inman Park (Euclid Avenue between Hurt and Poplar Circle) on Thursday, May 28th from 6-10PM.

I am still trying to work out exactly how I’m going to make this trip happen but if all goes well, I should be in New York June 1st through June 5th.

Internet Week is a week-long festival of events celebrating New York’s thriving Internet industry and community. The week is chock-full of events hosted by a score of companies around the city. Check out the schedule on the Internet Week NY site for a full list.

What is ProductCamp?
In the spirit of BarCamp, ProductCamp is a collaborative, user organized unconference, focused on Product Marketing and Management topics. At ProductCamp Atlanta there are no “attendees,” since everyone participates in some manner: presenting, leading a roundtable discussion, helping with logistics, securing sponsorship, setting up wifi, or volunteering. ProductCamp Atlanta is a great opportunity for you to learn from, teach to, and network with professionals involved in the Product Management, Marketing, and Development process from the Atlanta area!

A friend of mine, Jason Brett, local “Product Manager in search of a product” is organizing the event which is happening Saturday, June 6. You can contact him if you are interested in sponsoring. There is additional information about the event up on the wiki, Twitter, or you can go ahead and register (free!) on Eventbrite.

There’s a new tv show about social media that just launched called MediaConnection.tv, hosted by Amani Channel with Executive Producer, Grayson Daughters and Director Mike Forrester. MediaConnection is a program of conversations about social media news, trends and innovations. Guests of the shows are interesting leaders from a variety of backgrounds and industries who are using social media to build, grow and share communities – personally and professionally.

The first episode of the show features me! Below you can see my conversation discussing #atlgas, ATAC, Twitter, and more.

I promise I will learn to fidget less on camera for future video interviews!

Atlanta Tumblr Meetup at Clermont Lounge is Tuesday, April 21. Karaoke starts around 10ish, but the meetup will begin at 9:30PM to give Blondie some cans to crush in her boobs.

Good times in San Francisco. I have a little cameo in here. If you don’t know Scott Beale and Schlomo Rabinowitz, you really should.