It was my privilege today to speak to the Texas Council on Family Violence Executive Directors’ Conference. TCFV is a statewide organization representing a network of domestic violence programs that provide direct services to victims and their families.

Here are the slides from my presentation.

Sign the pledge, then use the Share tool to tell at least 3 or 4 friends about the Pledge to End Hunger. When 1,000 people do this, Tyson Foods will send a truck loaded with 140,000 meals for hungry children.

In Austin, we’re 3/4 of the way there … so please do it today. The Capital Area Food Bank does a remarkable job; they are worthy of our support.

Did you know? One out of six children in America is unsure where there next meal is coming from.

Congratulations to reader Alexis….

Random.org chose his comment as the winning number, so he’ll get a copy of Age of Conversation 2 – Why Don’t They Get It? autographed by both Connie Reece and me.

Thanks for playing!

Both Connie Reece and I contributed chapters to the latest version of the groundbreaking, multi-author book Age of Conversation2 – Why Don’t They Get It?

The book is a follow-on to the very successful Age of Conversation, to which Connie also contributed a chapter.

That’s right — this year, 239 authors from 15 nations banded together to wrestle with why so many still don’t understand and in fact are NOT big fans of the Age of Conversation.

Why are so many folks nervous about, or even downright afraid of, those two-way discussions with customers….anything with a Comment box underneath it?

You know – social media.

AOC2 has Manifestos to challenge our thinking about what it means to live, work and participate in today’s two-way world. There are also sections about Accidental Marketers, A New Brand of Creative, Life in the Conversation Lane, From Conversation to Action and some bloopers in My Marketing Tragedy.

My chapter asks why should people get it – what’s in the conversation for them?  I wrote:

“Why doesn’t Joe Six-pack or Jane Latte understand social media? Because we, the go-go Web 2.0 evangelists, forget to address some basic problems….”

Connie’s chapter draws an analogy to the Texas two-finger salute from drivers:

“Twitter is like the two-finger salute, 140-character snippets of conversation conducted in passing. Blogs are the truck stops of the Information Superhighway, where newcomers mingle with long-time online friends….”

The book is actually a fundraiser for Variety, the children’s charity, so when you click here to buy, your money goes to their good works.

Leave a comment below about why you think so many folks “don’t get it” about social media, and you’ll get a chance to win a copy of the book that is autographed by both me and Connie.  Using the cool tools on Random.org, we’ll pick a winner on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008 (ho ho ho) and we’ll mail it to the winner anywhere in the world.

For more about the ideas behind the book, including interviews and podcasts with the authors, we recommend the Age of Conversation2 blog, and here is a full list of the talented authors who joined us…..

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock,Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay,Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins,G. Kofi Annan,G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw and James G. Lindberg, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Thanks for your support!

The Every Dot Connects blog reaches many readers who are not located in Texas yet may want to help out in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. We have a way for you to do so. If you’re here in Texas, you can participate as well.

The Capital Area Food Bank located in Austin points out that every $5 donated to them directly allows them to provide $20 worth of assistance to those people it serves. This includes the very large number of Hurricane Ike victims as well as those they already serve.

The “Strike Back at Ike” ChipIn widget – located to the right side of this page in the Explore section – allows you to donate directly to the Food Bank without providing all of your personal information. Additionally you can easily add the widget to your own site. Read Connie’s post, on a special website created just for the purpose of raising money for the Food Bank, for more information. This is a quick and easy way to get some cash to the Food Bank they desperately need.

As you may be aware, the Food Bank shifted into disaster relief mode as evacuees fled the hurricane bearing down on the Texas Gulf coast. Many of them are now in Austin. In fact, over the weekend 6,500 people were housed in shelters here, with thousands more staying with family or friends or in area hotels. It may be four to six weeks before many of these people are able to return to their homes–or what is left of them–and many of them have already run out of money to provide for themselves.

In addition to distributing food to shelters, the Food Bank prepared 25-pound emergency food boxes for Hurricane Ike evacuees not staying in shelters. But on Monday afternoon at 2:00 donations were depleted and volunteers regretfully had to start turning people away.

We believe we can raise $5,000 in 5 days by spreading this ChipIn widget across our social networks. Please make whatever donation you can, and then tweet this, plurk it, put it on your Facebook profile, and email it to your friends. This is a small amount in the face of the enormous need, but every bit helps.

Remember, every $5 donation will provide $20 worth of nutritious food. A $25 donation provides $100 worth of food … okay, you can do the math.

IN-KIND CONTRIBUTION: WORDPRESS SERVICES

The individual or company that makes the largest donation through this ChipIn widget will have access to two hours of time for a WordPress installation, customization or training by Chel Wolverton, the very capable administrative assistant for Social Media Club. Upon completion of the ChipIn campaign, Chel will contact the winner to find out which of these services is preferred. The amount of your contribution will not be disclosed.

Your generosity will be greatly appreciated by thousands of people who have been uprooted from their homes and are trying to figure out where they go from here. On behalf of Social Media Club Austin and Austin 501 Tech Club, we thank you for helping us wind down our HAM-up efforts with a significant contribution to the Capital Area Food Bank.

Note: your gift through this ChipIn page is not tax-deductible. If you need a receipt for income tax purposes, you must donate directly to CAFB by check or major credit card. (They are not set up to receive donations via Paypal.)

This past weekend I had the opportunity to catch up with my former colleague and political phenom, Steve Hildebrand, Deputy Campaign Manager for the Obama Presidential campaign. Steve and several of the key staff members from the Obama campaign were speaking to the Netroots Nation conference about their online campaign.

Steve recounted that while planning the campaign with the Obamas, they decided that “Barack had to be authentic.” The online campaign, like the overall campaign, had to be about the movement and changing the country. Further, it had to allow for volunteers to be true partners in the online efforts, allowing for a wide range of affinity groups created within the campaign’s own website and for local volunteer organizations to be truly empowered.

They recognized that the “internet alone won’t win elections. It must be combined with on-the-ground efforts.” That combination could allow Obama’s skills as a community organizer to be translated online to reach out in ways never before possible on a Presidential campaign.

According to Hildebrand, they determined that the Iowa caucuses could provide the “path of credibility” they needed to go the distance. Simultaneously, they began preparations for a full-scale national campaign based largely on volunteer support and coordinated largely online.

They discovered that Obama would draw support from across the country and further used their website in a serious attempt to win the “the first primary, the financial primary,” in spite of the huge advantages of their opponents. When the fundraising results for the 4th quarter of 2007 were announced, they had won the “financial primary” with a record number of donors and dollars coming from their online efforts.

The goal of MyBarackObama.com, the hub of all Obama campaign online activity, is not to win awards, but to win the election. The Obama campaign has kept it simple, sticking to the fundamentals. All functions of the online campaign are specifically done to compliment traditional campaign strategies.

The Obama campaign is fully embracing the potential of the online organizational opportunities and they are active in a number of online social networks. While the online activities of the Obama campaign did not win the nomination, they were a integral and key component. Fundraising, community organizing, get out the vote (GOTV) activities, voter registration, meetups, and rapid responses to media and opponent charges, are all greatly enhanced by the internet efforts.

Smart companies, non-profits, and government agencies will certainly be studying the Obama online efforts to see where they might enhance their own consumer and constituent services.

~Mike Chapman

It’s ironic that a few days before speaking on Using Social Media for Social Good I would wind up filing a complaint with the FTC about a possible fraud being committed on social networks. That same day we held a plurkshop on Internet security issues and microblogging. Hence the title of this post: spammers and scammers have arrived on your favorite social network.

Jennifer Leggio, network security geek and ZDNet blogger, introduced us to Adam J. O’Donnell, Director of Emerging Technologies at Cloudmark. Together they fielded questions from more than 60 participants and explained some of the dangers lurking on social networks. Spammers have moved from unsolicited emails to using friend requests on social networks. Clicking on their profiles can trigger malicious code. You can read the entire transcript here (Plurkshop 7 – Security and Microblogging) and Deb Robison’s excellent analysis here (Plurkshop 7 Recap).

The alleged fraud relates to a Plurk and Twitter user who goes by the name LillyAnn and a request by someone claiming to be her daughter who was raising funds to pay for dialysis for Lilly. Many conversations on Plurk link to various social network or Web profiles for Lilly Calandrello, but if you want to read the entire thread (1500+ replies) with the original request and the evolving revelations about the real identity of this person, use this link: LillyAnn’s daughter wants her Plurk friends to know…

When I first read the request last weekend, I recognized that I was connected to LillyAnn on several networks. I recalled having a few brief exchanges with her. I decided to give a small amount to the cause and do some checking on it. Because of my work with the Frozen Pea Fund, I’m very aware of — and supportive of — using social networks for social good.

My first concern came when I checked the PayPal account and saw that the verified business user associated with the account was Whispy.com, a network devoted to psychic readings and spiritual guidance of the nebulous sort. The Web site owner, however, was the same Lilly Calandrello on the social network where the request originated. So I set aside my prejudice against the stereotypical psychic-as-con-artist and decided to err on the side of compassion: I gave $10.

I also suggested that it would give more credibility to the fund-raising effort if the online friends who knew Lilly better set up a ChipIn widget with more information about her and her health needs. I was immediately contacted by Gabrielle, Lilly’s daughter, asking for my help in setting it up. Red flag #2. I responded that I did not know LillyAnn well enough and that it should originate from those who did. That private message thread was immediately deleted, as was another thread that had started raising concerns about inconsistencies that were coming to light. Red flag #3.

A ChipIn page was quickly set up by someone, though, and raised $357.50 before being suddenly shut down. By this time too many questions had been raised — legitimate questions, like the name of the hospital where Lilly was supposedly in ICU awaiting a life-saving treatment — that could not be ignored. Communication from Gabrielle also stopped at that time.

Other social network users began to weigh in with discrepancies. It appears that most of LillyAnn’s LinkedIn profile, for example, was plagiarized. Pictures she had posted online were found to be digital renderings that could in no way be associated with her actual home. Evidence indicates that her real name is Barbara Calandrello, but at this point none of us know if that is the person who was using social networks to perpetate some kind of scam, or if someone else was using her identity online.

To make a long story short, I was glad I had given that $10 because it allowed me to file a claim with the FTC so the case could be investigated. As far as I know, none of the others who gave to the cause — at least a couple of whom stated they gave $100 — has filed a report. I strongly believe that when a community’s trust is violated, the community should respond appropriately so that others are not affected.

Just as social networks can be used for good, they can also be abused and used for nefarious purposes. When that happens — whether for good or evil — our reaction as a community is important. Think about what it means to be a good community citizen. Should we let angry accusations of being “self-appointed police” stop us from speaking out? Or do we take a stand against bad behavior?

The spammers and scammers are hoping we’ll remain quiet.

~ Connie

UPDATE: Please read this excellent review of the Calandrello case, and its similarity to the Kaycee Nicole scandal, here: Quantum Entanglements – The Social Media Scandals.

We get this question a lot at Every Dot Connects — “What the heck is Twitter, and how can something that sounds so goofy possibly do anything useful?”

Today, many people in Austin, Texas saw firsthand what Twitter can do with a few dedicated people and a great idea.

It was the inaugural Austin Blood Drive Tweetup, perfectly timed for July 3rd, just before an Independence Day weekend when accidents tend to happen, the need for blood is high and supplies run low.

It was launched using a variety of online tools; particularly with this Tweetup announcement post on co-organizer Michelle Greer’s blog, but also with other blog posts, lots of tweets (Twitter messages, even ones from Australia,) emails and a Facebook page.

Here’s the amazing part….

The push started on June 29th, a Sunday  –  a mere three days for people to find out about it,  to perhaps get some time off from work during a four-day workweek, to decide to participate and for many, to face possible needle fears.

The result?

100 people signed up online for a donation timeslot to come in and give blood; the Blood Center averages around 40 a day.

The professionals who run the Blood Center said they’d never seen so many first-time donors.

As I filled out paperwork today to donate, my screener said, “Are you with that Twitter group? There are a LOT of y’all – that’s great!”

Never underestimate the power of a good idea, combined with enthusiastic, tech-savvy individuals and the exponential connections of social media tools like Twitter.

(Some blood drive photos are already up on Flickr)

I recently had the privilege of being interviewed by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson for their program, For Immediate Release. As a fan of this popular podcast, I was happy to have the opportunity to talk to them in person, especially when the topic was one of my favorite projects, the Frozen Pea Fund.

The interview is about 30 minutes. Click to listen: FIR interview: Connie Reece, Frozen Pea Fund

People who do not invest time in social networking often wonder about the quality of online friendships. They doubt the depth or strength of connections made with people you’ve never met face to face. My thoughts match those of Shel Israel: “My virtual friends are all real.” (I’m paraphrasing something you said in an interview, Shel. Hope I got close to your actual words.)

For you Doubting Thomases, here’s a story to demonstrate the depth and breadth–and the power–of online community.

A friend I’ve never met in person is scared. Very scared. Susan Reynolds is having a mastectomy tomorrow. She found the lump on December 5, went to the doctor the next day, and was immediately sent to a diagnostic radiologist. Big words, big fear: Invasive Lobular Carcinoma.

You can read about Susan’s journey through the cancer experience in her new blog, Boobs on Ice. The story I want to share is how a community of so-called invisible friends rallied around Susan to support, comfort and cheer her up–and somewhere along the way turned it into a fight–and a fund–against cancer.

It started on Twitter, where Susan is the self-proclaimed nana; she’s also a power networker with hundreds of followers. When she posted a new avatar–a photo of a package of frozen peas tucked inside her camisole to relieve the pain from multiple biopsies–she joked about putting her boob on ice. Her friends continued the joke.

Then a few days later, Cathleen Rittereiser (@cathleenritt) tweeted that we should all donate the cost of a package of frozen peas to a fund for cancer research. Before you could say “bring back that beat,” Susan’s friends picked up on the idea, and what started as an off-the-cuff remark has become a full-fledged fund-raising campaign named, in honor of Susan, the Frozen Pea Fund.

The site will officially launch tomorrow–that’s when we’ll have the “click to donate” button ready. Money raised will go to Making Strides, the breast cancer campaign of the American Cancer Society.

In the interest of full disclosure, my company is doing a social media campaign for a new ACS initiative that will launch early next year. When David Neff, Director of Online Communications for the corporate office, located here in Austin, first emailed to ask us to do some pro bono work for the Society, my reaction was to sigh and wonder how I could gracefully decline. David has been part of our local Social Media Club since the very beginning, and it would be hard to turn him down. But I was frazzled from a year of starting a new business and juggling client work with personal responsibilities. How could I possibly squeeze one more item onto my already overflowing to-do list?

Before I could decline, however, Susan got her diagnosis. And everything changed.

Now I had a personal stake in this battle against cancer. While I still haven’t met Susan in person, we’ve e-mailed and talked on the phone–and were about to launch a cooperative venture that is now on hold until she recovers from surgery.

The photos you see to the left are what we are calling pea-vatars. I can’t even remember how it started–probably it was Ann Miller (@annohio) who first posted a package of peas as her avatar on Twitter. Before you know it, dozens of people had added peas to their photos and the Frozen Pea Friday Flickr group was born.

Within the first 24 hours, I noted at least 40 people sporting pea-vatars, and that was only among the 600+ people I follow on Twitter. Much to my delight, Robert Scoble picked up the peas theme and tied it into the world economic forum at Davos. And even Loic Lemeur, founder of Seesmic, is sporting a pea-vatar on Twitter. (Bless you, one and all!)

So many people are working behind the scenes to help launch the Frozen Pea Fund that I’ll probably miss naming someone here, but I at least have to acknowledge Michelle Wolverton (@chelpixie), who is building the WordPress site, and Ryan Karpeles (@ryankarpeles), who designed the FPF logo. Cathleen came up with the tagline: We will not appease cancer. And Laura Fitton (@pistachio) is cooking up something with a new Twitter account: @peaple.

In the days to come, Susan’s family will be by her bedside, caring for her and assisting her recovery. But an entire socialmediasphere will be rallying around her cause, lifting her spirits and doing our small part to help find a cure. Join us, won’t you?