Rocking Out in Boulder

Yesterday, I made the trek to Boulder to speak at the inaugural PivotGuild event. The Boulder Digital Arts center was packed… and dark!

My presentation topic was Why Social Media Matters to Your Business but rather than tell people what they already know (It matters because everyone’s doing it!) I addressed that in 1 slide with a link to an AdAge column that features 50 Social Media Stats to Kickstart Your Slide Deck.

Then I got into my revised topic: MAKING Social Media Matter to Your Business. I used the 20 Googley Lessons in my book as a framework and shared successful examples (and some not so much) of social media initiatives that reflected each one. I only got thru the first 10 in my 40 minute talk. As usual, I strayed from the script and improvised. No rapping this time though. Boulder struck me as more of a rock town.

Here are the slides…

Many thanks to Alyson Miller and Don Greenfield at PivotGuild (pictured with me below) for organizing a great event and inviting me to present. Boulder’s got a great creative, digital, and entrepreneurial community and Pivot Guild is positioned nicely at the intersection.

Among the many interesting folks I met in Boulder was Russell McDougal who is a punny photographer and amazing acronymizer. He has a product called Isle of View (I Love You, get it?) that turns words into acronyms. He also has an iphone app that lets you put in your name (he has 4k total in his database) and get a custom output. He can also do them quickly on the spot. Here’s mine.

A.A.R.O.N. – Awakening Awareness Reveals Ongoing Nourishment
G.O.L.D.M.A.N. – Google Offers Life’s Directions – Manifest Answers Now

And here’s a custom card Russell whipped up for me…

Until next time, Boulder (and there will be a next time!) keep it real and keep it googley!

Update Sept. 26, 2011: Another one of the cool cats (check that, Kats) I met at this event was Brett Greene from Hip Chameleon. Here’s a quick video we ripped after my talk. Brett asked me to pick the one (just one!) great nugget from my book. I told him that’s like asking which of my children I love best! Finally I settled on one (nugget, that is, not kid!)…