untitled.jpg, originally uploaded by graeme fraser.

Two reasons for this post:

1. Testing the flickr blog post API. Been meaning to do it for a while.
2. I am hoping that this photo will help me get my photo mojo back.

Alex Cretey Systerman

I especially like the American Regular series. It’s also worth checking out his blog

Omar Mullick

The London born, New York based photographer made an immediate impression with his documentation of muslims in America, Can’t take it with you. However, it’s his ‘Brooklyn Is’ series that caught my eye. I’m loving the texture of the interior shots (I’m guessing 1600).

http://www.shredordie.com/video/tony-hawk-and-jesse-fritsch

In the meantime, here is a short video of him explaining his best shot. It’s interesting to hear him describe his ability to capture these moments as luck. I guess it is. Parr has no idea what is going to happen and when. So, it takes patience. It also takes experience.

Blogging is not  my job, yet I blog for the people that employ me, it forms part of my wider marketing profession. So my blogging efforts are pushed to where the money is. I have bills to pay, dontyouknow.

I have always wanted this to somewhere where I can jot stuff down, and if some one reads it, great, and if they comment, *high five*. I was almost there, but almost not. Its time for a defocus.

Bring on phase 2…..

Calling itself a help engine it is a more ‘concious’ version of say yahoo answers. You simply join Cofacio, either post a question, or search for a topic that you feel you can provide an answer for, it could be films, wine or skateboards. Every time you post a question or an answer, you earn points. You can then donate those points to a cause, which in turn is supported by the sponsors.

I’ve had a quick play around with it. I’ve not posted any questions yet but I have answered a few. Personally, I think it is one to watch.

Photo by dianagavrilita via flickr

My early forays, into what would now be labelled social media, were on music and photography forums, through which I met many wonderful people, several of which are firm friends today. What marked these individuals out was not just their knowledge, but also because they imparted great advice. They gained authority in my mind through delivering consistently reliable information, be it camera lenses, or a simple “well, if you like band X then should should check out band Y…”

They were helpful.

Chris Brogan and Julien Smith discuss this in Trust Agents:

Being helpful refers to many different things: it’s a genuinely nice way to interact with people; it’s a content creation strategy; it’s a guidepost to deciding what’s worth doing; and, most often, it’s the right thing to do

One of the ongoing challenges for social media and its participants is to recognise that it’s not just about quantity of followers or friends, it’s understanding who can be the most helpful, and who requires the most help. It’s human nature. The focus therefore becomes delivery.

This is echoed in a recent post by Scott Gould (co-founder, Likeminds), who has, for some time, being trying to fix the social media conference puzzle. Several big events have already taken place this year, and many have failed to deliver on expectations, for the simple reason organisers forget about the audience and, ironically, the events become another broadcast medium. The social and collaborative elements have been lost. The social conference scene has become a victim of the intentions of the sponsor, whereby its all talk, with very little genuine delivery. Scott wants to change this.

I’ll be honest, this problem has stumped me a bit. So, on the theme of helpfulness, dive into Scott’s conversation and see if you can help.

This was taken off the Howies office wall, as featured in this months UK issue of Wired.

Anyhoop, it made me smile. And of course, it says a bit about the  Howies brand too.

The Likeminds 2010 event has been somewhat of a phenomonen, and quite rightly too. Here is a list of all that has been written about it so far, compiled by the Likeminds team.

I’ve not managed to read of all of them yet, however, James Whatley’s post from an attendee’s perspective and Jo Porrit’s from a virtual perspective are worth reading. Lots of good content here.

And thus it appears that the Likeminds output is a gift that keeps on giving.