What would you do if you were the CEO of Research In Motion?
This is the question I ask on a weekly basis on the show I host called XConnectTO.
For your enjoyment, education and insight here are the latest 4 installments.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZcAfELqDZ0]
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What would YOU do as the CEO of Research In Motion?
Unlike traditional events that attempt to satisfy the needs of all levels of practitioners, the Social Media Masters Series goes beyond typical introductory courses, and provides advanced social media sessions for practitioners from true social media Masters. With the Social Media Masters Series, we are progressing the social media dialogue from the “why” to a more technical understanding of how to execute social media programs in key areas with an emphasis on engagement marketing.
Produced by Social Media Club, the world’s leading association of social media professionals and Sensei Marketing, a firm specializing in customer acquisition and social engagement for the enterprise, Social Media Masters is a premium event for leading brands and social media strategists.
The event takes place this Friday, October 7th in Toronto.
If you are a Social Media Professional wanting to take your skills to the next level, or an online marketer expanding your capabilities, this program is your chance to go beyond a typical introductory course and get advanced training from true Social Media Masters. This conference is a unique opportunity to develop your own mastery of social media for Marketing and Communications, with an emphasis on engagement. Whether you are in charge of a department in a large organization, you are responsible for multiple clients within an agency, or you are an independent professional deepening your skills and knowledge, this event will help you advance your career and accomplish your goals in key areas of social media marketing.
Produced by Social Media Club, the world’s leading association of Social Media Professionals and Sensei Marketing, a firm specializing in customer acquisition and social engagement for the enterprise, Social Media Masters is a premium event for leading brands and social media strategists.
Register today and save 20% by using code ‘karim’. Social Media Club is also hosting a cocktail party the night before. You can register at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2275211218.
See you there!
Yes, Toronto has finally gotten over this year’s version of the Toronto International Film Festival. Many of us had the opportunity to watch many new and interesting films and maybe mingle with a few Hollywood celebrities.
Next week, my friends and I at XConnectTO and thirdocean are bringing to Toronto, FilmConnect: a panel discussion on technology, new media and the film industry.
I invite all of you, if you’re in and around Toronto on Thursday September 29th at 6pm to join me.
Details of the event and registration can be found at http://bit.ly/filmconnect.
Check out XConnectTO to learn more about our panelists and esteemed moderator Matt Hartley from the National Post.
I love Toronto. And not just the Blue Jays baseball team or the CN Tower. I mean what makes Toronto, well, Toronto.
Her people. Especially those people who are making things happen. Whether it be community activists like the folks at the Toronto Green Community or the start-up/tech space that I have been involved in for the past couple of years.
Earlier today, I had the opportunity to chat with Canadian entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist Boris Wertz. He appeared as my guest on The XConnect Show. It was our 19th episode and the first time we had a live audience.
The reason we invited a select audience was because our team knew that many people in the start-up space would love the opportunity to listen and learn from Boris. So we had about 10 guests sit in on the session.
Before our taping I introduced Boris to every member of the studio audience. And that made me feel happy and proud. Happy that I could do it and proud that I had the chance to do it.
What made me more happier was receiving an email from one friend a few minutes ago who apologized for leaving without talking to me so he could share with Boris a cab ride across the city.
No need to apologize.
It’s why I do what I do.
I’m typing this blog post on my Dell Inspiron Mini on a West Jet flight some 40,000+ feet over the Canadian Prairies.
I don’t usually use this space to blog about my professional life. So I hope you don’t mind if I make an exception today.
This week I’m proud to represent thirdocean and XConnect at Canada’s top technology and start-up conference in Vancouver: GROW Conference. If you’re a regular here you probably already know that I am a co-founder and partner of both thirdocean (which is a social media and community management agency) and XConnect (which we’re building into Canada’s top technology and new media resource).
Both companies are less than one year old. Which makes this trip all the more important from a business perspective. Not only am I in attending GROW in order to learn from some of the top entrepreneurs and business minds across North America but I’m in Vancouver to network and solidify some professional relationships. The goal, obviously, is to grow both of our businesses.
So I hope to be able to share some good news with everyone soon after I return from this trip.
For the rest of the week I’ll be blogging over at XConnect. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on both what I’ve learned and whom I’ve met. If you’re a fan of our XConnect Show (live every Wednesday at 11am EST) this week we’ll be chatting with Alyssa Richard and Matthew Slutsky. Both Toronto-based entrepreneurs are disrupting the national real estate industry. Rachel McConnell (our Community Manager) will be filling in for me as host of the show. I hope you’re able to watch.
If you want to receive this blog post in your email click on the button on the right hand column that says sign me up under the Email Subscription header. In the meantime, please feel free to register on our communications system. You will be able to easily follow my journey here in Vancouver as well as everything else we’re doing at thirdocean and XConnect.
You know I like relevance right? Well, I do. And I’m suggesting you probably like relevance, too.
The Importance of Relevance
We now understand that numbers don’t mean everything. You might have thousands of followers or likes but how many of these people actually interact with you and your brand? How many people are you interacting with? Who are you interacting with?
Those who continue to re-visit your Facebook page or tweet with you are people who find your content relevant. The goal now is to figure out a way to interact with as many people as possible. Providing relevant content to the right people is the way to get this done.
Google Plus Addresses Relevance: Circles:
More than any other social network, Google Plus addresses relevance like Facebook doesn’t and Twitter can’t.
Now, Google Plus doesn’t yet support brands or businesses but Circles (the Google Plus product) is ingenious. And if you as an individual consider yourself a brand then you should take advantage of Circles.
Circles allows you to organize the people in your social graph according to how you define each relationship. Is someone your friend? Family member, co-worker, associate or customer? You get to decide because not everyone is your friend.
Increased Engagement:
What does this segmentation and relevance lead to for you? Increased engagement. Why? Because now your messages are going to specific people. For example, a note about Robbie Alomar’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame can be directed to people you know will be interested in this specific piece of news.
As long as you keep the value of the “Circles” sacred, your community will come to know exactly what to expect from you. Everything individuals receive from you will now be of value to your community.
You can even go one step further and set which circle(s) you want to watch. Unlike Twitter, the issue of relevance is now controlled by both the sender and receiver of information. I can choose who I send information to and who I receive information from.
Why does this lead to increased engagement? Put yourself in the seat of a consumer. If you got to choose the type of messaging you would receive from your favourite brands (and you could be specific as you wanted) would you be more likely than not to at least read the message? Of course you would!
Now put yourself in the brand’s position. Are you just interested in “likes” or do you want true engagement in these online spaces? Likes may result in an increased email database but the issue remains the same: For online and social media communications to truly succeed the magic pill is and always will be relevance.
Google Plus addresses this issue better than any other social tool out there. And this is why Google Plus will continue to grow and force Facebook and Twitter (and email marketers) to change.
As always your thoughts are appreciated.
If you want to receive my blog in your email (and only if) feel free to click on that “sign me up!” button in the column on the right.
This blog post was supposed to be about the loveliness that is Google Plus. At the same time I’ve been wanting to write about my love affair with my local public library.
So why is this particular blog about the local public library? Because I live in Toronto. And Toronto is under attack from the current Mayor, Rob/Doug Ford.
However, this post won’t be about the politics.
I believe that even in today’s hyper-connected, always on, mobile and social society, that the local public library still provides massive value for all of us.
Books:
Seriously. I still read books. Old ones and new ones. Fiction and business-focused books, too. The great thing about borrowing a book is twofold: If I don’t like it I don’t feel like I wasted $25 on a purchase. I just return the book. Second, the 2-4 week borrowing period allows me to focus on finishing the book before the late fees start accruing. And please don’t tell me that books are dying and that tablets will rule the world. That’s another blog post. By the way, libraries offer more…
Magazines and Newspapers:
Oh yes! I can browse through the latest (or oldest! Really any edition) Men’s Health and figure out what exercises I should do to lose weight in 3 simple steps over 14 days.
Audio:
Being able to borrow CDs from classic artists like Neil Young is priceless. My library also has books on CD. But wait for this one: I can also use my computer to download audio files to listen to. Amazing, I know.
Video:
Videos and DVDs. I can catch up on all the popular TV shows of today as well as movies I’ve yet to watch or haven’t watched.
For The Kids:
Probably most important for me is what the library offers to me as a dad. It’s by far and away one of my son’s favourite places to go and visit. He loves to read and be read to. And the library is FULL of kids books. They also offer toys, a kids area and kids programming during the holidays and vacations.
So I like the library and everything that it has to offer. Even the amazing people who work there. For me, the local public library is part of my neighbourhood and community. No matter how connected, social and mobile I am and become, I’ll still go into the library and hope to find my next good book.
Like it or not influence matters. And chances are you’re not sitting on the fence on this one. Especially when it comes to online influence. You either love Klout or you hate Klout. 
You love Klout because you either understand what they are trying to achieve. Or if you’ve received a free bag of chips.
You hate Klout because you’ve never “won” anything in your life or your score is lower than 50. Or you don’t believe in what Klout is attempting to build.
But if I asked you if influence matters you would have to agree with me. Think about it for a moment:
You answered yes to at least one question above. And by doing so you’ve exerted your influence over someone else. And I believe this is what Klout wants to capture: The influence you, others and myself have in comparison to others.
Is Klout perfect just yet? Of course not. And it may never be. But here’s the question you should ask yourself:
Will you stop forwarding good content to your sphere of influence? Of course not. And that’s why Klout is important.
What say you?
Especially in Africa where almost everyone I met last year had at least one cellphone if not two. Serious. So, I was excited when I came across the following infographic:
Melody Adhami (@MelodyAdhami on Twitter)
is
the
co‐founder
and
COO
of
Plastic
Mobile, an
award‐winning
mobile
marketing
agency.
Melody co‐founded
Plastic
Mobile
in
2007 and
only
three
short
years
later
was
featured
in
a
national
newspaper,
The
Globe
and
Mail,
and
named the
Queen
of
Apps
in
a
series
about
Wired
Women. Today she has reached the pinnacle of her career by being featured in 5 Questions! 😉 
What motivates you to do what you do on a daily basis?
Innovation is one of the biggest motivating factors for me. To know that every day I go to work and do things that are at the cutting edge of technology makes every day more exciting than the day before. I love the fact that what I do surprises and amazes so many people. Making an impact also motivates me to continue to do what I do. When I know that our initiatives change the way people conduct business or the way consumers conduct their daily lives, any amount of hard work seems entirely worth it.
If you had 30 seconds to impart your wisdom on a classroom of soon-to-be graduates, what would you say?
Do what you love because then it doesn’t feel like work. If you find yourself in a job you hate, re-evaluate and make a change. Work hard and play harder.
In your opinion, what has been one of the most important technological developments over the past 12 months?
Tablet technology and their proliferation/mainstream adoption. The tablets are changing the way consumers are digesting content both in the types of content and the location in which they consume. So what I mean is that people don’t have to be limited to watch YouTube clips or reach the news at their desktops. They can do it virtually anywhere.
If you had a crystal ball, what would you say will be the most important technological development over the next 12 months?
NFC technology and the effects that can be anticipated in the next 12-24 years. Ultimately, all payment transactions can take place in one single mobile device. Your phone will not only be your email client, your internet, but also your wallet.
Who is one of Canada’s tech stars and why?
My personal favourite tech star is Amber Mac. I had the opportunity to meet with her a few months ago and I love her energy, enthusiasm and overall tech knowledge. She is definitely a great Canadian tech star.