While the event was informative, I would be remiss if I did not compliment the group on their new digs.  For those of you who have not yet been to the new location it really is a great space.  There was a progressive vibe present during the networking and there was bloggers lounge built for pros.

Although I was unable to stay for the entire event, I enjoyed the sold out show.  I look forward to attending the next few events at this location and just wanted to thank Tamar for her insights.

While there appears to be no immediate fix to keep the engines from propagating bad intel, I believe the short-term fix is a strong mixed media presence.  If any company is concerned of how the market currently perceives their bottom line, a social media presence can help bring truth to value.  If bad information is being spilled then think of how rapid a response a Twitter message (tweet) or blog post on the companies website can be produced to refute.  This can occur almost instantaneously and in real time.  If United even got wind of this report last week and had an active social media presence, reassurances could have been issued in a much quicker manner than it takes the general media to pick up and cover the story.

As we accelerate into web 3.0 it is critical for organizations of every size and shape to be willing to connect directly with the community.  As of right now this is most easily done through social channels.  So as the markets continue to readjust themselves make sure you have a strong conversation occurring with those who are invested in your success.

On Monday, the company unveiled the simpler site design inviting users to try out the improved features, while still allowing them to revert to the current version.  Since the beginning of the year Facebook has been developing the new design, and over 100,000 users have offered feedback and suggestions on the project.  The new design is limited to begin with, but will be available to all of the 80 million plus Facebook users in the next few days.

The new profile design features tabs, “The Wall” tab being the default.  “The Wall” is now incorporated with the newsfeed.  The new design takes advantage of the ability to split up different types of information with simpler navigation.  There are also “Info”, “Photos” and “Boxes” tabs, as well as the ability for users to add own custom application tabs. It seems, however, that the new layout may not mesh well with some of the 24,000 existing platform applications that have been launched in the last year.

Today the fate of those existing applications may change as Facebook is holding it’s second annual f8 developers conference.  Topics include introducing the new Facebook profile, user experience with applications, advanced application building, mobile, and marketing applications on Facebook.  While many rumors have been swirling, some definite news came early.  It’s sure that we will see the Facebook payments platform in one form or another.  Facebook wants to find a way beyond advertising to help developers make money for their applications, and the iPhone App Store proves people are willing to pay for quality applications.  It is also known that Facebook will launch Facebook Connect, allowing third party services to authenticate Facebook users and merge profile data, with Digg as their launch partner.

It has also been speculated that Facebook will also announce a tier system for applications.  Each tier will have different rules for user engagement.  Top trusted applications that have proven themselves to have as good or better user experience as Facebook, such as iLike, will reside in the top tier.  There will be a middle tier, where the majority of applications will fall, followed by a bottom tier of untrustworthy applications.

With not only the new site design but more application developments breaking today, it seems these changes will live up to Facebook mission to, “…make the world more open and transparent by giving people the power to share.”

Clipmarks goes beyond bookmarking and allows you to “clip” articles and even pieces of articles or pictures or videos. No more marking of the entire URL. Simply clip what you want and go. As a Mac user, in many ways clipmarks reminds me of the Grab application, only now you can aggregate all your snippets into a social media tool. You can make friends with other “clippers” and view your clips in a cool “clipcast”.

What I like best about clipmarks is that anything you clip can be shared cross social media platforms. What I like more about clipmarks is that they make sharing as simple as 1 click. Don’t have a blog or website supported by their system? No problem. Clipmarks will provide you with the code to embed every one of your clips. All of this can be done by simply adding the clipmarks widget to your toolbar. The only downside I can see is that it isn’t Safari compatible, but you can use it on Firefox.

As an avid tumblr user, simplicity is key for me, and clipmarks is a great new tool that makes it easy for me to organize the bits and pieces of the Internet that I like and want to revisit and share. As an interactive marketer, clipmarks is great because it’s another social media tool that evokes conversation. Users can comment on one another’s clips or even rate them with “pops” which is basically an online “thumbs-up.” I wouldn’t go as far as saying clipmarks is a clip version of digg.com, but it definitely allows people to share online content and have an open conversation about it.

This site does a lot of things well. There are plenty of job postings, and you get the feeling that Doostang members aren’t your average Joes. Doostang boasts over 380,000 members from top universities and MBA programs and over 65% of members with experience in finance, consulting, or marketing. For a job seeker or a job poster, this site has a few benefits over the aforementioned monster.com. It’s free to browse and respond to job postings and free to post want ads as well. You can browse your friends’ profiles, see their friends and their friends’ profiles, and contact anyone connected to you. Who knew that your best friend Jill has a friend who works for your favorite clothing line? There are also forums for users in similar fields for users searching for similar jobs, as a way to connect with other Doostangers. Who knows, maybe Financedude82 and you could help each other find jobs.

Despite Doostang doing many things well, there are several glaring problems with the site and its interface. The search function is frustrating at best. If I want to search for a person who works for a company I’m interested in, the results don’t include the name of the person who works there, just their job title and other basic information. And oh yeah, you can’t contact them unless you upgrade your account. Upgrading your account is a complete mystery as well. You can’t do it through the website itself, only by contacting the Doostang salesdepartment. And how much does it cost to upgrade? Beats me, the website doesn’t say.

Doostang also seems pretty concerned to give you anyone’s name, unless of course you exclude the featured users on the homepage. That’s right, the featured users, whose names are right there at the bottom of the homepage when you log in. Not only can you see these featured users’ complete profiles, but all of their friends’ profiles, and their friends’ profiles, and so on. And you can even message any of these people! For free! Wait, wasn’t that supposed to cost more? I’m confused.

Doostang has the potential to be a unique and helpful tool for anyone looking for a great job or a great candidate for an open position. Let’s hope that they can work out the kinks.

As far as I can tell, Abrams’ strategy is one of confusion and chaos mixed with inferred meanings and cryptic messages. But that’s just me. I’m still looking for Nemo.

But for a stronger understanding of just what the magic is that Abrams has seemed to bottle, take a look at the insight Natasha Ivankovister provides in her blog post from last month.

As for me, I’m gonna keep looking for that fish.

Tumblr is another way to blog essentially, however in their help section they say, “to make a simple analogy: If blogs are journals, tumblelogs are scrapbooks.” They actually are listed in wikipedia and they describe this as, “a blog that favors short-form, mixed-media posts over the longer editorial posts.”

What is great about tumblr and the reason I wanted to share it with everyone is the ease in which you can blog, and the amount of functions available to you!

You can click any of the following options and it customizes how you can effectively execute your post,:
Text
Photo
Quote
Link
Chat
Audio
Video

The coolest thing that I found on Tumblr is under Account Extras.
You obviously have the option to bookmarklet this, so you can easily access this.
You can also add them to your address book as:
w8sac3me@tumblr.com
After you do this you are then able to post text, pictures, MP3’s or videos from your cell phone. You can only send videos though if your phone is Vimeo enabled. The subject line in your phone can act as a place for you to write a caption for anything you upload.

You can also browse your blog from your phone by adding /mobile to your blog URL.

MY FAVORITE part of this is that you can download a widget for this so that you can write in your widget and just hit post to Tumblr!

And for all of us Instant Messenger fans you can also add TumblrBot to your buddy list and this allows you to post straight from your instant messenger

Tumblr also allows you to add “Followers” to your blog, which essentially means the people who have added you their friend list and are following the updates of your blog .

Okay, so simply put, what role does transparency really need to play? After some conversation and a little bit of thought (all I could muster on the train) I have come to the conclusion that I must readjust my stance on transparency. Yes, I may have been wrong.

From Twitter to Facebook social media gurus claim that transparency is the cornerstone of the Web 2.0 endeavor. I though wasn’t sold on the idea that the entire eastern seaboard needed to be twittered that I had just made a PB&J sandwich (no crust of course). I had felt Facebook operated in the same manner disclosing frivolous tidbits of nothingness. “Hey everybody look, I just bought something stupid from somewhere that I don’t really like.”

However, my opinion has changed.

In the case of interactive marketing I have come to learn that transparency is honesty’s enabler. By this I mean, the carnival of marketers and public relations professionals (that I am a member of) are being given the opportunity to reclaim not only their integrity, but also their ability to be frank and honest. This is being done through transparency, which roughly translates in to nothing more than candor. By apprising the community of my actions, my motivations become even clearer and the level of trust I am afforded increases.

So as advertising continues to go social and the role that transparency plays ever increases I now believe that the entire digital community will benefit from this paradigm shift.

In parting I leave you with this: If “hypocrisy is the homage vice pays virtue”, then trust is the reward presented by transparency.

One of the fundamental underpinnings of the (dare I say it) Web 2.0 revolution has been transparency and the ability to access information free of charge. The openness that has accompanied the new digital zeitgeist has without a doubt made an honest man out of a slew of otherwise nefarious individuals

This being the case when does openness and candor become a liability? Does it ever? Or is there a point when you are sharing just too much. I agree that organizations should disclose when they have “arrangements” with others so the enduser is privy to all the facts. But do I really need to know every last detail of every ongoing an agency or blogger may have.

As the walled gardens of the digital world come crashing down all around us will there be a standard operating altitude from which information will be openly presented or will it continue to be open for interpretation?

Walmart learned a hard lesson from Edelman on astroturfing a few years back. Will it take several more “life lessons” before the industry draws a line in the sand.

For a closer look on this topic visit Adam Broitman over at A Media Circ.us.

Because does anyone really care where I ate lunch today?

More specifically, did you ever wonder how to start a campaign to initiate the active proliferation of content? The teams at Bad Robot and Paramount Pictures recently devised a progressive example of how to create content that is poised to be viral with their viral marketing campaign for J.J. Abrams’ new movie, Cloverfield.

The producer of the film has been seeding his cult-like fan base by releasing minimal, yet prescient information about the movie through various hints such as www.slusho.jp and by releasing the trailer for the film without a title. Also, the official site www.1-18-08.com features a mere collection of film stills as photographs.

The minds behind Cloverfield have now taken the online advertising campaign one step farther by launching a Cloverfield Widget Contest in which eager fans are encouraged to download a widget of the second trailer for the film. The widget is supported by various blog and social media sites. When the widget is grabbed by a visitor and they download it onto their desired site, it counts as a share for the original discloser. The top twenty fans with the most shares receive a prize. First place is a preview screening of Cloverfield in the winner’s home town. Rules and directions for the contest are more clearly outlined at cloverfieldclues.blogspot.com.

Abrams’ fan base of devoted Lost enthusiasts is accustomed to spreading and piecing together leaked news regarding his projects. The Cloverfield Widget Contest is likely be picked up by an audience that has been conditioned to take an active role in the story telling process, and in turn, be a vital part of the advertising campaign as well. Though most advertisers do not promote their brands in as inventive a manner as those involved in the productions of J. J. Abrams’, other online marketers should learn from such an innovative example of how to engage an audience and spread interest and awareness in a product.