Social Media Links

Chrisbrogan.com has a wonderful set of links regarding Social Media and its many uses here:

Best Social Media Advice from this Site

Location for May Meet-Up

The next meeting of the Columbus Social Media Cafe will take place on Tuesday, May 27th at the Merion Village Center - 1330 S. Fourth Street, 43206 - at 6:30pm.

Street parking exists along both Fourth and Frebis.  COTA route 16 stops in front of the Merion Village Center and COTA route 8 stops just two blocks away (at Hanford and Jeager) for those coming south from downtown.

Blog Find: Social Media for Social Change

I just discovered this blog managed by writer, techie, science-fan and mom Michelle Riggen-Ransom.

Michelle writes about how we’re using technology to better the world. Ideally it will be in a way that is entertaining and not overly earnest.

Given how our discussions among the Columbus Social Media Cafe have focused on using Social Media to help make Columbus better, I thought this might be a good site to bookmark.

Other Paper Story on Bloggers, CSMC

http://www.theotherpaper.com/top5-8/coverstory.htm

The blogging community, and the Columbus Social Media Cafe, made the front page of The Other Paper this week.

Columbus Among Top Blogging Cities

Nielsen Data


Nielsen data shows Columbus as one of the top blogging cities.

Cultural Wealth

A participant at the most recent meeting of the Columbus Social Media Cafe asked me why I chose to attend the first meeting which took place in November of last year.  I told her that I was simply curious to meet the writers of the blogs that I read each day.

What I’ve discovered over the past few months is that these people, the people I met during that first meeting, are people that I’ve come to know as friends.  While we come from different backgrounds and have a wide variety of interests, we all share a common passion for the city of Columbus.  And through these new found friends, I’ve discovered how much fun life can be when we work together.   Whether its been getting together for a casual conversation, sharing gardening tips, making plans to set up a park-wide Wi-Fi network, or podcasting while we grab a bit to eat, its the act of participation that makes it exciting.

The excitement comes from learning more about this dynamic city.  For example, our most recent meeting was hosted at OCLC - Online Computer Library - the largest in the world and its right here in Columbus.  This nonprofit facility connects the worlds libraries.  I find this fascinating.  I also learned about TechColumbus, a local organization that’s essentially an incubator for technology businesses in the area.

This ever expanding group of people bring, not only their passions to the table, they also bring the resources they have to offer.  It is through this combination that any endeavor finds success.   This is a group of people who are not just watching things happening, this is a group of people that are making things happen.

Yes, Columbus Social Media Cafe is a place for social connection, but more importantly it is about sharing the ideas that are making Columbus one of the best places to live, work and raise a family.   Its a richness that goes beyond what money can buy.

April Meet-Up

Here are a couple of reports from our April Meet-Up at OCLC. Thanks to George for setting the location up and Jeff Johnson for hosting as well as the tremendous turn out we had including a reporter from The Other Paper.
From Notes on the Reserve, Tim Eby’s Utterz post:

Columbus Social Media Cafe newcomers Ken and Elise talking about tonight’s Social Media Cafe.

Mobile post sent by timjeby using Utterz. Replies. mp3

A postscript: Ken and Elise owe their relationship to Social Media as they met through the Columbus Meet Up Flickr Group.
From Elephants on Bicycles, Andrew Miller writes:
Columbus continues to show its strength of online community with a few budding collaborations which have been producing significant relationships and increased visibility for what many detractors call “Cow Town”.
The Columbus Social Media Cafe held the April meeting at OCLC where we appropriate exchanged a good deal of knowledge and ideas. Jeff Johnson once again took the helm and hosted the event where he introduced Elise to give a really fantastic run down of some Flickr options many of us had never explored. Much of the evenings discussion focused around the upcoming Startup Weekend, (re)Branding our group, and Comfest collaboration.
{READ MORE HERE}
The next Meet-Up is tenetively scheduled for May 27. We’ll be in need of some help with branding and Comfest participation so get in touch and come out to the next meeting!

Learning 2.0/2.1

Columbus can now thankfully call Helene Blowers one of our own now that she’s taken a position at the CML. In her previous position she created a program called Learning 2.0 which is right up our alley in terms of a part of the mission we’d like to fulfill. Take a moment and discover the program she developed which she so kindly offers for free under the creative commons agreement. I think we should use and build off of this program as we move forward. Here’s an excerpt from her site:

Learning 2.0 Message

 

Welcome to Learning 2.0, an online self-discovery program that encourages the exploration of web 2.0 tools and new technologies, specifically 23 Things.

This program was originally developed and launched for the staff at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in August 2006 with a total of 352 PLCMC participants creating blogs and many additional guests joining in. Since the program’s launch, the exercises here have helped other library systems develop programs of their own, the first being the Yarra Plenty Regional Library system in Melbourne, Australia.

If you’re interested in duplicating this program for your own staff, please feel free to do so under Creative Commons. And although PLCMC staff have already completed this program, this site will remain up for your use.

Additionally, you might find some of my program notes on the About page helpful. To date, over 250 libraries and organizations have duplicated the program worldwide. Listing of Learning 2.0 Libraries.

[READ MORE HERE]

Social Media and the Nature of Transparency in Business

This is a fascinating interview on the role of Social Media in creating transparency in business between John C. Havens of Blog Talk Radio and Tia Carr Williams. Ms. Williams lives in Marysville and, while she’s not been able to attend, has been following the work of the Columbus Social Media Cafe.

Blog Talk Radio

Blog Meets World

I just read about the upcoming educational dinners and farmers’ market tours to be hosted by Restaurant Widow and think it’s a very cool way to bring blogs to RL (real-life).  Hopefully I’ll get to participate, and looking forward to more intersections of real and cyber worlds.