I've been researching the capabilities of LinkedIn's recent upgrade. While all the BIG press has been focused upon the integration of LinkedIn and Twitter, just as important a new feature is the ability to have threaded conversations (a microblog) with your connections status updates. However, the thread is not limited to just one's own connections.
Take a look at the screenshot shown below. Ross Mayfield, Chairman and Co-founder of Socialtext is part of my LinkedIn Connections, but Konstantin Guericke is not! The implications are HUGE. I am able to see the status updates of my connections, and anyone who comments … whether they are part of my network or not. Some of the bigger complaints of mine over Twitter have been:
Very difficult to create a high quality network of Followers
There is often a high signal to noise ratio in Twitter
I believe the threaded conversation capability of LinkedIn will be very important. Via LinkedIn I have much more data about whom I am conversing with … and can filter. (see my blog post from last June: Twinked-In)
Back in June I posted my fictitious announcement about the merger of LinkedIn and Twitter, Twinked-In. If these two companies expand upon their relationship … this is definitely a situation where the sum of the collective parts will be greater than the "former" whole. Here's an article from Mashable explaining their new relationship. One interesting sidebar … some corporate firewalls bar Twitter, but not LinkedIn. Think about the implications. Twitter is now on the inside.
I grew up in northern Minnesota, and am building a home in Duluth. My involvement with the Corps of Engineers has been limited to their fantastic Lake Superior Marine Museum. I never cease to love spending time at this small facility at the entrance to the Duluth harbor. However, the Corps of Engineers mission is much broader than educating the Northstar Nerd about Great Lakes Shipping and the engineering work it requires to keep the shipping lanes open.
With that preamble I would like to introduce you the Army Corps of Engineers blog, Building Strong. The blog's author is none other than Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp, the Army Chief of Engineers and Commanding General. I highly recommend a trip over to his blog, and a RSS subscription. The Corps does some fine engineering throughout the world.
One of the more recent blog entries I had to share with my Dad, a retired M.D. and front line doctor with the Marine Corps during the Korean War. While it is tempting to think of the Corps of Engineers as only dealing with the "normal" technical projects, this would be a mistake. One of their recent efforts has been to design a special climbing wall for wounded warriors. Link and read … but take a look at the image below and you'll get the idea. Check Out Blog Quest 2.0 and my Engineering Learning Wiki for other technical blogs I have reviewed.
I also thought I would take this opportunity to add some links to a small part of military history in which I played a very, very minor role:
Boxer 22 (largest air search and rescue mission ever by the US military) and
The photos in the right column from the USS Nimitz were sent to me by Lt. Commander Brian Danielson, Ben's son.
However, back to the review at hand (Building Strong). Although the blog's name is only just that … a name … the image below shows just how true that name rings.
You may ask the question … what gives the Northstar Nerd the "right" to speak about the topic of photo journalism? After all, I've never worked for a newspaper (unless you count my high school paper, The Exonian). However with the advent of Web 2.0, the ability to tell a story, an ear for music and Photopeach, the Northstar Nerd has become Photopeach's leading "most featured content creator"!
Okay … so what's my secret … and what's Photopeach?
First, PhotoPeach is a service that allows the end user to create web mashups that include your own uploaded photographs, music (including YouTube) and Flash animation.
Second, you don't need to be web geek to create the photo animations. You can let PhotoPeach make its best guess … and before you know it you'll see your images magnifying it … moving ip, etc.
Third … Music, Music, Music!
The music you use is almost as critical as your images. The proper music drives your creation; the wrong music will bore your audience. For instance … for each of these creations the music supports the story and images:
You get the idea … the music drives the content and the story. This brings up another point. Photopeach allows one to add captions. A brief animation caption will work wonders.
Now comes one of the most important parts … your marketing. If you are taking photos of an event, you must create your animated show by the next morning. When folks who attended the event return home, Google will be their best friend. They want to see pictures of what they just particpated in … first to the web will show up in the top Google results.
In addition, don't forget to microblog on Twitter, and contact show sponsors, web services etc. If your site does not carry advertising (such as my site, NorthstarNerd.Org), you would be surprised how many folks will link and add stories to your content.
For my own content, I've been picked up and promoted by …