Jimmy Wales dances in the rain

Many know Jimmy Wales as the founder of Wikipedia and Wikia.com. However, did you also know he likes (or is rather willing) to dance (walk) in the rain in the streets of New York? Rain- buckets of it and no end anytime soon.  I quickly jumped in the cab the concierge grabbed for me.  So much for my outdoor photo shoot with internet entrepreneur and humanitarian Jimmy Wales.  Fearing the worst I called the Marriott in Times Square and made last minute arrangements for an indoor shoot and interview (we were supposed to do it in Times Square).

Anyways, I arrived at the building Jimmy asked me to meet him at.  We shook hands and walked outside to flag another cab.  And stood.  And stood some more.  We tried to make small talk but both of us were frustrated with the rainy day.  Myself more than Jimmy.  I could see my interview falling apart and began thinking the worst.  Here I am in NYC after flying in from Denver just for this meeting and now I was going to miss out on it.
Then, out of nowhere, Jimmy said, "Wanna just walk?"  We were a mile away mind you and it was raining pretty hard.  I said, "I'm game Jimmy if you are."  We began our walk, and wound up at the hotel wet, cold, and tired.
After a photo shoot with our photographer Andrew, we grabbed some coffee and sat down for the interview.  His eyes lit up as he told me his story and his vision of the future of his organizations.  I could tell he'd told this story many times before but his explanations dripped with enthusiasm and hope as he talked of his plans to change our world in a massive global collaboration involving wiki's.
Now, I'm not going to give away the details just yet.  How he's shaking things up with Wikipedia and how www.Wikia.com is exploding on the scene and creating all kinds of opportunities for fan based community and advertisers.
You'll have to wait for the article and video for that.
The point I wanted to make is that I saw a man who despite being one of the most influential people on this planet, decided to walk with me.  Who took time out of his day and personal comfort to accomodate me, someone he'd never met before, and up to that point had all correspondence handled through his amazingly organized assistant.
You don't find a lot of that anymore.  If the roles were reversed I can't say I would have done the same.  I may have just rescheduled but I guess that's the difference between us.
You've taught me a valuable lesson Jimmy Wales and caused me to reflect on the way I treat others.  I hope I can capture your story and help your cause with Wikipedia and Wikia.
More soon......
For all you Jimmy Wales fans- I've tagged a few of you in this story.
Additional Suggested Articles:
Wikia

Create a wiki about your favorite topic and begin collaborating with people who love what you love.
"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge." - Jimmy Wales, founder, Wikipedia
NOW Marketing Group
September 12, 2011
"Free access to all human knowledge. Some called it impossible,i called it wikipedia."Jimmy Wales, Founder of wikipedia.
Rezanades Muhammad Ilham Bintang
September 9, 2011
Call Jimmy Wales an idealist, if you'd like. The very thought that humanity would come together and write an accurate encyclopedia on just about any subject you could think of takes ...
Majid Baran
September 12, 2011
Watching Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia) at the Exact Target conference... Pretty cool!
Scott Sawicki
September 13, 2011
Most people assume the fights are going to be the left versus the right, but it always is the reasonable versus the jerks.Jimmy Wales
Bello Saeed
September 4, 2011
Enhanced by Zemanta

Google+ Statistics on SocialStatistics.com

Ever wonder who's moving and shaking on the new Google+ platform? SocialStatistics.com has created an impressive widget with some very cool social insight.

With the ever increasing popularity of Google+, many have asked the question- "Who is on top?"

Before www.SocialStatistics.com, there was no easy way to tell.  However, thanks to the hacking work of Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten the mystery becomes an amazingly fun and interactive reality.  (You might have heard of Boris, he is also the founder of Twitter Counter, the premier statistics provider for Twitter.)  
Boris' new venture...
"tracks and generates detailed statistics for 39,803 users and pulls in hundreds of the most popular posts, every second of the day, from Google+. Add yourself (see sidebar) so we can start tracking your personal Google+ statistics too. You will be able to see how many people added you to their circles, how you grow over time and where you rank in the list of popular Google+ users"
To play devil's advocate for a bit, while the idea and concept are good, user adoption is always the critical component.  But, with 1 million page views and 300k unique visitors in the first week I believe this app is here to stay.  Especially being as G+ is not even out of beta!
Where's The Cash?
The widget makes money by allowing people to become "featured" users of the platform.  Think of it as broadcasting your profile out to gain an increasingly large number of followers.
Google+ Statistics on SocialStatistics.com

Google+ Statistics currently tracks and generates detailed statistics for 39,616 users and pulls in hundreds of the most popular posts, every second of the day, from Google+. Add yourself (see sidebar) so we can start tracking your personal Google+ statistics too.

Below are a few user reviews:

Shameless self promotion coming.I am ranked 2,214 on google+ and now with over 22,000,000 people on google+ that would put me in the top 1% of people on google+.Just thought I would let you know. You may now return to your normal feed.
RoguePhotos.net
July 21, 2011
See the Top 100 most popular Google+ users and add yourself to the list. Best way to get more followers...
Mark Panszky
July 24, 2011
Does any one else find it ironic that Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has more followers on Google+ than Larry Page, founder of Google?
Dinidu Perera
July 22, 2011
http://twitter.com/acaPAWN7/status/95499348854575104
Google+ gender ratio is 86.4% male. Not even going to comment.
Judd Jackson
July 23, 2011

To connect with Boris, visit his Google+ profile at the link below.

Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten - Google+

21 older comments from Robert Scoble, Mohsin Mirza, John Lee, Miek Goris, Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Fedor S. and PETER - PLANET ASIAN GROUP I can't seem to duplicate documents anymore in Mac OS X Lion. Anybody else seen this issue? 3 people have the same problem in the office here...

The article below is an interview with Boris on the creation of www.socialstatistics.com  

Google+ Statistics: A (very) short history

On Sunday July 3 I started coding on a top 100 list for Google+. A few days before I was invited to this new and exciting social networking experiment by Google. As I was browsing around I noticed there was a public page with a few statistics.

Still wondering what Google+ is all about?  Visit the slide deck below.  

[slideshare id=8620119&w=400&h=334&sc=no]
Neat little video on SocialStatistics.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDAFjZCil7o
More user feedback......
http://twitter.com/MapmyS/status/95515426053828610
http://twitter.com/INTERPRETENORIO/status/95516083007668225
http://twitter.com/prks/status/95474499163652096
http://twitter.com/shariffjohnson/status/95497079757082624#142
http://twitter.com/hesika/status/95496071618379776
http://twitter.com/studiovaud/status/95495186632810496
http://twitter.com/haihui/status/95476487158906880
http://twitter.com/haihui/status/95476594180767744
http://twitter.com/dhalvorsonbush/status/95475747501768704
http://twitter.com/GPlusNL/status/95489054757486592
http://twitter.com/Tettrabyte/status/95473917635993601
http://twitter.com/shegeek/status/95478214272618496
http://twitter.com/WE2Glocal/status/95480444551835648
http://twitter.com/webmarketingflt/status/95480805681401856
http://twitter.com/puresurplus/status/95483242928553984
http://twitter.com/marvinjr/status/95484045907083264
http://twitter.com/NatachaVarela/status/95496704958267392
http://twitter.com/MiaAnkarwall/status/95497654406098944
http://twitter.com/acaPAWN7/status/95499348854575104#144
http://twitter.com/portergale/status/95498486518255617
http://twitter.com/MarketersVoices/status/95540117170688000
http://twitter.com/egocast/status/95514155972427776
http://twitter.com/iskrob/status/95514404606590976
http://twitter.com/linooliveira/status/95527328918159361
http://twitter.com/RaoulStockton/status/95527822763888642
http://twitter.com/asjebreen/status/95515845148680193
http://twitter.com/RassemBel/status/95526650359447552
http://twitter.com/Indhujathegeek/status/95520048415907843
http://twitter.com/danielbrandell/status/95520783903891456
http://twitter.com/mtcnajjar/status/95524367362035712
http://twitter.com/marruciic/status/95524711689228288
http://twitter.com/Solusync/status/95525066980335618
http://twitter.com/ajouzeau/status/95528204034519041
http://twitter.com/bengtfrost/status/95547291968086017#410
http://twitter.com/RassemBel/status/95526650359447552#716
http://twitter.com/INTERPRETENORIO/status/95516083007668225#602
http://twitter.com/Indhujathegeek/status/95520048415907843#419
http://twitter.com/mtcnajjar/status/95524367362035712#404
http://twitter.com/ajouzeau/status/95528204034519041#830
http://twitter.com/Solusync/status/95525066980335618#338
http://twitter.com/michelfortin/status/95532772956979200
http://twitter.com/shariffjohnson/status/95497079757082624
http://twitter.com/linooliveira/status/95527328918159361#763
http://twitter.com/RaoulStockton/status/95527822763888642#489
http://twitter.com/bengtfrost/status/95547291968086017

Enhanced by Zemanta

The Prezi revolution and imminent death of Powerpoint.

Prezi the most thought out advancement in presentation software in years has taken the presentation community by storm.

Powerpoint, the very word instantly brings thoughts of boredom and despair.  Boredeom because I immediately know I'm going to mentally check out.  Despair because a Powerpoint usually means I have to be present for this "revealing" of information.

Ok, for those of us who try to make them fun (some are better than others) I'll give you a break.  However, why are we trying to make them fun?  Because most of us would rather be on the clean up crew after Mardi Gras rather than try to engage with a boring, linear tool called Powerpoint.

There is hope however.  Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of Prezi.com.  The cooler and hipper tool for getting the non linear nerve synapsis called information that resides in your brain into the brains of your viewers.
Don't just take my word for it though.  Look at these tweets from people who are using and loving the Prez----
http://twitter.com/NathanDRice/status/93351294277914624
http://twitter.com/TechInteginEd/status/93354876754591746
http://twitter.com/christophervik/status/93326674854281216
http://twitter.com/kaqi/status/93328253791633409
http://twitter.com/jocsdilag/status/93329810834735104
http://twitter.com/rabie3h/status/93330496238522369
http://twitter.com/April_mucareers/status/93333931671302144
http://twitter.com/MsYessyArlyn/status/93359205939019777

With all the buzz where is the beef?  To put it simply, Prezi allows you to add text, images, videos, and more into a canvas.  The unique feature is the zooming capability.  It allows you to see the big picture but to zoom in on details to see how critical pieces of information interconnect.  It is a wholistic approach that is combines the left and right lobes for bihemispherical integration.

You can expect a unique and engaging learning experience.  It'll be interesting to see how the creative juices flow as this tool evolves.
Prezi- you have my vote.  Keep up the good work!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxhqD0hNx4Q

Google Plus Coming Out Strong

Despite the shortcomings of Google Wave and Buzz, Google plus has hit a home run in my book.

Google Plus (G+) is a unique social media/social graph platform that has combined features of Facebook, Skype, and Twitter all into one. It integrates into your Google toolbar.  It is integrated with your gmail.  It's no surprise that this has been the most well received and well anticipated social media site to date.

Now, who are the big boys on G+?  Click the link below to see who the most followed people are in this brave new online world.
Google+ Statistics on SocialStatistics.com

See the Top 100 most popular Google+ users and add yourself to the list. Best way to get more followers...

Below is a screen shot that shows a list of friends.  The friends can then be dragged into a G+ feature called circles by the G+ user.

Think of it as Twitter lists but faster, better, and way more fun.  The end result is that it allows you to interact with your circles of friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and any other group as you wish.

Want to share pics of the raging keg party with your friends and not let your boss see?  No problem!  Want to share cheezy pics of your valentine day dinner with your spouse and no one else?  Simple.

With so much going on, it is easy to become overwhelmed and lost in this feature rich online toy.  Although adoption has been overall well received, many are feeling the affects of sensory overload.
http://twitter.com/someecards/status/91161028427128832
http://twitter.com/FirstWorldPains/status/91254295172878336
http://twitter.com/LoganLaurice/status/91292244560195584

Many users are still lost on how to best utilize the platform and how it's different from Twitter and Facebook.  After scouring the web I found a really good write up that gives 50 quick bullets to aid in your understanding.

http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan/status/87439180040372224

Moral of the story?  G+ is here to stay.  Ask for an invite, give it a whirl, and let me know what you think.

Eli Regalado
ICOSA Magazine
Director of Social Outreach