There is no better expression in any language than thank you. It's quite a simple thing to say, and it can help you connect with others in more ways than you can imagine. I like to end the year by thanking all the people who have contributed to my growth, and the growth of this community.
Streams come and go even faster than fashions. Connections made based upon conversation and ideas exchange have greater staying power -- and with a little bit of additional attention and care over time, they can develop into true relationships, including joint projects.
Staying power is an evolution, too.
Conversationalists
It's no secret that I have a soft spot for intelligent dialogue here at Conversation Agent. This is my online home base, the place where I provide hopefully useful information for individuals who are serious about reflecting upon ideas, connecting with other people and stories, and gaining fresh perspectives with which to conduct business.
I devote time thinking about you and the challenges you are facing daily. Do meet other members of the community who have stepped forward and become active by leaving comments on that page, in the posts, and on the Facebook page.
My gratitude goes to everyone who has ever left a thoughtful comment on a post, and particularly to Brian Driggs, Gabriele Maidecchi, Eric Pratum, Patrick Prothe, Alessandra Farabegoli, Rich Becker, and Beth Harte for furthering the conversation.
A thank you goes to Arik Hanson who hosted the 2010 PR Readers’ Choice Award, and to his readers -- particularly Jay Baer for the kind comment -- for choosing Conversation Agent as the most thought-provoking blog.
A special thank you also goes to Elli St. George Godfrey for partnering with me and then taking the baton of #kaizenblog -- we had the opportunity to help each other beyond organizing the chat, and that is the best kind of collaboration one could have.
And talking about collaboration, it sounds like Gini Dietrich and I have more than a few things in common, including our desire to share helpful resources. Thank you, Gini for your kind #followfriday post. And to all who have commented there, thank you for reading.
Thank you also to the silent majority reading this blog, and those who share these posts.
It was also lovely to meet so many conversationalists and connectors at SxSW this past year -- Chris Guillebeau (who also let me be part of the conversation about his book in Philadelphia), Jonathan Fields, Colleen Wainwright, Taylor Davidson, Liz Strauss, Terry Starbucker, and many others.
Event organizers
I would be remiss if I didn't thank the organizers of FutureM, Inbound Marketing Summit, IABC Heritage Conference, Social Media Plus, and many of the panel organizers at BlogWorld, The New York Times Small Business Summit, MENG, etc. who made it possible for us to meet and share ideas and examples face to face.
Those in attendance participated with their energy and smart questions during the conversations and connecting one on one around the sessions. To me, it is about the whole experience, not just about who is in front of the room or on stage. See the links to those presentations and abstracts here.
The follow up encounters have generated amazing ideas and, in some cases, they were the starting points for future exciting projects.
Co-creators
A very special note of thanks goes to all clients and colleagues who have negotiated meaning with me and shared the opportunity of working together in 2010.
I've been fortunate to work with a very diverse and skilled team -- Jen van der Meer, Greg Verdino, Jane Quigley, Amadeo Plaza, Charles Lim -- and group, including someone who has written and talked extensively about customer conversation in the last year, Joe Jaffe.
Many others have given me the gift of co-creation with their thinking as authors -- some literally sending me copies of their work, some by researching, documenting, and working to deliver thought-provoking books. For a complete list of reviews, browse the recommended books page.
[image courtesy of screanzatopo]
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