Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Matching the Content to the Situation

If RSS needs a CMO, CEOs need marketing more than ever. It is clear in many a conversation about technology -- social is a feature. In a mature market, one of the key driving factors to drive business success will be a shift from technology and tools to marketing. Demand creation means building white spaces vs. drilling black holes. The next generation of start-up CEOs will need to understand marketing beyond the ability to insert social sharing icons on beta sites -- identifying a true market to trade promises in, building a diverse team, and knowing how to account for... Read more →

RSS Feeds Still a Major Way to Publish / Pull Content

What is RSS and why do you care? Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds are an XML format that was created to syndicate news, and be a means to share content on the Web. Say you want to read updates from more than two dozen sites weekly. Having a way to subscribe to those sites from a central location, instead of needing to visit them individually, is very convenient. I read about 232 sites and blogs, and pull the questions from LinkedIn for three categories. You can also syndicate Google Alerts to an RSS reader, for example, and save your inbox... Read more →

The 12 Habits of Highly Connective People

Anil Dash at Gel 2011 from Gel Conference on Vimeo. I started the day watching this video from Gel 2011. I love stories like Anil Dash's because I experienced myself the power of networks. Especially after moving continents and starting from zero, alone. Few things give you more joy than doing a good deed. Often that goodness comes from introducing someone to something or someone else, and that someone else doing the same -- and so on. We need to do this, more of it if we're already doing it. Understanding the importance and power of networks, combined with new... Read more →

I'll Have What He's Having

"I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night." This is part of a dialogue scene in When Harry Met Sally, the 1989 movie... Read more →

Trends: Social is a Feature

You have to have it to play, and it's not differentiating. It's what we call "dial tone", expected. I just don't think it's over, as he says. Instead, it's a time of great opportunity for new applications and tools because the platforms have stabilized. There is plenty of room and work to be done on archiving and data capture/analysis/utilization. The query set is what matters, and mobile will be accelerating the development of the next generation technologies. This 25-minute video of a recent talk by Elevation Partners Director and Co-Founder Roger McNamee, a 29-year veteran in the tech investing arena,... Read more →

Platform-Based Content Fluency

The trouble with imagining new applications of things we know is that rarely do we see something radically different in our mind's eye. This is confirmed when we ask people to tell us what they want: An answer like a faster horse should be expected, as Mr. Ford suggested. Incremental change, or tweaks in features to what we're using now is generally easier to imagine. This may be one of the reasons why my post is there a third option? received pointed criticism in one specific network where early adopters are mostly engineers. Tweaks in features and ways to categorize... Read more →

Ten Reasons Why the Agency Model is Broken

Agencies need to change how they work with clients, or they will keep changing agencies like underwear. The biggest question: Is the agency model broken? I think it is. I think it's time to re-imagine our collective approach to creative work, and it begins with the agency-client relationship itself. I'd start by tackling those behaviors that get in the way of the real results and prioritizing the communication mix to encourage conversation with the people who matter the most: The ultimate customers. Ten reasons why the agency model is broken (1.) Thinking that "not invented here" is a problem Creative... Read more →

Where do You do Your Best Thinking?

Where do you do your best thinking? Whether enjoying nature and the outdoors through gardening, conquering a summit, or keeping to a regular physical fitness program immersing yourself in the joys of the palate as a foodie who loves cooking or baking a visual person who explores stories through photography, painting, or even knitting there are some activities that just get your juices going. Reading fiction has been a good source of inspiration for me, for example, both for thinking and for writing. Running helps kick my ideas up a notch and start visualizing how to make them happen. The... Read more →

Is There a Third Option?

They say Hell is paved with good intentions. It all started quite innocently with trying to see what your friends on campus were up to, or to share and read what's happening around the world, and then as a desire to comment on information and news with ease. Comment, mind you, which is very different from converse. All of a sudden, you've got groups, lists, and circles to sort out. Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of friends and followers. Conversationalists, creators, critics, joiners, and spectators all seemingly looking like collectors these days. Quantity continues to win over quality. As a... Read more →

When Businesses Don't Connect the Dots

Hey, interested in a demo on "xyz" product? The email sits in your inbox. We haven't met, but I work at Big Business, and would like to show you what the tool does, etc. That's right, you haven't met at all. But you do sort of know their kind, don't you? One side of the company is busy ignoring you, while the other reaches out for a free link on your website. All the while, the organization is preaching the social business gospel to clients. This is not just a conversation about social CRM, which I would expect is impeccable... Read more →