Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Top Conversation Agent Stories You Might have Missed

By far, the most popular story was 50 Blogs for Your Must Read List + Voted most useful -- Web strategy of the future + In the most original content category - Best Chocolatiers Miss Pinterest Opportunity on Valentine's Day + Original use of data story - How Fab.com Raised $40 Million with Data + Most surprising data - The Truth About B2B Social Media Adoption + Data on budgets reallocations - Digital Pulse: Ad Budgets Evaporate as Earned and Owned Media Grow + Documenting the move to hyper relevant content - Digital ROI: Immediacy and Accessibility to Exclusive Content... Read more →

Teaching a Lesson and Thinking Together

The Making of HackFwd from HackFwd on Vimeo. Whenever you're walking alone, especially at night, are you ever afraid that someone will jump out of a dark alley and say something smart? Instead, you probably worry that someone will jump out to "teach you a lesson", to put it mildly. We live in a society where it's easier to worship physical conditioning, or the process of getting fit, with some consequences. The origin of this example is not mine. It comes from the days when I was deep into the world of anthropology, learning about culture, environment, and human development.... Read more →

Good News, Helpful is a Moving Target

Digital media is teaching us to compare experiences with each other. Intent is part of the narrative -- complete with the human tendency to embellish a little here and there, and to romanticize the story we tell ourselves about others. The grass is always greener in your neighbor's yard. For this, all we can do is stay on top of our business and brand by continuously closing the gap between the promises we make and those we keep. This is the reason why helpful is a moving target. Which is also the good news. You are in control of closing... Read more →

How Do You Select Your Team?

“Life is too short to waste it with people who don’t get it, whatever “it” may be for you, so make sure you surround yourself with people who do.” [Xenios Thrasyvoulou, CEO of European-based start-up called Peopleperhour.com] [h/t Bob Sutton] When I asked the question on Conversation Agent Facebook page, thoughtful responses included: Purpose. Authenticity. Integrity. Do I have something of value to contribute? [Tami Belt] Sincerity, clarity, authenticity and track record of delivering. I don't need talkers. I need doers who are good people. [Matt Dickman] Resonance and respect. At one time not so long ago, resonance with someone... Read more →

Designing, Building, and Delivering Products and Experiences

This weekly edition of links is connected by a thread that exemplifies the importance of designing, building, and delivering products and experiences. Starting with a revealing interview with Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, Sir Jonathan Ive about about the rigorous focus everyone at the company has on designing, prototyping, and making better products. The ability to visualize an complex idea is important when working in teams. A new tool unveiled by Duarte Design this week helps you visualize a concept when presenting. At Diagrammer you can find and download a PowerPoint ready visual at the cost of a... Read more →

Building Confidence by Delivering on Business Promises

"It makes me ill, how callously people talk about ripping clients off," said Greg Smith in his New York Times op-ed: Why I'm Leaving Goldman Sachs, March 14. On his way out after a dozen years at the firm, Smith described the environment as "toxic and destructive." The article has been making the rounds online, with and without commentary. Trust is at issue, in the sense of the term described on Wikipedia -- a relationship of reliance. As a customer (or client), our main concern is whether we can rely on someone to do what we think they're going to... Read more →

Conversation Agent Workshop - Early Bird Pricing Expires Soon

If you are you using social media just to grow numbers of fans, followers, and likes, you’re leaving money on the table. Your objective is to trade better. How do you harness the opportunities brought about by social technologies and empowered customers while minimizing the risks? By being human in conversation and in the moment to get the most out of opportunities with social and other new technologies. This is a practical one-day workshop where you will learn how to gain the most practice in leveraging the ubiquitous and always-on hyper connected social network creatively to thrive and not just... Read more →

Where is the Line Between Relevant and Spooky?

[Robert J. Moore, YouTube, 6:39] Continuing the conversation with Robert J. Moore, CEO, RJMetrics after how to start a company by replacing your own job and how Fab.com raised $40 million with data. The next logical question is where do we draw the line between using business intelligence to be relevant, and where does it get spooky? A recent Pew Research study that maintains real people don't want to broadcast where they are. How about the generation who grew up with digital technologies? What is most successful in business intelligence to drive transactions? Email messages are still exceptionally effective at... Read more →

There Decides Everybody. Except You

Do you wait to hear what your peers are saying before deciding whether to do something? There's well documented research saying that you do -- social creatures following the herd, gotta have social "proofing" to be worth anything. I don't know about you, I feel sad when I see people miss opportunities to initiate and lead by having confidence in themselves. Where is the beauty of personal discovery? How about the freedom of having options? Take it further and look at ability to innovate and be creative, to express yourself artistically, to think with your own head. Yelpification of choices... Read more →

Eliminate Risks in Web Content Production by Doing These 3 Things

[Wil Reynolds, CEO, SEER Interactive, 2:59] Continuing the conversation with Wil Reynolds, CEO, SEER Interactive. In part one we talked about how what we learned in the sandbox applies to search. In our second conversation we get more granular and take a pragmatic look at writing content to help people become more educated and make better decisions about a topic. What's the best use of resources when producing content? Which top three things marketers should be thinking about when developing content for their Website? The first thing is not putting content where people aren't looking. Start with keyword research to... Read more →