The Ragan Social Media Summit, hosted by Cisco Systems, was held in San Jose June 9-11, 2010.

The event promised the latest Web 2.0 strategies for PR, marketing and corporate communications.

Attendees generated over 2,700 tweets under the hashtag #ragancisco.

Twitter is ephemeral. It only maintains 10-14 days of content, so this information will soon disappear. However, here’s a useful permanent archive all of the tweets. It’s with deep gratitude to all the attendees who posted their messages that this content has been made available worldwide on Twitter. Thanks!

Building on an idea of listing of “top tweets” I first experimented with at the Detroit Ragan Corporate Communicators Conference at the GM Headquarters in May, I’ve curated a list of 116 tweets I found most content-rich and interesting; adding links where appropriate for easy reference; consolidating others; editorializing.

Full disclosure: I am employed by Cisco as an executive communications manager.

I aimed for brevity and so none of the Twitter handles or attributions are listed below, so search the archive if you need sources.

Please share your own experiences of the event in the blog comments (or on Twitter!). Let me know which of the many suggestions were of interest and how you’ve implemented the ideas you picked up at #ragancisco. If I omitted your favorite tweet please add it to the comments below.

Enjoy!

1. A listing of Twitter handles for presenters at the event.
2. @codella: my slides published for 17 social media tools.
3. Notes from @JeanetteG ‘s excellent talk on social media evolution.
4. @jowyang slides: On Future Trends in social media.
5. @GuyKawasaki is running his preso from this excellent list of sources.
6. Brands breaking boundaries: Notes on a great talk by @Britopian of @EdelmanDigital
7. @JeanetteG asks What’s your “twitch” – your business pitch in 140 characters. Tweet it!
8. Cisco started Social Media by blogging in 2005 (high-tech policy blog). Today 25% of blogs are video blogs. 5X more retention.
9. Videos need to be “snackable” … 90 seconds or under typically.
10. 60% of Cisco social engagements are on Twitter.
11. We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it?
12. Once on the net, it is there forever — no do-overs. Twitter is even archived by the Library of Congress.
13. “People die, but their posts never do.”
14. “Deleted messages often reappear in court” one can’t erase messages in social media.
15. Whirlwind tour of over 30 social media tools by @codella – learned about this directory of social sites.
16. Instead of a 30-page white paper, consider doing 10 or so blogs. Have employees use Flip cameras to save video production $
17. Cisco saved $250k in one launch using the corporate blog!
18. Cisco encourages all employees 2 use internal & ext social media, but NO ANONYMOUS POSTINGS-keeps ppl in check when posting online.
19. Cisco & video. THEN: video blogs, video data sheets, web video. NOW: meaningful engagement: public Q&A using video+Twitter+blog.
20. Use of Flip camera: NBC+Cisco Flip Sponsorship during 2010 Winter Games. 292,000+ mins watched. Showing video w/ Queen Latifah.
21. Live customer polling via Twitter is way cheaper than other ways of doing it.
22. @Cisco has 2 versions of their press releases in their newsroom 1. Social media press release 2. Traditional version.
23. Cisco’s currently tracking >20k social mentions per week.
24. Cisco is using crowd sourcing with the Cisco I-Prize to get new ideas prize= $250K http://ow.ly/1WMj7 cool stuff!
25. Check out A Special Valentine’s Day Gift ….from Cisco.
26. 54% of companies still block social media – Stopblocking.org a resource you can use.
27. If you Block Social ask your CEO these Q’s: What does it say about culture? Trust? Innovation? Attracting employees?
28. Suggestion to sell stock if you hold it in companies that block their employees from social media. Competitive disadvantage.
29. Lower video quality is an okay trade off for increased timeliness & better transparency. Some call it “scrappy” video.
30. “The purpose of a business is to create customers who create customers” says @kirasw of Ant’s Eye View. 40% of twitter users have recommended a product or service.
31. 97% of your customers are using search to research products/services.
32. Why use social media: 1/because of solution selling. Customers have pain points, not needs.
33. Social media policy is about allowing confident and competent engagement online.
34. Intuit told all the dev team: spent 10 minutes a day on their community…their code got better.
35. Social media team trying to increase engagement, cctr team trying to reduce call volume. …not on same page.
36. Customers expose/show you your silos all day long on social web. Like a mirror showing your flaws.
37. Put a screen in front of execs showing what customers really say (not just a metric of customer satisfaction based on survey).
38. Brands become believable when they listen AND ENGAGE. Listening not enough: http://ow.ly/1WQir
39. Intel humanizes the brand through video! “A Rock Star is Born”
40. Wow! Cisco’s TelePresence is amazing! @LionelatDell speaking from Dell’s headquarters to communicators at Cisco.
41. You know your brand is socially relevant when your content is shared without you asking.
42. Common blogging error … Not giving the reader a clear next step that keeps them on your site.
43. Marketers who don’t sell a product should use traffic analytics as justification, not the typical metric of product sales.
44. Focus on what your customers want more than what “outside experts” recommend for social media.
45. Twitter is no more a social marketing plan than a phone is a telemarketing plan.
46. Fact – there are over 20M tweets per day.
47. Social media is word of mouth on steroids!
48. The more people you know, the more you can do.
49. Consumer 1.0 gets unhappy and just doesn’t come back. Consumer 2.0 gets unhappy and shares with the world their opinion.
50. In social media you don’t need be fancy; you just need to be useful.
51. Millennials grew up on mobile screens that’s where they live & one day they will have $$ to spend! Do you have a mobile strategy?
52. You can’t prevent Facebook usage in the enterprise because of mobile devices!
53. Email is the original social media. Don’t leave it behind. Still relevant and great for 1:1 communications.
54. Social media does not create buzz, it uncovers the buzz -that’s when we should react to the buzz.
55. “If you talked to people the way advertisers talk to people, they’d punch you in the face.”
56. Twitter is your new (low barrier) newsroom.
57. Yahoo Pipes will pull all your content together – “everyone who uses it loves it”
58. EMC took an inside-out approach to drive social proficiency with employees first.
59. Now: Everywhere: EMC Gang: 500 emp. on Twitter w/ 90K collective followers, 25 public bloggers w/ 2M unique visits in 2Q last yr.
60. Community-generated example- 450 ideas with 20k views on “how to save EMC money” during dark days of 2009.
61. Great tips for Online Press Release: Use key word search engines before you write your story and use it a lot.
62. Social web is catching up with the many human interactions we have had since the beginning of time. Not new and scary.
63. Key to productive social media: educate, enable, & scale, teach best practices, etiquette, goals, and have social playbooks.
64. Never say anything online you wouldn’t say to someone’s face.
65. Etiquette in social is key and must be learned because ur reach is bigger than u think it is.
66. By 2020 there will be enough digital info that two stacks of DVDs will reach 1/2 way to Mars @LenDevanna. Now there’s a picture.
67. It’s in your best interest 2 figure out collaboration/knowledge sharing/social media b/c your next employer will expect it of u.
68. Part of a successful corp. social media strategy: Put someone in charge.SM should ultimately be pervasive throughout.
69. Database of Corp Social Media Policies.
70. @guykawasaki: Wow, have to go to work for Cisco. This is the speed there http://www.speedtest.net/result/843448685.png
71. Guy Kawasaki: If your first rxn to Twitter was not ‘This is the dumbest thing ever’, you fail the IQ test. Then you find http://search.twitter.com
72. Guy Kawasaki recommends following back on Twitter as polite, and notes you can’t DM unless you’ve been followed. Solicits DM’s.
73. Engaged followers are more important than a high number of followers if you’re trying to sell – example Dell Outlet.
74. Google searches like this one: ‘intext:”bio” “speechwriter communications” site:twitter.com’ find types of people.
75. Spokeo.com – type in someone’s e-mail address and find out what social media channels they are using. Good for finding nut cases.
76. How to find interesting stuff to tweet? Stumbleupon + Smartbrief + Alltop
77. Grab links in 1 click to tweet out: Objectivemarketer.
78. Source for nice photos on Boston.com/bigpicture
79. Use “LinkedIn” on Twitter as it’s a popular topic and you’ll get RT
80. @GuyKawasaki uses MarsEdit for blogging.
81. Typinator – efficient way to creating repeat messages in email, blogs.
82. There’s 2 kinds of people on Twitter 1/ ppl who care about how many followers they have and 2/ people who are liars.
83. @GuyKawasaki aims to gain 500 followers on Twitter every day (every Tweet goes out four times to hit primetime)
84. Email Extractor: grab email addresses from any text, remove junk. Spammers delight!
85. Tweetmeme I love this! Drives traffic. A good approximation for measuring quality of posts.
86. Who’s copying your text from your blog? Tynt knows…
87. Compelling reasons for execs to begin tweeting: Life is all about embracing change, so experiment with it.
88. Biz doing social media facing issues with scaling – too few employees, too many customers.
89. 3 ways to scale: Harness the Rings of Influence, develop p2p systems, invest in social CRM.
90. In social influence, prospects trust customers more than brand and customers trust employees more than brand.
91. CEOs are NOT CREDIBLE among most US consumers (26% trust a CEO). Edelman Trust Barometer
92. Crowds can work for you by developing robust customer communities. The self-service support model.
93. Rather than ghost-write exec blog, have them do video or podcasts.
94. The Intel Employees blogs give customers an “inside look” at their ops and lets outsiders interact w/ insiders.
95. BestBuy example of @twelpforce as a way to allow thousands of employees to support customers.
96. Wal-Mart failed at social media until it launched Elevenmoms that lets bloggers post on Wal-Mart site.
97. Microsoft recognizes Most Valuable Professionals (MVP’s) annually – knowledgeable, passionate, etc. It’s a badge of honor.
98. Google SideWiki shifts power to customers. Not big yet, but a hint of the future.
99. Starbucks partners with Foursquare to empower check-in advocates. Expect more advocate programs.
100. Prospecting: they may not be talking about you. So monitor their pain points, what they say about your competition.
101. Reputation, ranking, ratings | helps identify top advocates. Example: TurboTax users rank Best Answers; Oracle Super Users recognized on leaderboard.
102. What is social CRM? Connection between social web and your customer database.
103. Starting with 5M’s for Social CRM-Monitoring, Mapping, Management, Middleware, Measurement.
104. Make sure to do opt-in rather than scraping when you’re in a sensitive, maybe regulated area like healthcare. People get touchy.
105. Prediction from @jowyang: Insurance cos. will use what you say/don’t say on social web to determine rates. So don’t advertise how many times you go to a bar, for instance.
106. Will location-based social media platforms be used to affect your personal insurance rates?
107. Whether a Fortune 500 company or a small business, the approach is the same: show customer care in a public way.
108. Word clouds are a great way to visualize conversations and understand customer priorities.
109. Adoption of tools requires pioneers to test them who then become educators Culture of innovation helps.
110. Think of your social programs as parties. Be a host. Make it rock. Enable conversations, don’t drive all of them.
111. Hallmark used #flip to record moms at a live event then post to YouTube to continue the conversation when ppl went home.
112. More video was uploaded to YouTube in the last 2 months than if the major networks had been airing new content since 1948.
113. Average life span of a Fortune 500 company: 40 yrs. – so how to live longer than 40 years as a company? Embrace change, experiment, learn, leverage.
114. Three reasons you know you’re at #ragancisco: 1) Great people 2) Wifi is 5 bars strong and 3) You hear “bleep bleep” of flip cameras.
115. @guykawasaki: At Cisco, there’s always something to aim at. http://yfrog.com/bgxqoj
116. Not to mention that @cisco campus smells so amazing! Love the flowers!

The 2010 Hay Festival of Literature and Arts generated somewhere between 4,000 – 5,000 tweets. The ephemeral nature of Twitter means the stream of commentary is no longer available inside the tool used to write them. However, they’re all here, in an archive of #hay tweets. Rather irritatingly, this includes all the #Hayward, #hayama, #HayleyWilliams and other tweets cluttering up the archive. A purist can view these 1,879 #hayfestival tweets. One suggestion for next year: use the hashtag #hay11 to create a clean record.

As someone living in California, whose never been to the festival, Twitter was a wonderful way for me to eavesdrop on the event.

I’ve selected 197 of my favorite tweets. The list is, like a blog, in reverse chronological order, with the tweets from the start of the event at the end, the most recent at the top.

I didn’t include tweets which pointed to the blogs or podcasts, or contained commentary which could be found there.

These were the tweets which gave me a sense of the event, and perhaps even a feeling that I was there in spirit.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their impressions, wisdom, wit and entertaining insights.

(Lurking as @cheshirelad)

1. @divagari Thanks for taking time to report on Hay Festival, Tweeters. Good coverage from those in attendance.
2. @Vinny64 Taking all the books I purchased at #hay with me to Dubai. I might get stopped at customs for smuggling in expression, thought and free-will
3. @marcmack: It’s official. http://bit.ly/9eohXt Thanks @stephenfry & @hayfestival. Still probably need to keep physics job, though.
4. @EmiratesLitFest A Steward’s View of #Hay: Last Day: http://bit.ly/boh9ed
5. @unfortunatalie Reliving #Hay via medium of twitter – deffo now to be an annual event on my calendar, & will go for many more days next year!
6. @katheastman Back from #Hay and now halfway down a glass of wine. Bit weepy and sad it’s all over for another year.
7. @nosycrow #Hay to London journeys: @stephenfry chopper, champagne, memories of adulation; @nosycrow: post-1/2-term M4, pringles, kids fighting in back
8. @chiggi: #Hay is like a drug. My supply has been cut off, and it’s not funny. What a festival it was this year… new friends + mind expansion
9. @Philippa_Perry No more #Hay tweets for 12 months. Quite a relief, they are only fun when you are there after that it’s like listening to a party next door
10. @soozworld From Jonathan Ive, to Oscar Wilde and Twitter – Stephen Fry kept me spellbound for two hours! Thank you Peter also!
11. @Making_Hay: Review: John Julius Norwich: The historian John Julius Norwich took us on a whistle-stop tour #Hay. http://bit.ly/acu2kP
12. @HelensWitter Leaving #Hay full of inspiration, organic ice cream and cider. Crossing fingers for @SkyArts at Baftas tonight
13. @trishdever Given the demographic at the #hayfestival am astounded & annoyed at complete lack of humble veggie burger.
14. @bonobobookcafe Fav. Hay moment: Yann Martel describing a letter he got from Barack Obama, personally thanking him for Life of Pi.
15. @Marjakingma Sun, great talks, books, autographs, friendly people everywhere, honeydew beer!! Must be #hay
16. @Vinny64 Welsh artist supremo Linda Norris sketches “The Early Edition” http://yfrog.com/evlxzj
17. @melissadenes Just seen the v beautiful, v smart, v self-deprecating Zadie Smith: “I have a small talent”. She needs to borrow a bit of Amis ego
18. @BOOKSA, thank you for your excellent reporting from the Hay Festival. Next best thing to being there. –A reader in Montana, USA.
19. @roadgoer John Simpson v chatty signing books, took an interest in every person. Charming
20. @jolwen: God this is good! Both Martin Amis & Peter Florence interviewing excellent – too many gems to do justice with tweets
21. @ClairRatcliffe: Nick Clegg fails to mention Wales at #Hay Festival – Yes Hay-on-Wye is in WALES.
22. @nosycrow Shields quotes William Gibson “Who owns the words? We all do.” He says literature has to be mashable and borrowable esp in digital age
23. @melissadenes Amis: writing autobiographically about sex can’t be done. Porno sex is the only non-embarrassing way
24. @BOOKSA: Amis: The difficulty of a novel is exactly proportionate to its length.
25. @BOOKSA Amis: To be a novelist, you need a monstrous egotism. Poets aren’t like that – they’re much weirder. Novelists must be Everyman.
26. @edielush Martin Amis: having a grandchild is a mixed blessing. Delightful but like a telegram from the mortuary.
27. @joy_lo_dico HSBC chairman Stephen Green says Christ approved of banking – see last paragraph http://bit.ly/9hOxwr
28. @crimeficreader: Some good pics from #Hay http://bit.ly/axWt9E
29. @XanBrooks: Fighting our way through the crowds of #Hay. David Remnick: ‘It’s like high-school between classes’. But where are Chad and Mary-Sue?
30. @grannylook When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes. –Erasmus
31. @BOOKSA Remnick: Chicago’s south side is emblematic of black life in the US. Obama finds a cause, finds a church.
32. @beckycad Fascinating listening to Antonia Fraser in conversation with Melvyn Bragg. What an incredible woman & such a romantic life she’s had #hay
33. @toadmeister Listening to Melvyn Bragg interview Antonia Fraser at the Barclays Wealth Pavilion at #Hay. Smells like Wayne Rooney’s jockstrap in here
34. @JohnFinnemore Think this must be the first time I’ve spent 24 hours in a town without being completely sure what country I’m in.
35. @thomascooling Time to leave #hay. What a delight! Lovely talks, company, cottage and horse-riding.
36. @PaulBlezard HayFlash: Beautiful misty morning presages a day of scorching hot sun, searingly brilliant events and ice creams. Hay’s where it’s at
37. @matatatatat There would be nothing funnier than walking around #Hay festival wearing an england football shirt. Everyone would go very politely beserk
38. @rupertbu Stewards View of #Hay: Special Duties: http://bit.ly/dcUXKa
39. @ginbat @hayfestival Hay bluff, where sunlight spins a web on broader shoulders of velvet age and greening consciousness.
40. @mikeappleby Overheard in q at #hay ‘it is quite impressive the way Rwanda is going at the moment’
41. @chiggi John Sutherland sidesteps a nuts question by rambling about Plato, Aristotle and Schopenhauer. Oh and Eliot, + Goebbels.
42. @BOOKSA Sutherland: Twain: a classic is a book everyone wants to read but no one wants to have read.
43. @megmacleod Drinking pimms & reading the guardian alongside peter barlow off of the telly. Off to see chris evans in a mo #hayfestival
44. @sarlitchin Queuing, Hay stylehttp://twitpic.com/1tv5zi
45. @BOOKSA: Pollan: The healthiest food in the supermarket is the quietest: the unlabeled apple, the unpackaged fish.
46. @nosycrow Gleitzman: The basic dynamic of a story is what character does to resolve a problem they have.
47. @nosycrow @AndyStantonTM And moral of story for writers is write down your ideas however mad they seem
48. @Ferders I have eaten too much cake / meat at #hay with no regard to impending bikini scenario. Best, most forgiving swimming costumes out there?
49. @XanBrooks Roy Hattersley in #Hay to tell us why he loves England so. But joke’s on him, because we’re dragging him over the border … to Wales.
50. @BOOKSA Here’s a did-you-know from Peter James: AC Doyle never wrote the words ‘elementary, my dear Watson’. A screen writer coined the phrase.
51. @BOOKSA Peter James to cop: How did you meet your wife? ‘We met at a quadruple homicide.’
52. @ostephens Enjoying good coffee, company and sunshine at #hay http://flic.kr/p/87zjty
53. @BOOKSA Matthew Syed: if you believe success hinges on talent, you’ll walk away after failing once. If you believe it hinges on hard work, you won’t.
54. @mommy_grrl @Making_Hay It has been a really spectacular week, weather-wise (all things considered.) I’ve only worn my wellies once!
55. @Marllo words are spoken never broken
56. @DanThomasUK: #Hay would be able to capitalise further on being a ‘town of book shops’ if they didn’t all close at 5:30
57. @Skeenathon o laura marling, you are so wonderful and marvellous. I’m drunk and happy and this is the best festival ever!
58. @sarlitchin Back at the site for a spot of Marcus Brigstocke. Sunburn successfully keeping me surrounded in a warm glow despite chillier air.
59. @monnowman Easy to tell most ppl at #hayfestival are from big city: they walk briskly with grim determination as if rushing to catch the Tube
60. @BOOKSA: In the middle of writing the book, Ranulph decided to climb Everest, which put him off schedule a bit.
61. @BOOKSA: Lancaster: There cannot be many occasions when you’ve someone in the room whose forebears were at the signing of the Magna Carta.
62. @IzzyMiller: The average adult knows about 50-60000 words… Shakespeare used a total of 20000 in his works – David Crystal
63. @Pete2Boogie Only at #hay the duchess of Rutland telling a story of unblocking the guttering in her nightdress, wellies and umbrella
64. @HelensWitter This time tomorrow I will be reclining in a deckchair, eating strawberries & people watching Boden Mums. Bring on #Hay
65. @guardianhay: Overheard at Hay 2010 http://bit.ly/avYecT
66. @JasonBradbury on the train to #Hay Festival, writing a Tokyo chase scene for my new book Dot Robot: Cyber Gold as I go.
67. @chiggi Hannah Rothschild’s documentary about Peter Mandelson, The Real PM, has been pulled from #Hay. [Arch of the eyebrow]
68. @hermonhermit Anyone wanting a free Guardian World Cup guide should go to #hayfestival on Saturday. The recycling bins will full of them by 09.30.
69. @SelfMadeHero @GeekSyndicate ‘The Sign of The Four’ graphic novel will be out this Aug and those lucky people at #Hay (event 300) get a sneak peek.
70. @SelfMadeHero Currently perched on a luggage rack with a French man dreading the hours to come. Not the best start to #Hay
71. @mePadraigReidy: “Skeptical bloggers are among the greatest forces for good in society” @slsingh
72. @alisonflood louis de b and friends all read l’etranger avidly as teenagers to discover what they had in common with the murderer
73. @Pete2Boogie Sitting in the evening sunshine, sipping champagne waiting to see buona vista social club at #hay. Life is good!
74. @chiggi Viking Harold Bluetooth was killed by Sven Forkbeard while he was taking a dump, Tom Holland tells #Hay
75. @DanThomasUK A sea of grey hair fills the Ritzy for Mark Hudson on Titian. Feel lonelier than the Welsh Language Books shelf in the shop.
76. @DanThomasUK #hay would get more tweets if it advertised/encouraged it. Twitter especially in mid Wales is not such an obvious thing to so just yet
77. @zany_zigzag Need to get more water – seriously thirsty! Tip for anyone coming to #hay – it gets VERY hot inside the marquees!
78. @adlandsuit Michael Holding at #hay. If the Guardian was a town, it would be a lot like this.
79. @zany_zigzag @hayfestival Just been to see Daisy Hay (name = coincidence!) talking abt Shelley, Byron & co. – fascinating stuff!
80. @andrewtghill “Research is the sap, the story is the leaves and the flowers” – Eleanor Updale, author
81. @patrick_barkham Porritt, Attenborough, Jeremy Irons’ fears of overpopulation are ‘dangerous nonsense’ according to Fred Pearce at #Hay
82. @thestephmerritt: I’m going to pretend I’m still in #Hay by sitting in a field and reading out loud from my book then tweeting about it while eating granola.
83. @zany_zigzag Off to Hay later. Slightly worried about parking etc. Is ground going to be quagmire, do we think? Should I wear my sexy red wellies?
84. @mpphillips Back from #hay. This means my tweets will no longer be full of famous people I have met (I walked past Jerry Hall!) as fewer in my house.
85. @geraintdmorgan #hay my dad got mistaken for simon schama. Think my dad can be offended by that. He didn’t turn this mistake into free pimms though, fool.
86. @PaulBlezard Hayflash: The sun is warm and shining bright. The birds are on the wing. Bonobo blew us all away last night. Great day ahead.
87. @lezlaig There are two sides to every story, but six sides to every book.
88. @hermonhermit: #hayfestival mountain wind / the stillness of a lamb / gathers the crows #haiku
89. @anitasethi Amazing music at #hay this year…can’t wait for Laura Marling, I Speak Because I Can, to echo into the night. (i tweet because i can)
90. @chiggi: Simon Armitage: there are more bodyguards than poets at #Hay this year
91. @mattgreenough @speedupdating @ahiggitt – its probably more to do with Hay being full of people who had a note from mum excusing them from PE!
92. @alisonflood: Wonderful funny & moving anecdotes from Joss Ackland at #Hay, on his wife’s grave it says ‘room for one more’…When he joins her it’ll say ‘here I am’.
93. @Sarah_Crown Poetry is ‘not the thing said, but a way of saying it’
94. @sumitsays #HayFestival . So twee it makes Latitude seem like a shebeen in a burnt-out squat. Think I might have to wee in a bottle for some edge
95. @patrick_barkham: More MI5 history at #Hay. Codebreaker Alan Turing wore gas mask to MI5 interview so wouldn’t catch flu. He got the job.
96. @PD_Smith: “I don’t think the future of writing will be menaced by new technology”: Peter Florence http://bit.ly/9ZIucL
97. @patrick_barkham Britain definitely the worst country for attitude to maths – only here is it ok to admit you are rubbish at it, says Alex Bellos at #Hay
98. @patrick_barkham MI5 historian Christopher Andrews’ cure for banking crisis? Move GCHQ staff to City jobs. Tells #Hay ‘It isn’t likely to happen’. Obviously
99. @adlandsuit Waking up in Wales is fucking cool. Cheese platters 11.30am are fucking cool. My Sky Arts wellies are fucking cool. #hay is FUCKING cool.
100. @guardiang2: “Like most high cultural events, most of the audience would rather be on stage” Grayson Perry’s take on #hay http://gu.com/p/2hcx7/tw
101. @journojourno Just back from the G #HayFestival: never been amongst a more odious bunch of poseurs in my life.
102. @James_Rock lots of new peeps @hayfestival this year but most seem to be @guardian employees – the #Hay tribe are not yet big on twittering it seems?
103. @Sarah_Crown: Seems Henning Mankell was on the boat in the Palestine aid convoy that was attacked. We’re trying to find out more #gazaflotilla
104. @Sarah_Crown News from #hay – Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor has cancelled his event tomorrow. No one v surprised…
105. @hannahwoodstock People walking out of Tim Minchin at hay because he calls the pope a motherfucker. Hilarious and scary!
106. @MissHClose Love seeing all the tweets about #Hay. Especially as I’m here, right in the middle of it. It is properly unbelieveable.
107. @Red_Books Oh what a Hay day…in a good way. Fantastic and sold out Jo Brand event AND I met John Snow. Amaze.
108. @UsborneMktg Celeb spots so far at #hayfestival: Jefferson Hack, Robert Winstone, Rob Brydon, Simon Schama, Anneka Rice, John Snow and Simon Armitage
109. @jamieandlouise after being at #Hay today with such clever people – feeling like i really should work on intelligence – surely it’s not too late?
110. @hannahwoodstock Simon schama is absolutely fabulous! He talks like most people would love to write
111. @crossland I abhor camping. Uncomfortable, cold, noisy and a queue for a shower. #hayfestival made up for it though.
112. @ecrjones At the risk of boring you…I am still ill, but am trying enjoy #hayfestival Highlights incl. Shappi Khorsandi. Peter Hitchens is vile.
113. @adlandsuit So far, the #hay festival is a lot like T In The Park, only with fewer Scottish schemeys puking everywhere, and more Jo Brand
114. @warmstrings Big breakfast, caffinated coffee, Morris dancing, antique searching. #hayfestival
115. @dm0 So it seems both Miliband’s will be at #Hay this weekend. Talk about finding needless wannabe leaders in a Hay-on-Wye stack
116. @janemartinson Last session on science made #hay almost total success for 8 yr old. “Will there be footballers nxt yr, Mum?”
117. @mpphillips Me: who was that guy we were just talking to, the one who looks like a pop star? Friend: Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet. #hay #clueless
118. @mpphillips Just walked out of a talk, first time ever at #hay. Five minutes of maths enough to persuade me that ice cream in the sun far preferable.
119. @sarlitchin Just looked up from reading my paper to see Robert Winston carrying a plastic bag standing in a queue for ice cream.
120. @Penders1 Don’t ask her about one’s private life, she can be savage!
121. @mePadraigReidy: OMG! Mariella!
122. @MichaelOrmerod Tweeting from a #hay deckchair. I think this is the most middle class place in the world.
123. @Sianz i am drunk on middle-classness
124. @hughesroland I’m in a bookshop in #hay that has a section on hitler and another on premature birth. Pretty obscure.
125. @MjkeW Nothing booked at #Hay this morning. Time to catch up. Time to write. Time to process. Time to… oh… empty the chemical toilet.
126. @pokomon night night from cold tent at #Hay. i have lent out warm clothing to my ill equipped fellow campers (@goatrick & @crossland)
127. @lozhead I think today will be a book day. I’ll pretend I’m sitting on a deckchair in #hay looking clever.
128. @Philippa_Perry All your tweets r making grayson & I homesick for #Hay. Not missing gypsy caravan though.
129. @Madhviuk Sunday was by far the most interesting @#hay Although I would not recommended 7 events in one day. Brain meltdown
130. @so_she_writes #HayFestival adventures in Wales a success. Jeanette Winterson is unreal – the entire room was hers from the minute she walked onstage.
131. @PaulBlezard Hayflash: Bank Holiday Monday and glorious skies, hot air balloons & swifts screeching through the site like fighter jets.
132. @thestephmerritt Well, it’s not often you find yourself dancing with Simon Schama, AC Grayling and Hugh Cornwell from The Stranglers. God, I love #Hay!
133. @andydickson Sounds like #fakehay I know, but hv just been at a party where both hugh fearnley-whittingstall & Pervez Musharraf were present. Yikes #hay
134. @sineadgleeson Odd to see the laid back vibe of #hay interrupted yesterday by lots of police and compulsory bag check-in for Pervez Musharraf.
135. @mpphillips Disconcerting sniffer dog presence in Marcus de Sautoy’s fun presentation about maths. Turns out former pres of Pakistan in tent next
136. @JillLawless: My best celeb spot in three days at #hayfestival? Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet queuing for Alain de Botton talk.
137. @saulpims Explaining the joy of twitterising to charity bods at #hayfestival. They want to like but are confused.
138. @njhamer Considering Sky are a major sponsor of #hay you think they’d make a better job of recording the events. Shocking sound on Andrew Marr talk.
139. @NatalieHanman Reading is lover’s talk – a private, subversive act
140. @guardiang2: Bryson too scared to take citizenship test to become British
141. @NomDeGuerre Enough with the edifying. Time to go gy ready for another party…swapping soup thermos for hip flask
142. @NomDeGuerre So many Hay questioners just want to hear themselves out loud (maybe to drown voices in their head)
143. @Irish_Andy Having an epic time at #hay festival. So far, Quentin Blake, Ed Byrne and I got on Sky News!
144. @katheastman Amazing culinary delight discovered at #hayfestival earlier today – Blackcurrant & Licorice icecream. Scrumptious
145. @darrananderson Christopher Hitchens probably thinks of himself as a modern Orwell rather than the big bag of fermented shite that he actually is #hay
146. @neilsonandrew first trip to #hay over. highlight may have been getting palm read by a Russian novelist, as you do
147. @rsutcliff @chiggi I’ve stopped listening to historian Niall Ferguson #Hay, I find it contaminates my enjoyment of historical fiction.
148. @Making_Hay: There is nothing worse for writers than cranking it out and getting no response. Tina Brown
149. @soul_of_twit Ed Miliband update #Hay. Preppy jumper on. Still hanging with the plebs having an ice cream. Still pretty handsome. #shocktometoo
150. @squizzey In my funky festival gear while the sun shines at #hayfestival – drinking Pimms with @katheastman & joyous Joyce who has macadamia nuts!
151. @hughesroland Feeling out of place without panama hat at #hay.
152. @annecharnock Overheard this minute at #Hay in queue: steward tells Ed Milliband to please move over to the left.
153. @Cafedirect_HQ Double deckchair, your best mate and a cup of cafedirect coffee. Good #hay times! (Yasmin) http://twitpic.com/1sg9cf
154. @mpphillips Standing ovation for Tom Buergenthal, Holocaust survivor and Hague judge. So calm, serene, inspiring. This is what #hay is all about.
155. @benbryant Scored a lift to #hay today, allelujah! Would not advise anyone to try getting there via the mythical Hereford bus
156. @soul_of_twit Apologies to people of #Hay. That was me striding across a field in pink neon ski thermals & wellies to powder my nose at dawn #fashionfail
157. @DanThomasUK Glad to see #hay is trending hard this year. Lots more twitter awareness and mobile connectivity
158. @MjkeW Alain de Botton believes ipad will not kill books, but diminishing levels of concentration from social media might. So er…
159. @neilsonandrew My lady wife has spent 10 minutes chatting to Jerry Hall about Mick ‘n Bryan not jealous just impressed
160. @chiggi So I bummed a ciggie from Jerry Hall at #Hay. She was rather delightful.
161. @emilybell everyone on my feed is either watching #eurovision or at #hay … there’s a mash-up possibility if ever there was one
162. @andydickson Coren on Twitter: “full of rubbish for illiterate people”
163. @patrick_barkham Grayson Perry a #Hay highlight. Witty critique of deadening consumerism and a great frock. Wisdom without pomposity. Audience loved it
164. @sarahlphillips Got told off for tweeting in Grayson Perry
165. @Skeenathon Seen at #hay blue eyebrows, lindisfarne gooseberry wine, fat lady in skirt of many handkerchiefs and many, many pairs of cords
166. @Making_Hay I’m a great user of Twitter but I’m aware of the dangers. Social media is like pornography #alaindebotton
167. @nosycrow de Botton the most offensive q you can ask a child is “what did you do today” because they live in moment
168. @nosycrow de Botton Western thinking unhelpfully divorces mind and body – over-intellectual. You have to know when to stop thinking
169. @siwhitehouse Anyone here from Tower Hamlets? I’d venture that’s the first time that questions been asked at #Hay #HeatherBrooke
170. @Skeenathon #Hay must be the least edgy festival ever. There are Renoir prints in the portaloos.
171. @siwhitehouse And hello to the man walking *out* of the #Hay urinal with an ice cream cone in his hand.
172. @melinwynt Bant i’r Gelli Gandryll am y dydd fory. Off to #Hay for a day of politics, poetry and science tomorrow. Hope the sun shines!
173. @Making_Hay: In the Friends Cafe, glass of Veuve, listening to Roddy Doyle on the PA, reading a recycled Guardian.
174. @Sarah_Crown Roddy Doyle: ‘if someone has to piss on you, let it be Henry fonda’. Quite #hay
175. @Sianz there are so many good looking men here. who are so good looking, they know it too much so then they become ungoodlooking
176. @mommy_grrl #hay festival tip: careful with the beer imbibing if you have weak bladder – lines to the WC are wicked long *crosses legs*
177. @neilbeynon will be at #Hay tomorrow, looking forward to some brain food and, hopefully, the weather clearing.
178. @iankatz1000: Prez nasheed of maldives to sceptics: come to the Maldives and look me in the face and tell me it (climate change) is not happening
179. @mpphillips A man with a bi-horned hat just ran past me shouting ‘I am the apocalypse!’ Expect to see him later on panel later with Chris Hitchens
180. @susannar100 Being at #Hay makes me want to get on with writing my book. Now, if only someone would look after these 3 kids ….
181. @Sarah_Crown Just off to squire Bill Bryson round a cafe, so to learn the history of salt&pepper, tea&coffee, forks … just another day at #Hay
182. @nosycrow Bill Bryson “Never had people found more ways to be worried in a confined space than Victorians in their bedrooms”
183. @benbryant So being stranded at Hereford has given me a chance to reflect on the irony that nobody going to #hay seems to use public transport
184. @siwhitehouse That @jenny_drew has just been serenaded by a clown on an 8 foot unicycle with a frog on his head. In a tutu.
185. @siwhitehouse We’re getting competitive today. Both on the look out for women in summer dresses and brightly coloured wellies. Today’s top #Hay points
186. @siwhitehouse: Early points scored. Just seen a bloke with a cream linen jacket, chinos, a straw boater and a cravat.
187. @digestedread Raining so hard can barely hear a word bill bryson is saying
188. @MjkeW Good morning #Hay. Ah, the Niagaran roar of rain beating on the drum skin roof of the caravan. That’s more like it.
189. @sarahlphillips Only at #hay: chalked lines instead of ropes to keep queues in order
190. @sineadsillars Just passed Andrew Marr asking for directions to a tent at #hayfestival. In a session with Nigel Mansell now.
191. @MjkeW Arrived in #Hay. Sun shining. Caravan pitched. Fine meal in The Granary. Excellent! Now for some Islamic calligraphy
192. @andydickson Setting up shot in wiggly wigglers garden. group of teens has just come past and dared ea other to eat maggots
193. @andydickson First roadsigns to #hay! Gold and green fields, blossom, bluff in distance. Hurrah
194. @thespyglass Yes, hurrah to #Hay. If only you weren’t so gorram expensive. Have fun, you rich-ass intelligentsia. *bitterauthenticgrumble*
195. @sineadgleeson Standing ovation in a packed tent for Christy Moore at #hay. And brilliant version of Shine on You Crazy Diamond for an encore.
196. @thethingisgav Pics of setting up at the Hay Festival – http://bit.ly/bZEo5j
197. @Making_Hay @hayfestival #Hay worked very well last year. Is short, distinct enough, everything a good hashtag is

By Angela DeFinis, DeFinis Communications

After working with a number of executives during the past few months, I’ve noticed some common pitfalls that diminish the quality of an executive’s presentation. These public speaking mistakes affect executives across the board, regardless of industry or profession.

Like everyone else who speaks to groups, executives must spend time preparing their message and practicing their delivery. However, many executives have formal speechwriters. Their content is often written for them and then passed around to other senior leaders in the company. As a result, the Marketing VP wants his spin included, the Engineering VP has certain requirements to be added, and the HR manager has a point of view that also needs to come through. The message goes through many rounds and edits until the final draft is perfected.

That’s a lot of time devoted to content creation. My only wish is that the executives would give the same amount of time and attention to actually practicing and rehearsing the delivery. Because they don’t, here are the common blunders that occur:

• Appearing unprepared to deliver the speech. You can have the most finely crafted message in the world, but if you’re not prepared to deliver it, your message can fail. The fact is that poor delivery can overshadow great content. Therefore, spend the same amount of time practicing your delivery as you do creating your content. And if you didn’t craft the content yourself, then find out how long others spent preparing it and practice at least an hour longer.
• Not focusing on the listeners’ needs. Many executives spend too much time talking about what’s important to them and don’t focus on the needs of the audience. This is the classic case of not knowing the audience. Unfortunately, audiences often interpret it as “this speaker doesn’t care about us.” Get clear on what’s important to your listeners and spend the majority of your time covering those topics. If there’s something you feel is important and that you need to say, then go ahead and say it. But don’t forget about or gloss over the audience’s needs.
• Foregoing conventional etiquette. Foul language, “good old boy” style, off color jokes, slang…these are things you should never use in your business presentations. If you’re speaking to a global audience, any of these things will be a turn off. And if even one audience member is offended by your language, style, or demeanor, then your credibility just went down a notch. When you follow conventional etiquette standards, you smooth the conversational pathway so you can reach understanding and build relationships. And isn’t that one of your main goals when presenting?
• Not using a “speaker’s tone.” Speaking in a “conversational” tone is fine for small group communication; however, when you’re giving a formal presentation, you need to use a more projected “speaker’s tone.” Remember that public speaking requires using the skills of the speaking trade. And one of those is maintaining an emphasis on vocal skills. Often, executives think that their personal style is enough and that they do not have to use professional speaking skills. But if you want to position yourself as the leading authority on any topic, you must use good vocal skills.

What’s the best way to overcome these mistakes? In a word: Practice! Yes, practice really does make perfect. By focusing on your delivery and approach as much as you focus on creating your speech, you’ll avoid these mistakes and give an executive level presentation that hits the mark, enhances your reputation and sets a high standard for presentation delivery throughout your company.

Big shout-out to Doug for nailing the details on how to use Twitter and other social media before, during and after a speaker makes a presentation at a meeting.

Twitter can reflect true value for any meeting, event, or education class as long as the meeting planner understands first what a hashtag represents, and second how to use it effectively.

This post has a very clear, step-by-step, guide explaining how meeting organizers can use a hashtag to spread the word about their upcoming conference and boost registration.

Doug also lists the many creative ways organizers can add value during and after the event. He suggests everything from using Twitter to alert people about program changes to posting links to attendees blogs and re-tweeting messages of interest.

Hopefully Doug’s post, and the guidance in Cliff Atkinson’s great book The Backchannel, will encourage more meeting planners, and professional speakers, to embrace the many ways social media can magnify the impact of a presentation beyond the walls of the auditorium.

My favorite new toy is Dragon Naturally Speaking, it puts the “speech” into the task of speechwriting.

Kudos to Colin for highlighting Dragon as one of five tools that help freelance speechwriters put the pedal to the metal and achieve peak productivity.

His other four tips are equally insightful, check them out.

How does someone prepare for a Toastmasters International Speech Contest?

In the second part of my podcast interview with Toastmasters District 57 winner Christine Robinson, we discuss the upcoming 2010 Toastmasters International Convention.

Very few women have ever won the World Championship, and Christine is only two speeches away from that possibility.

Every one of us at Christine’s home club, the Speakers Forum in Concord, CA, is doing all we can to help her prepare and practice a new speech for the final round of the contest.

To hear how she plans to prepare for the event, click on the podcast icon below.

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How are winning Toastmasters speeches created?

I asked Christine Robinson, whose speech The Empty Chair won the District 57 Spring Conference May 8, 2010, held at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo California.

In this podcast interview, Christine discusses the original motivation for the theme of the speech and then shares the mechanics of writing and practicing the speech.

Her speech is rooted in the passion and conviction for the topic: “It had it’s own vitality…it is time, now more than ever, to fill our chairs, to be present for others.”

Tomorrow, I’ll share Part 2 of the interview, where Christine talks about the upcoming contest in Palm Desert.

To hear Part 1 of the interview, click on the podcast icon below.

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Three years ago I mentioned the annual literature festival happening every May in the small Welsh border town of Hay-on-Wye.

This year’s event is currently in full swing and I’m following the proceedings on blogs, podcasts and Twitter. There’s a wonderfully charged intensity about the people who attend – relishing the excuse to rub shoulders with the famous, celebrate English eccentricity, and drink Pimms, as shown in these tweets:

@JillLawless My best celeb spot in three days at #hayfestival? Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet queuing for Alain de Botton talk.

@siwhitehouse Early points scored. Just seen a bloke with a cream linen jacket, chinos, a straw boater and a cravat. #Hay

@katheastman Seen Jon Snow & Ed Miliband so far wandering around at #hayfestival – spent 15 mins debating latter’s sex appeal. Damn this Pimms is good.

There’s dozens of talks, musical performances and impromptu events daily, each with a separate entrance fee. One lady reported she spent £500 on tickets.

My picks from the program were these 33 talks which I would have liked to have seen if I wasn’t 6,000 miles away. Oh well, they make a good annotated reading list for the year ahead.

Last week I curated a list of 230 tweets from the Social Media Plus Summit held May 25 in Philadelphia. I asked Erica V., who was at the event, to explain what role social media plays in her life and some of the takeaways from the day.

Manners, Content and Audience: getting Back to Basics at Social Media Plus, by Erica V.

Blogging

I like to tell people that I have my blogging habit to thank for the path my career has taken.

I began blogging in 2005, but it wasn’t until November, 2009 I began taking blogging and social media seriously as a means to transform myself into a social media maven that could find her own place in the corporate world.

I started Mommy’s Still Fabulous, a blog dedicated to discussing the ins and outs of motherhood, managing a full-time career, and having fun along the way. And I soon found myself in great company; there are a lot of us Mommy Bloggers out there, and we have a lot to say.

Because of my blog, I began to learn about and explore other sites and tools as a way to find new followers and develop new relationships.

Twitter

I began to tweet. I started a Facebook fan site specifically for my blog where I could RSS feed new posts as I wrote them. I joined Ning communities and hopped my way through Blog Frog.
I engaged with my audience. I spent time replying to their comments and visiting and commenting on their own blogs. I even installed a plug-in on my blog that would allow those who left comments to highlight their last post on their blogs.

I started to network, go to tweet ups and spend time at conferences like Bloggy Boot Camp. I found my tribe.

Today, I average about 200 post views a day and have a significant number of subscribers who read me through their RSS feeds and e-mail subscriptions through Google’s Feedburner. It’s not earth shattering, but I do credit all of this with where it got me today in my full-time position.

Before blogging, I was managing internal and consumer publications for a large healthcare organization. It’s because of blogging, and my involvement with social media, I was able to transform my job description into what it is today: Manager of Interactive Marketing.

Who says social media is a time-waster?

Social Media Plus

I recently attended great social media conference, Social Media Plus, and learned a lot about engaging customers, being authentic, building a brand, creating social media policies, and creating fabulous content for social media outlets.

I spent the day listening… and tweeting. I tweeted with #SMPlus and my followers who were not at the conference found a lot of value in the things I had to say and what I was learning.

One of the things I learned is that there are a lot of things I am doing right both personally, with my blog, and professionally with my career. I also came to the realization that I’ve known these ideas for a long time – about 33 years to be exact. Why? Because my Mom taught me them long before the phrase “social media” ever existed.

But she called them Manners.

Here are some takeaways from the day I found very helpful. I posted this on my personal blog as well, and got a lot of comments in reply. I guess we could all use a little reminder that it’s important to get back to basics.

1. Say Please and Thank you.

As someone who manages social media for her full-time job… as well for her blog, I can tell you one thing is for sure: If you want someone to do something for you, say please. Please re-tweet (RT), Please comment, Please link up, etc. The word “Please” goes a long way. Use it. Love it.
“Thank yous” require a little bit more work. When I get a new fan on one of my Facebook pages for work, I drop them a small message that tells them:
“Thank you for joining us on Facebook! I am a real person:) and I look forward to talking with you! Let me know if I can help you with anything!”

That’s it. Done.

I admit, I don’t always have time to do it, but it is a nice touch. Also, when people RT your Tweets, link to you in a blog post or tweet… say “Thanks.” It takes a minute, but goes a long way.

2. Think about what you say before you open your mouth.

Whether you blog or tweet for yourself, or for your brand, you are speaking on someone’s behalf.
Words will travel. Don’t tweet, update or blog about something you wouldn’t want your Mother to read. And, if you’re lucky like me, your Mom is your biggest fan. Don’t be stupid. Type with care.

3. Do the right thing.

Gossip, Bullying, Cat-fights… don’t engage in the drama. Stand by your product {yourself!} and your followers, friends and fans will respect you more. Show you have an opinion, but make sure it’s valid. Don’t jump on a negative bandwagon for the sake of sensationalism.

4. Listen.

A good rule of thumb is to give out more than you expect to get back. That means… don’t make it all about you all the time. Listen to your audience. Give them what they want. Treat them as you would want to be treated – that means listening when appropriate, commenting for encouragement and supporting others with re-tweets and sharing.

5. Share.

Find great content? Share it. Tell others. Make it viral. Approximately 51% of online users are generating original content. That’s a lot! There is good stuff out there. Build relationships with a new audience by sharing with others what you find interesting. They’ll thank you for it, and share the things you put out there that make you and your content unique.

Conversely, if you have great content, and think others will benefit from it, share it. You’d be surprised by how many people will appreciate you {and your expertise} on the subject.

So there you have it… 5 rules… 5 pieces of wisdom… 5 ways to mind your manners on the web.

Matt Upton’s employment career has taken him from selling cards and lawn care to flipping burgers, folding tacos, selling knives, air conditioners, home insulation, to overseeing housing developments, to leading a sales force in five western states for a food manufacturer, leading various for profit businesses as well as non-profit businesses. The common thread has always involved public speaking.

As a professional speaker, writer, wisdom coach, and trainer Matt has conducted over 3000 presentations both throughout the United States as well internationally. His background in small groups and large group setting presentations has positioned him as an authority the area of business, personal and relationship growth.

He brings to the audience participants his successes and failures with humor and professionalism allowing them to learn while enjoying their invested time.

Matt works through the theme On the Move … FORWARD. This has enabled individuals as well as businesses both small and large advance forward to the next level of success. His work takes him across the United States and internationally.

Pro-Track Profile

Matt is enrolled in the 2010 Pro-Track class sponsored by the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association.

He has experience speaking internationally in Bulgaria, to hear about his adventures there and his impressions of the Pro-Track program, click on the icon podcast below.

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