Kurt Daradics, a social catalyst, had an overwhelming success last night at the Skirball. Digital Family Reunion is something that he mentioned to me months ago while it was still in the planning phases. To see this annual event take root, and both watch and participate in the creation of community, was amazing. I think this event is the business equivalent to Woodstock... many people will talk about it for years to come but only the special ones actually attended.

This is the room where I meet Kelly Perdew, CEO of Rotohog, and season two winner of "The Apprentice".



While Kurt wasn't the only one to make this event a reality, he did play an important roll. Practically, it's the same thing that he has done for the last thirteen years that we've been friends. Below is a picture of me, Kurt, and Gary (left-to-right).



The theme of the event was the question, "If we knew how connected we all are, how would that change everything?” Personally, the answer that I have today is that I'm blessed to be connected to very talented and successful people. With that in mind anything that has a vision that is worthy of being promoted and can be embraced by multiple people is worth our time and effort. In short, anything is possible.

Nicky Senyard wrote a wonderful article for Website Magazine.

She said, "In a community, relationships come before sales. Business, in other words, is not the first order of business. Leveraging communities is a great way to boost sales, but you actually have to become a respected and trusted member before you can tap into that potential."

You can't just snap your finger and have a community to lead and give you money. Building relationships is not a very fast way to make a buck but it's much more rewarding and meaningful. In the end, I believe it will be most profitable too.

In a culture where we’ve convoluted much and confused what is real, things that are “simple” have often been considered insignificant. Instead, we must recognize that simplicity leads to efficiency, which leads to productivity, which quickly leads to success. How can you build on clarity by making things more simple? Remember, simple is not inherently bad, rather it should be desired in more areas of our lives than we give notice.

Simplicity is marvelous!

See if you can use the least amount of words in communicating who you are and what makes you unique.

Clarity yields success.

There is a lot of fear and confusion right now. This is often made worse by the media. What is the cure for this sickness? CONNECT WITH REAL PEOPLE

A dear friend of mine, Kurt Daradics, is one of the social catalysts who has been critical to my success in business. He, along with some other heavy hitters in LA and the OC, have collaborated and brought together many groups and organizations into one major networking event and holiday party. The goal is to make real connections with real people.

On Thursday, December 11th from 5:00pm to 10:00pm, the Digital Family Reunion (DFR) is bringing the Southern California technology and business communities together for the holidays at the Skirball Cultural Center. In association with some of the region's top trade associations (like the DMAsc which we're a member) and social networking groups, the DFR is throwing a major holiday party. The DFR's goal is to reignite old relationships, spark new ones, and set the stage to kick off 2009 with a bright new start.

Scheduled attendees include leaders from all the major industry sectors such as media, entertainment, finance, publishing, venture funding, software, commerce, education, and many more.

Visit Digital Family Reunion and join the collective conversation.

UPDATE 11.20.2008 :: WE GOT A PROMO CODE TO GET $20 OFF EACH TICKET :: USE DFR16 WHEN YOU BUY :: You're Welcome. =)

Recently I read an article on How to pick up followers on twitter and disagree with the approach and “tips” offered by the author. Here’s why:

Tip 1: Follow the “smores (social media whores).”

Translation: Follow people who you don’t care about, as long as it exposes you to more people.

Tip 2: Send @ messages to the smores.

Translation: make it look like you’re friends with popular people so you will get follows by association.

Tip 4: Follow everyone who follows you.

If a follow is a type of endorsement, then what does who you follow say about you? Are you actually interested in what the people you follow are saying?

Tip 5: Always be linking.

Translation: It doesn’t matter what you say, as long as you’re saying something.

Here’s the underlying assumption to all of these tips: More followers equals more influence. It’s simply not true. You’ll have far more influence if your followers actually value what you have to say.

To that end, follow people who you find value in following, not simply who follow you. If the people listening to you share your values, interests, and actually care about what you have to say, you’ll have a far bigger impact with your audience.

If you try to appeal to everyone, you won’t appeal to anyone, and you’ll lose your individuality in the process. When you’re no different than anyone else, why should anyone listen to you?
Be yourself.

See the difference?

Do you remember when friendster was all the rage? These days my interaction is limited to the occasional email that I receive from them. They're irrelevant. Everyone's gone to a new party. Is the MySpace party the next to end? Did they peak when they were sold for hundreds of millions of dollars? Based on the data from Alexa the new trend is favoring Facebook. I wonder how long will they be king of the hill.

The App Store has only been open for 30 days and has already averaged $1,000,000 per day in sales. Not bad for Apple since they've leveraged their existing iTunes distribution system, increased the positioning of the iPhone and iPod Touch, and made 30% on other peoples work! It's not all fun and games as there are many applications that can be used for business (i.e. OmniFocus, WordPress, Sales Force, etc). Not only did Apple create the most innovative phone of the decade but they also created an open field for innovation and mobile software development. The iPhone will drive app sales and innovative apps will cause additional people to buy an iPhone. At Elevation, the iPhone is becoming standard equipment. We may even develop custom iPhone apps for our clients in the future. No matter what we do the market has spoken ... it is possible to launch a successful new products and services in a period of economic distress. Obviously, there was a need for both the iPhone and the niche applications that have been developed for the platform.

“Carpe Diem” is the famous line and cliche to many of us. No matter how cheesy it may sound, it’s often the encouragement we need to make things happen sooner than later. If you are anything like me, then you probably have several good ideas on the shelf and a handful of things that you’ve been meaning to do. My guess is that we’re all just too busy (which is another problem altogether, but that’s a cultural issue to tackle another day). Personally, I want to stop living with meaningful intentions and instead see some of these things come to reality. Maybe this resonates well with you also and hopefully can serve as encouragement to take something off the shelf in order to get it rolling today. What are some things you’re committed to making happen today?

Take a few minutes to consider your client touch points today. Every interaction with your client, whether in person, in print, or via the web, creates a touch point that leaves a lasting impression. Consider, in detail, all possible points of contact, so that you can intentionally build the client experience that you’re hoping to accomplish. Remember, every contact you, your staff, or your brand makes with the customer, is a touch that has the ability to enhance or destroy your brand’s ability to grow. Don’t just manage your products or services, make sure to also manage your touch points for building unequaled brand equity and loyalty.

What touch points have you found to be the most important in your business cycle? Leave a comment below..

So, it appears that Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks reads our blog. Not sure if you’ve noticed lately, but Starbucks has been actively seeking to regain “the experience” that once made them the preferred 3rd place in the lives of many. We discussed this idea in ‘Losing your soul for another cup sold’ back in November of last year and it appears that Howard was reading. For some time now, Starbucks has been going in a dangerous direction that strays from their original vision and I must say it’s encouraging to see their efforts in refocusing and correcting what’s been limiting their effectiveness.

Growth is a tricky thing and can easily steer you away from your core vision if not careful. Rather than just selling another cup of coffee, Starbucks is shifting back to the client experience. Stores have been closed for extended training on making good espresso and inspiring the staff. Breakfast sandwiches will be discontinued due to the smells that infiltrated the stores and will be substituted with the fresh smell of coffee once again ground in-store. In-store grinding has an even greater effect than just better smells; it means fresher espresso and a better tasting cup of coffee. Also, the current automatic machines will soon be replaced with state of the art machines for an even better shot of espresso. Personally, I’d prefer a move back to the hand packed old school espresso machines, but it certainly is a move in the right direction. While there is still much work to be done, I must say that I’m pleased with the approach. It’s nice to see Howard focusing the company on the things that matter and as I’m sure he knows, the things that improve the experience will improve the bottom line.

And Howard, if you really do read our blog, I’d love to talk with you more about your ideas and efforts for improving your positioning. Let’s meet over an espresso and kick around some strategy.

PS: check out My Starbucks Idea – another great move in this effort by gathering the feedback from many of Starbucks’ greatest fans. What are your thoughts or ideas for continued improvement? Leave a comment below…we’d love to hear what you come up with and I’ll share it with Howard when we get a chance to meet!

So, last week it was revealed that Starbucks will be launching its first ever national TV ad campaign. This is quite a shift in focus being that there was a time when Starbucks felt television advertising was not in line with the experience they provided. They were dependent on customer satisfaction and referral based advertising for growth and profitability. As you can imagine, they were VERY successful with this strategy. They were the cool, hip “third place” that everyone wanted to be a part of regardless of whether you liked their coffee (I’ll be honest, Starbucks’ coffee in my opinion is only average). But that aside, this is a perfect example of a company loosing sight of their vision and drifting away from a previously air tight brand experience. The article identifies the purpose of these ads being to get “customers to buy another cup”. It used to be that Starbucks sold their experience, but unfortunately it looks like they’ve moved into the retail drip market instead.

Honestly, it’s sad for me because I have fond memories of Starbucks being my third place at one point. The experience was great and the people were even better. Unfortunately, with popularity comes challenges and my experience with Starbucks has since changed. As I’m sure many of you will agree, Starbucks has become more of a coffee factory; getting you in and out as quickly as possible with your cup o’ joe. From a marketing perspective, I think they are going in a dangerous direction that will not return the results they desire. If Elevation was their agency of record, we would direct them back to their original vision and bring back the experience that is at the essence of what made Starbucks the third place. Until then, anyone want to meet at Peet’s?