Want a copy? You can go in to your local bookstore after July 6th, or you can just click here.

I go to conferences for many reasons. This particular one I am here because I want to know what my potential customers need to know. I’m listening. I’m wandering in and out of sessions and paying close attention to the questions people have. I am here to find out how I can better help YOU.

I’m also here to network. Part of what I do puts me in constant online contact with some of the most brilliant minds in the business. I am anxious to meet as many as possible. I’ve already met quite a few of the industry’s current thought leaders and up and comers over the years – it’s one of the perks of living in the Boston area. I’m hoping to meet some of the people who traveled in from afar, especially.

In trying to practice what I preach, I am always looking for ways to bring my online connections offline. One thing that makes social media so valuable for business is how easy is makes it to translate both worlds and extend your reach.

The value of this kind of conference for me is the eavesdropping to better serve my client base, and the networking. What is the value for you?

What is a RT (retweet)

Retweeting is a way to expand the reach of a thought, link or idea. If someone with a network of 20 tweets about something brilliant, I can retweet it to my own network of thousands and help get their idea heard. The intent is to save the retweets for the truly valuable, humorous or newsworthy items, and not for things like Magpie advertising links and the like.

You know you are seeing something being retweeted when you see RT (conventional abbreviation) at the beginning of the tweet. The reason the RT is at the beginning is both to clearly indicate up front that the idea is not original and to escape the cage of the @ reply. By prefacing an @username with an RT (or any other character, for what it’s worth), you allow your network to see it whether they follow that person or not. If you start your RT with the @username only those who already follow the person can see it, defeating the purpose.

As with anything, when an idea is working perfectly well as it is, people feel the need to mess with it and “make it their own” or “become a thought leader in their space” or whatever horse nugget reason is currently being brandished. To that end we now have a variety of ways to introduce a retweet in addition to the simple, and short, RT. You will also see tweets with the word “via”, “from”, “auth” etc in them. These are all fine, and also indicate who the originator of the idea was. They just waste more characters doing so.

RT Etiquette

There are a few traditions around the art of the RT. Mainly these are intended to give the author credit in a clear way, and to keep the content of the RT in its original context. The first and foremost of these traditions is to always keep the original author username in. Often, you’ll get a RT that has been passed on several times. Some people may want to get “kudos” from whatever “big name” tweeter who is part of the RT chain by leaving their name in instead of the originator. Not cool! If you find that you have to delete @usernames to make room, the one who said the original tweet is always the one you leave in.

Shortening a RT is often required. If you learn to tweet in 120 character nuggets, you are easier to RT, but often a thought is more comfortable when it takes up more space. To that end, people who RT you may have to do some abbreviating. When in doubt, always keep the context! Do not abbreviate a RT in such a way that it supports your view as opposed to the author’s. Not cool! Some suggested abbreviations: using the number 8 for the “ate” sound in a word; using TwitterKeys pictures in place of some words; using U (you), B (be), 4 (for), 2 (to, too, two) and other text message abbreviations in place of some words; using contractions where possible (and removing the ‘ if needed), etc.

A question I get often is “what is a ratio of RT to tweets”. My answer there is that your stream should feel engaging and conversational if possible – if it is a wall of RTs it looks like you never have an original thought in your head. Space them out a bit.

RT Problems

Recently, the popularity of Twitter has led to some interesting RT issues. A few to look out for:

The tendency for spammers and fake conference throwers and other nefarious characters to RT a fake RT as if it came from a “thought leader” or someone they think is an influencer for some reason, when in fact the person never said that at all. So far this has happened to me twice, to Chris Brogan a few times, and to a handful of others. This is done to give false validity to their site, which usually is selling something. Think about it – if you see one of these and know our usual tweet style, you’ll know if the person would have actually said that or not. Most of us watch for these and try to reply with an “oh I don’t THINK so” of some kind when we can as well, so watch for those also. Chris is the only one I know of who got a RT that he’d be a speaker at a conference before he even knew the conference existed.

RT spam. I hate this one. I have actually fallen for it once now in spite of all my time on Twitter because I’m so darn busy. What happens with this is a link will be prefaced with something in front of it that sounds like breaking news, and get picked up by someone in your stream. If you are like me, you have a small, small number of people whom you trust so explicitly you grant them your trust and may RT them without reading the link until later. In the case of my RT, it was “news” about the iPhone 3G S, which I follow as a Mac user, and it was in a very trusted friend’s stream. Turns out it went to a site selling some fly-by-night pills. YUCK. I am fortunate that I have an involved and active network who alerted me immediately to what had happened, generating an immediate take down and correction from me, but if you are just starting out, you may not have built up that help yet. To that end, read the links first.

RT flash mobs. This often, but not always, falls under the bitchmeme category. A bitchmeme is when a large number of people “pile on” to an issue without fully understanding the facts, then cause it to spread like a nasty little virus of negativity across the internet. Examples of recent bitchmemes include things like Motrin Moms. The RT flash mob is not always negative. Often, the intent behind it is a good cause, like the recent support for #iranelections on Twitter. You can see this in the many, many hashtags (and sub hashtags, now, which is a whole OTHER post coming later) and green avatars popping up.

Most of the time the RT flash mob is totally harmless – the first wave of unchecked information flies past, then about 12 hours later the second wave of corrected or enhanced information comes by, then you can expect at least two more floods to your Twitter stream as the correct information and the emotional reactions occur, all spaced out in 12 hour intervals, and varying global time zones. It tends to take about 4 – 5 days for the average RT flash mob to dissipate (a current example is Steve Jobs’ liver replacement, which I am affectionately calling the iLiver, and which is nearing the end of stage one. Expect corrected information to flow along today). For some reason, unless the RT flash mob is based on a breaking news story during the week, like the #iranelections, these seem to happen most often on the weekends.

In the case of #iranelections and other sensitive global events, the RT flash mob can cause problems. People were retweeting sensitive information without thinking, like the Twitter names of the people who were tweeting from inside Iran, for example. Then in the second wave, people on Twitter were changing their location to confuse Iran officials who were monitoring. This mainly served to confuse third party apps who depend on the Twitter location to work well. Then we had a wave of green avatars in support of #iranelections. Although these are intended to show solidarity with all of those in Iran seeking change, the color is party specific and has caused a stir because of that. You can see how each wave builds on the last.

I think the RT has value in drumming up immediate global awareness and support for both local and global issues as they occur. I love the attention and support the people of Iran are getting for their cause. My words of caution for the next RT flash mob is to do five minutes of research before you click that RT button in your Twitter client, or before you copy paste on the web. Just the briefest of pauses can help stop bad information from going out. Also, if you see a good RT flash mob happening, like the #blamedrewscancer movement (which has moved from “flash mob” to “meme” now, and will have a longer shelf life because of it), spread it around. We need more good things.

I didn’t talk much about the book while we were writing it, on purpose. Having three authors plus feedback from Wiley on a project was a fun, sprawling process. Toss in a few “minor” Twitter changes over the course of writing it and you have some added challenging components to the mix.

I am very excited to have the book in stores, finally. We will each be (and in fact, have been) doing some promotion for the book individually and together when possible (we are spread out over three states). If you want to order the book, please feel free to click the link in the side bar, this link here or visit your local book store. If you want to talk to one or all of us about doing events or promotion around the book, you can contact us individually. Find the spearhead for the project, Laura Fitton, @pistachio on Twitter. Find Leslie Poston (me), co-author, @geechee_girl on Twitter, and find Michael Gruen, co-author @gruen on Twitter. You can also drop me an email for promotional activities.

What have we done to promote the book so far? Laura is speaking at Jeff Pulver’s #140conf today, and has several promotional and speaking events planned around the country. Michael has spoken at the NYC Book Expo recently. I’ve just been filmed for a new TV show in Maine which will air July 1 or thereabouts (most likely on WPXT, but stay tuned), and will also be on another station here in NH soon (project not wrapped yet, will announce here once I can). You can also hear me speak at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce on June 18th. I also have some blog and print interviews lined up that I will link here as they happen.

Also, many, many thanks to Laura Fitton for wanting me on her co-author team with Michael Gruen. It was a blast to write a whole book about my favorite tool and favorite toy. It was even more fun merging our very different uses into one book to help YOU, the reader. If you look at our Twitter accounts, you can see that you are getting the blended best out of three ways you can use Twitter for yourself and your business – I think that ended up making the book a richer, more comprehensive guide (and proved a point I make often about Twitter use being a la carte).

Enjoy!

I’m big on the idea of helping people and networking at a hyper local level. I also believe that your network is most effective if it also reaches far and wide – across borders of city, state, country and nation.

Think about it for a minute. If your network is made up of only your existing friends and family and a few existing coworkers, you have built a walled garden. What’s inside my be your own lovely garden, with prize-worthy flowers that are well tended, but any bad weather or difficult event can shake it up.

What happens if you move for an illness or a job? Have you built a network that will follow you? If your company is ready to expand, will you have the support outside of your existing world view to do so? What if the perfect job is a tweet or status update away and you miss it because your eyes aren’t open?

People often wall themselves off out of fear. Fear of change, fear of failure, fear of harm… there are a hundred different kinds of fear. Don’t let it rule you or your company. Add a gate to your garden and see who comes in. You’ll be surprised how it grows your network and where it takes you in life.

I am an idea person. I don’t like to see a good idea die on the vine, choked by excessive caution, hemming, hawing or general “over thinking”. Sure, you need to plan, but there comes a point where you also have to take that leap and try the idea out – set it free to roam the wild. It’s the only you can grow as a person or business.

Some ideas fly high, like Uptown Uncorked, the Topics on Fire podcast (currently on summer hiatus) or the recent Twitter for Dummies project with Laura Fitton and Michael Gruen that just wrapped (hitting stores soon). Some build momentum more slowly. Some struggle to get past the enthusiasm stage. Some end up being put aside as not viable after all.

Some of my projects are building momentum at a nice steady pace now, like Film Pop!, a side project I’m working on with Amy Greenlaw or a new book I’m going to be writing with Jim Keenan from A Sales Guy. Some are building momentum slowly, like Social Mic, a fun music side project I’m working on with Maria Thurrell and a new hush hush project I’m creating with Alexa Scordato.

A few took off like rockets, going much faster than anticipated. One of those was Social Media Breakfast NH. The people in the business community of NH have embraced this idea and are instrumental in how successful it has been, and I can’t thank you all enough for the enthusiasm you bring to each month’s meeting (next month: Education 2.0 part two, by the way – save the date: 7/17). SMBNH grew so quickly I had to bring on the fabulous Kevin Micalizzi and Matt Turner to help. Another of these is PodCamp NH, which is really starting to gather steam behind the scenes. It’s a good thing I have a good team helping with that (Thanks team: Kevin Baringer, Kevin Micalizzi, John Herman, Amy Greenlaw, Christine Major, Nick Plante)!

One of my favorite ideas is struggling to get past the enthusiasm stage, mainly due to unexpected issues with red tape. That one is Strong Women in Tech, which I discussed the other day. Luckily, I reached out and am now getting some fabulous responses to that cry for help, and this idea may finally push past Stage One and really take off.

Some people look at all of the irons I keep in the fire – clients, speaking, writing, side projects, blogging, and more – and ask how on earth I can do everything I want to and still have a life. Simple: my network. Every single project or idea, as you can see, involves me reaching out to someone (or several someones) from my network I think would be a great fit for the idea actually getting legs and growing. If I didn’t have a strong network, none of this would work.

It isn’t just about me tapping my network, either. My network taps me for their projects all of the time (case in point, Laura tapping me for Twitter for Dummies and Amy tapping me for Film Pop!). Be helpful. Be willing. Be supportive. This collaborative culture and collaborative economy we are in now is a two way street. Grow your network, take leaps of faith, help, support, DO, be bold – and you will grow in return.

Because we want as many people in the education space to attend as possible, we switched the off months to June and will be having this SMBNH on July 17th at SNHU. I’m still finalizing arrangements with the speakers and seeking a food sponsor, so stay tuned for more information.

It may be a signifier that I am a little “kumbaya” at heart, but when I started this project I thought local and national schools would embrace the idea of strong female role models mentoring girls to stay in school and on a path to more involvement and possible future careers in science, math and technology. You know, those “hard” classes many assume girls aren’t into.

As it turns out, the schools do want to have mentoring in many cases, but there is much rampant paranoia out there these days and that has turned into a list of rules and regulations that has to be navigated in each district, and often, at each school as well. The red tape is astronomical. I’ve never seen so many road blocks to getting kids what they need to succeed in life, and I’m not just talking about Strong Women in Tech here, people.

The number of days kids spend out of school due to paranoia over everything from illness and vaccinations to school violence and weather is stunning. When are our kids even learning? Add to that the fact that many programs in arts and music (two things that help kids learn in other subjects like math and science) are cut, labs are under stocked, teachers are overworked, and logical thought is being supplanted by shortcuts (Everyday Math is an atrocity and an insult) and teaching to the test (MCAS, and the “all children left behind” mentality) and you wonder what we’ve become that we would choose to hold our kids back like this.

All ranting about the school system aside, I think that Strong Women in Tech is still an idea with legs (pun not intended). I have the support of a growing number of women who want to mentor at a local level in various areas, now I need to tap support from within school systems. Ladies: please offer up advice and ideas for surmounting this hurdle in the comments here or in the Ning group.

We have some excellent speakers lined up for you, including the possibility of a remote speaker – using the tools they use in the class to speak to us from the class itself. I’ll keep you posted on if that works out. Meanwhile, I have confirmed Wayne Kurtzman, who will be speaking to us about Social Media for 10,000 Creative Kids (and their parents and educators), and another speaker (whom I will announce here once they confirm their topic).

I’ll post the EventBrite page once the venue is finalized. If you would like to host, please contact me ASAP. Remember, the hashtag is always #smbnh

Without further ado, the audio and slides from the last meeting:
THANK YOU to GSIL (Granite State Independent Living) for hosting the last meeting and to Susan Ware Flower for being our liaison for that! The patio was lovely for breakfast, and the panel set up worked out well.

Let’s take Twitter as a case in point. For some people, Twitter is very noisy (for me personally, it is too quiet since this change). Twitter is the largest real-time example of people using a social media tool for very different reasons (though FriendFeed is catching up, I think). You have broadcasters (people who send tweets out but don’t follow others or converse, often celebrities, though not always). There are link spammers (tweeters who send out nothing but affiliate links). Some tweeters are people and businesses who want Twitter to be a business channel only and get annoyed at games and personal use (these people get annoyed at memes like this weekend’s silly #spymaster game). There are those who use it for fun only; those who talk to family and friends only; people who use it to push a political agenda (#tcot, etc come to mind); people who who use it to live-tweet events or activities (like conferences or church sermons); people who use it to plan events; companies who use it for customer service. Amongst the hundreds of ways people use Twitter you also have people like me who freely mix personal and business (this can be noisy).

If you are feeling overwhelmed or annoyed at this constant stream, you can take charge of your experience using a few simple tools, especially on Twitter, with its API encouraging third party developers to play along and create things for the people who use it. I can not stress this enough: you are in control of your social media experience. Here are a few tools to get you started on the road to personal filtering and the calm it will bring:

TweetDeck

TweetDeck is a Twitter client based on Adobe Air. You don’t have to know what that means other than it is something you download to your desktop. It works with both Mac and Windows computers. TweetDeck allows you to sort Twitter in various ways. It offers two filters: groups and keywords. First, you can use the column feature of TweetDeck to sort your Twitter stream into various groups. For example, you can have columns for real life friends, people in your area, thought leaders, clients, organizations you trust, or whatever criteria that works for you. You can then go one step further. On a column by column basis you can also filter out keywords. This means you can fine tune Twitter into groups, and then fine tune those groups even further. For me, personally, I filter out certain hashtags like #tcot, or recommend people filter hashtags like #spymaster if the game is annoying you. You can also filter words IN as well, tracking your friends planning a party, for example. This filter feature is also why I encourage people to use uniform hashtags (see post on it here). It helps people who listen to you fine tune their experience. TweetDeck is my favorite filtering method, personally, though it is key to note that if you close the program, you have to set your keyword filters all over again (your groups stay active). I’d like to see that changed.

Twalala

Like everything social media, this is a useful service often overlooked because of a silly name. Twalala is a web based filtering service. I recommend it when people want to filter more than just a keyword. If a certain person is on a soapbox, or is not adding value to your stream, Twalala lets you temporarily mute them. This means you don’t have to unfollow them then remember to follow them back later – you can just turn them off for a little while. This is very handy, and worth the pain of using the web interface to do, though a desktop app would please me.

Filtrr

This one gets overlooked because the name is so close to the Twitter + Flickr mashup application Flittr. You can even see in my last “use your filters” tweet that I reversed the letters myself when typing quickly. That aside, Filtrr is a Twitter client that uses keywords, groups, user names and interest to filter your stream down, only showing you the tweets it thinks you want to see. I didn’t like this one, but that isn’t surprising since I like to see all tweets most of the time – you never know where inspiration might strike. On the plus side, it offers a mobile application as well as a web interface and an instant message function, so it is definitely the most versatile filter for Twitter as far as using it where and how you want to goes.

Twitterific

This paid client for Mac offers filtering as well, or so I’m told. I must admit that I haven’t tried it lately. I tried it once when it first came out and didn’t find it useful for me and how I “see” things. Perhaps I should look at it again. According to people who do use it, however, it filters. Your mileage may vary.

Nambu

New Twitter client Nambu is also Mac-only. It offers groups, multiple account management, and light filters. They seem very focused on adding features, so I would not be surprised to see better filters added in addition to groups. They also thread tweets, which some people like as an additional stream control method.

Tweetie

Tweetie is an application for the iPhone and the Mac that offers tear out search windows as a filter feature. If you are trying to filter something IN or track an idea or event, you can pop out as many search windows as you like. This is also a paid client, though it offers a version with ads for free. I’d like to see them add ways to filter OUT information as well.

Greasemonkey

This is not for the faint of heart. Using Greasemonkey to filter Twitter can be done, but I know that for me, personally, I don’t find Greasemonkey easy. If you’re game, try this.

There are probably tools out there for Twitter filtering that I missed. Feel free to share your favorites in the comments. In the meantime, know that relaxing about things that might annoy you on social networks, then being proactive to filter them out, will make your online time much more pleasant and productive in the way YOU need it to be.

Post inspired by a discussion with @TWalk today on Twitter about personal filtering that started with his question here.