Announcing Futerati: my favorite Twitter people all in one place (Futurists, Thinkers, Authors, Startups...)

I think you may have noticed by now - I really like Twitter. Twitter and my tweeps have been a huge influence on my work. 

One of the  most important realizations that has recently transpired via my Twitter pipeline is how much I am gaining from the ever increasing Sharism i.e. by what others are sharing with me. I am indeed very, very lucky to be connected to so many brilliant and like-minded people that are publishing their thoughts freely and openly, using platforms such as Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, Slideshare and of course, their blogs. All of you deserve a big THANK YOU.

The increasing scope of the 'Proudly Found Elsewhere' approach (PFE) has become a very important component of my work; and vice versa I am hoping that my output is also PFE'd by others; the social web's "give and you will receive" approach has indeed worked out great for me.

So I figured it's time to give some more explicit credit to all those great people that have influenced me, and I maybe a good way to do that is to list them on a special, Twitter-API-based site such as Futerati; and maybe send some attention their way, in return. Futerati went online a few days ago, and much like Electric Artists' cool TrackingTwitter site (but a lot more personal) Futerati is presenting 6 constantly updated categories (Futurists, Thought Leaders Authors, Activists, StartUps and Others) with people that I follow, their latest tweets, the current number of followers, and with some brief comments on why I like them. With each featured twitter user, you can click straight through to their tweets or their profiles and easily connect with them, as well.

Please note that Futerati is a constant work in progress and therefore not complete at this time; I will be adding a lot more people as I dig through my 7400 network connections, during the next 4-6 weeks.  So, if I should have listed you but have not done so yet please post something on Twitter (use @gleonhard) or use the hashtag #futerati or DM me via Twitter, or email, or comment on this blog. If we haven't 'met' yet but if you still want to be listed please ping me with your details so that I can take a look at you; in any case please note that every single connection I list on Futerati is personally selected by me. Enjoy - and RT!

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My "Music 2.0" book is now available in Croatian language - free PDF, too!

  The amazing power of online networking and collaboration, open platforms, creative commons licensing and crowd-sourcing (whew... that's a mouthful!) has manifested itself once again: for the past 9 months, the tenacious and dedicated Zvonimir Dusper (Dus) from Croatia (LinkedIn profile) has been hard at work translating my entire Music 2.0 book into Croatian language (see the English book site here, download the English version as a PDF here, buy the dead-tree version or U.S. letter size book PDF at Lulu, here, visit the Amazon.com book page [incl. reviews] here).

The book is now available as a free PDF download and in a print version via Zvonimir's Glazba2.0 site - check it out and please forward this post to anyone that may be interested in reading Music2.0 in Croatian  (you can use the tools provided, below)

 To receive the free PDF please use the email box on the left site of the Glazba2.0 site (see here >). Enjoy!

PREDGOVOR HRVATSKOM IZDANJU
Tematika “2.0” u posljednje vrijeme sve više okupira medije (nove i stare :-), pa smo, osim već razvikanim Webom 2.0, sad bombardirani i Novinarstvom 2.0, Marketingom (komercijalnim ali i političkim!) 2.0, Ekonomijom 2.0, Sociologijom 2.0 i drugim raznim inačicama tog fenomena, među kojima nas, ljubitelje glazbe i/ili glazbene pr ofesionalce, najviše zanima upravo tema ove knjige – Glazba

2.0.  Riječ je o promje ni iz sustava kojim je dominirao princip “od-vrha-prema-dole”, u sistem “od-dole-prema-vrhu”, u kojem korisnici/potrošači svojim sudjelovanjem u interaktivnim online mrežama grade tkivo budućih socijalnih ekosistema. P ažnja je postala nova valuta, a poslovni princip vrlo jednostavan – ako je privučeš dovoljno da se posuda prelije, višak možeš lako pretvoriti u novac. Kako god to zvučalo jednostavno, živjeti u 2.0 svijetu znači imati hrabrosti za radikalnu promjenu svojih  navika, i odustajanje od tradicionalnih očekivanja i (nerealnih) projekcija budućnosti.  Budućnost ne dolazi, ona je već tu, samo je neravnomjerno raspoređena – da citiram Johna Cage-a (taj sam citat, naravno, “pokupio” iz ove knjige :-) ....

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Picnic Interview: Gerd on Social Media Marketing

This is from the Picnic Conference blog, taken from a telephone interview with me, last week. Please note that I am firm believer that there is NO COOKBOOK for success in social media (whatever that means!), at least as far as I can tell. And there is no certainly not a definitive correlation between your mere numbers of followers or friends, and the quality or merit of your work. We are still very much in the very first, embryonic phase of social media marketing (and the related personal branding options), and it would be very premature to equal success in numbers with success in business or even any real degree of influence.  I am experimenting with this just as much as everyone else... so, read this below, in that spirit! 

Btw - the Picnic conference in Amsterdam (Sept 23-25, 2009) will be well worth attending (and not just because I'll be speaking ;). Last year's event was thoroughly entertaining as well as inspirational, if sometimes a bit overwhelming due to the sheer number of topics and attendees.  Check out my 2008 Picnic presentation on The New Music Ecosystem, here.

From the Picnic site (comments by me are in[...])

"Last Friday, the team at PICNIC had the opportunity to pick Gerd Leonhard’s brain about social media marketing and what has made him successful. Gerd is a well-known media futurist and a regular PICNIC participant. He travels the world speaking about the future of media, content, technology, communication, business and entertainment.

In less than six months Gerd accumulated over 5000 followers on Twitter and his website traffic [and RSS feed users] increased by 300% (60% of which comes from Twitter). As a result he decided to completely stop communicating with his 17,000-strong database by email and his business has continued to thrive. It was a pleasure to chat with Gerd on the subject of social media marketing and we are excited to share some of his top tips with you.

Pull, don’t push: Get people’s attention by providing value and earn their love by engaging with them. This will naturally lead to increased website traffic and increased sales.

Getting started

• Choose a plausible position and objectives you want to achieve
• Find out where your target audience is, i.e. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube…
• Listen to others and decide carefully who you want to follow and get feedback from
• Track replies and keywords to help you actively participate in the conversation
• Set up multiple accounts if necessary (by topic, employee, etc)

Building momentum

• Jump in: don’t be afraid to start, there is no right or wrong way to use social media for marketing
• Provide value: link to content on your website or blog like videos, slideshows, tips, interviews; provide useful resources from other sites; don’t be afraid to re-package existing content by putting a new spin on the story.
• Avoid sales pitches: but do offer special offers or rewards to members of your network
• Participate: develop conversations with members of your network; ask for feedback or advice
• Be transparent: people will feel more connected with your brand when they know what is going on behind the scenes
• Establish yourself as a thought leader or authority: dialogue with the right people

Measuring success

• Social media marketing is not a replacement for other marketing tactics. Success with social media tools requires time and effort, not money. Success has to be defined by the individual or company.
• The number of followers or members is important, but not the only measurement of success. You can also track traffic to your website generated by social media sites, number of RSS subscribers, and increase in comments or leads.

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The Future of Content starts with Open Platforms!

As I like to say: The Future of Content starts with Open Platforms, Open Standards and Open Licenses

• Getting paid with attribution, attention, traffic, reputation: Open Software Copyright Ruling tells us that attention equals money
  

• Open Really is King - especially now!

• Time for action: the music industry needs the same CHANGE that Obama brings to America (MIDEM 09 thoughts from 'the Utopian')

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Gerd Leonhard Futurist At Jakarta Broadband Summit "Open is King - The Future of Media

View more presentations from Gerd Leonhard.

Net-powered Musicians and Creators: how to take advantage of the Internet (Video)

I did this in early 2008 but it's still very accurate. The video was shot by my friend and fellow blogger Jonathan Marks, in Amsterdam, and talks about how artists and musicians can use the Internet to their advantage. Hope you like it! You can find the same video on my Youtube channel, btw, here.

Gerd Leonard - Net Powered Musicians - VUrbia.com...Life in the Entertainment Age! from JesseJaeo Tolbert on Vimeo.

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Itay Talgam at PICNIC08: Conducting Creativity (great video)

Itay talks about his Maestro Program and explains how business has changed, using the example of how conductors interact with their orchestras. From Itay's site:  The “Maestro programs” were founded on the belief that, in the orchestra as in the work place, music has the power to create community and reinforce shared values. Music embodies knowledge and innovation, individual effort and collective achievement, and offers a work-environment that is full of opportunities for excellence and self-actualization – same as any successful business. These programs offer a unique learning experience that explores the magical relationship between conductor, musician and audience to achieve inspiring new insights into leadership, management, and teamwork".  Great stuff.

I saw his presentation at PICNIC 08, and it was the high-light of this entire event, imho. Well worth watching.

Itay Talgam at PICNIC08: Conducting Creativity from PICNICCrossmediaweek on Vimeo.

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A fantastic List of Social Media Marketing Examples (Peter Kim)

Wow --- fantastic resource and list: Being Peter Kim: A List of Social Media Marketing Examples.

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4 great reports from UniversalMcCann: Trusting Strangers, Widgets, Welcome to the Free World, and Social Media (Wave 3)

Tom Smith at UniversalMcCann (I like their cool tagline 'the next thing now', btw) has just alerted me to some really nice research that was done by them, so here they are. On your next flight or train ride, be sure to print them, and dive in - there's lots of great stuff in here. Tom Smith has an interesting blog, btw, too, here.

Download welcome_to_the_free_world_20080721123522.pdf
Download widgets_trendmarker_feb08_forweb_200803251313542.pdf
Download um-international-social-media-research-wave3-1208176731994979-9.pdf
Download strangers_reportLR_20080924101433.pdf

Interesting book, video trailer, and Wired feature on Crowd-Sourcing

"Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call. Look for the book by Jeff Howe, the man responsible for identifying the term, this August...."   I just ordered the book; review to follow.  Check out the blog here - a fantastic resource! Wired covers it here.

Highlights:In just the last few years the influx of talented amateurs armed with inexpensive, high-resolution digital cameras has upended the economics of stock photography. Five years ago, a professional-quality image was still a scarce resource. No more. This isn't to say the market for high-end photographs has disappeared...he company [istockphoto] is in the midst of transforming its business, from one reliant exclusively on professionals to one that is at least equally reliant on amateurs...And photography may well be just the beginning. iStock itself is doing a burgeoning business in the sale of stock video footage, and the crowd is also making commercials, collaborating on TV scripts, and recording and distributing their own music...."

My slideshows are featured on Insightory.com

I am the featured expert on Insightory.com this week, check it out. I have contributed 8 slideshows, here.

PDF with my best blog posts from April 2008 to today

A lot of people have asked me to compile what I think are my best posts from this blog... so here they are, starting from April 2008 to today (and yes, I will try to keep this updated). Enjoy & Share. 1.5MB PDF

gerd_leonhard_media_futurist_best_blog_posts_4-9 2008.pdf

SMS Revenues were $100 Billion in 2007 (bigger than DVD sales, box office, music industry...)

An astounding number, taken from this slideshow on slideshare.net

BRIC Countries: Mobile IS the Internet (Rising Economies and Web-enabled Phones)

EMarketer presents some good snippets on "Rising Economies and Web Phones". Some snippets

Five of the world's 10 largest cities are located in the fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (the so-called BRIC countries), along with four of the five top markets for new mobile subscribers. Moreover, mobile is not simply viewed as an extension of the Web in BRIC, as it is in the US, Western Europe and parts of Asia-Pacific. Mobile is the Internet for an increasingly large and attractive consumer segment.

""High mobile Internet penetration in the BRIC countries is all the more notable since none of them has yet launched third-generation (3G) mobile services, although each one has either licensed 3G services or will do so by 2009," said John du Pre Gauntt, senior analyst at eMarketer. "Once that happens, marketers can expect even higher mobile Internet penetration rates, with the commensurate ability to conduct more sophisticated and widespread mobile marketing campaigns."

Indeed - and what will they do with their web-powered mobiles?  Get, share, edit, remix, forward... CONTENT. Another huge sharing explosion coming our way - we are still at the tip of the iceberg.






















Watch my "what will happen when we are all connected" movie, here.

New website for my Music 2.0 book (and Amazon has it now, too) - get your dead-tree version now

I have just launched a new website for my 2nd, self-published book, Music 2.0. This new site features some pretty cool widgets that provide auto-updates on the topics covered in my book, plus some new slideshows and videos. Of course, you can still download the PDF of the entire book via this link (will start the download directy) or you can go via my shopping basket first, and make a donation (yes, there is no limit); or better yet you can order the dead-tree version for 19.95 Euro (incl. shipping, worldwide, order with Paypal, via the same site, or if you are in the U.S., you can order the book via Amazon.com, for the pre-election-economic-slowdown-price of $24.99.

I love Miro: free, open source Internet video player that downloads videos from RSS-based channels

I have been using Miro for the past 2 weeks and if you are in the need for lots of videos on specific subjects, and if you don't need to transfer them anywhere, Miro sure wins, hands-down.  Miro's description says it all: "A free, open source Internet TV and video player that can automatically download videos from RSS-based channels" - and that's what it does, indeed.

Because I do a lot of research on the future of technology, media, communications etc I try to watch a lot of videos from some very smart people (you know... proudly found elsewhere and all that...); and so far it's been a pain getting them from 20+ video channels, many of which don't offer downloads. Now, with Miro, I can search 8 or so providers, from youtube to google and blip (see below), in one place, and with one click download them. That made my day, plus I can also cue up videos for automatic downloading. Okay, so sometimes the links are dead and some videos can't be retrieved, but it certainly beats fishing around the web for the stuff that I want to see.  Give it a try. And yes, I do have a Miro channel too (you guessed it).

Wikipedia adds: Miro (previously known as Democracy Player and DTV^[1]) is an Internet television application developed by the Participatory Culture Foundation. It is supported on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.