Learning Annex Real Estate and Wealth Expo

For those who didn't go to the Learning Annex Real Estate and Wealth Expo you really missed out. I got the opportunity to go on Sunday and I learned a lot about "The Secret" and Wealth. The mistake I think people make is that it is a Real Estate show.

The keynote by Sir Richard Branson was very inspiring, keeping a thick skin to criticism but thin enough that you are listening to the customers, finding something broken and fixing it,
and helping make Gaia happy. His trip with his son across the Arctic is to promote awareness of Global Warming warmed my heart.

If I had to pick the best seminar I went to it was by Loral Langemeier. She focused on us and used an example of someone in the audience to show that its possible for anyone.

Another interesting seminars was by Bill Bartmann, his choice to make it a Q & A Session and to mention his work with teens in Toronto and the upcoming Rogers Centre teen event was also very inspiring. Bill Bartmann is an amazing sprit. Even spending roughly an hour with him in the seminar gave my spirit a glow for the rest of the day and I am still glowing.

My only disappointment was the seminar by Raymond Aaron. He started off really good but half way through he turn into more of a used car salesman in his approach. Its a shame because he has a lot of good things to say he just needs some help on delivery. If Raymond is reading my blog, I would love to see you connect with Loral as a mentor on your presentation skills as I was inspired by your content it just needs a good vehicle. I think that applying Loral's vehicle to your presentation would bring it over the top.

I will definitely be attending next year its well worth it to get the pass.

If you would like to contact me about my experience at the Expo or have any tips, tricks links etc to add to my portal blog I would love to hear from you. Email me at: chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Musicians and Social Networking

It seems musicians are getting back to grassroots approaches to reach fans and sell records.
In the early days of music, artists sold their own wares, reached out to audiences to sell to and perform to. Through social networking software like YouTube, BlogTv, blogs, wikis, or simply leaving USB Keys in Washrooms, bands are reaching out to share their music and its paying off.

The Arcade Fire album Neon Bible, leaked out on the internet early and fans got a taste of the album. They also provided a 1-888-neon-bible number on their website so fans could listen to tracks on their phone that is why it was a number one album in Canada upon release, people knew what they were buying.

The internet is the new community and Musicians that make the transition are doing quite well.
Check out the Nine Inch Nails wiki http://www.ninwiki.com/Main_Page

Here is hoping more musicians will come on board and do the same.

For any bands interested in performing live via webcam or doing interactive sessions please contact moddy.blaze@blogtv.ca You can peform online wherever you are for free, they even have a studio set up and a web cam so you could even perform on site and broadcast.

Jonathan Abrams is bringing us Socializr

I have to tip my hat to a fellow Torontonian that is making it in the Social Networking realm. Jonathan Abrams was one of the founders of Friendster, now he is bringing us a new Social Networking tool that will help us plan events.

You can check out the full story at: http://news.com.com/2061-10802_3-6167994.html

I have only just started using it but you can check out my profile so far at: http://www.socializr.com/user/chriswilliams

I look forward to seeing this become a success and look forward to people connecting with me on it.

Social Media and Telvision

Finally they are starting to merge these two medias properly.

You have seen the ad campaigns they are everywhere.

"If I wanted to become more literate I would watch a book"
"I watch slice but don't tell anyone, this isn't going to be in an ad is it?"

This website is awesome, I am addicted to it already, be sure to check out the
latest gossip, have a little fun playing games and doing quizzes, you can even check out some advice but my favorite are the videos.

Here is my favorite clip so far: Three Takes hosts and their vices

I guess you could say my vice is slice.

MyBlogTVEvents Blog

As you know from reading my Social Networking Portal, I am very excited about this new BlogTV.ca website. They are getting a lot of exclusive content and its very exciting. But posting it to my social networking blog is a little off topic. That is why I decided the postings would be better served on its own blog . Be sure to check it often for more BlogTV Events.

http://myblogtvevents.blogspot.com/

If you have any questions about blogTV.ca please contact Moddy Blaze at moddy.blaze@blogtv.ca

Social Networking and Politics - Obama

I recently discovered that Barack Hussein Obama has created his own social networking website. Cudos to him for being so up with technology and where people are at.

I thought I would pass on this link so others could check it out.

http://my.barackobama.com/

You may also be interested in a different type of social media, here is a link to
some Obama clips in the media:

http://www.funkylist.com/ViewList.aspx?id=91

Thanks for the feedback and offering of the correct spelling, instead of barrack obama that I had originally. If you have any suggestions for postings let me know at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Luke Fair Performs Live On BlogTV

It seems BlogTV are getting some very exclusive talent appearing on there.
First Henri Rollins and now Luke Fair.

I don't know a lot about this, I just found the ad posted on Showcase. It says he is going to start broadcasting at 10 PM EST Friday February 2.

Here is the link to his show:

Luke Fair on BlogTV

I know I am one person really looking forward to this.

I highly recommend you register early and login early to get a spot. I am sure a lot of people are going to want to take part in this.

If you have any questions about blogTV.ca please contact Moddy Blaze at moddy.blaze@blogtv.ca

Lamplight and Social Networking

A charitable organization that gives teens access to accurate information to make valid sources is making the jump into the places teens are hanging out online.

From their recent posting of their commecials on youtube, to their myspace page coming soon,
they are pushing forward using social networking to connect with teens.

You can check out their video clips on youtube at the following urls:

Lamplight Commercial - The Mirror (On YouTube)
Lamplight Commercial - Headbanger (On YouTube)

Check out their website at http://www.lamplight.org for the most up to date information.

Henry Rollins and BlogTV - video clip links

For those that missed out you on the chat, you can still view the video in 3 parts:

Henry Rollins on BlogTV Part 1

Henry Rollins on BlogTV Part 2

Henry Rollins on BlogTV Part 3

I hope you enjoy watching the clips as much as I did taking part.

Henry Rollins and BlogTV

I am a big fan of Henry Rollins and his rants. That is why when I heard he is going to be on BlogTV for an exclusive interactive chat I thought I would pass on the word.

Here are the details right from the source:

"Exclusively on www.blogtv.ca Wednesday January 17th from 3:30-4:30PM (EST) there will be an interactive chat with HENRY ROLLINS and we want you to be a part of it!

Be prepared to participate in a bold and undaunted discussion as Rollins never shies away from the difficult questions. Although Henry Rollins will be on at 4:00PM (EST) be sure to sign-in on blogTV.ca early to ensure your questions get answered. (If you have not already registered please do so before the event.)

Rollins, the articulate and opinionated front man of the Rollins Band and former lead singer of Black Flag, actor, author and spoken word artist, takes an uncensored approach to talk show programming with a voice that strikes a balance of humour, angst, art and intellect.

Henry Rollins heats up Saturday nights exclusively on IFC with an edgy, indie alternative to late night programming. The Henry Rollins Show is airing Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET and repeating Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.

I highly recommend you register early and login early to get a spot. I am sure a lot of people are going to want to take part in this.

If you have any questions about blogTV.ca please contact Moddy Blaze at moddy.blaze@blogtv.ca

Specialty Channels and Blogging

Even specialty television channels are getting into the blogging realm to reach their audiences. Alliance Atlantis has two specialty channels with blogs and this is only going to expand. Here are a list of their specialty blogs:

• Sideshow" - Showcase.ca Blog


• Food For Thought - FoodTV.ca Blog

I will keep you posted on new blogs as they are created and point out postings I find interesting.

Go Transit Safety

I have created a new blog that I hope will help Go Transit realize the safety risk they
are putting us at by reducing the number of engineers per train from 2 to 1. What if
something happens on the trip to the one locomotive engineer does the train crash?

The blog is available at: http://go-transit.blogspot.com/

Please pass it on to those you know that take Go Transit.

Music and Social Networking

Wallop is attempting at combining music sharing and social networking. This got me interested. Can you tell a lot about a person based on the music they are listening to? Can music be a good icebreaker in starting a relationship. If you would like to share your musical selections and network with people be sure to check out Wallop. I have a couple invitations for those interested.

My friends have provided me with a few music sharing links. Some are simple playlists, others
allow you to create your own playlists based on others choices.

• http://www.indie911.com - A good place to find indie artists and check out some of their tracks. Be sure to check out Joshua Cross


• http://www.jamendo.com/us/ - Find a playlist and have a listen, if you like a track add it to your playlist.


• http://www.dimvision.com/musicmap/ - Find an artist or album and find other things you may like to listen to


• http://www.webjay.org/ -
  
• http://www.songbirdnest.com/
  
• http://www.merchboss.com/home
  
• http://www.myvideokaraoke.com/ - For those into karaoke
  
• http://radioblogclub.com
  
• http://shoutcast.com

Please send on any links you would like added here to chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will check them out and possibly add them.

Youth Information Resources

It is very easy to find resources for kids and adults to find accurate information about
virtually anything but its a lot harder to find these types of websites that cater specifically
to teens. Below are a list of resources I have found that do this.

• Lamplight


• Santa Clarita Valley Youth Project

Please pass on this information to any teenagers you know and by all means if you have
a link that would be good to place here email it to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

BlogTV - The next genereration of social media

I have been hearing the hype about BlogTV for many months now. But as the British say in the famous Tea commercial "Only in Canada, Pity". For you Americans on my list you will have to wait.

But for those Canadians wanting to check it out you can go to http://www.blogtv.ca for details. It is in beta so possibly you will see some hiccups but from what I have seen they are minor. So get out your webcam or video phone and have fun.

I figure by the new year you will be hearing as much about blogtv as you do now about podcasting possibly even more. Its going to be everywhere. I thought I would take this opportunity to share this with my network while its in the early phases.

If you would like to connect with someone over at BlogTV you may contact the Community Development Manager at moddy.blaze@blogtv.ca

You can check out Mr Mugatu, my 30lb cat with a 21 inch waist in his blogtv debut at:

http://www.blogtv.ca/ShowVodsListPage.asp?VodId=b2ZrZeXG&page=hp&list=PV&param=0&s=1&pos=ancr

This clip is really funny. Its all about technology and how we love it LOL.

http://www.blogtv.ca/ShowVodsListPage.asp?VodId=ZmPrZeVG&page=hp&list=PV&param=0&s=1&pos=ancr
This should give you a couple starting points. There is a lot of good content here. This posting will hopefully turn into a top 10 list of the top blogtv.ca links.

I have 10 wallop invitations with most of you know are hard to come by. The first 5 people to email me with a link to their entry on blogtv.ca will get an invitation to join my network on wallop. Both websites are leading edge technology, both are in beta and both are going to be huge next year. I look forward to connecting with you on wallop and voting for your entries on blogtv.

If there is a blogtv link you really find funny be sure to vote for it and maybe it will appear here. Also, be sure to email me them to me as well at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Churches, The Bible and Social Networking

A lot of churches are realizeing they need to reach out to the community.
Also a lot of people are realizing they need to fill the spiritual void but are not
comfortable in the church environment.

I came across this link to a United Church in Toronto I pass on a daily basis.
Check out their online website, it has blogging, video, polls and much more.

The link is http://wondercafe.ca/

One thing great about the church I go to (The Sanctuary is that the sermons are about issues we are interested in. When Davinci Code the movie came out we discussed it on 3 sundays and during the week the pastoral team went with some of the congregation to the movie.

I came across an article that lead me to this church, Southwood Lutheran and they realized that their youth congregation was watching Greys Anatomy and that the show brought up some good questions. They did a series of sermons on it. Kudos to them. It is in hopes more churches will do this possibly with other shows, music kids listen to etc. God finds relevant teaching in the oddest places you just have to look closely.

Hopefully this trend will continue on these sites and at other churches.
Someone sent along a link to a site that has a list of great church websites you can check it out at: http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/

But its not just about church sites though, people are creating their own sites, blogs etc in order to reach out and network to find the answers they need. One example that just started but I am sure will be a big hit is http://www.BlogTheBible.com This site just started but from connecting with the creator of this site I know its going to be a much talked about site in 2007

Even television is getting revolutionary with new religious comedys like Little Mosque on the Prarie. I know I am going to be watching it tonight. Be sure to click on the Watch Clip tab for a good laugh.

Thanks to those who have sent me links. I am going to start posting these at http://www.funkylist.com but here is a ist of some of the one I have been sent:

Community Mobilization: Social Network Analysis in the Bible
http://como.typepad.com/community_mobilization/2007/01/social_network_.html

Social Network and Bible Names
http://pagitt.typepad.com/pagittblog/2007/01/social_network__1.html

Social Networks in the Bible
http://www.chrislott.org/2007/01/29/social-networks-in-the-bible/

eBible Launches - Social Network for Bible Study
http://mashable.com/2006/09/11/ebible-launches-social-network-for-bible-study/

If you have a link to a really cool church website or a list of them email me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will post it here.

Introduction To Wallop

A lot of people are hearing the hype about a new Social Networking website called Wallop. There is a lot of rumors
flying around that this was a Microsoft initiative but they dropped it and others continued the project.

The truth is that Microsoft has an equity stake in Wallop but they are an independant company. I am impressed so far with what I have seen of the beta version. I love the contact grouping functionality in fact I have been bugging LinkedIn for this for a couple years now. The network view is also quite revolutionary as I can visualize which contacts are in my realm and see a thumbnail picture of people so I can more quickly find the person I am looking for. I love that you can share music and pictures with others but also limit them to the groups you create as well.

Firstly, to get invited you need to either find someone else who has an invitation or go to www.wallop.com and on the home page is a place to request an invitation. I got mine through the latter.

The first thing to do once registered is to upload your picture to your profile. Right now this process is not fully intuitive so you may have to play with your uploaded picture a little to get it as your profile picture. Once this is done you will get 5 invitations to send.

For those trying to compare this experience to another Social Network, I would tend to compare it more to MySpace than LinkedIn but I feel that comparing this to MySpace is not a real fair comparison as I think Wallop is going places MySpace is only dreaming of.

They even have an API to allow others to customize their experience and create mods to share with others.
I have only just downloaded the API, but I am hoping to create my own mods soon.

Over the next couple months I am hoping more of you will get connected to Wallop and send me a link to your favorite mods along with other tips and tricks on how to use wallop.

As more invitations become available to me I will try and share them with the group.

Happy Neworking.

Recruiters and Sourcers Links

Recruiters and Sourcers have a great need to network. If you have a link that would be useful for these groups of networkers that you would like to recommend, please let me know at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

The following are links to help recruiters and sourcers create and develop your network:

FEATURED LINKS:

• My Good Friend Shally Steckerl has done a lot of research on shortcuts to help recruiters network better. You can access some of his cheatsheets at: Recruiter Cheatsheets

RECOMMENDED LINKS

• Recruiters and Sourcers (Yahoo Group)


• Sourcers Unleashed (Yahoo Group)
  

Networking Trainers, Gurus and Coaches

Networking has been around for a long time and people are at different levels in the learning process. Some are just beginning, some just need a few tips, others have been doing it for a while and need a fresh look, while others have been doing it for many years and have lots to share.

This is where trainers, gurus and coaches come in. They can help mentor and train up other networkers or simply create a spark or introduce something new to other seasoned networkers. Below I have listed some people with this gift. This is by no means a complete list.

If you know a trainer, guru or coach you would like to recommend, that would help people learn to network please let me know at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

The following are people I personally get my training and spark from:

FEATURED PEOPLE:

• Mark Freeman has a strong networking presense in Dallas Texas and a passion for networking. You can check out is Wiki at MyLinkWiki. The DallasBlue Business Network is a powerful network containing the best of the best in Texas. You can check out the
  DallasBlue Executive LinkedIn Group to connect with Mark and others power networkers from Texas
  
  
• Vincent Wright has a passion for everything he does personally and professionally. From first meeting him on MyLinkedInPowerForum I was in awe of his passion for helping others, to paying it forward, to building people up.
  
  This is why I recommend strongly that you check out MyLinkedInPowerForum along with LinkedIn Venture Capital and even more strongly that you connect with him. Your life will never be the same.
  
• Dan Williams is a networking guru, he travels the world helping people network better. Please check out his The Networking Community
  


• Ray Van den Bel coachs people in communication styles,
  profiling and networking using web 2.0 tools. He just wrote a new 2-day
  course. It is about communication styles which lead to effective
  profiling and networking on the net. I highly recommend checking out his blog at http://newnetworking.blogspot.com/
  
  For more information please contact Ray at vandenbel@gmail.com
  
• John MacKinnon trains professionals in sales and business development roles to improve their selling and client relationship management skills. Please check out his website for more details at http://www.mackinnongroup.ca/splash.asp
  

Networking Tools

Building a network can take a long time, that is why it is important to optimize it where you can through the use of various tools. Some tools will be as simple as Postal Code/Zip Code lookup tools, while others such as Personal Brain are meant to help you keep track of your thoughts.

If you have tool you would like to recommend, that would help people network more efficiently, please let me know at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

The following are tools to help your create and develop your network more efficiently:

FEATURED TOOLS:

• Social Networking Resource List - This is a list of social networking resources on FunkyList.com. Check it out and create your own lists for whatever topic interests you.


• Web 2.0 Directory - This site was recommended to me by a colleague and its awesome.


• Social Network Lexicon - This site has definitions for various terms related to Social Networking

RECOMMENDED TOOLS:

Name Generation Tools

• hrca website

Online Lookup Tools

• Zip Code and Area Code Lookups


• US Map With World Time Zones


• Country Code Lookup
  

Blogging Tools

• blogger.com


• feedblitz
  

Search Engines

• Multi Domain Google Search


• IceRocket Search Tool



Event Planner Tools



• eVite - Online Event Inviter Tool



Social Networking Efficiency Tools




• LinkedIn Lion Tools
  These are tools specifically for LinkedIn Lions. To become a LinkedIn Lion go to LinkedIn Lions

Network Organization/Analysis Tools



• http://www.mindjet.com/us/


• http://www.orgnet.com/inflow3.html


• http://www.huminity.com/


• http://www.thebrain.com

LinkedIn Specific Tools

• LinkedIn Contact Manager (Bottom Right Corner of the Page)

Website Statistical Tools

• StatCounter - Free Website Statistics Tool

Document Creation/Conversion Tools

• PDF Generation Tool

Insert Tool Here - Now its up to you. Do you have any tools for me to add? If so, email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will add them to this posting. Let's help each other make good use of tools so we can help each other succeed in networking.