Clever Thoughts

Overloaded

// June 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Thanks to Brooklyn Museum and Flicker

Growing up I was taught to be inspired by the art and ideas of the Renaissance period. It was a time of great creativity and production. There was great opportunity for those who were looking for it. There was also a sense of holistic value, as we all know “Renaissance Man” refers to one who is edcuated and caught up in many topics.

To be a “Renaissance Man” means to have a lot of good ideas about lots of different things.

Today… it seems, we may be experiencing a new Renaissance. Through the internet and social media we are all connecting to new opportunities and trying out new ideas every day. We share our ideas through blogs, our news through twitter, our pictures through flicker… and on and on. This shared content becomes a way for opportunity to come to find us, as much as giving us the ability to find opportunities.

Well… great… this sounds like a good thing, but I am begining to wonder if it is really a good thing or not. Here is the problem:

I have lot’s of ideas, and they are blowing my brain up and leaking out my ears…

I begin to wonder how I choose the ideas that are of value, hell… I begin to wonder how to decide what is of value. The way I see it is that somethings we do for love, and others for money… but there must be a way to combine these things??

Currently the big themes in my life are GIS/Technology(work), Knitting/Fiber, Community Building, Social Media, Family… I find myself tagging on new ideas to each of these categories everyday, and am not sure where to spend my time. For example, I have a programming idea that relatest to the fiber world, so I could be working on that, but then it distracts from me learning new technology for GIS?

I am sure that i am not the only who feels pulled in all direction these days, perhap we need to start a tweet-up for people who need to find focus.

Community, Conversation, Contribution?

// March 14th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Brain Dump, Social Media

First, if you like this image check out more like this by Intersection Consulting on their flickr page.

When people talk about community they think about neighborhoods or communities that are focused around a theme. So in some ways, community is an issue of geography or topic. For example, there is a strong community around fiber arts/crafts that lives at Ravelry.com that has on the order of 400,000 users. The reason many of the people joined this group is to take advantage of the shared knowledge about fiber projects.

With the internet as a gathering place for community, geography is no longer a factor for many and their has also been a blurring of the focus of topic as well. The idea of community is no longer just about one topic. Ravelry, again for example, has many groups that talk about a wide vareity of topics that have nothing to do with fiber projects. You can find people talking about Dr. Who, Obama, McCain, parenting, and even podcasting (not just the fiber related ones either).

Social media tools have begun to create a new type of community. One that extends beyond any specific focus and geography. This is both confusing and frightening.

It is no longer a question of shared theme as it is about contribution to the conversation. For people on twitter and even with blogs in general, each contribution is judged on it’s own as valuable or not, and these contributions are not expected to always relate to a topic you are expecting. With this new community/conversation comes a new understanding of what you share. As some may begin to worry about what they are putting out there,

I think it is also important to know why you are contributing in the first place. For some it’s business and for others, like me, it’s personal. As someone who posts about places I go and people I talk to, I do put conscious thought into my own security, but that is not the only thing that drives me to share information.. it’s just a part of what I am putting out there.

So, it’s a brave new world where contribution and conversation are not analogues with community… In a way it’s a new “Society”…

I ask you, how do you value contribution, what do you think about all of this, is this something new?

Social Media in a nutshell

// March 1st, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Brain Dump, Social Media

Got some ideas about things… need to get them out of my head.

Facebook is like a series clubhouse. You invite people in, you get invited to other people’s clubhouses, you share things… like posters of movie stars you idolize. You keep people out that you don’t care for.

Twitter is like a caffeteria. You bring people to your table to listen to what they have to say (follow). Others can bring you to there table to listen to (followers). You don’t have to pay attention to everyone at your table, you can listen in to other table conversations, and you can take people aside into the hallway (DM).

But why?

Why do we choose to do this?

Moving My Thoughts

// January 31st, 2010 // No Comments » // Web Site

Packing Tape Practical Joke by L. Marie

This wordpress blog is the new home of my online persona/brand.

I have been running around online and in Boston meeting all sorts of people. I want to keep and touch and share whatever I can. I hope that my blog can help others to get to know me and perhaps help them out in their projects.

Like so many others, I am working on both professional, non-profit, and other projects. I love to experiment in the space between online tools and real life gatherings.

So in other words, my days are full of fun and work…

2010: Dean of Awesome?

// January 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

An open letter to the Awesome foundation:

Dear Awesome Trustees and other affiliated Awesome People,

I would like to openly submit my name for consideration for the position of Dean of Awesome. I believe I have the skills and time to help spread the word and continue to build the community of Awesome that you have begun.

In regards to my experience, please see my linked in page here:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/guidostein

Please see the people who recommend me for the position of Dean of Awesome here:
http://twitter.com/#search?q=guido4dean

Three years ago I had a dream about how community could be fostered around fiber activities (knitting/crocheting/etc) in Boston. There are a powerful amount of fiber folks online and in the Boston area. It was time to bring the community together and celebrate the common interest as well as the things that make us unique.

To this end I worked on building a Guild, Common Cod Fiber Guild, which meets once every other month. With the guild we have created talks, fashion shows, and most recently (see photo to left) we put on FiberCamp Boston, the first un-conference for fiber folks.

I want to bring this kind of vision and social experimentation to your group. I want to see what your community looks like and how it can manifest itself. I want to be, Dean of Awesome.

Speaking of dieing…

// August 14th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Uncategorized

(photo White House by phototram)

Having recently had my aunt pass away I am keenly interested in how people people face death. My aunt showed an incredible amount of strength in spirit as she faced her own mortality. She had been fighting ovarian cancer for years before getting to the point where there were no other options, at which point she began to work on her memorial and spend her time expressing her feelings to her loved ones with the energy she had left.

I love her and miss her.

This morning I read an article in the Boston Globe(paper copy) that stated “Senators eliminate end-of-life provision“. For those of you who don’t know, the provision in question allows for patients to speak to their doctors about their medical options when dealing with death in the current health care reform bill that is currently being fought over debated.

This really depresses me.

Basically, opponents of this provision have turned this into a question of putting old people down like pets. They refer to it as the “death panel” provision. The fear here is that if the government gets involved in health care the choice of who gets care will also include a choice of who will be killed off for the betterment of the nation.

How is it that this issue is being dropped. Isn’t it important for patients to talk to their doctors about living wills and who will make choices in case the patient is no longer capable. Where are all the cancer walkers and the democrats? Why is it so easy to convince everyone that talking to your doctor about death means you are talking about euthanas?

It’s just heartbreaking that this is being dropped. I guess it’s insane that this was the focus of the debate when the whole health care system costs and quality at large is really what is at issue with this bill… no?

Twitter is to conversation as Direct message is to…

// August 12th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

Rules of conversation are relative. It all depends on what you learned from your family and friends and where you are from geographically. In some places you can end a conversation over the phone without saying good bye (I would find this very disruptive)

With the advent of Twitter it seems that we are all learning a new way to converse. With only 140 characters and a few explicit ways to manage and direct the conversation flow, I find that is more important than ever to understand how to interact with others.

With this in mind I would like to share one of my core beliefs about the the Twitter conversation.

If Twitter is a conversation in a huge cafeteria where everyone can select the people they want to listen to, then Direct Messaging(DM) is the equivalent of asking someone into the hallway for a moment.

Using this understanding of DM, it would be ok with me to have you DM me about something personal, like your email or phone number. it would be ok to DM me something that might embarass me or you in front of the rest of the group, like asking what a hash tag is or telling me my avatar is super sexy.

It is NOT OK to direct message me generic information. If you DM me to thank me for following I get suspicious. If you DM me about a pyramid scheme or how to get more followers, I stop following all together.

Today I received multiple DMs about a charity that is trying to get people to tweet their specific congressmen about their cause. They created an app that puts out a message with a hash tag about your local politicians. Clever… but it also has an opt out button that asks to DM all your followers.

By sending DM to all your followers you will be setting a bad rep for you and thing you are sending the DM about. Follow me, based on what I have said so far… I have been asked into the hallway multiple times today to ask to join a cult charity. This was ok the first time, but with every new DM I get from a friend about this, I start to get more tired and unfriendly about the cause.

So, am I crazy about what the meaning of DM is? Is this how you see DM? Let me know what you think.

(The img used above by creative commons use is Lunch by adactio )

Notes from Podcast Boston 4, Aug 2009

// August 9th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Uncategorized

I am exhausted physically and energized spiritually from three days of social media.

I presented a session on getting started on podcasting. It was a wonderful talk with people who are finding their voices and Adam Weiss. You can download the slides here.

My take aways from the weekend are as follows:

• There are always newbies trying to understand social media/internet
• Podcamp is a wonderful place to share and talk about “the conversation”
• Respectful debate is the next frontier

As always, I made podcamp what I wanted it to be, a few good conversations with thoughful people who want to understand what matters online. I had these talks with socail media pros, marketers, and newbies.

Please comment and let me know what you took away from podcamp.

Feeling petty

// August 5th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

Look, I am happy that the two reporters are now back from North Korea. I hope that they and there families will heal from the events that have happened in their life soon.

That being said, this is now the second event this summer that focuses on people with connections to the current administration that has had a resolution for only a few people. The other example is the gates police encounter.

I guess I am feeling like I want a story that shows me that we are all gonig to be saved by Clinton and or Obama. I mean, will Obama invite me and my knitting friends for a cold breew at the white house? Will Clinton fly into Barre and help my friend who is losing his house because he did not have money to keep it after his wife died of a surgery that left her paralyized that was supposed to help her with her cancer.

Let me know that health care is going down in price… let me know that there will be free wifi for all, let me know that we will all have a three day weekend more often…

ok… like I said, just feeling petty. (I know Obama really does want better health care, but those pesky nasayers seem to be getting in the way {without any solutions of their own})

Welcome…

// May 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Welcome To Interaction by craigmdennis

I never know who is going to stumble on this site and I think I need to do a better job at rolling out the welcome carpet.

In case you don’t know… this site is about me, Guido Stein. I am a guy in his thirties who has a lot of varied interests. I spend a lot of time in two categories, knitting (personal) and GIS (professional). I like to share my thoughts and help others with all the things I do. I am constantly learning new things.

If you look to the right of this web page you will find links to some of my projects online (More Content). I have ordered them from the most active at the top to the least active at the bottom. I will update this list as I start new online projects (hint.. hint…).

I hope you enjoy some of my musings and have a look at my many other projects online.

:)