No Copy

The end

UPDATE

The comments so far have been truly heart-wearming. I had never even expected anyone would miss posts on this blog. But then again: you are all such polite people, so I can see the reason behind your expressing what you have until now... ;-D

Still, it feels good as it is right now. And it would seem I'm not alone with this 'feeling'.  According to a recent future report by The Future Laboratory "a growing minority of overloaded consumers are phasing out their virtual selves and returning to face-to-face socialising," as you can read here for example. So yes, I'll be sticking around on the web but when I say something like "see ya", that would be IRL preferably!

Christmas holidays, the new year in sight. Time to relax a little. Spend time with family and friends. And... try and catch up on the many mails, requests, notificiations,... that I have been receiving lately. Via Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, Scarlet mail, work mail, Flickr, Facebook, Netlog, Twitter,... Not to mention the good old post cards that seem to be flooding our snail mail box (thanks to everybody who sent us one - we're working on sending one back to you).

Perhaps it's the melancholic feeling I always get at the end of the year. Perhaps it's the lack of sunlight during these short days and long nights. But frankly, I'm tired. The web is a great thing, but I get the impression mankind has not evolved to the extent that our brains can cope with it all. Or at least, I haven't...

So no wonder people are shutting down their blog, are pronouncing the bankruptcy of social networking (found via Netlash) or are setting up a Facebook group that illustrates the same feeling of being fed up with some of the web2.0 overkill... Personally, I'm also going to take some time off blogging. Perhaps I'll pick it back up again later, perhaps I won't. But I am going to take some time to think about how, where and when I'm going to shape my 'online identity', if any.

I am not unplugging the internet, mind you. But this blog is probably going offline soon. It was a great tool in helping me to get to understand the blogosphere phenomenon. And it has introduced me to a great many wonderful people. I am not going to sum them up. I'm afraid I might forget some... But I'm sure they know who they are.

So thanks to them, and thanks to anybody who has ever visited this blog or commented on it.  All the best for 2008 and see you soon. IRL or online...

This one's for the road (tacky? who me? ;-D ) :

Bruxelles (see you in...)

The EuroBlog 2007 conference is still fresh in my mind, if only because our college was an active participant in organising it (as part of our Leerstoel Jos Willems) and I had the opportunity to be sitting "in the front row" of the event.

Still: it's time to move on. So here's the call for papers for EuroBlog 2008. And you know what the good news is (at least from a Belgian's point of view)? The 2008 edition takes place in... Brussels! That's right: Brussels, Brussel, Bruxelles...

Web 2.0, who cares?

I noticed this week that Andrea Weckerle has picked up blogging again (welcome 'back', Andrea). In her most recent post, she finds it really curious that some people would "ask where I'd gone. They didn't put my name into a search engine, which would've shown the recent hangouts. Instead, they must've just assumed that if I wasn't here l wasn't anywhere. What does that say about social networking sites and online communities? Well, it drives home the obvious point that while there is some overlap between friends/contacts across groups (and in the PR & social media circles probably more so than average), all-in-all it's less than one would expect."

I'd say she's got a point. Her observation also made me think about this quote I read some time ago on Threadwatch.org (via Jan van den Bergh):

  [photo]

"The title (viz. above, nocopy) isn't mine, it was from a 16 year-old kid that belongs to the wireless generation. His entire quote was,

“Web 2.0, dude, who cares, where’s Phone 2.0? The web is for old people and losers”.

What I've noticed is that teens are more connected than ever before, just not to the web, and usually not via PC. They don't care about 'social media' and Myspace was a fad. The kids I spoke to used it for two weeks or so, got bored and moved. Their 'social network' is real, and when they aren't together in 'real life' they stay connected with their cell phones. They aren't using Digg, Netscape, Facebook or "Web 2.0". Even the few that have blogs might post once or twice a month and even the self-admitted 'geeks' sad that the Web is like a big commercial.

A few of them shop on the Web, but it's word of mouth advertising that influence their purchases, not ads on Myspace or blogs, unless one of their friends happen to blog about something. All of them said they use cell phones and text messaging much more than they surf the Web or use messengers. I know they aren't the influencers now, but they will be. So where is all this social media stuff headed?"

You know what? Judging from how my students react to this web 2.0 'thing', this post on Threadwatch might be closer to the truth than most of us suspect... Or do you disagree?

Back to life

Finally life is beginning to get back to normal after a hectic couple of weeks. The Chair Jos Willems last week was a success, as well as the CONGA Award. I'll be devoting one or more posts to the Chair Jos Willems later - right now I'm still putting the presentations online. 

The missing link between the CONGA Award and the Chair Jos Willems, by the way, was the omnipresent Tom De Bruyne from i-merge. I-merge did not only win this year's CONGA Award, Tom also presented one of the keynotes of the Chair. So in honour of Tom, this photograph that he was so glad to see appear on Digimedia :-) :

No Time To Play

Not a lot of posting this week, nor the week to come. Preparations for the Chair Jos Willems/EuroBlog 2007 Conference are drawing to an end. And, as the saying goes, it's always darkest just before sunrise. I guess that's why I hardly find time for anything else but this conference nowadays.

Add to this the fact that I'm also in the organising team of the annual CONGA Award (to be held next Tuesday), and I'm sure you can see I have no time to play. What a shame...But still: worth the effort!

If you haven't registered for the Chair Jos Willems yet, you can still do so on the site. The list of participants is growing fast. So if you're into social media and you can find the time on 15, 16 and/or 17 March, don't hesitate!

Don't miss out on this!

Spread the word: registrations for the Chair Jos Willems / EuroBlog 2007 Conference can begin!

A year ago, EuroBlog 2006 showed that interactive social media technologies – weblogs, podcasts, wikis, real simple syndication, folksomonies, social tagging, personal networks and other species of social software and services - were beginning to impact on communications in many different ways. The 2007 symposium will present insights from EuroBlog 2007, the second pan-European quantitative survey on the usage of social media by communication professionals, draw new theoretical insights and respond to industry feedback by identifying and presenting examples of best practice.

A must for every communication professional

The EuroBlog conference, which will be held on 16 and 17 March of 2007, is to take place during a larger event, starting on the 15th of March already: the Chair Jos Willems, organised by the Communications Management and Journalism departments of Artevelde College in Ghent (Belgium) and named after the man who started the college over 40 years ago. Artevelde College and the European PR Education and Research Association (Euprera) are organising the EuroBlog 2007 Conference together.

If you're interested in social media and the impact they have on the field of communications (be it in pr, marketing communications as well as journalism), the Chair Jos Willems is a must, offering a Dutch programme with a wide range of topnotch speakers as Tom De Bruyne of i-merge, Clo Willaerts of Skynet, Luc Van Braekel and (pdw) as well as many others on Thursday the 15th. The (English spoken) EuroBlog 2007 Conference on 16 and 17 March is also not to be missed, especially considering the fact that the results of the EuroBlog 2007 survey will be made public, that more than twenty speakers from nine countries are expected to present their findings and insights and that the keynote on Friday is deliverd by Neville Hobson, whom you might/should know from crayon and For Immediate Release.

Register today!

The number of seats at the Chair Jos Willems is not unlimited. So register quickly and make sure you do not miss out on this unique opportunity to sharpen your knowledge on social media as well networking with a fine selection of people with whom you share professional interests. Visit the website www.leerstoeljoswillems.be today and, should you speak English only, go to the page 'Information in English'. On the site you will find more details regarding the programme, the location, the registration fees and so on.

See you soon, in Ghent!

Nothing beats RL

How do you get the cream of the Belgian online community* together in one room nowadays? Exactly: you pick up on the Second Life hype and organise an SL demo. That's exactly what Pascal Vanhecke did last night - thanks to Pascal for the initiative (and for setting up the online Belgian SL forum) and to One Agency for letting us use their office space.

Was it interesting? It sure was. Even with a lot of divided opinions - Miel is really digging it and gave an interesting presentation on how brands can/don't yet/should use SL, whereas Bart sees no merit in SL and is convinced it is doomed to remain a niche product (Dutch only) - it was a great initiative, if only to meet with people you usually only know or meet through the internet. **

Still, my conclusion? Nothing beats Real Life so far.

UPDATE: if you want to know what that cream looks like, you can see some photos on MarketingBlog.eu.

* Not counting in myself here of course, and still omitting a great many others.

** Some of them (like Clo) really are internet addicts; me, I am still eligible for salvation:

You Are 55% Addicted to the Internet

You're somewhat addicted to the internet - but who isn't? You can keep it under check, and you're by no means a hermit.

Are You Addicted to the Internet?

Later!

Since I have been elected man of the year 2006, I guess I can rest on my laurels for a while now. That's why I'll be taking some time off - at least where this blog is concerned - and (more or less putting Tom Murphy's advice to my and my family's benefit) focus my attention on the really important things in life for the last ten days of the year. And you know what: I suggest you all do the same.  :-)

In the meantime: enjoy the YouTube revelation of the year as far as I'm concerned: Olga Janssens a.k.a. Ronita Yori a.k.a. The Singing Toilet Lady. She is 69 years old and finally got picked up this year by national radio. She has already written six novels and numerous songs, and is currently hoping her hobbies will lead to a breakthrough. Rumour has it that in the meantime her internet presence has led to a record company wanting to sign her...

Time magazine is right: "In 2006, the World Wide Web became a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter." See you in 2007 - hope you have a great Christmas and a wonderful new year!

But where's the beard?

Had a great meeting earlier this week. Together with two colleagues, I had lunch with Bart De Waele, founder and CEO of Netlash, a Ghent-based web company. Bart has agreed to be one of the speakers at the International Chair Jos Willems I mentioned earlier.

[photo via]

He'll be introducing us into the secrets of Search Engine Optimisation on the new web. Bart's commitment to the chair is another plus to the programme, which promises to be really good. If you want to find out if Bart knows what he's talking about, just Google 'Bart' and you'll see for yourself...

Even though our chat about social media, pens, pipes and lots of other things was really interesting, there was one thing that was bothering me. I couldn't put my finger on it at the time, but now I know. Having a rather visual memory and having 'met' Bart on the internet a few times before, I have finally found out what is was... Where is the beard, Bart?

Note: One of the other speakers I managed to meet up with earlier this month, is Cindy De Smet, well-known for many things web, among which the podcast aggregator Doppler and edublogs.be; she'll be showing people from the field of education how social media can be used in their line of work. Tom De Bruyne from i-merge has, in the meantime, already assured us he will also be on the speakers' list. A big thanks to them as well. More speakers are already known by the way, but I'll keep up the suspense just a little bit longer. In any case: you can be assured that blocking 15-17 March 2007 in your agenda will be worth your while.

EuroBlog 2007 coming to Ghent

The EuroBlog2007 survey into the impact of social media on public relations and communications practice in Europe has started. Until the end of November, professionals in the field all over Europe will (hopefully) be participating in the survey. If you are a European pr or communications practitioner, please complete the questionnaire (it will take about ten minutes) and please do all you can to encourage colleagues to do so, too. Clearly, the more people who respond the more useful the results will be. So please link to the survey from your blog, and link and comment on the EuroBlog 2007 blog.

The results of the survey, conducted in co-operation with Euprera, will be made known at the EuroBlog conference, which will be held on 16 and 17 March of 2007. This conference, by the way, is to take place during a larger event, starting on the 15th of March already: the International Chair Jos Willems (ICJW) - more of a conference that an chair in the traditional meaning of the word, organised by the Communications Management and Journalism departments of Artevelde College in Ghent (Belgium) and named after the man who started the college over 40 years ago (website to launch soon). Yep: that's where I come in... :-D

The ICJW will be hosting a Dutch programme on Thursday 15 March both at the International Congress Center Ghent in the morning and at the college itself in the afternoon (in the afternoon there will be separate programmes for marketing communications and pr on the one hand, and journalism on the other). The list with speakers will  include specialists in the field and should be available soon. On Friday 16 and Saturday 17 November, the ICJW welcomes the EuroBlog conference (English programme) at the Nemrod hall, located within the walls of the college. A call for papers for this conference will also be available in due course.

If you're interested in social media and the impact they have on the field of communications (be it in pr, marketing communications as well as journalism), the dates of the ICJW and the EuroBlog conference in particular should already be marked in red in your brand new 2007 agenda...

Note: As last year, the people behind Euroblog are working with partners in each Europeran country and there still opportunities for people to act as country co-ordinators, organising a range of publicity activities to reach as many people as possible. This is particularly important in countries where professional associations are less well represented. If you would like to be involved in EuroBlog 2007, contact Philip Young of the University of Sunderland.