JAFDIP

Just another frakkin day in paradise

Archives for January 2012

Empire Avenue and what it means to your influence

If you have not experimented with Empire Avenue (EAv) by now you should consider giving it a try. One thing you will notice about EAv is that it allows you to aggregate many of your other social media accounts into one location for the purpose of generating your score. Unfortunately, this linking is limited and the following are the only networks with 100% connectivity;

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • YouTube
  • Foursquare
  • WordPress.com

Unfortunately, both Instagram and GooglePlus are still beta invitation only options. On of my major misgivings with the inclusion of Instagram is that it is a limited platform being only available on iOS devices like the iPhone. You can not even sidestep this requirement with web access so as far as influence is concerned I am no buying into this option.

In addition you can add RSS feeds which can be upgraded to upgrade these to the status of blog with enough EAv user endorsements. Personally, I have a minor issue with these two icons as most RSS feeds appear orange. In any event this is the only way you can add you own hosted WordPress blogs as the WP connector only works with your .COM account.

The short of this is that all of your activity is aggregated into a stock valuation which is measured in eaves. Let’s take a look at an example of an EAv stock profile.

Mikel King's EAv ProfileThere are several items worth noting. The first being the stock ticker price. In this case the price for the (e)MikelKing ticker was 62.89 and was down (-0.41) from the previous day. Next you should examine the index that the stock is listed under which is Software: Open Source in this particular case. In addition consider the users position on the index. Being in the top three CEO, President or CFO seem to offer a premium on earnings.

Your connection and network activity scores determine your position on an index. The amount of activity in each network connection contributes to your overall standing. Many users have speculated that some networks are valued higher than others, however; I have conducted extensive research. I have experimented with various networks and determined that consistency and irregularity tend to give the appearance of weighted valuation.

What I mean by this is that if you are a huge Twitter user and tweet consistently from day to day your valuation will actually be flat. If you are an intermittent Foursquare user and suddenly increase your check-ins this will have a positive impact on your total valuation. So one thing that EAv is good for is seeing what arenas of the social media fabric you are neglecting. If you increase your activity in those weaker areas your stock will improve as a result. Let’s examine another example.

Mikel King's updated Profile on Empire AvenueThe first you will likely notice is the stock ticker and stock price have changed. This is not a different profile I decided to shorten my EAv ticker to just (e)MK. The next thing you might notice it the Net Wealth has more than doubled since the previous screen shot. This is because I follow a simple pattern of buying and selling. I buy new people in large quantities and when they start to drop I sell off most of my stock. One important point to note is that I try to spend no more than 15 minutes on a given day interacting with EAv directly like this.

I used to be extremely active in the communities but learned through careful experimentation that they do nothing to increase your EAv Actions value. That being said these interactions are good for your overall social media standing. I made many connections through EAv that have crossed linked into Twitter, LinkedIn and even Facebook. In fact many people have followed me to Flickr and YouTube as well so the tangent blessings are numerous.

By now you are probably pondering why EAv Actions are important well unlike all of the other network activity scores these are definitely weighted higher. The more EAv activity you can generate the higher your index rank will be as well as you stock value. So the next time you are about to buy 200 shares in a person consider buying that same amount spread over multiple smaller transactions. Al that I will say is try it and report back here in the comment thread your own findings.

I hope that you’ve learned something about Empire Avenue and are considering signing up. I believe that you will learn to extract value from the service possibly in the same way that I have. As with anything in social media your mileage will vary and honestly what you put into to it will determine what you take out of it.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

What You Should Take Away From A Networking Event (besides moo cards)

#140ConfAt some point during our time on Social Media, most of us will have attended some form of networking event. This could be a 140 Conference event, a cocktail party, or an event for a launching start up.  Each experience presents opportunities for its attendees.  I  have had the good fortune to be present for a good number of such events in the two and a half years I have been involved with Social Media.  The most common practice among the people attending is to share business cards.  This is an excellent way to connect to others with like interests, a speaker you found interesting, and in some cases, even a brand you were impressed with.

Handing out your cards is only a small part of the vast array of benefits you could harness while at such an event.  In no particular order of importance, I have found the following to be true:

You should gain a new perspective about a point of interest, knowledge, and even yourself. I have always heard that two sets of eyes are better than one, In Social Media that rings very true.  Sometimes you need someone else to point out a new angle of an existing concept in order for you to really get it.  These events give you an opportunity to meet people from all over the world and gain a perspective you may not have access to otherwise.

I normally attend 140 Character Conference events because they are attended by the most people I associate with in Social Media.  I have enjoyed every minute I have spent at these conferences and the time spent at the events surrounding them.  If there is one held near you, I suggest you check it out.  Even if you just attend an event like a cocktail hour or dinner.  The conferences are also available via Ustream when they are held but I enjoy the person to person meeting that goes with them when you attend.

Recently, I began to check out a few other conferences that were held here in NY.  I attended Business Insider’s Ignition 2011 conference which was a totally different experience from the 140 Conferences.  I actually learned that I agree with some of Glen Beck’s ideas about media and the future of media.  Before this, I really didn’t have an opinion on him but after his presentation, I was left with a good impression of him as a thinker. We were treated to a great interview with Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.  I was very impressed by the way she represented herself as well as Facebook.  You can read more about that here.

I found the Business Insiders conference to be a bit less social than the 140 Conferences but the information attained was extremely valuable.  You can read a bit about Angry Birds, Turntable.fm, and Google here. This gathering was more technical minded with less emphasis on the social side, yet there was some time set aside to mingle and network.

I also attended the Social Media Analytics Conference here in NY this year.  Again, this one was more technical but there were always moments to socialize and get in some connecting time.  I do find the technical side to be just as interesting as the social side, after all, one really can’t exist without the other.  I can come away from these gatherings with a clearer idea of what new technologies are coming up an which will make my social media life a little easier.

If you have a chance, I suggest you check some out in your area, find an affordable one to start with and just go.  See what you come away with for yourself.  I don’t think you’ll be sorry and you may find a new activity to add to your schedule.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

How the job search has changed

No matter how stable your work environment is at one time or another you’ve considered looking for a new job. Unfortunately, with the US economy in the state of near depression and jobless rate the highest they’ve been in many decades you are probably content sitting tight where you are. On the other hand if your employer is considering tightening the company’s belt you may soon have little choice but to pound the pavement.

  • What has your experience been like?
  • Are you currently searching for a job?
  • Have you ever been unemployed?
  • Are you having trouble finding qualified workers?

I can tell you from personal experience as well as the collective experience of many of my close associates this is not a good time to be on the street searching for a new job. The game has changed dramatically, evolving in ways you probably can not imagine. Many conservative people feel that if you are good at what you do then you will have little trouble finding a new role, however; they often overlook the obvious.

Image representing LinkedIn as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase

Many prospective employers want to hire the best but only pay for the middle tier. When they interview a high caliber prospect they will often pass this person over because they assume these individuals are too expensive to hire. In addition because of the high unemployment numbers prospective employers are more likely to wait hoping for the mythical perfect candidate.

All this while the US government does little more than encourage people to return to school ultimately over educating themselves out of the possibility of useful let alone meaningful employment. It is a great travesty to have recent graduates holding a BA in archeology stocking shelves at Toys-R-Us or flipping burgers at McDonalds. How will these individuals ever hope to pay back the hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans if they can not even attain meaningful employment?

All of this negativity aside let’s consider how the game has actually changed. For one we have LinkedIn and if you do not have a profile already I can only ask what the hell are you thinking? Do you honestly think that your Facebook profile will help you land that dream Actuary job? To be honest in the search for new gainful employment Facebook is the last stone you should look under.

If you are a coder you should seriously consider publishing some of your work on github and stackoverflow because employers do not just want to see your resume’ and cover letter. They want proof that you can write top notch applications. Once again if you are on LinkedIn you can add many of these elements to enhance your professional profile.

If you are a presenter or public speaker you might consider setting up a account on you-tube or slideshare so that you can have examples of your skill at the ready when asked. Obviously you do not want to give all of your secrets but you certainly need to show case your ability.

Employment Exhibition
Image by Modern_Language_Center via Flickr

This is definitely not your fathers’ job search. Times have changed drastically since the days of the onion paper heavy bonded resume. No longer is it even necessary to bring pre-printed copies to your interview. In fact times have changed so much that a printed copy of your resume is actually frowned upon by many new media and tech companies as a wasteful practice. Coupled with the ability to apply for jobs using your LinkedIn profile the resume is fast becoming a tool of the dinosaur.

No the resume is far from dead but as our lives become more digitally enhanced it will not be long for this world at the rate things are progressing. It is unfortunate that there does not seem to be a major competitor to LinkedIn in this arena, however; the use of customized applicant tracking tools like taleo, jobvite, and icims appear to be dwindling. While these systems are a boon for HR and recruiting they are nothing short of a miserable experience for the job seeker.

If you are looking for a job in technology or new media I can not encourage you enough to follow my twitter stream. I am contacted all the time by recruiters and associate asking for connections and recommendations for positions. If you are on LinkedIn then feel free to connect to me as I might know someone you are looking for or someone looking to hire you. I am big on making introductions and often take time to connect people that I think could work well together. Finally, I regularly post tweets of NYC startups that have open listings. I do not always have time to cull through these listings and break out individual positions but I do check to see if they are current.

The comment field is open let’s hear what you have to say.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta