Thank you AOC! August 17, 2007
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Digital.trackback
It’s been a month since the launch of ‘The Age of Conversation’ and I think it’s a great time to sit back and take stock of how the book has impacted my life and the AOC community. But before that, let me thank the people who worked behind and in front of the scenes to make this dream come true. It’s a huge list of people & contributions and I’m sure to have missed a few – my apologies in advance! Here’s to the heroes and heroines of ‘The Age of Conversation’.
It all started with Drew McLellan & Gavin Heaton.
Thank you for spearheading the Age of Conversation and doing everything that made this book a reality. Thank you for your emphatic leadership and vision. Thank you for bringing us closer and showing that the world is really a global village. You are our superheroes of the season. Yeah, the bots from Transformers, Spiderman and Jason Bourne all run a close second.
CK gave a new dimension to AOC by leading the initiative to gift copies of the ‘Age of Conversation’ to Fortune 500 CMOs. Toby Bloomberg, Mario Vellandi and I have also teamed up to spread the word on AOC in the corporate world through this smart marketing initiative. We are proud to dedicate the book to the memory of her darling momma, Sandra Kerley. I’d also like to thank CK for spreading love through her cookies. Though I haven’t had the pleasure of having your yummy cookies, I love the affection you gift to people through them.
PR Guru David Reich worked behind the scenes to ensure that AOC received its due share of PR coverage around the world. David Armano designed the elegant cover of AOC. Roger Anderson supported the editors on the intricacies of self-publishing. Thank you guys!
Amazing Matt Dickman brought the AOC community closer together through social media tools. He gave us our very own Flickr community group and Wetpaint wiki. Oh yes, and also a Google Map highlighting the global nature of this blook.
Sean Howard showed us that he is the unchallenged king of ‘nekkid comedy’ with a spoof video that celebrated the arrival of the AOC books at his office.
Steve Woodruff added a brilliant touch by giving AOC an official mascot. Curious George is currently on tour in the United States, before heading to Europe, Middle East and Australia before reaching home at Variety, the Children’s Charity. He also gives us a quick recap of every chapter in the book.
Mark Goren took the great initiative to create ‘Age of Conversation Contributors and Friends’ Group on Facebook. The Group has 167 members as of today.
Mark Blair went a step ahead and set up a Google CSE which helps search the blogs of all contributing authors of AOC. Brilliant, don’t you think? It didn’t stop there. Fuelled by what must have been barrel loads of caffeine, Mark then went on an enterprising 24-hour Internet Marketing Challenge liveblogging and promoting AOC online!
Lub Debaisieux did a brilliant post that effectively captures the impact of AOC on reality – essentially, how the seed of an idea germinates into a huge tree delivering the fruits of immense positive actions.
Press Mentions in the Sultanate of Oman & Middle East
A big thank you to the two angels you see with me in this snap. Dina Al Jafari, Account Manager & Bosky Dutia, Senior Account Executive at Buzzword Action PR, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman went out of their way to ensure that the voice of ‘The Age of Conversation’ was heard not just in Oman, but the entire Middle East. Their efforts created an incredible buzz for ‘AOC’.
On behalf of the entire AOC community, I thank Dina, Bosky, their PR associates, media persons and publications that covered AOC and helped ‘ping’ social media in Oman. Though most stories highlighted my contribution, the book emerged the real hero.
Print / National Dailies – Oman
Oman Daily Observer (Zawya) – 18 July 2007
Oman: Local blogger is part of unique worldwide blog collaboration
Times of Oman – 19 July 2007
Oman-based Arun among bloggers authoring a book
Oman Tribune – 15 August 2007
Blog your way to fame
Thank you Jeta Pillai for plugging into AOC and offering sneak previews of chapters of Becky Carroll, Toby Bloomberg, Jessica Hagy and Ryan Rasmussen.
Magazines / Tabloids – Oman
Faces, Oman – July 2007
Making a ping!
Thank you Mary Paulose for plugging into AOC.
The Week, Oman – 25 July 2007
Of blogs and conversations
Thank you Aninda Sardar for plugging into AOC.
Hi! Times, Oman – 27 July 2007
Local blogger part of global ‘blook’
Gulf Marketing Review, Middle East – August 2007
Social networking and UGC spread across the Gulf
Radio – Oman
Cybertalk Show, 90.4FM – 19 July 2007
Tariq Al-Barwani, Oman’s IT whiz and Online Manager at Nawras Telecom promoted the ‘Age of Conversation’ on his weekly radio show on ICT. Thank you Tariq for plugging into AOC.
Web – Middle East
Zawya.com – 18 July 2007
Mideast blogger a part of first ever worldwide blog collaboration
Maktoob.com – 17 July 2007
Middle East blogger a part of first-ever worldwide blog collaboration
Middle East Events – 17 July 2007
Mideast Blogger A Part of First-Ever Worldwide Blog Collaboration
Trade Arabia.com – 17 July 2007
Muscat blogger joins e-book venture
Forthcoming Media Coverage:
A special feature on AOC & social media in Digital Oman magazine. Thank you Prem Varghese & Hasan Kamoonpuri for plugging into AOC.
Thank you to:
Lulu.com – publishers of ‘The Age of Conversation’.
Variety – the US based international charity which AOC is supporting through book sales. As of 3 August 2007, we sold 695 books and earned $5,674.37 for charity.
Last but not the least, the Co-authors of ‘The Age of Conversation’
A BIG thank you – for coming together and giving your voice to ‘The Age of Conversation’; for sharing your unique thoughts, insights and ideas on how to create exciting conversations with the world; for the efforts you have taken to support the book during its creation and your constant endeavour to promote the book after its launch through book tours, podcasts, book readings, gifts, speaking engagements, audio books, meetings and more…
Gavin Heaton (Editor, The Age of Conversation)
Drew McLellan (Editor, The Age of Conversation)
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Luc Debaisieux
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Robert Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
CB Whittemore
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Kris Hoet
G. Kofi Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Polinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman
S. Neil Vineberg
And finally, a big thanks to all the visitors to my blog who have come in looking for information on ‘The Age of Conversation’. Thank you Tom Hoehn, Kamla Bhatt, Eric Kintz, Scott Berg and Karen Lawrence Öqvist for your comments of support and encouragement. And Dona Nazareth for being a good sidekick & naming me ‘Donga’ – it was nice meeting you through AOC. And a word to all my friends at work and elsewhere – Your support and encouragement keeps me going to be part of adventures such as ‘The Age of Conversation’. Thank you for being there!
Arun Rajagopal 
Arun:
This is a fantastic post, thank *you* so much for all the work you put into it and the wonderful publicity you have generated for the book and the project. Today, you have given me reason to inaugurate a list on my blog roll for blogs about communications — and you have demonstrated amply that you are best in class at that.
Thank you ma’am. You are so kind and generous in your appreciation. It’s great knowing you through AOC. 🙂
Whoa, Arun, congrats on all the press! Clearly I need your expertise for our nonprofit Shaping Youth, as you sure know how to get incredible PR! You should add yourself to the thank you list though, for your ‘get to know the bloggers’ contribution launched us into dialogue among ourselves…I have yet to really wade through all of the profiles and material, and you led the way! So thank, you Arun, for all your global gifts.
As one who just returned from the Women Leaders for the World conference, I feel a particular affinity for ‘thinking global’ particularly with all of my newfound friends in Southeast Asia (who will continue to connect w/me on PulseWire which is still in beta, but will no doubt prove to be our ‘posting hub’)
So exciting to see the world ‘shrink’ in so many interdependent ways far beyond just the AOC conversation. I shared the book concept with our delegates at http://www.gwln.org crew too where I represented the U.S. and they felt it was a fabulous prototype model for many collaborative things to come for us all!
Thanks again for your outreach to us all. Best, Amy
Arun –
What a tremendous service you’ve performed! I am in awe of your energy, initiative, and expertise.
Keep up the good work!
Wow, Arun! I’m so glad you were a part of something so amazing, and then… then this! This is a tremendous post, and many thanks from all of us.
Very impressive coverage Arun, congrats!
Eric
Agreed Arun, your name needs to be at the top of those that have successfully promoted the AoC project, you’ve done us all proud!
Arun – you totally rock! Wonderful recap and I love the article with you on the train. Will you take “George” on a train ride when he gets to India 🙂
AoC certainly has taken on a life of its own. W
Thanks Arun for the great write-up on Age of Conversation. Although I helped with publicity, it was a joint project from all 103 of us.
Regards from New York City.
Great, great post, Arun. Love how you put this together so much, I’ve highlighted it twice on the Facebook page so it won’t be missed.
Nice!
Arun, you’ve deserve a spirit award for the amount of strings you pulled and effort you’ve taken. Merci!
Arun, I love your spirit! Truly inspired work. Peace, Oneness and Joy.
@ Amy – Thank you. I love the passion, enthusiasm & energy you bring into causes that are dear to you. It’s addictive!
@ Cam – Thank you. I’m just learning from being with you all. I think everything stems from that.
@ Bob – I keep telling this. Bob is my first link in the blogosphere. And that makes him my blogging godfather, right? Thanks, Bob.
@ Eric – Thank you Eric for your support & encouragement.
@ Mack – Thank you Mack. It’s such a ‘top of the world’ feeling to be appreciated by you.
@ TB – Thanks TB… I’m hoping George can go with me on an all India train trip. I keep fantasizing about it at work. Hopefully he will come to me when I’m in India in Dec.
@ David – Yes, a truly spectacular collaborative effort. Thanks for being there.
@ Mark – Thanks buddy. You are the quintessential Facebook Guru of our community.
@ Mario – The Spirit award goes to everyone in the community. But you have truly lifted my spirit with your comment.
@ Neil – Thank you… I love your sign-off ‘Peace, Oneness and Joy’ -makes me feel truly special to meet you.
Its nice talking to you over phone today Arun! There is so much to hear from you and perhaps tonnes of blogs to read. Good work and Mabrook!
Sangeetha Sridhar
Arun, unbelievable what you have accomplished! Well, actually not-unbelievable given your amazing passion! Thank you for creating so much magic in your part of the world.
Arun,
Thank you for your intense passion around AOC. You are a good person.
This is a great collection of all the excellent work that you and your friends have done in support of the Age of Conversation. It is immensely rewarding for all of us to see the excitement and energy that you have been able to bring to the AoC project … especially in a part of the world that many of us know so little about. This is one of the exciting aspects of a global project. Thanks for all your effort!
@ Sangeetha – Shukran!
@ CB – Thank you very much CB. I’m fortunate to be part of a very involved and passionate community.
@ Lewis – That’s so very so sweet of you, partner!
@ Gavin – Yes Gavin, I feel a need for this part of the world to really connect with people like you and communities such as AOC. Projects such as AOC make people sit up and take notice of things such as social media. They awaken people to the immense possibilities offered by conversational and interactive marketing. Hopefully, we will get to do more things in the future. After all, the book is just the beginning of everything! Thank you!
Wow Arun… you’re amazing. I love YOUR joi de vivre :)!
Arun, sorry to be late on this FANTASTIC post of yours. Wow! I just can’t believe the buzz you made for the AoC. Congrats and thank you (and the friends who did help you).
Arun — You have truly brought this global, and you positively reach out to so many. I am very inspired by the energy and generosity you’ve put into the AoC. You continually recognize everyone’s efforts, and it’s wonderful to see. Thank you and your p.r. team for all of this! 🙂
@ Ryan – Thanks Ryan… this is a great pat on the back coming from the princess of ‘joie de vivre’ herself. Hope your doing good.
@ Luc – Thank you Luc… you’re my angel of appreciation after all 🙂
@ Kristin – Thank you Kristin. It’s great being a part of this awesome community and wonderful being friends with such amazing people.
Hi Arun,
I actually just got around to ordering a copy of this book, only the hard-copy for me, which means I have to wait!
Looking forward to reading it! 🙂