Happy Birthday! January 5, 2009
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations.Tags: Connie Reece, Happy Birthday
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With Connie Reece, originally uploaded by arunmct.
Have an amazing day, Connie! Hope you have the most wonderful year ever – with lots of joy, peace, good health and prosperity.
P.S. You rock.
Make the change for 2009 January 1, 2009
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations.2 comments
The Coast is Always Changing, originally uploaded by Luka Skracic.
On Guy Kawasaki’s post ‘Signs of the Times’, Tanya Chadwick hits the nail on the head with her sage comment on how one should deal with these changing times.
“For me and mine, it just means do more of what we are already doing… Work hard/er, live right, treat others as you would expect to be treated, save more, grow what you can and keep on living each day to the fullest.”
This is what I am doing this year. What about you?
Speaking at The New Media Event, Dubai December 9, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Digital, Oman, Social Media.Tags: Corporate Blogging, Dubai, Social Media, The New Media Event
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Jump on the social media bandwagon, originally uploaded by Matt Hamm.From 14-18 December 2008, I will be a part of The New Media Event in Dubai, the first and the biggest ever event devoted to social media in this part of the world.
Held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, The New Media Event features over 20 leading experts from Middle East and around the world who will help attendees understand the growing power of new media in corporate world and identify the key social media tools, challenges, issues and trends that brands and organizations in the region need to be familiar with.
On 15 December 2008, I will be doing a keynote on corporate blogging with Rajiv Ahuja from Muscat who writes the only corporate blog from Oman – Khimji Ramdas Bright Sparks.
Our presentation ‘Getting On The Corporate Blogging Bandwagon’ will attempt to answer the following questions:
- Should you be on the corporate blogging bandwagon?
- What are the lessons to learn and the pitfalls to avoid?
- How to get more value from your corporate blogging endeavors?
A part of our presentation will focus on Rajiv Ahuja sharing his learnings and experience from Khimji Ramdas Bright Sparks, the first corporate blogging initiative from Oman.
If you are attending the event, I look forward to meeting you there and I hope that you derive excellent value from the splendid lineup of presentations and workshops that are focused on ‘you getting social media right’.
I will live-blog about the event so that those of you with an interest in social media in the region but cannot make it to the event can also stay updated.
I think it is an exciting time for social media to take off in the region, with fears of a recession widespread in Dubai and more marketers interested in using social media to create more interactive conversations and effective relationships with their customers.
Based in the Sultanate of Oman, I have seen that interest in social media has been spiking recently especially in the corporate sector. Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM), the Muscat-based national ICT park recently organized a Digital Nation Seminar on Blogging on 10 November 2008. This was followed by a couple of stories in local media especially on blogging. (The Week article Blogging Goes Corporate quotes me and Rajiv Ahuja.)
Beginning next year, my effort is to help organize a forum like BarCamp in Muscat so that we can help popularize and familiarize social media among followers. It’s also a long-standing promise I have made to social media guru Connie Reece who is based in Austin.
My perception is that a lot of people in the Middle East know the social media tools, but are yet to get the big picture, the big idea of social media by using the tools in an effective way that delivers value.
I think primary concerns are:
- Is social media just a fad I can live without?
- I have my corporate website, isn’t that enough?
- What do I say and how do I say it?
- What will social media do for me?
- What are the metrics that will measure success?
- Will I lose control of the conversation?
- Is there a business model behind blogging?
- How much money will I make from my corporate blog?
- How will get various stakeholders to buy into my social media engagement?
- The fear of the unknown
These are natural concerns and I would recommend that you address them head on. It is by participating in events such as these that you will get the answers to these questions and learn the ropes of social media.
This is my first ever speaking gig and I will go into the event with the message that you can make a mark in social media if you LISTEN, OBSERVE, LEARN, BE HUMAN and TRY TO GIVE VALUE. Like my good friend and marketing champ CK says, social media is an exercise in getting the basics right!
It’s my pleasure to join the following speakers at The New Media Event in Dubai.
- Debbie Weil, Author, The Corporate Blogging Book
- Robin Hamman, Head of Social Media, Headshift (Former Head of Blogging, BBC)
- Marta Kagan, Director of Marketing, Viximo.com
- Philippe Borremans, Marketing Director, Blackline / Former Media Lead, IBM
- Mohamed El Fatatry, Founder, Muxlim.com
- Angel Gambino, Former Global VP Music & Content, BEBO
- Dan Healy, CEO, Real-Opinions
- Magnus Nystedt, Founder, emiratesmac.com
- Omar F. Koudsi, President & Co-founder, jeeran.com
- David Skul, CEO, Relativity
- Steve Vaile, Founder & CEO, H2O Media
- Rama Chakaki, Chief Operations Officer, H2O Media
- Scott Monty, Head of Social Media, Ford
- Rajiv Ahuja, Head, Corporate Communications, Khimji Ramdas
- Bobby Kakar, Head of Marketing – Direct Channels, HSBC
- Mohamed Nanabhay, Head of New Media, Al Jazeera
- Jonathan Woodier, Director Corporate Communications EMEA Global Consumer Group, Citi Group
- Philippe Deltenre, Media Strategist, Microsoft
- Duane Nickull, Senior Technological Evangelist ADOBE & Host, Duane’s World TV
- Ammar Bakkar, Head of New Media, MBC Group
- Catherine Captain, VP Marketing, msnbc.com
More on the The New Media Event to follow. Stay tuned, folks!
Outliers, Who? November 21, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Books, Social Media.Tags: Freakonomics, Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers, The Tipping Point
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Success, originally uploaded by aloshbennett.
So, what connects smart marketers, great doctors and super sleuths?
The uncanny ability to observe the hidden side of everything, which gives them a unique perspective to understand the often subtle yet radical, plausible yet disconnected causes of what drives certain behavior, events, trends and happenings.
‘Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything’ by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner & ‘The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference’ by Malcolm Gladwell are two classic books which challenge our thinking by exploring what lies beneath.
While ‘Tipping Point’ explains how minor changes in ideas and products can increase their popularity and how small adjustments in an individual’s immediate environment can alter group behavior, ‘Freakonomics’ shows that economics is, at root, the study of incentives – how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing.
In his new book ‘Outliers: The Story of Success’, Gladwell features “outliers” – the super-successful men and women of the world who have “been given opportunities, and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.” Example: Bill Gates.
He also connects success to nationality and cultural contexts with the example of how Asian kids perform better in Math when compared to their Western counterparts and says that the answer may lie in a cultural legacy – that of the agricultural tradition of rice farming!
Other central ideas in the book are:
1. How being a member of an apparently distressed minority can sometimes be advantageous. Example: Jewish lawyers.
2. You are what your community is. Example: the super-healthy community of Roseta in Pennsylvania.
So is Gladwell right when he debunks what he calls the “peculiarly American” belief that character, intelligence and hard work determine success?
I have been thinking quite a bit about Gladwell’s reasoning and applying it to a few examples around me. Surely, character, intelligence and hard work are invaluable character traits to possess. My belief is that success is a lot determined by being the ‘right person’ at the ‘right place’ at the ‘right time’ doing the ‘right thing’. And, working smart gets you farther than working hard.
During my 16-year stint in Oman, I have noticed that it is the migrant entrepreneurs who mostly came to Oman during the early 1970s or before who made it out biggest here. One of the reasons could be that they started enterprises that were a part of the massive development and modernization of the country which started in 1970 with the current ruler’s reign.
Non-migrant workers who came in during 1980s and stayed over till mid 1990s before returning to their respective countries would probably have much better savings compared to workers who came here in the early 2000s.
As cost of living skyrockets across the Middle East, specifically the GCC region (UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait), the saving potential of most expats is eroded, unless they come with skills that fetch them fat paychecks. This means that the GCC region is not the golden nest it used to be 2 decades ago, especially for blue collar workers.
Today, as the GCC economies and states race to further modernization and development that is at par with the West, the job market is more in favour of super-specialists – top experts with a wealth of experience in banking, finance, marketing, e-governance, health, safety & environment (HSE), engineering and real estate.
Back to ‘Outliers’, this book might stir controversy for its generalizations on success vs. culture and ethnicity. But like Gladwell’s other works, it will change the way we see and understand the world. This is one book to grab right away.
From the book:
Outlier, noun.
out•li•er
1: something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body
2: a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample
Go Ninja, Go! November 17, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Advertising, Conversations.Tags: Advertising, Ninja Kitten, Publicis Mojo Australia, Toyota Corolla
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On a perfectly ordinary day, you get to see an extraordinary commercial like this. Suddenly, everything seems a tad bit better.
How cool is Age of Conversation 2? October 30, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Digital, Social Media.Tags: Age of Conversation, AOC2, marketing book
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How cool is it to be part of a marketing book that is written by some of the brightest, smartest and greatest minds in marketing, communications and social media from around the world?
How cool is it to be part of a collaborative book that is authored by not one, not two, but 237 bloggers from 15 nations across the globe?
How cool is that the book is based on the theme ‘Why don’t people get it?’ and goes on to share unique perspectives on topics such as Manifestos, Keeping Secrets in the Age of Conversation, Moving from Conversation to Action?, The Accidental Marketer, A New Brand of Creative, My Marketing Tragedy, Business Model Evolution, and Life in the Conversation Lane?
How cool is that my chapter ‘The Smart Beast in the Creative Jungle’ talks about creating a successful creative niche in this highly dynamic and interactive era of conversation?
How cool is that the book’s collective wisdom will help you create conversations, deliver results and generate impact?
How cool is that proceeds from book sales will benefit Variety, a children’s charity that does good work around the world?
How cool is that you can go online and get your own copy of the book in hardcover, paperback and downloadable e-book formats within minutes ?
Yes, it’s so totally cool that ‘The Age of Conversation 2’ is finally here!!! And if you agree with me, please click here to order your copy.
Please tell us how cool it is to live in the age of conversation. It’d be fun if you start off your comments with “How cool… 🙂
And last but not the least, how cool is it to be in such great company?
A Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi
B Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich
C C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson
D Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner
E Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller
F Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson
G G Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming
H Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber
J J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster
K Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski
L Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux
M Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel
N Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice
O Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz
P Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman
R Rachel Steiner, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen
S Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Sreeraj Menon, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood
T Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman
U Uwe Hook
V Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau
Happy Birthday, Qurum City Centre! October 27, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Oman, Pot Pourri.Tags: Qurum City Centre, Shopping
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The new City Centre at Qurum opened this morning. I was pretty excited to be one of the first to get there. The Qurum City Centre is a mini replica of the big one at Seeb. I took a walk around the mall and was glad to see some of my favorite outlets: Borders, Giordano, McDonald’s, Costa Coffee and Coffee Republic.
Fashion brands that hold court include Pierre Cardin, Giordano, Mango, Next, Monsoon, Promod, Nayomi, Damas, Adidas, Swatch, Steve Madden and so on.
They have a promising food court with Fillings, Hatam, KFC, Magic Wok, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Shamiana. Watch out for H&M, Jumbo, Nawras, Oman Mobile & Starbucks outlets opening soon.
Carrefour promises to be a great draw for all the people who can now skip the 80km odd drive to the City Centre at Seeb from Ruwi.
If you are living in Ruwi and looking for quick and convenient shopping, you should head to the Qurum City Centre, but if you are looking for more choice in terms of brands and product offerings, Seeb City Centre still rules.
I somehow feel the new City Centre doesn’t have enough parking spaces (they have 1000 bays). Also do watch out for construction on the roads leading away from the City Centre, it’s good to go easy on the gas pedal and to watch out for traffic.
Photo Credit: Saloni Suri of Asda’a PR, Muscat. I clicked a few pics from my phone as well, will upload them soon.
A day at BarCamp San Antonio September 26, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Digital, Social Media.Tags: BarCamp, San Antonio, Social Media
3 comments
On September 6, I was one of the lucky few who made it to the first ever BarCamp at San Antonio.
It was my first ever BarCamp as well and I was determined to attend despite a badly injured toe. I walked into the imposing MediaRich Studio at South Alamo and felt that the event could not have had an even better venue.
The fabulous MediaRich den is located in a pretty San Antonio neighborhood with an impressive view of the Tower of The Americas. I believe that creative workplaces need to look creative as well and the colorful, well laid out MediaRich offices do inspire a lot of creativity in you.
So how did I hear about BarCamp in the first place? It started as a chance tweet-up between me and the ever-amazing social media diva Connie Reece. This is the second time I have linked up with Connie through Twitter and made it to a social media community event. Both Connie and Twitter rock!
Btw, for the uninitiated: BarCamp is an ad-hoc unconference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join.
The BarCamp mantra is: When you come, be prepared to share with barcampers. When you leave, be prepared to share it with the world.
One of the first BarCampers I ran into was George Riley of TED. Thought I wasn’t aware of TED till then, George was kind enough to share with me the exceptional work they do in spreading Technology, Entertainment and Design Ideas. Later during the day, we had an exciting session named TED & BIL – Big Ideas, hosted by George Riley and Cody Marx Bailey. Watch the feed on ustream.tv.
It was a fantastic day of learning experiences with several participants sharing their 2-cents on topics as diverse as Podcasting Basics, CSS, Co-working, Evolution of San Antonio as a creative hotspot, Blogging vs. Vlogging, Email Marketing, Ruby on Rails, Open Source Web 2.0, Post/Trans Humanism, Extreme Freestyle Hacking, PR & Social Media, What’s New in Accessibility, Media Access & Ownership and so much more. That’s so much for a day!
The crowning point of the event was when Connie Reece announced the birth of Social Media Club San Antonio. And she duly noted, Texas is now home to 5 Social Media Clubs. Go Texas, go!
Some of the most enlightening discussions we had during the day centered on making San Antonio a world-class creative space. Many participants shared their experiences and insights on how to transform San Antonio into a quality creative city comparable to the likes of Austin. I agree with them that one of the first steps in that direction is to build a creative community of like-minded individuals and that’s where initiatives such as Co-working, Social Media Club and BarCamps matter.
I missed out on Vidya Ananthanarayan’s presentation on Marketing Brand “You”, judging by the tremendous applause at the end of the session. I also missed Laura Marie’s fab performance after the BarCamp, but then enjoyed her music later on YouTube and MySpace.
Jennifer Navarrete deserves a huge high-five for her efforts in giving life to BarCamp SA. I’d the pleasure of running into her at PodCamp San Antonio in May and it’s so amazing to have someone with the passion and energy to bring San Antonio onto the social media scene.
Also, a big shout-out to Dean McCall, Mandi Harrell Leman, Michael Leman, Rich Harrell, Veronica Jorden and Donald Wilcox, Jr who made BarCamp SA a reality. And kudos to everyone who turned up, and especially the presenters who made the whole event worthwhile – BarCamp’s better with you.
The generous sponsors of BarCamp San Antonio deserve a mention: MediaRich, Microsoft, Ryma, FireCat Studio, CampaignStream, BlogCatalog, CampusWire along with Casa Chiapas, Mad Hatter’s Tea House, Tito’s and El Sol Studios. Events such as BarCamps cannot be successful without the support of organizations who strive to stimulate learning and networking opportunities in their local communities.
Enjoy the action from BarCamp San Antonio:
Blogspeak on BarCamp San Antonio:
Arun Rajagopal 