I am a passionate, sometimes brash, and always opinionated person, which a cursory glance over the archives will probably show you. I tend to get emotionally invested in what I’m doing, which can sometimes have disastrous effects in the workplace. As a result of my demeanor and the way that I often approach conflicts full of piss and vinegar, I have had several people recommend to me that I read The Art of War with an eye towards how I can use it to achieve collaborative goals and settle disputes peacefully within the workplace. The Art of War has long been a popular corporate-culture handbook, and it has even been applied to marketing. For all these reasons, I thought it would be an interesting book to kick-off the virtual reading group.

Here is a tentative reading schedule that I may need to tweak once or twice, depending on how fast or slow the reading goes (it’s hard to tell with books like this where a chapter is only a few words, but each word caries great gravitas). I chose Thomas Cleary’s translation both because it is widely available and also because it came highly recommended by a friend who has studied Taoism and Tai Chi.

The idea is simple: I’ll feature two or three books at a time (pictured in the sidebar) and post a schedule for reading them chapter by chapter. As I read them, I will post a synopsis of the chapter and then everyone is invited to discuss the chapter with me in the comments. The advantage of doing this online is that you need not read the chapters on time or even in the right order—just post your commentary when you get around to it.

Please reply to this message with suggestions for interesting books to read in the future. Books should be nonfiction and should have something to do with the loose themes that erelevant addresses (electronic culture, marketing, youth, etc).

Give your eyes a break from the screen and put some paper in your hands! Of course, I guess you can use your Kindle …

Books I have featured or am currently featuring:
Solove , Daniel J., The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet
Sun Tzu (Thomas Cleary trans.), The Art of War
Zittrain, Jonathan, The Future of the Internet—And How to Stop It

Today I am a web marketer and designer for a small, liberal arts college. erelevant.net was started initially in the Spring of 2006 as a way to explore my profession. I have since realized that being “on-topic” was little better than succumbing to the internet echo-chamber called “higher ed marketing blogs.” There were some good times, certainly. Some good people and some insightful exchanges. Mostly, though, exploring my profession by looking at others in the industry meant receiving someone else’s cold innovation leftovers or, worse, being spoon-fed fads by vendors—these were often sugary and filling but provided little lasting nutrition. (WARNING: Metaphor Change Ahead) There is no “on the bleeding edge.” Electronic marketing bliss will not come from a $19.99, syndicated, podcasted, webinar. Either you work hard and, for a meteoric moment, become the bleeding edge, or you’ve been left behind.

I took a summer hiatus that turned into a year-long absence, and I did allot of thinking.

The best way for me to innovate and enjoy what I do is to go native. Time to slip into the digital tribe and move among its peoples—virtual, 3D hands brushing in the darkness of social networked second lives, a million onymous youth dancing hyper-textualy into the night, the thrumming of drum and bass shared via mapped music genomes, and the twinkling glow of liquid-crystal-pixels offering up the entire geo-positioned world like an altar to a social, multi-cultural, semantic, hive-minded, Mercurial GOD.

avra kehdabra

http://greenteaicecream.co.uk/ - “Social Value and the Social Web”

http://www.fastcompany.com/ - Interesting blog associated with Fast Company magazine.

If you’re not careful, you could be next.

A very interesting article from RADAR magazine. Puts the power of virals in perspective while exploring their unintended consequences.

By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer

NEW YORK Feb 27, 2007 (AP)— Today’s college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society.

“We need to stop endlessly repeating ‘You’re special’ and having children repeat that back,” said the study’s lead author, Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. “Kids are self-centered enough already.”

Twenge and her colleagues, in findings to be presented at a workshop Tuesday in San Diego on the generation gap, examined the responses of 16,475 college students nationwide who completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory between 1982 and 2006.

The standardized inventory, known as the NPI, asks for responses to such statements as “If I ruled the world, it would be a better place,” “I think I am a special person” and “I can live my life any way I want to.”

Read the full article.

I’m not sure how this advances our understanding of the Millennials in a meaningful way. I think most of us have known that they think of themselves as special and demand more personalized, individual attention than their predecessors. What Professor Twinge blames almost entirely on parenting is also, I think, a result of a ‘long tail‘ product and media atmosphere in general. Not only are teens encouraged to build unique identities, but they are (perhaps for the first time) given the niche tools to actually create that unique persona whereas in the past they were limited to broadcast media, chain stores, etc. that were essentially the same everywhere.

Perhaps this is less a case of an increase in narcissism and more a case of a breakdown of group identity (be it national, regional, or clique). In the past, a common media and product atmosphere forced a sort of conformity and community mentality. With growing globalization and the ability for an individual to specialize and create their own media and product universe, we have less and less in common with our neighbors. I can only imagine a stronger individualism would arise from that situation–and a stronger sense of international community.

Maybe it’s just the AP reporter’s spin, but Professor Twinge’s quoted comments and one-liners seemed a little acid and got old fast. They certainly weren’t academic or helpful. While she touched on MySpace and YouTube as a part of the ‘problem,’ she didn’t go beyond the names of those services in attempting to describe their role in the change in the way teens think of themselves.

Oh. I get it. MySpace and YouTube. Ha. Ha. Ha. :(

Latest Bookmarks

The biggest development this week was the addition of the Podcast Crew as a subdivision of the Web Crew. Discussion started early in the week between Bossman and the Dean of Work, and it was decided that the Podcast Crew would best serve a mixed internal/external audience and needed oversight from someone involved in the college’s marketing. Additionally, Bossman had been planning on eventually creating podcasts anyway, so it was decided that the Podcast Crew be placed under the Web Crew. All the constituents met Thursday to discuss the arrangement and everyone seemed fine, although it became clear that the current Podcast Crew supervisor did not fully understand his future in the endeavor.
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Warren Wilson College invites applications for the position of Vice President for Advancement, with a starting date of July 1, 2007.

Position Summary: Reporting to the President, the Vice President for Advancement leads an aggressive fundraising/development operation and supervises the Office of College Relations. She or he must have the qualities and experience to direct a comprehensive capital campaign and to collaborate with all constituencies in seeking major gifts. We seek a creative individual who can guide us to the next tiers of fundraising success.

Qualifications: Candidates should be experienced fundraisers from inside or outside academe. The most important criterion will be a record of fundraising success and evidence of the ability to lead successful fundraising efforts.

College Overview: Warren Wilson is an independent liberal arts college located on a beautiful 1100+ acre campus in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The campus is 15 minutes from downtown Asheville. Enrolling 800+ students, the college receives high praise from many guides and has received awards as a model for sustainability. It provides a first-rate liberal arts education in the context of its Triad model (academics, required service, required work at the college). The college enjoys a solid financial situation, with a $36 million endowment and balanced yearly budgets.

Application Process: Submit a letter, resume, and contact information for five references (including phone numbers and email addresses) to VPA Search Committee, Ms. Gail Baylor, Human Resources, Warren Wilson College, P.O. Box 9000, Asheville, NC 28815-9000. Electronic submissions preferred. Email gbaylor@waren-wilson.edu. Applications should be received by March 23. See www.warren-wilson.edu for more information about the college.