Internet Geek Girl

Back in January when I wrote Re-design 2009, I never imagined that my redesign would include an executive position with a leading global public relations firm. In fact, I didn’t even realize that over the last few years I had become a “PR person.”  I just wanted more flexibility in my project choices and changed my business model accordingly. Today, I’m very proud to announce that I have become the EVP and Global Director of Digital Strategy and Social Media for Porter Novelli.

As someone that has been in online marketing for 15 years, I view the changes going on in the marketplace through a holistic lens. I don’t see these shifts as merely “social media phenomena.” I think about digital broadly, understanding all aspects of the evolution we’ve been experiencing for two decades now. Back in the 90’s I participated in the “e-commerce revolution” and worked for companies like Barnes & Noble.com to figure out how online consumer sales would change the world of retail. Guess what – it did! Media, publishing and communications are now experiencing these same cataclysmic shifts. My latest career choice is a symbol of this change and I’m excited to continue to push the envelope of this industry – now as part of the Porter Novelli team.

This was truly a kismet kind of situation (yes that is meant to be geek double entendre). Serving on a panel for @pepsico, I got to meet Marian Salzman and was blown away by her brilliance and spirit. For those who wonder why I’d want to give up working for myself in a very entrepreneurial way, I’ll quote my dear friend  Tara Hunt in her recent post describing her decision to leave San Francisco, “because it is time.”

Yes, large companies bring security and money. Honestly though, talented and experienced independents that know how to execute (and sell) do very well in this business.  I could have easily continued working for myself and had a very lush life.  This choice is about the opportunity and the team.  I’m ready to take on bigger challenges and play in a global pond. I am excited to work with an array of blue-chip clients and be backed by an organization with resources and a commitment to transforming their business through digital marketing. I am also excited to spend more time writing and thinking about trends in this business (when you work for yourself you spend a lot of time on sales and operations and the writing gets put by the wayside).

The Porter Novelli family stole my heart with their passion and smarts. The Executive Team (shout out to Gary, Anthony, Marian, Julie, Michael, Lisa R.) and Brad McCormick (who I will work with hand-in-glove) are total rock stars. Aaron DeLucia and the team in Austin are amazing (and I cannot wait to go visit them soon and have some BBQ and start plotting SXSW 2010). Together, we will cross-pollinate our ideas and experience and innovate in a way that differentiates us from the pack.

Stephanie Agresta Consulting, InternetGeekGirl, Affiliate-Karma and my other burgeoning ventures (TechSet and UltimateRaceDay), will continue in some form and fashion. I’d like to think of myself now as “Powered by Porter Novelli.”

You can find the “official press release” on the site.  As my good friend Jeremiah Owyang pointed out: “It screams so “PR;” I do hope you have a heart felt social way of telling the story too.”

Well I do.  My story is much deeper and more complicated than everything I can put in this post, but it’s a start. I look forward to seeing many of you in the coming months as I head out on the road to meet PN staffers. As I told Jeremiah – I don’t believe in throwing out the baby with the bath water. There is still a place for a collection of words and quotes and background information. How it gets delivered and to who is evolving. But ultimately, there are many ways to tell a story.

I want to give a shout out to the many people who I consult when I think about my life choices.  @chrismccaffrey, my family and non-industry friends make up the foundation of life. Plus my colleagues that I rely on for guidance and support and laughter:  Brian Solis, Tara Hunt, Chris Brogan, Howard Greenstein, Rick Calvert, Cindy L’Esperance, Hugh MacLeod, Steve Rosenbaum and so many more I can’t fit them in here. THANK YOU ALL!!

A few weeks ago I was introduced to the Bob Woodruff Foundation and their fund raising effort TweetToRemind, a campaign focused on raising $1.65 MM by Memorial Day.  This money will be used to help service members get the help they need as they integrate back to society.

As you know, I believe in the power of social media and in particular Twitter and Facebook to help energize others for good. People like Chris Brogan, Missy Ward, Shira Lazar (and let’s not forget Ashton Kutcher)  have mobilized online to support a variety of charities.

Today, Bob Woodruff challenged us to answer a simple question – Who Are Your Heroes? For me, heroes are volunteers. People that spend their time and efforts on behalf of helping others and who do it for free. It can be committing to regular, small, random acts of kindness toward strangers; helping out at your local church, school or charitable organization; or even online efforts like this one and those listed above to help raise money and awareness for a good cause!

My best friend since 5th grade, Amy Callahan, is one of those volunteers and my greatest hero. Amy lost her fiance on 9/11 and took that sadness and pain and did two things: a) built a camp for children who lost parents and relatives during 9/11 and b) built a beautiful life for herself and rose up from the ashes and found love. Both are equally important to me. Until we learn to care for ourselves, we cannot care for others.

Regardless of how you feel about the war in Iraq (or war in general) there is no denying the sacrifice and effort military personnel provide on behalf of American citizens and our ideals. I know it is so depressing and hard to hear all the sad stories and read statistics on death and killing.   I often feel like I don’t know what I can do to help. As we gear up for the kick off to summer and zero in on our Memorial Weekend plans, I’d like to suggest a small way you can get involved – donate dollars and tweets!

I am using TipJoy to give $5.25 per day leading up until Memorial Day (which is on 5/25). Won’t you join me in giving either through PayPal or TipJoy?

P.S. Big Thanks to Rick Calvert at Blog World Expo

I don’t always know the exact contacts to make something happen. But rest assured, I know the person that knows the right people.  So when it came to supporting TweetToRemind, I reached out to my good friend Rick Calvert of Blog World Expo.  Rick has been a long time supporter of the online community supporting military personnel, their families and friends – the “Mil bloggers.” Thanks to all of his contacts that energized their networks.  I look forward to meeting you all in Vegas in October!

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again.. Chris Brogan is prolific.  He works very hard to help build the social media landscape, but always makes time for individuals, the community and most importantly to give back to others in an organized way that shows that power of this medium (check out his monthly efforts for charitable causes – impressive!).  In addition to producing a well-read, well-written blog, Chris is President of New Marketing Labs, a social media agency.  With the love and support of his family, Chris crosses the continent helping business and marketers understand these new tools and make good use of them. Did I mention that he is a heck of a nice guy as well?

Chris’s fantasy mobile application imagines a world where there is “meta-data” in the air around us! We are not that far off!  Mobile networks could allow organizations (companies, schools, non-profits) to “annotate” locations and allow users to access that information via GPS based services.  And of course, users could control it all via settings for when, where and which type of “data offering” they would like. What do you think? Would you “opt-in” for this kind of information?

By now, most of my fellow SXSW Interactive attendees have made it home and unpacked. Hopefully you have caught up on your lack of sleep and have warded off the SXSWsars (unfortunately I didn’t – can you hear my sniffles and scratchy voice?). If you’re like me, you’ve been digging through your email and reviewing the huge stack of business cards you collected in Austin. Processing all the information and inspiration takes time, especially for a show which overflows with both.

Unquestionably, SXSWi was a qualitative and quantitative success. There was a reported 25% increase in attendance year over year and the blog posts, tweets, and Facebook updates show nothing but love for this ritual “geek spring break.”

For me, the highlight of the trip was obviously the honor of co-hosting the TechSet Blogger Lounge with my co-founder @BrianSolis (and our event partners at Tokita Bethune, Inc.) The lounge and party were sponsored by Windows Mobile. The Windows Mobile team provided a great service to the community of bloggers, developers, marketers and influencers that set up shop in The Austin Suite. With great bandwidth and great company, the Windows Mobile lounge was THE PLACE to be every day (especially during our tweet ups from 4 – 6 pm – thank you AMD and Zappos). Plus, check out the videos that a bunch of well known geeks made in the lounge – Can you say Fantasy App? We were even lucky enough to have live entertainment one day from Paula Nelson (Austin native and Willie’s daughter). Big thanks to 1938media and John Rosenfelder (@earbender) for putting that together.

On the social front – I enjoyed going to Stubbs for the Diggnation event, The Salt Lick, Gueros, and of course, attending the many parties. “Best in show” include, Alltop, Facebook, Mashable and of course, The TechSet. The best pictures from the entire week come from Laughing Squid, Brian Solis and Wm. Marc Salsberry. Huge shout out to Joie de Vie salon and all the ladies from there that helped make me pretty every day (thanks Amanda, thanks Erin and the other Jerseygirl Steph).

For the last few years the Geeks have taken over the town before the music festival swings into full force. If you stay for part of the transition time, it’s funny to see the difference. My cab driver summed it up best – “the geeks are way more quiet and they are always playing on their phones.” He just doesn’t realize we’re making a ton of noise online and talking to our friends (who are sitting next to us in RL) on Twitter!

If you missed the show or like me, were too busy to attend most of the panels, here’s a short list of some recommended recaps:

• BlogWorld Expo Radio Podcast with yours truly and Jim Turner!
• The very awesome Nicole Jordan on her blog, Kicking Sand. She captures the style and substance.
• Nothin’ but SocNet’s Zena Weist has a great list of other recaps in addition to her insightful musings. She doesn’t just chat about social media – she lives it.
• Omar Gallaga from the Austin Statesman has a bunch of good stuff (with a local spin) on Austin360, with individual panel/party/videos here. Omar also did an NPR segment last Monday which was very cool.
• Pamela Lund on Massively Networked reviewed some very cool panels, which included tidbits of advice from: Thor Muller (Get Satisfaction, Inc.), Patrick Moorhead (Razorfish), and Ben Rigby (Mobile Voter), Barrett Fox (COCO Studios) and Jeroen Lapre (distant-galaxy.com).
• Jeff Beckham’s SXSW Scorecard looks back at the 19 panels/talks he attended, and he ranked them.  Very good stuff.
• RJ Owen of O’Reilly’s InsideRIA had at a great take on parties and panels!
• The ever-good-spirited @technosailor shares his journey and musings. Love the shout out to the Blogger Lounge!

BTW – David Carr wrote a nice piece in the NYT today that tells the story of the founding of the entire festival and it’s impact on the town. Plus his insights about the THRIVING Austin Chronicle, which has fueled this multimedia event since its inception, are especially intriguing given a market where many newspapers are failing.

All I can say is….keep Austin Weird and Geeky!

I’ll leave you with a video from my friend Guy Kawasaki that he did from his Kirsty-Alltop Party. Ya gotta love Texas (especially once / year in Austin)!

Chris Brogan is a prolific writer, thinker, blogger and a generally amazing guy. He gets the BPP. He loves his family, he inspires the social media world, and he works really hard. Check out his insights from SXSW 2008. To use Chris’ words – it was a kick as time!