Internet Geek Girl

(photo credit: Howard Greenstein)

Those of you that know me know how much I believe in the power of Social Media, Conversational Marketing, and the Relationship Economy. This past Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007, I saw that power in action at my Birthday 2.0 event.

People make a party (and a social network for that matter). We had a great crowd. It would be too hard to mention everyone, but big thanks to the following colleagues for joining in: Ted Shelton (my partner at The Conversation Group), Brian Shaler, Howard Greenstein, Steve Rosenbaum, Courtney Darling, Karen Jackie and Dana Rockel, Adam Broitman, David Berkowitz, David Blumstein, Allison Keisman, Bonnie Halper, Jay Bryant, Vidar Brekke, Marty Secada, and those that I can’t find URLs for: Sondra Stewart, Gerry Beyer, Cathy Campbell, Polly Lieberman, Swetal Petal, Yana Lyubovitsky, Keith Knight, Roma Sachar, Carrie Kaufman, Tim Keelan, and EVERYONE ELSE!

The early bird “unconference” discussion focused on usage patters on Facebook. Brian Shaler did a great job summarizing some key points. Read his blog here. I’ll be expounding on this topic in another post soon!

In addition to my party, I felt the web2.0 birthday love with almost 50 wall posts on my Facebook, many skypes, text messages and of course, the Twitter messages wishing me birthday greetings in under 140 characters. I also have to give a big shout out to all those that donated to my fund raising efforts for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and to Chris Brewer at LiveStrong for all his support. I am grateful for all my amazing friends, family and colleagues. Social media birthdays show us the power of this medium and ultimately the true power that comes from people connecting!

Featured Flickr pics are here: InternetGeekGirl and HowardGr!

One last post script. Julia Allison unfortunately did not make the party. She went wasted two hours at the Google event in NYC instead. I don’t know Julia personally. If I had known she was going to have such a bad time, I would have made sure she knew about Birthday 2.0! Julia - you have an open invitation to all future events with Stephanie Agresta and The Conversation Group!

10/2/1996. 11 years ago today. The day Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer. According to Lance, “The day I was diagnosed with cancer was the day I started to live.” I recently read Lance’s book, “It’s Not About The Bike” and I was inspired all over again. I don’t own a bike nor do I do triathlons. I make an effort to eat well and I go to the gym and walk outside every week. Lance has inspired me to run a different kind of marathon - the one where every day you try to appreciate all that you have and share positivity with others. It is a challenge at times, but well worth the effort. There’s no question that Lance’s physical achievements are commendable, but I have always appreciated Lance’s spiritual accomplishments - his commitment to positive thinking and the ability to heal oneself. More importantly, his ability to share this experience and energy with others. That’s what I digg!

Oh yeah - plus he has his own laptop!!

Tomorrow is my birthday. I’m having a big ‘ole party in NYC. More importantly, I created an opportunity to raise money for a cause I believe in. Give to receive! Please help me celebrate my birthday by making a donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. For those of you that attend, we’ll be passing around the “proverbial pickle jar” and handing out cool treats for all donors (big thanks to ChrisB at the Lance Armstrong Foundation).

See you @ 230-Fifth tomorrow at 6 pm (ish).

Every week Lisa Picarille, the Editor-in Chief of Revenue Magazine and Shawn Collins, the Co-founder of Affiliate Summit host the leading affiliate industry podcast, Affiliate Thing . Last Wednesday, while Shawn was at Affiliate Summit London, I served as substitute co-host. Our guest was Heather Paulson, long-time affiliate marketing veteran, who recently launched her own company, Paulson Management Group. The Affiliate Thing Ladies Show was a blast to do. Please click here for a listen.

BTW - when deciding to pay homage to my favorite childhood show, Charlie’s Angels, I specifically went old-school. (A dedcication to my cute little twin sisters who spent years running around the house with me, dressed up in our mom’s cloths, with water guns in our little black purses. Yes, I ALWAYS had to be Sabrina). FREEZE!

I could start this post musing about the fact that some people I know are still not on Facebook. Can you imagine that? But I’ll save that rant for my next “state of the Face.”

The beauty of a blog is that it’s a quick and easy way to publish information - whether you’re planning your wedding, communicating with your top customers and stake holders or having a web2.0 birthday party (and unconference) in NYC next week. Here you go…..

**********************

Stephanie Agresta is celebrating another year with a new partnership and a new networking event. You are cordially invited to join with business leaders in technology, media, and marketing to explore the latest developments in web2.0 and connect with “influencers” and passionate members of this exciting online community. Be part of the relationship economy and celebrate new beginnings.

You are cordially invited to attend the party on Wednesday, October 3rd at one of NYC’s hottest venues, 230-Fifth.

The cocktail party begins at 6 pm! Weather permitting, we will be up on the rooftop bar. With palm trees and fountains setting the scene at the 22,000-square-foot 230-Fifth, you’ll enjoy the view and the conversation. Otherwise we will be in the Penthouse.

Bring your geek stuff…as attendees will be pod-casting, video-casting and live blogging the event.

The Birthday 2.0 “unconference” begins @ 4:30 pm. Topics will be selected by members and small group discussions will be held in the luxurious and sexy 8000 square foot fully enclosed Penthouse Lounge. Come early and discuss the state of Web2.0 with cool “influencers,” like Chris Brogan, Howard Greenstein, Sanford Dickert and Brian Shaler.

About The Conversation Group:
(Stephanie Agresta, Partner)

The Conversation Group is a new global communications consultancy dedicated to the art and science of participatory media. We work with a broad range of business leaders to dramatically scale their ability to discover, engage and interact with their constituents, wherever they may be — online, offline, and mobile.

In lieu of gifts:
We will be collecting good-will donations for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Unite and fight cancer!

Happy Facebook Birthday to you. Happy Facebook Birthday to you. May your wall grow with well wishes and free gifts too.

I first noticed how cool birthdays were on Facebook on Esther Dyson’s Birthday. On her wall she wrote,

Facebook adds a whole new dimension to birthdays! I have never gotten quite so many greetings…. And, with all respect to all of you, I think Frank Paynter has it closest - all of France and all of Facebook! What a day!

yes, I am going up to a party in Sebastopol… stand by for some Flickr pics.

And she does have some very fine pictures up there. Chock-full of our industry’s best and brightest. I especially like the one of Anne Wojcicki, Martha Stewart and Sergey.

During last night’s New York Tech Meetup we had a great group of people discussing “Influencer Marketing.” It was an unconference format, and I was excited to lead a conversation about how social media is impacting personal brands, corporate brands, and marketing strategies in general. A big shout out to some of the rock stars who participated in the conversation: Laura Allen from 15SecondPitch, Jay Bryant of LiveWorld, Tajee Tajima of Voice-Bank,Inc., Barbara Osach from Entrepreneurs NOW, Inc., Esther Park at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Matt Arnold from W.W. Norton & Co., and Jim Davoust from whonk.

Have an awesome time at Gnomedex Tajee! Big hello to all my friends out in Seattle. I anxiously await your Twits.

So as Andy (no business card) picked up on: Yes, I’m really into Facebook. It sure helps me wish my friends Happy Birthday. But more importantly, it is (at least for now) a great platform for business networking, personal branding, online marketing, charity fund-raising, news, entertainment and political discourse. Oh yeah.. and making sure your niece and nephew are being good citizens.

Network on!

P.S. - Save the Date - October 3rd. I’ll be celebrating Birthday 2.0 (actually 3.7), on Facebook and at a big bash in NYC. Details coming soon!

Today marks the Fourth Annual LinkShare Golden Links Awards and my Third Annual Pre-Party to the Golden Links (I don’t know why I missed that first year).

This is a week powered by LinkShare! Tomorrow is the “X” Annual LinkShare Symposium in NYC. I can’t recall exactly how many years ago I began attending, but it was a very long time ago. As LinkShare describes:

For more than ten years, LinkShare merchants and affiliates have convened at the LinkShare Symposium to forge new business relationships and discuss issues facing the industry at large. Experience the power of the LinkShare Network to learn from industry veterans and network with the who’s who of the Internet community. This is the must-attend event for performance marketing professionals!

I couldn’t agree more. I have been part of this community for over 10 years and I value the opportunity to spend time with friends, partners, clients and colleagues. LinkShare has been a catalyst for supporting these connections, and they do so with a huge sense of style and elegance, making this one of the best events I attend each year.

Deb Schultz, my good friend and social media maven, speaks often about the Relationship Economy. We all attend so many conferences every year that it’s easy to forget the important role these events play in fueling our relationships. As Deb points out, it’s important for us to question how we weave in and out of these worlds:

* What is our intention with all these communities?
* How do we interact in a meaningful way with all of these connections?
* What is “meaningful” in this landscape?
* What is the definition of Community when affiliations are so loose and easily coupled/uncoupled?
* How do we build applications to maintain a good flow between clusters?
* What is the role of attention in the Relationship Economy?

I’ll be sure to chew on all this while networking and attending the excellent panels that will address the key issues facing performance marketing today.

I am sorry to be missing SuperNova this week. I still haven’t figured out how to be at two community events at exactly the same time. Big shout out to all my friends on the Left Coast! I’m sure we will be Twittering back and forth all week.

At the next event you attend, think about how you can maximize your time building better relationships and enhancing the quality of how we interact within our communities!

Phew - made it through a long but exciting week. Sorry for the delay in getting these up friends! (Thanks for the nudge Sam)! There are more pics on the way. Nando Rodriguez, owner of My Purple Room, was the photographer for the event and he did a great job capturing the spirit of the night!

Click here to view pictures from Stephanie Agresta Consulting Launch Party, March 2007!

Let me close with a big shout out of thanks to all my friends and colleagues who joined in for the event. About 70 people showed up to enjoy the great company, conversation, food and drinks! Companies represented included (partial list in no particular order): Cruxy.com, Future Now, Inc., NBA.com, Spa Finder Magazine, LinkShare, Webgrrls, NY AcuHealth, Darling Design Group, Signature Days, LinkStorm, HitTail, Register.com, Allegiance Marketing Resources, Box Studios, and of course, our guests from Affiliate Dinner!

Taj Lounge did an excellent job. I was so grateful for all the love and support. Hope to see you all soon at parties around the globe!
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