My piece of a panel discussion on trends at SocialSlam in Knoxville, Tennessee a great event put together by my friend Mark W. Schaefer. History Repeats: AOL, Facebook, and Castles of Data. View more presentations from Jay Baer. Starting in 1992, America Online (AOL) spent more than $300 million sending floppy disks and later CDs to U.S. households, to entice citizens to sign up for their dial-up Internet connection service. Because AOL wasn’t really an “Internet Service Provider&# at all. In 2002, AOL had 25 million subscribers. History Repeats. Facebook is the New AOL. Freaky. MORE >>

The obsession with measuring all things social is indicative of thinking inside rather than out. Inside thinking focuses on justification of time, energy and efforts all aimed at creating results. Outside thinking focuses on learning market needs and intents. Do you measure market needs and intents? The irony of measuring all things social is that the measures are put for the moment. Given the dynamic nature of how people use social technology, how suppliers are advancing the technology and the subsequent dynamics everything is but for a moment.  Is Measuring Social Relevant? Moment of Measure. MORE >>

I started to make a list of the reasons why you should engage with other human beings. As the list grew beyond one page, I began to notice some qualities they all had in common. That reduced my reasons for engaging to just three. Here they are.  . For Planting Seeds that Build Relationships. This is a simple action that works. Now that we have the power of social media to plant more seeds, why wouldn't you? never stop being amazed at the opportunities that come my way as a result of seeds I planted on the social networks years ago. To Cultivate Relationships & Opportunities . Immeasurable. MORE >>

Yesterday I had the real pleasure of visiting Patagonia HQ in Ventura, California. It’s a brand that I, and many others, have admired for so long because of the powerful alignment between their core values and how they run their business and make their products. To better understand how they achieve this, I asked Rick Ridgeway , the VP for Environmental initiatives to walk us through their process. SM: Hi, I’m Simon Mainwaring and I’m here at Patagonia HQ in Ventura, California.  I have the great privilege of being here with Rick Ridgeway, who is the VP for Environmental Initiatives. MORE >>

If you haven’t seen this amazing series by Shelly Alcorn of Association Subculture , please take some time this weekend to read it. Really really great stuff. Words Make Worlds – Part 1 – Association Management, Human Ecology and IPOD. Much of the corporate management theory co-opted and applied in the non-profit arena largely ignores the most profound difference between non-profit and for-profit enterprises – the shared leadership structure between volunteers and professional staff. We need a different skill set and a different understanding. They elected you. MORE >>