Rob Cottingham

Category: Social Signal

  • Social Speech Podcast, Episode 11: Maddie Grant

    Maddie Grant of DC-based SocialFish has done a lot of thinking about connecting online audiences with speeches, panels and presentations. More to the point, she’s done a lot of doing, including convening one of the most ambitious online conference approaches I’ve seen: NTC Online, the digital version of the Nonprofit Technology Conference held every year by NTEN.

    In our conversation, she offers some great advice for event organizers, speakers and anyone who wants to use digital tools to help online and offline audiences learn. And after you’ve heard our conversation, check out these links:

  • Nora Young on what our virtual selves are building

    As we Like, tweet, post, pin and share our way through our daily lives, we’re adding to a staggering repository of information. Exactly what are we creating – and do we have a choice in how it’s used?

    That’s the question Nora Young poses in her new book The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World Around Us. The host of CBC Radio‘s technology series Spark came to Vancouver last night and spoke to a packed Third Tuesday crowd about how we can – and should – start asking ourselves what we want all of this shared information to add up to. It could be a future of everything from smart cities to crowd-sourced disaster relief – or a future where our own information is used to manipulate us against our own interests.

    Here are my sketchnotes (click for a larger version):

    Sketchnotes from Nora Young's presentation

    If you’ve listened to Spark, then you’ll know Nora is a very sharp thinker – and that she avoids falling into either digital utopianism or knee-jerk fear of the new. And if you’ve heard one of her presentations (I say this as someone who had to follower her very hard-act-to-follow keynote at Northern Voice a few years ago), you’ll know she’s a warm, engaging speaker. So you’ll want to catch one of her upcoming appearances: Third Tuesdays in Toronto June 25 and Ottawa June 27 (with tickets including a copy of the book, and free admission for students), the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival September 16, Word on the Street Toronto September 23, Edmonton’s LitFest September 28 and 29, and Toronto’s International Festival of Authors in October.

    (One last thing: great events like this happen when a few terrific already-busy people become even busier. Thanks, Tod Maffin and Joe Thornley, for making Third Tuesday such a great series of events.)

  • Nora Young on what our virtual selves are building

    As we Like, tweet, post, pin and share our way through our daily lives, we’re adding to a staggering repository of information. Exactly what are we creating – and do we have a choice in how it’s used?

    That’s the question Nora Young poses in her new book The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World Around Us. The host of CBC Radio‘s technology series Spark came to Vancouver last night and spoke to a packed Third Tuesday crowd about how we can – and should – start asking ourselves what we want all of this shared information to add up to. It could be a future of everything from smart cities to crowd-sourced disaster relief – or a future where our own information is used to manipulate us against our own interests.

    Here are my sketchnotes (click for a larger version):

    Sketchnotes from Nora Young's presentation

    If you’ve listened to Spark, then you’ll know Nora is a very sharp thinker – and that she avoids falling into either digital utopianism or knee-jerk fear of the new. And if you’ve heard one of her presentations (I say this as someone who had to follower her very hard-act-to-follow keynote at Northern Voice a few years ago), you’ll know she’s a warm, engaging speaker. So you’ll want to catch one of her upcoming appearances: Third Tuesdays in Toronto June 25 and Ottawa June 27 (with tickets including a copy of the book, and free admission for students), the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival September 16, Word on the Street Toronto September 23, Edmonton’s LitFest September 28 and 29, and Toronto’s International Festival of Authors in October.

    (One last thing: great events like this happen when a few terrific already-busy people become even busier. Thanks, Tod Maffin and Joe Thornley, for making Third Tuesday such a great series of events.)

  • Nora Young on what our virtual selves are building

    As we Like, tweet, post, pin and share our way through our daily lives, we’re adding to a staggering repository of information. Exactly what are we creating – and do we have a choice in how it’s used?

    That’s the question Nora Young poses in her new book The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World Around Us. The host of CBC Radio‘s technology series Spark came to Vancouver last night and spoke to a packed Third Tuesday crowd about how we can – and should – start asking ourselves what we want all of this shared information to add up to. It could be a future of everything from smart cities to crowd-sourced disaster relief – or a future where our own information is used to manipulate us against our own interests.

    Here are my sketchnotes (click for a larger version):

    Sketchnotes from Nora Young's presentation

    If you’ve listened to Spark, then you’ll know Nora is a very sharp thinker – and that she avoids falling into either digital utopianism or knee-jerk fear of the new. And if you’ve heard one of her presentations (I say this as someone who had to follower her very hard-act-to-follow keynote at Northern Voice a few years ago), you’ll know she’s a warm, engaging speaker. So you’ll want to catch one of her upcoming appearances: Third Tuesdays in Toronto June 25 and Ottawa June 27 (with tickets including a copy of the book, and free admission for students), the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival September 16, Word on the Street Toronto September 23, Edmonton’s LitFest September 28 and 29, and Toronto’s International Festival of Authors in October.

    (One last thing: great events like this happen when a few terrific already-busy people become even busier. Thanks, Tod Maffin and Joe Thornley, for making Third Tuesday such a great series of events.)

  • Social Speech Podcast, Episode 10: Holly Ross

    This episode features Holly Ross from NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network. She’s a great speaker in her own right – and every year, NTEN hosts the Nonprofit Technology Conference. It’s a huge gathering (but remarkably relaxed and collegial), and we talk about what it takes to connect that many people online at a conference – and how speakers can make the most of a connected audience.

    Some links and resources:

     

  • Social Speech Podcast, Episode 10: Holly Ross

    This episode features Holly Ross from NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network. She’s a great speaker in her own right – and every year, NTEN hosts the Nonprofit Technology Conference. It’s a huge gathering (but remarkably relaxed and collegial), and we talk about what it takes to connect that many people online at a conference – and how speakers can make the most of a connected audience.

    Some links and resources:

  • Social Speech Podcast, Episode 9: JD Lasica

    When you want solid advice on social media, backed up by years of experience with both non-profits and businesses, you go to JD Lasica.

    And so did I, for a half-hour conversation that touched on everything from why letting your audience see your slides in advance may not be a bad idea, to how speaking and community-building go hand-in-hand.

    Listen to JD, then explore these links for some terrific resources:

  • Social Speech Podcast, Episode 9: JD Lasica

    When you want solid advice on social media, backed up by years of experience with both non-profits and businesses, you go to JD Lasica.

    And so did I, for a half-hour conversation that touched on everything from why letting your audience see your slides in advance may not be a bad idea, to how speaking and community-building go hand-in-hand.

    Listen to JD, then explore these links for some terrific resources:

  • Social Speech Podcast, Episode 8: Nancy Duarte

    It’s hard to say just where Nancy Duarte has had the biggest impact: as the architect of Al Gore‘s presentation on climate change in An Inconvenient Truth…

    …as the author of two profoundly powerful books on crafting and delivering presentations, slide:ology and Resonate…

    …as the co-creator of Duarte Design, a firm that has been redefining the art and science of presentations for nearly a quarter-century…

    …or as a pioneer in integrating social media and public speaking around the central driving idea of story.

    Our conversation lasts less than 10 minutes, but Nancy packs a lot of insight into

    • how the backchannel changes the balance of power between speaker and audience
    • how speeches can take on a life of their own as social objects
    • how even harsh criticism can make you a better speaker
    • and how dramatic tension and release can lend your next speech the power and impact your ideas have been waiting for.

    Listen in – and then explore more deeply:

  • Social Speech Podcast, Episode 8: Nancy Duarte

    It’s hard to say just where Nancy Duarte has had the biggest impact: as the architect of Al Gore‘s presentation on climate change in An Inconvenient Truth… as the author of two profoundly powerful books on crafting and delivering presentations, slide:ology and Resonate…

    …as the co-creator of Duarte Design, a firm that has been redefining the art and science of presentations for nearly a quarter-century…

    …or as a pioneer in integrating social media and public speaking around the central driving idea of story.

    Our conversation lasts less than 10 minutes, but Nancy packs a lot of insight into

    • how the backchannel changes the balance of power between speaker and audience
    • how speeches can take on a life of their own as social objects
    • how even harsh criticism can make you a better speaker
    • and how dramatic tension and release can lend your next speech the power and impact your ideas have been waiting for.

    Listen in – and then explore more deeply:

  • Why we love ScreenFlow: screen capture for the Mac

    If you spend any time teaching people about online tools, or documenting them, or pitching them, chances are you’ve thought about screen capture software. And last week, a post on the Web of Change email list asked for recommendations on just that topic.

    I weighed in on the side of Telestream’s ScreenFlow, and I’m sharing it here in case you’re looking for something for your next computer or Internet tutorial:

    I have a two-year torrid love affair with ScreenFlow (although Darren Barefoot has actually proposed to marry it, so consider me trumped). It’s Mac-only, but if you’re in the Apple universe, you get an awful lot for the $99 pricetag.

    Here’s some of what I like:

    • A simple, intuitive editing interface that – for me, at least – beats the more recent versions of iMovie for making sense right off the bat
    • Fast and easy creation of callouts (that is, highlights, with background blurring and darkening, and foreground zooming)
    • Fast and easy annotation with text and shapes
    • Easy addition of new recordings
    • Simple adjustment of playback speed

    And here’s some of what I’d like to see:

    • Clip masking or cropping
    • Integrating edited clips into one, so you can then apply affects to the whole
    • Customizable presets for text, annotations and callouts
    • More customization in the export settings, especially publishing
    • Better HTML5 support in publishing

    Check out some of the other feature requests from the user community.

    A note: because its export function relies on QuickTime, you’re limited to Apple’s selection of video formats (of which H.264 is probably the most universal). So if you have your heart set on WebM or Ogg, you’re out of luck.

    How about you? Got a favourite screen capture tool? Do you use QuickTime’s free screen recording feature on the Mac? CamStudio on Windows? Camtasia? Jing? Make your case in the comments!*

    * Vendors, you know we love you, but please leave this conversation for users and customers. Thanks!

  • Why we love ScreenFlow: screen capture for the Mac

    If you spend any time teaching people about online tools, or documenting them, or pitching them, chances are you’ve thought about screen capture software. And last week, a post on the Web of Change email list asked for recommendations on just that topic.

    I weighed in on the side of Telestream’s ScreenFlow, and I’m sharing it here in case you’re looking for something for your next computer or Internet tutorial:

    I have a two-year torrid love affair with ScreenFlow (although Darren Barefoot has actually proposed to marry it, so consider me trumped). It’s Mac-only, but if you’re in the Apple universe, you get an awful lot for the $99 pricetag.

    Here’s some of what I like:

    • A simple, intuitive editing interface that – for me, at least – beats the more recent versions of iMovie for making sense right off the bat
    • Fast and easy creation of callouts (that is, highlights, with background blurring and darkening, and foreground zooming)
    • Fast and easy annotation with text and shapes
    • Easy addition of new recordings
    • Simple adjustment of playback speed

    And here’s some of what I’d like to see:

    • Clip masking or cropping (Update: Lynn from ScreenFlow comments below that you can crop a clip by selecting it and then ctrl-dragging the sizing handles. Huzzah!)
    • Integrating edited clips into one, so you can then apply affects to the whole
    • Customizable presets for text, annotations and callouts
    • More customization in the export settings, especially publishing
    • Better HTML5 support in publishing

    Check out some of the other feature requests from the user community.

    A note: because its export function relies on QuickTime, you’re limited to Apple’s selection of video formats (of which H.264 is probably the most universal). So if you have your heart set on WebM or Ogg, you’re out of luck.

    How about you? Got a favourite screen capture tool? Do you use QuickTime’s free screen recording feature on the Mac? CamStudio on Windows? Camtasia? Jing? Make your case in the comments!*

    * Vendors, you know we love you, but please leave this conversation for users and customers. Thanks!