Writing About the Age of Conversation

The Age of Conversation 2 is what you might call a writing experiment on a grand scale.  It’s a project that has brought together 239 authors from 15 nations to write on a voluntary basis about ‘The Age of Conversation’, with the proceeds going to charity.

The book was launched on the 29th October and I’ve been itching to get my hands on a copy since it came out.  My copy came during the week and though I’ve not read it all (yet) I’ve read enough to be able to give you a flavour of what to expect.

What the Book Covers: The sub-title of the book is ‘Why don’t they get it?’.  It’s quite a provocative title which begs a number of questions - not least ‘what’s it?’ and ‘who are they?’.  It does prompt some interesting contributions though about the need to listen to and better understand the perspective of those who don’t ‘get it’, and the work that needs to be done to make the tools easier and less time consuming so more people can take better advantage of them.

There are eight sections covering manifestos, the accidental marketer, a new brand of creative, my marketing tragedy, life in the conversation lane, keeping secrets, from conversation to action, and business models.  You’ll find my contribution in ‘keeping secrets’: ‘How To Tell A True Story Without Spilling Your Secrets’.

What the Book’s Like: The Age of Conversation 2  is a series of short personal essays.  The way I’ve been reading it is to dip in and out, to explore some ideas, get to know some new authors, and pick up suggestions and pointers.

Jeff Noble describes the effect as a word buffet.  Maybe there is a risk, as he says, that we’ll flip through it looking for the words that match our interest: ‘I don’t like cheese-covered asparagus, but the sweet potatoes look great’ (p210)

On the plus side we can keep dipping in and re-reading for new content as our interests shift and develop over time.  (Unlike a bufffet the material isn’t going to get cold or go stale.)

Some contributions stand out of course - like those written by people I already ‘know’ - and others that use a different format to grab our attention.  I particularly liked the two sentence contribution from Thomas Knoll

Some Quotes:

‘They will get it if we are less consumed with them getting us, and more concerned with us getting them’ (p37, Jon Swanson)

‘My point is that no one gets it all. In our humble self-righteousness we fail to acknowledge that in this brave world uncertainty is the only certainty.  Our world is too complex and is moving too fast for anyone to grasp it all.  So let’s be more patient.  And less over-hyped with every new fad.’ (p214, Asi Sharabi)

‘I don’t know about you but the cross fertilisation of ideas is the bet reason I’ve heard yet for diving headfirst into the twisting, uncontrolled river of conversation.  Opportunities to play our ideas off each other - in practically real time - are absolutely unparalleled in history.’ (p133, Robert Hruzek)

‘Here’s the downside to our modern Age of Conversation: is there really an art to it?  Are we more worried about the quantity and volume of our conversation than the quality and nuance of it?… The Internet allows anyone to tallk with almost anyone, anywhere.  But is that all there is to conversation?  Web 2.0 applications have made online conversation easy.  But have they made it better just because there’s more of it?’ (p14 Jay Ehret)

Learning Points: I’ve learned a lot from taking part in this project and watching the way it’s come togetherr, been edited, managed and promoted.

The best specific idea I’ve picked up so far is from Sonia Simone with the suggestion to create a conversation brief.  That’s not the same as a tagline or an elevator pitch: it’s longer than that, and more conversational.  It needs to pass the taxi driver test: if you grabbed a taxi anywhere in the world and told the driver your message, will he get it, and will he repeat it?

One Thing To Improve it: The main drawback of the format is that it isn’t, by its nature, conversational.  What you get is a series of statements, ideas and suggestions - without the interaction, dialogue, reflection and new ideas that  you’d get in a genuine conversation.  I’m not sure there’s a way round this in a book format (which is why the authors all write blogs!) but I’m not sure a volume 3 with even more contributing authors would work. By that point it might be time for a new style, format or approach.

Who It’d Be Good For: People interested in social media, marketers, anyone who’s curious about how to use online tools to connect, engage and converse

Thumbs Up/Down: I’d give this a thumbs up (as you’d expect, given I’m an author!) although it’s clearly not going to be for everyone

More About the Book

You can buy copies of the Age of Conversation 2 from Lulu.com.

258 pages, available in hard back $29.95 (£17.37), paperback $19.95 (£11.57) and download $12.50 (£7.25)

Proceeds from the sale (after printing costs) go to Variety, The Children’s Charity

List of Age of Conversation Authors

Thanks to everyone who contributed their words to the project:

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G. Kofi Annan, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw and James G. Lindberg, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

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