I took a look earlier this week at LinkedIn’s new applications platform and liked what I saw. Please see my November Talent Zoo column to learn more. Thank you.

Tags: linkedin, application, platform

I’ll be speaking at an IABC event at Cisco, in San Jose, CA, November 13. The event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Here’s what we’ll be talking about:

Communications Inside Out: Today, many companies have embraced corporate blogging and/or have built some type of customer interaction into their corporate websites. Many feel that the new media dust has settled and that they have made the Web 2.0 transition.

However, in this presentation, Joel Postman will explain that there is a second wave of new media driven changes rapidly approaching. This wave will have a dramatic impact on corporate communications, and ultimately how companies do business.

In a preview of his new book SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate, Joel will talk about the drivers and implications of the five new transitions that are taking place as a result of new media and give early examples of the new “inside out” world of communications.

This new world is one where corporate communicators can play a role, but only if they understand and adapt to this next wave of change.

This presentation is a must for any corporate communicator who employs, manages or monitors new media as part of their day-to-day role.

Event registration is $20 for IABC members, $35 for the non-members, and $10 for students.

If you’re in the Bay Area, hope to see you there!

Peachpit Press, who will publish my book SocialCorp later this year, are making the book available through Safari Books Online, a service that lets corporate subscribers and others search and read electronic versions of published, and soon-to-be-published books in tech, business, design, software, etc.

I decided to give Safari a try. Peachpit’s research says online sales not only don’t cannibalize sales of the printed book, but actually improve them. I’ve always felt that there are people who want an online version of a book and people who want a printed version, and they have different needs, so why not accommodate both?

Companies can purchase only the online version of the book, or a bundle with the online version now and the printed book when it is out later this year. Safari also allows early readers of the book to comment, which will help fine tune the book for publication.

Tags: socialcorp, ebook, new riders, peachpit, safari books online

I was chatting with a good friend today and searching for yet another metaphor for Twitter, and I settled on the Information Automat. The Automat was a fixture in New York City from the early 20th century through the 1960s. Basically, the Automat was a cafeteria in the form of a gigantic vending machine with hundreds of fresh food items like soup, sandwiches, stew, pies, etc. behind little coin-operated stainless steel doors. You would put your coins in and take a piece of pie. A few minutes later, someone would come put another piece of pie or something else in the window.

The diner’s view (the user’s view) was deceptive in its simplicity. Just food visible through a large bank of windows. If you pressed your face against the glass, though, or looked beyond the shelf when you opened a door after purchasing an item, you would see that behind the array of little windows, dozens of people were running around preparing food like crazy to keep the Automat stocked. (I know, because when I was a kid my parents took us to NYC and I watched, fascinated, through the glass.)

And so it is with Twitter. Each 140-character item is a freshly served information tidbit, some tastier and more difficult to prepare than others, some more or less nutritious. Open any item’s little glass door, and catch a view of all the hustle and bustle “behind the scenes,” the news sites, bookmarking sites, blogs, communities, podcasts, photo and video sites and all of the other amazing information being created fresh 365 days a year and served up through Twitter.

So New York City’s original Automat may be long gone, but today, we are fortunate to have an amazing Information Automat. And no coins are required.

Tags: twitter, information, automat

Update: As of 10:16 P.M. PST today, YouTube has deleted this video! Thank you to everyone who flagged the video and thank you to YouTube for removing this vile video!

Someone shared with me today a YouTube video that I find racist, disgusting and disturbing. It is deplorable that after 60,000-plus views, YouTube continues to allow this video on its site. I hate to share the link, but it’s the only way to request your help. Please go to this video and flag it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkGYJ1vYQow

The following is from YouTube’s Community Guidelines:

“We encourage free speech and defend everyone’s right to express unpopular points of view. But we don’t permit hate speech (speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity).”

It’s not funny. It’s sick. The parents of that little girl should be ashamed, and YouTube is irresponsible for allowing the video to remain on the site.