A few weeks ago I blogged about wiki technology, and how it can be used collaboratively among several users. The blog post was inspired by this ARS Technica posting that considers wiki technology as a replacement for all we try to do with Microsoft Word.

A Wiki’s biggest benefit, is that it allows several users to work on a single document, by accessing one online version. A user can edit or make changes as necessary, and simply save the document. The next user needing access, logs on to the Wiki to make the next set of edits. This four-minute video explains Wikis in easy-to-understand terms.

Wiki usage

Wikis are well suited for so called “living documents” that need to be reviewed or updated on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. New users will find an instant comfort level when working within the Wiki document, as the software includes all the basic word processing tools (underline, bold, italics, strikethrough) as well as a variety of fonts sizes and styles. Basic charts are also possible thanks to an easy-to-use table builder. Wikis also work well for any type of daily report that must be completed by several team members.

For example, my team of six has successfully implemented a Wiki-based document for our end-of-day reports. Previously, team members would send separate reports via e-mail to one designated person per day, who would then compile the information into a spreadsheet. Depending on his workload, compiling the e-mails would sometimes force unwanted overtime.

Now we use a daily wiki set up on pbworks.com, which requires a free account for all collaborators. At the end of our shift, each team member logs on to the wiki, and adds the number and status of appointments delivered throughout the day.  A separate section allows for any text comments regarding successes or problems we might have encountered. At day’s end, a designated team member saves the report as a .pdf file, then e-mails it to all the necessary parties.

The .pbworks web software allows for several documents within a workspace, so we also added a text document that acts as a tickler file for our monthly meetings. Team members log on and record thoughts or concerns they would like to bring up at our gatherings.  Managers involved with our team also have access to the Wiki, and can add or address concerns as they appear on the wiki document.

Challenges to overcome

Of course, anytime you try something new, a few problems arise, and our wiki migration was no exception. Using our previous model, spreadsheets were able to calculate totals automatically. Since the Wiki is more of a word processor, we’ve sacrificed that ability. After reviewing the data, we concluded that the overall totals were not a necessary metric, so losing that capability is not a concern.

The Wiki also requires that one person clear out data from the previous day, which might seem akin to the previous routine where a designated person compiles several e-mail reports. After a few days, we determined that deleting the previous day’s data was not nearly as time consuming as compiling e-mail reports. Data clearing is also a task that can be accomplished by any team member.

Try it!

Interested in experimenting with the Wiki platform for your workflow? Several free web-based options exist. The previously mentioned pbworks.com, and wikispaces.com offer free Wikis with enough features to get started. Both sites also offer paid versions offering more flexibility. Larger organizations and enterprise can also turn to these sites for customized Wiki databases.

Wiki technology is not new. The world’s most famous Wiki, Wikipedia.com, is accessed every day by thousands of users, but many of those readers don’t realize that Wikipedia is built on software that allows them to simply log on and make changes or contributions.

Ed's Podcamp task list

While driving to Podcamp Boston 4 a few weekends ago, I took stock of where I was in this whole social media space.

I’ve been blogging, inconsistently, for nearly almost three years, and mostly about personal life events. I had a successful podcast for about six months. I’ve posted with regularity on You Tube, and shared photos on Flickr. I rode the MySpace bus for a year and a half before migrating over to Facebook. I’ve bought domains and configured them to point to a personal website, a professional website, and a resume website.

I totally understand Twitter, save bookmarks to Delicious, and have a gallery of movies and photos on my Mobile Me space. I’ve also commented on enough blogs and published some public relations work, so Googling my name renders about ten pages of links.

Yet when another Podcamper sat at my table asked why I was attending, all I could muster was, “I’m just checking it out.”

How’s that for a closed-ended response!

When the Podcamper asked what I did, I couldn’t even come up with a decent answer. By the end of the day I referred to myself as a “lifecaster” because it was the only category I could think of, but in all honesty, another Podcamper suggested that to me.

It would be an understatement to say I was a bit unprepared, and listening to other podcampers talking and socializing revealed to me the depths of my unpreparedness. To wit:

- I had no business cards.

- I had no prepared elevator statements.

- I could not define what I did, what I wanted to do, nor my goals for this conference.

- I was painfully shy about engaging in conversations at the tables I was sitting at, and even more shy about initiating conversations with conference leaders, or anyone else for that matter.

It was, to say the least, not an auspicious start.

I recovered nicely, though, thanks to a vigorous lunchtime conversation, and an afternoon session on the “conversational web” that turned into a Twitter 101 and Facebook privacy issues forum. I felt good about my contributions to the dialogue, and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to engage anyone who sat with 10 feet of me.

Two days removed from the conference, I sat down to make a list of takeaways and action items. Here is what I came up with:

- Rehash website

- Install WordPress Blog

- Blog at least three times a week, on any topic

- Tweet (compelling) at least once a day

- Develop elevator statent

- Look for more networking opportunities

- Define role

- Podacast?

I also wrote down several bloggers names to follow, and jotted some working titles to help define what it is I wanted to do. Now, not even a full month later, I can report that I’ve crossed off half the tasks off the list, and I’m well on my way to completing the rest of the items.

In the spirit of sharing, here are the results of accomplishing these tasks.

Rehash website

Rebuilding my professional website forced me to define a title, and put in to words exactly what it is that I do. It also illustrated the need to change my resume website. That will be a task for the next list.

Install WordPress Blog

Installing a WordPress’ platform forced me out my iLife/Blogger comfort zone. I’m still a bit challenged by WordPress themes, but learning new web protocols is always exciting. Finally grabbing my name as a dotcom URL puts me on an even keel with the rest of the world.

Blog at least three times a week, on any topic

Penelope Trunk’s excellent guide to starting a blog suggests three steps relating to the actual writing of the blog; 1)post something right now, 2) practice, practice, practice, and 3) ignore your lack of readers. I can’t think of three better tips for beginning bloggers.

Look for more networking opps

Look out PodCamp New Hampshire. I’ll be there, elevator statement ready and business cards in hand. I’ll also be at Tech Cocktail Boston 3, testing out my elevator statements and enjoying some downtown fun.

I was going to wait till the one-month date to post this little progress report, but going through the list got me excited about the progress I’ve made in a few short weeks. We are often told to celebrate small victories. This is one for me.

Several Tweets and blog posts over the last 24 hours have heralded the launch of the Brazen Careerist, which transformed yesterday from blogging network to a full fledged social media hub.

It’s just the latest step in the evolution of a brand that began as an old-media syndicated magazine column. The site is the brain/love-child of columnist and bloggers Penelope Trunk, Ryan Paugh, and Ryan Healy.

Trunk has been a long-time favorite blogger of mine, having read her since her days on Yahoo. Her career advice is on target, and her personal life event blog posts inspire thoughtful reflections on my past, both the good times, and bad.

So naturally, I’m interested in joining what is sure to be successful social network, led by someone who I consider on of the blogoshere’s best writers.

Well, maybe not so fast.

What separates Brazen Careerist from  the likes of LinkedIn and Facebook, is that Brazen Careerist links a person’s ideas with his/her resume, as opposed to the traditional career website model of profile, skills, and resume. The network is geared toward Generation Y, (those born between the mid 70s and early 90s, also often referred  to as Millenials, according to Wikipedia) whose current work experience is less than older workers. This melding of ideas-to-person is said to level the playing field of Gen Y candidates competing for jobs against more experienced Gen Xers.

Okay, I’ll buy that concept. I’ll even sign up for an account and start adding my details and “ideas.”

There is one small problem, though; I’m not part of Generation Y. In fact, depending on who you talk to, I’m either part of the late Baby Boomers, (born between1946-1964) or Generation X (1960-1980). So I’m probably one of the people who has more experience, and therefore, is a better, more employable, candidate than the Millenials this site aims to attract.

So does that mean I can’t join?

In her own blog post announcing the new site, Trunk states that “LinkedIn is for gen x. Brazen Careerist is the job site for the next generation, demographically speaking.” I’m not sure what “demographically speaking” means, but I do have great ideas, and I’m positive that I’m at least as tech-savvy, or more, than a host of Gen Y employment candidates.

Of course, there are no hard and fast rules preventing myself or anyone on the web from joining Brazen Careerists network, regardless of age. Many bloggers and old media types have rehashed ad nauseum the validity or stupidity of generational labels, and frankly, these labels are nothing but terms developed by marketing types to help focus campaigns and studies.

At PodCamp Boston 4, there were Millennials, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, grandparents, retired military, parents, musicians, PR types, marketing types, work-at-home moms, cube dwellers, former reporters, bloggers, teachers, administrators, and countless others.

I’m confident that every one of them will be interested in joining the Brazen Careerist community, because of their interest in sharing ideas, along with their resumes and accomplishments.

Postlouge:

It’s interesting to note that on the sign-up page, the birth year drop-down goes all the way to 1935. That’s someone joining the Gen Y “idea” network at 74 years old!

Social Media is like anything else in life: you get out of it what you put in to it. The reasons to join Facebook, Twitter, start a blog, or even share photos, are many and varied, and tasks related to these networks can lead to a considerable time investment.

An interesting meme recently floated around the blogosphere: How do you use social media?

Considering that the people asking those questions were themselves bloggers, marketers, and social media veterans whose job is to spend most of the day connected to their computers, the answers included daily hours dedicated to Twitter, blogging, and even Facebook.

For most people, there is no hard and fast rule concerning the amount of time to spend on any social network, and your social media demands might not be so pressing. So, the time you spend is usually dictated by the tasks you wish to accomplish.

Are you just keeping up with friends? A few minutes on Facebook at the beginning and end of the day should suffice. If you are techy enough, you could feed that need by sending updates to your cell phone.

Twitter is excellent for quick updates, but doesn’t quite have the mainstream reach of Facebook yet. If you have a decent Twitter network though, you can easily view a stream of your friends’ updates. Twitter Direct Messaging allows you to answer them in a style reminiscent of instant messaging. Twitter also adapts well to the cell phone.

Facebookers who share photos across their networks require more than just a few minutes a day. Their first goal might be to learn a third-party software to load and tag photos quickly. These apps have a bit of a learning curve, but are well worth the time. Chris Brogan gives a good primer on managing Facebook list functions, while this post gives insight on Twitter applications worth checking out.

There are other ways to share across the Internet. For photos, Flickr, Piassa (both free services), and Apple’s Mobile Me (paid service), offer integrated methods for quickly sharing photos among friends and family. You Tube has become the ubiquitous video sharing network, and also offers quick and easy methods for uploading.

Using these services greatly reduces the amount of time needed to spend on Facebook, or Twitter, and can help maximize your web surfing hours.

Postlouge:

Check out the following links to see how the full-time bloggers and social media experts manage their networks and streams.

• Amber Naslund points out in her post that she engages in social media full time as part of her job. She lists in order of importance her goals for each social media activity.
• In this post, Ben Yoskovitch offers a 10-minute daily guide to building a social media presence. He goes beyond Twitter and Facebook, and includes info about StumbleUpon, and MyBlogLog.
• Anyone looking beyond personal uses for social media should read this post by Mark Hayward. He details a ten-minute daily guide for using social media to promote small business.

As for me? I’ve actually separated my personal and professional networks. Facebook is now home to the rants and raves of my friends and coworkers from my “day” job, friends from past jobs, and childhood and early adult buddies. My Twitter feed now is limited to those from my professional and social media networks. This system may not work for you, but it works for me. I’ll re-evaluate in six months to determine if change is necessary.

Of all the great takeaways I left Podcamp Boston (#pcb4) with, none are more surprising than this little treasure: it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a Wiki in action.

I didn’t participate, but I did log on a few times. My interest in Wikis was piqued thanks to this recent blog post on ARS Technica. Besides giving a tidy little history of MS Word, the post’s main premise is that Microsoft’s ubiquitous and way overworked word processing application has finally outlived its usefulness, thanks to the social nature of today’s collaborative Web.

The Wiki, for those of you in the same boat as I, is an editable, sharable, online document. It is the ultimate example of that tired business term “living document.”  Any participant in the wiki’s creation can log on and make changes at any time. Once in a wiki document’s “edit” mode, users find all the familiar word processing and formating tools. The document’s change history is kept in a separate module on the page, aside from the main text area. Jump into print mode and you have a .pdf ready document. If you absolutely had to, you could even paste it into Word.

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia of all knowledge, is the optimum example of the Wiki in action. Any article can be edited by any reader, for better or worse. Since Wikipedia is open to the public, all matter of knowledge has been pored into it’s coffers. Ask any half-way web-savvy individual where their first stop is on the knowledge train, they will tell you Wikipedia. There is now even debate in academia as to whether Wikipedia articles should be cited as references in term papers.

The implications of the wiki as a mainstream office tool are immense. Instead of  e-mailing revisions back and forth, team members collaborating on a document simply log on to the Wiki and check the latest version. Bad syntax on that new paragraph? Make that adjustment yourself, and hit the “save” button. Just look at the change log to find who might need a grammar refresher course. It’s a technology ripe for document-crazy committees, and it beats Word’s complicated “track changes” feature to the ground.

So, now that I have an understanding of this relatively low-tech but useful tool, how do I put it to work?

I work with five other guys, all of them tech-savvy, but mostly in the artistic realms. I set up a Wiki for us to share information as we rarely collaborate on anything.

Did they understand the Wiki?

Well, one guy did. The guy who closes every night and has to put our notes together in a closing report, usually done on a spreadsheet. Often times, compiling this report from various e-mails we’ve sent through the day puts him in overtime status, which doesn’t please the boss.

Closing Guy just made a nice template of the closing report on web-based Wiki software. We’re going to try it out next week. The other guys on the team have yet to even set up an account of the Wiki software. Most of them are generally good with new concepts, so I have a bit of hope for this.

Will it work? Stand by, I’ll let you know in a week.

If you clicked on the page tabs at the top of the blog, you’ve probably read that my social media activities for the past few years have involved lifecasting.

Lifecasting involves blogging or videoblogging about different events in your life, and just as there are A-list bloggers, there are also A-list lifecasters. iJustine comes to mind. She’s made herself almost into an A-list celebrity thanks to her web presence, which she built through video blogging and use of video sharing sites.

True lifecasting involves strapping a live camera to yourself, and streaming its feed to the Internet. Justin Kan started lifecasting his view of the world in March, 2007, and by the following summer, he received funding to launch a lifecasting web platform featuring more than 60 channels.

My lifecasting activities aren’t quite so involved. I like to take video and pictures whenever we do something (hike, bike ride, kayak paddle) and post a short video documenting the day. Sometimes I’ll forgo the video and put up a blog post with some pictures on one of my blogs. Sometimes I’ll tell the story through the voice of my puppy and post it on his blog. Sometimes I’ll make a quick video of something I do around the house, such as this one of me mowing the lawn in our small garden.

I started doing this for fun in 2006, not realizing that three short years later, I would have a nice digital record of my activities, vacations, and getaways.

Lifecasting is not for everyone. Some folks are much too private to put their activities on the digi-waves. If you (or your loved ones) are over-concious about how you look on camera, then lifecasting is not for you.

For me though, lifecasting is a great hobby. As a daytrip or vacation proceeds, I make sure to spend some time shooting video or taking pictures with lifecast media in mind. Sometimes I’ll even do multiple takes. Once I get home, I can’t wait to get the images and video on to the computer. It’s rare that I don’t have something posted by the end of the next day.

These videos and posts are nothing fancy. Just 2-3 minute clips, some pictures, a few video scenes no more then 10-15 seconds. Add some music, transitions, and maybe a title slide or two, and you have a nice record of a wonderful day, or great memories of a few days away.

I would encourage everyone to try lifecasting. Just keep in mind that editing video is time consuming. You can count on at least an hour of editing for every minute in your final video, but its well worth the time. Need some inspirations? Check out the videos and links scattered amongst this post.