Thing #23: The end, or the beginning?

As I mentioned in my audio post, my favorite Things we're exploring Flickr and actually creating a blog. Perhaps I had the most fun exploring Flickr because I hadn't had any experience using it before and it was completely new.

I loved the idea of this program and being able to share and comment on other participants experiences. Having a community working on the same thing and supporting each other was great also.

I'd be keen as mustard to participate in similar programs in the future, would you give something similiar a go again?

Massive thanks to Wags for organising this and keeping it running!

Thing #22: Create your own audio or video message

Thing #21: Podcasts

Ok, so I thought I'd take this thing as an opportunity to get back on the Marketing subject. Searching Small Business Marketing in the iTunes directory (Small Business Marketing is especially relevant to me as my girlfriend is a Personal Trainer and Small Business Owner) I came across a Podcast by fellow Melbournians Tim Reid and Luke Moulton. I've listened to quite a few and they are and have been extremely helpful and easy to apply to the Personal Training business.

A great thing about the Podcasts, and iTunes, is that when a new Podcast is uploaded, iTunes will automatically go and download the new ones, it's great!

I'm looking forward to using my new RED iPod (I've never owned one before) and copying my favorite Podcasts and music to listen on the train with the free train ticket I won recently :P

Thing #20: Discover YouTube

YouTube is a fun site to kill a few hours on. Whether you want to search something useful such as "how to" instructional videos, watch funny clips or reminisce famous sporting moments like Shane Warne's Hat Trick against the Poms (right).

Features is like about YouTube is the fact that you can set up your own page and link all the videos you post in one place and the Related Videos section is handy to watch more videos related to your previous search. A feature that I don't like is that you are not able to upload any videos that are longer than 10 minutes. I tried to upload the Tony Palmer interview to YouTube but it wouldn't let me!

Thing #19: Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

I was having a look through the CNET Webware 100 winners list and could not help but have a look at Remember The Milk. Simply it is an online To-Do List. I know there are a lot of them out there and this is one of the better ones. It is an easy sign up process and simple to create your lists. You have to ability to access your lists from Gmail, via SMS, on mobile handsets, Skype, and popular IM clients. Because of this, you can access it from nearly anywhere, all without having to return to its Web site. I don’t have an iPhone (yet) but the iPhone App looks really neat!

So if you cant remember what’s on your to do list, check out Remember The Milk!

Thing #18: Online Productivity Tools

I love Google Docs. I’ve been an active user for a while now. It is so simple to use and very intuitive, so I didn’t have to spend a great deal of time learning how to use another software application.

My favourite features of Google Docs is the fact that I can access my files anywhere in the world as they are all stored in my Google login and when I’m checking me Gmail they’re only a hyperlink away. Also, the fact that I can share documents with other user is a very useful tool for me. Perhaps the most impressive feature is that all of my formulas work like a dream in the spreadsheets!

When we signed up for this program, we had to complete a form. This was created with Google Docs. Since discovering this tool, I have used it quite a lot… and it’s so easy!

If it’s file sharing that is the most exciting feature of Google Docs, check out DropBox. It allows you to synchronise your files in a folder, and have access to them across your home computer, office computer, mobile phone and via the web! This is a really cool and useful tool – read more now! (There is even a Plain English by Lee Le Fever video)

Thing #17: Wikipedia

I haven’t spent a lot of time on Wikipedia before the 23 Things program and after having a poke around for a while I’ve found it very interesting. The fact that it relies solely on users to create the content is very unique.

I searched a few topics and hit the ‘Random article’ link to see what was around. I even set up an account and was going to do page on myself, but the terms said not to do that!

Thing #16: Learn about Wikis

I'm in the process of developing a Wiki for the Department of Marketing. It will be located at https://wiki.monash.edu/marketinghub

It will be a useful collaboration tool for the department. Perhaps the most useful feature will be the File Sharing option. Folders will be able to be created by users and certain permissions given to other users. This will eliminate the need to send large files by email (which has a size restriction) and if multiple users require the file, those users can be directed to the Wiki.

Stay tuned updates!

Thing #15: Web 2.0 and the Future of Marketing

Here's an interesting article on Social Media Marketing.

Social Media is a great marketing tool, but one that an organisation cannot completely control. With user's contributing content (example blog post comments, tweets mentioning the product or service and retweets) an organisation is not able to control this. In some cases they may be able to censor any unwanted contents (example blog posts) but this may be to an organisations detriment. Organisations could and should use any such comments to learn and improve and addressing any issues in such a public space may turn the negative into a positive.

Thing #14: Explore Technorati

Searching "Learning 2.0" in Technorati's Blog Posts, Tags and Directory produced different results as each search searches a different area of blogs. So depending on if you want to search for a blog title, keyword or what a blogger has tagged their blog post with, there is a search tool for each

In the Top 100 list, one of my favourite blogs showed up in the top 5 and surprise, surprise, it's a Technology blog! Mashable. An interesting blog I came across is that I like to touch base with every now and again is Gizmodo, an Australian based gizmo and gadget blog.

All in all I'm glad I've had this time to explore Technorati, as it is a very useful tool to find other blogs I am interested in.

Thing #13: Discover Del.icio.us

I found Delicious to be like a search engine, such as Google, but for popular sites, not just sites that match a particular search string.

I use an online bookmarking site called Startaid and Delicious hasn't convinced me to switch to it. Perhaps if I had a direct need to share bookmarks I might make the switch.

Thing #12: Catch up and Comment!

Come on everyone, let's catch up! I know I'm a little behind the 8-ball at the moment. If you are stuck for ideas have a read through other peoples blogs for that thought that will get your fingers typing or that spark of motivation that will get your mouse finger clicking!

For this 'Thing', I've left comments on Sean's blog somewhereon6 and Colin's blog Make it creative and meaningful, if you wish. They're pretty good, you should check them out.

Thing #11: Explore Twitter

I suppose I'm pretty active on Twitter. I manage 5 different accounts:

• @MonashMarketing – the Twitter account for the Marketing Department at Monash University
• @ANZMAC2009 – the Twitter account for the ANZMAC 2009 Annual Conference
• @tapp_ - my personal Twitter account
• @WebMyMind – the Twitter account for my business (I make the odd website and business card from time to time)
• @TheYouInside – the Twitter account for my girlfriends Personal Training business – looking forward to using this one a lot more effectively

Personally, I use Twitter more for information gathering rather than answering the question "What are you doing?" I follow services that tweet about things that are on sale, I follow companies that sell products I'm interested in, I follow organisations that give lots of information about topics I am interested in. I love it!

If you want to checkout some cool Twitter Apps, I highly recommend TweetDeck – if you want to get more into Twitter check it out!

Thing #10: Play with an Online Image Generator

I looked through about 10 different image generators and only found one that I liked - imagegenerator.net. A lot of the sites I discovered were clunky and cluttered and I didn’t have the patience to try and figure them out.

This is the imagegenerator.net image I made.

As I know how to use Photoshop and other image manipulation programs, I would prefer to use those programs as I have more control over the end result.

Thing #9: Locate some Marketing blogs

I found Technorati a bit clunky at first. It took me a while to find the search function and I found that a search on Small Business Marketing came up with similar results to the search in Google Reader.

For a laugh I went onto iTunes and did a similar search and came up with podcasts mostly, but most had blogs too. My favourite I found is Small Business Big Marketing (it’s more a podcast than a blog feed, although there is a blog feed reviewing each podcast)

I’m really interested to read how everyone else went with this one.

Thing #8: Learn about RSS feeds

I decided to set up Google RSS Reader. I really like Google's apps and how well they all integrate with each other. I've added in all of the participants on the Monash 23 program and I discovered that my Aunty is documenting her trip around Australia on her blog (instead of sending out bulk emails to let people know how she is going), so I’ve subscribed to her feed and it has made it so easy to stay in touch. RSS is definitely Really Simple Syndication!

Thing #7: Blog about Technology

I've been reading and hearing that the iPod, and all mp3 players for that matter, will become obsolete.

I doubted this when I first heard it – surely we still have a few more years at least before the iPod is replaced by the 'next big thing'. Then I gave it some thought. The mp3 player replaced the portable CD player, which replaced the portable cassette player, or Walkman. So what's next in line to take the throne of the next 'must have' device all the kids will be talking about>

The SmartPhone – a device that includes a mobile phone, digital camera, mp3 player and personal computer – or if you like the iPhone, Samsung HD Icon or Windows Phone.

In the age of convenience that we live in, we are not going to want to carry a phone, mp3 player and camera around with us when we can have all of these features rolled into one device.

* The Blogger, Tapp, has not received any payment or endorsements for mentioning any of the above names products or companies :)

Thing #6: Some Flickr Fun

Well this one is definitely 'some flickr fun' as I cannot see this ever being useful (if you can please let me know!). It's called fastr.

This mashup shows you 10 images from flickr, and you have to guess the common tag describing each image. It's a bit of fun, I scored 45 points on the "Original (English) Game".

Can you beat my score?!

(I realise that I could have blogged about something a little more useful - I loved bookr - but I figured that why not throw an 'odd-ball' one into the mix, or would that be mashup?)

(This is quite a large list of mashups that are available at www.programmableweb.com/api/flickr/mashups)

Thing #5: Explore Flickr

Trinity Beach - Cairns
Originally uploaded by At_The_Beach

I'd like to share with you an image of where I grew up, a lovely little suburb called Trinity Beach, which is about a 20 minute drive north of Cairns, Queensland.

I don't miss living there, Melbourne is too much fun and does well to keep my mind off the endless sunshine, constant warmth and amazing lifestyle. Although, I do long to head back during winter!

Oh, and when I see images like this it's hard to not want to go back and go for a ski off the beach towards the Great Barrier Reef, have a few hours of fishing and then skiing back home!

Thing #4: Register your blog

I’m registered and I’m off! Have been playing around with the layout of my blog a little and a cool feature I like is the Blog List Gadget. I’ve used it to list all of the blogs participating in this program. It’s a great help in keeping in touch with everyone prompting me to read and then comment on posts.

Thing #3: Set up your own blog

So I've found it pretty easy to set up my first blog. However, I was not too impressed at the designs that were on offer for me to use. Now I could take the time to re-design a new template, or use a free one that someone else has created.

I have found this template (I'm not saying that it's fantastic but it is something different and may inspire a more creative and unique design in future) at Finalsense.com. Share some that you find.

Thing #2: What is Web 2.0

Web 2.0 means different things to different people, but ultimately when all’s said and done, everyone comes to the same conclusions.

For me as a designer, Web 2.0 means I can create interactive websites, innovative designs and provide mechanisms for users to add and create content.

Interactive Websites

If I can create a website that engages the user and gives the user multiple reasons to visit the site again and again then I have created a successful site. There are a number of ways to create and display engaging content:

Database driven websites

By capturing and storing users data in a database you can provide individualised content to users targeting there specific interests. A good example of this is the Scorptec website, a hardware eCommerce website that enables you to create an account and build and save computer systems.

Video

Embedding video, such as YouTube videos, can create a unique experience for your customers. A great example of this is iiNet’s website, one of Australia’s leading ISP’s.

Feeds

Services like Twitter and RSS enable you to include content to a webpage dynamically, so when you update content external to your website, that content ‘feeds’ into your webpage as displays automatically. An example of this is the Twitter feed on the ANZMAC 2009 homepage.

Innovative Designs

With the dawn of the Web 2.0 ere came an exciting new breed of website design. Designers adopted CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and when used with bright colours, large buttons and bold lines we were not only thinking outside the box, we removed ourselves from the box completely. Some great design examples I’ve found recently are Home Design Find, Sean Johnson and Komodo Media.

User added content

A prime example of user created content are blogs that allow users to comment on posts. More often than not, on popular blogs, comments generate their own comments, and in turn they generate comments, resulting in a plethora of user created content. The ultimate example of this would be online news services such as news.com.au where readers make comments on articles.

My favourite Web 2.0 feature or service at the moment is Google Docs. You can create word files, spreadsheets and slide show presentation and share them all with friends. If you haven’t explored Google Docs yet, get into it!

Thing #1: 23 Things

So here I am with my first blog post as part of the Monash University’s Department of Marketing’s 23 Things.

23 Things is a self directed series or activities, 23 in fact, to explore the wonders of Web 2.0. The idea for this program was developed by Helene Blowers, based at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

So, subscribe to my feed and stay tuned to my posts to follow my journey into the wonderful world of Web 2.0