Need help learning a computer program? Take an online tutorial.

At Barcamp Vancover on Saturday, Tod Maffin of CBC led a discussion on favourite tech tools, widgets, gadgets and other geekery.

All of the tips were great, but I want to point out one in particular.

Lynda.com is $25 per month service that provides online training programs. The Lynda movie library is the best tutorial site I have ever seen.

Lynda is the show-me tool.

No time to take a course but you learn by watching, check out Lynda.com.

Beyond Buzz: Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing by Lois Kelly is about learning to create meaningful dialogue about organizations and products, instead of marketing blah blah blah.

If you are the lone evangelist in your organization--the one who gets it--print out a copy of the Executive Summary of Beyond Buzz and get it in front of as many managers as possible, especially those in communications, marketing and PR. (Tip from a former lone evangelist: I know, the summary is electronic. You could email it. In my experience, paper in front of nose is more effective.)

There are 5 reasons why conversation is important.

1. Because The Cluetrain Manifesto tells us markets are conversation.

Ok, that’s not one of the 5, but it’s definitely the starting point to understanding #1.

#1. People don’t trust marketing and sales information.

We have trusted advisors. They are our friends and family. We’d rather believe Tom, who’s just bought a new digital camera, than Best Buy who wants to sell us a camera for 20% off.

#2. People are overwhelmed with information.

We trust our friends and family because we can have a conversation with them. They help us make sense out of the information. They are not trying to sell us anything. They have our best interests at heart.

#3. Beyond products, people want to know what it’s like to work with your company.

We want to know that we’re spending our money with the right people.

#4. Explosion of new “talk” communications channels.

There are many, many ways for us to search online for product reviews. In fact, we don’t just check “Ford + reviews”, we check “Ford + repairs” and “Ford + broken”. If you’re not part of that conversation, we’re less likely to care about great reviews, especially if your company is the source of the reviews.

#5. People want to be heard and have a say.

Be an advocate on behalf of customers. Listening and talking can take you a long way.

The Foghound > Beyond Buzz website has lots of other incentives to buy the book:

• Subscribe to the podcast
• See the Table of Contents
• Read the Author Q&A

Buy a copy of Beyond Buzz today.

Enter to win a free copy.
I’ll do a random draw in one week.

UPDATE:
Congratulations to the 5 contest winners. (This is a partial list. Not everyone has given me permission to post their name.)
Kara Harun
Kate Trgovac of www.mynameiskate.ca
Jennifer Wiederick of www.worldwidewatercooler.com

Thank you to everyone who entered.

Marketing Tip: Respond to Email and Phone Calls

If someone contacts your company via email or phone, respond.

I know this sounds elementary, however, last week I was looking to hire a web design company and I was astounded at the number of companies who never returned my phone call or email.

James and I were talking about how this affects our perception of a company, and we shared tales of bad experiences about company sites without contact information and companies who insist on filtering people through online contact forms but who never respond to those email. It was quite the rant.

And then, over the email transom came this great tip from The Guerilla Marketing Association:

If somebody from among those 40 or 50 million people on the Internet takes the time and trouble to write to you, take the time to write back.

Designate people within your company to respond to various topics. Design your Web site to route e-mail to the appropriate person.

Internet experts say that rapid and certain response is probably the single most important factor for building a die-hard audience, just the kind you want.

So if you want to stand apart and generate positive feelings about your company, simply answer the phone and respond to emails.

Barcamp Vancouver 2007 event details

Barcamp Vancouver 2007 is set to kick off tomorrow night, August 17, at 6 pm. The monster that is Barcamp Vancouver 2007 then runs for 24 geek-packed hours, wrapping up Saturday, August 18 at 5:30.

If you registered many weeks ago, all the details for the good, good fun are below. If you missed out on registering, I’m pretty sure we’ll be running again next year. So stay tuned in July for an announcement.

But before we get to the details of the event, I’d like to pimp the session I’m pitching for Saturday. Here’s the pitch:

Zero to 30 Seconds in Less than 1 Hour or So You Think You Can Make an Ad?

In one session we’ll go from concept to finished product on one or more advertisements (depending on number of participants) for anything we want. Email me if you’d like to get started on a few briefs before the session. — James Sherrett, ad hacker

I expect things may be a little wooly at first. It’s a pretty ambitious goal to bang out a few ads in less than an hour. But I think it’ll be one grand experiment! I’m interested to see how it shakes out.

Anyone interested in going a little pre-session preparation? Contact me and I’ll pass along the briefs I’m working up to get us rolling.

Alright, now the details.

Hello Barcampers!

Here’s our quick note with some details about Barcamp Vancouver 2007

Below you’ll find information on:

• registry and attendance
• t-shirts
• list of topics for sessions
• schedule of Barcamp events
• spreading the love

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Registry and Attendance
http://barcamp.org/BarCampVancouver2007Attendees

We’re oversubscribed (yay!), which means that some people who want
to come won’t be able to come (boo!).

So please, if you’re in the first 120, check your dates and availability.
Are you sure you’re coming? We want to minimize the wiki squatting.

If you’re not sure you’re coming, please strike out your name and post
the name of the top person left on the waiting list in your former place.

If you’re on the waiting list, are you sure you’re available to come?
If not, please cross out your name. If you’re still keen on coming,
check back on the list to see if you’ve been added to the first 120.

We don’t mean to be too anal about this. We just want to make sure
that all the people that want to be there and can be there do get
to be there.

And to do that, please help us get the word out to all Barcampers.
Blog this message if you can. Forward it on to friends who are
interested so people are in the know.

We’ve gone through the list of signed-up attendees. Everyone who
left an email address has been sent this message. But that’s only
53 of about 160 people and email is a fickle mistress.

We’re missing out on getting in touch with some folks and we need
your help to get the word out. So blog the hell out of this and
we’ll (hopefully) reach everyone.

---

T-Shirts

We have printed 120 Barcamp Vancouver 2007 t-shirts to cover our
collective nekkidness.

They’re fuschia (!) and they’ll be available at the door on a first-
come, first-served basis.

We’re taking a suggested donation of $20 for each t-shirt, to
finance our lavish unconference lifestyle. Any monies left over will
be rolled into financing next year’s proceedings.

---

List of Topics for Sessions
http://barcamp.org/BarCampVancouver2007

One of the suggestions from past Barcamps has been to post a list
of potential topics for sessions before the unconference. That way,
people can do their homework and get a hint of the sessions
available.

So that’s a great idea. Now let’s put it into action.

On the Barcamp Vancouver 2007 main page we have a heading called
Topics. So far, we have 2 sessions listed. The page is a wiki.
Anyone who wants to add a session, please go to it.

From past unconferences, we’ve seen that topics for sessions that
get listed beforehand have a much higher chance of getting selected
and getting great participation, which is, after all, the point.
So if you want to lead a session, or even just see a session on a
particular topic, please post the topic.

We’ll do some active wiki gardening to lend some order to the list
of topics, but anything is fair game. Go. To. It.

---

Schedule of Barcamp Events

Friday, August 17: food and drink at the Alibi Room

• appetizers all evening
• open bar starting at 6:30 pm (until our credit runs out!)
• we’re in the private area downstairs
• The Alibi Room, 157 Alexander Street @ Main (map)
• sleepover at Workspace, 21 Water Street, Suite 400

Saturday, August 18: conference day all day

• start at 8:30 AM with day organization
• pastries and coffees available
• pizza lunch to be delivered at ~noon
• Workspace, Suite 400 - 21 Water Street (map)
• end at 5:30 PM
• your own reconnaisance

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Spreading the Love

Lots of folks have worked hard to make Barcamp Vancouver 2007
happen. Sponsors have ponied up cash. Busy people have volunteered.
People with work to do have reinvested their attention to see
things get done.

So if you have a chance, thank a volunteer or a sponsor or one
of the folks at Workspace (our venue!) for making the event happen.

Last of all, thanks to all of your for all the enthusiasm, energy
and passion. And for reading this far.

Barcamp lives in the relationships between all of us. All of us
make it happen. So come to the unconference ready to rock and
help us all kick some ass.

---

Any questions?

Check the website for answers:
http://barcamp.org/BarCampVancouver2007

Ask an organizer:

• Kris Krug - www.kriskrug.com
• Roland Tanglao - www.rolandtanglao.com
• Robert Scales - www.robertscales.com
• Zak Greant - www.zak.greant.com
• James Sherrett - www.adhack.com
• Ianiv Schweber - www.blogaholics.ca
• Megan Cole - www.megancole.org
• Jordan Behan - www.telltenfriends.com
• Aaron Gladders - www.2paths.com

See you at the conference!