I mean, what better way to illustrate how the tools of the social web can be used effectively in marketing than to employ some of those tools to “crowdsource” a comprehensive presentation?

Here’s how it works:

• In the comment form below, leave your input as to how companies can use tools on the web to join their community of customers and start conversations.
• I will take those submissions, and from them I will build both a PowerPoint presentation and speaker’s notes. I will then publish those under a license, effectively making the presentation free for all to use, provided they attribute the contributors and blog about their talk.
• It’s truly open source, so you can edit the slides, the notes and your resulting talk to suit you, as long as you re-publish your changes under a CC license.
• Sound like fun? Well then chime in! In the comments below, give us your real world examples, ideas, case studies, recommendations, brain storms; whatever you’ve got.

I think this can be a lot of fun, and serve as a great way to help others understand the way the web is changing how companies can better communicate with their customer base, and truly join their communities.

So let’s hear from you! Here’s your chance to have your best ideas and voice heard, and to take the message to the streets, along with the ideas of your fellow marketers, bloggers and social media experts.

Comment away; make it a sentence, or make it a few paragraphs, your choice! And don’t forget to leave your link and name for the credits!

Cheers,

Jordan Behan
jordan[at]telltenfriends.com

Update: After some chit-chat in the comments, Rob Merlino has decided to buy a url for the hotdogtruck blog, at www.thehotdogtruck.com. Also, Bob LeDrew points us to his latest CBC article on this very topic, and I’ve selected a quick byte here:

All these social media have a few things in common. They are based in the idea of conversation, or dialogue between equals. A static Web site delivering tightly scripted messages doesn’t work with this new world.

Exactly.

Update #2: Cynthia has chimed in with a focus on B2B, and another gem of a quote:

Choose a select group of customers that are your raving fans/evangelists. Have a conversation with them about how/if they would like to interact, collaborate with your company. Or with each other. Then select the best social media tool–blog, online community, message board to fit your unique community.

Bullseye. Also, big thanks to Chris Heuer of the Social Media Club, who gave the go-ahead to pull bits and pieces from his previously published content, with attribution. That is, after all, what Creative Commons licenses are for.

Anybody else have an article or concept that they’d like to have referenced?

Found via Chris Anderson:

A video that explains the concept of ‘Web 2.0,” the rapid changes happening to the web, the way we communicate, and the way we “teach the machine.”

Watch it for yourself:

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

For more: Visit the post by the video’s creator to join the discussion about this video and some of the issues it raises.

The nice lads over Elastic Path (from right here in Vancouver) have put together a great white paper called “Blogging for Retailers.” (Follow link to download your copy)

If you blog for business’ sake - at all, then you should read it. They talk about retailers, specifically of the ‘large scale’ variety, but literally every word applies to any blogger who uses their content and conversation as a marketing tool; be it a service business, or any-sized online retailer. Toward the end is a glossary of terms for the uninitiated.

Also, Dave O had fellow ‘Elastic Pather’ Jason Billingsley and Bryght’s Boris Mann join him for a podcast on the same subject. A great listen to go with a great read.

Many thanks, Gents.

We’re in here having a great chat, and we want you to join us.

You see, now you are not just welcome to join us for lively conversation here on the blog, but now we can get a little more interactive, in the brand-spanking-new Tell Ten Friends Forum. A truly “2.0 enabled” chit-chat spot. Check out the separate RSS feeds for individual topics and threads. Oooh! Aaah! Marvel at the cleanliness of the design; the ease of use.

Why a forum? Because sometimes, blog posts are too one-way, even with comments enabled. Not only that, but this way our questions and discussions can be discussed within a community, effectively “crowd-sourcing” for a more cohesive, collective uber-answer. Or something like that.

I’m creating two “topics” to kick things off; more on that in a bit. First, I have pay special thanks to the Architect of this new, fully-functioning fantastic forum. For real.

Rob Masefield, our Creative Consultant here at TTF, built it for us to show off his talents. If you haven’t done so for a while, have another poke around our site, and then check out his own blog and portfolio while you’re at it. Both are excellent examples of sites with Wordpress built in; something of a specialty of ours, thanks to Rob’s considerable talents.

I used to think that he was a rare commodity in the fact that he could design incredibly well and manage code intuitively too. Now, I’m beginning to think they broke the mold. And I’m not just saying that because he built me such a stunning new forum.

Please, pop in for a chat. Just click through to register, log in and start posting! Two topics to get us started:

1. How do you generate coverage and word of mouth for a non-profit horse show event, with no budget?
2. From Digg: Should MySpace allow parents to download a special spyware to monitor their kids activity on the site?

Let discussion begin…

We are growing in numbers. We are are extremely polite, almost to a fault. We say “eh” a lot, even if we try not to. We work in Marketing and Communications and we are…

Canada’s 1% Blogging Army.

We spread the word about new media marketing and PR tactics, and we evangelize the things we love. We get to know one another through generous linking to one another, and then of course, we say thank you. A lot.

Big thanks to Sean Moffitt for creating the list of 150 ‘MARCOM’ bloggers in Canada. It’s a great list, and one that I sure am proud to be part of. Click the image above the read the list over at Buzz Canuck.

The blog turns 1-year-old this week, the company celebrates that same milestone this Spring.

As an early birthday and Christmas present, Rob has been making tweaks to the site again, to the back end as reported earlier and most noticeably, to the banner.

I love it. It’s Vancouver, it’s fun and it features a great photo by Rob himself, of False Creek and BC Place. The stadium which, sans inflatable roof, will be home of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics in 2010. Great job, mate!

:: You know what else would be a great birthday present? Leave a comment behind, and maybe even let us all know when you started reading.

I’m rather embarrassed to admit that I missed the sign-up deadline for Casecamp, Crayonville (held in Second Life) tonight. Sounds like I missed out.

Anyway, without that coolest of the cool ‘unconference’ to attend in that 3D world I’m gradually warming up to, I started digging into the episodes of “Crayoncast,” the podcast by staff of Crayon, “a new marketing company.” And I like it. The staff each give a quick minute on their favorite topic of the week. Some of it is actually useful too, such as the tip to check out JPG Magazine, the first “user-generated” print magazine, for photographers.

What are you waiting for cool kids, submit your shots now. You could win and get published, and with that receive $100 and a free subscription. The future of publishing is now.

You’re probably all just dying to know, and although I’m tempted to publish a whole list here, this is actually just to announce a cool new feature from Flickr:

Give the Gift of Flickr. As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of the service, but I am still on a free account. And even though, as Factory Joe (aka Chris Messina) reports, those free accounts are going from 20MB to 100MB per month in uploads, I still feel as if I owe it to the Flickr community to contribute more than just my occasional photo or two.

So if you’re stumped, and you want to get me something that I will cherish for many years to come, this is the idea you’ve been looking for. If my new Pro account isn’t under the tree this year, I resolve to purchase this for myself in the New Year. Just like I resolve to finally start training for the Vancouver Marathon. Seriously.

This is my 100th post since the switch to Wordpress. Add the 81 from Blogger, and we’re not far off from 200. Also, stay tuned for the celebration of the most important milestone of them all, Tell Ten Friends’ first birthday. (hint: it happens before we ring in 2007)

Thanks very much for reading. I’m having a blast, and your comments, links, feedback and encouragement are just icing on the cake.

As reported by Ianiv of the Blogaholics, Grouse Mountain was giving away free lift passes yesterday, in exchange for a minimum donation of $2 for North Shore Family Services or canned goods for the Harvest Project.

My brother Wes, Rob and I all went up in the afternoon, and spent a few hours discovering Grouse Mountain for the first time, and getting some great runs in. A great time was had by all; it was sunny and warm and even though it was incredibly busy, the whole hill was full of happy people. I was most impressed by the view of Vancouver from the top:

Photo by Rob Masefield