In case you’re wondering, yes I have always wanted to utter those words, and thanks to my fellow Age of Conversation 2 authors, I’ve been able to make that boast twice in the past two years.

“Age of Conversation 2: Why Don’t they Get It?” was published just a few days ago, and is now for sale at Lulu.com. Authored by 237 bloggers and edited by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan, this year’s version is bigger and better, so get to buying one. 100% of the proceeds of the book go to Variety, a Children’s Charity.

That bears repeating: 237 volunteer authors submitted chapters to two volunteer managing editors, and along with a volunteer cover designer and the collective army of our marketing prowess, a book is born. Every cent from book sales (save for a commission paid to Lulu.com who do the printing) goes to Variety. It’s for the kids, so click the huge image below and do the right thing now. They make great holiday gifts! Heck, order last year’s too!

So who are these esteemed fellow authors, who have been so giving of their time and knowledge for such a worthy cause? They are none other than:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Seriously, if you’re still reading this and you haven’t ordered a copy, you need to think again about the kids, and get over there and order one (or a few) now.

Another year, and another Barcamp has come and gone.

This year saw the Saturday main event move to several venues on Granville Island, with the opening reception Friday night at Workspace. The island setting was magical, especially for the troopers who set out on an afternoon photowalk following Saturday’s festivities. The photos are simply brilliant.

On Saturday morning, Joe Solomon and myself organized a session entitled “Marketers for a Cause,” in which we intended to use social media tools to make a direct impact in just 30 min. We were successful too, as the group of about 60 in attendance grouped off to support three causes; Kevan from Union Gospel Mission familiarized his group with the charity’s mission, the lovely Megan Cole rallied some of the troops for Hands Up for Africa, and Joe, myself and Stewart Marshall started a Kiva.org “lending team” for Vancouver Barcampers, and we’ve already started loaning funds to charities in the third world. I had hoped that this quick session would leave everyone with a feeling of having made a big difference in a very short time, and although time was tight, I’d say it was a success.

As one of the volunteers organizers of Barcamp, the day of the event can get pretty busy, and it’s easy to lose focus on the impact the event has. For me, one of the highlights of the weekend wasn’t a particular session at all, or even the well-attended reception (I do love a tasty free beer) but it was meeting cool people like Gregg Scott, whose enthusiasm all weekend served as a constant reminder of why we work so hard to bring it all together. People love the ad hoc nature of Barcamp, and at $20 for the weekend (includes a t-shirt!) you really can’t go wrong.

My sister came along this year, her first Barcamp experience. Here she is with a few comments about the weekend. After that, you can watch my Barcamp reception walk-through in the same player:

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Once again, another successful volunteer-run event in the best tech city on the planet.

imgs: False Creek by John Bollwitt, Marketers for a Cause by me, and Myself with Gregg by Penmachine.

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.