Since April, I’ve left my own practice to join DraftFCB as Vice President, Digital Management Director. Clearly, you can see right in the title that if there’s digital management that needs direction, or directors who need digital management, or managerial directors who need digital, I’m the guy to do the digital, management and/or directing.

Basically, it’s a new position where I’m most focused on digital context (who, where, and why of audiences interacting with brands), integration (of agency and brand communication models), and tech strategy (the what and how of digital interaction). The mix of these changes depending on the client and team.

As I round the first quarter of this new position I can write about what the position has evolved into being at this point:

Learning and linking

There are a ton of incredibly smart, talented people here working in a variety of media and disciplines. In many cases it’s my job to be someone who can quickly learn what they do, what they need, and how to effectively apply creative technology solutions for the benefit of the audience, their work, DraftFCB short/long term, and the business goals of the client (in many different orders).

To do this effectively it means I also need to be constantly learning about as many other people inside the organization as possible, and what’s happening in technology (usage / design / programming trends) that can be applied to help. Just since April I’ve had the pleasure of working with teams that range from mobile and kiosk to CRM, Social Networks, and site infrastructure.

Modeling and sharing

The other part of my job is helping people understand the underlying structures and abstract notions of how digital works. Sometimes it’s frameworks and modeling at a high level within an account or the agency to make these abstractions become tangible and applicable – or when a model doesn’t apply. Sometimes it’s helping people understand that digital models are really very similar to the broadcast models they’re used to working within. I’m the dude who says, “You know radio? Yep, programming social media is just like that.”

Sometimes it’s talking through banners with account and creative teams to strengthen interaction design. And at times it’s what I’ve been calling “Digital therapy sessions,” helping account leads know they’re not crazy, giving them a different way to approach and articulate problem spaces and solutions.

Making the new traditional

I’m lucky to be right in the middle of the changing definition of Traditional Agency. Marketing communications is being enabled by technology to provide a hybrid service / communications infrastructure and logistics for brands. It’s a globally networked fabric of people that brands need to be connected through. From static interactions through bringing relevant intelligence through organizations to the people in the networked public who need it; Brands know it, agencies know it, and I get to work to make it a reality. And that’s cool.

It’s a whole new world for me, getting to work with an incredible digital leadership core of Chris Miller, Emily Brennan, Patrick Moorhead, Nicole Haygood, Jason Mitton, and Kevin Drew Davis (as Mr. Cunningham) who are all dynamic and talented as just part of an ever-unfolding agency of dynamic and talented people.

Very neat things are happening (even more than I’ve written briefly), and I’m looking forward to sharing more, here, as time marches on.

And please, if you’re working with me at DraftFCB, please use the comment space to throw in your two cents on what you think my job is. One of the best parts so far has been hearing the many ways people have been filtering my work through their own lens, and I’d love the chance to get those perspectives here.

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For those who weren’t able to join us, here’s a slidesharified version of the visuals I brought along. It’s an updated version of the presentation I gave on Future Web Trends a year ago at Colle + McVoy, with more focus on UX, and a little discussion around the concept of metric montage.

Of course I’m available for talks like this at your industry event, conference, office, or Bris*.

*Speaking at Brit Milot does not include any additional services, and I will not bring any deli platters.

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Tabvalanche (tab•va•lanche) n.
Being buried under so many open tabs that it slows your Web browser and computer to a crawl.

To avoid the Tabvalanche, I recommend Netvibes as a way to make your own social media dashboard. Netvibes is one of a handful of customizable Web-based start pages that use widgets. In a space with Pageflakes, iGoogle, and MyYahoo, I find Netvibes the easiest to use.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Sign up for a Netvibes account
2. Click the big green “Add content” button in the upper left of the screen
3. In the subnavigation click “Essential widgets.”
4. On the lower right-hand side of boxes that appear, you’ll see a button called “Web page.”
5. Enter your search page results URL in the text-entry box that appears (not the original URL, so instead of “http://search.twitter.com” you paste “http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Hong+Kong+Phooey”).

Many results pages, like the example above, also offer the RSS version of the search results. In this case, you’ll want to substitute clicking the “Add a feed” button for step two. Then rinse and repeat for all the services available to search out your brand mentions. Your computer and productivity will thank you. I have to say, this isn’t an original idea by me. Sadly, I can’t remember where I read this technique originally to attribute it, but it’s quite useful.

Speaking of thanks… this post comes to you courtesy of John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing. I left this idea as a comment to his post on Listening in a Digital Age for his readers, really as a refresher – thinking that many people already knew about this. So you can imagine how surprised and flattered I was that he spun it off into its own post: The One Page Social Media Dashboard. So here I am reposting it for you.

Are you using methods like this to track your social media footprint? Add a coment below with your thoughts, or continue the conversation @mleis.

Of course, if you’d like help creating a social media program that drives results for your brand, I’d be more than happy to help.

Update 4/7/09: Thanks to Simon Andrews, who reminded me on Twitter this morning to add Addict-o-matic. It’s specifically a search dashboard presenting results in widget-form from as many as 25 various sources. The easiest option of them all!

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Connect: Marketing in the Social Media Era does all of that, and more: You’re bound to find a number of perspectives and insights into your own marketing you haven’t yet considered. Think of the cost savings alone. After shipping, it’s about $25. That’s like getting each essay for a quarter. Best of all, 100% of the proceeds are donated to the Susan Komen for the Cure foundation.

The book is filled with marketing heavyweights I truly respect and admire, like Adam Kmiec, Alan Wolk, Brandie Feuer, Adam Broitman, Ann Handley, Dave Knox, Brian Morrisey, not to mention 93 other vibrant perspectives on social media marketing. As I flip through the book, I’m also being introduced to a ton of great minds I never knew before.

Tremendous thanks again to Jeff Caswell, who conceived the idea and is the organizing force behind the entire Project100.

Go ahead: buy your copy right now.

Still need more convincing? You can find my 400 words after the jump:

Social Media: The Marketer’s Burden

Marketers are responsible for developing the infrastructure that will lead the modern word into an era of ubiquitous computing.

Over the course of history inventors were responsible for creating technology. Marketers help finance that channel’s maturity by selling space strategically.The reality of social media is more than a strategy for getting the word out: it is code for trying to understand how ubiquitous computing will unfold.

Ubiquitous computing is abstract and unwieldy at best. We know it will mean an interface and technological infrastructure that connects us all: people and objects.

In the past, objects grew independently of each other, and always within the same core uses. The Icebox became the refrigerator. The oven matured through the toaster oven, to the microwave. Completely integrated computing is almost impossible for most people to comprehend or visualize.

To handle this change, society has framed technological ubiquity as Social Media. We’ve settled on marketers as the agency of change for this exciting era in human communications. Marketers: take a deep breath. Here are two basics to help guide the way and lessen the burden.

Create change through identifying similarities

The only way to create effective consensus is to disregard differences. Focus on what technologies have in common. Look at the technologies of the past to guide stakeholders into the future.

For instance, if your brand buys TV, adopt the same sponsorship models for programming and development as those that drove the golden age. Brands that play in social media do best when they facilitate the entertainment or utility: not by interrupting it.

Include everyone

Knowing that social media is a channel like the phone is important. It should be the domain of your operations department. Since it’s not, education has also become the marketers’ job: to get individuals, and eventually the entire company involved in the channel. Understand that ubiquitous computing is coming, and you’re the sparkplug. For now: keep educating, and help people see what’s possible on their own terms. Let patience, persistence and creativity lead.

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Jeff Caswell is the man responsible for bringing together 100 impressive authors to write about social media. All proceeds from the sale of the bookare being donated to the Susan G. Komen for the cure foundation. Thanks so much to Jeff and all the authors for donating their time to make a difference.

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What resulted is similar to this slide deck: a mix of Aristotle, Billy Collins, and Eisenstein; informing projects I’ve had the pleasure of working on, and other examples showcasing the relationships between people, brands and technology.

The trip was a lot of fun. With Craig Pladson as my Minneapolis sherpa, I got to meet a ton of wicked-sharp people. I was also introduced to a world where cheeseburgers and fried eggs live together in harmony.

Thanks so much to Christine Fruechte, Adam, and Craig for the opportunity and your hospitality. I’ve been told that a video of the presentation will be released soon. Which I’ll post here when it’s ready.

What do you think? Please, leave a comment and add your perspective…

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The biggest reason has been my family, and their unconditional compassion for my interactive afflictions. You, the reader, should know this operation runs on two main ingredients: love (96%), and poop jokes (4%).

With that, a look back:

I hate writing

The problem is, I’m terrible at avoiding it. I’ve unsuccessfully avoided writing  somewhere around 170 times this year in blog and industry articles. Many more people have stopped to read it than I could have ever expected. Some have thought enough to comment, or continue conversations over twitter, phone and/or email.

The response has been gratifying and flattering, to say the least. Writing has helped me learn from so many new people, it’s kinda silly.

Rewarding Work

This year folks gave me incredible opportunities to put brand money where my mouth is, and I am truly grateful. Managing the partnership between Emerge and Upshot, we helped launch two US brands (Emmi and Gogo). We created a scalable b2b platform and an Operation Homefront Texas site for Miller (both in Flex). Then there’s Kraft and Cover Girl Lookfab.

The work we did for Visa International was an incredible educaton. Creating widget models for Singapore and Korea continues to shape my thinking. To have a video played as part of the global executive keynote stands as a highlight.

Another company worth mentioning is Consumer Reports. What many people don’t realize is the culture of altruistic advocacy living there. They do important work in our consumer culture.

Social Networking

This was a year I definitely clicked into the dynamics of social networking — which makes sense as an extension of all the portable-computing-as-widget stuff I’ve written on. If someone would have told me in January that I’d have Stumbled over 2,000 pages and sent more than 10,000 Tweets I’d have called them crazy. Yet here we are.

Aside from showing me the first signs of  ubiquitous computing, social networks have introduced me to so many people I respect and admire, personally and professionally.

Even better have been the people whom I’ve had the chance to get together with in person. After 2008, I can say there’s a whole crew of people in Chicago, Ottawa, Toronto, NYC, and Miami that I look forward to getting together with and learning more from. Last but not least is home in Philadelphia, where the social media crew has been incredibly thought-provoking and supportive.

You know who you are

There are so many individual people to thank that this one blog post would be clearly ineffective. A crazy year like this one doesn’t happen on its own. Thank you for everything.

I don’t know what kind of antics 2009 has in store. But I’m excited to find out, and for you to be a part of it.

Thanks again!

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interaction’09 | vancouver

Are you going to interaction ’09? If you have any stake in the future of interaction design (and, really, who doesn’t), then it’s worth your time to read on, and find out more about this event. Happy to re-present this on behalf of tenaciously brilliant Will Evans, who will be there along with some of the brightest minds in the world, mapping the future of communication:

IxDA Announces Interaction|09 with Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, B.C. February 5-8, 2009

The Interaction Design Association (IxDA) is pleased to announce Interaction|09, to be held February 5-8, 2009 in conjunction with Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts + Technology, and the Faculty of Business, located in lovely Vancouver, B.C.

Mark your calendars now for what promises to be another exciting and informative conference centered around the design of interactive systems of all types, from web and desktop applications, to mobile devices, consumer electronics, digitally-enhanced environments, and more. This will be our growing community’s second annual opportunity to gather with several hundred other Interaction Design professionals from around the world.

Building on the successful format of Interaction 08 at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Interaction 09 will span four days, with two and a half main conference days preceded by 1 ½ days of pre- conference workshops and activities. Thursday will be devoted to a diverse and valuable series of professional workshops. Friday will be a busy and exciting day, with tours, additional workshops and opportunities to explore SFU, its surrounding community and Vancouver, along with leadership and organizing activities in the morning. The conference will open Friday afternoon, with a welcoming reception that evening.

Saturday and Sunday will be packed with inspirational and tactical sessions geared at anyone who practices Interaction Design. We look forward to Interaction 09 continuing to build on the quality of experience and community camaraderie we shared this year in Savannah.
————
For more on Simon Fraser University School of Interactive Arts + Technology, visit http://www.siat.sfu.ca/
————

About IxDA

http://ixda.org

Founded in 2003, the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) is a member- supported organization committed to serving the needs of the international interaction design community. With the help of thousands of members worldwide, we provide a forum for the discussion of interaction design issues.

IxDA’s mission includes evangelism of our field, innovation in our discipline, professionalism in our standards of practice, support for interaction design education in academic programs, and community building for our growing global community of interaction design professionals.

IxDA Discussion Forums: http://ixda.org/discuss.php

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Both are great examples of what happens when agencies work well together. Both show a tremendous rage of capabilities, utilizing video motion graphics, Flash stateless interactivity, user-participation, games, and a widget (the widget had already received praise as an Apple Dashboard Staff Pick).

More about the awards after the jump…

Gogo Pre-launch Site

The Gogo Pre-launch site and widget won a Standard of Excellence award in the Web Marketing Association’s Web Awards. Entries were judged on overall site design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copywriting and ease of use. The Gogo Pre-launch site received 9 points out of a possible 10 in three categories: content, technology and copywriting.

Thanks to all the great folks who worked on the Gogo site:

At Upshot: Nicole Bressanelli, Kristen Hack, Sarah Murphy, Brett Pachol, Patrick Lyman, Paul Marran, Bill Fogarty, Tony Mingo, and Evo Soria.

Our Emergers: Mark Smith, Adam Stipanuk, John Stipanuk, Adam Fox, Matt Petersen, and Mike Dillon.

Emmi Cafe Latte Teaser Site

The teaser website for Emmi’s Chicago and Miami launches won an Outstanding Website Award. Entries in this category were judged on overall site design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copywriting and ease of use. Our submission scored high – receiving 66 points out of a possible 70.

Thanks to all the peeps who made the Emmi launches such a success, talking fridges and all:

Upshot crew: Pat Lyman, Paul Marran, David Nigh, Megan Lane, Jay Davidson, Wendy Sokoluk, Whitney Wood, and Evo Soria.

The Emerge Emmi team: Mark Smith, Adam Stipanuk, Adam Fox, Matt Pedersen and Mike Dillon.

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The Truth is 140 Characters asks: what is authentic in social media beyond the technical capabilities of the medium? Everything? Nothing?

Is there a difference between a real relationship and one that’s formed through the filter of a digital interface?

What does all of this have to do with Welcome Back Kotter?

Head on over to Conversation Agent and find out for yourself. Right now!

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