As many of you have noticed, I haven’t been able to keep up the same level of blogging since I’ve been in Chicago. Rest assured as of November 11th I’ll be back home and getting back into the swing of things. I was actually surprised to realize how much I miss regularly blogging, it had become such an integral part of my daily routine! Still, these days I’m lucky to steal a few minutes of down time to post something of relevance, so thanks for checking back for content!

Anyway, I did want to share a little habit that I’ve picked up since I have been in Chicago, one that has really added a lot of value to my life. Every day, as I journey to and from the city on the Brown Line I have started watching the TED talks on my iPod.

TED is one of the best conferences in the world, and it stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. Started back in 1984 (the year I was born, clearly a sign, lol) it has brought some of the most fascinating thinkers and doers to share their ideas with the world. I have heard people who have attended these gatherings speak about experiencing life-altering revelations. So I was beyond thrilled to see TED release footage of the talks for free online! You can download them off of iTunes( both video and audio), watch on Youtube or at the Official Site.

TED is famed for their 20 minute presentations, the perfect length (in my opinion) to introduce a new idea. I watch two of those videos every day, one on each leg of my commute. I have been surprised to find how much of an impact it has had on me. You can hear everyone from Bill Clinton to Bill Gates cover all sorts of fascinating topics, and for an information junkie like myself, it’s the highest quality of information you’ll probably ever consume.

1. It really sets my morning off on the right foot. Listening to people share their stories of triumph and discovery just helps focus my mind, and I feel more empowered and hopeful. I definitely notice a change in my mood when I don’t get a chance to watch a segment!
2. I’m learning so much about such a diverse range of topics- medicine, engineering, physics just to name a few.
3. When I’m feeling bone-tired on my way home it helps me keep going as I am reminded that struggle is sometimes a necessary state when trying to accomplish something that makes a difference.

A New Foushy Segment!

SO, what’s my point? My point is I want you to watch them, but more importantly I want to discuss what I’ve seen with people! So far that has been the one draw back, I learn about all of these interesting topics and no one is around to talk about them. So here’s what I want to do. I’m going to start picking some of my absolute favorites and blogging about them on the FOUSH. I’ll post the link to the videos and a short summary of why it inspired me, and I would love to hear your thoughts! I think I’ll start doing once a week and see how it goes. TED Tuesdays? or TED Thursdays? I’m excited already!

I am so happy to announce that Don Tapscott’s latest book “Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is changing your world” is available on Amazon! As a collaborator, I am very proud of the finished product, and ecstatic that this book is hitting the shelves.

I was fed up with the negative attitudes people have expressed towards our generation. A few weeks ago, I did an interview on the CBC withauthor Mark Bauerlein about his book “The Dumbest Generation.” He wrote:

For decades, concern has been brewing about the dumbed-down popular culture available to young people and the impact it has on their futures. At the dawn of the digital age, many believed they saw a hopeful answer: The Internet, e-mail, blogs, and interactive and hyper-realistic video games promised to yield a generation of sharper, more aware, and intellectually sophisticated children. The terms “information superhighway” and “knowledge economy” entered the lexicon, and we assumed that teens would use their knowledge and understanding of technology to set themselves apart as the vanguards of this new digital era.

That was the promise. But the enlightenment didn’t happen. The technology that was supposed to make young adults more astute, diversify their tastes, and improve their verbal skills has had the opposite effect. According to recent reports, most young people in the United States do not read literature, visit museums, or vote. They cannot explain basic scientific methods, recount basic American history, name their local political representatives, or locate Iraq or Israel on a map. The Dumbest Generation is a startling examination of the intellectual life of young adults and a timely warning of its consequences for American culture and democracy.

Drawing upon exhaustive research, personal anecdotes, and historical and social analysis, Mark Bauerline presents an uncompromisingly realistic portrait of the young American mind at this critical juncture, and lays out a compelling vision of how we might address its deficiencies.

Lazy, uneducated and apathetic was how he summed up my generation, and I took a lot of offense to that categorization. You can listen to the interview, and read my response to Mark here.

I’m pleased (and relieved) to say that Don’s research yielded more encouraging results. Based on a $4 million research study, Don surveyed more then 11,000 “Net Geners,” and quickly realized that The Net Generation is the world’s first global digital generation, and we are collaborating, creating and innovating in unprecedented ways. We are impacting every institution from government and education to the workplace and the marketplace. Everything is changing.

Grown Up Digital reveals:

How the brain of the Net Generation processes information

Seven ways to attract and engage young talent in the workforce

Seven guidelines for educators to tap the Net Gen potential

Parenting 2.0: There’s no place like the new home

Citizen Net: How young people and the Internet are transforming democracy

Watch Don’s video, “Hey Moron” since he can probably tell it better then I can!

UPDATE: Thanks to all of your votes, Jesse nabbed the number #1 spot on Current.com’s leader board!  Congratulations Jesse!

Jesse just made this awesome video essay profiling a Canadian man named Norman and his particular involvement with the American presidential election. I think it’s fabulous, I’m giving it my Foushiest endorsement.

If you like what you see, please go HERE and vote it up. If you don’t have a current.com account you might need to register for one, but it’s painless and easy.

Jesse’s video is currently in the #5 spot, if he moves up they’ll broadcast the video on Current’s network! How exciting! Let’s help him win!

The slow but steady adoption of Twitter into the mainstream continues to fascinate me.  As the microblogging site continues to get  news coverage and more corporate accounts pop up, it’s pretty safe to say that Twitter has enabled companies to engage in  deeper and more personal conversations without being overly imposing. For the companies that do it right, it has become a powerful tool to connect to consumers and promote brands, one tweet at a time.

The problem with Twitter…

I was intrigued to see and Ad for Twitter Moms on one of my recent internet jaunts. As I curiously poked around the site, I quickly realized that this community, (I’m sure the first of many) has popped up in direct response to one of Twitter’s biggest flaws: figuring out who to follow.

Currently Twitter lets you search for contacts you already know who are either on one of your other social networks, or who you can invite via email. Which is fine, but what about the great people out there who you don’t know, the friends you just haven’t met yet?  The majority of people on my list are people that I’ve never met in person but who I’ve discovered to be funny, intelligent and generally all around wonderful. Since the technology industry has some well-established names, I found it easy to build up a base list. For non-tech enthusiasts who just want to meet new friends with similar interests, I can see the current system as being a huge barrier to adoption.

An end-user solution

Twitter Moms fills this void by allowing users to search for other moms based on interests ranging from motherhood to fashion, technology and business. Hosted on Ning, the community already has grown to over 2,300 members. Members gain access to groups, discussions and events. They even have a growing collection of videos that cover everything from humerous youtube videos, to technical tutorials for members who want learn more about web based tools.

I think it astutely addresses the intimidation factor of randomly following someone you don’t know by giving users the opportunity to ease into a new digital relationship, for example by contributing to a group discussion or commenting on  site content. That way, by the time you follow each other on twitter you’ve already established a burgeoning online friendship that lays the foundation for future dialogue.

I think this is a fantastic idea, and I can definitely see similar communities emerging as more and more people start microblogging. I hope Twitter improves their search data base. Write now you can search via terms in people’s bios, but I still don’t think that’s enough. I mean if i search for “technology” I get hundreds of users, but how do I know which ones would be a good choice to follow?

Corporate Application?

I think organizations will see tremendous value by participating in these types of communities. I mean if you market to moms, you should definitely be watching twittermoms.com.  There will be great opportunities to build relationships through sponsorships and marketing. I mean if I marketed stuff to moms, I would probably give away tons of free products to this group: they’re tech savvy, on twitter and like to engage with other moms online. A good product experience can go a long way, and it would provide plenty of opportunities for feedback and improvements.

The Final Word…

I like how social media empowers people by giving them the tools they need to fill in the gaps in their favorite services. Kudos to the founders of Twittermom who recognized a need and then went ahead and addressed it themselves.

This new video has been making some traction on the web. This year’s presidential election has really resulted in some really powerful videos that are touching viewers in an unprecedented way. So do what Halle Barry says and pass this along to five friends. I did.