1/29/2009: This web site contines to be the "hub" of my online experience. 1/26/2008: this is the "hub" of my online presence. Frequently I republish comments here that originated on other networks or forums so that I have a rerasonably web accessible repository of my writing and think pieces. The account I have allows me to create sub sommunities with secure log in and I have used that feature occasionally with clients but I would not use the service (Sqaurespace) for heavy duty community or membership management. 11/5/2007: Note that the name of this blog used to be "All Kind Food." 7/25/2007: I recently did a major makeover of my front page. Dennis McDonald's blog: http://www.ddmcd.com
3/18/2009: still checking in occasionally. intrigued by the new "twitter" intreface. still don't go near groups. 1/29/2009: I check in on Facebook a couple of times a week just to remain familiar with it but I have found it lacks personal utility either as a discussion forum or as a group forum. Still, it keeps growing in popularity. 1/25/2008: I am reducing my use of Facebook and documenting this process on my blog as "Dennis McDonald's Facebook Saga" http://www.ddmcd.com/saga.html 10/16/07: I am still adding and subtracting Facebook groups. As the number of groups proliferates, though, I am finding the Facebook interface to be quite cumbersome to navigate.
1/29/2009: "Agile" is a project management technique. I need to get back into checking this out.
11/15/2007" Left group. "Scrum" is a project management technique.
1/29/2009: I am one of this group"s moderators. With 900+ members, only a couple of dozen members regularly submit messages or comments. I try to post news items a couple of times a week that are relevant to blogging and professional networking.
1/29/2009: need to get back into this one.. Haven't visited for a while. 11/5/2007: "This group exists to gather togeather representatives from various projects and groups that use ICT (infomation and communication technology) for to help in managing relief, recovery and rehabilitation efforts and complement and support each other in improving and building systems that focuses on the quick benefits to the end victim."
1/29/2009: Haven't used this in a while - it's not really very interactive. I don't think Yahoo has enough staff to really engage with the thousands of moderators Groups has. 11/12/2007: Joined group - it is using the Yahoo Groups Beta software.
1/29/2009: This is one of my oldest -- and most productive -- groups. I find myself gradually increasing my usage; despite its added features (e.g., ability to have groups, embedded blogs and slides), its focus on professional networking remains and this keeps its value high to me. The addition of groups has been a major upgrade that I have found to be quite useful.
Most but not all use of Linkedin Answers is for business.
3/18/2009: I am finding Linkedin Groups to be quite useful. Still figuring out best way to use this feature. 1/26/2008: Is till use LInkedin for basic professional networking and research -- still useful seems to me. They really missed the boat on not having more real "community" features. Beginnin to wonder though what extra benefits I get from paying the annual fee given availab ility of so many other networking channels and the difficulty Linkedin places in the way of networking with 2 order etc connections.
1/29/2009: I have discontinued using Google Groups almost entirely.
1/26/2008: missed last meeting, dar. need to catch up on DRM and copyright related issues for professional interest reasons.
1/26/2008: This is one of those exampkes of a single group having dual presence on the web -- the SMC's main web site (public) and the SMC's Google Group (private). SInce SMC main web site, based on Bologtronix, has internal messaging features, there is some potential for confusion. 11/5/2007: I don't use this group that much -- I pay most attention to the articles that are published on Social Media Today (including mine).
11/5/2007: there seems to be renewed activity in this group given Google's announcement of OpenSocial.
From group's ststament of objectives: "Bring together practitioners working in the domain of disaster and emergency management, from Government, NGOs, Private sectors (especially in Sri Lanka and South Asia) and disseminate knowledge, research and case studies on the application of ICT for disaster/emergency management."
1/29/2009: I still use this when I do a public presentation; I also like the fact that I can link its feed to Linkedin. I don't use it as a networking tool, though. I do embed Slideshare presentations into my web site, though. 11/5/2007: I still get hits on presentations I posted last year. I just don't make that many public presentations (client presentations are usually private). 7/25/2007: Good for sharing slides and has nice feed into blog pages via a widget. http://www.slideshare.net/ddmcd
1/29/2009: I have used this very little over the past year. 1/28/2008: I still check almost daily to see what hits came from to my blog on the previous day - seldom perfect agreement with my blog's own statistics, though. BAccount deleted 2007/07/19 but reinstated in October 2007 when I decided to start using MyBlogLog again as a quick way to check the previous day's top hits on my blog.
1/29/2009: This continues to be a great aggregation site for the marketing and PR aspects of social media. Occasionally my posts get picked up but not the ones I would think would be selected. 1/26/2008: having trouble with my RSS feed showing up on this site . This is an edited Aggregator that republishes selected member blog posts: http://smc.blogtronix.net/SMC/ The focus of most contributors is the marketing implications of social media.
3/18/2009: getting a lot of follows from corporate netites, spam accounts, and people without names. I'm finding this service quite useful, though. 1/29/2009: I check in and participate several times a day. It's like a big buzzing multi-continent chat group. I'm always pleased at the things I learn about early here. I'm not sure how much organization and filtering is necessary though; the most important form of filtering, in my opinion, is selecting whom you follow. 10/16/2007: It seems that the more people I follow, the harder it is to understand the conversations that are taking place with other Twitter users whose tweets I don't see. Not sure how sustainable this will be over time.
1/29/2009: I've stopped using this group. I'm still interrsted in project management but not as a primary focus. 1/26/2008: I still drop in on this occasionally -- despite the awful interface a lot of serious "project managers" hang out here. 7/25/2007: A very old fashioned-looking "forum" for multiple threads. Unpleasant to use and has a unique UI that is clunky especially for infrequent users. This is a private forum of Linkedin members interested in project management.
1/29/2009: I still use this on a dialy basis to track a variety of topics, including my own comments on other web sites. 1/26/2008: wish I could do Boolean and/or/not type searches with tags. 1/26/2008: Using this as a personal info mgmt and publishing (with Grazr) tool. Not really taking advantage of the "community" features. 10/16/2007: I've added a feed via Grazr widget to my blog to display links to other sites where I have left comments. 1/26/2008: I'm not using thsi as a social networking tool but rather as a personal research management tool and (with Grazr) as a publishing tool. Probably could do a better job of using the "community" features. 7/25/2007: Using this quite a bit. Have several feeds into my blog via Grazr widgets. http://del.icio.us/ddmcd
3/18/2009: Oddly, I prefer using this with Firefox than with Google Chrome. 1/29/2009: I use this constantly both personally and to share information with clients. Amazed at how much functionality is provided online. Sometimes I use this service to collaboratively develop documents with prospective clients and business partners.
1/26/2008: I need to update this list. Problem is, you have to join some networks to get insight into what their real features are.
It took three emails and many weeks but they finally deleted my membership. 7/11/2007: I"ll delete this node as soon as I figure out how to delete my Pownce account.
1/29/2009: Despite the 200 photo free account limit I still use this occasionally to share personal photos; click on the little arrow link to see a recent set. 1/26/2008: Haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately. Haven't had the need to up my subscription to paid. 11/5/2007: I've hit the 200 file max for a free subscription. Not sure I need to go beyond that.
1/29/2009: I still get emails from this group but I haven't checked the web site in quite a while. 1/26/2008: This is a listserv for the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). This has actually been quite useful as a tool for linking up with people in the emergency management community, even though the interface to this forum is hopelessly antiquated. These are people I would not usually run into if I limited myself to hanging out in "tech oriented" communities. (The web interface of this group is awful. Feel sorry for people for whom this is one of their few "online community" experiences, but the quality of the membership is the key here.
3/18/2009: actually got a Myspace friend request this past week - don't know how that happened. 1/26/2008: Haven't been a member for some time now. Haven't missed it. 11/13/2007: Rejoined in order to check out current developments.
1/29/2009: Ning is not as nice as CollectiveX to use but there are at least 5000 members now of the GovLoop group which focuses on Government uses of web based technologies. 1/28/2008: Need to check this out. to see current capabilities. 7/25/2007: I"ll be adding this to gain access to the "grasshoppers" group.
Account Deleted 9/5/2007
3/18/2009: Using this more and more. Rapid formation of subgroups is somewhat confusing and the WYSIWYG interface for creating text posts is pretty basic. Also, I still don't get the distinction between discussions and blogs so as a result things get prettys pread around. Still, the content and people are what's important. 1/29/2009: This is the best network I've found that has evolved over the past year.
11/13/2007: deleted client software due to lack of Tanglr activity. Nice system but not heavily used yet. 7/25/2007: Added at the request of Des Walsh, co-moderator at Linkedin Bloggers.
1/25/2008: I am checking this online service out to see how its functionality compares with Yahoo Groups. I like the way you can look at individual groups or across groups. Not sure how openly searchable (say, by Google) individual groups are.
I created this as an experiment to learn about a possible new home for Linkedin Bloggers but never made the move from Yahoo! Groups.
1/29/2009: I get emails from this master group but don't usually visit the group itself.
1/29/2009: I was about to re-invigorate this group last Fall when my family got caught up with the election and volunteering. Time to restart it I think. 3/21/2008: Posted minutes of 3/20/2008 meeting at http://www.ddmcd.com/alexandria_01.html. Also, we are using CollectiveX to manage the group's calendar and meeting agendas as a private CollectiveX group. 1/26/2008: This is a small group founded in Alexandria VA to meet monthly to chat about web, tech, and communication related topics. Described here: http://www.ddmcd.com/alexandria_01.html
I created this for a group my wife is working with. I am still very impressed with how easy it is to get either a public or private group started using CollectiveX.
3/18/2009: Scoble may like it, I don't. Lacks personality. 1/29/2009: My reaction is, "just what I need -- ANOTHER place to establish neworks and place comments." 3/21/2008: This is a feed aggregations service. Lets me share a group of my feeds with freinds and vice versa. Very simple interface.
1/29/2009: I've listed these separately from the primarily online groups but in fact they are connected: (a) before going to a meeting I usually check out Linkedin to find out more details of listed attendees, and (b) after coming home with a handful of business acrds I usually generate a batch of Linkedin connection requests.
1/29/2009: WNG sponsors a variety of groups related to technology, marketing, international, etc.
1/29/2009: this is a Northern Virginia based group. Usually held on second floor of an Arlington VA bar. I won a bottle of wine at the January meeting!
Web 2.0 and Government 2.0 meetings are sponsored by this group.
1/29/2009: This focuses on heavy duty professional networking, jobsearching, and connection building. I've found it much more productive than just the online version of Execunet.
