Was thinking today that Facebook Timeline and Zite (or some other news aggregation/reader)  replaced Google Reader for me – and I’m passing all my noted reading over to Facebook, which is putting it all in a timeline for me – so I can get at what I want, when I want it.

Semphonic Thoughts:

• Gary Angel’s latest post – Once More Into the Breach: Another Leap Into Social Media Measurement and Measuring PR Effectiveness is another, masterful one, and puts to rest for me, why MARCOM ought to stay out of Social Media Measurement – period – and if that means physically departing the business – that’s what it means (that’s what I get out of it – I would not be surprised if others get a different meaning, or see it a different way).

• In fact, there’s so much confusion between defining deliverable and deciding what is, or isn’t a valid sample of data, along with the governance set up properly to do it right, I can’t imagine a MARCOM Firm in the world that can pull it off well – at least, not today.  Perhaps, I’m wrong, but nothing I’ve seen over the last few years of my experience working with clueless agencies, convinced me otherwise.
• Then again, it’s really hard to sync up what was considered market research, with what social analytics can provide, for the most part, today (as Gary so aptly describes) – and I can just imagine how confusing it all gets, esp if, as an agencies tend, by nature, want  to pimp themselves out to clients, chasing billable, they’ll agree to do anything, and try to drive the cost down, internally, working people to death, to achieve an impossible goal, the blind leading the blind.
• At least, Gary Angel has made sense of it – and when you really stop and think about it, Gary’s  approach to brand sentiment vs. influencer and PR measurement makes a lot of sense.  I think the Semphonic Webinar on 1/11 is going to be very spirited, and a lot of fun – hope you join us.

Analytics Challenges:

• Why Your Social Media Campaign May Be Doomed  …. if you don’t have the right integration software, as much of the data is in different places, and the author posits that cloud based Integration Platforms such as “SnapLogic or Boomi provide highly capable, easy to use integration capabilities and subscription-based pricing“.

“….In the absence of real metrics that are tied to business objectives (i.e. objectives that are important to the C-levels), your social media initiative will be dominated by opinions, politics and personalities – and you will lose professional credibility in the process. In order to tie social media metrics into things like conversion rates, cost per lead, etc., as well as capture trends, data must be captured, collected and integrated across a number of different systems – and then analyzed, hence the need for an integration strategy and Cloud-based integration software.”

• Yet another take on what makes videos go viral
• Only 26% of companies in the US (who were surveyed) think they can, or are ready, to measure ROI – ha!
• Social Analytics Platforms tested  – many are still left wanting, from my perspective, and I’m not alone, there are so many platforms next to no one has reviewed, and which might yield some interesting insights.
• Sorry Kevin Bacon, actually, we’re not 6 degrees separated from anyone else in the world, but only 4.76 degrees, according to new research by Facebook, who ought to know; guess we’re all getting “closer” together – ha!
• One of Valeria Maltoni’s best posts, says a lot – that our ways of describing information can, in turn, limit us.
• Google making it easier to count 1+, but it’s still confusing (anyone surprised)?
• If you just want to measure Blog Post ROI – look here - but the post doesn’t address anything else.
• The way I read this report/post, only the most strategic approach will yield useful ROI measurements.
• But there are 7 metrics to pay attention to (why 7) yet a few are distracting, according to this post from the Measurement Standard.
• Google wants to put us in the Matrix, with a pair of glasses. Then again, there are positive aspects to this deal with the Metropolitan Museum and Google‘s Googles.
• Getting Google Analytics data into Google Maps has often been a problem, and I’ve seen situations where this was really nice to have, and Shuffleboard appears to solve the problem.
• …And it seems that Marketers don’t really understand what Consumers want – that is …  when it comes to Social Media, according to this post. Surprise, surprise.  Turns out that what marketers think users on Facebook “like” isn’t quite what they really “like”, or think they are doing, when they click the button.
• But at the end of the day, the Pen is really mightier than the Sword - especially after 25 years!  Who would have believed this?  Truth is often stranger than fiction.

NightLife:

• Tonight I ended up hearing Dan Tepfer at the Rubin Museum – here’s an concert early this year from the 92Y Tribeca; it was a great concert, given to a packed room – though I find I have a hard time really focusing in an concert environment (having a smart phone doesn’t help).  The first of the two recordings at the link above, is what was preformed tonight, btw, and I’m listening to it now, as I write this post.
• Plan to see the Leonardo show in London when I’m there next month for my next book signing, sponsored by Synthesio.
• Will try to see Picasso’s drawings at the Frick Museum before it’s too late.

2012-stuff:

• He’s right - about Retail, that is.
• Anyone up for Social Business next year?
• I think in 2012, between an app and the Lytro, you’ll be able to shoot video without even aiming or focusing, and a robot app will make “decent” edited videos for you. Ha!  Well, don’t take me too seriously – at least, not any more seriously than I take myself.
• Book your tickets right now …. end of the world in 365 days?  I predicted, not.
• At-least, Analysts seem to know what the future will bring (in 2012), and I have to admit, the report is a good one.

Platforms I’m evaluating:

• VenueLabs - have a full implementation – and will be doing a webinar with VenueLabs on 1/31  (plan to write my first post about VenueLabs, hopefully, next week)
• Schmap – they have some interesting reports that I’m trying to get to the bottom of, and will post about, later.
• 6dgree (no public url to give yet)- have an interesting audience intelligence platform that analyzes Twitter and Facebook – it’s in a hidden beta right now – will be posting about the platform soon, as well.