Kandace Hudspeth

Summer is almost over, my life has been a little crazy the past few months. I have been traveling  a lot for work and have come to know my way around Portland very well. I have been so busy with work and client deadlines that I have not had time to write in this blog.  That said, I have been active on Twitter and thought I would post my Tweets over the past month or so. Next week I will be back in NYC for some working sessions with the MRM team, it will be great to be back in the city!

Recent Tweets:

• Google market share up to 70.77%, a 1.6 % increase from June about 21 hours ago
• Wow! Consumers not using nutrition labels when making food decisions- nutrition facts down 3%, ingredients down 11%, calorie info down 10% 2 minutes ago
• @davepreston thx for the follow back! Hope your head feels better about 16 hours ago in reply to davepreston
• brain overload….. going back to the gym about 16 hours ago
• early morning workout, yummy breakfast, now I am ready to take on 6 hours of meetings today!! 07:35 AM August 13, 2008
• going to watch some U.S. women’s gymnastics and then go to bed 09:58 PM August 12, 2008
• @MikeCorak I want to play, I will call Shawn Johnson 09:57 PM August 12, 2008 in reply to MikeCorak
• long day….now, back to the gym to lift and do more cardio 04:34 PM August 12, 2008
• fewww….just finished up 4.5 hours of meetings, I have one more 2 hr call, and I need to finish a presentation by eod 01:11 PM August 12, 2008
• Facebook is now the largest social network in the world,-with 132 million unique visitors in June 10:30 AM August 12, 2008
• Facebook user peak older than myspace users. Rapleaf assumption- once Myspace users grad from HS they switch over to Facebook mininglabs.com 10:16 AM August 12, 2008
• Rapleaf Study Reveals Gender and Age Data of Social Network Users http://tinyurl.com/5pllc6 10:00 AM August 12, 2008
• very little sleep last night, 5 mile run this morning, and conf calls started at 7am… need coffee!!! 07:30 AM August 12, 2008
• 5 miles run today… now just relaxing before church this afternoon 12:49 PM August 10, 2008
• having a very lazy Saturday morning w my puppy…. but now it’s time to head to the gym 02:26 PM August 09, 2008
• TGIF! 4 mile run this am, finishing up a ppt and a few meetings, then off to get my hair done……. I have a hot date tonight! So excited!! 06:47 AM August 08, 2008
• off to the gym for round two- chest, shoulders, and more cardio. Then back to work to finish this presentation. 04:52 PM August 07, 2008
• On the EMC Documentum 6.5 Web 2.0 Meets Enterprise Content Management Webex 10:06 AM August 07, 2008
• Today is a busy day! Up at 4am for a workout, 6 hours of meetings, and I need to get 2 presentations out by EOD. Is it Friday yet? 07:25 AM August 07, 2008
• @morehouseo yes it is- progress is beautiful! 03:01 PM August 06, 2008 in reply to morehouseo
• reminder- when traveling don’t just save everything to your desktop! It gets out of control! 02:47 PM August 06, 2008
• WiFi in the sky http://tinyurl.com/ytao6a/2… 10:19 AM August 06, 2008
• the SEO Halo Effect http://tinyurl.com/5b5ktk 09:52 AM August 06, 2008
• @cvelis Thanks! It kills me too, every day. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just hire someone to do it for us and hand over the results? 09:50 AM August 06, 2008 in reply to cvelis
• an hour of cardio this am including a 4 mile run and a 10 mile bike ride. Now on to some 2nd half of the year planning and a few meetings 08:58 AM August 06, 2008
• getting ready for round two at the gym, drinking a protein shake. It’s leg day… no pain, no gain right? Right!!!! 04:20 PM August 05, 2008 from web
• SEO: Web Development’s Ugly Red-Headed Stepchild (So Sad!) http://tinyurl.com/6lvv7q 01:18 PM August 05, 2008
• According to a survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, 42% of dogs sleep in the same beds as their owners. 12:49 PM August 05, 2008
• playing house after the gym this morning… packing lunches and making breakfast, rushing to jump on my 7am conf call 07:12 AM August 05, 2008
• just finished round two at the gym, had a yummy dinner, and a little email before bed 08:15 PM August 04, 2008
• ROI of SEO http://tinyurl.com/6erf9j 01:52 PM August 04, 2008
• Gen Y Is Setting the Tech Agenda http://tinyurl.com/65l6c8 10:30 AM August 04, 2008
• weight training, 4 mile run, IT problem solved, first meeting done …. all before 8am 08:40 AM August 04, 2008
• presentation done, emails almost done, only two more meetings 12:32 PM August 01, 2008
• thinking TGIF!!!!!! 10:08 AM August 01, 2008
• Two of my fav research companies are now one, Forrester Acquires JupiterResearch 09:40 AM July 31, 2008
• 4 mile run this morning… it felt awesome! Now on the enterprise search solution work sessions. 09:32 AM July 31, 2008
• heading to PDX airport, on my way back to PHX 03:47 PM July 30, 2008
• half way through “walking the wall” at an all day tech meeting, funny I thought we would be walking more and sitting less 01:20 PM July 30, 2008
• wondering why we never have healthy food options in all day meetings, I am getting tired of eating protein bars and shakes =( 12:55 PM July 30, 2008
• Building the Web 2.0 Enterprise: McKinsey Global Survey Results http://tinyurl.com/5rx9ju 08:50 AM July 30, 2008
• ready for day 2 of a tech map day, today we walk the wall…. 08:14 AM July 30, 2008
• metadata management, content runtime services, and portal discussions… what a day! 02:40 PM July 29, 2008
• @cvelis i heart metadata! it’s our life right now… we eat, sleep, breath, and dream it everyday lol 11:06 AM July 29, 2008 in reply to cvelis
• just finished my morning workout, getting ready for a full day of meetings in Portland 05:30 AM July 29, 2008
• … and the last conf call of the day ends. The question now- to do a second round of cardio or not? Ugh, I know i should. OK-OK I am going1 09:13 PM July 28, 2008
• @Britopain thx for the shout out! Its nice to know we all have the same pain lol. 09:11 PM July 28, 2008
• Still on a conf call… getting very sleepy….. and it will start all over again in 7 hours 08:58 PM July 28, 2008
• Cuil-new search engine http://tinyurl.com/6xprpn 12:04 PM July 28, 2008
• 4 mile run this morning, a few conf calls, and then a flight back to Portland for the week 07:27 AM July 28, 2008
• SEO and Social Media in love http://tinyurl.com/5qlt5k 01:22 PM July 24, 2008
• How will Flash alter the SEO landscape? http://www.imediaconnection… 07:13 AM July 24, 2008
• 4am workout, 6am conf call, and now another presentation….I live in ppt 06:42 AM July 24, 2008
• 4 mile run this morning, a few early meetings, and now I need to bang out this presentation 08:21 AM July 23, 2008
• @doles75 thx for the follow 02:07 PM July 22, 2008 from web in reply to doles75
• 3rd Twebinar Aug 19 “The Importance of Listening” can’t wait! 12:11 PM July 22, 2008
• @seanbohan good to hear! I am well, off Army and now on Intel. Spending most of my time in Portland and Phoenix. 12:09 PM July 22, 2008 in reply to seanbohan
• @tweb2 brands realize that they need to listen and a bare minimum listening is key I think most just don’t know where to start 11:47 AM July 22, 2008
• @seanbohan @#tweb2 Hey Sean, couldn’t agree more. How is the new gig? 11:36 AM July 22, 2008 in reply to seanbohan
• @#tweb2 Consumers own the brand- Brand = Perception- Marketers are responsible guiding image through creative influence and engagement 11:32 AM July 22, 2008
• Join the 2nd Twebinar “who really owns your brand?” @#tweb2 11:22 AM July 22, 2008

Follow my Twitter Feed @KandaceHudspeth

In a recent tweet, I asked, the question why is there so much confusion about how to measure social media? Social media is trackable, it requires some action to be taken. Actions or interactions like posting, reviewing, rating, commenting, sharing, connecting, etc.

Engagement is the big picture, the summary of all trackable actions. Engagement = Time spent+ action taken+ brand takeaway? Web analytics professionals feel that  engagement is a metric is a function of a visitors lifetime of visits and actions taken on a particular site. There seems to me much confusion about how exactly to standardize the actual  engagement equation. This is probably because it will need to be customized to comprehend brand objectives. The equation may look different for depending on business and brand objectives. The following link http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/19896.asp includes a video of industry representatives as they discuss “engagement” and how best to measure it.

Forrester Research has written a lot about this topic. Back in 2007 a Forrester analyst proposed what he calls the four components of engagement. They include involvement, interaction, intimacy, and influence. These components are measured both online (web analytics, log files, brand monitoring services) and offline (surveys, focus groups, etc). The goal is to try to provide a 360 view of customers actions. According to Forrester the four components of engagement  can be measured in several ways. The involvement component will paint the picture of how often a visitor comes to your site, how long they stay, and the amount of content they consume. The interaction component uncovers many of the social actions a visitor can take,  conversions, and possible purchases. The third component may take some human interaction to interpret and is not as easily captured by raw numbers. Intimacy can be understood by monitoring and analyzing the things people say about a brand or the tonality (positive, negative, neutral) of a blog post. The fourth component is influence. I am sure you are aware of the overwhelming affect of word of mouth. Influence is a loyalty metric, it will uncover how likely someone is to recommend your brand, product, or service.  To read more on the Forrester components of engagement check out the Forrester blog http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2007/08/new-research-on.html

What do you think about measuring engagement? Do you feel it is am online metric or does it stretch beyond and capture the holistic picture of customer interactions? A 360 view sure would be nice! Any thoughts?

Another wonderful day in the groundswell!!! If you didn’t attend the Twebinar, you missed  on a fine example of how the participatory culture operates.

Today I attended the CrossTech Media / Radian6 twebinar  Game Changing Moves - Doing Business with Social Media. This is part one of  a three part series, part two titled “Who really owns your brand” (Thursday, July 22) and part three “The importance of listening” (Tuesday, Aug 19).

The event was hosted by Chris Brogan and included interviews with over 30 of today’s big players in social media. The interviewees discussed how they are currently using tools like social communities, blogs, wikis, and podcasts to start conversations and engage audiences in ways.  Of course the key point in regards to how to enter the social space are… LISTEN to you customers!  This point is critical to successful entry into doing business with social media and is highlighted in Groundswell, a book by two Forrester Research analysts (I recommend you read it!)

Earlier this week MediaPost reported on Ogilvy’s big three social media strategies for 2008. Guess what number one was? Give up?

• Number 1- listening
• Number 2-  working with partners who enable marketers to engage in a series of conversations about their brands
• Number 3-  unlocking and unleashing of content

Ok back to the twebinar, over 1000 people registered for the first session. If you are following @twebinars you can see comments from other social media activist and even do a little networking.  According to @chrisbrogran companies like Microsoft, AT&T, IBM, Weber Shandwick, Fleischman Hillard registered for the Twebinar. This is great news!

Go to www.summize.com and search twebinar  or #tweb to get a plus on the conversation.

Check out-  http://twebinar.com

Follow on Twiter- @twebinars, @chrisbrogan, @davidalston and speakers from our twebinar (you can find the speakers Twitter addresses on the site)

How will Agencies deal with the digital talent deficit? This is a big problem from small shops to big agencies. Click the link below to see how some industry representatives are preparing for the future. How is your agency handling this issue? Do you feel like you work for a company who values talent and encourages growth? Are you proactive? Do you have the self-discipline necessary to stay on top of industry trends and the drive to continuously make an impact at your agency? Do you have a mentor? This is a key ingredient to successful career pathing!! Do you continually surround yourself with others that are smarter than you? If not, you should- always! When you have knowledge or expertise- do you share it? Do you mentor someone? Sometimes teaching can be a great way to solidify your knowledge. I agree that most agencies do not have solid training programs in place and that agencies need to focus on the development of employees. But this is not an excuse that you should allow to stunt your professional development! There is an infinite amount opportunity within the industry, it is fast moving, exciting, and needs bright and hungry talent. I started my career in digital strategy at a small shop, the company did not have a development program in place but it did have plenty of smart people that I knew I could learn from. I was proactive and I absorbed as much knowledge as I could. I gained mentors and read anything I could get my hands on. So don’t wait for the agency you work for to develop a training program- create your own!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1569925022/bctid1576242564

If you know me, you know that I love love love Nike! My workout gear is always Nike and I work out a lot, most days twice a day. I would refuses to go to the gym in a pair of Adidas shoes, no shell tops for me Nike all the way! Anyway, Nike is leaving Crispin Porter & Bogusky after a little over a year and is bringing back the NikePlus biz to Widen & Kennedy (long time agency of record). This is the perfect time for me to share one of my favorite ads with you, Nike SPARQ Training-My better (done by Widen & Kennedy). I love it!

“My better is better than your better”

“I got strong all day”
“My quick and my fast had a baby named speedy”
“My Agility is the CEO of the United Global Agility Corporation”

Check out- My better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28HUNQMI5HI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09jUmUrycuU&feature=related

When I moved to NYC a few years back I had to do a lot of purging of personal belongings, I have to admit I found it to be a cleansing experience. I even cut my shoe collection in half, which was very hard for me to do! One of the hardest things for me to let go of was my new Lexus IS, I loved that car. I mentioned in a previous post that my current assignment has me spending a lot of time in Phoenix and you definitely need a car in Phoenix. Anyway I never pictured myself owning a VW Jetta, it just didn’t feel like me. I knew I need to be practical and not go crazy (if you knew my shopping habits, you would know this is not normal behavior) so I decided to get it. I have had the car now for about two months and I can honestly say that I have never received better service. The car is even growing on me. Ok that was a really long intro , now to the point of this post…

VW’s “what people really want” interactive billboard and microsite- VW is using the 3,685-square-foot ABC Super Sign to connect with the active community. The billboard is an extension of the “what people want“campaign that includes a microsite- vw.com/whatthepeoplewant, online banners, tv spots, and other OOH executions. The foundation of the campaign is a national polling effort that collects user generated votes via mocrosite or mobile devise and then distributes the results across multiple platforms. As reported in ADWEEK the campaign is a success “At press time, there have been a total of 977,983 votes and 77,113 polls collected. Up to 500 poll questions run live at any one time.” Pretty cool stuff, you should check it out!!! http://www.vw.com/vwhype/whatthepeoplewant/en/us/

Read the ADWEEK Article http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/creative/features/e3idda2f1661c03a55f9e59920b711d756f