As we explained in that post, MyWedding.com is moving its corporate headquarters to Castle Rock, Colorado. These days, that’s not such a big deal because Internet companies are global, not local.

However, even the good folks at an online Internet company aren’t virtual – they’re real people. And, they will be hiring real people in the area. They’ll also be interested in developing some close-by businesses relationships with those both inside and outside the wedding industry.

Did we forget customers?! MyWedding’s customer base may well be global, but the nearby customers they can actually rub shoulders with may become their most ardent advocates.

Search Locally, Think Globally

And that’s why they will want to search Twitter locally. In order to do that, they’ll want to go to the “Advanced Search” tab of Search.Twitter.com:

Here, they can search for any terms they might find useful in order to connect to Twitter members near Castle Rock. (they’ll want to search within 100 miles of Castle Rock, what is called “The Front Range” around here – all the nearby burbs, including Denver, Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs).

Using “Advanced Search,” we’ll do a search for the words “wedding” and “planning” within 100 miles of Castle Rock. You can see the result in the picture at the beginning of this article (you should do the search yourself just to get warmed up), but here’s the fill-in the blanks part that got us there:

Certainly, the gurus at MyWedding know their business and their needs much better than Sheryl and I ever could. But, even by using the most rudimentary search terms, we can turn up some surprisingly interesting contacts who might turn into new customers, vendors, partners or employees.

Nearby Wedding Planner

One of the tweets from someone who lives near Castle Rock (and includes both of our search terms) was from @DebbieOrwat. She is the owner and lead wedding consultant at savetheDate! Events.

Debbie’s got over a thousand followers, offers a profile, web link and her real name. That kind of transparency is crucial to evaluating a potential Twitter contact. As we’ve said, there are a lot of shady characters out there, but she and her company look pretty good.

She also happens to write a blog, so the folks at MyWedding.com might convince her to blog about them or partner with them in some other way. Regardless, she’s a legitimate wedding-related contact who lives near their new offices.

Potential Customer

Another Twitter member who mentioned both the words “wedding” and “planning” in a recent tweet is @kaneil. She doesn’t work for a wedding related company, but she has been mentioning (quite charmingly) her upcoming wedding and what it’s doing to her!

This is the kind of search that companies of all kinds are using to generate qualified leads. In this case, @kaneil might be interested in using MyWedding.com – especially those parts of the site that will help her organize and plan her wedding.

What About Keyshia Cole and Ryan Seacrest?

At first, it looked like our search was going to lead to a couple of celebrity weddings. Nope, because no matter what search terms you use, you’re gonna’ haul in some pretty shady stuff.

It looked like someone was re-tweeting Ryan Seacrest talking about his upcoming wedding. But, the newbie who “re-tweeted” that message seems to have invented it herself. Or, perhaps she has a thing for Ryan.

And, even though Ms. Cole has announced her upcoming wedding, there is no way to tell which, if any, of the many Keyshia Coles on Twitter are the real Keyshia Cole (a common problem on Twitter, only sometimes solved by their “Verified Account” insignia).

Keep it Complicated, Stupid

All this just means that MyWedding.com can find some great connections, but it is going to have to be pretty savvy to avoid the junk.

One way to do that is for them to target their search terms with very specific phrases or combinations of words that fit their needs and industry.

The other way, as we have seen here, is to search a much smaller geographic area. A search for the word “wedding” in Twitter would overwhelm. But, a search for the phrase “my wedding” within 100 miles of their new home office, well, now that’s another story.

There’s More to the Story

Even better? Any of these searches (even the radius location ones) can be turned into alerts that can land in your RSS reader, email or Google desktop.

(But, that’s another article – so, stay tuned).

Want to find out how to keep up with what’s being said about you? Head straight to a cool new Internet resource called Filtrbox.com. But first, we’d like to tell you the story behind the Filtrbox story, and why you should care.

Broadcast News

The Internet has brought vast change at lightning speed to the business world. But, perhaps the biggest and least understood is the change from “broadcast” to “conversation.”

Without going all philosophical on you, whether you like it or not, you and your business are now part of an ongoing conversation. This conversation is multifaceted and it’s happening in a multitude of online locations.

The conversation is about the changes in your industry and the latest developments in the kinds of products you sell. But, it’s more than that. Now, folks are “conversing” about you, your brand and even your own (and your employees’) performance.

This new conversation also has a dark side. Whether you are famous for your inventions, ideas, products or services more and more people want to steal them from you – or just “borrow” them for a while without your knowledge. People want your trademark, your newest product release and even your turn of phrase. Increasingly, they don’t even think of it as stealing.

Location, Location, Location

Where is all of this going on? They’re writing web articles and blogs that use your own thoughts, ideas and exact words. They’re selling rip-offs of your stuff on their web sites and copying your good ideas on their blogs. And, they’re often slamming and damning your customer service on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

How can you keep track of all this? And do you even need to? For an answer to that, just ask any company who has ignored the bloggers and Twitterers. As they can testify, conversations can grow, get out of hand and turn into firestorms.

Are the Solutions Worse than the Problem?

But, how can you keep up? How can you tune in to the first whispers of discontent? How can you know that someone is using your trademarked phrase? How can you track your competitor so closely you’ll know when they burp? Will you see them hawking your products on their web site?

Well, let’s see, you could cobble together some Google News alerts,  a sprinkling of RSS feeds, dozens of blog subscriptions, a few web site change alarms, and top it off with a smattering of newsletters. If you do this, however, you’ll have a control panel about as complex as a fighter jet. And, you’ll spend more time manning the controls than you will evaluating the information you gather.

But, what if there was one solution? And, what if the controls for all of this were simple and accessible?

1 if by Air, 2 if by Land, 3 if by Sea

The place to try out that “one-stop Internet information shop” is at Filtrbox.com. What these guys can do with their Internet listening devices should make the FBI and the CIA a little green with envy.

Unlike a lot of other forms of web and news alerts, Filtrbox covers virtually all the bases AND acts as both a search resource and an alert tool.

You can receive Filtrbox alerts in your favorite RSS reader or in your email. Or, you can ignore these types of constant notifications, go on vacation for a month, and then fiddle with the Filtrbox controls so that you quickly catch up on only the most important stuff you missed.

Tracking your company name and intellectual property? You’ll probably want to monitor all sources – mainstream news, the blog world and Twitter. Tracking a topic in your industry? You may just want to keep up with the mainstream news sources.

At the Controls

So, why is Filtrbox different? Because in one place, you can view and adjust your different topics, time frames, sources and the relative importance of those conversations in one place.

Here’s what I mean. When it comes to your company name, your own name and your trademarked phrases, I’m sure you’d like to know whenever someone says anything – both good and bad.

When it comes to keeping up on your industry’s hot topics and issues, you likely might want to know only when more important or trusted sources have something to say. In the screen shot below we’re only picking up mainstream press articles for a very, very popular term, “information overload“:

And, for all of your terms and phrases you can adjust the amount of time you’re looking at – longer for obscure topics and shorter for popular ones:

Here’s the thing, though. You’ve got to try this. There’s a free version and a free trial – giving you a chance to kick the tires and look under the hood of this remarkable tool.

Why do you even need to try? Because, as the Rolling Stones sang way back in 1965, people really are “talkin’ about you.”

Editors Note: We do not accept referral fees or payments for any sites mentioned in our blogs, speeches or workshops. We do accept “review copies” and “press passes” in order to be able to demonstrate resources and sites.

Who is Dominic? Is he one of your LinkedIn connections? Nope. In fact, Dominic has the sum total of four (yes, count them, 1, 2, 3, 4) connections. Poor souls.

But, even though he has few friends (no wonder), he has joined something like 40 LinkedIn Groups. And, yes, he happened to join one of the groups you belong to – which is how he got entrée to your inbox.

So, you say, no problem. There must be a privacy setting on LinkedIn that would keep Dominic out of your life. You know “privacy settings.” Those are the adjustments social networking sites don’t publicize at all and that you never have time to fiddle with even if you do discover them.

But, this is a problem. The only privacy setting that would keep Mr. Spam out of your inbox would also keep the legitimate members of that group from communicating with you.

There Goes the Neighborhood

And, that’s the problem. I do want to “Allow members of this group to send me messages via LinkedIn.” I just don’t want zeroes like this guy to have access to me.

In fact, I want LinkedIn to throw his sorry behind out the door – now. If they don’t, their once verdant social networking neighborhood will turn into a slum of social nitwits. And, that’s when we’ll all leave. I’m just leading the way, leaving now unless LinkedIn begins to eject Dominic Spam and his ilk swiftly and summarily.

Tell LinkedIn you feel the same way, or Dominic and his friends will soon be cramming your inbox with a ton of this kind of garbage, too.

Here’s a little exercise you can do for yourself in LinkedIn.

LinkedIn’s “Discussions” accompany each LinkedIn “Group.” They are the equivalent of the general “Answers” section in LinkedIn, but you must be a member of that group to participate in those discussions. (We wrote more about the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of group “exclusivity” in “Run, Charlotte, Run.”)

A Real LinkedIn Discussion

Ready for the exercise? If you belong to any LinkedIn “Group,” simply go to the “Discussions” tab for that group.

Next, compare the number of comments that real questions get vs. the zeros that are racked up by the sales pitchers.

In the picture above, Nanette Littlestone asked a real question to get a real discussion going in the Book Publishing Professionals group. She asked, “What are the most important things writers look for in an editor?”

Right away, in no time at all, the comments started to roll in. Soon there were 36. These were real people responding to her question and trying to help her make the right decision.

By the way, if you go to this discussion (if you belong to the group), you’ll notice that Nanette also publicly thanked and commented back to every single one of the folks who took the time to answer. That’s what networking is about – it’s about the conversation, and conversations build relationships.

A Fake LinkedIn Discussion

Compare that with the picture below, where someone blared, “Check out my profile.” Here’s the thing, though. NO ONE responded. It didn’t work. Even after a month, no one responded.

Why? Because it’s not the place. It’s no more appropriate here than it would have been at a real-life networking event. At such an event, this guy wouldn’t have just handed you his card and said, “Buy my stuff.” But, he does exactly that here!

Why didn’t he get any comments? Everyone knew that he was simply promoting himself – or his seminar, or his life-enhancing elixir. They moved away from him, just as they would from that kind of bad behavior in real life.

The Internet is no different from real life, but we’re being sold on the idea that it is. We’re being sold that online social networks can help us sell, and we’re being told we can do it in an anti-social way.

Go for Brooke

The great thing about this exercise is that you can replicate it over and over, and you’ll always get the same results. Selling and self promotion do not work here.

In fact, selling and spamming have become so common and so unacceptable that some savvy groups, like Brian Carroll’s B2B Lead Generation Roundtable, have decided to try and stop it.

Brooke Bower moderates Carroll’s B2B group and she recently posted this warning to its members:

Blatant self promotion, job postings, spam or topics not related to B2B lead generation will be removed. If you post off topic again, you will be removed from the group.

Good for you, Brooke. Let’s keep the discussions in “Discussions” and move the anti-social behavior somewhere else.

Ian Percy happens to be a successful speaker, organizational psychologist, corporate consultant, art aficionado and even horse reining expert. Not satisfied with those successes, however, he’s started a new initiative that is being branded around the term “Infinite Possibilities.”

That brand will also include a web site for Infinite Possibilities Jewelry. The jewelry is simple, gorgeous and symbolic – “the real magic is in your limitless potential to make your dreams reality.”

Let’s leave the trademark questions to the professionals and instead search for those folks who are already using “infinite possibilities” in various ways. They just might become potential partners for Ian’s new initiatives.

The Singer and the Song

We’ll start with a search for the infinite possibilities that Google can find for “infinite possibilities.”

The top Google result goes to the lovely and talented Ms. Amel Larrieux. Her CD, “Infinite Possibilities,” even takes home the bacon for that term in Wikipedia!

We had not heard of Amel, but believe me, the folks on Twitter have. A search of search.Twitter.com for “Amel Larrieux” shows that people are Tweeting away about her lovely music virtually every hour – adding up to at least 15 or 20 Twitter messages per day, and almost all of them complimentary.

(By the way, if you want to listen to Ms. Larrieux just go to Rhapsody.com. You can listen to 25 songs for free, without signing up and without paying for a Rhapsody account. Or, log on to her MySpace page for a few samples).

The Adventurer

The second Google result for “infinite possibilities” is for a CD called “Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams.” Not music this time, but an audio book about connecting to your own possibilities. The author’s name is Mike Dooley, who is the curator of an amazing web site called Tut’s Adventurers Club.

Tut stands for “Totally Unique Thoughts” and the site is:

A philosophical club of like-minded thinkers who believe that life is the ultimate adventure… because thoughts become things, dreams come true, and all things remain forever possible!

We wondered if Mike’s site had much traffic, so we got out “The Baloney Detector” again (AKA Compete.com) and tested his site’s traffic. Turns out, his single site has more visitors than many much-ballyhooed national sites.

The Connector – Information Age Style

Now, we have no idea if either the singer or the adventurer would want to connect their infinite possibilities with Ian’s Infinite Possibilities Jewelry.

But, it is possible that they might want to partner in some way, participate in an affiliate program or become a reseller. He won’t know until he asks.

It’s up to Ian to reach out. Perhaps he could follow Amel Larrieux on Twitter @amellarrieux before he came right out and contacted her. Maybe he could contact Mike Dooley on Facebook. Or, he might just call or email both of them.

This kind of search is, however, a powerful example of something that we rarely think about. 99 times out of 100 we would turn over our trademark concerns to the professionals. They would then come back with a “yes” or a “no” to our brand name ideas.

Instead (or in addition), in today’s information economy, the information and networking explosions have created new opportunities there for the asking – possibly even in infinite ways, with endless possibilities.

Think about it. Why have Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, and even Twitter become so popular, so quickly?

Because, in an economy gone berserk, human connections are the new currency.

Your upcoming convention holds a lot of that new currency – and it can boost your attendance figures, and save your convention.

First, Let’s Get Real

Samantha Whitehorne, the managing editor of Associations Now magazine, warns this month:

“Right now, some of your members may be looking at their budgets and putting your association’s dues on their things-to-possibly-cut list.”

They’re also looking at possibly skipping your yearly convention. As you know, that would be a mistake.

But, and here’s the big BUT – not if you offer them something they can’t get anywhere else.

Second, Think About It

If you’ve spent any time at all joining, creating profiles and following folks on one of those online social networks, you know how arduous and time-consuming it can be. In fact, you might not have joined for that very reason.

But, the point of networking is not the sites or the software. It’s about the people you can meet.

Think about it. Your convention offer hundreds (even thousands) of potential human connections – but almost no way to assure your attendees will make the ones that are most important to them.

Third, Say Hello to Eventvue

That’s where Eventvue comes to the rescue with a seamless, powerful convention add-on that catapults your event into the social networking driver’s seat.

We’ve already written about Eventvue – “7 Reasons Why You Should Cancel Conventions that Don’t Use Eventvue.” – That article is mostly from the point of view of of your attendees. Read it. You’ll want it for the next convention you attend.

But, what about the point of view of the convention organizers, sponsors and those holding the purse strings? For you, Eventvue does four important things:

1. More Early Registrations

The earlier your attendees commit to your convention the better for you. Eventvue means they can start connecting with other early registrants right away. That means you’re offering an edge, not just a discount, for early registration. In fact, this kind of advantage may some day mean you’ll be able to charge MORE for the privilege of signing up early!

2. Comprehension & Retention

Repetition improves learning. Let me repeat that. Repetition improves learning. Some of your attendees will discuss the meeting in the Eventvue email (their real email addresses remain private). Others will simply follow the meeting online; while still others (who are using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or blogs) will compare notes and write about your events. The bottom line is that all your attendees will leave with a better understanding of the meeting’s goals and issues.

3. Boost Knowledge of the New Tools

For those attendees who are not yet doing social networking, or are just getting started, what better way to give them an easy introduction to its benefits?

4. More Sponsors and Exhibitors

Have you had a bit of a challenge lately getting sponsors and filling your exhibitor booths? Eventvue can even increase the participation of sponsors and exhibitors. After all, we’re all in this together – organizers, attendees, sponsors and exhibitors.

The New Currency Converter

With so many convention organizers and sponsors blinking in the face of the economy’s dark danger, it’s gratifying to know there is a way into the sunlight.

Yes, the next headlines will be about a new way to convert the currency of human connections into the real currency of convention attendance figures.

And that’s a headline worth reading.

Our mission was accomplished a hundred times over when we met Steve. If you’ve been to one of our workshops you already know him. We rarely miss the chance to feature this Lishansky quote:

The hardest people to work with are those who’ve been reasonably successful doing unsustainable things.

And, that’s Steve Lishansky. If you spend any time with him you’d better bring a notebook. He’s a walking Bartlett’s – only they’re all his quotations, not Mark Twain’s or Thomas Edison’s.

Steve will be speaking at the Colorado chapter of the National Speakers Association this Friday, March 6. He’s speaking about “Getting Paid What You Are Worth.” Bring a notebook, but you won’t be able to write fast enough.

Just a Few Samples

Here is Steve on how speakers attempt to place a price tag for their appearances.

They’re trying for a gig rather than being a force for what they’re passionate about.

Or, a related quote that strikes right to the heart of today’s obsession with information (and speaks to the pricing issue):

I’d rather be an example than an explanation.

We have to warn you, though. He’s gonna’ get in your face about your desire to have a career as a speaker:

Are you being driven by hope and aspiration or passion and commitment?

I suppose we should tell you that Steve Lishansky is the Chief Executive Optimizer at Optimize International.™

Yet another reason we like him. He runs a company about optimizing your brain – not your web site. In the long run, which do you think will help your career more?

Oh, and it says here, his office is on Whits End Road. Not true. Much wit. Much quotable wit. Bring a notebook.

Terri Norvell is the resident president over at MultiFamilyPerformance. She trains managers to think like business owners, develop leadership skills and create value for their customers. She’s also a good friend – so we don’t want her to be thrown to the “Twitter wolves” – or Twolves, as we might call them.

Twitter (you might know) is an online social networking tool that was designed originally to connect friends. Now, in a few short years, it’s become the much-touted, newest messiah of business success.

In fact, the over-hype for Twitter is just beginning. You’ll soon see a torrent of “bestselling” books streaming from the printing presses of both major and minor publishers.

Terri, like the rest of us, doesn’t want to miss out on the next technological savior, so you can now find her at @TerriNorvell.

As a beginner, Terri is, understandably, focused on “how does Twitter work?” And, jillions of people want to tell her how to “work” Twitter. They are lining up on every street corner to tell her that she can get speaking gigs with Twitter, explode her business with Twitter and tons of similar Twhype.

And, we just keep humming Henley’s tune: “The more you know, the less you understand.”

So, our advice to Terri is – Don’t worry. You’ll learn the ‘how to’ stuff. In fact, Twitter is so new that anyone who tells you “how to” is full of some sort of shirt starch, anyway.

Here’s our advice – without the starch. Follow what you already know, especially the kinds of things that Debra and Sarah teach (below):

Debra Fine – The Fine Art of Small Talk

Twitter is a tool that allows you to become part of the conversation. Effective conversation is Debra Fine’s expertise – and you must read her book (or re-read it) if you are going to learn our version of “The Fine Art of <Internet> Small Talk.”

We’ve written about her in two articles over on our HiddenSpeakerTreasures blog – which we cleverly titled, “The Fine Art of Internet Small Talk – Part 1 and Part 2.”

Take, just for instance, a few of her “Fifty Ways to Fuel a Conversation” – and see if you don’t agree that Terri will learn more about Twitter success from Debra than she will from all the marketing/PR types hanging out there.

• • Let the natural person in you come out when talking to others
  • Include everyone in the group in conversation whenever possible
  • Seek out other’s opinions
  • Make an effort to help people if you can

And that’s just a handful of the “50 Ways” – and those 50 are just a page or two of the whole book.

Sarah Michel – Perfecting Connecting

Twitter allows you to connect quickly to people around the globe. So, if Terri is going to truly connect on Twitter, she should remember what she’s already learned from Sarah Michel over at Perfecting Connecting.

The essence of Sarah Michel’s message is this phrase:

Find out what people need and then figure out a way to give it to them.

We’ve written so much about Sarah it’s hard to send you to one article (so search both blogs for her name), but here’s Sarah:

I enjoy connecting people, but I don’t give to get. That’s ‘transactional networking,’ which is not what I’m about. I practice ‘intentional connecting.’ Intentional connecting is connecting people with the intention of helping them first.

The Bottom Line

Most people on Twitter are either selling, beating their chest or just hanging out. Almost none of them are “social networking.”

Even so, Twitter, like any other place where people gather, is overflowing with abundance. There are moments of grace on Twitter just as there are wherever humans get together.

Which is why Terri will do her best job with Twitter only if we change those Henley words again to “All the things she thought she knew… she did!” You go, Terri. You’re ready for Twitter.

Note: The photo of Don Henley up top is courtesy of Alan Light over on Flickr. Thank you Creative Commons!

And, if Terri Norvell is any indication, the rest of your customers are about to do the same thing.

Terri, the founder of TheInnerPrize.com recently told us, “I’m going to remove my name from their email list. They don’t provide me anything of value – and all they do is market to me.” We won’t tell you who she was talking about – but you’d be surprised if we did.

The important phrase in what she said was, “they don’t provide me anything of value.”

Email Gone Wrong

You see, most of these emails are my fault. I signed up for them – because I was promised tons of valuable information. Instead, I’ve received tons of pitches, come-on’s and offers – and virtually no valuable information.

Not all are my fault, I want you to know. Recently, someone started sending me sales pitches – out of the blue. The woman who answered the phone seemed unconcerned when I asked how they’d gotten my email address. The exact quote was, “We have a very large database and do not know specifically how your name came to us.” That’s what’s known as spam, no?!

However, it doesn’t matter – asked for or not – listen up, Tom, Phil, Lorrie, Mike, Daniel and the rest of you:

Take me off of your email list. Just delete me. What you offered is not what you delivered.

Nuh-uh. Enough. Stop.

I think I finally snapped a couple of days ago when Phil sent me two emails in less than four hours. His daily emails, up to then, had only driven me to seek counseling.

The first email offered me “key behavioral factors” that would “make every employee more valuable and productive.” Never mind that I don’t have any employees, my heart raced at the thought of the key behavioral factors. He was even throwing in, without any extra cost – “a guide for employees’ self improvement.” Why, I could barely keep my credit cards in my pocket.

But, then, four hours later (I kid you not) Phil broke my spirit. He was hawking a 2-hour seminar that would transform my business. But, it took him longer than a New Yorker article to explain that it was just $29. What a deal.

Maybe it was the two emails in one day, or maybe it was the fact that Phil had nothing to do with any of this – he just cut and pasted his picture onto his company’s twaddle.

Or, perhaps it was this line in Tom and Lorrie’s offerings – “You’d be crazy to miss this opportunity!”

Nope, I’d be crazy to continue to get this continuous claptrap. So, if all you’re going to send me is a pitch to “Buy my stuff,” I’m done. I’m no longer going to:

• “Click to learn more about how to…”
• “Sign up today!”
• “Order now.”

In fact, I’m not even going to read the emails – because I’m not going to be seeing them. Thanks a lot. But, it’s over.

Hype is Out – Content is In

In an information economy you have to give it away. Don’t believe me? Just read Chris Anderson’s “Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business.”

The short version of Mr. Anderson’s article is that information is now so readily available you simply won’t be able to keep pitching, hawking and charging for it. Customers will need to know that you know your stuff. Which means your free samples need to be current, meaty-sized, regular hunks of things they can use right away.

It’s only when people are convinced that you know your stuff that they might actually pay to hear more, read more or see more of you.

In an information economy you won’t be able to be a blog consultant who doesn’t blog, an SEO expert who has no web site traffic or a sales expert who… well, only sends out sales pitches.

Those sales pitch email messages are on their way to the scrap heap of communication history. The good news for the rest of us is that in an information economy, we’ll be the ones choosing what to read and when to read it – and our email inboxes will have plenty of space left for those forwarded jokes from Uncle Harry.

It’s true, then we’ll have to go to work on Harry – but at least email marketing will be dead. May it rest in peace.

We first wrote about Timothy Bishop and Ellensburg Washington’s economic battle back late 2006 in an article called “Just Try to Stop This Downtown Train.” Here’s how it began:

Jon Shallert called last week to tell me about the movement to save downtown Ellensburg, Washington. Like a lot of downtowns in rural America, its very existence is threatened by a host of economic factors. Ellensburg is about a two-hour drive from Seattle. That same day New York Senator Charles E. Schumer and New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg wrote a Wall Street Journal article about saving downtown New York. It’s somewhere out east. Which effort do you suppose will get more attention?

We wrote then that Ellensburg rolled up its collective sleeves and got right down to the work of revitalizing its economy. New York, in contrast (and not that surprisingly) hired a consulting firm to study the situation and issue a report.

So, What’s Happened Lately?

Something called the “Downtown Revitalization Training Institute“ just gave out its 2008 “Excellence in Downtown Revitalization” awards for all of Washington state. There were 8 awards. Tiny Ellensburg went home with 2 of them.

New York’s financial district did help to bring you the credit crisis, inflation and stagnating employment, but garnered no awards that we’re aware of.

The Downtown Revitalization awards?

Outstanding Achievement in Promotion
Ellensburg Downtown Association for their “MySpace” page.
Best Economic Restructuring Story
Ellensburg Downtown Association for their “Brown Bag Business Basics” workshop series.

You see, Timothy Bishop and the good folks around town have been cooking up ideas again. You could learn from them. Where else do you see anyone mixing a book club and an Internet strategy together?

The Ellensburg MySpace page helped them raise their brand identity with the nearby Central Washington University. And, they used the book club, Brown Bag Business Basics, to reach out and touch some of the most innovative authors in America – folks like Mark Sanborn, Chris Anderson and Bill Collier.

Yup, they called or emailed them and often got their attention. Eight of the 12 agreed to do an interview on their local radio station, KQBE.

For instance, Timothy told us,

Mark Sanborn (author of The Fred Factor) was a great interview and inspired great attendance at the review for his book. That caught the attention of CWU faculty who invited him to speak at the University last fall.

Or, how would you like to interview another bestselling author, Chris Anderson? Bishop’s book club did just that:

My personal favorite was Chris Anderson, author of best seller, The Long Tail. I was most amazed by how accessible Mr. Anderson was and his willingness to lend his support to our efforts in Ellensburg, Washington — a little town of just 18,000 people. For a community of our size to have the editor for Wired magazine on our economic restructuring team, even if just for a day, is pretty exciting.

Now, that’s what we call networking, Mr. Bishop!

Did all of this activity translate? Duh. It translated to increases in tax revenues, better attended community events and increased connections to the nearby CWU among many other things. But, you’ll have to call up Timothy and get him to tell you about all those.

After we wrote that first article about Ellensburg for our blog, Pug Ostling added this comment:

“My guess is that offensive coordinator Timothy Bishop and a revved up cadre of downtown activists will have an innovative strategic plan that aims high. The plan will no doubt include lofty, yet achievable goals that can race past basic downtown “survival” on their way to unprecedented success. This is a tough but doable challenge.”

Pug concluded his comments with this prediction, “For what it’s worth, my money’s on The Bishop.”

Bishop to Pawn 4, New York. Check.

Game not yet over, but looks bad for the Big Apple.