Why do corporate presenters at conferences not understand that they often fatally damage their otherwise great presentation by turning it into a company advertisement? On Mbites, the always-trenchant Mike Butcher complains about a guy from Textploitation doing this on the first day of an SMS conference in London last week: "Unfortunately it all degraded in to a pitch about his company. Dullsville."

As a public service, I present Lesson #1 in 'Conference Speaking 1A' for all those -- from the CEOs to marketing boyos -- who missed the Cluetrain and don't yet get this very basic truth: if you have something interesting and informative to say, your expertise and enthusiasm for your subject and your good ideas will sell the capability of the company you represent. Big time. As soon as you start the corporate advertisement, I can guarantee you that you have fallen on your sword -- at least half the audience shuts down and thinks, "What a total dweeb."

1:54:40 PM  #   your two cents []

The world of cat dancing...
10:41:55 AM  #   your two cents []

Microsoft Memo Examines Linux Threat. Microsoft Corp. should stop denouncing open source software, such as Linux, and instead stress the benefits of its own products, according to an internal strategy document that was obtained and posted on a Web site for free software advocates. By Reuters. [New York Times: Technology]
10:38:49 AM  #   your two cents []

Europeans Outlaw Net Hate Speech. The measure, which bans the publication of material that promotes racism and violence online, clashes directly with U.S. laws protecting such speech. [Wired News]
10:37:38 AM  #   your two cents []

Dave Winer points to a free Mac blogging program: iBlog is a standalone blogging tool for Mac OS X. It's not a Blogger API or MetaWeblog API app. It does its own content management. It also appears to have a news aggregator built in. It's a free beta right now. [Scripting News]
10:36:54 AM  #   your two cents []

Nokia licenses BlackBerry software. Phone maker looks to make messaging easier for corporate users [InfoWorld: Top News]
10:35:35 AM  #   your two cents []

EPIC warns colleges against P-to-P monitoring. Practice called "incompatible with intellectual freedom" [InfoWorld: Top News]
10:35:03 AM  #   your two cents []

Ambrose Bierce. "Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another." [Quotes of the Day] ... That has special meaning for journalists... [grin].
10:32:12 AM  #   your two cents []

Wading Through Weblogs, One Idea at a Time [Slashdot]
10:31:43 AM  #   your two cents []