I monitor emergent communication and information technologies and interactive social medias to forecast strategic opportunities for developing brand community.
Embedded within these online communities and virtual environments, I form meaningful relationships with key influencers using indigenous social media tools for collaboration.
Seeding ideas and encouraging co-creation within networks of brand advocates has proven an effective method for crowd-sourcing innovation. I create interactive opportunities for participatory new product development and collaborative brainstorming that encourage customers to build, and in so doing [re]define, the brand experience. The by-product of this non-invasive form of engagement is an expanding network of product hackers, and self-proclaimed customer evangelists.
In addition, I work as Austin Ellison within persistent virtual worlds like Second Life to foster conversation and collaborative ideation toward long-term thinking and forecasting.
I developed Collaborative Ideation to share my research.
Quotations:
"The convergence of raw data distribution in a living network, such as the form by which the web appears to be evolving, paves new roads for perception and communication. I think the biggest impact emergent methods of communication will have upon our future is with new modes of temporal contextualization." MediaAngler
"Every example of remarkable customer service and interactivity that is open to search engine traffic becomes a footprint in the history of one’s brand identity. Weave inspiring narratives throughout the net that will compel future customers to fall in love with your own unique customer experience" ["An Interview With An Innovator" by Stephen Smith @ HDBizBlog]
Publications:
"Collaborative Ideation" , Ongoing
"It Is Not Enough To Simply Listen", Age of Conversation, April 2007
Education:
Bowling Green State University, 2002
Affiliations:
Member of the Long Now Foundation
Member of the Rosetta Project
Member of the Chicago Business Marketing Association
Activities:
social media optimization and engagement, public relations 2.0, corporate development, long-term strategy, emerging media research and development, corporate intelligence, collaborative new product development, word-of-mouth marketing, business in persistent virtual worlds, blogging
Interests:
DIY, steampunk, GTD, Diyplanner, notebookism, figurative drawing, jazz improv, glassblowing, forecasting, Long Now, pervasive computing, geo-tagging, haptic technologies, startups, 17th century English drama, New Historicism, Yelp, Second Life Business, Social Anthropology 2.0, Journaling 2.0
Favorite Music:
The Eels, Soul Coughing, John Abercrombie, Tortoise, Autechre, David Bowie, Rancid, Richard Hell, Talking Heads, Mouse on Mars, Autechre, Kenny Wheeler, Joe Lovano, Flaming Lips, Tom Waits, Radiohead, Aquabats, Placebo, The Clash, The Strokes, Massive Attack, Smashing Pumpkins, Bad Religion, The White Stripes, Medeski, Martin, & Wood, Tom Waits, Marilyn Manson, Bjork, Ladytron, Patricia Barber, The Cars, The Strokes, Nine Inch Nails, Nick Cave, Belle & Sebastion, Placebo, The Clash, Devo, Iggy Pop, Moby, Portishead, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Lou Reed, CocoRosie, Weezer, Dan Bern, Funki Porcini, David Byrne, Fischerspooner, Morcheeba, Folk Implosion, The Aquabats, Bill Frisell, Sting, Sam Phillips, Hot Chip, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, Kid 606, Joe Lovano
Favorite TV Shows:
Veronica Mars, My Boys, Gilmore Girls [ it grew on me ], The League of Gentlemen, Farscape, Babylon 5, Fraggle Rock, MST3k, Spacehunter, Jim Henson's The Storyteller, Lexx, Flying Circus, The Shield, Stargate SG1, Twin Peaks, Aeon Flux
Favorite Movies:
Bringing Up Baby, The Dark Crystal, Lost Highway, Labyrinth, Twelfth Night, Tideland, Naked Lunch, Edward Scissorhands, Mulholland Dr., Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Das Leben Der Anderen, City of Lost Children, Waiting For Guffman, Benny and Joon, Blade Runner, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Dark City, Donnie Darko, The House of Yes, Les Amants de Pont Neuf, Scanners, Time Bandits, THX 1138, What about Bob, Twelfth Night, Prospero's Books.
