One of the greatest days of my life was last October when I found a dear friend from my teenage years on Facebook.  I had been looking for Chris on Facebook for over four years.  Through my high school years we had many adventures that were capped off with following U2′s Joshua Tree tour  from Vegas to San Diego over my first college spring break.

It turned out that one of his relatives had told him to travel the world and he would never regret it.  That relative was dying and left Chris a lot of money, so at 19 Chris took off on a world tour and settled in Germany.  We lost touch, but I thought of him often because he was one of my closest friends.

Last October we talked for the first time since he left the U.S. and I was thrilled …until the conversation got to the part where he told me he had been fighting cancer since 2007.  I was bummed, but over the last 5 years I’ve known 4 people who beat cancer and heard lots of stories of more survivors which left me hopeful for Chris.

Then last Friday night as I was wrapping up work I received a message from a mutual friend asking if I knew about Chris’ Caring Bridge blog.  I hadn’t, but she gave me the link to log in to his page where I read a detailed update of how things turned for the worse while his family was visiting him over the holidays.

The post started out with an admission that doctors cancelled a transplant that was scheduled, ended all treatments and told him to prepare for less than a month to live.  A shock went through me and I felt stabbed in the heart.  I’ve had friends die which is hard, but knowing that someone my age who has inspired me, been like a brother to me, and just reconnected with me is having to prepare to leave the planet brought me to tears.

“What would I do if someone told me that today would be my last day?”  It’s been a cliche question all the times I’ve heard it until the question hit me while wishing I’d not lost all those years with Chris and knowing that it’s not an option in the future.  Reality bites and death sucks.

In the last few years I’ve known almost 10 people who died before they turned 50 years old and each time it gave me pause, but then I fell back into life’s routines without feeling the breath of death on my neck and expecting that I’ll have another 40 or 50 years of living to do.  I may, and I may not.

The first time I met death was in sixth grade.  Steven Urioste, the boy who played saxophone next me & gave me tips on how to play better in band class every day, was swinging on bars in the sandbox at lunch.  I was talking to him when he dropped to the ground and never got up.  I don’t remember his cause of death, only that he fell off the bars and no one could help him to breathe again.  I cried at his funeral, despite the priest making lame attempts to tie Steven’s life to football game metaphors, but I was young and moved on.

Chris’ dance with cancer is something no one should have to experience, but especially a person who I’ve known to be so sweet, loving and generous.  His blog posts are filled with his humor and love despite the physical and emotional pain he’s experiencing.

Death hasn’t made his spirit lose an once of joy from how I remember him.  And the comments, which number over 150, are tale after tale of how Chris positively impacted so many people’s lives across multiple continents.  The comments to his posts made me cry even more than his eloquent words (he’s a writer, as well as a great guitarist and singer) because they are never ending stories of his impact on those fortunate enough to have worked with him, played with him and shared wonderful moments of life with him.

So each day going forward as I appreciate the hours and days I have left, they will be in tribute to Chris.  In his dying and how he’s handling it he’s given me the greatest gift of not taking moments, days, weeks, months or years for granted any longer.

Beyond not sweating the small stuff, I’m making the most of every day to enjoy the people I love, do work that fulfills me, and make time for the things that matter most.  And I don’t expect a day to go by where I won’t be thinking of Chris, maybe crying, but always smiling and be grateful for his having been a central actor in the play that is my life.

On a last note, Caring Bridge is providing an amazing service by giving private websites and blogs to people who are ill.  If you know of anyone going through health issues please encourage them to check out Caring Bridge as a way for them to share their stories and love with their personal communities.

I’m very thankful that I was able to discover that Chris is about to die from him, in his own words, and I was able to comment and share my love and appreciation for him with him before he dies, even though he’s 5,056 miles (or 8,137 kilometers) away.

Facebook was a gift in finding him before he died, and Caring Bridge was a gift in loving him along with others who love him while we still had time to connect.  One blog post just profoundly changed my life, therein lies why I love the influence of social media.

Live every moment like it’s your last my friend.  Love the people and animals in your life with every ounce of love in your heart.  Life’s much too short and death is much too unpredictable.

Two bills being voted on next week in the House of Representatives contain language that could censor the Internet in ways you would never imagine.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House of Representatives and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate are well meaning, but if passed, will be destructive to internet freedoms we’ve all come to expect as well as forces that have helped innovation on the internet flourish. Both pieces of legislation greatly weaken theDigital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which for over a decade has helped Internet companies grow and flourish.

The recording industry, movie studios and television studios are the driving forces behind these bills. We are all very aware of how the music industry ‘s slow and regressive response to digital music backfired while not helping recording artists or the music industry.

Instead of creating better ways to legally download music (as Apple did for them by creating iTunes), their solution was to sue music lovers. Imagine the repercussions of this industry, and the Hollywood studios that have not adapted to how digital innovations have affected their industry, dictating policies that regulate the Internet.

Some of the companies and organizations that have opposed these bills so far include American Express, AOL, Creative Commons, Demand Progress, Discover, eBay, Etsy, Facebook, Foursquare, Google, LinkedIn, MoveOn, Mozilla, OpenDNS, PayPal, Twitter, Visa, Wikimedia Foundation, Yahoo! and Zynga. They are joined by web founders, public interest groups, non-profits, advocacy organizations, thinktanks, industry associations, websites, online services, cybersecurity companies, engineers, international human rights advocates, entrepreneurs, founders, CEOs, executives, venture capitalists, academics, experts, educators, editorial boards and student newspapers.

Would you rather have these companies and Internet-related professionals determine what’s best for the Internet and its users? We can probably agree that they are more aware of what’s beneficial for the Internet than the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America.

Reddit has announced a blackout on January 18th to protest SOPA and Wikipedia is considering joiningthem. Thousands of people are changing their Twitter and Facebook avatars to include a Blackout SOPAbadge across their face in protest.

SOPA and PIPA aim to help private corporations shut down unauthorized websites where people download music, movies, and TV shows. Most of these websites are outside of America, so these corporations are looking to combat them in a few ways. 1) Block access to infringing domain names. 2) Sue U.S. based search engines, blogs, websites, directories and forums to remove links to these sites. 3) Stop funding these websites by not allowing advertisers to support them.

The consequences that SOPA and PIPA supporters do not mention include: 1) This will not stop downloaders. History has proven this. 2) It will cripple startups by allowing corporations to sue any company they decide is not filtering to their subjective satisfaction. One of these lawsuits can easily bankrupt new websites and search engines that offer competitive alternatives to their corporate brethren. 3) The ambiguous language in PIPA and SOPA leaves plenty of room for misinterpretation that can make websites pioneering new avenues look like pirates. In the past, this could have affected sites like YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook and hundreds of other social sites where people express themselves, organize protests, share news or make art.

The bottom line and main question to ask yourself is, “Do I trust the U.S. government to censor the Internet and protect free expression of its people? And if I do, do I trust other governments who will probably follow suit?” The next question to ask yourself is, “Is it worth the potential of creating a censored internet that is less innovative and stable in order to possibly help the RIAA and MPAA sell more music and movies?”

I strongly recommend contacting your Senators and Congressional Representatives or visiting American Censorship to make your voice heard on these critical bills that can negatively impact the Internet that you use every day. If online activists could make GoDaddy flip its support on SOPA and PIPA, then it can happen with Congress too.

This article was originally posted in Huffington Post

Innovation and entrepreneurial issues are some of my favorites  and House of Genius is a great volunteer organization that incorporates innovation, community and networking is a unique and powerful way.

Recently I attended the one-year anniversary of House of Genius. Not surprisingly, I wasn’t invited because I’m a genius, but to offer me an opportunity to help create genius with others.

House of Genius is an entrepreneurial community service that assembled 380 professionals from various fields to assist 57 entrepreneurs in 2011. The founders, Tim Williams, Toma Bedolla and Collin Adair, recognized an opportunity to create an ongoing community event where the contributors could share their expertise for a greater good. Beyond this, they are also more engaged with a small group and get value out of their time rather than a typical networking event where attendees can rarely engage and walk away with valuable or actionable new connections. If you attend House of Genius, you have to participate!

After attending three of these crowd sourcing sessions in 2011, my takeaway was that this unique structure is very special in how it benefits the volunteer participants as much as the presenting companies. They assemble smart, diverse groups of people to focus their collective creativity and experience to explore, discuss and solve important problems. Contributors gain value by applying the lessons of presenting entrepreneurs and other contributors to their own life or venture.

As Tim Williams describes it, “The genius really is in collaboration. We find the consensus of a diverse group of professionals is accurate almost 95% of the time, whereas insight gained from a one to one meeting shuts the door to innovation and other points of view — thus resulting in a higher rate of error.”

Read the full article on Huffington Post

How will 2012 be different for you?  I’m already rolling in the changes.

For starters I joined the team at Room 214 as a marketing executive.  It was bittersweet to move on from Hip Chameleon after building my own company with my partner in life and work, Kathleen May.  She’ll continue on building Hip Chameleon as I join forces with the Room 214 crew working with national brands and emerging social technologies.

I learned a lot building Hip Chameleon and will continue my entrepreneurial leanings through writing, speaking and trainings.  I’ve been friends with the Room 214 founders for years and the opportunity join forces provides me with opportunities to apply my experience and passions on a larger scale that’s a gift second only to working in a collaborative culture full of talented people to learn, grow, mentor and work with every day.

Hanging with Peter Shankman at Blog World

Thanks to Peter Shankman‘s awesome post on Why You Need to Wake Up Earlier (And How to Do It!), I’ve kicked off the year in grand style.  By getting up a couple of hours earlier I’m getting needed ‘me time’ to write and exercise; the two things I love and haven’t made enough time for lately.  This won’t affect the time I put into playing Words With Friends (another passion), even with people like Peter who usually beat me.

I highly recommend reading Peter’s article to kick yourself into gear.  Though we’ve all read inspirational tomes about the benefits of waking up early, Peter is a force of nature in motivating others through his authentic and raw voice that shares his transparent life and inspiring insights.

Also, (spoiler alert) his post on waking up early includes the never before heard (at least by me) tip of keeping a full water glass next to your bed and downing it when you get up.  The water rush is a natural rush awakens your brain cells and gets you going.  Who knew?

Another 2012 change you’ll start to notice is the changes in my blog in the coming days, weeks and months.  I have whined for years about wanting to make my blog more personal and didn’t do anything about it.  Actually, I did write a random post about it and didn’t follow through.  This time is different and this post is my stand to alter that course.

Posts like this one will become more the norm with sprinklings of my Huffington Post articles and professional pieces on marketing and social media which will first be posted on Room 214′s Capture the Conversation blog.  So get ready to hear from me more often and on a variety of topics that have nothing to do with marketing or social media most of the time.

This leads to another change coming very soon.  Blind Influence will be retired as a blog in the near future.  I’ll be rebranding the blog to reflect the more personal tone.  This has been in the works (you know, on that long list of to-do’s that never gets shorter) for months.  The excuse of not having the rebrand done has been a way to put off writing more personal posts and changing the tone of Blind Influence, but  I’m calling b.s. on that procrastination with this post.

These changes feel invigorating and it’s great to be charting new vibrant waters.  Thanks for coming along for the ride.  So what have you already changed or have on the docket to change in 2012?

While many people are finding it challenging to make time to manage multiple social networks, many businesses are faced with even steeper challenges. Connecting with friends is one thing, while managing customer service, marketing, consumer experiences, research and development, community management and more through social media is a larger affair. Managing these issues at a corporate level is an even more monumental concern.

The latest report based on research done by the Altimeter Group , and authored by Jeremiah Owyang, reveals that a “fire, ready, aim” approach to social media is leaving many enterprise level companies in tenuous situations. Through a study of 144 enterprise-class corporations, 27 vendors in over 500 fields and 71 industry experts, brands and vendors, Altimeter discovered that global corporations are trying to manage an average of 178 business-related social media accounts.

This unsustainable trend, though it includes many abandoned accounts, is rapidly increasing while companies are adopting new social technologies. The genie is out of the social media bottle and he’s creating new technologies and tools at dizzying speeds.

This article was originally published in Huffington Post.

Advertising through Google AdWords continues to grow, and to be one of the main ways businesses try to reach new customers.  Understanding how AdWords auctions work is one of the biggest areas of confusion for people who aren’t sure how much, if any, of their marketing budget should be spent on AdWords.

With Google’s $32.2 billion in advertising revenue being 97 percent of Google’s total revenue, this is a pie that is worth figuring out, especially if you invest hard earned revenue into this ad platform. For instance, have you ever wondered how Google determines what advertisers pay, or how Google determines which ads are shown where?

Well, the infographic below can help you understand and make more sense of this world. Is this how you thought Google AdWords worked or have your experiences given you a different impression?

No matter how much you may already know about optimizing your website to create a better experience for your visitors, we bet that you’ll learn at least 2 new tips from this video.  You may even laugh a little too.

I sat down with Derek Olsen of Foraker Labs after Derek’s Pivot Guild presentation on The Ten Commandments of Website Usability to discuss some great tips to help you with your website.  Grab a pen, smile and hit play.

This article was originally posted on Hip Chameleon.

All attempts so far to create economic policies to stimulate the economy have failed. The economic stimulus act of 2008 proved to be a partial success or absolute failure depending on whose opinion you agree with. Regardless of how this act affected banks like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, the American people only noticed their economic standings continue to spiral downward.

It’s time to try something new. In reviewing the Tumblr blog for We Are The 99% there are a few themes that appear. People feel that they are mostly hurting because of the lack of job opportunities, the low wages of being underemployed, rising food costs, unaffordable health care and trying to pay off student loans.

What would happen if criteria was created by which Federal student loan debts could be forgiven in a fashion similar to how we have forgiven the debts of Third World Countries? As of June 2010, Americans owed $826.5 billion in student loans. This was the magic number that put student loan debt at the top of the debt mountain with the distinction of surpassing American credit card debt.

This article originally appeared in the Huffington Post. Read the full article here.

With how fast the Internet and digital marketing are evolving, it can sometimes be difficult for traditional marketing education to keep up, as shown on this site that lists common marketing degree programs that are still organized around traditional marketing themes. For the best information on how to succeed in digital marketing, often the best place to learn is on the internet itself or from experts who are actively involved online.

I did a quick Q&A with author and marketing pro Aaron Goldman after the Pivot Guild launch event held on Sept 22, 2011 at Boulder Digital Arts. Get Aaron’s take on the most important thing a business owner can do to be successful with digital marketing strategy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

To define our panel at Blogworld,  the other Blogging in the Age of Social Media panelists (Dave Taylor, Doyle Albee, Jeannine Crooks, Joshua Dorkin) and I wrote a post together on the panel title.  Here’s a short excerpt:

Ah, the good old days. Blogs were a world unto themselves and if we bloggers did anything related to social media it was purely to post URLs and hope that it’d help drive some traffic our way. With the continued rise of Facebook and addition of the surprisingly slick Google Plus combined with Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Digg and so many other social sites, however, a smart blogger’s gotta know how to manage the social nets, not just a blog.

Whether you look at personal blogging, business blogging, micro-blogging or how they overlap and support each other, blogs have become essential sources of self-expression, thought leadership, information, news, entertainment and community building in our social media age.  While 73.5% of the blogging population is under 35 and connecting on personal levels, companies that blog receive 55% more web traffic and 77% more leads than companies that don’t.

Though social media has become a catch all phrase meaning various things to various people, the heart of social media is that individuals have become the media, and blogs are where their stories live to provide the sound bites for Twitter and Facebook content.  As social media platforms continue to proliferate, the content that makes them interesting and builds their followings are often tied back to blogs.  Imagine Twitter streams, Google searches and Facebook feeds without links to blogs to serve up content that helps readers to dig deeper, connect further and laugh harder.

Read the full article here.