Idea Sandbox Part of "Age of Conversation" Book Project for Charity

Last Updated on 8 April 2011

I’m proud to share with you that Idea Sandbox has contributed to the Age of Conversation ’08 book project. This is the second collaborative book spearheaded by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan. The first book featured over 100 writers talking about 1 topic. This edition features 237 “dream team” writers offering marketing insights and stories.

Not only will it be an interesting read chock-full of insight… but income from the book goes to the charity for children, Variety.

Variety the Children’s Charity is dedicated to promoting and protecting the health and well-being of children around the world … to offer financial assistance and services to children … with special needs.

I’ll post more – and the link to purchase – once it gets closer to print!

Each of us chose from a pool of topics… this first one is what I wrote about…

Moving from Conversation to Action – Talk is cheap, or so they say. What are the practical steps that businesses and brands can take to move from conversation to something more valuable to their business? And if it is so easy, why don’t they just do it?

Here are the rest of the topics…

Manifestos – Declarations, up front, on the Age of Conversation. Why don’t people get it? What about companies? Where are things going? What can you help clarify?
Keeping Secrets in the Age of Conversation – With everyone talking so much, why do we need secrets? What is the role of privacy? What about different personas and identities? Why don’t consumers understand that their online conversations are tracked and can come back to haunt them?
The Accidental Marketer – People “fall into” marketing. They may study and qualify in a different discipline but somehow find themselves in marketing and advertising. What is the attraction? Or…have you known a company or brand who just seemed to naturally fall into marketing success? How do you think that happened?
A New Brand of Creative – With the changes in the way that people communicate and collaborate online, marketing and advertising companies are needing to reach out and work with a new type of creative team. What do these “creatives” look like. What are their skills? Why do they evangelize digital and new media? And what are the challenges that they face?
My Marketing Tragedy – A topic only for the brave… Do you know a project that failed? Was it yours? What prevented success? What worked? And most importantly, what did you learn? Who didn’t “get it” — was it your client, your boss, the board, or (dare we ask) you?
Business Model Evolution – Just as the markets and people are changing, so too are the business models around both clients and agencies. What is your take on this? What is working and what is not? Where will things go? What happens if an agency doesn’t “get it”. How do you measure “it”… and where will things go?
Life in the Conversation Lane – Bringing it all back to the individual – how is life in a digitally connected, social world impacting our lives? What is the personal cost and what is the attraction? Is there a balance or are we just kidding ourselves?