My somewhat attainable 2012 reading list

I had a great conversation on Twitter the other day with Aiden (@LeQuanster) about books. I confessed that I was old school and still have piles and piles of books lined up that are waiting to be read. He was in a similar situation and asked what I was reading. I figured it might be helpful to share my 2012 reading list on my blog since I’m always interested in hearing what other people are reading, as well.

I’d say about two-thirds of my reading list is based upon recommendations from people I know, people I have heard speak or lists from people I follow on Twitter. The other third are books I grabbed off the shelf while perusing through a book store.

Presently, there are massive piles of books in my office and on my nightstand that I’m trying to get through. Having worked full-time while completing my MBA part-time over the past three years, the piles have grown and grown. I do not have a target completion date and below is not the order I plan on reading through these piles of books. It is simply a list aimed at sparking discussion and hopefully soliciting some feedback on which of these books are worth reading next – or which other books I should add to the list.

Here is my current reading list:

• Brandwashed by Martin Lindstrom
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
• Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales
• Affinity: Beyond Branding by Martin Goldfarb & Howard Aster
• Best Practices Are Stupid by Stephen M. Shapiro
• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• Engage by Brian Solis
• The End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis
• Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard P. Rumelt
• We First by Simon Mainwaring
• In the Plex by Steven Levy
• Tribes by Seth Godin
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
• The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma
• Playing with Fire by Theo Fleury
• MacroWikinomics by Don Tapscott & Anthony D. Williams
• AdLand by Mark Tungate
• Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz
• The Intangibles of Leadership by Richard A. Davis
• Scorecasting by Tobias J. Moskowitz
• Fixing the Game by Roger Martin
• The Design of Business by Roger Martin
• Diaminds by Mihnea Moldoveanu & Roger Martin
• How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
• Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty by Harvey Mackay
• First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
• The One Thing You Need to Know by Marcus Buckingham
• As One by Mehrdad Baghai & James Quigley
• Decoded by Jay-Z
• Super Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
• Counter Clockwise by Ellen J. Langer
• Creating Healthy Organizations by Graham Lowe
• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
• A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel
• Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities by Jeffrey S. Rosenthal
• Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa by Stephen Lewis
• The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by MG Vassanji
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
• Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
• What Happy People Know by Dan Baker & Cameron Stauth
• Hell or High Water by Paul Martin
• Imagining India by Nandan Nilekani
• A Soldier First by General Rick Hillier
• Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow

Well typing out that list has made me realize just how daunting it will be to read 45 new books! About a year ago, I shared the idea of the ’50 in 50 club’ with one of my mentors – that is where you read 50 books in 50 weeks; it is like a mental marathon – and he took on the challenge. He actually completed it, so I do know that this is indeed possible.

What books on this list did you enjoy? What are some of the books you have read recently that you really liked? I believe only one of the 45 books on my list is fiction, so clearly I need to broaden my fiction horizons.

Happy Reading!

Why saying hello to social media in 2012 isn’t for everyone

Social media is a little bit like New Year’s Eve. No one can decide where they want to spend the night, but once someone picks a bar (or club), everyone quickly decides they want to go to that bar, too.

But why do they want to go to that bar? Because that is where everyone else is hanging out, so it makes sense, right?

Not really.

I’m often asked by individuals and brand representatives if they should be using social media. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on the situation. And not all social media tools will apply to every person or brand.

G Adventures just launched an Instagram feed. This is a perfect social media tool for G Adventures, because travelling is an emotional experience that can best be communicated visually. Since launching on Instagram, G Adventures has posted a stunning display of images from its destinations, including the “Door to Hell” in Uzbekistan.

For someone who has traveled to more than 40 countries, I must admit that I had never heard of the “Door to Hell” before this moment, but now I have this sudden urge to visit Uzbekistan and discover what this ‘door’ is all about.

This is an example of a brand recognizing a great social media channel to connect with its current and potential customers.

“But we need to be on social media.” – Anonymous

Too many people panic and feel that they have to be on social media because their competitors or friends are ‘playing in the space’. But it rarely makes strategic sense to do something just because other people are doing it.

If Nike – one of the biggest brands in the world – can wait until December 30, 2011 to launch a Twitter feed, then anyone can wait until the time is right. The time is right when it makes strategic sense to jump into social media. For some brands, it may never make strategic sense to start a Twitter feed or launch a Facebook page.

One of the biggest limiting factors for jumping into social media is cost (shockingly, social media IS NOT FREE). I repeat: Social media is not free. There is a high cost associated with keeping up with the demands that come from engaging through these channels. And the demands will only continue to grow.

I find it interesting that some companies will employ a call centre of 500+ to respond to customers, but only employ a team of one or two people to manage its social channels.

In my line of work, I’m often asked which partners integrate well with the CFL on social channels. Many partners want to extend the relationship from the traditional field templates and A-frame signs to the digital world so that they can engage with CFL fans. There are a couple of brands that stand out:

TELUS worked with us at our Grey Cup TweetUp in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, we were trying to increase the number of downloads for the TELUS CFL Mobile App. Any attendee of the TweetUp that downloaded the app on site or already had the app on their phone was rewarded with a TELUS toque. This was especially helpful given that we were in Edmonton and it was double-digits below zero.

At both editions of the TweetUp, TELUS gave away a pair of smartphones. Fans had to send out Tweets using #CFL and #TELUSVIP to enter. Specific criteria for the types of tweets we were looking for was provided.

Both of these integrations into the TweetUp led to increased value for the fans attending the TweetUp and the brands involved. In my opinion, this is a good example of a brand or partner integrating with the CFL.

A second example that I like is the Gibson’s Finest Fan competition, which encourages CFL fans to upload photos of their fandom to Facebook. Other fans then vote for the winners and the winning fans receive a trip to the Grey Cup and the full VIP treatment.

What is great about this contest is that it is simple – every hardcore fan has plenty of photos of himself or herself that they can upload for the contest. They are not being asked to create some fancy video that takes time and effort. Remember K.I.S.S.? Keep it simple and shareable!

All the fans had to do was reach out to their network and get their family and friends to vote in the contest on Facebook. Since most Canadians are on Facebook multiple times per day, this is a great channel for this contest to spread to a wider audience (as opposed to building an isolated microsite). The competitive nature of the contest also led to contestants reaching out on various other social networks to promote their candidacy to become the Finest Fan.

This social media activation worked because it was simple and shareable.

Unfortunately, for each good activation that exists, there is a pile of failed activations. Most of them follow the same script: “Can you tweet/post/share this link?” … The End.

That is not social. Social is a two-way conversation. Social involves some level of engagement.

At the end of the day, it is important to ask yourself which channels make the most sense for achieving the goals you have laid out. Very few brands have the budget or resources to do everything, so make sure you focus on the channels that will be most helpful for achieving your goals.

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Keek have made sense for the CFL. We looked at Foursquare, but for now, there doesn’t seem to be a fit. The same is true with running an Instagram feed from a league level; although, Instagram probably makes sense from a team level where they have exclusive access to players on a daily basis. Tying this back to the G Adventures example – the photos are submitted from an army of employees across the globe, which also makes it a good fit.

The bottom line with social media is indeed the bottom line – the more channels you add, the more it will cost financially or in human capital. Social media is a big commitment, so it is important to think it through before jumping into the fray.

Curiosity is King: Creating the digital autograph

One of the amazing things about having a 14-month old son is having the opportunity to witness his curiosity at the simple things in life – touching tree bark for the first time, smelling a raw onion or simply banging a cardboard box against the wall.

A lesson can be drawn from his actions and that is the fact that the older we get the less curious we become because there are far less new things for us to discover.

But we can change our fortunes – we can reignite our curiosity.

I try to do that with social media, by constantly seeking new and innovative ways to connect with people in a meaningful way.

This curiosity is what led to the partnership between the CFL and Keek in recent months.

I often sign up to be a beta tester for social platforms. Keek must have been another service I signed up for, because one day in late August I received an e-mail telling me that I could “keek on the go!”

Keek sounded interesting, so I turned to Twitter for some insights how it worked. That’s where I interacted with Justin Kozuch for the first time. He introduced me to Miranda McCurlie from Keek. After learning about the platform directly from Miranda, I realized that Keek could serve as a great way to connect CFL athletes with their fans.

We test drove the idea in mid-September when I was on the road in Calgary. Our first Keek was with CFL social media aficionado, Nik Lewis. Nik gave a simple shout out to the fans in a Keek and we tweeted the video from @CFL. We did a similar Keek later that day with BC Lions defensive back Tad Kornegay – another Twitter superstar – before taking our Keek-show on the road to Moncton for the CFL’s Touchdown Atlantic game.

It was in Moncton where we really started using Keek the way I had envisioned. We started soliciting questions from fans via the League’s Twitter account and posing the questions directly to our players. We would tweet the personalized video response back to the person who asked the question (and to our entire follower base) and they would be able to share the video throughout multiple social networks.

We had created the digital autograph!

As I explained in the Financial Post earlier this month, autographs have become a commodity. Fans are looking for new “can’t buy” experiences and a personalized Keek is one way that we can deliver that to them.

One of my favourite reactions to a personalized Keek was from a fan, @CliffyD, who said he was going to use the opening part of Montreal Alouettes lineman Anwar Stewart’s Keek as his new ring tone. Imagine Stewart saying, “Hey Cliffy D” each time Cliff’s phone rings. Outstanding.

We decided that we were getting enough traction from the test Keeks that we were going to dedicate a content team member – Richard Obrand – to handle Keek’ing during Grey Cup week. Rich would solicit questions from fans and then ask players for answers during media availability each day.

It was a great way for fans following the Grey Cup to get up-to-the-second insights on the two teams.

We also used Keek to showcase exclusive moments, like this Keek that shows confetti raining down onto the lens of an iPhone. We were able to take our fans right into the Grey Cup celebration from field level so that they could experience the raw emotion that the players and their families were feeling.

The lesson learned from this story is that in a day and age where people believe that bigger is better and that you have to spend to succeed, the real winning formula can sometimes be found through curiosity. With little cost to Keek’ing (just a person’s time and effort), the ROI on a simple program like this is limitless if you can provide fans with an experience that drives them towards brand advocacy.

For more on the CFL’s experience with Keek, tune into 49Pixels Live at 8pm EST on Tuesday, December 13th when I join Lindsay Munro and Justin Kozuch to talk about social media in sports.

• Visit Keek.com/CFL for a listing of all the CFL’s Keeks

TweetUp Tale: Why working with good people is important

Working with good people is important – this statement is pretty obvious. We don’t always have the opportunity to work with good people, but when the opportunity does arise, what a difference it makes.

This is a tale of a Grey Cup TweetUp – one that took place near the end of November in Vancouver.

For the third straight Grey Cup, the CFL hosted a Grey Cup TweetUp. The first-ever edition took place in the basement of a pub in Calgary in 2009. About 25 people attended along with the Commissioner and a couple of players.

A year later we were in a bar in Edmonton with our own private area. Molson served up some free beer and TELUS gave away a couple of smartphones. Around 70 people were in attendance along with players, the Commissioner and this time the Grey Cup.

Each year our goal is to throw a TweetUp better than the year before. This year, we moved our event from a bar to a hotel because we were expecting double the number of attendees (140 people attended). We printed custom t-shirts for the attendees and we had a record number of prizes to give away including two tickets to the 99th Grey Cup and four passes to stand on the field next to the stage for the Pepsi Max Halftime Show.

But this year the biggest difference was going to be location – for the first time we were moving away from a bar and into a hotel conference room.

At first blush, the thought of hosting a TweetUp in a hotel led many to shutter. However, the location was selected by one of our most influential bloggers in Vancouver based on his relationship with the hotel and its support for the BC Lions and all things CFL. It didn’t hurt that the hotel was two blocks from the Grey Cup Festival site.

From our first meeting with Kristina at the Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel I knew it was going to be a great fit. She is a member of The Waterboys – an influential group of B.C. businesspeople who support the BC Lions – and the hotel has a suite in BC Place for all Lions games. She is also a HUGE Lions fan.

Over the course of a couple of months the hotel bent over backwards for our requirements to make the TweetUp successful. They installed extra screens so we could display tweets live on location. Their staff printed our name tags and stuffed lanyards for us. They held shipments of t-shirts for us. They adjusted last second when the rain prevented an outdoor BBQ. The list goes on.

Kristina is a good person and working with her and her team was outstanding – in fact, it is one the highlights of my Grey Cup week.

While anecdotal evidence suggested that attendees loved the venue, our post-event survey data showed that 92 per cent of respondents said that the TweetUp was held at a location suitable for a TweetUp. Without a doubt, these positive reactions are a result of the TLC put into the event by the folks at the Rosedale on Robson, led by Kristina.

When I started this blog over a year ago, my goal was to write about good people whom I came into contact with and what I was able to learn from them. The lessons learned from this experience are to be open, honest, up-front and cordial and things should work out well for everyone. Not once did we feel squeezed or duped (I’ve heard horror stories from friends who have had to deal with large venues). We were always treated with respect and Kristina and her team always presented solutions when challenges arose.

Too often people enter a situation focusing on how they can get a larger slice of the pie. Instead, they should consider how much bigger the pie would be for everyone if grown together – both parties get a larger slice.

The working relationship we had while producing the event turned into a win-win for both the CFL and the Rosedale on Robson and left everyone feeling energized at the end of the day.

• Watch a video of the Grey Cup TweetUp
• Browse photos from the Grey Cup TweetUp
• Read reactions from the Grey Cup TweetUp on Twitter at #GCTweetUp

Discovering a new city on two wheels

I don’t recall hearing the glass shatter, but I remember the pain in my arm as I lay on the ground trying to figure out how I was ejected off my bike.

As I put the pieces together, it became clear that I had hit the back of a parked car, flown over my handlebars and put the full weight of my right shoulder into the hatchback’s rear window. The window shattered on impact – I was a big 14-year-old – and my collarbone cracked as a result.

My shoelace had gotten caught around my pedal as I rode my bike to baseball tryouts. I was looking down trying to get it off my pedal when I hit the car.

The only question I asked the paramedics on my ambulance ride to the hospital was whether they’d be able to freeze my collarbone so that I could play in my hockey championship two days later.

I was devastated to find out that freezing broken bones was an NHL thing – not a minor hockey championship thing.

Fast forward to this summer. I bought a bike for the first time in about 19 years.

I was motivated by the need to get in shape.

I was intrigued by the BIXI bike I road in Montreal in June with some colleagues, so that we didn’t have to spend hours stuck in downtown traffic in a taxi.

And I recalled how much fun I had had the day I went downhill biking on Whistler Mountain in 2007 – only the second time I had been back on a bike since the accident. Of course, I went over the handlebars that day, too, thanks to the ultra-sensitive disc brakes on the mountain bike. But this time I was protected by body armor.

My goal is to ride my bike to and from work. But for now, I’m taking baby steps and riding it on Sunday mornings when I don’t have to worry so much about traffic and other hazards posed by the streets of Toronto.

So what is the point of this blog – or the learned lesson?

As a transplanted Vancouverite who moved to this city in 2000, I have discovered a whole new Toronto thanks to these Sunday bike rides. I have experienced a cleaner, kinder, gentler city.

Cleaner in the sense that there are hundreds of trails, ravines and parks that are easily accessible from almost any neighbourhood. There seems to be this city within a city that runs underneath Toronto and it is lined by streams, trees and other great natural features. In fact, you don’t feel like you are in the city at all.

Kinder in the sense that the bike trails are the anti-commute. I shudder each morning as people honk horns from the comfort of their cars or elbow a stranger on the TTC. Instead, I was greeted with multiple “good mornings” as I biked along the Moore Park Ravine trail into the Don Valley Brick Works Park. One pair of bikers took the time to give me directions and alert me to the difficulty of the trail. Another couple out for a morning ride asked me for help and shared my map to guide them on their way back home.

A gentler city in the sense that we are constantly hustling, rushing, working – instead, I was able to stop a few times on my ride and enjoy some fresh air, great views, people playing in parks and cool houses in neighbourhoods I had only zoomed through in a car.

Like the CTV ads say: ‘This is my Toronto’. I think I may have found my new Toronto and it is one that I can really enjoy.