Hot events
Brazen Careerist, a company started by Ryan Paugh, Ryan Healy and Penelope Trunk, is coming to my hometown (Boston). For those who haven’t heard of this company, they are an online community and career center for Gen-Y. The community boasts over 100 Gen-Y thought leader bloggers, whose combined insight and ideas are changing the world of work. For their 3rd community event, they will be in Boston on Thursday, October 2nd at 6:00 PM at M.J. O’Connor’s (27 Columbus Ave.). There is going to be free food and an OPEN BAR.
I’ve supported this community from the beginning, as one of the first invited, because they have all the right ideas and are putting them into action, such as using the power of social media to help young superstars have a voice. I’ll personally be at this event, so register ASAP.
GasPedal Scholarships
Andy Sernovitz, the word-of-mouth marketing guru, just informed me that people can sign up for his GasPedal Crash Course (GasPedal is his consulting company). They have spaces reserved for charitable organizations and bloggers. If you’re interested, he asks that you fill out the scholarship form and the deadline is today (sorry for the late notice). Personal Branding Blog readers receive a $250 discount using the blog code “thisblogisawesome” when you register.
BiztechDay 2008
BiztechDay is a no-fluff one day technology learning bootcamp for small business owners and entrepreneurs. It is the place for you to learn how to grow your business using the power of the Internet & Web 2.0 technologies. Technology should be an easy tool to improve your business. Tim Ferris, the NY Times Bestselling Author of the Four Hour Work Week, will be headlining this event. BiztechDay is the only conference that will get down and dirty with the Web 2.0 basics you need to propel your business to the next level.
This event takes place on Saturday, October 25th at the Hilton San Francisco Hotel. $50 discount ($249) using the code “Personal Branding Network.” Register at biztechday.com/register.
Author Pow-Wow
This event is for authors who are looking to build their personal brands and sell books. Held on December 9th and 10th in Chicago at the amazing Catalyst Ranch, this year’s event will be even more inspiring for authors, as we focus on a specific question: How Is a Good Idea Communicated?
At the 800-CEO-READ Author Pow Wow, authors engage in two days of sessions focusing on what a good idea sounds like to publishers, what a good idea sounds like to the media, to an audience, and to a speaker’s bureau. Additionally, how does a good idea look visually, how does it sound to readers, how is it applied to new media, and how does it sound as a story to apply to a number of different channels. There are currently 40 spots open, so register now. Hat tip to Phil Gerbyshak.
Weekend reading recommendations
Guy Kawasaki has written yet another book that is required reading by any entrepreneur starting a company, especially in Silicon Valley. As Guy Kawasaki puts it, “If the two most popular words in your company are partner and strategic, and partner has become a verb, and strategic is used to describe decisions and activities that don’t make sense” . . . it’s time for a reality check.
Kawasaki has compiled his best wit, wisdom, and contrarian opinions in handy book form. From competition to customer service, innovation to marketing, he shows readers how to ignore fads and foolishness while sticking to commonsense practices.
The 100 Best Business Books of All Time
Jack Covert is the founder and president of 800-CEO-READ, a specialty business book retailer that began as a subsidiary of the Milwaukee-based Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops. Todd Sattersten is the company’s vice president. Both read countless business books every year and review many of them on their website and blog.
The 100 Best puts each book in context, so that readers can quickly find solutions to the problems they face, such as how best to spend The First 90 Days in a new job or how to take their company from Good to Great. Many of the choices are surprising – you’ll find reviews of Moneyball and Orbiting the Giant Hairball, but not Jack Welch’s memoir.
Robert Reich teaches public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under Bill Clinton. Supercapitalism is his eleventh book (See his NPR interview).
Reich urges us to rebalance the roles of business and government. Power, he writes, has shifted away from us in our capacities as citizens and toward us as consumers and investors. While praising the spread of global capitalism, he laments that supercapitalism has brought with it alienation from politics and community. The solution: to separate capitalism from democracy, and guard the border between them.
