Managing the Gray – Positive Advice That Everyone Can Use to Succeed

I was very psyched when the opportunity to interview Chris Anderson here on Managing the Gray came up. Special thanks to my friend Kevin Smokler for making the introduction.

Photo by Joi Ito

Chris and I got on the phone to chat as we were both getting ready for Father’s Day weekend and I had a fun chatting with him about all the different things he has going on. Sure, he has the new book Free coming out on July 7th, but I wanted to talk about everything else he does as well. We got to talk about robots, the future of magazines and the publishing industry.

Links mentioned on today’s show include:

• BookTour.com
• The Long Tail
• Wired Magazine
• GeekDad
• DIY Drones

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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A special episode today focusing in On The Luck of Seven. If you haven’t heard about this I was instantly hooked the moment I first heard about it over the summer. I don’t know Noel. I’ve never met him. But, I’ve been watching and reading of his travels since he set our this summer on 7-7-07.

I asked him seven questions and he answered them. Instead of inter cutting my questions I decided to just let his answers roll with the background noise and sounds. Feels much more real that way.

Please consider donating to the On The Luck of Seven and definitely subscribe to his video podcast and check out his photos. The one shown here he took the day after he recorded his questions. You never know where he is going to be checking in from.

The comment line is still 206-309-4729 and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this show. Especially if you step up and donate as well.

And, if your curious here is the original goodbye video I mentioned on the show.

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I’ve always said that new media is about so much more then fancy web sites and dropping vowels. It’s about giving voices and outlets to people that would not usually have them. About telling stories that no one has heard.

So when I read about what Noel A Hidalgo is doing via his “On the Luck of Seven” adventure I was instantly excited. Best part was that I had not heard about this at all until I saw a post on another friends blog about his kick off party this weekend and curiosity got the best of me.

In his words:

for seven months, i will stand on the seven continents, dive into the seven oceans, and contemplate seven topics of freedom. while on the way, i will document the journey. this is not my story, this is our story. though your hospitably, donations, projects, connections and friends, our stories will merge into one.

I instantly subscribed to his blog , added his Flickr feed to my favorites and also donated towards the cause via his ChipIn set up.  He’s hoping to get 700 donations of $11.11 to pay for the trip and is going to be giving a book to everyone who donates documenting the travels. That alone is worth the donation, but I chipped in more because I think this is such an amazing use of the space we all play in right now.

I wish I was in a place where I could do this myself. I’m sure I could if I really wanted to, but there are other goals at the moment. I’m going to be tracking noneck the whole way and I wish him nothing but success and great memories because I know he is going to have some amazing tales along the way.

THIS is what new media is all about. Safe travels and I look forward to hopefully crossing paths with him one of these days!

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I had lunch with Scott Monty today. He’s a long time listener of Managing the Gray and someone who is definitely going to make a diference in the new media space in the months to come. I became more and more sure of that as the conversation went on.

The title of this post came from a comment he made about my New Media Playground analogy.

He said something along the lines of how when you fall down or fail in doing something in new media it’s just like getting sand in your pants at the playground. Hopefully Scott will correct me on this because part of me feels like I’m butchering his awesome analogy.

But, it’s SO true! Remember that horrible feeling? We’ve all been there. It’s one of the few reasons the beach can suck. Nothing is fun about sand in your shorts. But, I also know that you can just brush them off and things get better. A new day. Another chance to try and move forward. I love that.

I also love the new podcast Scott is going to be launching. It falls completley outside of my interest zone because it’s uber-niche, but THAT is what I love about it. It’s going to have an instant built in audience because no one else is doing it and there is a community of people who will be interested already established. That is how you embrace new media.

And further proof that as much as I love all the ways we can connect at a distance there is nothing better then sitting down over some food, drink and conversation!

Posted in New Media, People | Comments(1)