I will be leading a session on “Building Community Around Your WordPress Blog.” I see it as a strategy talk with some tools mixed it. We’ll talk about encouraging and stimulation community within the blog and outside of it. Tickets are available now.
On Monday, I detailed and reported on Global Grind’s practice of content scraping. In short, they were copying full articles from an array of online publications, both small and large. They would then display this content on their website without any direct source links. The only link on the page, which was not very prominent, would be an internal link to Global Grind’s own top frame bar.
For those who followed the DiggBar situation, this was the DiggBar – but much worse because not only were they framing content, they were completely lifting content from other sources and competing directly with those original publications for traffic and revenue. They even allowed this content to be indexed by Google News, a highly exclusive news engine that most individual writers or small publishers can only dream of being listed in.
I only have a couple hours left on this day, April 28, but I wanted to write a post to thank everyone for their support of “Managing Online Forums” over the past two years. Today marks two years since it’s official publication date.
Thank you to everyone who has mentioned the book line and everyone who has reviewed it. I really appreciate every mention I receive. It’s like a special gift every time I get a Google Alert. So, thank you.
It’s a wonderful thing to see your knowledge and experience be well received and for it to help others. I care a lot about online community and I hope that comes through whenever I talk about it.
Update: Global Grind has now addressed these concerns. Please read the follow up.
Global Grind is a mix between social news site (like Digg) and blog network. According to the Rush Communications website, they fancy themselves as a sort of curator of information, calling Global Grind “the ultimate source for today’s media that matters to the hip-hop community” and “the hotspot linking you to web content that puts you up on things you need to know.”
According to CrunchBase, they have received $7.1 million in funding and Russell Simmons serves as the company’s chairman. Datwon Thomas, the former editor-in-chief at both King and XXL, is the editor-in-chief and COO.
Unfortunately, Global Grind has adopted a deplorable strategy that includes copying content from other publications in full, submitting said content to Google News and placing links to the original content behind frames.
April Fools’ Day affords many website owners with the opportunity to have a little fun with their visitors and I am not one to pass that up. So, just like last year, some of my site’s played host to a prank in honor of the day.
All meant in good fun. I hope you had a fun day, as well. What were your favorite pranks this year? Please let me know in the comments.
In general, I like to encourage experimentation in most things I’m associated with. I like to see people try something new, even if they find it wasn’t as good as what they had before. This is especially true in business and this whole online community and social media thing.
If no one dares to be different, nothing ever changes. Nothing ever gets better. Yes, by experimenting, there is a very good chance that you’ll be displeased with the results, but that’s better than the other way around: which is to never try anything new and to just stay where you are.
I returned from SXSW Interactive a few days ago, and a full recap of the event is forthcoming, even if it isn’t soon (I’m maybe half way as far as catching up to everything I need to catch up with). In the mean time, I wanted to share something.
One of the things that I felt pretty strongly throughout is that I am incredibly blessed to know the people that I know. As I wrote this post, I started grouping people up into categories, but that’s just too difficult. There are my long term friends, there are friends I’ve made recently, there are people who I’m still building a relationship with, who I wouldn’t (yet) identify as a “friend” in the serious sense of the word, more as an acquaintance and I am sure there are other categories, as well.
A song that has really grabbed me is “All The Way Turnt Up” by Roscoe Dash featuring Soulja Boy. It’s been floating around for a while and I’d hear it (such as when Willie Taylor of Day26 released his own spin on it) and thought it had a good sound, but never really went deeper.
Well, I happened across the music video for the newest version of the song with Soulja Boy and it definitely hooked me and I bought a copy on Amazon MP3 soon after. Check it out below.
So, for those of you new to the show, here are my 5 quick tips for the event, in an effort to help you to get the most out of it.
1. Use the Hilton Bathrooms
Even if you’re not staying there. Yes, I’m serious. The Hilton bathrooms are nice, clean and smell respectable. The Hilton is also part of the conference as some of the sessions are scheduled within the hotel. The convention center bathrooms do not even compare. Yes, it’s a short walk across the street. It’s worth it.
I’ve been working on booking speaking engagements for 2010. I’m talking to a number of different parties and hope to have more announced soon, but as I have a pair that are fast approaching, I thought I’d mention them as I always like to meet people at the events I attend. Not only will I speak at the events below, but I will be attending them each and every day.
As previously announced, I will be speaking at WordCamp Raleigh in Raleigh, North Carolina. The event will be held from May 22 and 23 and I’ll be speaking at 9:30 AM on May 23. On May 22, I’ll be co-hosting a special, first ever live edition of the SitePoint Podcast, in person with prizes and special guests.
I only have a couple hours left on this day, April 28, but I wanted to write a post to thank everyone for their support of 
Over on ManagingCommunities.com, 
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