The store inventory search on the Barnes & Noble website indicates that the book is starting to reach Barnes & Noble stores. I’m thinking it’s mosting East Coast locations since they would likely be the first to receive it. But, it’ll reach most of the country soon, as well, I’m guessing. The Barnes & Noble closest to me is 52.25 miles away, so I won’t be getting to one soon. But, when I do… I’ll have to take a picture, of course. Pretty cool!

As a follow up to yesterday’s post about the American Cancer Society taking a little too much liberty with someone else’s work, I wanted to highlight that David J. Neff from the society left a comment on my entry. Here is the comment:

Hey All,
This is David J. Neff and I work over at the American Cancer Society. I would like to apologize to Lee and let you all know we will be taking the video down for some re-tooling. (Is that a word?) We went in today and changed the CC as well as giving credit to Lee and his peeps over at Common Craft, but have still chosen to take it off the site for now. I also emailed Lee this weekend about this very subject. Hopefully you will check out the site more (SharingHope.TV) and see what other uses for community we are doing, when it comes to helping people with cancer. Sorry I missed you all at SXSW as I presented as well.

Thanks,
David

I appreciate that they have stepped up and worked to correct the situation quickly. Thank you to Mr. Neff for commenting.

My friend Jake McKee points out the American Cancer Society’s lifting of video content created by mutual friends of ours, Lee and Sachi LeFever of Common Craft (they are behind the great and popular Paperworks videos). Without saying more, I’ll just point to the videos. First, here is “Social Networking in Plain English” by Common Craft, released last June.

Cool video, right? OK, and here is the video by the American Cancer Society, titled “SocialConnect.org”.

Wow… something’s a little fishy there, for sure. Excusing the fact that the video is of a visibly lower quality to the one created by Lee and Sachi and, beyond the lifting of the script (I love how, in both videos, you know Bob, lol), a bigger problem is the complete lack of attribution or any mention at all of Common Craft.

I agree with Jake when he says that non profits have to play by the rules, too. I do this on my forums. Our guidelines apply to everyone… for profits, non profits, personal websites, major corporations… everyone plays by the guidelines.

I mean, it’s cool that they are getting online and that they are using video and Twitter and whoever is helping those with cancer is cool with me, but that doesn’t mean it’s OK to do this sort of thing. From reading their Twitter, it looks like they were at SXSW Interactive. So were Lee and Sachi! I met up with them. They apparently launched this site at SXSW. How cool would it have been if they would have have reached out to Common Craft before then and brought them on board (even to just get their blessing) and then involved them in the actual launch? That would have brought them more press and would have been an awesome way to kick it off. Instead, we have this.

Amazon.com has made their search inside feature available on my book’s page. So, you can search for something that interests you and get a look at the contents.

AMACOM has issued a press release for the book. Here it is:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MANAGING ONLINE FORUMS
New AMACOM Book Shows How to Create a Fun, Informative, and Harmonious Internet Community

Every day, millions of users log on to their favorite Internet forums and interact with others to get advice and discuss everything from the latest news and trends to their hobbies to their professions to whatever else strikes their fancy. Administrators have to lead these communities, deal with difficult users, and choose moderators. Legal constraints, spammers, and technical issues can turn the excitement of running an online community into chaos. With the right guidance, however, running forums can be a pleasure.

MANAGING ONLINE FORUMS: Everything You Need To Know To Create And Run Successful Community Discussion Boards (AMACOM; April 28, 2008; $24.00 Paperback) is the first comprehensive book to cover everything administrators need to know to launch and run a successful community forum. Patrick O’Keefe goes beyond the technical aspects of forum software and reveals how to develop a safe, engaging environment for people to come and share their thoughts. He has spent years building and managing online communities, so he understands the many challenges of running them firsthand. He explains: “As the administrator, you are the person who has to lead the community, take it to the next level, make the tough decisions, take the heat, deal with the people, manage the staff, and keep the community running smoothly on all fronts. This book targets those who are trying to maintain a professional, well-run operation.”

From creating a brand-new stand-alone community to taking over an existing community, administrators will learn how to:

• choose a name and domain name
• pick the right software
• decide on user options like avatars and private messaging
• set guidelines and deal with violators
• ensure that posts stay on topic
• settle online disputes among users
• involve their users and keep the site interesting
• choose and manage staff members
• generate revenue

Complete with a helpful section on online resources as well as a series of general templates for user guidelines, staff member guidelines, and contacting users, MANAGING ONLINE FORUMS is the one book that shows site owners and administrators how to create a safe and entertaining community that users will return to again and again.

“Online forums make up the very foundation of the social web. Unfortunately, there are few resources for the growing number of people who work behind the scenes to make them successful. In this comprehensive book, Patrick O’Keefe brings his real world experiences to bear in the form of strategies, tactics and ideas that fill a knowledge gap that has begged to be filled for too long.” —Lee LeFever, Common Craft

About the Author:

Patrick O’Keefe is the founder and owner of the iFroggy Network (ifroggy.com), an Internet network featuring content, community and e-commerce sites. He manages seven communities, including phpBBHacks.com, SportsForums.net, KarateForums.com, CommunityAdmins.com and PhotoshopForums.com. He lives in Harbinger, NC.

Check out the book’s website at: http://www.managingonlineforums.com.

Title: MANAGING ONLINE FORUMS:
Everything You Need To Know To Create And Run
Successful Community Discussion Boards
Author: Patrick O’Keefe
ISBN: 978-0-8144-0197-2
Pub. Date: April 28, 2008
Price: $24.00
Pages: 304

For review copies, call 212-903-7951 or fax 212-903-8083.
To purchase copies, call 1-800-714-6395.
Visit AMACOM online at www.amacombooks.org

I just got back from SXSW Interactive 2008. It was a great experience and I had a lot of fun. It was great to hang out with friends and meet new people. That was really the main part of the conference for me. I arrived in Austin on Thursday evening, March 6 and left Wednesday morning, March 12. So, I was in town for about a week. It was my first time at the conference and my first time in Austin, in addition to the most west I’ve ever been in my life. Let’s take a glimpse at each of the days in between.

Friday, March 7

I met three of my best friends face to face for the first time. Chrispian Burks, Brandon Eley and Stephan Segraves. It was a little surreal, honestly, meeting like 10 people I’ve talked to online so many times – face to face for the first time.

I woke up feeling absolutely terrible, though. Thankfully, it was just a morning issue and not an actual bug. So, I got over to the conference and met up with Chris and Steve Shickles of 451 Press. I hung out with Chris for a good portion of everyday I was there (and Steve, as well). We went to register. As a panelist this year, I was thinking I may be done faster than them… that was not the case. At first, I got in the line for the regular interactive attendee registration. I was there for about 5-10 minutes or so and I filled out the green form. Then, a volunteer asked me if I was a panelist. I said I was and he said that I should be in this other line. So, I got out of line and got in the line he pointed me to. The sign said that it was the filmmaker registration. I reiterated to volunteer that I was an interactive panelist – was this the right line? He said yes and said I needed to fill out the white form, which said filmmaker registration. He took my green form as he asked if he could dispose of it for me since I didn’t need it.

As I’ve blogged about, I will be attending South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive in Austin, Texas. Because of this, posting on this blog figures to be light – through March 14. I’ll be around and I may make a post or two, but I’m guessing I may not have time.

I have a book reading for my upcoming book, “Managing Online Forums” on the Day Stage at the Austin Convention Center on March 11 at 11:00 AM. So, by some odd chance, if you happen to be attending – please stop by.

Thank you for reading. After I get back, I’m sure I’ll be blogging about the experience.