There’s a new book out called “Designing the Digital Experience: How To Use EXPERIENCE DESIGN Tools & Techniques to Build Websites Customers Love” and it was written by David Lee King. I met David a while back for something pertaining to my book and he was working on a book himself. He asked me to read a pre-release copy in consideration of advance praise.

I read the book and I enjoyed and was happy to provide him with the praise. Here is what I said:

When your aim is to provide a valuable product or service, it’s not just the product itself that counts, but the atmosphere that you have – the experience that you create. This is true of the offline world and of brick and mortar business, but it is also true online. The websites, communities, services, companies and individuals who provide their visitors with an enjoyable, memorable experience will have a distinct, noticeable advantage over those that do not. David Lee King’s “Designing the Digital Experience” presents solid ideas and strategies that can help you to gain that advantage.

If you have an interest in the subject, I’d definitely recommend picking up David’s book.

I don’t like to put people out there in a negative way or, as you might say, put people on blast. I try to go through the proper channels and I try to get things resolved in an appropriate fashion. If the situation is cleared, I tend to keep it to myself even if the other party mistreated me. However, I have a story to share and it relates to 2Checkout.com.

Let me take a step back, for a minute. I signed up for a 2Checkout.com account in June of 2003, so that I could accept credit cards outside of PayPal. It was mainly tied to the launch of iFroggy Domains, a domain name registration service that I ran for a couple of years. I needed a payment processor and they worked with the script I used. I also used 2Checkout.com to accept payment for advertising on the iFroggy Network, as well.

I used them actively through May 2006. That was about the time that I stopped accepting new registrations at iFroggy Domains as I had decided to close the service. As far as I know, my account was always in good standing and I don’t recall ever having any serious issues with them, outside of a technical problem here or there. During my time using the service, I brought in sales of a few thousand dollars. So, I have always been happy with the service and, even after I stopped using them actively, I kept the account because I had paid for it to be set up and I always wanted the option to use it.

I took that option on June 22, 2007. I had an advertising client who preferred to pay with a credit card and it was easier for him not to go through PayPal. So, the purchase was made through my 2Checkout.com account. As was customary with each transaction, they held a reserve. They eventually release the reserve, after a period of time. The amount was $3.75. Here is where our trouble starts.

After I made that transaction and received my money from 2Checkout.com (the remainder of the advertising package, minus their fee and the reserve), I didn’t give a second thought to my account for more than a year, until I received an e-mail on August 4, 2008.

On October 21, I presented at a Social Media Club Louisville meeting via live video. It was actually the first time that I’ve ever done anything like this (I’ve given presentations, but never without actually being at the venue), but I thought it went well. The talk didn’t really have a title… but, I’m going to give it one now. I’ll call it “The Value of Online Forums and How to Approach Them as a Marketer.”

A big thank you to my friend Jason Falls who set it all up and emceed it. He recorded the video and posted it on the Social Media Club Louisville website, so I wanted to share it here. Please let me know what you think.

I wrote a guest post on The Graduate Student Survival Blog on the subject of blogging for dollars. The premise was to talk about how you could create a profitable blog in three months with a budget of $20. The blog is a part of the Albany Times Union website. Thanks to Brandon Mendelson for having me.

Tonight at 8:30 PM ET, I’ll be appearing, live via video, on The Tech Buzz. It’s a popular, live streamed tech show on Ustream.TV. Check out the stream and, if you have time tonight, please stop by! We’ll be talking about the book, online community and more. Thanks.

When I posted about my session at the Independent Blogging Conference at Greensboro, I mentioned that I might be doing it with someone else. Well, that person is confirmed and it’s Robert Scoble. He is the Managing Director at FastCompany.TV and has his own Wikipedia page. I met him very, very briefly at both South by Southwest and Blog World Expo and I look forward to sharing the session with him.

Once again, the session is called “Promoting Your Blog Through Social Media,” and we will be highlighting some dos and don’ts of promoting your blog through five key forms of social media: blogging, microblogging, social networking, social bookmarking and forums.

I will be traveling to Greensboro, North Carolina in just under a week to attend a pair of conferences, one of which I will be speaking at. The first is ConvergeSouth on October 17. I am not 100% sure what panels, etc. I will be attending, except to say that I will definitely be at my friend Jonathan Bailey’s session from 10:55 AM through 12:00 PM, titled “Preventing Plagiarism.” Beyond that, I’m going to play it by ear.

The next day, October 18, I will be at the Independent Blogging Conference at Greensboro, a conference put on by Kelby Carr and Dave Slusher to replace the cancelled BlogHer Greensboro. During the morning, I will be on the Opening Panel, to begin the day, at 9:00 AM.

I will also be hosting a session called “Promoting Your Blog Through Social Media,” where I (or we) will be highlighting some dos and don’ts of promoting your blog through five key forms of social media: blogging, microblogging, social networking, social bookmarking and forums. I may be hosting the session with another person, but that is not finalized. I’ll post if and when I know for sure.

Later in the day, I’ll be attending a session put on by my friend Jared Smith, covering his online weather broadcasts.

In addition to meeting Jared (who I’ve known for around 8 years) and Jonathan for the first time, I also look forward to meeting Angela Connor, Michael Kimsal and more! If you’ll be attending, please let me know!