Yesterday, I turned 29.

I spent this weekend surrounded by good friends and good times.  My buddy Matt Christian and I watch the Bucks dominate Penn State while we spun out ideas for start up companies and drank Magic Hat #9.  You should keep an eye out for Matt.  He’s sharp, and has some big things in the works.

Saturday evening, I got to see my very favorite band on the planet – ekoostik hookah – rock the New Port Music Hall with my good friends Ed and Lacy McLachlan.  Go figure that just before the show, Lacy and I even got to chat with lead singer and keyboard virtuoso, Dave Katz.  I’ve been following hookah for almost 10 years now, so that made my day.

The Idea of Using Automated Messages to Start Conversations
The cool part about Facebook and Twitter is that it brings tons of information to your attention without the need to look for it.  Yesterday, my Facebook wall and Twitter page were filled with birthday wishes from all of you.  I really appreciated all the love.

Most of you probably checked your Facebook profile and saw the automated announcement in the right column that ques you in to how is celebrating their special day.  Think about that for a minute.   There’s a lot of good things that come from automated information flow native to social notworks. Facebook tells you who’s birthday it is so you can reach out.  TweetMyTime uses automated messages to let people know you are running in an event.  Those seeds, produced through automation, started conversations about the Columbus Marathon that lived online before, during and after the event.

The idea is really simple.  People, when given a topic to talk about, will naturally have a conversation.  I’s basic human nature to want to interact with other human beings.  Automated messages can sometimes create a reason to chat.

But automated messages can also be a bad thing.  For instance, would you say that auto-responding DM’s on Twitter is an effective use of automation?  How many of you like receiving those DM’s?  Do they do anything to add value for you or your business?  Probably not.  The problem is not in using automated messages on social networks. That’s just applying simple technology.  No, the problem lies in people choosing poor applications of simple technology.

Chew on that one for a while and let me know what you think…

Thank You So Much
To all of you who took the time to respond to the automated announcement of my birthday, thank you so much!  Those little things count, and you reminded me that I’m guilty of overlooking the little things more often than not.  Because of you, I’m going to change that by making a better effort.

I did want to share this one Birthday wish from Clifford Robinaugh.  I’ve met Clifford at a few events and will get to see him at the Campbell Hill Regional Growth Summit next week at Ohio Hi-Point Center in Bellefontain, organized by my friend Mike Bowers.

The video from Clifford came to me on my Facebook wall, as well as Twitter.  It’s so cool that free tools allow us to connect with people on such a personal level, even if it’s just to say something like Happy Birthday!  This video totally made my day.  Thank you for the the cool and creative birthday wish, Clifford… :)

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