Dan has been at the root of the real time web, and, he's been at it for over 18 years. His latest effort is a company called gypsii.com. He started gypsii upon moving from the US to Amsterdam, where, as he puts it, riding a bike changed his view on what the web should do for us: how it should be real time, more personal and relevant, more mobile, and more “here and now.”

In this quest, Harple's combined his team's experience with consumer apps with the big data search problem In other words, the realization of a real time web vision that puts real time interactive communications, and deep relevant location-based search, in your pocket on a mobile device. I received a demo of gypsii’s next-gen app Tweetsii in Barcelona, and discovered a product I think reveals a true post-Web 2.0 vision. It goes beyond mash-ups, website-based search, and delivers the app that to me, epitomizes the “State of Now.” I believe Tweetsii is the next big step in the real time web experience. Further, GyPSii has done this by quietly rolling out an API that has some of the largest mobile device manufacturers and telcos building gypsii apps as part of their platforms.

John Battelle has also identified this trend toward the State of Now, in his recent posting. GyPSii ties it all together by taking Battelle's model to the next logical step, beyond "Where I Am," with the result being the realtime web experience I saw in Tweetsii. This is why location alone isn't quite the next big thing and why I believe it is GyPSii.

Although many of the location-based apps like foursquare, gowalla, and brightkite have received a lot of buzz in the press, gypsii has quietly amassed a global user base dwarfing theirs, in the millions, based on their early foray into China. It's been a bold move, which I believe underscores the significance of its technology. Gypsii is now bundling on hundreds of millions of devices from Samsung, LG, HTC, Lenovo, Huawei, and others, and part of offerings with the largest mobile telcos globally, including Telefonica, China Mobile, China Unicom, and others. It's the leading app on the Apple iPhone in China. Gypsii is growing at a rate 5 times faster than Facebook did it in its first 18 months. The company has raised over 40 million dollars. If you've not seen it yet, you will.

So, what is Tweetsii Why does it epitomize the next big thing for the real time web?

Tweetsii is a new real time mobile app that connects people with places and events. Many have written “location is the next big thing.” (I have been writing about Location Based Services for over 10 years and I still stand behind the E911 Phase III Petition I filed after 9/11.) Location isn't the next big thing but part of something bigger. In fact Tweetsii places location as just one core element, together with social graph, twitter, media, etc. So, Tweetsii IS different. Tweetsii couples location with a deeper context. Tweetsii indexes the world with user created images, reviews, comments and more. It builds a user created, not corporate created index of the world. This, for me, defines the “State of Now.” In the process, all users are, day by day, building a new place-based index of the world that goes beyond what we today know as search. Real time content creation, coupled with real time exploration.

Tweetsii is inherently mobile and allows users to tweet, check-in, send alerts, create place-based photos and videos and to connect with the people and places around them. Want to know what is happening nearby? Just “shake it up” and Tweetsii shows hot happenings nearby that those in your social graph may also be checking out. It’s buzz without the privacy invasion, it’s location based services with social awareness. It combines your entire social graph, not just Facebook’s, with a user generated index of the planet and events. It then combines this with a twitter timeline to reveal what gypsii calls “place streams.” One of Harple’s comments is, “place streams are the ‘be here now’ of the real time internet. ”I call this the State of Now.

The DNA of this company is pretty impressive. Harple's committed his career to real time interactive communications and has been a seminal influence on VoIP, streaming media, and interactive screen sharing/shared whiteboards He was one of the very first people I interviewed in my early VoIP initiatives in the mid-90's at pulver.com He was the co-founder of InSoft, a company that merged with Netscape back in 1995. The deal brought the first commercial US based VoIP products, audio, video, streaming media servers, and standards for realtime media to the Internet, the first real time web platform, including RTSP (which is used daily by millions in web video) In other words, if you use Skype, GoToMeeting, or YouTube, among others, Harple's technology and its influence has touched your life.

After Netscape, besides collaborating with artist Todd Rundgren on real time interactive artist technologies, he formed another company that was acquired by Oracle, which formed the basis of Oracle's "big data" search which competes with Google Dan's been behind core technology and patents that are some of the most cited in patent documents for VoIP, media streaming, and real time web communications And you probably never heard of him Yet, he’s been written about widely, from the Wall Street Journal, to a book identifying the “new pioneers” in our marketplace   I think gypsii and tweetsii will put him back on our radar

Dan Harple’s lack of self-promotion and forward vision is what inspired me to coin him the "peripheral visionary" of the real time web He's full of one-liners, such as “Don't search the Internet, search the planet,” “An app should do more than check-in, it should allow you to check it out,” and my favorite, “gypsii takes us beyond 'search engines' and shows what we need are real time place-based connection engines.”

Harple will be giving one of the keynotes in NYC at #140conf in April. Please check out the new gypsii app, tweetsii, which is rumored to be in the Apple app store.

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Note: GyPSii is one of the sponsors of the upcoming #140conf NYC taking place April 20-21.

Tags: 140conf, social media, Dan Harple, twitter, tweetsii, GyPSii, NYC, Jeff Keni Pulver

In her blog post: Thinking in the shower she shares the following:

“Here are some of my favorite take aways from Jeff’s talk:

- You can’t outsource fun – There are so many things that can be outsourced so that we can truly live our lives. Fun is not one of them. Why would it be? Don’t take fun for granted and make sure that you know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Fun is a very important part of life.

- You can’t compete with fun - And why would you try? If there is something that is fun to do or something that is mind numbingly boring, fun will always win.

- People are more creative when they are having fun – When you’re having fun, you let your guard down and open yourself up for new ideas. Being creative is a natural by-product.

- Getting fired can save your life – Jeff was fired from a job in the World Trade Center shortly before the 9-11 disaster. It literally saved his life. Although that is true, I also believe that working at an unsatisfying job is also the recipe for a quick demise. If not physically, than emotionally. We spend most of our waking hours at work. Shouldn’t it be fun and inspiring?

- Experiment with niceness – Jeff practices anonymous acts of kinds all the time. I really believe that doing nice things and not expecting anything in return makes people happy. And when I say people, I’m talking about the giver, not the receiver (although, I’m sure it’s nice to be the receiver as well!) By doing these kind acts, we are able to self actualize ourselves as good and nice people. Trust me, it works.

- Don’t be discouraged by the person next to you if they don’t get it – There are so many people out there that have a lot of great ideas, but are discouraged by people around them who just don’t get it. I know that when I started The Pet Wiki, I really believed in creating a great place for pet lovers to share information, but most of my friends thought that I was daft. I didn’t listen to them, and I’m in the process of creating something great, and having a lot of fun in the process.

- Hire people who don’t have experience; they don’t know what can’t be done – I really like this one. It’s very true. In the past when I hired, I was fortunate to work with a wonderful group of junior programmers who were inventive and enthusiastic. They did not have the trauma of past mistakes and they were able to let their imaginations fly to what could be. Allowing them to follow these ideas freed them to do great things.

- Great thoughts often come in the shower – Did you ever have an a-ha moment when you were in the shower? You’re not alone. Showering relaxes us and lets our minds wander freely. It strips away the distractions of life and lets our creative natures come to life. When Jeff told this in a speech to people at Texas Instruments, one of the executives, seeing the truth in what he said, asked Jeff how long should his people shower. Gotta love it.”

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Tags: Rena Reich , social media, Bird Brain, twitter, tweetsii, GyPSii, Tel Aviv, Jeff Keni Pulver

For more information about #140conf NYC, please visit: http://nyc.140conf.com

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Tags: 140conf, social media, 140 Characters Conference, twitter, NYC,
Jeff Keni Pulver

I thank everyone who came out to be a part of the event. It was great seeing both so many of the kids smiling and happy and enjoying the moment together with their parents, teachers and friends of the Bialik Rogozin School.

The day had it's share of distinguished guests from the Mayor of Tel Aviv to Yoni Bloch and Roni Duani as well as a quite a number of other very special and amazing people. But the true celebrities were the kids and their teachers.

On a day that was full of rain, the rain stopped and the sun came out when it was time for the parade. The sun was shinning on over us during the parade.

Walking down the street with the kids while wearing my Purim costume (I was a Franciscan Monk) was both surreal and very real. There was a fun energy shared by everyone who was part of the parade, from the kids and their teachers and their parents to the shopkeepers who stood on the side of the street and just smiled and waved at us as we walked by.

And then then we made the turn onto a main street that felt like it was a scene out of Ferris Bueller's Day Off during the parade scene in the movie. For just a moment it felt like all of us were in a movie and part of something much bigger than life.

Of all of the Purim's I have celebrated in my life, the one I celebrated with the children of the Bialik Rogozin School was the most special, and the memory of the parade is one which I hope to never forget.

Video from the Bialik Rogozin School Purim AdlAyAdA Marching Breakfast in Tel Aviv (from Feb 26th):

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Background: The Bialik Rogozin School in Tel Aviv is an educational campus that serves 750+ at-risk children in grades K-12. The school is run by principal Karen Tal and her devoted staff, and with children and teenagers from twenty-eight countries. They are new immigrants, children of foreign workers, refugees from Darfur and Israeli Arabs. Many are from single-parent families. Bialik Rogozin is a caring and nurturing center that provides hot meals, music and art instruction, specialized tutoring and a solid education in a safe and welcoming environment.

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Tags: Bialik Rogozin School, Tel Aviv, Purim

#140conf @SXSW will be taking place from 2 PM to 6 PM on March 16th.

Visit: http://sxsw.140conf.com/schedule for the up-to-date schedule of the event.

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Tags: 140conf, social media, SXSW,140 Characters Conference, twitter, Jeff Keni Pulver, meetup

After my experience as a judge for the past two seasons for CEA's i-Stage competition, I am looking forward to being a judge for the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator.

Day One Judges at SXSW 2010 - Monday, March 15, 2010

Scott Belsky
Behance
www.behance.com

Chris Brogan
New Marketing Labs
www.chrisbrogan.com

Erich Broksas
Case Foundation
www.casefoundation.org

Tim Chang
Norwest Venture Partners
www.nvp.com

Chi-Hua Chien
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
www.kpcb.com

David Dunne
Velocidi
www.velocidi.com

Paul Graham
Y Combinator
http://ycombinator.com

Elliott Hurst
Supernova.com
www.supernova.com

Philip Kaplan
Blippy
http://blippy.com

Marshall Kirkpatrick
Readwriteweb
www.readwriteweb.com

Jeff Pulver
140 Conference
http://140conf.com

Brian Wallace
Access Venture Partners
www.accessvp.com

Alternate:
David Gelles
Financial Times
www.davidgelles.com

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Tags: social media, SXSW, Jeff Keni Pulver

Please RSVP over at: http://140sxsw.eventbrite.com

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Tags: 140conf, social media, SXSW,140 Characters Conference, twitter, Jeff Keni Pulver, meetup

March 2nd - Breakfast with Jeff Pulver and Friends - 08:30 to 10:00; Bird Brain Unconference 10:30 to 15:00. Details on Facebook. RSVP over at: http://birdbrain.eventbrite.com/. If you are attending the Bird Brain Unconference, please review the event wiki.

March 2nd - Lecture at Open University, Tel Aviv. Starts at 1900. RSVP over at: https://www.fee.co.il/Pulver.

March 3rd - The First #140conf Tel Aviv Meetup taking place at Microsoft in Hertzelia. Details and RSVP over at: http://tlvmeetup.eventbrite.com/

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Tags: 140conf, social media, Tel Aviv, twitter, Jeff Keni Pulver

The following is the latest draft of the #140conf @ SXSW 2010 Schedule

#140conf @ SXSW 2010 (draft 1.5.0)

2:00 Welcome - Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver)
2:05 Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver) - “The State of NOW”
2:20 The twitter Kids of Tanzinia (panel): @StaceyMonk, @AJLeon, @MelissaLeon
2:35 Marlooz (@marlooz) - Love 2.0
2:45 Digital Producers and Disruptors (panel): (Natalie Lent (@natalielent), Director, Emerging Platforms, ID PR; Sarah Ross (@sarah_ross) - Katalyst Media, Head of Digital)
3:00 break

3:30 Jeff Sass (@sass) - Listen and Hear
3:45 Hank Wasiak (@hankwasiak) - Time To Change The Way We See Social Media.
4:00 twitter and Photography - Wm Marc Salsberry
4:10 Bowen Payson (@virginamerica) - Manager of Online and Digital Marketing, Virgin America - "twitter and an Airline. Our story"
4:20 Andy Dixon (@AndyDixn) - twitter and Integrity
4:30 break

5:00 twitter and Music: (Panel): (Steve Greenberg, (@steviegpro) CEO, S-Curve Records, +TBA)
5:30 Adam Wallace (@adwal), New Media Manager, The Roger Smith Hotel, "It's All About The People."
5:40 The effects of twitter on News Gathering (panel): Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox); James Imajes (@Imajes); Brian Stelter (@brianstelter, New York Times.
6:00 End

(schedule is subject to change without notice)

For more information about SXSW Interactive 2010, please visit: http://www.sxsw.com

For more information about upcoming #140conf events, please visit: http://140conf.com

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Tags: 140conf, social media, SXSW,140 Characters Conference, twitter, Jeff Keni Pulver, meetup

On April 20/21 we will be taking a hard look at something I call "The State of NOW" and the continued effects the worldwide adoption of social communication platforms is having on a wide number of industries.

During the past month I have spent time confirming speakers and working with friends who collectively have helped put together a number of compelling panel discussions. I encourage you to review the current schedule over at: http://nyc.140conf.com/schedule.

If you are thinking about attending #140conf NYC, now would be a great time to secure your seat. With the "early bird" ticket costing only US$ 100 for this two day event, seats will sell out so register NOW to guarantee youself access to the event over at: http://nyc.140conf.com/register.

Some of the "Characters" speaking at #140conf NYC include:

- AJ Leon, co-creator #twitterkids (@ajleon)
- Alexis Maybank, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Gilt Groupe (@giltfounder)
- Alf LaMont, The Comedy Store (@Alflamont>Alflamont)
- Alon Nir (@TheKotel)
- Amanda Wernick, REALTOR Associate, Licensed: CA (@funomenalrealtr)
- Andrea Syrtash, Oprah.com contributor and author (@AndreaSyrtash)
- Angela Gruszka, Public Relations Director at ABC Carpet and Home (@ABC_Carpet)
- Angela Shelton (@angelashelton)
- Ann Curry, NBC News (@AnnCurry)
- Aparna Vashisht, Founder, Parentella (@Parentella)
- Avner Ronen, CEO/founder, boxee (@avneron)
- Bijan Sabet, partner, Spark Capital (@bijan)
- Blair Kelley, Professor at North Carolina State University (@profblmkelley)
- Bob Watson (@TopBrokerOC)
- Brad Hunstable, co-founder, Ustream.tv, (@bhunstabe)
- Bronwyn Barnes, Associate Entertainment Editor for InStyle.com (@InStyle)
- Bruce Upbin, Managing Editor, Forbes (@bupbin)
- C.C. Chapman (@cc_chapman)
- Caissie St.Onge, (@Caissie)
- Cathy Brooks (@CathyBrooks)
- Chris Bartlett (@harveymilk)
- Chris Lehmann, Principal of the Science Leadership Academy, (@chrislehmann)
- Chris Weingarten, Music Critic, (@1000TimesYes)
- Dan Harple, Executive Chairman, GyPSii (@dharple)
- Daren Forsyth, Founder, 140Characters.co.uk, (@DarenBBC)
- Dave Winer, Software developer, Entrepreneur, Writer and NYU scholar (@davewiner)
- David All, Health Care/Capitol Hill Tweets Founder (@DavidAll)
- David DeVore, Dad, David After Dentist (@daviddentist)
- Debra Bowen, Secretary of State, California (@DBowen)
- Deirdre Sullivan, Principal / Social Media (@GrittyPrettyPR)
- Dennis Crowley, co-founder, Four Square (@dens)
- Diane Guercio, REALTOR, Boston, MA (@HeyAmaretto)
- Donny Deutsch, Television Host & Chairman, Deutsch Inc. (@Donny_Deutsch)
- Elon James White, Comedian and Social Critic (@elonjames)
- Eric Sheninger, Principal of New Milford HS (NJ), (@NMHS_Principal)
- Eric Stegemann, Broker, Licensed: MO (@EricStegemann)
- FakeJerry Paffendorf, Artist, futurist, entrepreneur. (@WELLO)
- Gary Vaynerchuk, Wine guy, host of Wine Library TV, (@garyvee)
- Gavin Purcell, Producer, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (@gavinpurcell)
- Grace Bonney, Design Blogstress (@designsponge)
- Hank Wasiak, Executive Producer and Co-Founder, The Concept Farm, (@hankwasiak)
- Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump)
- Jacob Soboroff, @AMCnews Correspondent and Executive Director of @WhyTuesday (@jacobsoboroff)
- Jay Rosen, Journalism professor, NYU (@jayrosen_nyu)
- Jeff Jarvis, blogger, author, professor (@JeffJarvis)
- Jeff Keni Pulver, Creator, #140conf (@jeffpulver)
- Jeffrey Hayzlett, CMO, Kodak (@jeffreyHayzlett)
- Jeffrey Merrihue, Chairman, MoFilm (@JeffreyMerrihue)
- Jeff Newelt, Editor, The Pekar Project (@jahfurry)
- Jeffrey Sass, founder, Invitations (@sass)
- Jessica Gottlieb (@JessicaGottlieb)
- Jim Jones, Music Artist (@jimjonescapo)
- Joan Walsh, Editor of Salon, (@joanwalsh)
- Joe Randazzo (@Randazzoj)
- Joe Trippi, @WhyTuesday advisory board member (@JoeTrippi)
- John Bell, Managing Director, Ogilvy's 360 Digital Influence practice (@jbell99)
- John Bernier, Social Media Manager at Best Buy. (@twelpforce)
- John Borthwick, CEO, Betaworks (@JohnBorthwick)
- John Strauss, Owner, John Strauss furniture design, ltd. (@johnstrauss)
- Jonathan Maberry, author, writing teacher and lecturer. (@JonathanMaberry)
- Jonathan Markwell (@jot)
- Josh Williams, Founder, CEO, Gowalla (@jw)
- Joshua Fouts, Cultural relations futurist (@josholalia)
- Julie Spira, Author, dating coach (@JulieSpira)
- Kathleen Hessert, President, Sports Media Challenge (@kathleenhessert)
- Kelly Sutton (@KellySutton)
- Kevin Jarrett, K-4 Technology Teacher (@kjarrett)
- Kevin Slavin, Managing Director and co-Founder of area/code (@slavin)
- Kimberly Miller, VP of Consumer Marketing, People StyleWatch (@StyleWatchMag)
- Kyle Pace, Instructional/Consumer Technology Specialist, (@kylepace)
- Lacy Kemp (@RealTweeter)
- Lauren Litwinka (@beebow)
- Leslie Fram - co-host Morning Show, WRXP-FM 101.9, New York City
- Leslie Hall, President, ICED Media (@dollyhall)
- Leslie Sanchez, Author and a former Bush presidential advisor (@LeslieSanchez)
- Lisa Cohen (@cohills)
- Lisa Nielsen, Educational Technologist - NYC Dept of Ed (@InnovativeEdu)
- Liz Strauss, Founder of SOBCon, brand strategist, (lizstrauss)
- Liza Sabater, Publisher of Culturekitchen & DailyGotham (@blogdiva)
- Luke Renner (@firesideint)
- Maegan Carberry (@maegancarberry)
- Mary Beth Hertz, K-6 Computer Teacher and Technology Teacher Leader in Philadelphia (@mbteach)
- Matt Pinfield, Morning Show on 101.9 RXP, (@mattpinfield)
- Matthew Bishop, The Economist, (@mattbish)
- Maya Bisineer (@thinkmaya)
- Maya Paveza, Realtor, DE/PA (@mayaREguru)
- Maz Nadjm, Social networking at Sky Television, (@Mazi)
- MC Hammer, Rapper, Entertainer and Dancer (@MCHammer)
- Melinda Emerson, entrepreneur, (@smallbizlady)
- Melissa Leon, Creator of #twitterkids (@melissaleon)
- Meredith Fisher, Editorial Brand Director, Diane von Furstenberg Studio L.P. (@InsideDVF)
- Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack)
- Michael Kupperman (@MKupperman)
- Mo Krochmal, Professor, Hofstra Univesity (@Krochmal)
- Nancy Scola associate editor at @techPresident (@nancyscola)
- Natalie Gulbis, Pro Golfer (@natalie_gulbis)
- Nate Erickson, Intern for Wyclef Jean and Haiti Volunteer (@NateErikson)
- Nathan Levinson The Viper Room (@N8theSk8)
- Oz Sultan (@ozsultan)
- Pat Kiernan, News Anchor, NY1 (@patkiernan)
- Paul Rieckhoff, Founder of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) (@PaulRieckhoff)
- Peter Corbett, CEO of iStrategyLabs (@corbett3000)
- Peter Gregson, Cellist (@petergregson)
- Rick Borutta, Producer, CBS Backstage LIVE (@CBSborutta)
- Rita J. King, Innovator-in-Residence, IBM Analytics Virtual Center, #SmarterWork project. (@RitaJKing)
- Ryan Leslie, Music Artist (@ryanleslie>@ryanleslie)
- Ryan Penagos, Writer / Editor at Marvel.com (@Agent_M)
- Sarah Cooley (sarahcooley)
- Scot McKay, Dating Coach (@ScotMcKay)
- Sean Suchter, General Manager, Search Technology Center Silicon Valley, Microsoft (@ssuchter)
- Shelly Palmer, Host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer, president of the Emmy Awards in NY (@shelly_palmer)
- Shira Abel (@shiraabel)
- Stacey Monk, Founder of Epic Change & TweetsGiving, (@StaceyMonk)
- Stefanie Michaels (@adventuregirl)
- Steve Garfield - Author, Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business (@stevegarfield)
- Steve Greenberg, founder/CEO, S-Curve Records (@steviegpro)
- Steve Grove, Head of News and Politics at YouTube (@grove)
- Steven W. Anderson, Technology Educator, Blogger, Co-Creator of #edchat (@web20classroom)
- Stowe Boyd (@stoweboyd)
- Tal Givoly, Chief Scientist, Amdocs (@givoly)
- Ted Cohen, Managing Partner, TAG Stragegic (@spinaltap)
- Thomas Miller, General Manager, Your Tango (@TomfooleryTM)
- Tish Shute, enthusiast for our networked potential to make a better world (@TishShute)
- Tom Brevoort, VP Marvel, (@TomBrevoortsays)
- Tom Whitby, Professor of Education in Secondary English (@tomwhitby)
- U.S. Air Force (@usairforce)
- Whit Jones, Energy Action Coalition - Climate (@whitjones)
- Xavier Jernigan, Senior Director, Digital Marketing, Universal Motown (@XavierJernigan)

Note: Characters are subject to change without notice. These characters are accurate as of: February 22, 2010.

REGISTER today for #140conf New York City and join me on April 20th and 21st at the 92nd Street Y.

A number of sponsorship opportunities are available at the upcoming conference. Click here to have a member of the sponsorship team contact you.

Hope to see YOU at #140conf NYC.

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Tags: 140conf, social media, 140 Characters Conference, twitter, NYC,
Jeff Keni Pulver

In support the upcoming #140conf LA conference, the next #140conf Los Angeles meetup will be taking place on May 10th at the Comedy Store in Hollywood, CA. For more information and to RSVP, click here. Special thanks to Make It Work for once again helping to produce this meetup.

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Tags: 140conf, social media, 140 Characters Conference, twitter, Los Angeles, Make It Work, London,
Jeff Keni Pulver

Some of the panel discussions I am looking forward to seeing include:

Fixing America's Voting System, One Tweet At A Time

Participants:
Debra Bowen (@DBowen) - Secretary of State, California
Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) - @AMCnews Correspondent and Executive Director of @WhyTuesday, a nonpartisan election reform group
Joe Trippi (@JoeTrippi) - @WhyTuesday advisory board member
Nancy Scola (@nancyscola) - associate editor at @techPresident and inspired the Twitter Vote Report with a blog post
Steve Grove (@grove) - Head of News and Politics at YouTube

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Interacting with the television audience in Real Time

Participants:
Gavin Purcell (@gavinpurcell) - Producer, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Rick Borutta (@CBSborutta) - Producer, CBS Backstage LIVE
Steve Garfield (@stevegarfield) - Author, Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business (Moderator)

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Finding Common Ground: Discussion of issues of race and politics in 140 Characters

Participants:
Blair Kelley (@profblmkelley) - Professor at North Carolina State University
Elon James White (@elonjames) - Comedian and Social Critic
Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) - Editor in Chief, Salon
Liza Sabater (@blogdiva) - Publisher of Culturekitchen & DailyGotham

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twitter and the Fashion Indusry

Participants:
Alexis Maybank (@giltfounder) - Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Gilt Groupe
Bronwyn Barnes (@InStyle) - Associate Entertainment Editor for InStyle.com:
Deirdre Sullivan (@GrittyPrettyPR) - Principal / Social Media
Kimberly Miller (@StyleWatchMag) - VP of Consumer Marketing, People StyleWatch
Meredith Fisher (@InsideDVF) - Editorial Brand Director, Diane von Furstenberg Studio L.P.

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twitter and Education

Participants:
Aparna Vashisht (@Parentella) - Founder, Parentella (moderator)
Kevin Jarrett (@kjarrett) - K-4 Technology Teacher
Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) - Educational Technologist - NYC Dept of Ed
Mary Beth Hertz (@mbteach) - K-6 Computer Teacher and Technology Teacher Leader in Philadelphia

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Where Am I? How location changes everything

Participants:
C.C. Chapman (@cc_chapman) - moderator
Dennis Crowley (@dens) - co-founder, FourSquare
Josh Williams (@jw) - Founder, CEO, Gowalla

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twitter and Music
Exploring the use of twitter in the Music Industry

Participants:
Jim Jones (@jimjonescapo) - Artist
Leslie Hall (@dollyhall) - President, ICED Media (moderator)
Ryan Leslie (@ryanleslie) - Artist
Xavier Jernigan (@XavierJernigan) - Senior Director, Digital Marketing, Universal Motown

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twitter: Sports
A look at how twitter is used in Pro Sports

Participants:
Ian Poulter (@Ianjamespoulter) - Pro Golfer
Kathleen Hessert (@kathleenhessert) - President, Sports Media Challenge
Natalie Gulbis (@natalie_gulbis) - Pro Golfer

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Experiencing: Love, Dating and Romance in the Real-Time web

Participants:
Julie Spira (@JulieSpira) - Author, dating coach
Scot McKay (@ScotMcKay) - Dating Coach
Thomas Miller (@TomfooleryTM) - General Manager, Your Tango

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Campaign to Governing: Twitter by the Issues

Participants:
David All (@DavidAll) - Health Care/Capitol Hill Tweets Founder
Leslie Sanchez (@LeslieSanchez) - Author and a former Bush presidential advisor
Maegan Carberry (@maegancarberry)
Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) - Founder of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)
Whit Jones (@whitjones) - Energy Action Coalition - Climate

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Augmented Twitter: A Conversation with Three Futurists

Participants:
FakeJerry Paffendorf (@WELLO) - Artist, futurist, entrepreneur.
joshua fouts (@josholalia) - Cultural relations futurist at the crossroads of emergent media, digital diplomacy, games, virtual worlds and storytelling.
Rita J. King (@RitaJKing) - Innovator-in-Residence, IBM Analytics Virtual Center, #SmarterWork project.
Tish Shute (@TishShute) - "enthusiast for our networked potential to make a better world"

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The effects of twitter on the Real Estate Industry

Participants:
Amanda Wernick (@funomenalrealtr) - REALTOR Associate, Licensed: CA
Bob Watson (@TopBrokerOC) - moderator
Diane Guercio (@HeyAmaretto) - REALTOR, Boston, MA
Eric Stegemann (@EricStegemann) - Broker, Licensed: MO
Maya Paveza (@mayaREguru) - Realtor, DE/PA

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These are just a sampling of some of the approximate 70 sessions that will be taking place during the two days of #140conf NYC.

If you are thinking about attending #140conf NYC, now would be a great time to secure your seat. With the "early bird" ticket costing only US$ 100 for this two day event, seats will sell out so register NOW to guarantee youself access to the event over at: http://nyc.140conf.com/register.

Note: Speakers and sessions are subject to change without notice. These "characters" are accurate as of: February 22, 2010.

For more information about upcoming worldwide #140conf events, please visit: http://140conf.com.

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Tags: 140conf, social media, 140 Characters Conference, twitter, Jeff Keni Pulver

Services like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Y!Mail and many others have amassed hundreds of millions of users. We all use these services, and many of us use them for many hours every day. Some of these services have become indispensible to us. HOWEVER, as these are free services and we do not pay for them, in the eyes of the providers we have lost any right to customer service. What do we do when something is not working for us? Who you gonna call?

Remember when we used to complain that we were put on hold for a long time when calling the phone company? Or that the rep that answered the phone had a foreign accent that was difficult to understand?

Well these were the good old days because with the above online services – there is no one to call. When you have a problem it is YOUR problem. And because these services all have a similar approach to us, the users (not customers), we are left with no alternative. If we are locked out from facebook, what are we going to do? Go to Myspace? If we are kicked out of gmail and cannot access our email, what are we to do? Switch email provider? And what about all our gigabytes of emails archived with Google? How do we get access to it?

A few months ago, my son created a gmail account dedicated to his college application processes. All correspondence with the various colleges is done via the email account. He is now in the phase where he is waiting to hear decisions (quite stressful). A few weeks ago, we learned that Google has disabled the account. Btw – it was pure coincidence that we found out – no message from Google to inform us… Not sure what caused it, as it is only used for this sole purpose. For two weeks we have tried to convince Google via its online reporting mechanism (there is no 1-800-GOOGLE…) to no avail.

These services would tell you that it is not possible to provide customer services when they have hundreds of millions of users. I happen to disagree with that assertion, and believe that is mostly a matter of priorities and corporate values. Having had run some businesses that had many millions of users, I know that it IS possible to serve each and every user interaction in a fair and timely manner, if only you decide that this is something important enough for you to do.
It is also possible to provide customer service for a fee. How many of you would be willing to pay to have your issue addressed (not to mention resolved)?

I fear however, that the situation will not change, as these online services have lowered our expectations to the point where we simply accept that as a given that we are mere users, and not customers and thus deserve no customer service.

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Amit Shafrir is currently COO of OurParents. He previously was President of AOL Premium Services, GM of ICQ and other online services.

Tags: Google, Facebook, Customer Service, twitter, Amit Shafrir

Please feel free to share your comment / reactions to this video in the comments below.

If you are interested in the emerging Real-Time Internet, please consider joining myself together with a cast of 140 Characters at #140conf NYC taking place April 20-21 2010 in New York City.

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Tags: 140conf, social media, 140 Characters Conference, twitter, DLD, DLD010 Jeff Keni Pulver

GPS by Abe Forsythe

Credits:

Henry Nixon - Man
Emma Lung - Woman
Damon Herriman - GPS

Abe Forsythe - Writer/Director/Editor/DOP
Matt Reeder - Producer
Category: People & Blogs

Tags: Abe Forsythe, social media, GPS, MoFilm, Tom Tom, Matt Reeder, Henry Nixon, Australia, Jeff Keni Pulver