I was browsing my LinkedIn Profile and I checked out my past jobs and  it looks like there have been over 20. How many jobs are too many jobs to have had?

Current

• President and COO at Abraham Harrison LLC

Past

• Blogging Instructor at The Writer’s Center
• Sales Representative at Visible Technologies
• Associate at crayon LLC

• Consultant at Comteg
• Blogger (Self-employed)
• Senior RSS Consultant at Hinchcliffe & Company
• Consultant at Abraham PR
• Consultant at BoldMouth
• Senior Account Supervisor at Edelman
• Technology Strategist at New Media Strategies, Inc.
• Guest Lecturer at Columbia University
• Photographer at Corbis
• Director of Sales at eResources, LLC
• Senior Web Developer at National Legal Aid & Defender Association
• Managing Director at beehive North America
• Online Community Builder and Linux System Administrator at Caucus Systems, Inc.
• Senior Information Engineer at US Department of Treasury Chief Information Office (CIO)
• Online Creative Writing Instructor at Online Creative Writing Course, EFA/Kalamazoo, MI, Public Schools
• Software Engineer at Proxicom
• Technical Customer Support at Picture Network International
• Vice President at Pacific Rim Productions, Ltd.
• Photographer at Abraham & Dunn

I woke up to an amazing article written by Jonathan Trenn, The fallacy of community, and I responded in a comment to a pretty passionate article and a passionate comment string, and here’s what I wrote — and I have expanded the argument below, so it is an expansion. Via Marketing Conversation.

Gosh, I don’t know what to say here… there are so many different types of communities, many of which can surely be manufactured. What every successful community requires is community leadership. Community leadership can be organic and emergent or they can be hired in the form of online community managers or facilitators. A strong leadership — people who have skin in the game — is more important than a good web application; also, these community leaders are often the main draw to the community and can be the difference between keeping or losing your members when a competitor comes to town.

Here are some types of communities, as pulled from Wikipedia:

• Communities of Action
• Communities of Circumstance
• Communities of Interest
• Communities of Position
• Communities of Practice
• Communities of Purpose

Many of these can be created, in much the same way that one may create a garden. I think the biggest problem with these sort of things — community-creation — is that people do it wrong, and they have been doing it wrong for at least a decade.

Back in the day, when I worked at Caucus Systems, we manufactured communities for businesses — virtual teams, virtual conferences, and whatnot. And it worked quite well, to be sure, and they were powerful and transforming.

What most companies don’t understand is that communities require facilitators and managers. They always have. AOL hired community managers back in 1995 when they created communities, the Well and Caucus and Howard Rheingold’s Brainstorms have paid and unpaid community managers and facilitators.

The mistake that most companies make is that they assume that if they build it, they will come. It is not true. You can create a Wiki, a Message Board, Forums, or a Blog and it doesn’t mean anything at all.

In fact, people will spend all of this time putting together a message board, fill it with conversation-starters, and then open the doors, promote the hell out of it, and still nothing will happen.

What is required to manufacture a community is passionate members — and they can be paid. However, if they’re paid, you need to hire them from a pool of OD experts or a pool of topical experts — or, you can poach them from another community, always the best way.

So, WordPress and phpBB are not killer apps, the killer apps are the people who start and maintain conversation, the people who re-seed conversation, the people who catalyze conversation, the people who show interest and ask questions, and the people who protect the other members through active moderation.

In fact, I am an expert in this. You can restart an old thread, you can catalyze a conversation, you can break out an off-topic thread to a new topic hope.  It is an art, but it is an art that anyone who knows conversation, who knows facilitation, and who knows people, can do — and it happens all the time “organically” on all of the online boards we’re so in love with.

Hell, get WordPress, phpBB, or Wikimedia for free — or buy vBulletin for a little money — and put the rest of your budget towards hiring professional Community Managers.

Hell, if it weren’t for Jonathan Trenn on Marketing Conversation, we would be done for on this blog. He’s the glue and he’s the only reason why you are all here.

Abraham & Harrison offers its clients comprehensive Online Conversation Marketing campaigns based on the core fundamentals of effective Marketing Communication techniques. We integrate Online Publicity, Online Grassroots & New Media Marketing, Business Intelligence and Search Engine Services to ensure that our clients’ message, the right message, is being portrayed in every corner of the digital space. Additionally, we offer our expertise in the areas of profiling, intelligence, forensics and crisis management. Although Abraham & Harrison offers its clients the ability to cherry pick the services that best suit their needs, we strongly suggest customized, tailored packages of services for most clients, as our experience has proven the power of an integrated, comprehensive approach.

Please see our website for further information: http://www.chrisabraham.com/

Abraham Harrison LLC Services

Online Publicity and Blogger Relations

Not unlike traditional public relations, the Abraham & Harrison Online Publicity and Blogger Relations strategy not only identifies the right people for you to be talking to, but also connects these people with your brand and your message. In targeting the true online opinion leaders, we are able to not only hone in on the demographic communities that matter most to your brand, but also promote your products and services in a favorable light. Online Public Relations is an ideal brand awareness and brand promotion solution for small to mid-sized businesses looking to increase their visibility online. In leveraging the constant flow of online chatter, the Abraham & Harrison team creates and fosters relationships based on like-mindedness, or the opinion leader’s likelihood to be receptive to your brand and messaging. It is the relationship building aspect of this program that makes Online Publicity an optimal solution for prospective clients that have the infrastructure to support and maintain relationships with interested parties.

Examples of typical Online Publicity campaigns include: Event Publicity, New Product Launches, Crisis Communication, Brand Re-Information Campaigns, Overall Brand Awareness/Promotional Efforts.

Online Grassroots and New Media Marketing

Also referred to as Online Advocacy or Online Guerilla Marketing, Online Grassroots and New Media Marketing is an integrated approach to identifying and reaching your targeted demographic from the bottom up. These programs are a quick and effect means of spreading news and information to a targeted network of online influencers within the blogosphere, message boards, video communities, social bookmarking sites, listservs, etc. This strategy involves the development of key creative and general messaging by the client and allowing our team of Online Grassroots experts to run with it, determining the best way to roll that up into what the demographic audience would be most receptive to. As opposed to the much targeted approach of Online Publicity, Online Grassroots Marketing allows us to capitalize on the “long tail,” or the complex nature of online chatter in which dialogue about our client’s brands isn’t always localized within its primary, secondary or tertiary demographic targets.

Examples of typical Online Grassroots Marketing campaigns include: Social Network Marketing, Asset Distribution, Social Media Marketing, Viral Marketing.

Business Intelligence

Collectively, the Abraham & Harrison Management Team has over 5 decades of global branding and marketing communication strategy experience. It is with these years of experience that we have learned that for some clients, their bottom line is most affected by having real-time, accurate business intelligence information about market landscape, trends in their overall brand perception and valuable online opinion about their competitors. The deliverable on these initiatives is a comprehensive, detailed report, evaluating and analyzing trends within the mediasphere; blogosphere; user generated content outlets, message boards and forums. The Online Business Intelligence service also gives the prospective client to determine which demographic communities about which they are most interested in gaining information. These reports can be delivered as a one-time State of the Union analysis or as an ongoing trend analysis, depending on the client’s needs.

Search Engine Services

Brand of the world, large and small, know that visibility of favorable content within key search engines can make or break your marketing and public relations initiatives. In addition to offering tailored marketing communication and business intelligence solutions to our clients, Abraham & Harrison is also a full-service Search Engine Marketing agency. Programs falling within this department include: Traditional Search Engine Optimization (Promotion), Defensive Search Engine Optimization (Protection), Domain Name Protection and Domain Name Services.

Online Reputation Clean-Up and Defense

Despite providing Internet users with a wealth of accurate information, some brands have faced the hard reality of the adverse affects that negative online chatter and mis-information can have. Fortunately, the majority of these trends can be reversed, if treated early and in the right way. By providing clients in need of Online Reputation Clean-Up and Defense services, the Abraham & Harrison team harnesses the power of an integrated approach to attach negative opinions and misinformation from all sides. In combining our Search Engine Services (including Domain Name and Defensive SEO), Online Public Relations, Business Intelligence and our Online Grassroots and New Media Marketing Programs, the Abraham & Harrison team is able to deliver quick results. In the past, we have proven effective in minimizing the visibility of unfavorable content online, countering misinformation with real information and creating valuable allies among online opinion leaders on behalf of our clients.

About the Founding Partners

Mark Harrison, Founding Partner and CEO

Mr. Harrison’s unique history of professional experience blends technology, education, business, and international affairs. Trained as a diplomat, Mr. Harrison has worked with UNHCR, the IMF, and the World Bank Group. He has served as a political functionary, technologist, and journalist in the US, Europe, Thailand, Israel, Tanzania, and Guatemala.

He has served as CTO and Technical Counsel to a companies ranging from Fortune 500′s to start-ups, and has guided projects across the globe. He served as a technology adviser to Primedia, the US media conglomerate, Channel One, the world’s largest in-school education and television news network, and largest minority-owned TV network in the US. He has built systems and infrastructures for the afore-mentioned organizations as well as a number of other major corporations including Booz, Allen & Hamilton, and Bell Atlantic/Verizon. Mr. Harrison currently acts as CTO and marketing adviser to Techcelerator, the Silicon Valley venture development firm headed by tomandandy.com’s Tom Hajdu. He is also an associate of Joseph Jaffe’s New York based new media marketing company, crayon LLC.

Over the past 15 years, Mr. Harrison has taught at the secondary, university, and post-graduate levels in the US, Canada, Germany &Tanzania, and has developed curricula in business, academic methodology, languages, and technology. Mr. Harrison has lived and worked in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America and speaks English, German, French, Swahili, and Spanish.

Chris Abraham, President and Founding Partner

Chris Abraham is an Internet analyst, web strategy consultant, and adviser to the industries leading firms, specializing in web2.0 technologies, including content syndication, online collaboration, blogging, and consumer generated media. Chris is a leading expert on corporate and PR blogging with a focus on citizen journalism, new marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO).

In addition to his roles as consultant and analyst, Mr. Abraham currently acts as Chief Marketing Officer and technology adviser to Techcelerator, the Silicon Valley venture development firm headed by tomandandy.com’s, Tom Hajdu. He is also an associate of Joseph Jaffe’s New York based new media marketing company, crayon LLC.

Mr. Abraham is one of the internet’s social media pioneers, having entered the scene in the early 1980′s in the days of BBS’s via dial-up over 200 Baud acoustic modems. Throughout the 1990′s, he was a core member of the ground-breaking, Washington, DC-based Meta Network (TMN), and its parent company, Caucus Systems where in 1999 what is today known as “Web 2.0″ and “Enterprise 2.0″ was defined in colleague Tom Mandel’s whitepaper “How Companies Think – Creating Collaborative Intelligence Online” and executed on a daily basis for companies, universities, and organizations via the seminal social media platform, Caucus Software. For more than a decade, Mr. Abraham laid the groundwork for today’s modern social media as an online facilitator with Caucus Systems clients serving such clients as IBM and the US Government, and teaching with the University of Kalamazoo in the Education for the Arts project – the world’s first accredited online high school course in creative writing.

Before moving to his current position, Mr. Abraham was a Senior Account Supervisor and a member of the Interactive Team at Edelman in Washington, DC, doing online public affairs. Before joining Edelman, Chris was Technology Strategist for New Media Strategies, a pioneer and industry leader in online brand promotion and brand protection. At NMS, Chris directed the technology strategy for the firm, including the development, deployment, and launch of client and internal corporate blogs, marketing blogs, vertical industry blogs, PR blogs, promotional blogs, public affairs blogs, social networks, and podcasts.

Prior to joining NMS, Chris was a Washington-based technologist for over a decade. As Managing Director for Berlin-based beehive North America, Chris focused on developing web applications and offering training for corporate clients such as Pfizer. As GNU/Linux SA and online facilitator for Caucus Systems, Chris hosted virtual online events and communities of practice for clients such as IBM and eForum 2000.

Chris Abraham maintains the PR and marketing blogs, Because the Medium is the Message and Marketing Conversation. The blogs were originally designed as a laboratories in which to explore the media, the mediasphere, the blogosphere, marketing, PR, and buzz marketing but has expanded to become a media filter, including technology, blogging, pop culture, memetics, news, and analysis; meaning just about anything. Chris recently spoke about the main stream media and citizen journalism on the BBC World Service radio program World Have Your Say during the We Media conference in London.

Mr. Abraham is an active member and attendee of former US Ambassador Phil Lader’s Renaissance Weekend conference where together with other industry leaders, US Senators and Congressmen, former US Presidents, renowned artists and writers, and other cultural, political, and business leaders he has spoken on topics ranging from new media to technology futurism to virtual company management. He is an experienced sailor with thousands of blue water miles to his credit, an impassioned rower with his own single shell housed on the Potomac River, an avid bicyclist, a trained and qualified dive master, and an accomplished photographer with over 20 years of professional experience and thousands of images with the world’s top stock photo agencies.

Abraham & Harrison Vision Statement

In the rapidly changing world of marketing and public relations, the lines between traditional strategies and new media strategies continue to shift as the line separating the two is constantly moving. What was once viewed as impossible, is now quickly transforming into more and more of a science, with the Internet emerging as a unique and remarkable platform for consumer and business communication. Faster now, more than ever, people around the world are able to communicate with rapid fire quickness. Formerly “untappable,” obscure word-of-mouth is now a medium that many brands are leveraging to disseminate information; promote their products and services; as well as protect their namesakes. In this day and age, we don’t need to remind you of the Internet’s effects (be it favorable or dismal) on many popular brands. It is this phenomenon that has made Online Conversation Marketing an ideal solution for a variety of notable brands, ranging from Internet start-ups to public interest groups to major consumer brands.

Abraham & Harrison is comprised of a trained team of media, marketing and public relations experts working together to drive positive online presence on behalf of our clients. Operating in a “virtual office,” the Abraham & Harrison team is spread across four continents, representing more than 10 time zones and almost a dozen languages. This dispersion has given us a notable competitive edge, allowing us to quickly and effectively employ comprehensive Online Conversation Marketing Campaigns within more than 50 countries. Despite its benefits, the “virtual office” does not provide for the ideal environment for rapid response communication, in a traditional sense. Though Abraham & Harrison has proven its ability to provide crisis communication and react to changes in campaign strategy and messaging, we do not operate in a newsroom and are unable to collectively stop on a dime and refocus in the same way that traditional PR houses are able.

Online Conversation Marketing grew out of the increasing importance of relationships as it relates to effective branding via the Internet. Despite the wealth of information and opinions “out there,” Abraham & Harrison understands that an elite few lead sweeping trends in Online Conversation tone, volume and reach. These Online Opinion Leaders or Influencers continue to break news and share opinions that reach hundreds of thousands, if not millions of consumers everyday. Thus, the overarching strategy of Online Conversation Marketing is influencing the influencers – much like securing online endorsements on behalf of our clients. Unlike the formalized world of traditional marketing and PR, an effective Online Conversation Marketing Program takes much longer to develop, as Abraham & Harrison is in the business of securing positive relationships with often busy Opinion Leaders. We have been able to complete campaigns on behalf our clients in as little as 6 weeks, however, the turn around for the majority of brands is generally several weeks, if not months, longer. The “public” that we relate to is not the mainstream media, whose relationships can often be bought and sold; the “public” that we do relate to are the online influencers, who oftentimes, are no more than regular Internet users with a well crafted, interested blog or website that has drawn in its own audience. Although Abraham & Harrison already has a sundry of these influencers in pocket, we often have to develop new relationships on behalf of our clients, given their diverse demographic targets and needs.

Abraham & Harrison leverages email to conduct the majority of relationship building with online influencers, however, we are not a direct or email marketing agency. Often times, the opinion leaders that we contact on behalf of our clients are being reached “blindly,” meaning that they have not opted into any particular program. In order to effectively carry out these campaigns and still remain CAN-SPAM compliant, we pick and choose our targets carefully, ensuring that we provide them with relevant messaging and “gifts” or promotions or information that would be of interest to them. At the end of the day, much like traditional PR, a poorly thought out Online Outreach campaign (the facet of Online Conversation Marketing most like traditional PR in which we build relationships with popular bloggers and influencers on behalf of our clients) can result in little to no positive outcome for the client. It is for this reason that the ramp up time on these programs typically runs anywhere from one to three weeks, as we prepare lists of appropriate, likeminded targets that will likely respond well to our clients’ brands as well as development of appropriate, effective “messaging.”

All things to considered, it is also worth highlighting that unlike other Online Marketing and Advertising agencies, Abraham & Harrison does not thoughtlessly disseminate links and off-topic messaging throughout the user generated corners of the Internet. We value relationships and act as persuaders, storytellers and attractors on behalf of our brands. In working individually with online influencers and Internet users as both a macro (Online Outreach) and micro (Online Engagement, Grassroots Marketing) level, Abraham & Harrison builds relationships and drives favorable, organic conversation in a compliant fashion. The Abraham & Harrison methods reflect the natural progress of organic word-of-mouth – starting small and progressively growing to reach a larger and larger audience. In respecting the online community, the Abraham & Harrison team stands firmly against online solicitation (SPAM) of any kind. Both in Online Outreach and Online Engagement, we are fully transparent, or “open kimono.” We have found these methods to be the most effective when working with the “online public.”

As common conceptions of marketing relate to Online Conversation Marketing, Abraham & Harrison does operate neatly into the bucket of branding, as our methods are a combination of Search Engine Optimization, Grassroots Marketing and Online Public Relations. Clients in the past have likened us to online brand ambassadors. Such being said, we do not fit any pay-per-performance or CPM model. Our metrics are based on conversation and relationships rather than conversions and impressions, much akin to tradition grassroots and brand ambassador strategies.

To conclude, Abraham & Harrison is pleased to offer its unique Online Conversation Marketing services to an array of brands and organizations. Our past clients have found the mix of SEO, Online PR and Grassroots Marketing to be exceptionally effective in achieving their overall marketing objectives. Millions of people are talking online everyday – are you listening?

Chris Abraham is a Founding Partner and the President of Abraham Harrison, LLC, an international consulting group with specialties in online word-of-mouth/conversation marketing and online business & technology strategy advising. Abraham Harrison, LLC is based out of Washington, DC and Berlin and serves clients across the globe with associates spanning ten time zones. Via LinkedIn

Chris Abraham’s Specialties:

online business intelligence, corporate and pr blogging, online brand intelligence, online brand promotion and protection, online buzz and relationship marketing, online education, online messaging, online social networks, online technology strategy, rss syndication strategy, search engine optimization strategy, virtual community building

Chris Abraham’s Experience

• President and COO

  Abraham Harrison LLC

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Online Media industry)

  January 2007 — Present (1 year 6 months)

  Abraham Harrison, LLC, is an international consulting group with specialties in online word-of-mouth/conversation marketing and online business & technology strategy advising. Abraham Harrison, LLC is based out of Washington, DC and Berlin and serves clients across the globe with associates spanning ten time zones.

• Blogging Instructor

  The Writer’s Center

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Professional Training & Coaching industry)

  February 2006 — June 2007 (1 year 5 months)

  •Instructional courses on blogging, from introduction to advanced techniques
  •Marketing, promotional, and SEO strategies for writers and business people
  •www.appliedblogging.org developed to support blogging students

• Sales Representative

  Visible Technologies

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

  January 2007 — June 2007 (6 months)

  Sales representative for Visible Technologies’ TruView and TruCast software solutions. TruView is the most effective service for individuals and companies to manage their reputations via what appears in the top search engines. TruView is the first corporate solution that helps organizations manage and protect their brand in the Blogosphere and other “consumer-generated media” communities.

• Associate

  crayon LLC

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Online Media industry)

  January 2007 — June 2007 (6 months)

  crayon will help marketers, advertisers and public relations professionals better understand the tremendous changes, challenges and opportunities in today’s dynamic and complex world of fragmented attention, increasing consumer control and hardening attitudes towards marketing communication.

• Consultant

  Comteg

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Management Consulting industry)

  December 2006 — May 2007 (6 months)

  COMTEG.COM is a consultancy focused on Online Advertising, Media Measurement and Publishing. Our consulting services are Strategy Formulation, Market Entry and Industry Political Initiatives. We operate globally with offices in Europe, The Middle East & Asia.

• Blogger

  Self-employed

  (Self-Employed; Myself Only; Publishing industry)

  January 1999 — March 2007 (8 years 3 months)

  Blogging strategist with a focus on PR blogs, corporate blogs, publicity blogs, grassroots blogs, SEO blogs, brand blogs, and media blogs. Current personal blog is Chris Abraham – Because the Medium is the Message (http://www.chrisabraham.com). Experienced blogging trainer and guest-blogger.

• Senior RSS Consultant

  Hinchcliffe & Company

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Online Media industry)

  January 2007 — February 2007 (2 months)

  Senior RSS Consultant at T. Rowe Price on behalf of Hinchcliffe & Company. Research, design, develop, and deploy T. Rowe Price’s client and prospect RSS syndication strategy.

• Consultant

  Abraham PR

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  October 2006 — January 2007 (4 months)

  Chris Abraham is a web strategist, focusing on search engine optimization (SEO), search engine markeing (SEM), online buzz marketing, online advocacy, blogger relations (BR), blogger outreach, and word-of-mouth marketing. Chris consults clients on new media public relations solutions, delivering strategy documents that include an analysis and audit of the current web strategy, recommendations, and next steps. Consulting, training, and client services are available and tailored to client needs, according to the next steps and client need.

• Consultant

  BoldMouth

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  August 2006 — September 2006 (2 months)

  •Blog strategy and planning for high-traffic, high-profile blog relaunch
  •Customized Moveable Type installation on CentOS dedicated server
  •Transition from TypePad to newest Movable Type 3.31 install
  •Monetization of blog, including BlogAds and Google AdSense placement
  •Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of blog

• Senior Account Supervisor

  Edelman

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry)

  May 2006 — August 2006 (4 months)

  •Direct client contact for Wal-Mart’s innovative blog outreach campaign, including prospecting and messaging
  •Spearheaded Working Families for Wal-Mart blog, newsletter, and activation list
  •Developed online word of mouth outreach for Taylor Hicks webcast from Wal-Mart shareholder’s meeting
  •Co-produced “Exposing the Paid Critics” website for Working Families for Wal-Mart
  •Co-produced successful online advocacy proposals to GE, Nissan, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute, and Wal-Mart Realty
  •Designed and developed opt-in membership Email and messaging campaigns

• Technology Strategist

  New Media Strategies, Inc.

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry)

  September 2003 — May 2006 (2 years 9 months)

  •Developed online word-of-mouth marketing strategy and tactics used on Usenet, message boards, social networks, and blogs
  •Developed online advocacy and outreach campaigns for clients’ products, services, and message
  •Produced internal and client protective and promotional SEO campaigns and search strategy to highlight positive online conversation and supress negative conversation on popular search engines
  •Developed in-house expertise on blogging, new media, podcasting, technology, citizen journalism, and CGM, including training, teaching, and the development of blogging and online marketing strategy
  •Developed, deployed, and launched client and internal corporate blogs, marketing blogs, vertical industry blogs, PR blogs, promotional blogs, public affairs blogs, social networks, and podcasts
  •Managed online advertising campaigns using Yahoo and Google contextual ads

• Guest Lecturer

  Columbia University

  (Educational Institution; 201-500 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry)

  October 2005 — October 2005 (1 month)

  Lectured on the topic of blogging and viral marketing strategies for the Executive Masters in Public Affairs Program, for Advanced Management concentrators, at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University.

• Photographer

  Corbis

  (Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Photography industry)

  August 1990 — 2004 (14 years)

  Contracted stock photographer.

• Director of Sales

  eResources, LLC

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Computer Networking industry)

  September 2002 — September 2003 (1 year 1 month)

  •Managed sales force and new business for the ITonDemand™ and the eResources Content Management System products

• Senior Web Developer

  National Legal Aid & Defender Association

  (Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)

  February 2002 — September 2002 (8 months)

  •Developed Web applications and content management system (CMS) developer using Zope, Python, and MySQL

• Managing Director

  beehive North America

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry)

  July 2000 — February 2002 (1 year 8 months)

  •President, co-owner, and co-founder of beehive North America, the North American office of Berlin-based beehive elektronische medien GmbH
  •Sold and marketed software Zope application development training and services
  •Clients included College of Exploration, The Nature Conservancy, and Space Telescope Science, and Pfizer Global Research and Development (PGRD)

• Online Community Builder and Linux System Administrator

  Caucus Systems, Inc.

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry)

  July 1999 — June 2000 (1 year)

  Linux/Unix system administrator and online community and event facilitator for Internet company focused on developing enterprise-level virtual online events and conferences.

• Senior Information Engineer

  US Department of Treasury Chief Information Office (CIO)

  (Government Agency; 51-200 employees; Executive Office industry)

  July 1997 — July 1999 (2 years 1 month)

  Senior application and web developer for the Office of the CIO for the Department of the Treasury. HTML, scripting, programming, graphic design, management, development, and deployment of the CIO intranet and public website.

• Online Creative Writing Instructor

  Online Creative Writing Course, EFA/Kalamazoo, MI, Public Schools

  (Government Agency; 51-200 employees; Primary/Secondary Education industry)

  August 1996 — May 1997 (10 months)

  Co-teacher of the first fully accredited virtual online highschool creative writing course. Education for the Arts (EFA) was an magnet program for highschool kids in Kalamazoo, MI. The program supplied laptops and dial-up access to the students. Course did include face-to-face four times a year as well as several field trips to conferences.

• Software Engineer

  Proxicom

  (Public Company; 51-200 employees; Internet industry)

  May 1996 — August 1996 (4 months)

  Web developer for the seminal web application and development company formerly called Proxima, now Proxicom. Amongst other projects, worked on Owens Corner and Garfield official websites.

• Technical Customer Support

  Picture Network International

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Publishing industry)

  June 1993 — December 1995 (2 years 7 months)

  Industry’s first online stock photo agency with dedicated dial-up ISP-based client called “Seymour.” PNI was an online stock photography service with more than 30 stock houses supplying images. It had more than 250,000 images in its library.

• Vice President

  Pacific Rim Productions, Ltd.

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Photography industry)

  October 1994 — November 1995 (1 year 2 months)

  Vice President of multimedia production company. Primary role as producer, photographer and script writer. Clients included General Motors and Hawaii Visitors Bureau.

• Photographer

  Abraham & Dunn

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Photography industry)

  May 1983 — July 1988 (5 years 3 months)

  Family-owned photography company. Have been shooting corporate and travel photograhy since I was 13-years-old.

Chris Abraham’s Education

• George Washington University

  BA, American Literature, August 1988 — May 1993

  Activities and Societies:

  Phi Kappa Psi, Crew Team

• University of East Anglia

  American Studies September 1990 — June 1991

  Activities and Societies:

  Crew Team

Additional Information

Chris Abraham’s Websites:

• My Blog
• My RSS feed
• My Company

Chris Abraham’s Interests:

RSS, blogging, Blogosphere, emergent systems, emerging technology, futurism, buzz marketing, blog, blogs, content management, rowing, sculling, biking, running, blogging, nlp, writing, reading, lecturing, driving, new technology, emergent systems, emergent technology, new media, Internet, viral markeing, memetics, systems theory, emergence, politics, popular culture, culture, trends, programming, news

Chris Abraham’s Groups:

Renaissance Weekend, Viral and Buzz Marketing Association, VBMA, Howard Rheingold Associate, HHWinc, Haft, Harrison & Wolfson, Inc., Urban Institute Communications Advisory Board, DC Zope Python User Group, zpug, da Vinci Group

Chris Abraham’s Honors:

Most Likely to be Famous, Saint Louis School, Honolulu, HI, 1988

I received this post to my Wall, “I fellow Kama’aina from Radford HS (not from Punahou or Iolani) wrote a really wonderful post about MyDataisMyData. Mahalo, Amy Jussel!” I don’t know if you knew it, but I grew up in Hawai`i-Nei and attended Saint Louis School and became Student Body President and wrestled and was a “Ranger” in JROTC and even visited Washington for the Government-study course, CLOSE-UP! Well, Saint Louis ’88, is the answer. Other than making me super-nostalgic, Amy Jussel wrote a really fantastic piece on MyDataIsMyData on her blog, Shaping Youth, “My Data is My Data:” Putting Choice Back into Social Media:

My Data is My Data.org is a plug-in for those of us who are not so wild about social media hubs tracking our every move for data-mining purposes like the infamous Facebook Beacon controversy I wrote about in those two posts.

Believe me, the irony doesn’t escape me that the development of this useful plug-in to bring ‘choice’ back to the internet from vested interests and corporate coffers is being sponsored by a MySpace meets CraigsList style-ad community called FlugPo. (as a name generation gal, I have to ask myself, where DO they get these names?!)

I love it when technologists and advertisers trump their own kind, offering solutions-based freebies that kids and parents can ALL benefit from in open-source good-guy style…

I’ve officially joined the My Data is My Data Facebook group to see where this is headed in the privacy/preferences arena. We’ll see. Created by Chris Abraham of Abraham Harrison (who also started ‘Facecrook’ to warn folks about the Beacon balderdash) the FB group is promoting customization of preferences to suit YOUR agenda, not the advertisers’.

Hmn. Sounds good to me…

You’d think Facebook would ‘get it’ that we want to control our own data…

…Especially after they got a strong bracer from 50,000 of us in 8 days using their own mobilization tools to tell them we were ticked about being blindsided, sending our friends our purchases and preferences without our permission.

Yet…after a few (forced) ‘mea culpas’ in the press, and shifting to an ‘opt-in’ format, Facebook still snoops, spies, tracks, and harvests our info on the back end (albeit much more stealthily) saving the info for gawdonlyknows what’s next…

Yep. I’m hoping this new My Data is My Data plug-in has some chops.

Granted, the last freakin’ thing I need is another free ‘toolbar,’ but it sounds like a logical, user-driven way to put the control of your private information back into your own hands with all kinds of alerts, notifications, and ‘cookie’ choices, (alas not the chocolate chip kind) to customize your digital footprint beyond the ‘all or nothing’ approach.

A little pop-up box warns, “you are trying to navigate a FB collaborating website, would you like to continue?” and the user can change preferences or turn off or on cookies accordingly. Seems fair.

My first instinct is to globalize it into a ‘yeah, what about Google and all the REALLY big search engine info-collectors…how can this be applied universally?’ dialog…

What about Double-Click? Double-Fusion? And every other integrated mega-mogul marketing play that’s out for kids’ eyeballs?

Even those of us who LOVE social media mobilization, HATE being sold out and commodified, especially without asking. And that’s not even counting the issue of kids! The arrogant gall of techno tools shipping data to ad partners on an “opt-out” or saturated eyeball/urban wallpaper basis is bound to have backlash…(if not from the parents, then from youth themselves!)

Guess THAT might fall into the policy arena on a much larger FCC and FTC privacy scale…

Or not. Those watchdogs haven’t been barking much…

Though today, the Center for a Digital Democracy (CDD) and members of the Children’s Media Policy Coalition, (specifically American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Children Now, etc.) called the feds on their lax-n-loose policies…asking the the FTC ‘powers that be’ to get with the program and update themselves regarding online behavioral advertising and the sorry state of self-regulation in the youth arena. Yay.

Self-regulation is great in theory, but let’s face it, COPPA, schmoppa…

Sure, advertisers are supposed to comply with COPPA but we all know the corporate claws have been out early on, insidiously working fast and furious to blitz tweens and teens with profiling and branding sans privacy protection, before parents, media and the snail-pace of governmental bigwigs even get a whiff of what’s goin’ on. (um, Neopets, anyone?)

Many parents are still at the ‘What is social media?’ stage, much less having any hint of awareness of data-mining kids’ behavioral patterns and online fingerprints.

Talk about a tipped scale of the fairness factor…

Even the kids themselves don’t know the degree of personal data-mining going on…

Judging by our own Shaping Youth tween and teen advisors, they get ticked off when they see their eyeballs are being harvested and sold as fast as those macabre ‘urban myth, donor kidney heists’ where someone falls asleep and wakes up with their organs gone! (ooh, a tub full of ice and kids’ eyeballs, ewww…got a horrific visual there)

On the flip side, when people DO want info tailored to them, it can be perceived as a benefit and ‘value-add’ (e.g. a coupon for a store they frequent, or sale on the same block served to them via their GPS mobile).

It’s all a matter of privacy-security, how ads are handled (opt in/opt out, invasive vs. requested, etc.) who it benefits, and how to engage consumers in the dialog to advocate for themselves, and put the power back in THEIR hands.

My data is my data outlines the FAQ very succinctly and clearly on the whole info-sharing issue, at least as it applies to Facebook.

But again…what about a more global policy here?

I’d like to know who’s capturing MY info in all arenas…ever since I read Nowhere to Hide and Generation Digital I’ve had my awareness at “level orange.”

This news report on CNET yesterday gives a glimpse of prelim industry response in this glib comment, “if you have an agenda to push, remember this phrase, ‘protect the children.”

Hmn. C’mon, now, folks. Be fair.

I’m not a child, but I deserve the right to control MY own information.

And yes, kids ARE in a ‘most vulnerable’ category, no matter how much advertisers want to ‘pooh-pooh’ it…

Besides, the Beacon outcry on FB was an amalgamation of collegiate, adult, teens of all ages, speaking to the “surveillance aspects” applicable to us ALL. Those privacy practices need disclosure for everyone…NOT just ‘for the children.’

That said, here’s today’s (14 pp pdf) from child advocates submitted to the FTC from the Institute of Public Representation at Georgetown University. And, here’s the official FTC filing (37pp) addressed to FTC Office of the Secretary, Donald Clark…

Finally, below is late-breaking news from Congressman Edward Markey’s office with an early-stage reaction to same. Perusing his site, it looks like last week he opened a hearing on virtual worlds too, so this lawmaker could be one to watch as these digital events begin to unfold.

Meanwhile, kids, teens, youth advocates, parents…What do YOU have to say on the data-mining/privacy front?

Is mandatory transparency the way to go? Plug-ins and pop-ups when you’re visiting a site that monitors you? Age-appropriate regulation? Walled-off regions within platforms that are commercial-free and/or non-traceable?

Can the ‘my data is my data’ concept be applied to a larger scale beyond social media applicable to mobile, VoIP, virtual worlds and virtual goods via cookie-setting that puts choice into the user’s hands?

What are your solutions and ideas?

Sound off…As I wrote here, the digital frontier is ‘unwritten’…

No matter what your views are, now’s the time to tap into your own gut instincts and best practices and begin to have your say, before others do it for you!

Visual Credits: eyeballs: WPClipart

Congressman Edward Markey’s comments on the FTC filing today:

MARKEY: NEW ONLINE PRIVACY SAFEGUARDS NEEDED TO PROTECT CHILDREN, TEENS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and co-Chairman of the Bi-Partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, released the following statement this afternoon in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed principles for industry self-regulation of online behavioral advertising:

“The FTC has appropriately recognized the pressing need for updated online privacy protections for children that reflect the sophisticated data collection and behavioral targeting practices now used widely across the Internet. Without stronger protections, including a prohibition on collecting data on children’s and teens’ online activities, young Internet users may become unwitting targets of the ‘hidden persuaders’ of the digital age. The evolution of online behavioral advertising since the enactment of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act requires a commensurate rejuvenation of privacy safeguards. I look forward to monitoring the FTC’s work in this important area.”

Related Shaping Youth Posts on Internet Privacy/Kids’ Concerns:

Facebook: Can You Hear Me Now? Your Peepin’ is Creepin’ Me Out!

Dare to Share? What’s Your Beacon Story?

Related Posts Elsewhere:

Digital Natives/Harvard Law: Deleting Facebook (vs. Deactivating It )

Charlene Li’s Close Encounter with Facebook Beacon (Groundswell/Forrester Rsch)

Rough Seas Nearly Sink Facebook’s Beacon (CNET)

Lessons from the Beacon Backlash: iMediaConnection

Facebook Beacon Backlash Leads To Apology & Opt-Out Option: Laughing Squid blog

It looks like the race is still on. Senator Hillary Clinton has won Ohio and Texas primaries and is still in the race for President. Like I have always said, I respect the Clintons and would do anything to have one or more Clintons in the White House. Personally, I consider Bill Clinton to have been the best President in my lifetime. Reports via Salon, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Financial Times, CNN, Fox News, and the LA Times.

The race in the Texas primary is still very tight, but MSNBC has just called it for Clinton. Right now, with 75 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton leads by slightly more than 60,000 votes.

Not all is lost for Obama, however: Because of the complex formula Texas uses to divide delegates, it’s possible for him to lose the popular count and still emerge from the state with a lead in delegates. The networks have not yet offered delegate projections.

Results from the Texas caucus, an entirely separate affair from the Texas primary, are also now streaming in. Obama is ahead in that race by more than 10 percentage points.

Update: Now CNN, too, has called the primary for Clinton.

I just posted my latest-and-greatest resume onto Craig’s List: San Francisco, Washington, DC, Seattle, and New York City

Social Media, New Media, Web2.0 Strategy, and New Marketing Expert

Interested in remote projects and contracts. Also interested in Washington-area on-site consulting and contract opportunities

MISSION
My passion is to use my experience and expertise in online community outreach and advocacy to promote and protect client online brands using my years of blogging, SEO, PR, marketing, and CGM professional experience.

PROFILE
I am an expert in online outreach, advocacy and marketing with over 10 years of online experience. My experience focuses on web strategy, including SEO strategy, technology strategy, and online marketing strategy. My skills include:

- Blogger: online outreach, advocacy, conversation, and messaging, blogger relations
- Technologist: expertise in community technologies, blogs, wikis, message boards
- Salesman: entrepreneurial nature with a very strong business network and web of personal relationships
- Marketer: Over three years of online buzz marketing, online buzz marketing, and online word-of-mouth marketing
- Producer: experience in designing and developing hardware and software solutions
- Strategist: design, develop, and implement web strategies and marketing plans to reach online consumers
- Promoter: online brand promotion, virals, organic SEO (search engine optimization), and paid advertising (SEM)
- Protector: online brand protection, defensive SEO, online crisis response, and online brand management
- Teacher: Blogging instructor, guest lecturer, and online teacher since 1996

CLIENTS

- Technology Strategy reports commissioned for Deutsche Telekom
- Web Strategy document commissioned by Diversion Media for Travelistic launch
- Web Strategy document commissioned by Friendster
- Word of Mouth campaign commissioned by HostNuke for EggDisk file storage service
- Online buzz marketing proposal commissioned by Red Bricks Media for their client’s use
- Client contact for Wal-Mart’s innovative blog outreach campaign, including prospecting and messaging (Edelman)
- Co-produced successful online advocacy proposals to GE, Nissan, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute (API), and Wal-Mart Realty (Edelman)
- Developed, deployed, and launched client and internal corporate blogs, marketing blogs, vertical industry blogs, PR blogs, promotional blogs, public affairs blogs, social networks, and podcasts, including Club TomTom, New Media Sense, Extreme Mortman, and others. (NMS)
- Client service work included Sci-Fi Channel (Mad Mad House, Tripping the Rift, Battlestar Galactica), Buena Vista (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), TomTom, Paramount Pictures, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Disney, Reebok, EA (UXO, Sim-City Online), RCA (American Idol CD), and NBC (Revelations), etc. (NMS)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Founding Partner, Abraham Harrison LLC — 10/2006-Present
- On-site training, briefing, and client pitching as online buzz marketing and SEO expert
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert, focusing on both brand promotion and protection in search
- Online Buzz Marketing, Online Word-of-Mouth Marketing, and Online Viral Marketing expert
- Consulting and guiding PR and Marketing firms in their creation of Online Marketing practices
- Technology Strategy reports commissioned by COMTEG for Deutsche Telekom and T-Online
- Work and expertise partnership collaboration between crayon LLC and Abraham Harrison LLC
- Online buzz marketing proposal commissioned by Red Bricks Media for their client use
- Designed and developed opt-in membership Email and messaging campaigns
- Developed online word-of-mouth marketing strategy and tactics used on Usenet, message boards, social networks, and blogs
- Developed online advocacy and outreach campaigns for clients’ products, services, and message
- Produced internal and client protective and promotional SEO campaigns and search strategy to highlight positive online conversation and suppress negative conversation on popular search engines
- Developed in-house expertise on blogging, new media, podcasting, technology, citizen journalism, and CGM, including training, teaching, and the development of blogging and online marketing strategy
- Managed online advertising campaigns using Yahoo and Google contextual ads
- Fully-monetized network of blogs and affiliate web sites
- Affiliate keyword marketing and contextual advertising
- Search engine optimization (SEO) and online promotion
- Administration of multiple WordPress, Moveable Type, and Drupal blogs on dedicated server
- Blog strategy and planning for high-traffic, high-profile blog relaunch
- Customized Moveable Type installation on CentOS dedicated server
- Transition from TypePad to newest Movable Type 3.34 install
- Monetization of blogs, including BlogAds and Google AdSense placement
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of blogs
- Manage Google Apps Premier hosting of Email for Abraham Harrison LLC
- Manage CentOS dedicated server hosting Drupal, WordPress, and Movable Type installations

Sales Representative, Visible Technologies — 1/2007-Present
- Sell and promote TruCast and TruView SEO and online advocacy ASP solutions online and in Washington, DC

Associate, crayon LLC — 3/2007-Present
- Work and expertise partnership collaboration between crayon LLC and Abraham Harrison LLC
- Audited all crayon LLC sites and blogs for SEO, UI, architecture, branding, and marketing strategy

Senior RSS Consultant, Hinchcliffe & Company — 1/2007-Present
- On-site syndication strategist for T. Rowe Price Information Technology (TRPIT)
- Research and development towards deploying a public, consumer-focused RSS product
- Solution included a customized ATOM 1.0 feed supplying daily mutual fund pricing
- Solution included a Google Gadget and a Live.com Microsoft Gadget alternative
- Solution included subscription strategies for Bloglines, Google Personalized Home Page, etc.

Director of Social Media, COMTEG.COM — 12/2006-Present
- Web2.0 strategy analyst for major European telecom company
- Produced case studies on Web2.0, Revver, digg, Google Reader, Google, YouTube, Helio, VOX, Dodgeball, Second Life
- Produced case studies on prediction markets: Inkling Markets, PROTRADE, Blogshares, Washington Stock Exchange (WSX), The simExchange, newsfutures, RealityMarkets, Consensus Point (Foresight Server, Foresight on Demand), NewsFuture (Prediction Trader)
- Produced case studies on online personal and public calendars: Google Calendar, Yahoo! Calendar, AOL Calendar, Apple iCal, Microsoft Live, Upcoming, Eventful,
- Produced case studies on blog and feed search engines: Ask.com, Technorati, Google Blogsearch
- Produced case studies on social networking sites: VOX, YouTube, digg
- Produced detailed studies and corporate recommendations on Web2.0 (web 2.0), RSS, widgetization (widgets, Google Gadgets, desktop gadgets), long tail strategy
- Produced case studies on online address books and online contacts and networks: Plaxo
- Direct engagement and recommendations for web2.0 strategy

Consultant, Travelistic.com, Diversion Media — 8/2006-10/2006
- Web strategy document commissioned by Nicolas Butterworth
- Word-of-Mouth and buzz marketing strategy document and hiring recommendations
- Search engine optimization (SEO) strategy document

Independent Web Strategies Consultant — 8/2006-Present
- On-site training, briefing, and client pitching as online buzz marketing and SEO expert
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert, focusing on both brand promotion and protection in search
- Online Buzz Marketing, Online Word-of-Mouth Marketing, and Online Viral Marketing expert
- Consulting and guiding PR and Marketing firms in their creation of Online Marketing practices
- Web Strategy document commissioned by Nicholas Butterworth and Diversion Media for Travelistic.com launch
- Web Strategy document commissioned by Friendster
- Word of Mouth campaign commissioned by HostNuke for EggDisk file storage service
- Online buzz marketing proposal commissioned by Red Bricks Media for their client use

Senior Account Supervisor, Online Advocacy, Edelman — 5/2006-8/2006
- Client contact for Wal-Mart’s innovative blog outreach campaign, including prospecting and messaging
- Spearheaded Working Families for Wal-Mart blog, newsletter, and activation list
- Developed online word of mouth outreach for Taylor Hicks webcast from Wal-Mart shareholder’s meeting
- Co-produced Exposing the Paid Critics blog for Working Families for Wal-Mart
- Co-produced successful online advocacy proposals to GE, Nissan, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute (API), and Wal-Mart Realty
- Designed and developed opt-in membership Email and messaging campaigns

Technology Strategist, New Media Strategies, Inc. — 9/2003-5/2006
- Developed online word-of-mouth marketing strategy and tactics used on Usenet, message boards, social networks, and blogs
- Developed online advocacy and outreach campaigns for clients’ products, services, and message
- Produced internal and client protective and promotional SEO campaigns and search strategy to highlight positive online conversation and suppress negative conversation on popular search engines
- Developed in-house expertise on blogging, new media, podcasting, technology, citizen journalism, and CGM, including training, teaching, and the development of blogging and online marketing strategy
- Developed, deployed, and launched client and internal corporate blogs, marketing blogs, vertical industry blogs, PR blogs, promotional blogs, public affairs blogs, social networks, and podcasts, including Club TomTom, New Media Sense, Extreme Mortman, and others.
- Managed online advertising campaigns using Yahoo and Google contextual ads
- Client service work included Sci-Fi Channel (Mad Mad House, Tripping the Rift, Battlestar Galactica), Buena Vista (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), TomTom, Paramount Pictures, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Disney, Reebok, EA (UXO, Sim-City Online), RCA (American Idol CD), and NBC (Revelations), etc . . .

Consultant, Blog Production and Strategy, BoldMouth — 8/2006-Present
- Blog strategy and planning for high-traffic, high-profile blog relaunch
- Customized Moveable Type installation on CentOS dedicated server
- Transition from TypePad to newest Movable Type 3.31 install
- Monetization of blog, including BlogAds and Google AdSense placement
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of blog

Director of Sales, eResources, LLC — 9/2002-9/2003
- Managed sales force and new business for the ITonDemand and the eResources Content Management System products

Senior Web Developer, National Legal Aid & Defender Association — 2/2002 – 9/2002
- Developed Web applications and content management system (CMS) developer using Zope, Python, and MySQL

Managing Director, beehive North America — 7/2000-2/2002
- President, co-owner, and co-founder of beehive North America, the North American office of Berlin-based beehive elektronische medien GmbH
- Sold and marketed software Zope application development training and services
- Clients included College of Exploration, The Nature Conservancy, and Space Telescope Science, and Pfizer Global Research and Development (PGRD)

Online Community Builder, Caucus Systems, Inc. — 7/1999-6/2000
- Online community, online conference, and online event facilitator and host
- Linux/Unix system administrator (LAMP SA)

Senior Information Engineer, FCBS — 12/1997-7/1999
- On-site consultant for US Department of Treasury Chief Information Office (CIO)
- Core duties included HTML, scripting (Perl, SSI), programming, graphic design, management, development, and deployment of the CIO Intranet and public website

Teacher, Education for the Arts (EFA), KRESA — 8/1996-6/1998
- High school teacher of the first fully accredited virtual online high school creative writing course for Kalamazoo, MI, Public Schools arts magnet program

Software Engineer, Proxicom, Inc. (Proxima in 1996) — 1/1996-8/1996
- Internet web application developer for the seminal web application company

Technical and Customer Support, Picture Network International (PNI) — 7/1993-8/1995
- Help desk for Industry’s second dial-up online stock photo agency
- Start-up funded and supported by SRA and Tribune Media Company

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Guest Lecturer on History Blogging, History in the Digital Age, American University — 1/31/2007

Guest Speaker, “What is RSS? And How can it change my life?,” AOL University, AOL — 2/8/2007

Blogging Instructor, The Writer’s Center — 2/2006-Present

Blogger, Because the Medium is the Message — 1999-Present

Stock Photographer, Pacific Stock — 1990-Present

Stock Photographer, Corbis — 1990-2004

Guest Lecturer on Public Affairs Blogging, SIPA, Columbia University — 10/15/1005

Emergent Technologies Advisor, Communications Advisory Board, Urban Institute.

Participant Member, Moderator and Speaker, Renaissance Weekends, Renaissance Institute

Partner of Counsel, Haft, Harrison & Wolfson, Inc.

Associate, Howard Rheingold Associates

Founder and Organizer, DC Zope Python User Group (ZPUG)

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
The George Washington University, Washington, DC
- BA, American Literature, Minor Creative Writing, 1993

University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus, Honolulu, HI
- Intensive course work, French, 1992

University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
- Junior year abroad, English and American Studies (EAS), 1990-1991

So, I have been trying to update my resume and keep it up-to-date. Let me know if there are any embarrassing errors, oversights, or mistakes.

MISSION

My passion is to use my experience and expertise in online community outreach and advocacy to promote and protect client online brands using my years of blogging, SEO, PR, marketing, and CGM professional experience.

PROFILE

I am an expert in online outreach, advocacy and marketing with over 10 years of online experience. My experience focuses on web strategy, including SEO strategy, technology strategy, and online marketing strategy. My skills include:

- Analyst: business intelligence, analysis and synthesis, futurist, case studies, industry predictions
- Blogger: online outreach, advocacy, conversation, and messaging, blogger relations
- Technologist: expertise in community technologies, blogs, wikis, message boards
- Salesman: entrepreneurial nature with a very strong business network and personal relationships
- Marketer: Over three years of online buzz marketing, online buzz marketing, and online word-of-mouth marketing
- Producer: experience in designing and developing hardware and software solutions
- Strategist: design, develop, and implement web strategies and marketing plans to reach online consumers and
- Promoter: online brand promotion, virals, organic SEO (search engine optimization), and paid advertising (SEM)
- Protector: online brand protection, defensive SEO, online crisis response, and online brand management
- Teacher: Blogging instructor, guest lecturer, and online teacher since 1996

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Independent Web Strategies Consultant — 8/2006-Present
- On-site training, briefing, and client pitching as online buzz marketing and SEO expert
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert, focusing on both brand promotion and protection in search
- Online Buzz Marketing, Online Word-of-Mouth Marketing, and Online Viral Marketing expert
- Consulting and guiding PR and Marketing firms in their creation of Online Marketing practices
- Web Strategy document commissioned by Diversion Media for Travelistic launch
- Web Strategy document commissioned by Friendster
- Word of Mouth campaign commissioned by HostNuke for EggDisk file storage service
- Online buzz marketing proposal commissioned by Red Bricks Media for their client use

Senior RSS Consultant, Hinchcliffe & Company — 1/2007-Present
- RSS strategy, development, and deployment for fortune 500 financial company
- Web widget and gadget research, development and deployment for Google Personalized Homepage
- Case studies of Google Reader, Google Calendar, Google, Dodgeball, Helio, Revver, Vox, You Tube, digg, Second Life

Consultant, Internet Analyst, Comteg — 12/2006-Present
- Research and analysis of web2.0 business and technology landscape
- Business intelligence and analysis of web2.0 business strategies
- Case studies of Google Reader, Google Calendar, Google, Dodgeball, Helio, Revver, Vox, You Tube, digg, Second Life
- Analysis and synthesis of Google’s overall and future strategy
- web2.0 and the long tail analysis and case studies

Consultant, Blog Production and Strategy, BoldMouth — 8/2006-11/2006
- Blog strategy and planning for high-traffic, high-profile blog relaunch
- Customized Moveable Type installation on CentOS dedicated server
- Transition from TypePad to newest Movable Type 3.31 install
- Monetization of blog, including BlogAds and Google AdSense placement
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of blog

Senior Account Supervisor, Online Advocacy, Edelman — 5/2006-8/2006
- Client contact for Wal-Mart’s innovative blog outreach campaign, including prospecting and messaging
- Spearheaded Working Families for Wal-Mart blog, newsletter, and activation list
- Developed online word of mouth outreach for Taylor Hicks webcast from Wal-Mart shareholder’s meeting
- Co-produced Exposing the Paid Critics blog for Working Families for Wal-Mart
- Co-produced successful online advocacy proposals to GE, Nissan, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute (API), and Wal-Mart Realty
- Designed and developed opt-in membership Email and messaging campaigns

Technology Strategist, New Media Strategies, Inc. — 9/2003-5/2006
- Developed online word-of-mouth marketing strategy and tactics used on Usenet, message boards, social networks, and blogs
- Developed online advocacy and outreach campaigns for clients’ products, services, and message
- Produced internal and client protective and promotional SEO campaigns and search strategy to highlight positive online conversation and suppress negative conversation on popular search engines
- Developed in-house expertise on blogging, new media, podcasting, technology, citizen journalism, and CGM, including training, teaching, and the development of blogging and online marketing strategy
- Developed, deployed, and launched client and internal corporate blogs, marketing blogs, vertical industry blogs, PR blogs, promotional blogs, public affairs blogs, social networks, and podcasts, including Club TomTom, New Media Sense, Extreme Mortman, and others.
- Managed online advertising campaigns using Yahoo and Google contextual ads
- Client service work included Sci-Fi Channel (Mad Mad House, Tripping the Rift, Battlestar Galactica), Buena Vista (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), TomTom, Paramount Pictures, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Disney, Reebok, EA (UXO, Sim-City Online), RCA (American Idol CD), and NBC (Revelations), etc . . .

Director of Sales, eResources, LLC — 9/2002-9/2003
- Managed sales force and new business for the ITonDemand™ and the eResources Content Management System products

Senior Web Developer, National Legal Aid & Defender Association — 2/2002 – 9/2002
- Developed Web applications and content management system (CMS) developer using Zope, Python, and MySQL

Managing Director, beehive North America — 7/2000-2/2002
- President, co-owner, and co-founder of beehive North America, the North American office of Berlin-based beehive elektronische medien GmbH
- Sold and marketed software Zope application development training and services
- Clients included College of Exploration, The Nature Conservancy, and Space Telescope Science, and Pfizer Global Research and Development (PGRD)

Online Community Builder, Caucus Systems, Inc. — 7/1999-6/2000
- Online community, online conference, and online event facilitator and host
- Linux/Unix system administrator (LAMP SA)

Senior Information Engineer, FCBS — 12/1997-7/1999
- On-site consultant for US Department of Treasury Chief Information Office (CIO)
- Core duties included HTML, scripting (Perl, SSI), programming, graphic design, management, development, and deployment of the CIO Intranet and public website

Teacher, Education for the Arts (EFA), KRESA — 11/1996-6/1998
- High school teacher of the first fully accredited virtual online high school creative writing course for Kalamazoo, MI, Public Schools arts magnet program

Software Engineer, Proxicom, Inc. (Proxima in 1996) — 1/1996-8/1996
- Internet web application developer for the seminal web application company
Technical and Customer Support, Picture Network International (PNI) — 7/1993-8/1995
- Help desk for Industry’s second dial-up online stock photo agency
- Start-up funded and supported by SRA and Tribune Media Company

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Blogging Instructor, The Writer’s Center — 2/2006-Present

Blogger, Because the Medium is the Message — 1999-Present

Stock Photographer, Pacific Stock — 1990-Present

Stock Photographer, Corbis — 1990-2004

Guest Lecturer on Public Affairs Blogging, SIPA, Columbia University — 10/15/1005

Emergent Technologies Advisor, Communications Advisory Board, Urban Institute

Participant Member, Moderator and Speaker, Renaissance Weekends, Renaissance Institute

Partner of Counsel, Haft, Harrison & Wolfson, Inc.

Associate, Howard Rheingold Associates

Founder and Organizer, DC Zope Python User Group (ZPUG)

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The George Washington University, Washington, DC
- BA, American Literature, Minor Creative Writing, 1993

University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus, Honolulu, HI
- Intensive course work, French, 1992

University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
- Junior year abroad, English and American Studies (EAS), 1990-1991

I finished updating my resume this morning. Thanks to Janna, Di, Stephanie, Tiff, and Mark for all of your help.

MISSION
My passion is to use my experience and expertise in online community outreach and advocacy to promote and protect client online brands using my years of blogging, SEO, PR, marketing, and CGM professional experience.

PROFILE
I am an expert in online outreach, advocacy and marketing with over 23 years of online experience. My experience focuses on web strategy, including SEO strategy, technology strategy, and online marketing strategy. My skills include:
- Blogger: online outreach, advocacy, conversation, and messaging, blogger relations
- Technologist: expertise in community technologies, blogs, wikis, message boards
- Producer: experience in designing and developing hardware and software solutions
- Strategist: design, develop, and implement strategies to reach online consumers
- Promoter: online brand promotion, virals, organic SEO (search engine optimization), and paid advertising
- Protector: online brand protection, defensive SEO, online crisis response
- Teacher: Blogging instructor, guest lecturer, and online teacher since 1996

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Consultant, Blog Production and Strategy, BoldMouth — 8/2006-12/2006 http://www.blogmouth.com
- Blog strategy and planning for high-traffic, high-profile blog relaunch
- Customized Moveable Type installation on CentOS dedicated server
- Transition from TypePad to newest Movable Type 3.31 install
- Monetization of blog, including BlogAds and Google AdSense placement
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of blog

Instructor, The Writer’s Center — 2/2006-Present — http://www.writer.org
- Instructional courses on blogging, from introduction to advanced techniques
- Marketing, promotional, and SEO strategies for writers and business people
- www.appliedblogging.org developed to support blogging students

Blogger and Blogging Consultant, Freelance — 1999-Present http://www.chrisabraham.com
- Active blogger since 1999

Stock Photographer, Pacific Stock — 1990-Present http://www.pacificstock.com
- Contract stock photographer

Senior Account Supervisor, Interactive, Online Advocacy, Edelman — 5/2006-8/2006 http://www.edelman.com
- Direct client contact for Wal-Mart’s innovative blog outreach campaign, including prospecting and messaging
- Spearheaded Working Families for Wal-Mart blog, newsletter, and activation list
- Developed online word of mouth outreach for Taylor Hicks webcast from Wal-Mart shareholder’s meeting
- Co-produced “Exposing the Paid Critics” website for Working Families for Wal-Mart
- Co-produced successful online advocacy proposals to GE, Nissan, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute, and Wal-Mart Realty
- Designed and developed opt-in membership Email and messaging campaigns

Technology Strategist, New Media Strategies, Inc. — 9/2003-5/2006 http://www.newmediastrategies.net
- Developed online word-of-mouth marketing strategy and tactics used on Usenet, message boards, social networks, and blogs
- Developed online advocacy and outreach campaigns for clients’ products, services, and message
- Produced internal and client protective and promotional SEO campaigns and search strategy to highlight positive online conversation and supress negative conversation on popular search engines
- Developed in-house expertise on blogging, new media, podcasting, technology, citizen journalism, and CGM, including training, teaching, and the development of blogging and online marketing strategy
- Developed, deployed, and launched client and internal corporate blogs, marketing blogs, vertical industry blogs, PR blogs, promotional blogs, public affairs blogs, social networks, and podcasts
- Managed online advertising campaigns using Yahoo and Google contextual ads

Radio Panelist, “Do You Trust the Media,” BBC World Have Your Say — 5/3/2006 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldhaveyoursay/2006/05/do_you_trust_the_media_your_co.html
- Radio expert on online media, citizen journalism and citizen generated media (CGM)
- Broadcast worldwide and in the US on NPR

Guest Lecturer, SIPA, Columbia University — 10/15/1005 http://sipa.columbia.edu/
- Lectured on blogging and viral marketing strategies for public affairs
- School of International and Public Affairs

Professional Stock Photographer, Corbis — 1990-2004 http://www.corbis.com
- Contract stock photographer

Director of Sales, eResources, LLC — 9/2002-9/2003 http://www.eresources.com
- Managed sales force and new business for the ITonDemand™ and the eResources Content Management System products

Senior Web Developer, National Legal Aid & Defender Association — 2/2002 – 9/2002 http://www.nlada.org
- Developed Web applications and content management system (CMS) developer using Zope, Python, and MySQL

Managing Director, beehive North America — 7/2000 – 2/2002
- President, co-owner, and co-founder of beehive North America, the North American office of Berlin-based beehive elektronische medien GmbH
- Sold and marketed software Zope application development training and services
- Clients included College of Exploration, The Nature Conservancy, and Space Telescope Science, and Pfizer Global Research and Development (PGRD)

Online Community Builder, Caucus Systems, Inc. — 7/1999 – 6/2000 http://www.caucus.com
- Online community, online conference, and online event facilitator and host
- Linux/Unix system administrator (LAMP SA)

Senior Information Engineer, FCBS — 12/1997 – 7/1999 http://www.fcbs.com
- On-site consultant for US Department of Treasury Chief Information Office (CIO)
- Core duties included HTML, scripting (Perl, SSI), programming, graphic design, management, development, and deployment of the CIO Intranet and public website

Teacher, Education for the Arts (EFA), KRESA — 8/1996-6/1998 http://www.kresa.org/
- High school teacher of the first fully accredited virtual online high school creative writing course for Kalamazoo, MI, Public Schools arts magnet program
Software Engineer, Proxicom, Inc. (Proxima in 1996) — 1/1996-8/1996
- Internet web application developer for the seminal web application company
Technical and Customer Support, Picture Network International (PNI) — 7/1993-8/1995
- Help desk for Industry’s second dial-up online stock photo agency
- Start-up funded and supported by SRA and Tribune Media Company

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Emergent Technologies Advisor, Communications Advisory Board, Urban Institute. http://www.urban.org

Participant Member, Moderator and Speaker, Renaissance Weekends, Renaissance Institute http://www.renaissanceweekend.org

Partner of Counsel, Haft, Harrison & Wolfson, Inc.

Associate, Howard Rheingold Associates http://www.rheingold.com/Associates/team.html

Founder and Organizer, DC Zope Python User Group (ZPUG) http://www.zpug.org

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
The George Washington University, Washington, DC http://www.gwu.edu
- BA, American Literature, Minor Creative Writing, 1993

University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus, Honolulu, HI http://www.hawaii.edu
- Intensive course work, French, 1992

University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK http://www.uea.ac.uk
- Junior year abroad, English and American Studies (EAS), 1990-1991