- livingthedash.tv

I’ve been on Twitter since January 2008.

I find it to be an amazing communications platform for connecting people and sharing knowledge and information.

But I didn’t always think that.  When I first setup my Twitter account, I just didn’t get it.

And then I started following people.  Not just friends, but people in my industry, experts on topics that interest me, authors and bloggers that I read, leaders that I admire.

Twitter is as valuable as the people you follow.

So for all my blog readers that are new to Twitter, here are some follow recommendations. Grouped by the main topics of my blog: faith, technology, business, leadership.

Faith

• Steven Furtick // Lead Pastor at Elevation Church // stevenfurtick.com // @stevenfurtick
• Mark Batterson // Lead Pastor at National Community Church // evotional.com // @markbatterson
• Max Lucado // Christian Author // maxlucado.com // @maxlucado
• Kerry Shook // Senior Pastor at woodlandschurch.tv // kerryshook.org // @kerryshook
• Pete Wilson // Pastor at crosspoint.tv // withoutwax.tv // @pwilson

Technology

• Dion Hinchcliffe // Enterprise 2.0 expert // Enterprise Web 2.0 Blog // @dhinchcliffe
• Jeremiah Owyang // Social Computing analyst at Forrester // web-strategist.com // @jowyang
• Chris Brogan // social media expert // chrisbrogan.com // @chrisbrogan
• Terry Storch // Digerati Pastor at lifechurch.tv // @terrystorch
• Tony Steward // Online Community Pastor at lifechurch.tv // tonystewardblog.com // @tonysteward
• Larry Lundstrom // Innovation Pastor at woodlandschurch.tv // everythingdesigned.com // @lundstudio
• Nick Charalambous // Web Campus Pastor at Newspring Church // ipiphanist.wordpress.com // @ipiphanist
• Kathy Sierra // @kathysierra
• John Saddington // Social Computing Strategist, Technologist, & Web Junkie // johnsaddington.com // @human3rror

Business

• Fast Company // fastcompany.com // @fastcompany
• Jack Welch // former Chairman and CEO of General Electric // welchway.com // @jack_welch
• David Allen // originator of Getting Things Done // davidco.com // @gtdguy
• Jason Fried // founder of 37signals // 37signals.com/svn // @jasonfried
• Guy Kawasaki // former Apple evangelist, founder of alltop.com // blog.guykawasaki.com // @guykawasaki

Leadership

• John Maxwell //leadership expert and best-selling author // johnmaxwellonleadership.com // @johncmaxwell
• Tony Morgan // a strategic guy // tonymorganlive.com // @tonymorganlive
• Perry Noble // Senior Pastor at Newspring Church // perrynoble.com // @perrynoble
• Jenny Catron // Executive Director at crosspoint.tv // jennicatron.tv // @jennicatron
• Michael Hyatt // CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers // michaelhyatt.com // @michaelhyatt
• Ron Edmondson // Pastor at Grace Community Church // ronedmondson.com // @ronedmondson

Who am I missing? Anyone else I should be following?

There isn’t a whole lot that the Right and the Left agree on these days, but one thing they can agree on is this…..

The current administration has done a great job of creating a comprehensive online presence for The White House.

website // www.whitehouse.gov

blog // www.whitehouse.gov/blog

facebook //  www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse

myspace //  www.myspace.com/whitehouse

twitter //  www.twitter.com/whitehouse

flickr //  www.flickr.com/whitehouse

vimeo //  www.vimeo.com/whitehouse

youtube //  www.youtube.com/whitehouse

& itunes

Has your company/business/organization expanded its online presence beyond a standard website?

It’s Halloween…….

so here is my bag of treats.  A list of some internet based products that make my life a little better, a little easier, a little more efficient.

google     gmail     editgrid     twitter     wordpress     iPhone     google maps     mint     youversion     pandora     trailguru     drudgereport     evernote     google reader     priceline     wikipedia     firefox     picasa     amazon     google talk     hotwire

What am I missing?  Anything I should add to my bag of treats?

I read 0 newspapers // but I do subscribe to and read 100+ RSS feeds from blogs and other websites.

I haven’t bought a music CD in over a year // but I do listen to thousands of songs by numerous artists regularly via Pandora.

I rarely listen to talk radio // but I do have 8 – 10 podcasts that I listen to regularly.

I don’t know the phone numbers of friends like @davidrjohns, @mikemiz, @tjw1970 and @lundstudio // but I keep up with and converse with them regularly via Twitter.

On the surface, 4 insignificant facts about my life.  But they are actually indications of something that is quite significant.

Print, Music, Radio, Communications. Those are big, giant, foundational components of our culture and they are being significantly impacted by the internet in all kinds of crazy new ways.  And I think what we have seen is only the tip of the iceberg.  Exciting times.

I discovered an Enterprise 2.0 tool today that has the potential to be a game changer to enterprise communications.

Yammer! – a micro-blogging tool for the enterprise.

Basically, Twitter for your organization.

This is how Yammer is described on the Yammer blog………

Selected from among thousands of applicants, this “Enterprise 2.0″ startup allows companies and organizations to take advantage of a technology that has exploded in popularity among consumers on sites like Twitter.

On Yammer, co-workers exchange short frequent answers to one simple question: “What are you working on?”

As employees answer this question, a company feed is created in one central location, enabling co-workers to discuss ideas, post news, ask questions, and share links and other information.

The company feed can be accessed in real-time via the web, IM, SMS text messaging, an iPhone application, a Blackberry application, a desktop application, or email.

Yammer also serves as a company directory in which every employee has a profile and as a knowledge-base where past conversations are archived and easily searched.

A few Yammer highlights from their Welcome to Yammer blog post…….

- The company feed can be accessed in real-time via the web, IM, SMS text messaging, an iPhone application, a Blackberry application, a desktop application, or email.

- …anyone in a company can start their Yammer network and begin inviting colleagues. This means that Yammer can spread virally through a company like a consumer social network.

- Yammer ensures the privacy of each network by limiting access to those with a valid company email address.

It will be interesting to see if Yammer takes off.  I predict that it will.  The Yammer site and the Yammer apps are slick and they address a huge need in enterprises today.  Yammer founder, David Sacks, describes it like this……

People get to use great consumer internet sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and Geni, to communicate in their personal lives. Then, when they get to the office, all the software is antiquated and hard to use — that doesn’t make sense. We want to do something about that.

What do you think about Yammer?