The Digital Sanctuary » guy kawasaki

Kem Meyer Promotes Alltop & So Do I

Cynthia — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:35:08 +0000

Look who’s using MyAlltop.com

Well there’s a first time for everything. Kem Meyer just posted on Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop and since I’m such a fan of the site (and Guy for that matter), I am reposting her post in it’s entirety.

For the first time in my 5 years of blogging, I’m copying. It’s worth it because she nails it when it comes to understanding Alltop – which is a dynamic topical resource that allows you avoid search stress by aggregating all the best material on any given topic in one spot. Kem does a great job of reminding us all why we should all be using the customizable, power-feature of Alltop to do our work for us.

Here’s her post is all it’s communication glory:

All Time Alltop Questions and Answers …

I like and respect Guy Kawasaki. He has personally and professionally helped me several times over the past few years. He has visited Granger and even endorsed my book. Not long ago, we were exchanging emails and I asked him if there was anything I could do to help his causes like he had helped mine. He only asked one thing… spread the word about Alltop. Ok! Love to!

And, then I stalled out.

I didn’t understand what Alltop could do for me. That makes it pretty hard to talk about. So, then, I stalled longer because I was determined to figure it out on my own. And, then I stalled longer because I was embarrassed to admit I couldn’t figure it out on my own. I finally broke down and told him. Why didn’t I do that in the first place? I annoy myself.

And, now that I understand it, I’m pleased to report it has become a new tool in my arsenal of information search weapons. So, here’s my Q&A with Guy about Alltop. Hope it helps you.

In plain English, what is Alltop? Alltop is a collection of over 600 “magazine racks” covering topics from adoption to zoology with food, politics, sports, and health in between. MyAlltop is the customizable, power-user feature of Alltop. It enables you to create a personal collection from over 32,000 information sources–if you’re interested in something, we probably have it covered.
How is Alltop different than Digg? They’re two totally different animals. The purpose of Digg is highlight specific articles that interest, honestly, male techies. It helps them know that there’s a new version of Rails or Halo. The purpose Alltop is not to highlight specific articles or even sites/blogs but to enable people to scan “all” the news about a broad base of topics. For example, it will be long time before something from http://adoption.alltop.com/would appear on Digg. Here’s a good way to think of it:** How many people are in China? Go to Google.
** Shanghai company clones Mac ROMs and ships “Mac” netbook for $200. Go to Digg.
** What’s happening in China? Go to http://china.alltop.com/
I don’t see Alltop replacing my normal RSS reader, but it’s not supposed to, is it? For some people, MyAlltop could, but first, most people cannot use a RSS reader. It requires they understand what RSS is, then they need to find the RSS feeds (which is non-trivial, believe me, we have had to find 33,000 feeds), and find a reader and use it. That’s the market for us. For people who have a RSS reader, then we offer something different because most RSS readers turn into another email inbox with hundreds of unread messages. And they are not good for scanning—that is, you only get what you subscribe to. An Alltop topic provides you a broader overview quickly.
Where should my readers start to get a feel? Here http://church.alltop.com/ here http://digital-media.alltop.com/ here http://christianity.alltop.com/ and http://web-design.alltop.com/.

Catalyst West Coast “You Were Here”

Cynthia — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:57:59 +0000

Catalyst’s West Coast debut ended yesterday and will never be back! At least not in the same venue. As you can clearly see from the photo below, beloved #catwest outgrew it’s Mariner’s Church facility offering nothing but standing room only by day two.

Here’s a shot of Erwin McManus on the Catalyst stage yesterday. Erwin, a self proclaimed misfit, captivated us all with his ability to show us what our lives would be like if we accepted our weaknesses and didn’t let them teather us back from accepting and serving others. The woman sitting next to me, whom you’d of course all know, was reduced to tears.

And here’s Brad Lomenick, Catalyst’s Big Tuna, stopping in behind the scenes to ask locals where the next largest facility is in case they need to expand next year. Pretty amazing since this is the spread outside for socializing…..

Catalyst West Coast in Full Swing

Cynthia — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:20:41 +0000

Today marks the “official” launch of Catalyst West Coast – a huge, inspirational party designed to feature some of the speakers listed in my last blog post. And create a venue for many innovative ministry related products and services.

You can join us with your very own all-access pass through the Catalyst Green Room site.

Candid shot of the pre-party hosted by Carlos Whittaker with Foursquare Pastor John Cox basically bustin’ a move.

Catalyst Hits the West Coast this Week

Cynthia — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:05:02 +0000

Here’s a link fest for those of you who want to familiarize yourself with some of the Catalyst West Coast festivities….

Wednesday evening Before Party hosted by:

Carlos Whittaker

Worship with:

Speakers include:

Interactive sessions with:

Thursday evening House Party for Gift Card Giver hosted by:

If you’re anywhere in the Southern California area, we’ll see you at Mariner’s Church in Irvine. Follow me on Twittter for more details.

Join us as Catalyst comes to the West Coast!

Cynthia — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:01:15 +0000

Catalyst West is a gathering of 3000 next generation leaders from all over the world for 3 days of worship, teaching and exploration of what’s possible for the church. Catalyst is a revolution of ideas: here, you’ll get permission to challenge the process and think unconventionally. We are a movement of influencers who are passionate about impacting our churches, our communities and our culture for Christ.

Join us, April 22 – 24th, at Mariners Church in Irvine. Worship will be led by Hillsong United, Steve Fee, Aaron Keys and Joel Auge. Speakers include: Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Rick Warren, Guy Kawasaki, Ravi Zacharias, Francis Chan, Brian Houston, Erwin McManus, Perry Noble, Catherine Rohr, Jud Wilhite, and Luis Palau.

The first day, April 22, will feature Origings in partnership wtih Catalyst Labs. These interactive sessions include talks from people such as Dave Gibbons, Alan Hirsch, Blake Mycoskie (Toms Shoes), Erwin McManus, Eric Bryant, Dan Kimball, Jamie Tworkowski (To Write Love on Her Arms), Margaret Feinberg, Mark Batterson and many others.

Check my tweets on Twitter for details to an exclusive BEFORE PARTY on Wednesday, April 22 at 6pm – hosted by Carlos Whittaker. Free food, great entertainment, outdoor lounge-like party.

Alltop.com – Topical Search Simplicity

Cynthia — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:44:12 +0000

Just a reminder, if you are looking for topical information – in this screen shot – Church (see also: Christianity and Religion) related articles – Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop.com still performs beautifully. No matter what subject you’re looking for information on, chances are, there’s an Alltop page to serve you.

Alltop – Pastors, Ministers & Church Staff News

Cynthia — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:33:45 +0000

Just a reminder that Alltop for Pastors & Church Leadership sure makes finding the best current news easy.

Alltop, built by Nononina, (Will Mayall, Kathryn Henkens & Guy Kawasaki), is proving more and more helpful for topical searches as more sites get added. In the world of information overload, sites that sort and point are amazing time savers. Especially when compiled by the insightful folks connected to any particular field of inquiry. Topical searches of aggregated material are worth their weight in gold. Instead of getting lost in my Google reader, if I want new “Church-only” news, I just go to the Church.Alltop.com page.

Innovation in Topical Search – Alltop.com

Cynthia — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:55:56 +0000

"I won the top spot! I won the top spot!" I never get to say that.

The Digital Sanctuary is listed in an 'above the fold' position on the Alltop.com church page. And that's not even the best part. All my friends & colleagues are there, too. You've gotta check out this great new idea for searching fresh content about any subject.

Alltop.com, the brainchild of Guy Kawasaki and his team, is a service that aggregates content from across the web categorically into one location. It sounds so simple you might not realize how powerful it is.

Let's say you are looking for information on a particular topic – like photography. Alltop has a page for that. Or fashion, gaming, sports, politics, and a huge variety of other topics. Every Alltop page displays topical search links aggregated in an elegant and efficient manner all in one place.

Each Alltop site, displays the headlines of the latest stories from dozens of sites and blogs. Think of an Alltop page as a “digital magazine rack” on the Internet.

Readers, here's the most important part… Alltop church page is chocked full of content from all those of us who write about church relevant topics. By hitting just one page, you can access fresh content links solely related to church innovation, information and news.

Want web aggregation without aggravation? Bookmark the Alltop church page here.

Did I mention The Digital Sanctuary is above the fold? Oh, ok.

The Word of Our Testimony via Visual History

Cynthia — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:35:35 +0000

There's a company called Kronomy that will enable you to create a timeline of your life complete with descriptions, pictures and video. Thus, you can share your story by making your life into a flowing visual slideshow via 3D browsing. Kronomy also features social networking functionality including commenting, sharing, and friends. Currently in beta, you will need a Kronomy invite to get the full effect.

Also, Guy Kawasaki (source of my beta invite) proposes other creative options for using Kronomy to document, for example, a product's lifecycle. From initial sketches to prototypes to beta versions, almost any product could benefit from it's own archival history. Guy proposes someone create a history of the Mac using Kronomy. Good idea. And I think there are lots of other possibilities.

As a fan you could document your history of relationship with a favorite band; as a CEO you could document the evolution of your company; as an adoptive parent you could write your adoption journey in pictures as an archive for your child's future. As a runner, document your marathons. As a couple, document your anniversaries. As a pastor, you could create a rich visual history for your church.

In fact, for Christians, nothing is more powerful than documenting how God has been present in our lives and how He has used us to touch the lives of others. We often call this 'our testimony'. Now, our stories can be told with words supported by visual media.

How would you use Kronomy's chronological memory abilities for the Kingdom?

Check out Guy's Kawasaki's life path in action.