Life as a digital media speaker, workshop host

February 21st, 2009 by mhjones

A few people have asked me what I’m doing these days so I thought it’s about time I wrote an update!

Many of you already know I’ve been a technology journalist for more than a decade, and I’ve continued to work as a freelance contributor for The Australian Financial Review, producing video interviews and The Scoop (which is on an extended summer break). But what you might not know is I’m also a keynote speaker and workshop host focussed on, you guessed it, digital media and internet trends (btw, you can book me direct, or via agencies like Saxton and ICMI). Why? I’ve always made career decisions based on a simple premise. If the idea sounds scary, I do it! Life is more fun that way.

So last November I found myself on a big stage at the Financial Planners Association Conference on the Gold Coast speaking about social media in front of a few hundred people. It was one of a dozen or so keynotes and workshops I have delivered over the past 6 months or so.  The folk at the FPA were kind enough to send me some photos of yours truly on stage, pictured here.

My next speaking gig is a 5 city cloud computing panel event with IBM, which kicks off next week in Perth.

Meanwhile, I’ve also been running a workshop called “The Digital Media Advantage” for CEOs and senior executives who participate in TEC, an organisation that mentors business leaders. I’ve found that typically one or two of the 15 executives in these workshops understand digital media, and the rest are yet to be convinced. So we talk. They get practical advice and insights, and I get a written evaluation on my performance (I’ve developed broad shoulders…heh).

Then we come to the odd experience of being the interviewee, not the interviewer as I’ve been throughout most of my journalism career. I’ve made a few cameos on ABC Radio lately, including an interview with Kara Greiner on “Overnights” to discuss what they called “Cyber Wars.”

Facebook is of course a fantastic platform to generate grassroots support for just about any cause, and that includes war. In this interview, we spoke about how the Gaza conflict is being reflected on social networking sites. I even managed to steer the conversation to Twitter, much to the amusement of Mrs J who remains bemused by my Twittering. The producers kindly sent me a CD of the interview, so have a listen here (warning: 14 MB download): ABC cyber wars interview with Mark Jones. Enjoy!

Tagged: Marketing, Personal, Social media, Twitter
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