Funny thing: Age of Conversation is an international endeavour, hailing the possibilities of collaborating on a global scale … and yet, the first question that pops up is: are there any other Belgians in the book?

Well, there are. Don’t know if I spotted them all, but here are the ones I found:

Steven Verbruggen,? Geert Desager, Luc Debaisieux and Yves Van Landeghem.

One quote from the latter: “But lo and behold, the big ?consumer generated idea? wave did not come, and it won?t for another gazillion years”

“What we need is not less Conversation, but a better idea on how Conversations can work for our brand. What we need is not less involvement from consumers, but knowing how to turn this involvement into meeting our objectives and goals. What we need is not less actions, but less random actions by random people.”

This is a short quote from my (short) contribution to Age of Conversation2. Since I haven’t read any other contributions yet, I’m curious, very curious. And a little proud too. So please follow me here to buy the book - and see what 237 authors from around the world have to say about this new Brand Age we’re entering - and their answer to the question: “Why Don’t People Get It?”

Moreover, the profits go to charity, so … do it for the kids!

Oh … and meet the other authors:

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G. Kofi Annan, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw and James G. Lindberg, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

My daughter woke me up at 6.30, it was a busy day, it’s 21.30, I’ve had a glass of wine and have a presentation to write. In other words, I’m way too dead to blog.

I’m alive enough though, to point you to two excellent posts on blogs I love to follow. No frequent posters, but when they do, it’s always worth the wait. So here’s to you, you who always wanted to know stuff about attacking the competition and spending during recessions.

I bought a new suit and tie last week.

I realise in itself this is not earth-shaking news. But I’ve noticed something this week. Since it is officially and for many people a holiday week, I find myself not with less work, but with less client meetings. And as a consequence I find myself more in jeans and t-shirt. Which leads me to the observation that therefore, in non-holiday-status, client meetings equal suits & ties

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How rooted in a national identity can a brand be?

Well, if its logo is central in the very first attraction one enters in a country’s biggest theme park that moreover captures the essence of that country in all its fairy tales and sceneries .. well, then it’s small wonder that that country’s government will do anything to hold that brand under national control.

To be clear, we’re talking about ABN Amro , that the Dutch government was willing to ruin Fortis for to get it back. And we’re talking about its logo on the first thing you see when entering De Efteling …

A couple of months ago, we launched Tele2Liberty with this commercial:

And now I stumble upon this one:

dank u, beste bevriende media, voor uw vriendelijke coverage op De Standaard Marketingblog

en bij media.com van De Morgen …

It seems like an eternity since we had to deliver our contribution to Age of Conversation 2, the follow-up on … yes, indeed, Age of Conversation 1. But now the countdown to the publication has really begun. At first, the book was going to be published on Amazon.com on October 25th, which made me very happy, since it’s my 40th birthday (yes, yes, please jot down! and yes, it’s also Picasso’s birthday, and that of Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, and by the way, here’s my wishlist…. )

(Now, was that pathetic, or what?)

But now you’re going to have to wait till somewhere between October 25th and October 28th, and it’s gonna be on Lulu.com. But if you want to know more, check here for a podcast with the guys who started it all …