Join Shel Israel for a Special Livefyre Q&A TodayBy Gini Dietrich

It’s an exciting day!

Shel Israel joins us today for our very first Livefyre Q&A of the year.

Shel is a communicator by trade and helps businesses tell their stories in engaging ways as a writer, consultant, and presentation coach.

His Forbes column, The Contextual Beat, looks at how mobile, social media, sensor, location, and data technology converge and what it all means for our futures.

He co-authored (with Robert Scoble) the Age of Context: Mobile, Sensors, Data, and the Future of Privacy and he’s going to hang out with you for an hour today.

He can answer any and all questions you have about his latest book, what the age of context means, how social media will converge with the other four, what it means for each of us, and how this could be more valuable than an executive assistant or a butler (Downton Abbey, anyone?).

Today’s Livefyre Q&A

At noon ET (that’s 11:00 CT, 10:00 MT, and 9:00 PT for those of you who can’t do time zones), Shel will be here so you can ask him what all of this means and how it will change society in the future.

In order to participate, all you have to do is:

  • Make sure you have a Livefyre account or be ready to sign in with one of your social networks.
  • Set a reminder for noon ET today.
  • Order the book so you can help Shel out, but also get your learn on.
  • Create a list of questions (if you haven’t read the book, go to Amazon and read through the content there; you’ll find some things to help you formulate questions).
  • Come back here, scroll to the bottom, and write a comment in the form of a question. As soon as you hit “post comment,” Shel will see it and reply to you. You can even join the conversation around questions others are asking, if you like.

We’ll be here for an hour so you can join us the entire time or step in and out during the hour. It’s entirely up to you; just make sure you’re here before 12:59.

Win a Copy

Those of you who participate in today’s Livefyre Q&A (even if you’re late to the party, but not if you’re an Arment Dietrich employee) will be entered in a random drawing for a free copy of the book.

We bought two copies and will give them away, but you have to actually leave a comment, ask a question, or participate in the chat to be entered in the drawing. Otherwise we won’t know you were here.

Get ready with your questions and join the conversation. And don’t fear! If you missed the live portion of this, we’ll keep the drawing open until midnight PT so you still have time to get in your questions.

Former Guests and Who’s Next

For former guests, check out Margie Clayman, Sarah Robinson, Mark Story, Beth Hayden, Sarah Evans, Stanford Smith, Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman, Mitch Joel,Danny Brown, Chuck Hemann, Michael Brito, DJ Waldow, Tom Martin, Ahava Leibtag, and Jay Baer.

And following are the dates for the next few months, so mark your calendars!

Same bat time, same bat channel.

  • February 19 – Yours truly, for Spin Sucks
  • March 19 – Rob Biesenbach
  • April 16
  • May 21
  • June 18
  • July 16
  • August 20
  • September 17
  • October 16
  • November 19
  • December 17

Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is the founder, CEO, and author of Spin Sucks, host of the Spin Sucks podcast, and author of Spin Sucks (the book). She is the creator of the PESO Model© and has crafted a certification for it in collaboration with USC Annenberg. She has run and grown an agency for the past 19 years. She is co-author of Marketing in the Round, co-host of Inside PR, and co-host of The Agency Leadership podcast.

View all posts by Gini Dietrich

Related Posts

The Power of Online Communities

The PR Pro’s Responsibility In Working With Mom-Run Influencers

Getting the Most Out of Your Marketing Videos in 2024

204 responses to “Join Shel Israel for a Special Livefyre Q&A Today”

  1. Another book to add tp my reading list. I will certainly try to make it today.

  4. Love for those of you who can’t do time zones. I’ll be here at noon.

  8. Won’t be able to join at noon – sounds like a great live q&a – enjoy, everyone!

  9. ginidietrich belllindsay @jason_ Time zones are the work of the devil.

  10. KateNolan says:

    So, you’re saying I don’t need a Carson? Hrmph….

  18. It’s my distinct pleasure to welcome Shel Israel to our first LiveFyre Q&A of 2014. What a way to launch!  Take a bow, fine sir!

  21. As you all know, these conversations really fly by, so get your typing fingers ready, and try to keep up! 🙂

  25. ginidietrich jasonkonopinski Jason chomps on tacos.

  26. Hi everybody. I’m here and ready to answer questions as fast and as well as I can.

  27. Well, I’ll start then! Welcome again, Shel. What inspired you and Robert Scoble to write The Age of Context?

  28. ginidietrich Digital_DRK I’m here. Let’s get started!

  29. ginidietrich Digital_DRK Am I at the right place at the right time?

  30. shelisrael ginidietrich Digital_DRK You are sir! 🙂

  37. shelisrael HA! I’ll try and keep it down – but I’m a Canadian, so…..

  40. I know this is the second book you’ve written with Scoble. Most co-author relationships don’t tend to last. What is your secret?

  41. Hello!  I am here!

  42. I’m going to back my question up to the top, shelisrael – what inspired you and Robert Scoble to write The Age of Context?

  44. What is your favorite animal?

  47. ginidietrich belllindsay DallasK I like to learn new things!

  48. belllindsay It started with Robert. He travels the world for Rackspace where he sees what is on the leading edge of technology. In Feb 2012, he saw five tech forces–mobile/wearables, social media, sensors, location and data all converging into a single force that we ended up calling context. That force is changing our relationships with our technology and business’s way to interact with customers and prospects. Describing that  became our book

  50. RobBiesenbach Hey Rob, I’ll be speaking with Robert in New Brunswick on Feb 25. Send mittens!

  51. Digital_DRK Thanks. Let me know what you think.

  53. I’m pretty interested in how this affects our futures. I love the idea of having a digital butler. Can you talk more about what you mean by that?

  54. Actually have been able to pop in super briefly. Thanks for sharing your expertise with us, Shel!

  55. I’m interested in ‘sensors’? Can you explain a bit more what, when, where, why?

  57. LauraPetrolino  my buddy is the Business Development Manager for http://variableinc.com/products/. I own a NODE and it’s pretty darn cool.

  59. ginidietrich Great question. When Robert and I did Naked Conversations, our first editor quit after 30 days. He told us we needed a marriage counsellor more than an editor. Over time, Robert and I came to understand how much we interdepend on each other. He sees what’s coming far sooner than almost anyone else. I am a writer essentially and I take what he sees and the language of the geeks he points me to and translate it into a language that most people should be able to understand. He sees the forces and studies them. I see how they change business and life. After ten years and four projects including two books and over 50 speeches Robert has become one of my very dearest friends.

  60. shelisrael ginidietrich Kind of like me and Gini, then. LOL

  62. belllindsay shelisrael ginidietrich  “sound of chirping crickets…”

  64. shelisrael OMG! That’s a riot! Also, I love that you can take the language of the geeks and make it relatable.

  65. DallasK ginidietrich belllindsay No, he is just hoping this will help his Klout score

  67. shelisrael ginidietrich that is an amazing collaboration.

  68. LauraPetrolino DallasK ginidietrich belllindsay I would never do such a thing!  SAY YOU ARE SORRY!

  69. Privacy (or lack thereof) is still a massive issue for people. Google buys NEST – suddenly they’re in our homes! Can we really expect *anything* to be private in today’s digital age?

  70. belllindsay There is no truth to the rumor that to change your temperature you will be forced to watch a 5 second ad…..
    As a nest owner, it kind of freaks me out that Google is now in my house. 🙁

  71. One of the topics that really fascinates me these days is the Internet of Things. Google just bought Nest for $3.2 billion in cash, and there are some huge implications in the precedent that sets. 

    Is the internet shifting away from a peer-to-peer communications network into something new?

  72. @jason_ LauraPetrolino They look super cool, but I still haven’t figured out what I would use it for if I bought one?

  73. In terms of relationships with our technology are we moving towards a http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001618/?ref_=tt_cl_t1 “Her” type of future?

  74. LauraPetrolino Sensors are tiny little things that notice change in many things, motion, direction, altitude, etc. They can also communicate those changes. You have at least seven of them in your smartphone. They are now being put into a great many things that are impact this new Age. Traffic light change because they see traffic congestion. You can swallow sensors in a pill and eliminate the need for intrusive medial tests. They are placed on tattoos so they can report changes in the health of people in comas. They are essentially self-driving cars. Collectively they talk with each other. So your thermostat can be reset by an iPhone app. This is creating what is called the Internet of Things where mobile apps can monitor and change object behaviors remotely. GE tweak airplane engines in motion and improves their maintenance program. Sensors automatically charge some cars when they park in a space. A sensor can see when you touch a box in a retail store and offer you a special deal. It goes on and on…

  75. belllindsay I don’t think so. And it’s a slippery slope. We want the ability to have some of the technology and conveniences that require this intrusion of privacy, but we don’t want to give up that privacy……

  77. DallasK belllindsay I almost bought a Nest when I replaced my thermostat last year. I opted instead for a nice Honeywell.

  79. jasonkonopinski Digital_DRK  I use Android, I find Siri is just too fake..

  80. LauraPetrolino DallasK I’m not a big privacy freak out person. But I think it was a very interesting acquisition!

  81. Digital_DRK You want to have a relationship with your phone?

  82. belllindsay LauraPetrolino DallasK  Agree. I’d love to hear howiegoldfarb ‘s thoughts on it.

  83. ginidietrich Digital_DRK  “She” my phone does enjoy……never mind that’s for another discussion.

  84. shelisrael LauraPetrolino GE better not tweak any planes if I’M flying in them! 😉

  85. ginidietrich In our book we call them Personal Contextual Assistants. Google Now is a well known example. PCAs get to know you better than your most intimate friend. They know you well enough to predict what you will want next–even before you do. They can suggest what you might like on television and they can warn people you are running late to your next appointment. They can wake you early because it snowed. T

  86. belllindsay shelisrael LauraPetrolino Bet you wouldn’t feel that way if the tweak extended fuel and saved the lives of you and everyone else on board.

  87. @jason_ DallasK belllindsay I have a nest, and now the nest protect.  I love it.

  89. belllindsay shelisrael LauraPetrolino Marc Benioff of Salesforce talked about the micro-social networks during his keynote at Dreamforce last year. 

    It’s fascinating technology, reporting diagnostic real-time to a team of engineers on the ground.

  90. shelisrael belllindsay LauraPetrolino Hmmm. Very good point. 😉

  91. DallasK Actually, the best place to read my stuff is My column is called The Contextual Beat.

  92. biggreenpen jasonkonopinski belllindsay ginidietrich A gal after my own heart.

  94. shelisrael LauraPetrolino Wow, that’s almost mind blowing with possibilities. I think the biggest concern (as well as opportunity) with things like this is the ability to see 10 steps down the road during innovation……interesting to think about. 

    This was a great explanation. Thank you.

  95. shelisrael I know some people get pretty freaked out by that, but I think it’s really freaking cool. Anything to make my life just a little bit easier!

  96. ginidietrich belllindsay Yes.

  98. ginidietrich DallasK Oh, sorry.

  99. DallasK @jason_ My next purchase is Nest for heat and Nest for fire/C02 – very very cool products. And aesthetically pleasing!

  100. ginidietrich Digital_DRK Gini, I would argue that we all have relationships with our phones. We depend upon them. We now how to hold them. We miss them terribly when we cannot find them. We worry about the health of their batteries. Without them we feel isolated.

  101. Another question for you, shelisrael :  Google Glass seems to me like a product without a strongly defined market. Certainly, it’s an intermediary technology.

    Where do you see Glass’ consumer future? Outside of serious geeks, I’m having a difficult time understanding how the technology as it stands right now would appeal to, say, a soccer mom.

  102. I don’t think the location-based apps have it right yet. Where do you see the future of things such as Foursquare?

  103. shelisrael ginidietrich Digital_DRK I remember when my phone was always on its leash. #wallphone #Iamold

  106. shelisrael ginidietrich Digital_DRK I left my iPhone at home this past Saturday. We were out running errands all day and I can say I did not miss my iPhone. Honestly, it was kind of nice to have a break from it.

  107. ginidietrich Right!? Impossible to win a radio call-in contest.

  108. belllindsay LOL!! Remember when you could just hit redial? That changed those contests forever!

  109. ginidietrich belllindsay Those wasted rotary hours of our lives.

  111. jasonkonopinski I don’t think it’s a shift, so much as an expansion. Remember there are over a billion people already part of the Internet of Things. But now we can use the Internet to have our car pull up from the garage to where we stand. We can know how healthy we are. We can help asthmatic kids breath easier. We can make cars, planes, dark streets and neighborhoods safer. We can make our homes run more efficiently and sustainably. It is not a shift so much as a great leap into an exciting new era.

  112. ginidietrich Foursquare has already began to evolve into more of a Yelp type app. I’ve been a Foursquare user since 2010 and I love it. It’s my digital diary of sorts, especially when it comes to trips. I can use it to store pics that I opt to delete from my iPhone.

  114. The fact that our technology can ‘get to know us’ is seriously creepy – though I experience it daily with my UP fitness band. Let’s go sci-fi – will technology ever take over?

  115. ginidietrich belllindsay  I won concert tickets on a rotary dial phone once.

  116. belllindsay ginidietrich I can beat this.  When I first moved to Maine, we had a party line phone.

  117. @jason_ ginidietrich HA! There’s NO WAY you ever had a rotary phone!

  118. DallasK belllindsay ginidietrich I dated a guy who had a party line. #awkward

  119. belllindsay you’re right I didn’t. My grandmother had one.

  121. shelisrael That’s an excellent point. I know Ford’s 2015 models will schedule maintenance appointments as the internal sensors detect either hit (a) recommended mileage milestones for things like oil changes and tuneups and (b) mechanical issues.

  122. @jason_ I had to stop using it because I had a stalker who was finding me through my check-ins.

  124. ginidietrich @jason_ Just to confirm, I wasn’t the stalker.

  126. How will 3D printing influence these “Personal Contextual Assistants” will we possibly be creating them ourselves and just using our Bitcoins to purchase the code to make it happen.?

  127. ginidietrich belllindsay We had a rotary phone, too.  Didn’t get our first cordless until I probably just entering middle school. 

    My FIL still keeps a rotary phone around for emergencies. You can’t make a phone call if the power is out (mobile device, not withstanding).

  130. belllindsay My iphone tells me how long it will take to get home when it notices me at work.  So these technologies are already starting to infiltrate our lives.  Frankly, it excites me!

  131. LauraPetrolino belllindsay Privacy was the elephant in our book. We began by writing about cool technology and the issue of privacy kept popping up wherever we looked. Snowden, Manning the Boston Marathon, NSA spying on citizens, the Secret FISA Court, all happened while we were writing our book and they each involved the technologogy whose praises we were singing.

    Security and privacy have started to be on different sides, or so it seems these days.

    We think there is a good deal that can be done between people and businesses. Businesses may be willing to be more transparent. Google has a site that tells you all the data it has collected on you and we think other businesses will follow. We users should have the right to go private and not be watched for a period. We should have the right to correct false data gathered on us and we should have the right to know who has access to that data.

    Where we are not so optimistic is in terms of people, businesses and the NSA. They seem to be running off the tracks. It seems like people of all political persuasions agree on that–yet no one seems to be able to stop the Orwellian implications of Big Data collectors watching us–at least not yet.

  132. KateNolan says:

    DallasK belllindsay ginidietrich I used to have to physically connect my phone to a computer. Then I hacked into a super-secret government computer and almost started a nuclear war.

  133. DallasK ginidietrich @jason_ me thinks he doth protest too much…

  134. jasonkonopinski ginidietrich belllindsay Wow, my dad wanted to do the same thing, like in case of an apocalypse.

  135. LauraPetrolino Love Florida. Just visited the Keys after speaking in Miami and seeing Art Besal.

  136. KateNolan DallasK belllindsay ginidietrich They made a movie about you!

  137. shelisrael LauraPetrolino IMHO, historically, we’ve always been “watched”, the watching (level of) has simply evolved with the technology. People who freak out about it today – then spend all day on the internet – kinda make me laugh.

  138. LauraPetrolino I’m jealous, I miss my home state of Florida!

  139. ClayMorgan shelisrael Context has been the missing part of our relationships that we have with technology. It is the part that determines who you are by what you like as well as the hard data f age, weight, etc. If technology knows who you are, where you are, the time of day, week, season and location then companies can offer you precisely what you want and leave you alone the rest of the time. I could write a book about the implications of context. n fact I have 🙂

  140. KateNolan says:

    DallasK KateNolan belllindsay ginidietrichReally? I’ll have to check it out. What’s it called?

  141. shelisrael ClayMorgan I don’t remember what I did five minutes ago. Yet my UP band does. *shiver*

  142. KateNolan DallasK belllindsay ginidietrich   Would you like to play a game?….Thermal Nuclear Global War…..”

  145. belllindsay shelisrael ginidietrich Partnerships may work best when you and your partner have different assets. Then you collaborate rather than compete.

  146. Digital_DRK KateNolan DallasK belllindsay ginidietrich  “I’m afraid i can’t do that Dave.”

  147. KateNolan says:

    Digital_DRK KateNolan DallasK belllindsay ginidietrich Y

  148. Digital_DRK belllindsay shelisrael ginidietrich Those aren’t crickets. There something wrong under the hood of your car. My sensors just reported it 🙂

  150. KateNolan says:

    belllindsay shelisrael ClayMorgan Yeah, i can’t decide if I love context or if it creeps me out. It’s cool, but the idea that someone can have access to all that info is creepy. Of course, I’m still pretty much an open book, so I guess it doesn’t freak me out that much.

  151. ginidietrich shelisrael Not always. Sometimes I don’t know WTF they are talking about. But then, I could say the same about my wife and she is anything but a geek.

  152. DallasK What about your Pebble watch? Does it do anything cool?

  154. DallasK KateNolan belllindsay ginidietrich Have you ever thought about how many crucial scenes in films from 25 – 30 years ago could be completely irrelevant with something like a cell phone?

  156. KateNolan says:

    jasonkonopinski DallasK KateNolan belllindsay ginidietrich Yes! I was watching an episode of Friends a month or so ago and there was a situation that absolutely wouldn’t have happened now. And that’s not even 25-30 years ago!

  158. KateNolan belllindsay shelisrael ClayMorgan I don’t think it is an either/or. The new technologies are already an essential part of modern life and are becoming more so at great speed. But there are unresolved issues that freak people out–and rightfully so. But trying to stop this contextual wave is like trying to stop a tsunami by punching it. You will not succeed and you will find yourself flailing about in deep water.

  159. I wrote how our banks credit card companies cable providers google tv know so much about us va Facebook. Privacy is an issue of trust. I trust google and visa and my ISP. I don’t trust facebook

  160. Howie Goldfarb AND if you have XBOX One, even more. It’s both cool and scary.

  161. jasonkonopinski I think it is an amazing movement. We covered in our book. Most people will not wish to become immersed in so much data so much of the time however. In the new Age of Context, most of us will quantify far more than we have previously–particularly in the area of health and fitness.

  162. shelisrael jasonkonopinski Sound like a cult, to me! 😉

  163. belllindsay This stuff is sci-fi. I remember as a kid in the 70s going through Disney’s Carousel of Progress and the narrator saying a dishwasher would one day be in everyone’s home.

  164. Word Ninja It is kinda cool to have had our feet in both world, though. My 14 year old son will grow up thinking this is just normal.

  166. We have just a couple of minutes left with Shel. Is there anything pressing you didn’t get to ask? jasonkonopinski? Google Glass?

  167. belllindsay shelisrael I’m optimistic that it’s increasing data fluency.

  168. ginidietrich jasonkonopinski I want to hear shelisrael discuss Glass.

  169. Digital_DRK 3D Printing is very important. Robert and I elt it touched on Context but fits more into the Maker’s movement which we touched on. I will cover at much deeper level in my next book on what is being called the Shared Economy. 3D Printing will allow people, artisans, craftsmen etc to make their own products. It has the disruptive ability to make something of use and value at extremely low cost. Jeremiah Owyang sees it taking back the making of low cost jewelry from China to local urban centers. I agree.

  170. ginidietrich jasonkonopinski Google Glass please

  171. @jason_ ginidietrich jasonkonopinski shelisrael What do people who wear glasses do???

  172. belllindsay Isn’t it nice when you do a search for “park” and Google or Bing know that you want a place for your kids to play near your current location and not a pace to put your car? Is that more creepy or more convenient?

  173. Thank you, thank you, Shel, for spending an hour with us!! Congratulations on the book! I’m half-finished with it and can’t wait to finish so I can write a review and recommend to my friends and colleagues.

  174. Word Ninja ginidietrich jasonkonopinski For context, shelisrael — I was wondering how you see the CONSUMER future of Glass evolving. I think it has enormous potential in industry/military/healthcare/law enforcement, but I don’t believe Google has made a compelling case for why Joe Q. Public would buy.

  175. @jason_ ginidietrich I like Foursquare. I think other companies have gone even further with location technologies, such as Waze.

  176. shelisrael – don’t get me wrong – I’m all for technology, and I think the advances in medicine, lifestyle, etc., are extraordinary! But still…it’s a bit creepy. LOL

  177. ginidietrich @jason_ That sucks. Is there no way to have reported that stalker and blocked him from seeing your location?

  178. Thanks for your contributions over the hour, shelisrael. A hour very well spent.

  179. shelisrael I agree. I appreciate you spending an hour of your busy day with us.

  180. shelisrael Digital_DRK Have you seen the 3D bones…??? I am so geeked out over 3D printing.

  181. Well this was fun. Thanks everyone for joining in. If I missed a question you’d like me to answer, please email me at shelisrael1@gmail.com or send it to me on Facebook shelisrael or Twitter @shelisrael

  183. belllindsay shelisrael Digital_DRK did you guys see doctors are using a hand held 3-D printer to carve them with?!?

  184. @jason_ belllindsay shelisrael Digital_DRK *swoon*

  185. @jason_ belllindsay shelisrael Digital_DRK  I did see that Jason!

  187. ginidietrich Digital_DRK DallasK The restraining order expired….I didn’t break the law!

  188. ginidietrich DallasK When I mountain bike, it shows my heart rate, speed, and time.  They are supposedly going to have 4square integration soon where I can check in directly from my watch.  Also, weather, sports, etc.

  189. shelisrael You know, I don’t know. Probably so. I was just so freaked out, I stopped using it.

  191. belllindsay So true. Your understanding of anything is expanded when you’ve experienced various perspectives (isn’t that a nice way of saying I’m middle-aged?) It’s been a blessing. I can’t imagine what the next “world” will look like for our children once they’re adults. Actually, my girls don’t have iPhones and rarely even watch TV, so I’m glad they haven’t completely been sucked in to the technology vortex yet. My 17-year-old thinks…to quote a great person…that it’s “creepy.”

  192. Ninja,

    When I was a kid, my parents probably could not have imagined television, or jet plane travel. They could not have imagined China as our number one trading partner or Japan as one of our closest allies. They could not picture a Black president or cellphones. Why should the lives of your kids not eclipse your personal vision?

  193. belllindsayshelisraelLauraPetrolinoginidietrich now that I am back at my mission control center I wanted to further elaborate.
    We give a lot of personal info to a lot of businesses. And for the most part we trust them. In fact we still trust businesses that get hacked with our data as long as we don’t have to pay for this in some bad way (like someone used your credit card number). 

    What shelisraelsaid is correct, With Transparency that gains more trust. And the reason we trust so many businesses even blindly is because usually their goals are to make more money providing you a better product or service. Facebook is the only business that uses your data to exploit you so they can provide a better service to Advertisers….the users? They don’t give a blee about unless we all leave, And that is why we don’t trust them.
    So with companies like Nest I mean all this is going to happen. When you watch Star Trek and doors open and close automatically that will happen (maybe not in vermont because we like 200 year old doors. But if it came down to Windmills blighting mountain ridges or giving up the doors to conserve energy? Doors are toast.

  194. On a serious note. So did anyone ask shelisraelhow on earth someone let Robert Scoble post a photo using Google Glass in the shower? because I will never let that man near my family or kids ever. And that proves sometimes it is important people are more private than they think they should be!

  195. shelisrael Ah, they absolutely should as my vision is limited no matter how expansive my imagination. I am simply glad my children also appreciate things in life today not touched by technology, the way I appreciated the things from my grandparent’s generation no matter how foreign those  things may have been to me in my every day modern world.

  196. SpinSucks says:

    Livefyre It was such a great convo! Thanks for sharing! ^lp

  197. Howie, No one asked me that. But if they had, I would point out that Robert is a good father to three wonderful sons. The shot, which revealed nothing below Robert’s navel was taken by his wife in his own bathroom. I would have preferred he didn’t do it, but it was done in good fun and generated much conversation.