Joe Wikert has a great post up today that was inspired by a Forbes article decrying Facebook and Twitter. 

That post was quite timely for me.  Yesterday, I attended an Advertising Club of NY networking breakfast. The topic was supposed to be “Technology: The Engine of Innovation”, but like many of these events, it barely skimmed the surface of what I was looking to hear. I attend networking events like this for several reasons. One is to get out from behind my computer and actually network. Talk with others who are out there doing what I’m doing, or better, what I want to do. Another reason is to learn something new, be inspired, and get energized about my work. Overall, I did better with the first than the second. The panel was supposed to talk about how so-called “new media” was changing the way marketers promote our brands, and how to find the best mix between offline and online promotions. The presenters were from a mix of technology companies(IBM, Microsoft, Yahoo, Panasonic and Xerox).  For the most part, there wasn’t a lot of “there” there.  They all talked about the corporate vision for brand promotion, but it was too top level to give the audience any “ah ha” moments.  Other than when the most-excellent woman from Yahoo (Mary Bermel) spoke, I didn’t find myself writing down too many gems or insights.  I hoped to hear more about true social networking and real world examples and best practices, but that really didn’t come out of the session. Maybe I read the description wrong, but others in the elevator after the session seemed to have the same perspective.

However, and back to the point of this post, two of the panelists, who really didn’t seem to embrace other Web 2.0 points, were Twitter embracers.  They both said that Twitter can serve as an excellent tool for marketers.  Obviously, this made my brow wrinkle, as the idea of following along with someone’s day online is about as exciting as taking 13 items in the 12 items or less line at the Food Emporium.  But Chris Webb has been converted, Wrox has started a Wrox Twitter thing, and Scoble seems hooked.  Today’s question – will I be sucked in via pure geek peer pressure, or is there something to this Twitter thing? The Twitter tag line is “What are you doing?” and as such, I ask the same question of the Twitter community, with the add on, “How are you doing it?” And so, the adventure begins…

Many of you may have wondered why Mary Jo Foley is listed as a Wiley author when she has not as of yet written a book for Wiley.  “As of yet” is the key word in that sentence.

Today on her Microsoft Watch blog, she announced that she will be coming out with Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era. 

She posted a brief description on her blog and revealed the cover.  This cover process was pretty easy, surprisingly.  The designed submitted several candidates, and when we saw this one, the lightbulb went off and we felt we had something pretty cool on our hands. 

All of us at Wiley are geeked about this book.  Mary Jo’s blog has been required reading for me for a while.   I’m very eager to get her take on what’s the current state of Microsoft and what she thinks it’s future direction will be.   Congrats, Mary Jo!

Microsoft is apparently looking to buy a minority stake in Facebook, according to an article in WSJ online dated tomorrow.  Some might see this as the ultimate jump the shark moment for Facebook.  Me, personally, I’m curious to see how Microsoft’s oftentimes closed development environment could play out on a site like Facebook.  Either way, you knew it had to happen, and someone was going to do it. Why not MSFT, to get the jump on Google.