The Conversation Age - Enabled

Helen Keller originally uploaded by dbking.
Have you ever wondered what life must have been like for Helen Keller - before Anne Sullivan shared with her the gift of communication? And how her world opened up once she 'got' that magic?

I hit me both physically and emotionally when I shared Helen's story with my 5.5 year old daughter. And it still affects me even when I read the Wikipedia article on Helen Keller.

Helen Keller's experience is the starting point for my contribution - titled "The Conversation Age - Enabled" - to a marvelous project conceived by Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton: an e-book titled "The Conversation Age" to which 100 bloggers have contributed their perspectives on this conversation-enabled world that increasingly surrounds us.

Proceeds from sales of the book will benefit Variety, The Children's Charity, to honor the memory of Sandra J. Kerley, CK's mom.

To learn more about the original concept, read Drew McLellan's Here's To The Conversation and Gavin Heaton's The Age of Conversation.

Mark Goren from Transmission Content + Creative invited me to participate when he posted about the project in Conversation Ageing. [Thank you, Mark!]

To whet your appetite for what will be the most thought-provoking and relevant book not only of the blogosphere, but also of 2007, a few of the authors have posted excerpts:

+ David Reich titles his chapter "Conversation - The Ultimate Customer Service".
+ Mack Collier's Which Conversation Are You Having?
+ Lewis Green's Can Gavin Come Out And Play?
+ Valeria Maltoni's The conversation age

Here follows the list of contributing authors - a who's who list of former Z-listers [see Extending buZZ...], insightful thinkers and very talented marketers. It's an honor to be caught between the virtual covers with this group!

Gavin Heaton, Drew McLellan, CK, Valeria Maltoni, Emily Reed, Katie Chatfield, Greg Verdino, Mack Collier, Lewis Green, Sacrum, Ann Handley, Mike Sansone, Paul McEnany, Roger von Oech, Anna Farmery, David Armano, Bob Glaza, Mark Goren, Matt Dickman, Scott Monty, Richard Huntington, Cam Beck, David Reich, Mindblob (Luc), Sean Howard, Tim Jackson, Patrick Schaber, Roberta Rosenberg, Uwe Hook, Tony D. Clark, Todd Andrlik, Toby Bloomberg, Steve Woodruff, Steve Bannister, Steve Roesler, Stanley Johnson, Spike Jones, Nathan Snell, Simon Payn, Ryan Rasmussen, Ron Shevlin, Roger Anderson, Bob Hruzek, Rishi Desai, Phil Gerbyshak, Peter Corbett, Pete Deutschman, Nick Rice, Nick Wright, Mitch Joel, Michael Morton, Mark Earls, Mark Blair, Mario Vellandi, Lori Magno, Kristin Gorski, Krishna De, Kris Hoet, Kofl Annan, Kimberly Dawn Wells, Karl Long, Julie Fleischer, Jordan Behan, John La Grou, Joe Raasch, Jim Kukral, Jessica Hagy, Janet Green, Jamey Shiels, Dr. Graham Hill, Gia Facchini, Geert Desager, Gaurav Mishra, Gary Schoeniger, Gareth Kay, Faris Yakob, Emily Clasper, Ed Cotton, Dustin Jacobsen, Tom Clifford, David Pollinchock, David Koopmans, David Brazeal, David Berkowitz, Carolyn Manning, Craig Wilson, Cord Silverstein, Connie Reece, Colin McKay, Chris Newlan, Chris Corrigan, Cedric Giorgi, Brian Reich, Becky Carroll, Arun Rajagopal, Andy Nulman, Amy Jussel, AJ James, Kim Klaver, Sandy Renshaw, Susan Bird, Ryan Barrett, Troy Worman.

You will definitely be hearing more including how to obtain your copy of this much sought-after publication, so stay tuned!

Technorati Tags: The Conversation Age, Z List, marketing, e-book, Helen Keller