Poken seems to have taken over the techie space as the next big thing in conferences and networking.  Don’t know what a Poken is?  Well, it’s basically a USB drive with a cartoon character for a cover.  The drive has software installed on it that automatically connects to the Poken website when you plug it in.  It also has a sensor on the hand that flashes when you “high 4″ with another poken, effectively exchanging virtual contact information.

I first learned of this product at Affiliate Summit East 2009, thanks to Peter Shankman mentioning them in his keynote.  It seemed like everyone wanted a Poken after that – and many people bought some from Peter before the conference was over.  Peter has obviously identified these cute little virtual business cards as a significant advance in sharing contact information, a “game-changer”, even.

But are Poken really the wave of the future?

It depends who you are.  If you travel and network a lot, they could be incredibly useful as they pick up popularity and more people are available for you to “high 4″ with.  Shelly Good-Cook says of the device, “I bought one a couple months and other than my twin sister, for whom I also bought one, I haven’t found anyone to “high five” mine with.  I took it to a networking event I attended in Arlington, VA recently where most of the attendees were young, hip and computer savvy, but none of them had heard of it yet.  I even met a reporter who covered that beat and it was new to her, so I gave her the scoop on it, hoping she covers it.  They may have won a Tech Crunch Award in Europe, but they still have work to do in the U.S. before they get wide spread adoption.  For me, this is like the early days of the fax machine.  I have one but there isn’t much value in it until a lot more people get one.  Most of the people I talked to about it at the networking event thought it was a great idea, although some of the men were less than thrilled with the limited design options.  Most thought $20 was reasonable for the functionality although a few balked at the price point, stating it was much too high.”

Poken has responded to the cartoon complaints and come out with a more professional looking Poken, the Poken Pulse, that looks much closer to a traditional USB drive and boasts 2GB of space and traditional USB drive functionality in addition to the Poken networking features.  At a higher price point, I actually expect more professionals will go with it over the cartoonish regular Poken as it does have that added functionality.  Most of the feedback I get about Poken are from my contacts in the affiliate marketing community, and I wonder now that there have been a couple more conferences if they’ve gotten more use.  Elizabeth Hannan said of her Poken, “I have had a experience with Poken at SXSW 09 where I was first introduced to Poken. It was incredibly helpful and made awkward introductions into easy conversations.”.  I can definitely see how that is beneficial for those of us that are friendly but not incredibly extroverted.

Whether or not these are the wave of the future, time will tell.  The buzz has seemed to died down in the last few months, but they’re not being tossed aside with that m100 Palm Pilot just yet.  Do you Poken?  Share your story!

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 Affiliate Marketing Fanatics 17 [42:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Affiliate Marketing Fanatics – A Publisher (Mike Buechele) and an Affiliate Manager (Trisha Lyn Fawver) talk about all things Affiliate Marketing. From blogging to branding, social media to search, video and more!

Well, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?  Schedules have been ca-razy lately and Mike & I just haven’t been able to get together to record.  So, welcome back as stand in co-host Eric Nagel!  We got back to our roots in talking strictly from the affiliate vs. affiliate manager discussion.  We come in at a cool 42:50.  In in this episode we discuss:

• The new Retweet function on Twitter – meh.
• Holiday affiliate contests
  • Paulson Management Group’s “A Jingle for your Jangle”
  • ShareASale’s Fourth Quarter Frenzy
• Increased communications from affiliate managers during the holidays
• Still more emphasis on Black Friday than Cyber Monday
• Happy Monday: The Importance of Mondays this Holiday
• Affiliates buying products through their own links
• Debate: Affiliates Buying Clickbank Products

We promise not to go this long again!

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A couple years ago, I had a pleasure of attending a real estate trade show in San Francisco where Hugh McLeod was the keynote speaker.  At the time, Hugh spoke at length about his work for a small tailor in London and with the Stormhoek Winery.  He also talked about his humble beginnings as a struggling copywriter who started to doodle on the back of business cards while sitting at a bar.  He has parlayed his art into the social media marketing space very effectively.  His ideas were incredibly interesting, and I instantly became a fan.

Ever since, I’ve made it a point to follow Hugh’s exploits through his blog Gapingvoid.com.  As a big fan of unique business cards, I’ve become a big fan of both the artwork he’s done for businesses and the quirky doodles he’s published from the backs of business cards.  Hugh has really leveraged social media and blogging more than most artists I’ve seen.  Some of his work, like Microsoft’s Blue Monster, has really become viral.

Recently, Hugh’s taken to creating larger format 21″ x 30″ art pieces that sell for around $400.  He also recently published a book, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Keys to Creativity, which goes into more detail on his ideas about marketing and mostly creativity.  He’s also having a great sale on his Create or Die! print, normally $400 is just $165 for a limited time only.  All you have to do to take advantage of this great deal is to go to the Gapingvoid Gallery, add the Create or Die image to your cart, an d enter the coupon code cod235 in the appropriate field at checkout.

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