Inspired by a number of other bloggers and authors, including Chris Brogan (Temple, Untangle, Practice), Jonathan Fields (Serve, Inspire, Transcend) and Chris Guillebeau (Finishing), I am starting 2012 with three words. I was tempted to say "launching" 2012 because that's what it feels like. More about that in a minute. First, my words:

Alignment

Quiet

Compassion

Alignment

2012 is going to be a year of adventure,

Context is one of those words that sparks a multidimensional image in your head. That is key to understanding why context (who, where, how, what, why) has as much to do with the success or popularity of a new book as does the actual content of that book. Who recommended the book to you? That counts for a lot. You tend to trust recommendations from friends who are discerning and on top of what's new.

Where did you hear about the

What, in fact, defines a book? Is it the linear, text-only format, whether digital or print? Is it the reading experience? Those are questions a lot of folks are asking. Two filmmakers in DC, Aziz Isham and Patrick White, have their own answer. Not a definitive answer, mind you. But an intriguing approach to the continuing redefinition of a book. Their answer has to do with non-linear storytelling, as well as with the experience of

It was exactly 10 years ago today, Aug. 22, 2001, that I published my first article about business blogging. Whew. A lot of water under the bridge since then, including 9/11, which happened only a few weeks later. The Corporate Bloggging Book was released exactly five years ago, in August 2006. The updated digital edition (with a new preface, a new section on Twitter and much more) is now available on Amazon Kindle. In the past decade

This is not the first summer that I’ve taken a break from all digital, all the time. And I hope it won’t be the last. As I wrote last July, there’s something about a stretch away from DC that makes me feel like a kid at camp who wants to try new activities. This summer it was plein air painting. Above is the result of a class I took with painter Jill Hoy.

Please understand that I am not, nor do I consider myself, an artist - nor do I

I posted a "gentle heads-up" on my Facebook page to announce that I’m slowly weeding out "friends" I don’t "know" or at least have some connection with. As I put it:  "I joined fb four years ago and initially said yes to every request. But now I want to limit my friends to those with whom I have some meaningful connection, either online or off."  Oops. Not clear enough. Three people I "know" immediately jumped on and commented that