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Geek Girl Profile -

Name: Laurel Papworth
Screen Names: SilkCharm or Laurel Papworth.
Personal Blogs:
http://silkcharm.blogspot.com (social networks blog)
http://laurelpapworth.com (corporate site)
http://bloggerati.com.au (not a blog but a social news site on Web 2.0 in Australia)
http://mymobilepals.com  (mobile phone social networks)
Social Networks:
Bebo, BlogTalkRadio, Cyworld, del.ico.us, Digg, Dopplr, Facebook, Flickr, FriendFeed, Friends Reunited, Furl, Hi5, Jaiku, Last.FM, Linked In, Ma.gnolia.com, MyBlogLog, MySpace, NewsVine, Ning, Plurk, Pownce, Second Life, Slideshare, Social Networks blog, SocialThing, StumbleUpon, Technorati, ThisIsMyJam, Tumblr, Twitter, Upcoming, Vimeo, Wikipedia, YouTube.

Current Employment: Social Network Strategist and educator

AFTRS - I mentor cross media projects for LAMP, and lead social networking INSIGHTS Masterclasses
University of Sydney - I wrote a course a few years ago (2005) on how to use Social Media for Marketing. It's current incarnation is called Facebook Blogs and Marketing. I also teach How to Build an Online Community (forum management etc) and How to Blog
University of Western Sydney - I teach social media as part of a Masters of Convergent Media
Middle East Broadcasting - teaching Arabic women how to blog in Saudi Arabia.
OR FROM MY WEBSITE:
    * facilitator who develops, teaches and evaluates practical courses on strategy, marketing, media, monetisation, building and managing forums, creating online buzz, integrating online community discussions and future directions of web 2.0.
    * International strategist who works at an executive level to facilitate understanding of the impact of social networking on industry sectors.
    * Top 100 Australian blogger focusing on online communities and social media marketing.
    * commenter, regularly interviewed about social networks in international press and on Australian TV shows and Radio National, Vogue Australia, The Australian and the Fin Review, Sydney Morning Herald, Telegraph, and various magazines.
    * Mentor on cross media projects for Australian Film, Television and Radio School.
    * Mentor on social media marketing for the Australian Businesswomen's Network.
    * Educator teaching marketing, blogging, facebook, P.R. and advertising courses (University of Sydney) and Social Media subjects (Masters of Convergent Media, University of Western Sydney
    * Keynote speaker and workshop facilitator - teaching Arabic women how to blog in Saudi Arabia (I went to Jeddah for a week in March 2008)
    * consultant with electronics, telecommunications, film and media, television, publishing, National, State and regional government, not for profits,
    * Public speaker and presenter (usually with a practical workshop attached) - AIIA, WebDirections, TravelTech, No Vacancies, TourismFutures, P.R and Marketing (Sydney and Melbourne), RMIT Australian of the Year awards, EDNA, Walkley Journalism, Sydney Freelance Journalism, Mobile Monday Sydney, ad:tech Sydney, and overseas conventions.

Location: Australia mostly.

What is your reason/motivation for blogging?

I guess I blog because I have 20 years experience in online communities that others may want to hear about. Blogging is a great P.R and marketing tool - I get a lot of contracts and media interest from my blog. I start discussions that help me develop my thoughts through my blog. I also stake ownership on an issue - having had presentations swiped wholesale by others, I now know to make it all public so people know where the ideas/examples first came from! I also use my blog to get my ideas from my head into the world where they might be useful instead of keeping me awake at night!

What is it that you find yourself blogging about, mostly the same stuff or does it vary?

I concentrate on making ONE point each blog post, else it becomes a forest/trees issue. I talk on the same sort of topics - Identity and Trust, Roles and responsibilities in communities, monetisation and revenue streams for social media, Marketing and customers creating anti-marketing communities and so on, but developed with different examples to highlight different points.

What style of blogging do you do, short and regular, or not so regular but long, other? And is your blogging just text or do you also use audio or video?

I try to have as much multimedia as possible. Most of the population learn in visual mode so videos are great.  Light and colour and sound makes for an attractive blog post.
I am pretty regular but a binger or burster - Nothing for a day or two, then 3 or 4 posts in one day. But over all (on a week by week basis) fairly regular.

How Laurel became a Geek Girl Blogger:

I was deeply involved in a MMORPG (working not playing!) during the early 2000's. When I moved back to Australia, the work tapered off, and I decided to try and organise my thoughts on how to run a virtual world game for fun and profit. I blogged at first with that intention but I was also interested in the "customer has a voice" aspect. The power that consumers had in our community was amazing, and herding cats had nothing on trying to calm down a community in uproar.  Writing about techniques on how to do that was calming for ME... :)
Probably the last prompt was that a few years ago people said "online communities are all very well and nice, but there is not profit, no money in it." I had to research to find out where the revenue streams were and which ones were sustainable.
Gradually I noticed that I had a small (it's still small) audience and very niche - New Media and Interactive media organisations were interested in what I had to say, a fresh voice I guess. I am lucky that as I am a consultant outside of traditional New Media organisations, I am seen as "new" and "innovative". My blog allows me to keep churning out fresh ideas that hook potential clients in... :)

Thanks for reading this weeks Geek Girl Blogger Profile! Please come back next week for our next Geek Girl Blogger.

aManda