Cappy Popp was recently quoted in an article in PC World titled “What Is Your Facebook Data Worth?” by Narasu Rebbapragada. Cappy talked about the massive amount of information that users willingly supply to Facebook in their profiles. The article goes on to talk about the newest privacy issues and hacks. You can read the full article here.

John Maver will be presenting, along with Jaime Tedford of Brand Networks on the recent Facebook Open Graph announcement and how businesses can take advantage of it.

The event will be held on June 10th at Northeastern University, starting at 8:30 am.

Facebook has yet again changed the game with theannouncement of the next version of the Facebook Platform.   Facebook Open Graph, the replacement for Facebook Connect, will position people at the center of the web in a way never seen before.   This new platform provides the widgets and tools that provide a quick opportunity to make businesses more viral and reach more potential customers on the web.   With the new features of Open Graph, Facebook is now able to do more than just connect people – they are giving meaning to these connections. The Open Graph, or “social graph,” is how Facebook describes the connections from people to what they like and as part of that, Facebook users will see and feel more social and personalized experiences.

The implications of this new “social web” platform are expansive.   In the week since the launch, more than 50,000 websites have implemented social plug-ins, already enabling those social experiences.    And many facets of the platform are already under debate; for example, with “Likes” now being essential social links that Google and other search engines won’t have full access to, how does this change search engine optimization as we know it today?

This platform affects everyone, whether we’re marketers trying to understand the new features for our clients (or our company), or whether we’re citizens wondering how this affects our privacy.  So, if you’re excited about how these changes could make Internet experiences easier and more social, or if you’re concerned about the effects this change has on your privacy, you don’t want to miss this event as we discuss the full realm of Facebook Open Graph.  Talking points will include:

• The difference between Open Graph and Connect
• Why the new version of the Facebook Platform is about more than just connecting people
• What new features are available for enabling websites to become instantly social – and best practices for leveraging these opportunities
• Privacy in the new model, especially with the instant personalization features

To register, visit – http://www.mitx.org//events/2231.cfm?register=1

Presented by the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Fidelity Bank Breakfast Series. Cappy Popp of Thought Labs talks about social media. Takes place from 7:30-9 a.m. at the Devens Common Center, 31 Andrews Parkway, Devens. Cost (includes breakfast): $20 for Chamber members, $30 for nonmembers. Information: 978-772-6976 or visit www.nvcoc.com

Synopsis
Are you dabbling in social media but interested in learning more? Come join us at our January Fidelity Bank Breakfast as guest speaker Cappy Popp talks about what’s changed with social media – the good, the bad and the ugly.

At this meeting you will learn:

• Facebook: 10 ways to grow your Facebook presence, what’s changing over the next year (Cappy’s Answer: “A Lot!”), Facebook advertising, and more!
• Twitter: What’s new with Twitter? How to leverage Twitter’s new features for your business, and who should you follow (and why!)
• Blogs: If you post it, will they come? 10 steps to becoming a better blogger (including whether to write or buy your content).

And most importantly – Management of Social Media. Now that you’ve signed up for Facebook and Twitter, now what?

Our book, Essential Facebook Development, is now available.

The synopsis:
With more than 300 million active users, Facebook is the world’s #1 social networking platform. But developing successful Facebook applications presents unique challenges, both technical and nontechnical. Now, two of the world’s most experienced Facebook developers show you exactly how to meet those challenges. Essential Facebook Development offers insider guidance and up-to-the-minute best practices for the entire application lifecycle: design, coding, testing, distribution, post-launch monitoring, metrics, and even application marketing.

Using extensive real-world examples, John Maver and Cappy Popp reveal why some Facebook applications succeed brilliantly while others fail. Next, they walk through building a complete application using every major component of the Facebook platform. Maver and Popp thoroughly cover Facebook’s most important new features, including Facebook Connect, and provide extensive information available nowhere else–from measuring application success to monetization. Coverage includes

• Thorough introductions to Facebook’s current architecture, integration points, and development technologies
• Discussion of successful Facebook applications–and what makes them successful
• What every developer must know about Facebook’s Terms of Service
• Creating an effective application infrastructure
• Creating canvas pages with FBML and IFrames
• Adding support for profiles, application tabs, and messaging
• Incorporating JavaScript into Facebook applications with FBJS
• Integrating Facebook into external sites with Facebook Connect and the Facebook JavaScript Client Library
• Debugging techniques for Facebook applications
• Spreading, monitoring, and tuning applications

You can purchase the book from the following sellers and more:

Stay up to date on what is happening with Facebook development and the book by becoming a Fan on its Facebook Public Profile, subscribing to the blog on the book’s website, or following the book’s updates on Twitter.

Thought Labs has published a new Facebook Public Profile for the West Point Directorate of Communications focusing on providing information to the hundreds of Parents Clubs around on the country and their members.

The new Public Profile has several features designed to inform Fans and increase user engagement:

• Custom FBML Parents tab – This is set as the default landing page for Profile visitors. This tab describes the benefits of Parents Clubs overall, features one of the many Parents Clubs around the country, and provides links to key content relevant to parents of previous and current cadets.
• Custom FBML R-Day tab - Registration Day is the beginning of the West Point experience for cadets and will occur on June 29th, 2009. This tab will serve as a reference guide for cadets attending R-Day as well as for parents wanting to find out more information about preparation and the events of the day.
• Integration of social media channels – The Profile pulls in cadet blogs, West Point YouTube channels and Flickr photos and puts them all into the Wall stream. Combined with daily Status Updates, Fans and Visitors will easily be able to keep up to day with what is important for West Point parents.

In a followup to the previous webinar on creating great Facebook Public Profiles, John Maver will be presenting 10 advanced tips to help brands maximize engagement and virality of their Facebook Public Profiles . These tips include:

• How to turn Visitors into Fans
• Using custom FBML Tabs as landing pages
• How to use a Profile’s viral features to reach a bigger audience
• Using Facebook Insights to measure your impact and increase engagement
• and more..

This webinar will be on June 24th at 3:30PM EST. Register to attend here.

Cappy Popp will be speaking at a MITX event Wednesday, June 24, 2009 on a panel titled,  ’Web Marketing on a Shoestring – Being Scrappy in a Down Economy‘.

The second installment of the MITX Marketing Technology Series, an educational series designed to explore the platforms, systems and infrastructures that allow marketers to execute efficiently, will be held  at K&L Gates at the State Street Financial Center in Boston from 8-10AM.

The following industry experts will be joining Cappy:

• Jeff Cram, CSO / Co-Founder,  ISITE Design
• Mike Volpe, VP Marketing, HubSpot
• Greg Slama, Manager of Contextual Marketing, One to One Interactive

Click here for detailed information about the event, or here to register.

Click here for directions. (or via Google)

MITX – the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange – today is the leading industry association in the country, bringing together digital technology, marketing and media professionals, to engage in what is next for the web and how it impacts the marketing and business worlds. With 250 plus member companies representing over 7,000 digital professionals, it is a dynamic and growing community of thought leaders, collaborators, and individuals in search of insight, education and opportunity. Check them out – or even better - join!

Our publisher,  Addison-Wesley Professional, has graciously published ‘Rough Cuts’ -  that means they still need final edits – of the first five chapters of our upcoming book, Facebook Development: A Complete Guide to Smart Application Development for the Facebook Platform, on InformIT’s Safari Books Online. Rough Cuts allow readers to get access to the book before it’s published or purchase advance copies.

Here’s an excerpt:

Currently Facebook has over  250 million active users and offers well beyond 52,000 applications — and the rate at which new applications are launching is staggering. But there is a lack of up-to-date information about developing those applications effectively — particularly in the light of platform  modifications that have rendered many applications obsolete. This book provides instruction on using the latest Facebook platform features and  helps developers create and deploy successful Facebook apps, revealing what makes them successful, how to measure progress, and how to deploy changes that will maximize the application’s value…

Please give it a read and let us know if you have any thoughts, questions, or ideas about the book or the chapters.

Thought Labs’s Cappy Popp will be speaking on a panel titled, “Linked in – How to Increase Sales“ on Thursday, June 18, 2009 from 11:45A – 1:30P at the Clark University Graduate Management Center in Framingham, MA. This should be an interesting event; it will undoubtedly be covering a much broader range of topics related to developing a brand and increasing your presence using all forms of social media. Please attend and bring some of your most pressing questions.

The following industry experts will be joining him:

• Mike Langford, CEO of Tweetworks
• Jeff Cutler, writer, JeffCutler.com
• Eric Guerin, founder SmartMarket media

The panel is sponsored by the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce. Many thanks to Ed Nunes, Business Banker with TD Banknorth for organizing it.

Click here to register for the event.

Click here for directions.

As part of the webinar on Taking Your Facebook Page to the Next Level, John Maver went through each change that Thought Labs made to the West Point Association of Graduates Facebook Public Profile to update it to use best practices. Look at the presentation on slideshare here.