Two weeks ago I came up with a little experiment for the people that follow me on Twitter. Initially my idea was to see how many people might call if I posted my phone number in a tweet along with some instructions to call. The tag #walkandtalk made sense to me cause I’m not a fan of abbreviating the word “and” down to the letter”n”. The concept is simple have my phone on me while walking around my neighborhood. Basically my plan was to open my line up to anyone who cared to call and talk.

I have to admit I thought my half hour or so walks would be high powered productive conversations that would spawn some of the most innovative and exciting ideas that the world has ever seen. In this delusion I would be talking with well known political figures, inventors, high powered business people, big time creatives and a variety of geniuses that all for some reason all follow me on Twitter. My thinking is since they follow me, they must want to hear what I have to say… right? The reality was far from my delusion. It’s interesting to think about how on a regular basis, we all basically working on closing the gap between reality and delusion.

The Numbers
I currently have
587 followers on Twitter.
When I started doing the walk and talks I had
571 followers on Twitter.
Of those followers, I’ve probably met 1/4 of them in person. This makes me feel like I got a good group of followers.
When I track links I post on Twitter, on average I get about 45 clicks to what ever it is I link to.
I tweeted with the #walkandtalk tag 9 times along with my phone number and a number of minutes I’d be available to talk.
I was retweeted once by @digitalsnowmen
@dearestportland inquired about what #walkandtalk was
and finally @podgnosticast was the first actual caller after about two weeks of walk and talks. JC even recorded an interview with me about the project that you can listen to at
http://s.mohdi.com/podwalktalk

I figured after the interview I realized it was time to share my understanding of the results of the #walkandtalk experiment.

The Results
Data doesn’t do much good unless someone comes along and points out some obvious observations about it.
Now I’m no professional analyst and I’m sure anyone reading this might have a different opinion on what to take from this.

There are a lot of factors to take place when analyzing any data, and it’s difficult to look at anything without taking a look at other things going on. It’s fairly safe to assume that the people that follow me generally won’t call a number when they see it in a tweet. For several reasons this might be the case.
Why not call? Below are some possible reasons why I believe I only got one call in 2 weeks.

• Time. Followers don’t see the tweets in real time so by the time they actually see my tweet the walk and talk time period is up. A lot of people might just be busy too.
• People don’t want to talk to strangers. Maybe at some point we should be taught to talk to strangers…
• The unknown? I’m guessing a lot of people don’t want to participate in something they know very little about. That is why if you are trying to raise money for something, it’s probably helpful to tell people what you are raising money for.
• Perhaps Twitter is for talking not for listening.
• I’m not famous and I’m not girl. This might account for a lot of people not calling me.
• People often don’t give value to things that are free. If I charged a small amount of money and had a tiny bit of marketing, I’m fairly certain I would have received more calls. A while back I sold calls to peoples pets for $1 and actually made a number of calls..

I think that’s a good reason bullet list why people didn’t pick up the phone and actually call.
Ideally as more people actually participate in this project, there might actually be some more innovations to report on.

Remember when advertising used to be called social networking?
While so far this is my experience posting my phone number on Twitter, I do encourage others to post their number and do their own #walkandtalk to see what comes from it. Other than the potential for abuse, I think that for the most part more good than harm can come from actually talking with the people you follow or that follow you.

Now What?
I’m thinking that with a little understanding about this project perhaps more people will participate in the walk and talks. I would love to even post a video, photos and or share a map along with where I go, what I do and what happens on these walks. I see #walkandtalk being a fantastic tool and exercise in the practice of creativity. It’s an ever changing concept that really explores individual communication and hopefully will help in connecting people.

Next time I talk about walk and talks, I hope to have some interesting stories to tell from some amazing people.

If you would like to hear more about this idea or project give a listen at Podgnosticast
http://s.mohdi.com/podwalktalk

Perhaps I’ll be talking with you next #walkandtalk on Twitter.

At some point reality is created from the delusion of it.

#walkandtalk

Or click here to see it. I know the size is funky.

Basically a bunch of people are going to get together and write letters. Since I’m pretty horrible about writing letters this is going to be a good opportunity to get some letter writing practice in. The party is set for Wednesday, July 22. So I’m collecting addresses from folks. If you would like to receive a fantastic letter from me, please email me ( drew at mohdi dot com) your mailing address. Chances are you will get a nice little surprise in the mail. 

I think people all over should have letter writing parties. Here’s how Ashley is describing the event. Brilliant.

WHAT IN THE WORLD?
Come celebrate this country’s finest public service– 44 cents for guarenteed, uncensored communication weighing one ounce or less with anyone in the continental 48 that you can put an address or P.O. Box to.

BRING
-yourself and your beautiful sensibility
- address(es) of friends, lovers, mothers, or foes
- art supplies / interesting, flat artifacts to send away
- your friends (lovers, mothers, and foes)

DO NOT BRING

- perishable iteams
- flammable or explosive goods
- knives, razors, boxcutters
- fireworks, hopscotch or other illegal hobbies
THESE CANNOT BE MAILED!

*ENVELOPES AND STAMPS can be purchased at cost during the party
**supplies are free and available to everyone who can’t bring their own (pens, paper, paints, etc)

About “Departure”

Oregon artist Drew Anderson shows a vast body of his work in his
Departure show. A long time resident, Drew has shown throughout
Portland for the past decade. Here we showcase a variety of his recent
work, from intricate weaves of ink on both paper and antique cabinet
cards, to original block cuts.

A new series entitled Buy My Sketchbook
(http://www.buymysketchbook.com), which has recently been on display
in London and Tokyo, will be viewed as a large-scale projection.

Despite his recent move to Brooklyn NY, the artist will be present
virtually via video conference, and ready to answer any questions.

This show will be an exciting exploration of imagination and whimsy,
and may be the last we see of this artist for some time.

About Drew Anderson

Find out more about Drew and his ongoing online project: Millions of
Hundred Dollar Ideas at http://www.Mohdi.com

About ON Gallery

ON Gallery is a new addition to the Everett Station Galleries.

ON Gallery is a project focussed on exploring the relationship between
art and technology by displaying technology and interactive media in a
gallery setting.

ON Gallery is now seeking artists and collaborators to show 2d, 3d,
installation, videography, interaction, kinetic sculpture and other
artistic practices which are supported or informed by technology.
Please send proposals in pdf or plain text format to
callforartists (a t ) ongallery.org

ON Gallery
321 NW 6th Avenue #101
Portland, OR 97209
971-925-1254
http://ongallery.org
curator ( a t ) ongallery.org

Lillian had a great idea last week. We saw a car drive by with something that resembled a hat. She thought it was rather funny and that cars could have all sorts of accessories to help us humans relate a bit more to our cars while showing that we as individuals can demonstrate our uniqueness by adding a selection of items to our vehicles.

Personally I think that most modes of transportation would be a lot more fun with the addition of a tail. Perhaps the tail could be an extension of the exhaust pipe or could possibly have brake lights in it.

Adding accessories to your car might also make your car feel better and if cars are anything like humans, when they are happy, they tend to get better gas mileage.

My friend Dan from the other side of the globe had a wonderful idea that is all about the people behind the pictures on flickr. He has launched interviewr.net to dive into details about people on flickr.
I was honored to be the first person interviewed on the site and I thought it might be fun to share this with you. It’s was fun doing the interview and I look forward to seeing more interview on the site. There are a ton of people on flickr that I would just love to learn more about.
I’ll be keeping my eye on the site and hope you will too.

So..
If you want to watch as the Pennsylvania primary numbers come in, listen to some music and special guest speakers and eat some great food. Please join me tonight.

There is a minimal donation at the door of $15 to get in but, I think it might be worth it.

Click the image above to check out the new shop…

I would love to hear about your etsy selling experiences if you have any.. I certainly could use advice on actually selling some stuff through there.