Brad Feld Co-Founder of the Foundry Group and Techstars is coming to Detroit for Brand Camp ’12 Detroit on October 22, 2012. Brand Camp is excited to be hosting his talk and book signing at the M@dison Building.

Startup Communities - Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City

Startup communities are popping up everywhere, from cities like Boulder to Boston and even in countries as varied as Iceland. These entrepreneurial ecosystems are driving innovation and small business energy in their communities and throughout the world.

Brad Feld will talk about how to create a long-term startup community in your city. He’s describe the Boulder Thesis, the framework he’s come up with working with other leaders in Boulder to create on of the most vibrant startup communities in the world. He will discuss specific examples and help you understand how to apply the Boulder thesis to your startup community.

Attendees who register for Brand Camp ’12 Detroit will review a FREE copy of Brad’s new book, ‘Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in your city. Register today to get your copy: http://bcu12detroit.eventbrite.com.

Connect with Brad Online:
Twitter: @bfeld
Website: http://feld.com

Brand Camp ’12 Detroit has one of the most powerful lineups in the conference history that will be converging on Detroit on Monday, October 22, 2012. We are very excited to present to the Detroit entrepreneurial startup and tech community some of the smartest people that are focused on small business and technology.

Conference Speakers

• Hajj Flemings – Founder of Brand Camp University
• Brad Feld – Co-Founder of the Foundry Group
• Kathleen Warner - COO of Startup America Partnership
• C.C. Chapman – Author of Content Rules
• April Holmes – World’s Fastest Amputee/Paralympic Gold Medalist
• Bobby C. Smith - Founder of EnGarde Detroit!
• Phil Cooley - Owner of Slows BBQ/Ponyride
• Mike McGeary - Co-Founder of Engine Advocacy

Register for Brand Camp Detroit: http://bcu12detroit.eventbrite.com

Follow: http://brandcampu.com
Twitter: @BrandCampU
Hashtag: #bcu12

The 2012 conferences series will focus on creating a transformational learning experience around 5-Core areas called BETAs:

BETAs [Branding + Entrepreneurship + Technology + Aspiration + Startups]

Brand Camp is a gathering of thought leaders, technologist, geeks, and creative’s around a discussion on branding, entrepreneurial thinking, startups and digital technology. The purpose of Brand Camp is to change how people build, launch, and grow ideas and use technology as personal brands, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs (employees), small businesses and corporations.

The purpose of the inaugural Brand Camp University Google Hangout is to provide entrepreneurial, branding and technology strategies to entrepreneurs. This session will be facilitated by Brand Camp University Founder Hajj Flemings and 9-entrepreneurs from around the nation.

Date: July 9, 2012 6:30pm-7:15pm EST

Here is the format:

Personal Brand Discussion: Hajj Flemings will facilitate a brief workshop session on personal branding

9 x 1 Crowdsourced Problem Solving: Each participant brings one startup or branding business problem they are trying to solve. Over a one-week period as a community we will prove feedback to help solve the problem of each entrepreneur. Each participant will share a Google Doc and list their problem. (We will discuss how this will be facilitated during the Google Hangout and then work offline)

Q +A: I will answer questions of attendees! This section will be interactive so we will allow everybody to provide feedback as well.

Goal: The goal is to provide solutions for passionate entrepreneurs!

For more information upcoming Google Hangouts follow Hajj Flemings on Google Plus at: http://gplus.to/hajjflemings

Brand Camp University Online is launching its Google Hangout Series on Tuesday, July 9th at 6:30 EST sponsored by Google. The interactive Brand Camp University Google Hangouts will cover entrepreneurship, startups and branding and will be lead by Hajj Flemings The Google Hangouts will happen monthly. We are inviting 9-people to participate for ‘FREE’ and here are the rules:

Instructions on how to get selected:

• Add me on Google Plus (http://gplus.to/hajjflemings) and you will then get added to the ‘Brand Camp - Google Hangout’ circle. We will be selecting participants from from there.

• Post to your Twitter Account and include @BrandCampU & @HajjFlemings, hash tag #gplusbcu and why you should be selected.

I look forward to seeing you online!

November 26^th is known as Small Business Saturday.

The 2nd annual Small Business Saturday® is
 a day dedicated to supporting small businesses 
on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

On November 26, we’re (American Express) is asking millions of people to Shop Small at their favorite local stores and help fuel the economy. When we all shop small, it will be huge.

Brand Camp University is excited to participate in Small Business Saturday by sharing links to the books of some of our Alumni/Faculty speakers. Brand Camp is more than a local conference it is a community of people and we thought it would be interesting to share business book resources today.

• Olivier Blanchard – Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization
• Ken Brown – Life Through the Arches
• C.C. Chapman – Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business
• Melinda Emerson – Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months: A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business that Works
• PR Sarah Evans - The Social Media #Probook, 20 experts share industry insight
• Laura Fitton - Twitter For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
• Mitch Joel – Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.
• Spike Jones – Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements
• Peter Shankman - Customer Service: New Rules for a Social Media World

Thanks for supporting the Brand Camp University - Faculty!

You’re invited to the “After Brand” Brand Camp University Detroit Afterglow. Hosted by OnStar!

http://onstarbrandingevent.eventbrite.com/

Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Featuring, Andrea Kates, author Find Your Next

Nick Pudar, OnStar Vice President, Business Development and Planning

Come meet Andrea Kates and receive a copy of her new book

(Free for first 100 guests)

Complimentary valet parking

Hors d’oeuvres & open bar

Location:

Brand Camp Detroit has a fun new theme song! With less than a week to go before the event, Brand Camp and Splink Media partner to release “Likes & Follows”. As the title suggests, this song pokes fun at social media fanatics (mostly ourselves) and a growing obsession with getting as many “likes” and “follows” as possible.

So give it a listen. If you like it as much as we do, feel free to download the song and share the link.

Rock on!

There was recently an online conversation sparked on Twitter on the subject of diversity and Silicon Valley with Michael Arrington’s comments from the documentary, CNN’s Black In America 4 that airs 11/13/11 at 8pm EST. The sound bite that was heard around the world and started the debate was, ‘I don’t know a single black entrepreneur.’

Is Michael Arrington Racist?

After watching the video clip, where he states, ‘I don’t know a single black entrepreneur’, and reading his blog post, ‘Racism the Game’, I truly don’t believe that Michael Arrington is a racist based upon those two slices of information. What I do believe is that whether he thinks he was bamboozled or hoodwinked into the CNN interview it is clear that he was stating how he truly felt, right, wrong or indifferent. The reality is, that the statements that Arrington made he is not alone in his sentiment, maybe the most outspoken but, definitely not alone.

My NewME Accelerator Experience

Why am I jumping into the conversation? First, let me provide you some context of who I am. I am a 39-year old Mechanical Engineer from Detroit and co-founder of a startup called Gokit (the startup world would call me a non-technical founder because I don’t code. YET!) I was one of the 11-startup founders in the NewME Accelerator this past summer, which was the first minority led tech accelerator. I had a very eye opening experience living in Silicon Valley. For anyone in the tech startup space spending time in Silicon Valley is imperative if you have the opportunity. It provides you a contextual understanding of the startup ecosystem: veteran entrepreneurs, angel investors, startups and VCs.

During the 9-week program, I had the opportunity to be immersed in the startup culture spending time at Facebook with their platform developers, Mitch Kapor a mentor who commercialized the spreadsheet at Lotus, and much more. I found that there are some very good people in Silicon Valley that see talent and are willing to provide information for those who get access.

The reality of Silicon Valley hit me the first week of the program when I heard two terms/phrases that embodied my trip and the obstacles that many face African-American founders face in launching successful startups, ‘meritocracy’ and ‘pattern matching’. Let’s first start by defining both terms:

• Meritocracy is defined as opportunity being determined purely based upon talent, merit, credentials, and education alone.
• Pattern Matching is a selection criteria based upon built in basis, meaning that I select people that are look and are like me.

In the U.S. it is pretty safe to say we don’t live in a meritocracy and Silicon Valley and the startup space is not exempt from that. I will go on the record and as that Silicon Valley is absolutely diverse in terms of an ethnic perspective, but there is a total void of an African-American presence.

Our experience is captured in CNN’s Black In America 4: The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley. This documentary is ground breaking. Think about this point, when way the last time you saw a group of African-Americans on prime-time TV and they were not athletes or entertainers?

In The Year 2042 Minorities Become the Majority

Where do we go from here? According to the U.S. Census by the year 2042 minorities (primarily Blacks and Hispanics) will be the majority of the population. How will this change the mindset of the startup space as we move towards that date? Tristan Walker refers to this point in his recent interview with Laurie Segall of CNN Tech Money.

Is there a Difference between Detroit and Silicon Valley?

Is Silicon Valley unique in the sense of this issue on diversity? According to data in the CB Insights a report on startups that focuses on gender and race the answer is absolutely no. The reason that I make this statement is that the report covers New York (Silicon Alley) and Boston and the issues are the same in those markets.

As I come back to Detroit I am very interested in being apart of the startup landscape and helping to breakdown some of the walls in Detroit that I saw in Silicon Valley. I wish Michael Arrington and others were right that opportunity is based purely upon talent and merit. The problem with that statement is that there are other issues that impact opportunity in this case are primarily access and relationships.

Here is my commitment to Detroit. The NewME Accelerator was a life-changing event for me and I thank Angela Benton and Wayne Sutton for having the courage to make it happen. Part of my personal responsibility goes beyond having the opportunity to be on TV but in helping bring awareness to of the startup space in Detroit to underrepresented groups especially African-American and Hispanic.

With the unemployment rate in the state of Michigan at 11.1% the startup community is going to be a vital part of attracting and retaining young talent in the state of Michigan. Currently, there is a hugh demographic that is totally excluded from the startup space in terms of representation. This group is African-American founder, which make up, 1% of VC backed startups nationally.

Hitting the Ground Running in Detroit

Talking with 300-Detroit High School Students about Tech Startups

On Wednesday, November 9th Brand Camp University is partnering with DAPCEP (Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program) and the UAW/GM and we are doing a pre-screening for the CNN Black In America 4 documentary to 300-Detroit High School students. The focus is to build awareness of tech startups as a career option and addressing the pipeline issue of getting Detroit students to think about education in STEM (Science Technology Math

CNN Pre-Screening at Google (Birmingham, MI)

CNN Black In America 4 Pre-Screening at Google (Birmingham, MI) on 11/10/11

By the time the Black In America 4 documentary airs on 11/13/11 over 350-people will have been apart of the live viewing of the documentary in Detroit. This will make Detroit one of the largest viewing markets of CNN approved self-hosted pre-screening locations next to New York and Silicon Valley.

Thanks to the Michigan Minority Business Development Council, Google, DACEP, and the UAW/GM for their sponsorship and support.

-Mike McClure, Yaffe Group Executive Creative Director & Social Media guy

You don’t have to be a solopreneur or trying to sell yourself to get a lot out of Brand Camp University. It may be about personal branding and attract a large following of people who are trying to get their own businesses started. And for good reason. But, I can tell you from personal experience that Brand Camp is worthwhile, even if you’re in a well-established larger firm and do branding for a living. Because I am one such individual and I’ve gotten a whole lot out of my previous Brand Camp experiences.

At my first Brand Camp, Mitch Joel was one of the speakers. I had never heard of him before. Now thanks to Brand Camp, he’s one of my favorite sources of constant inspiration. I won his book “Six Pixels of Separation” at the event and found it fascinating and helpful. I started following his blog and I never miss one of his podcasts. This is just one way Brand Camp has affected my life on a weekly basis since I first went.

Another way Brand Camp changed how I saw myself was Scott Monty’s talk about “The Rise of the Brandividual.” These are people like Richard Branson and Steve Jobs, who’s personal brands were a part of the larger brands they represented. Scott talked about how his personal brand was deeply intertwined with the Ford brand. At the time, I was doing all the outfacing social media for The Yaffe Group, for which I’m a partner and part owner. Scott’s talk made sense to me, to start thinking of myself as Yaffe’s brandividual in the social space. It’s the reason, to this day, if you go to my twitter page you’ll see Yaffe information as my background.

One of the most moving presentations I’ve ever seen took place at Brand Camp. Paraplegic Olympic gold medalist, April Holmes, told her story and the room feel silent in rapt attention. It was so moving, more than a few sniffles could be heard throughout the crowd. She even passed her gold medal around so each of us could take a picture with it and know our dreams were achievable if we kept at it.

Brand Camp is also a chance to meet and talk to some of the top people in their fields. Last year, I got back early from lunch to find Peter Shankman sitting in the lobby having a conversation with perhaps a dozen people. I joined the conversation and found him to be very personable and approachable. It’s only at events like this that you have a chance to get into a small group discussion with someone of Peter’s caliber. I also saw Ungeeked’s Cd Lang speak and have since connected with her in numerous conversations via twitter.

So, sometimes it’s about what you learn and how you use it going forward. Sometimes you find someone who’s content will provide great value in the long haul. Sometimes it’s about the connections you make. In any case, I’ve found Brand Camp University to be incredibly valueable in both my professional and personal life. And I look forward to seeing what this year’s event will bring!

Mike McClure

Yaffe Group Executive Creative Director & Social Media guy

Creating and contributing unique and differentiating value is one effective way you can communicate and establish your personal brand online and offline and there are countless different ways to publish and share your expertise, opinion and perspective for the world to see.

While no one would ever expect you to do them all, it is important that you choose the one or ones which are right for you, your industry and your career direction to ensure you’re present, can be easily found specifically online and come across as credible and competent expert in your chosen field.

Here are the top 10 ways to publish your personal brand:

1. Books & Publications: Getting published by a publishing house or publication carries certain prestige and credibility. You may know of publications and/or publishers in your industry to which you may want to send your content, but do check out the Writers Market series, as they provide invaluable resources and directories for writers. You may also consider self-publishing a book through CreateSpace or Lulu. You can also self-publish e-books in pdf format and share them via your blog or website, Scribd, SlideShare and across your networks.

2. Your Own Blog: Blogging and contributing value-added content to better serve your industry can be an outstanding way to increase your visibility and demonstrate your unique value to potential employers and career stakeholders. Blogs are very easy to get started, but do require time, energy and commitment. There are both free and self-hosted platforms to choose from, including WordPress, Blogger and Typepad.

3. Guest Posting: If you’re not ready to commit to starting your own blog, consider writing content to contribute to other industry blogs. To find candidate blogs for your posts, do a quick Google search, check out the blogrolls of leading blogs in your area and check Alltop, an online magazine rack that provides a list of all the top blogs by industry or topic category.

4. Commenting: In addition to writing your own content, don’t forget to respond to the content that others publish on their blogs, as that can help you network your brand with other thought leaders and demonstrates your involvement. Again, use Google, blogrolls and Alltop to identify relevant blogs on which to become active.

5. Reviews: Writing a thoughtful review demonstrates your opinion of and take on someone else’s ideas and contributions. Leverage sites like Amazon to share your responses to others’ work.

6. Q&A Forums: Getting involved in asking questions, answering questions and sharing insights and ideas related to your chosen industry is an effective way to establish your personal brand in an area of expertise. LinkedIn Answers is a unique Q&A forum that allows LinkedIn users to post questions and contribute answers to others’ questions. Quora has combined the power of Q&A and Wikipedia into one platform where each question and answer become a living document that users can continuously discuss and update. Quora can be a great way to establish credibility and visibility. It also can be a comprehensive resource for networking and gathering information for future work and content, entrepreneurial ventures and/or personal efforts.

7. HARO: HARO is a free personal branding service that connects professionals and students with writers, bloggers and journalists seeking sources for their articles, books, blog posts, etc. This can be a great way to get quoted in industry publications and increase your credibility and visibility among your peers.

8. Content Publishing Platforms: There are several platforms that allow you share your content without your own blog. HubPages is such a platform where you can share your advice, reviews, useful tips, opinions and insights with hundreds of other authors and visitors without having to host, manage and market your own site or blog. Squidoo is another place for creating single webpages on your interests and recommendations, inevitably enhancing your online presence, search engine rankings and personal brand. Lastly, Google Knol allows you can create, collaborate on, and publish credible web content without managing and driving traffic to your own website or blog.

9. SlideShare: Whether you have a presentation you have given before that you want to post, want to create a new presentation for others to view or have a portfolio of work to show off, SlideShare is a great tool that allows you to feature your presentations and documents and demonstrate your expertise and ideas in your chosen field.

10. Video: More and more professionals are leveraging the power of video to market themselves, their expertise and/or their offerings. Sites like YouTube are popular platforms for featuring and marketing your thought leadership through video.

What are some other ways you publish and share your ideas, opinions and personal brand?

Chris Perry, MBA, is a Gen Y brand and marketing generator, brand marketing manager, personal branding expert and the founder of Career Rocketeer, MBA Highway and multiple other ventures.

This is the fourth year that Brand Camp University will be held in Michigan. Brand Camp is a gathering of thought leaders, technologist, geeks, and creative’s around a discussion on branding, entrepreneurial thinking, social media and the use of technology. The purpose of Brand Camp is to change how people work, launch, grow ideas and use technology as personal brands as entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. In collaboration with title sponsors GMC and Google, this year’s Brand Camp is expected to be the best one ever. Here are three reasons to be excited about it:

1. Your Personal brand is “New Money”

It has become evident that personal branding is not just for entertainers and politicians anymore. The size of your network, and your ability to influence them can directly impact your earning potential. The reality is, the person who has dozens of LinkedIn recommendations or can boast an impressive “Klout score” has a distinct advantage in the job market. Not to mention, businesses are now seeking out influencers to serve as brand advocates in exchange for perks and money. Learn best practices and get tips on how to increase the value of your personal brand from Brand Camp’s distinguished panel of guru’s, experts, and enthusiasts. See list of speakers: http://www.brandcampu.com/detroit/speakers/

2. Meet in person

There is still a lot of merit to the old saying “deals get done on the golf course”. Although social networking allows you to interact with people in new and novel ways, there is still no substitute for actually meeting someone in person. Brand Camp is a great opportunity to talk face to face and shake hands with your online contacts. This is the best way to turn the people on your virtual contact lists into genuine friends and trusted business partners. So come to Brand Camp, meet your online friends — and their friends, get a beer after, and then develop the next world changing idea.

3. It’s in Detroit

Despite what Charlie Sheen may say, Detroit is “winning”. The Lions are kicking butt, the Tigers had a great playoff run, and for the first time ever Band Camp will actually be held in the city of Detroit. Sparked by a dedicated community of entrepreneurs, investors, accelerator programs, and enthusiasts, Detroit is reestablishing itself as a leader in innovation. As more start-ups get funded and stay in Detroit, the community grows and straightens. On November 8^th, Brand Camp will be a centralized meeting ground, and the place to be for all who are passionate about the resurgence of entrepreneurship in the city of Detroit.

Today we are announcing the Brand Camp ’11 - Detroit Personal Branding 2.0 Conference Workshops.

Hajj Flemings
Disrupting the Business World with your Personal Brand
With close to billion brand stories being told in all the major social networks how does an individual stand out? The science of human brand design is about taking ‘Disruptive Talent’ (hyper-connected people) and helping them clearly articulate their brand story in three dimensions (in-person, in-print, and online). The goal of this workshop is to help you integrate your values, passion and human capital into a personal brand persona through digital technology. This message is relevant to entrepreneurs and corporate ambassadors to help them communicate and create sustainable value.

Josh Linkner
Creativity: Your Most Important Brand Attribute
In today’s sea of sameness, standing out from the pack is mission critical. Creativity has become the currency of success in the new era of business, and life. In this interactive talk, Josh helps both organizations and individuals jumpstart their creativity and embrace their own unique voice when crafting brand strategy. The audience will learn specific techniques from Josh’s NY Times Bestselling book, Disciplined Dreaming as well as hear gripping stories from his experience as a four-time entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and jazz musician.

Melinda “Small Biz Lady” Emerson
From Corporate to Small Business Ownership

Everyone has good ideas, but making the leap from corporate America to small business ownership can be overwhelming. If you want to succeed as your own boss there are some questions that need answers. How much money do you need to make to be happy? Should you start or buy a business? Is franchising for you? How much money will you need to start? Are you fit to work from home? These are just some of the questions Melinda Emerson “Smallbizlady” will help you answer in the talk, “From Corporate to Small Business Ownership.” She has developed a go/no go decision process for would be entrepreneurs based on her bestselling book, “Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months.”

Spike Jones
Word of Mouth and Your Personal Brand

Every brand – even yours – attracts like-minded people based on who they are and what they stand for. And yes, it begins with the brand. But how do you build a brand that lasts? How do you attracts fans and give them the tools that they need to spread your message without making them feel like a marketing tool? No, not all roads lead to social media. In fact, 93% of word of mouth conversations still happen offline. We’ll explore what makes a brand stick and how to build one that will last – both online and off.

Craig Bierley
Using Technology to Pull a Brand Forward

2D product brochures go 3D. How a brand uses QR technology to unlock the power of the printed page, providing consumers rich, informative videos. It’s a modern shopping experience. Quick reference tools, product demonstrations and stories of what can really happen in life when you never say never, demonstrating why GMC vehicles aren’t made to sit in the showroom.

Startup Panel – Best Practices on Launching and Running a Startup

53-Point Personal Branding Checklist -

Brand Camp, a personal branding 2.0 conference, will return to Michigan for the fourth consecutive year on Tuesday, November 8^th thanks to title sponsors GMC and Google. The conference will be held at the Community Arts Auditorium at Wayne State University from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Registration: http://bit.ly/bcudetroit

• $75 – Early Bird 1 registration now through 10/13
• $100 – Early Bird 2 registration 10/14-10/20
• $150 – General registration 10/21-11/08
• $50 – Any time student rate (student ID required)

Brand Camp University is a gathering of thought leaders, technologists, geeks and creatives that will foster a discussion on branding, entrepreneurial thinking, social media and the use of technology. The purpose of Brand Camp is to change how people work, launch businesses, grow ideas and use technology as personal brands, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs.

While this is the fourth year Brand Camp will take place in Michigan, it’s the first year the Michigan conference will take place in Detroit.

“We’ve expanded Brand Camp to include conferences in New York and Boston this year, but Michigan will always be Brand Camp’s home,” said Hajj Flemings, CEO and founder of Brand Camp University. “With so much local and national focus on Detroit proper, we thought it was important to bring this conference to the city this year. The goal of Brand Camp is to help people and businesses manage and grow their identity on the social Web amid a rapidly changing global marketplace, and we’ve seen in previous years that there is a great need for this type of conference and education in Michigan.”

People (personal brands) empower startups, small businesses and corporations. Brand Camp University focuses on creating a transformational learning experience around four core areas called BETAS (Branding, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Aspiration, Startups) to help people think of themselves as brands and for brands to become more human.

The conference is designed for professionals, marketers, startup founders, entrepreneurs, small business owners and college students.

The 2011 Brand Camp speakers include:

• Hajj Flemings – Founder of Brand Camp University
• Josh Linkner – CEO/Managing Partner of Detroit Venture Partners
• Cali Lewis – Host of GeekBeat.tv
• Spike Jones – SVP WOM/Digital at Fleishman-Hillard
• Melinda “Small Biz Lady” Emerson – Host of #SmallBizChat

More speakers will be announced in the coming soon.

A new initiative this year is expanding Brand Camp beyond the one-day conference. Detroit Brand Week will take place the week of the main conference from November 7 – November 13 and will incorporate a multi-location experience of disruptive thinkers in the branding, tech, startup and entrepreneurship spaces. Detroit Brand Week will highlight a schedule of events taking place in Detroit.

About Title Sponsor - GMC

GMC has manufactured trucks since 1902, and is one of the industry’s
healthiest brands. Innovation and engineering excellence is built into all
GMC vehicles and the brand is evolving to offer more fuel-efficient trucks
and crossovers, including the Terrain smaller SUV and Acadia crossover.
GMC is the only manufacturer to offer three full-size hybrid trucks with
the Yukon, Yukon Denali SUVs and the Sierra pickup. The new Sierra Heavy
Duty pickups are the most capable and powerful trucks in the market.
Details on all GMC models are available at http://www.gmc.com, on Twitter at @thisisgmc or at http://www.facebook.com/gmc.

Follow Brand Camp Online:
Twitter: @brandcampu
Facebook: https://facebook.com/BrandCampU

I started working on this blog post a week before the death of Steve Jobs; I have recently been obsessed with the meaning of a Bio. We live in an era of globally famous celebrities that have no real talent or real substance (i.e. Snooki). I am more convinced than ever that significances is embodied in a, ‘One-Line Bio.’ This idea was inspired by Steve Jobs bio, which reads, ‘Founder of Apple’ now let’s break down what that really means.

• He created the personal computer and revolutionized the computer industry.

• He founded Pixar and revolutionized the animation industry.

• He created the iPod and iTunes and revolutionized the music industry.

• He created the iPhone and revolutionized the mobile phone industry.

• He created the iPad revolutionized the tablet industry.

• He created the app store and iTunes and revolutionized online buying

As a personal brand strategist I have been doing a lot of thinking about, bios. What is the appropriate length of a good bio and what should it contain? I am convinced the more important you are the shorter your bio becomes. When I first started speaking publically I focused on creating a full-page bio backed with stuff to make me sound important to the outside world. As I started to really accomplish something I realized that I had a lot of fluff that needed to be replaced it with stuff that really mattered.

This drove me to think about one of the greatest business icons in the history of business, Steve Jobs. Steve jobs was a college dropout (he dropped out of Reed Community College), he was reject by Atari, fired by Apple (The Board of Apple), re-hired by Apple (to Save the company) and has disrupted five industries. If a CEO is extremely fortunate and his or her timing is perfect they might impact one industry, but disrupting five industries is unheard of. He created the one of the greatest devices in history, the iPhone that is revolutionizing how we experience life. He has started to drain the pool of PC sales with the iPad a device that doesn’t replace your Mac Book Pro or iPhone. Steve was the master of meeting ‘Undiscovered Wants.’

Thanks Steve for changing the world! Now what do you want your, ‘One-Line Bio’ to read?