I’m a Social Media Entrepreneur, Professor of Digital Marketing, Author of 7 books, Podcaster and an Organic Farmer.

Podcast: Listen to the Robert Scoble Interview

Scoble is easily one of the best corporate bloggers that I have come across. It’s not easy being the “Unofficial Official” spokesperson for Microsoft but I personally felt he did a a damn good job. And how!

I’m glad I invited folks to throw in their questions. Some of them were really good and I threw them to Scoble. Got some pretty interesting answers.

For those who want to know who Robert Scoble is, I strongly recommend this Wikipedia entry.

India Smiles : Humor Book From Penguin & Sulekha.com

It’s an awesome experience bringing out a book. I can tell you it’s not easy. So, when I just heard from Penguin Publishers that the book that you see above has gone to press and it will hit the bookshelves this July, I was super glad. That’s awesome news. I was part of the team bringing out the book and the pride I exude is obvious.

Last year, Sulekha launched a fairly high-profile humor writing contest. We received over 5000 entries which were democratically shortlisted by the Sulekha’s global community of readers. The final selection of winners was made by a very distinguished jury consisting of Khuswant Singh, Ruskin Bond, Ashok Mahadevan (Editor of Reader’s Digest) amongst many.

Here’s the blurb from the book.
“The book brings together the best of humor writing. Real-life accounts, of desperate parents lining up potential sons-in-law for unconventional NRI girls, young mothers struggling to make sense of their suddenly topsy-turvy lives, droll accounts of the unintentionally funny collision between technology and tradition, these are unpretentious, tongue-in-cheek stories, sure to bring a smile to your face”

Coming Soon: The Scoble Interview

The podcast interview with Robert Scoble went off great. Woke up early in the morning to get things set up. The interview lies on my comp at home and there’s some more work on editing and coversion that needs to be done before I can upload it. I have to rush to office now and will work on it tonight when I head home. I really liked the interview and I’d strongly recommend you listen to it when its put up.

Wanna Question Robert Scoble?

I’m doing a podcast interview with Robert Scoble tomorrow at 6:00 AM India Time and I’m throwing open the question field to you. If you want to ask a particular question to Scoble, leave it in the comments box below and I’ll ask him on your behalf. There’s a time limit, so I’ll pick up the best ones.

Who’s Scoble, did you ask? Well, you need to crawl out of that big rock you have been hibernating in. Scoble is a tech evangelist at Microsoft but better known as it’s most vocal corporte blogger. Here’s what BBC has to say about Scoble: “Scoble’s blog is widely seen as helping to humanise Microsoft and shift its stance from arrogant and aloof to one that is more inclusive and accepting of criticism.”

Why is he in the news? ‘Coz he is leaving the tech giant to join a start-up called PodTech as its Vice-President.

Two weeks back, I has requested Scoble for a podcast interview, much before I came to know of his daring move. So, here’s your chance to question the guy. Drop your questions in the comments box.

Here’s some related links for your reading.

MSNBC – Microsoft’s Scobleizer blogs out
Globe and Mail – Corporate blogger Scoble to leave Microsoft
Microsoft Watch – Scoble The Exit Interview
Robert Scoble’s post on leaving Microsoft

Rain Dance?

I have a strong feeling that Brian Lara and his men would have performed some kind of rain dance. Whatever it is, the ritual seemed to have worked in saving a certain defeat.

Amazon’s Video Book Reading

This is a brilliant idea. They have a video of Manoj Shyamalan reading from his new Children’s book. That’s a great way to promote the book.

Currently Reading

What a Day To Be a Sports Fan!

I’m trying to cut down my TV watching time. But that stood no chance on a day like yesterday. Try this. The dream clash of Nadal V/s Federer at the French Open Finals, the rivetting Alonso v/s Schumacher in the British F1 GP, Sustained batting display by Dravid & Kaif in the Calypso and ofcourse the spirited display by the minnows against the biggies in the FIFA World Cup. How can you not stay glued to the tube?

Stagefright Plays

Good tidings for Chennai theatre. This June 17th and 18th comes Stagefright, a series of five short plays, all romantic comedies, all really funny.

(via Samanth)

MCC Class of ’81 Reunion

The Class of 81 of the prestigious Madras Christian College is celebrating their Reunion on the August 13th and 14th at Chennai. The theme is “Celebrating 25 years of Nostalgia and Fellowship” and the two days would provide an opportunity for ’81 Alumni to get reacquainted with former classmates and families to reminisce old times.

Madras Christian College, established by John Anderson, a Scottish missionary in 1837, is one of the oldest and finest colleges of the Indian sub-continent. I have been there on teaching assignments and I’ve always loved the greenish campus and the spirit of the students.

If you know of any MCC alumni, do pass the news around. Make sure to ask them to check out the website http://classof81mcc.com. Murali is one of the passionate organizers of the event. Any queries can be addressed to connect[@]classof81mcc.com