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"Jon is a well known and respected professional and member of the community. He's been around a long time and has been a consistant participant in many of the important developments on the Net. He is able to execute very professionally while maintaining a very high social and moral view. And almost most importantly, he always has a sense of humor. ;-)"– Joichi Ito,
Six Apart Japan

"Jon helped organize an outstanding program on politics and technology for O'Reilly's Emerging Technologies Conference in February 2004. Every minute was well spent learning and in ardent discussion among experts in the field. Everyone who attended was impressed and commented on Jon's personal network and knowledge."– Bob Jacobson,
Tabor Communications

Jon Lebkowsky

Senior Consultant; Polycot Cofounder

Jon Lebkowsky is a leading authority on computer-mediated communications, virtual communities, community technology, and online social networks. He has worked as a project manager, systems analyst, technology director, and online community developer. His current consulting practice focuses on nonprofit and commercial web strategy and effective use of online social technologies. He is also a strong proponent of universal broadband access to computer networks.

Areas of focus

Blogging and social media

  • Social media optimization. Yes, this is buzzwordy, but it's really about fundamentals for creating, sustaining, and enhancing your visibility on the web.
  • Strategy for internal blogging (Does your organization need a blog? What is it for? Who creates it, and what kind of content belongs there?)
  • Strategy for working with external bloggers (Do you create visibility with bloggers outside your organization? If yes, what are the strategy and tactics for making those connections?)
  • Blog content syndication (an important part of SMO: "Help your content travel"
  • Blog networks (Does it make sense for your organization to create, not just a blog, but a network of blogs?)
  • Social media and public relations/customer relationship management
  • How do you offer value? Social media, value networks, and marketing (What knowledge do you share? How do you make it available?)
  • Customers/clients/constituents as participants
  • When/whether/how to use forums/social networks/wikis
  • Staffing for interaction (response and moderation)
  • Viral and word of mouth marketing

Metrics, Analytics, Conversion

  • Goals and objectives
  • The long tail of blogging
  • Defining conversion
  • Influence and conversion
  • Where to measure conversion/stages of conversion/value of conversions at various levels.
  • Interpreting blog/social metrics
  • Determining ROI
  • Determining internal/external success

User experience and Information Architecture

  • Usability/information architecture assessment
  • Understanding the user experience
    • User-centered strategies
    • Defining experience strategy (explicit statement of purpose that enforces coherence and integrity)
    • Shaping the user's experience
  • Usability and conversion
  • Assessing barriers and misdirections
  • “Don't make me think” and importance of standards
  • Affordances and context

About Jon

Jon was cofounder and CEO of one of the first virtual corporations, FringeWare, Inc. He is currently President of EFF-Austin, Vice President of Austin Wireless, a member of the SalsaNet and Solar Austin Boards of Directors. He was a cofounder of the Austin Wireless City Project and the national Social Software Alliance. He is an advisor for the annual South by Southwest Interactive conference, and he serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Texas Science, Technology, and Society Program. He is part of a regional team working on the Central Texas Digital Convergence Initiative, and is a member of that organization's Executive Board He is active with Bootstrap Austin and leader of that organization's Web Subgroup.

A longtime proponent of online tools for civic engagement, he co-edited Extreme Democracy, a book on technology, democracy, and advocacy, and served on the organizing committee for O'Reilly's Digital Democracy Teach-In (February 9, 2004). In 2003-2004, he worked with IC² Institute at the University of Texas as manager of Wireless Future, a project that produced a major economic development report as well as a national wireless track within South by Southwest Interactive. He was cofounder, with Clay Shirky, of You're It!, a group blog about tagging. He has also written about technology and culture for publications such as Mondo 2000, 21C, bOINGbOING, Whole Earth Review, FringeWare Review, Wired Magazine, 21C, and the Austin Chronicle.

He contributes to the Worldchanging.com blog, is editor of Worldchanging Austin, and contributed to the book Worldchanging: A Guide to the 21st Century. He just completed a contract to build and staff a Worldchanging blog network.

He is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Austin Technology Council, the Austin Wireless Alliance, and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Extreme Democracy

Are emerging technologies changing the face of politics? Polycot's Jon Lebkowsky is co-editor of this collection about the impact of social technology on the political process, which includes writings by Steven Johnson, Joi Ito, David Weinberger, Jay Rosen, Mitch Ratcliffe, Jon Lebkowsky, danah boyd, and many others.

Jon blogs at