The South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival has become a launching platform for countless social media services. Foursquare was famously launched there. Now, the social media game-slash-networking site — Empire Avenue — is relaunching itself in Austin.  The goals of the Empire Avenue development team are to make the site easier to use — especially for new members; to promote the value of Empire Avenue as a social media tool; and ultimately to grow usage of the site.

To accomplish these aims, the Empire Avenue revamp includes three new elements:

A Refocused Message

In some ways, Empire Avenue has had a split personality.  It has been both an engaging game and an impressive tool to build and measure your social media efforts.  The game element helped build traction for the site, but typically, people grow tired of an online competition and move on to the next new entertainment. Some people have had a hard time taking Empire Avenue seriously given to many, it was a game.

With the site revamp, Empire Avenue has moved firmly to present the site as a social media tool for online enthusiasts. Significantly downplayed is the fact that the site just happens to use game mechanics to help you track the success of your social media efforts.  Key to the new messaging are the themes — Expand, Engage and Evaluate — meaning you can grow your audience, increase your interaction with that group and then analyze your relative success at achieving these goals.

Visibly Aggregating Social Media

Empire Avenue has always pulled in social media streams from an array of services such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare and Youtube.  These streams were presented in a condensed format that did not encourage reading or much interaction.

Now, Empire Avenue has created a social media dashboard.  The dashboard is a single page of status update and content tiles that permits you to see what the people you follow on Empire Avenue are posting and to comment on that content.  With just a glance, you can see Flickr photos, Twitter updates, posts for Facebook and Facebook pages, Youtube videos, WordPress.com blog posts and more.  Think of it as the content of a supercharged Hootesuite meets the tile metaphor of Pinterest.  The Empire Avenue lads tell me that this 1.0 version of the dashboard is just the beginning of increasing content engagement on the site.

Exposing Evaluation Tools

For some time now, Empire Avenue has provided obvious and less obvious social media measurement tools. The obvious tool has been one’s ‘share price’ — a score that reflects your social media engagement based on both a system algorithm and people’s direct support of you.  The less obvious tools provide a wealth of information on each of the dozen or so social networks that you can connect to Empire Avenue.

With the site revamp, these tools become more obvious as one of the three themes in the Expand, Engage, Evaluate messaging.  As more people discover these tools, expect Empire Avenue to develop a greater reputation for social media analysis.

In a move to support charity, engage Empire Avenue’s participants in a worthy cause and give them a new achievement to earn, the social networking site has created five new donation achievements. Those people that donate at least $25 to Charity Water at http://mycharitywater.org/eavcares will receive a custom achievement good for this appeal alone.

The goal is to raise $5,000 in just under three months. This amount will fund an entire water project providing clean drinking water for a community of 250 people. To recognize attaining this goal, Charity Water will install a plaque at the water project recognizing the Empire Avenue team.  Thanks to corporate donors that cover operating costs, 100% of all donations will go to the water projects. When the project is completed, Charity Water will provide each donor with a report of how all the money was used, photos of the project and the exact GPS coordinates for viewing on Google Earth.

Donor achievements represent another way that Empire Avenue is using game achievements to reward behaviour well outside a game.

To earn a Donor achievement, visit http://mycharitywater.org/eavcares and follow the instructions on the campaign page.

On their Facebook page, the Empire Avenue folks asked what their next connected service should be and whether it should be Tumblr. Tumblr is certainly popular, but it has many of the challenges that blogs in general have for Empire Avenue. If they can deal with this, I think Tumblr would be good.

I don’t know which one would be best for Empire Avenue, but here are some thoughts:  

• GetGlue is getting increasingly social. Plus, I have 233 followers there even without an EAv tie-in so it must be a reasonably popular place. It would appeal to a broad audience.  A movies-only alternative would be Flixster which is a very popular site.
• A site like Crowdrise would be awesome. I would love to see something that encouraged people to support causes more. However, it doesn’t work great internationally I think. Meanwhile, partnering with a very social nonprofit like Charity Water would be truly cool, but I don’t think Empire Avenue should pick a single charitable partner at this point.
• I haven’t used GoodReads, but encouraging people to share the books they love would be a positive thing in positioning Empire Avenue and move beyond just the social media wizards.
• Not sure about the API links to Reddit or Digg.com, but they are sites where good content is rewarded. If Empire Avenue could tie into that – that would be cool.
• Disqus would encourage conversation if the API works for Empire Avenue, but I recognize setting up Disqus would be complicated to many people.
• I’d give a big thumbs-up for Stumbleupon, but it’s another site that I am not sure how it would tie-into Empire Avenue. That said, if you haven’t tried Stumbleupon, you should.
• Somewhat surprisingly, Meetup.com is a top-ten site among social networks. Encouraging people to connect face-to-face is never a bad thing. It would probably kick-start Empire Avenue meetups if it was connected.
• I was very surprised to see how much traffic Scribd gets.  I like the idea of people contributing serious articles to this or Slideshare, but would Empire Avenue folks abuse it? Is the appeal broad enough despite the traffic numbers, or might connecting these services help bring in a different type of member?
• I know a lot of people like music services such as Last.fm, but there are so many now. I don’t think one rises above the pack.
• Connecting a site like DailyBurn or LifeKraze would encourage us to be better people, but I don’t know if they are popular enough.  Again, I don’t know what links they provide to their sites either.
• If Empire Avenue was going after more international members, it would connect a social network like Bebo, Badoo, Orkut or Qzone. These sites are among the biggest in the world even if they are not that well known in North America. However, with the exception of Bebo, these would present language challenges for the development team.
• I was surprised to see that Tagged.com has 100 million users making it a top-ten social network. It’s designed to help you meet people which seems like a good thing.

Sometimes I look at a profile on Empire Avenue and the person will have a crazy activity stat like 100 blog posts for that day. My reaction tends to be, “Really, really?” Now Empire Avenue will only give you so much credit for a particular activity before it is max’ed out.  Furthermore, engagement and audience size is more far important than activity.  It’s just sometimes it feels like people flock to buy shares in folks like this even if they don’t care about the content. Too often, people on Empire Avenue are more impressed by someone’s activity level rather than their value level.

Next, but ideas do matter. 

When (e)DUPS and the boys created Empire Avenue one of the things they felt would make it really different from sites like PeerIndex and Klout is that in addition to providing computer algorithm numbers, the site allows people to influence your social score. That’s where the buying and selling of shares come in. However, if we collectively buy just based on what we think the market makers and other Empire Avenue calculations are going to do, we are effectively taking the people component out of the equation. We are just following the computer.

Fortunately for those that value earning people’s respect rather than impressing a formula, there are many people on Empire Avenue that support people because they value the relationship with the person, and they value what that person is contributing beyond just numbers.  I am not saying there is anything wrong with treating Empire Avenue as a numbers-only game. It’s just some people want something more.

You might think given the competitive nature of Empire Avenue that a people approach would put you at a disadvantage. This, however, is not the case.  The chart above shows my share price for the last 30 days. You can clearly see that on October 1st, my share price went from flat to up sharply by comparison. I can tell you that my share price was flat for even longer than that. Now, there has been some discussion about changing dividends calculations, but my dividends have not changed significantly; nor has my activity on social media. The difference comes down to one blog post and one idea that has led to people buying very generous quantities of my shares.

Ideas and and words via compelling stories can make much more difference than activity. I am not saying that activity is not valuable and indeed consistent activity is an important social media strategy both in general and on Empire Avenue. However, getting people passionate about what you are doing is what has a real impact.

Many of you reading this will know that the blog post (copied in a shareholder mail) I wrote was about an idea of using Empire Avenue eaves as an incentive for people buying shares on the micro-loans charity site Kiva.org.  Kiva provides tiny loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries to help them build their businesses and rise out of poverty. The response to this post and idea has been phenomenal. As I write this post, more than 50 people have provide loans and we have secured loans totally more than $1,300. In just over a week, these numbers are more than have way to the original goal we set of 100 loans and $2,500.   We have been so successful that we are already number eight for number of members in Kiva’s Club Category and we are third for all of Kiva for new members this month.

Just as meaningful has been how this idea has touched and inspired people.  The comments people have left me and others participating in the project have been their own reward they are so wonderful. More than a few people have really gotten behind the project and heavily promoted it. Jackie Bigford (e)JACKIESBUZZ liked the concept so much, she has used the idea for the charity she works for – Global Village Champions Foundation.  Even the Empire Avenue developers have responded with this blog post and a commitment to develop a charitable giving initiative.

Whether you get involved with our Empire Avenue team on Kiva or not, I encourage you to find a project or content that you can share that will inspire others. First and foremost, you can make a difference in lives of others.  However, you can also achieve success with your social media goals such as doing well on Empire Avenue.

If you do indeed want to get involved with our team on Kiva or you are ready to do more, here are four steps you can take:

1. First, go read the blog post about Kiva and our team on the Pitcher Group blog. You can find the post here.
2. The next thing you can do, if you haven’t already, is join our team on Kiva here. We are out to build a large team and that gets the attention of others. This requires no financial commitment.
3. Hopefully, you will make a loan to Kiva though. That’s the ultimate objective of this project. If you have already made a loan, I hope you have found the process rewarding enough that you will consider another one. I am making a second loan. If everyone did so, we would make our goal with just the people that have given to date.  If you cannot afford to make a loan, please do not feel bad. There are other important ways you can support us in this list.
4. Next, please consider making a pledge to buy shares in folks that do make loans. You can find the list of those providing funds on that Pitcher Group post.  As of writing this post, our team has committed to buy more than 6,800 shares in EACH person that makes a loan. Don’t worry if you don’t have many eaves, we welcome commitments as small as 5 shares for each and you can take some time to meet the commitment.
5. Promote our Kiva team with Shareholder Mail, Tweets, Status Updates, Empire Avenue ads and more. In particular, we have received new loans every time someone posts a shareholder mail about our Kiva project. Furthermore, the people doing so have gotten a great response too.
6. Recruit one person to make a loan. If everyone that has pledged so far did so, we would meet our goal. This person does not have to be a member of Empire Avenue. I have already recruited a friend to make a loan. She has never visited Empire Avenue.
7. Recruit one person to make a pledge to buy shares in our Kiva lenders. These shares commitments are really driving the good work we are trying to do.
8. Have fun with all this because it should be!

One of the things about which I have prided myself on Empire Avenue is thanking people for every investment and giving a special welcome to every new investor that I have personally typed over and over again with each new addition. However, as the site grows, I receive more and more buys leaving me with a choice — I can spend all my time just typing shoutouts, or I can look to speed up that process and focus on providing more meaningful value to you, my shareholders and the broader Empire Avenue community.  I am choosing to focus on that meaningful value because I will go crazy with message after message saying not identical, but similar things.  So, this post is meant as a welcome to my new shareholders as they join a great team of 1,800 people. The welcome also serves as insight into my approach to Empire Avenue whether you are a shareholder or not.

Next, my focus on helping and relationships.

1. I Focus on You, Not Eaves
If you are just reading this as a new investor, that means, obviously, that you just purchased some shares. Please know that I have a strategy of long-term holding your (and everyone else’s) shares. I don’t care what your dividends are and whether you sell my keep or sell my shares. Ironically, I think that much of my success on Empire Avenue comes from not caring because I care about the relationships I build instead.

2. I Will Long-Term Hold Your Shares
I will only sell your shares under one of two circumstances. The first is if you have been completely inactive on the site for at least several weeks suggesting that you are no longer using the site. The second is if I run out of eaves to buy shares in people buying me and I happen to own a bunch more of your shares than you own of mine. In this second case, I will only sell a few shares of the total I own of yours and I won’t sell more than you own of mine. Plus, the less expensive your shares, the more generous I will be with that ratio.

3. I Always Try to Buy Some Back
Whenever you buy my shares, I will try to buy some back from you. I don’t do stock swap deals, I just like to support those people that support me. Sometimes when work gets crazy, I might not get to everyone and on other occasions, I miss somebody. If I have missed you and it has been a couple of days since you bought, don’t hesitate to drop me a note as a reminder. I really want to support those supporting me. I spend almost all the money I get from people buying my shares and from dividends buying shares back in people. I only make 10% on your share purchases. So, I can’t match eave for eave. I try to do this fairly for everyone and I tend to buy between fifty to seventy-percent (value wise) of what you purchased from me depending on how much cash I have that day. Ironically, the more popular my shares are at that moment, the less cash I have per shareholder.

4. I Don’t Respond to ‘Buy Me’ Requests
Again, as I have said, I buy shares when people buy me. So, a Buy Me request is not something to which I respond. However, if you like you doing stock swaps, I have started a Buy Me community you can find here. It’s great for those people that like this that Empire Avenue created a link to it in the bottom right corner of the site (in yellow).  This helps reduce the Buy Me requests in other communities where it is frowned upon.

5. I Enjoy Helping
As you can see from this blog site, the Empire Building Network, I like to give back to the community by helping out and sharing advice as I can. I have created well over 200 blog posts in my year plus here which probably means that I have written more about Empire Avenue than anyone else including the development team.  ;-)  So, if you have any questions about Empire Avenue or charitable fundraising, please do not hesitate to ask me.

6. I Want to Stay Active
I see real world value to Empire Avenue. So, I want to say active on the site. Sometimes work keeps me busy, but when that happens, I will be back and work hard to reward you with solid dividends.

7. I Am Happy to Connect
When I buy your shares, I add you to my watch list. I am happy to add people to my recommend list when they are greater supporters of my social networking activity, or they have content I really love. I don’t auto follow people on Twitter and the like when people buy my shares. However, I am happy to do so if you ask. Feel free to send me a friend request on Facebook. Also, I post lots of Empire Avenue information to my Facebook (fan) Page. As you know, you access all of my networks on my (e)RZR profile.  My one exception is LinkedIn which I use for my work contacts.

8. I Encourage Supporting Charities
I am a professional fundraising consultant that helps charities  with major donations and sponsorships. I have a blog with charity videos and another with cause-related photos. I encourage you to go and buy some shares in the charities on Empire Avenue.  Again, if you have any fundraising-related questions, do not hesitate to ask me.

Thank you so much for your buy. I look forward to getting to know you.

If you buy people on Empire Avenue based on their dividends, I have no problem with that. After all, my dividends are pretty good. Different people interact with the site in different ways and that is fine. I don’t want to get into the debate about playing for dividends rather than building relationships either. If you don’t see the value in relationship building on Empire Avenue, I doubt a blog post is going to change your opinion. No, I want to talk about why focusing exclusively on dividends is a money losing strategy. Rather, I want to talk about a strategy that will make you more wealth, and I am going to prove it.

Next, life after dividends. 

The strategy that will make you more money than just focusing on dividends is focusing on people that will buy back shares when you buy their shares. Now, before you get all excited, I am not talking about doing buy-me deals. No, I am talking about the person that just automatically wants to buy shares in the people that support him or her. I don’t do stock swap deals with people, but I make a point of buying some shares in everybody that buys mine.

So, how will this strategy make you more money than just focusing on dividends? So nice of you to ask. Let me share with you a scenario. For ease of explanation, I am going to use some round number examples. I am also going to ignore commission which does have an impact on the numbers, but not enough to change the recommendations.  Let’s also imagine that you are still making 50% off the stock people buy from you. Finally, I am going to ignore that share prices would change a little over several back-to-back buys.

I want you to imagine that you have shares worth 50 eaves each and that you are looking at buy shares in two other shareholders both with stock worth 50 eaves each as well, but one, Joe, has dividends worth 0.50 eaves per share and the other, Sally, has great dividends for shares of that price at 1.00 eave per share. Should be a no-brainer right? Buy the one with the way better dividends. However, let’s assume there is one other difference between the two — Joe buys an equal value of shares in everyone that buys him whereas Sally just buys people in her Empire Avenue index and you are not in it.  For this discussion, we will say you buy 100 shares. Now, let’s assume you are going to take the money you get from any buy backs and continue buying more shares. Finally, let’s look at your income after one month of holding the shares at which time you could always sell if you wanted.

So, let’s review the three of you:

Here’s how you will fare after 30 days with Sally:

Pretty straightforward right, but here’s what you will earn with Joe:

As you can see, you have almost doubled your money in one day with the buy backs. Over 30 days, you are still far ahead to buy the person that buy’s you back, Joe, rather than the person that doesn’t, Sally. Even better, all the buys from Joe will drive up your share price and your network activity if you are leaving each other shoutouts.

Now, you might be thinking that nobody buys like this. If you are, you are wrong, I have done this with a bunch of people. Others do it as well. You might also be thinking that my examples are unfair because I used a high rate of return, no commissions and generous buy backs. That’s true, but I also used a pretty awesome dividend rate for Sally to compensate. It’s pretty hard to find folks with dividends of 1.00 eaves per share and a stock price of 50 eaves.   A smaller gap in their dividends would favour Joe. However, that’s not the point I am trying to make anyway. What I want you to remember is not to ignore dividends, but not to ignore the incredible power of buy backs either. I only get 10% cash from people’s buys, but thanks to the dividends I earn each day, I am able to buy back on average about three-quarters of the value of what people spend on me. That makes me competitive with someone with twice the dividends of me at the same share price if they don’t buy back. If there shares are worth more than mine, I am an even better deal. This is not about me though, buy me, don’t buy me, I am not worried, just remember that someone that supports you is worth more than someone with great dividends who could not care less about you.

So, how do you find people that will buy you back without resorting to asking everyone for buy me deals? It’s simple — buy a few shares in people and watch which ones buy you back. Buy a few more in those folks and so on. Next thing you know, you will be sitting at 200 shares with a bunch of people — people who have a vested interest in your success.   Don’t worry, you won’t disappoint them because this strategy is no money loser — I just proved it.  ;-)

For the ladies, here are the men of Empire Avenue, but trust me guys, you don’t want to miss it either.

Dups, Adriel Hampton, Robert Scoble, Michael Todd and Chris Pirillo. Hope you enjoyed it.

If you are on Empire Avenue and you don’t have a blog, you are missing out on a great way to build your social networking activity and audience engagement; and with today’s blogging tools it’s easier than ever to create an online presence that is all about you.  The most popular of all blogging platforms is now Tumblr. (It recently surpassed WordPress.)

Next, facts and tips about Tumblr. 

Here are some quick facts:

• 8-billion page views a month
• 6.8-billion posts to date
• 21-million blogs
• 34-million posts a day
• The average user create 14 new posts a week and reblogs posts 3 times with half of these photos.
• Tumblr has ten staff.

Tumblr makes it easy to post from anywhere and to share content with your friends and network.  So, here are fifteen tips to help you get the most out of this most social of blog tools:

1. Remember Tumblr is Not Like Other Blogs
   Just like most people on Facebook and Twitter view your posts on their own walls/streams, Tumblr provides a ‘Dashboard’ that streams posts from anyone the viewer is following. People can still get to and see your site like a traditional blog, but many people will never see it that way. So, plan your content accordingly. Your posts need to standalone more than they do on other blog platforms.
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2. Use the Empire Avenue Badge on Your Tumblog
   The Empire Avenue badge gives your more credit for visitors to your blog. You can find in on the Empire Avenue site here.  To add it to your Tumblr, copy the code from the Empire Avenue badge page, click on Customize in Tumblr, then on Info and paste the code into the Description field. Finally, don’t forget to change the Ticker from DUPS to your own.
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3. Post to Twitter and Facebook
   We have to assume that if someone views your blog post in their dashboard that you are you are not getting credit for a visit to your blog (your Empire Avenue badge does not get a hit). You want as many people to direct link to your posts as possible. So, take advantage of post to Twitter function on the Add Post page.  Also, Facebook has a Tumblr app that will automatically post content from your Tumblog to that social network.
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4. Choose a Better Tumblr Theme
   The default Tumblr theme is pretty basic. I use a great free theme that makes my photos larger and gives me some other features such as social network sharing and nice follow icons.  Choosing from one of the many themes will also help you give your blog your own personality.
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5. Post a Mix of New and Re-blogged Content
   The Development Team have said that Tumblr is likely coming as a direct network connection to Empire Avenue. The Tumblr API (the way Empire Avenue can get network data from Tumbr) can share whether a post was original or reblogged. Empire Avenue would most likely give more credit for original content rather than reblogged content (and may already check this – Nakeva confirms they do in the comments). Also, you get more credit for new posts within Tumblr than reblogs. However, reblogging (and liking) other people’s posts is a great way to introduce yourself and pick-up more followers. So, do a mix of both.
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6. Remember post-length matters to Empire Avenue
   Empire Avenue gives more credit for a long blog post than a short-one. So, add some commentary to those photos you post — it will make a difference.
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7. Use Tags
   Unlike some other blog platforms when someone does a tag-search  on Tumblr that can look across all blogs, not just one. So, use tags to help people discover your content. Also, the Tumblr Explore page creates categories of individual posts based on tags. So, good use of Tags could get you exposed to millions of viewers.
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8. Use Pages
   Tumblr provides you with the ability to create static pages in addition to main blog stream. A blog page is a good way to share other information about yourself.
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9. Post from Anywhere
   Tumblr makes it very easy to post by email, from your smart phone, from a telephone and the web. Take advantage of these tools to post more often. In particular checkout the Tumblr bookmarklet which makes it easy to share anything you find on the web to your Tumblog.  Also, sites like Flickr and YouTube have buttons for one-click sharing of content from those platforms.
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10. Use Widgets & Apps
    Tumblr makes it easy to add additional  features to your blog (such as a tag-cloud widget) or to connect with other services. To help you with this Tumblr has a list of third-party apps here.
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11. Take Advantage of Photosets
    Now with Tumblr, you don’t have to limit your photo posts to just one image. Photosets allow you to post multiple related photos that can be viewed as a slideshow. To create a photoset, upload your first photo in a photo post and then click ‘Add Another Photo’. You can learn more about photosets here.
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12. Queue Your Posts
    Feeling productive now and not going to be around later to publish content to your Tumblog? Tumblr has a great queue feature that allows you to prep posts now and have them publish at specific times. I particularly like that you can specify how many queued items to post in a day and between which hours. You also have the option of setting specific times for individual posts.
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13. Share with Share on Tumblr Button
    Do you use other blog platforms? Well now Tumblr provides a sophisticated Share on Tumblr button that allows you to share selected aspects of your content. Learn more about it here .
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14. Create a Topic Focus
    Want to break through the clutter of the gazillion people just posting whatever they think is cool at the moment? Then, give your blog a topic focus. I have a Tumblog that is just about charity videos for example.
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15. Consider Another Platform Like WordPress
    Tumblr is great, but it is not the only blog platform out there. It does have some shortcomings. For example, there is no way to backup your content to Windows yet or to export your content to other blog platforms yet.  Other blog tools such as WordPress do provide this functionality. So, take a look at Tumblr and see if it meets your needs. I happen to use WordPress AND Tumblr with each filling different needs.

What are your Tumblr Tips?  If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. You can find about more about many of the great features of Tumblr here.

Well I have been on Empire Avenue now for a year today (at the time I write this).  In case you don’t know, Empire Avenue waives the commission on my shares today to celebrate.  For what is in some ways, just another website, it truly has been an incredible journey.   Looking back to those days when the top shares on the site cost 50 eaves, I can’t believe how far I have come and I don’t my share price. Empire Avenue has taught me much and I would like to share some of that with you to help you get value out of the site well beyond eaves and virtual achievements.

Next, what a beginning.  

A year ago, I was a baby when it came to social media:

• I had written about two blog posts on technology.
• I had never done a video blog post. I had not used WordPress.
• I had never done a collaborative project online.
• I barely used Facebook.
• I had sent less than 100 tweets.
• I took snapshots with a tiny compact camera.
• I didn’t even really know what a Facebook (fan) page was.
• I would have never considered posting online content with my phone while on the road.
• I didn’t know anything about my channel on my YouTube account.
• I had not given any thought to personal online branding (I still had old accounts with the username TorontoGuy1963 going back to the chatroom days when everybody asked ‘a/s/l’ for age, sex, location.)
• I certainly did not see the power of game mechanics to drive consumer behaviour.
• I was just starting on Empire Avenue having heard about it in a Mashable article. (What must have been a real coup for Dups and the gang at the time.)

Today, is a different story:

• I achieved the second highest share price on the site before taking a break to deal with some offline life.
• I have posted to Twitter 5,500 times to 1,100 followers.
• I have posted more than 50 videos on Empire Avenue.
• I have purchased video lights and a high end microphone for video work.
• I have posted 235 articles and cartoons about the site.
• I have created multiple WordPress blogs including on in Spanish.
• I have recruited a couple of dozen writers and translators at various times for those blogs.
• I have bought two fancy cameras and posted 1,500 pictures on Flickr with photography becoming a passion.  I have even been asked for photos for commercial purposes. (I still have really long way to go though.)
• I have advised clients on social media impressing them with the breadth of my expertise on the subject.
• On Facebook, a site I barely used before, I now have people miss my humourous status updates when I slow down posting.
• I photographed the kids that came to my door for Halloween much to the delight of parents (pushed in part by my Flickr score).
• I even have the smallest taste of being a reporter — waiting by my computer with immediate analysis and breaking news when major Empire Avenue updates were released.

Along the way, I did lots of naive things:

• I freaked when my share price was down in the morning desperately seeking 200×200 deals to get it in the green.
• I flooded Twitter with inane conservation and broadcast announcements.
• As still goes on today, I asked people to buy me (although only very briefly) and eagerly encouraged people online to sign-up for the site.
• I let other people’s fights stress me even when I was involved in them. (It was a tight-knit community.)
• I hooked up Formspring when it was considered a blog, just to get easy activity.
• I cross posted things even when there was no good rationale other than activity.

Pretty quickly I cut these activities out.  I was even one of the first to vocally adopt a buy and hold strategy even when you still had to pay huge amounts to make more shares available for sale.  I moved from a strategy of networking to win a game to winning by networking. To underscore this approach, today I drafted a personal manifesto for Empire Avenue here.

In recent weeks, my evolution has been even more profound. My just fun Tumblr blog shifted first to beautiful photography, then to inspiring photography and now as much as it is possible to find material to compelling photography about important issues and causes in the world. I also started up a video blog sharing the very best in charity videos and public service announcements.  Curating this content is having a real effect on me. I feel the need to strengthen my voice for charitable issues. I switched my index from Technology (a personal love) to Non-Profits and NGOs. I take real pride being the CEO of that index and hope I will be able to use that profile in some way to make a difference.  (What many don’t know is that my ticker (e)RZR is short for raiser as in fundraiser. When I started tickers couldn’t be as long as they can be today.)

At one point, I thought Empire Avenue might be giving me the tools to follow my love of technology into some sort of business opportunity. I am always on the lookout for new ventures and I have tested the waters on a couple of things that I haven’t gone anywhere with. Now, I realize, Empire Avenue is integrating that personal technology passion into all the strength I have in my professional life.  So, I will continue to write about Empire Avenue from time-to-time, and trust me, I get fired up about certain issues and need to express my thoughts. However, as time permits, I will continue to develop an online brand that is about showcasing the great work that so many organizations do to help those that need our help and to protect us all.

I would be remiss if I didn’t stick in here somewhere a comment about the great people that I have met through Empire Avenue. I am confident that together with some of them, and some new friends along the way, we are going to do something meaningful.  I have literally had conversations about changing the world, and while I don’t actually mean the whole world, I do mean my world and the world for at least a big group of people.

I don’t know if I have been successful with this post to show you that there is so much more here than dividends, activity scores and changing share prices. I agree that success here gives you a bigger platform, but let’s be honest. Most people here aren’t trying to change the world. They are trying to win a game. At some point though, games become old. When that happens, what will you have to show for it. I know that I have a lot because I have found a voice on Empire Avenue.

William Pitcher (e)RZR of the Empire Building Network presents his value-based approach to participation on the social networking game site — Empire Avenue.

Here are ten things he values and commits to on Empire Avenue:

1. Treat people with respect.
2. Be authentic.
3. Buy and hold shares.
4. Friend, follow, list and subscribe at your shareholder’s request.
5. Make a point of interacting with those that support you.
6. Be generous with assistance and advice to others.
7. Have real conversations.
8. Connect with people offline.
9. Contribute to the health and growth of the community.
10. Continue to learn, grow and evolve.

Next time, ten things I won’t do.

So, what do you think? What are your values that guide the way you participate on Empire Avenue?