Marketing Professionals around the World Collaborate on Lulu of a Book

100 voices, one conversation -- this is media today. From the explosion of the blogosphere to the introduction of social networking sites, the masses are chiming in on issues that matter to them and the professional world is taking note. Marketers used to speaking to their audience are now speaking with their audience. It only took one challenge issued by Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton to others in their field to demonstrate the power of this new media.

The Age of Conversation, available at Lulu (http://www.lulu.com/content/965488), is a collaboration of 103 authors from 10 different countries writing on how marketing has shifted from a monologue to a dialogue. This unusual compilation began with a single blog post (http://servantofchaos.typepad.com/aoc/2007/07/is-the-big-book.html) which challenged other bloggers to contribute 400 words on the topic of "conversation" and resulted in a published work three months later.

"We were previously planning on only releasing it as an eBook," said editor Gavin Heaton. "Thanks to Lulu.com, we were able to create a printed product -- both paperback and hardback versions of our book -- really quickly and without incurring up front charges. The integrated store front and delivery system is great."

With contributions from around the world, The Age of Conversation gives a global perspective on the changing brand and marketing landscape that is being driven by social, community and new media. All creator revenue from this project goes to Variety- The Children's Charity. They have recently surpassed their fundraising goals and are in the process of setting a new one to continue their philanthropy.