I had $15.00 to spend at Things From Another World in the form of coupon codes, and after spending a good twenty minutes being very indecisive, I chose to do something completely out of character—I ordered from the grab bag. There are a few different grab bags to choose from, and each comic ordered is fifty cents. Shoppers can order as many as they like. Since my coupon codes (one for $10, one for $5) couldn’t be combined, I placed two orders for combined total of 30 comics from the DC Comics grab bag (which also includes the Vertigo imprint, as you’ll see). I’m quite happy with the results! Continue reading for the full list and a picture or two.

Here’s the breakdown. Only six (marked with a *) of the books were in my collection prior to receiving them today – not bad at all!

1. Air #7
2. Black Lightning: Year One #6
3. Bang Tango #3
4. Action Comics #875
5. Action Comics #876
6. Superman/Batman #57
7. Superman/Batman #58
8. Superman #686
9. Strange Adventures #1
10. Strange Adventures #2
11. Unknown Soldier #6
12. Vigilante #4
13. Green Lantern Corps #25*
14. Green Lantern Corps #35*
15. Green Lantern #39*
16. DMZ # 41
17. Booster Gold #17
18. Booster Gold #19
19. Identity Crisis #1 Special Edition
20. Batman: Battle for the Cowl: Commissioner Gordon #1
21. Batman: Battle for the Cowl: Man-Bat #1
22. John Constantine: Hellblazer #253
23. House of Mystery #12
24. Justice League of America #27*
25. Justice League of America #28*
26. Justice League of America #29*
27. Justice League of America #31*
28. Outsiders #16
29. The Mighty #3
30. Billy Batson & The Power of Shazam #4

Not bad, huh? It’s a really good mix of A-List titles (Justice League, Superman/Batman), titles I’ve never even heard of (Air, DMZ, Bang Tango), and titles that I’ve been interested in but never budgeted for (Booster Gold, Outsiders). I’m also happy they threw in a kids comic – and so is my daughter. I placed the order on January 25th and they arrived today, which is a nice turnaround time.

There are two downsides, neither of which should be surprising for books priced at fifty cents each. First, these are reading copies, not collecting copies. Oh, I’ll bag & board ‘em anyway because they’re in no worse condition than most of the books I get at the local shop. There might be slightly more wear on the spine or a small scuff here or there, but by and large, these books are in Very Good to Near Mint condition. Second, and this is a big second… they have stickers on them. Each book has a small green sticker on the back cover. They are easily removed and don’t leave behind any trace of having been there, but purists will surely balk at having any kind of sticker on their books (then again, what purist is buying 50-cent grab bag books?).

I’m stoked to have a batch of new comics to check out, and I’m now a fan of the grab bag model. Since I haven’t read Marvel books in about a decade, maybe I’ll try for a Marvel grab bag next time I get some coupon codes to spend. Check out Things From Another World, you won’t be disappointed.

I use TweetDeck to organize the people that I follow on Twitter and Facebook, and I have the application divided up into many columns. Three of the columns are Do Not Miss, AM (for Affiliate Marketing) and Autos/Companies. I always pay close attention to the people that I’ve put into the Do Not Miss column. The AM column has the largest number of people in it, but I do my best to skim and pick up important tweets that I can interact with. The Autos/Companies column, unless I’m really bored, gets largely ignored.

Do Not Miss is full of people that tweet personally. They may promote their sites or products, but they always do it from a personal point of view. They never (or at least, very rarely) automatically pipe anything into Twitter (something that I am sometimes guilty of myself, I know). Many of them are also personal friends of mine, but not all. Being interesting and personable gets you on this list., and I keep it short.

AM is populated by anyone that’s part of the affiliate marketing industry. There are many people in it that I don’t know personally, but I’m interested in what they have to say. This is kind of an “everyone else” column. If you don’t fit into Do Not Miss, and you’re part of the industry, you’re probably in this column. Most of what shows up in this column is personally sent, not automated.

Autos/Companies is nothing more than people or companies that I don’t want to unfollow (because they occasionally post something noteworthy) but I don’t want to pay a lot of attention to. They automatically post nearly everything to the stream, there’s nothing personal about the tweets, and it’s often little more than a stream of links to offers or coupons. These are tweeters that use services like twitterfeed.com or RT everything under the sun without regard for the answer to the question: do my followers really care about this?

If I told you that I’m not the only person that uses a system like this, would it surprise you? If we told you that you were on the Autos/Companies (or whatever title other folks give it) list and that we rarely read your tweets, would you change your style?

Which list do you think you’re on?

The new episode of Geek Dads Weekly has been posted! We talk about Lost, the future of television, CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture, which is way more interesting than it might sound), the “advertising tax” (also known as the “affiliate tax”) and the first Geek Dads Weekly giveaway! We’re giving away a copy of Internet Marketing from the Real Experts, an awesome book just published by Shawn Collins and Missy Ward of Affiliate Summit. More details at the Geek Dads Weekly site!

I’ve been invited to present at February’s SynerQue meeting here in Albuquerque on the topic of podcasting. My first planned speaking gig – cool! Here are the details I wrote up, reprinted from the SynerQue announcement.

In the Dark Ages (what historians call “The 20th Century”), radio was a dominating force in mass media. Educated and specially-trained on-air talent used their voices to communicate with millions of listeners. Radio itself was dominated by a very small number of voices and it was difficult, though admittedly not impossible, for someone to break in and host their own show. The FCC has long been concerned about pirate radio (as seen in the Christian Slater documentary, Pump Up the Volume). Radio stations seemed intent on keeping the on-air talent limited to people that actually had talent. Thankfully, the Internet has changed all that. Enter: PODCASTING.

At this month’s SynerQue meeting, blogger and podcaster Daniel M. Clark will share his insight and experience in setting up and running a podcast. From equipment to software to marketing the show, he will give tips and advice, and actually record a show during the meeting. It’s far, far easier than you might think. Got $20 and a computer? You can be a podcaster!

Seriously, it’s been a fun intro, but if you’re interested in recording podcasts, this presentation will get you going in the right direction.

• Choosing a topic and planning a show
• The equipment you need, microphones, computers (Mac and Windows users welcome)
• The software you’ll use to record, edit and upload the audio
• The cost you should expect to pay (it really is about $20)
• How to get the podcast into the iTunes directory
• Ideas for promoting your show
• A few ways to monetize your podcast and make a few bucks

In addition, there are prizes! There are two prizes that will go to one winner (we’ll be doing a drawing, so bring a business card (or some other identifying card), and there’s something for everyone that shows up, too.

• One winner will receive a free headset/microphone combo (model to be determined, valued around $20) to get started. The winner will also be invited to be a guest on the Geek Dads Weekly podcast! Talk about yourself, your business, or maybe the new podcast that you’re sure to begin!
• Everyone at the presentation who drops a card and runs a website will get a link from both GeekDadsWeekly.com and DanielMClark.com when the show being recorded at the meeting gets posted. Don’t have a website? A link to a Twitter or Facebook account can be done instead.

Come on out, it’ll be fun – and you might discover that you’re a natural at podcasting!

Earlier today I went to the state capital building in Santa Fe, New Mexico to speak out about House Bill 50, the New Mexico equivalent of the “Amazon Tax”. This is my account of the afternoon I spent in the halls of government.

On Thursday, January 28, 2010, I attended the meeting of the House Business and Industry Committee. The meeting was scheduled for 1:30pm in room 309 at the state capital building in Santa Fe. Right up front, let me say that I’m not familiar with the terminology and procedures of government committees. I apologize in advance for mangling the terminology and mean no insult by it.

It was a close call, but I made it to the meeting room on time. I was, in fact, the first person in. I thought for sure that it would be a pretty empty room, since I was alone there (except for a few staffers) just a few minutes before 1:30. Apparently, they don’t believe in starting anywhere near the posted time, however. More citizens and lobbyists filed in, but no House members showed up until 2:30. I overheard someone say that they were just late getting back from lunch. I hope that wasn’t the case.

The committee room was much like you may have seen on television, only at a much smaller scale. The committee members sat in a semi-circle facing the audience, and there was a table with a microphone in the center of the room facing them. This table was used by the authors of the bills to answer questions put forth by the committee.

The committee roster was as follows: Jim R. Trujillo (D), Eliseo Lee Alcon (D), Jose A. Campos (D), Dona G. Irwin (D), Andrew J. Barreras (D), Sandra D. Jeff (D), Vice Chair Thomas A. Garcia (D), Chairwoman Debbie A. Rodella (D), Thomas C. Taylor (Minority Floor Leader, R), Jane E. Powdrell-Culbert (R), Keith Gardner (Minority Whip, R) and Shirley A. Tyler (R). The team has a combined batting average of .351, and has won several division pennants.

House Bill 50, the Internet Sales Gross Receipts Bill, was third on the agenda. I won’t bore you with the details of the first two bills; you can read my raw notes at ABestWeb. Suffice to say, it would be nearly 4pm by the time HB50 was discussed.

The bill’s author, Representative Eleanor Chavez (D, District 13, Bernalillo County), took her seat in the center of the room, with an “expert witness” by her side. I regret that I did not make a note of the gentleman’s name. Chairwoman Rodella began the proceedings. Representative Chavez gave us an overview of the bill, and then the audience was asked for opinions.

Supporters of the bill went first – about ten in all. Each raised his or her hand, was acknowledged by the chair, and stood up to give an opinion. Each supporter gave a variation of the same message: I support this bill because I represent [a cause] and the state needs more money to support [the cause]. Not one of them spoke to the particulars of the bill itself or the impact it would have on residents of New Mexico or the businesses that the bill would affect.

Opponents of the bill went next – of which I was the only one. I made my case, that I am a small businessperson in New Mexico, and that the state would not see any additional revenue because the companies the bill seeks to affect would simply terminate their relationships with me rather than collect the sales tax. The state would not benefit, and I would lose the income that I earn working online.

For the following 45 minutes or so, I listened to the debate between the committee members and Representative Chavez and her “expert witness”. It became apparent very quickly that Rep. Chavez was merely copying the basics of the bill from New York and that neither she nor her witness were knowledgeable about the internet, affiliate marketing, taxation, or how the three are related. It was clear at the outset that three committee members were against the measure (others would follow).

Representative Keith Gardner (R) was clearly against the bill, and he had my favorite quote of the afternoon, which I’ll paraphrase here because I neglected to write it down in its entirety: the way this bill is written, wouldn’t Google also be considered to have a nexus in New Mexico because they also refer buyers to sellers?

Vice Chair Thomas Garcia (D) made another great point when he noted that the way the bill was written, simply telling Representative Campos that he bought his tie at a site online (I forget which site he named) would create a nexus. The response from the “expert witness” was that the threshold of $10,000 in the bill would take care of that, but the larger point was made: threshold or not, word of mouth was written into the bill.

In the end, it became clear that the majority of the committee members were not in favor of the bill. Representatives Gardner, Powdrell-Culbert, Taylor, Garcia, Campos, and Trujillo seem to be firmly against it. Chairwoman Rodella asked some pointed questions, but I did not get a sense that she was firmly for or against the bill. The balance of the Representatives had little or nothing to say during the proceedings.

A motion to table the bill was made by Representative Gardner and it was seconded by Representative Powdrell-Culbert. The motion was objected to by Representatives Trujillo, Campos and Alcon, but in a 7-4 vote, the objection was defeated and the bill was tabled. Again, I’m not familiar with the jargon and this was my first time watching a government body in action, so I’m probably mangling the terminology.

Several Representatives mentioned, at various times in the process, that they might support the bill but didn’t for a various reasons: it was too broad, it was too vague, or it wasn’t enforceable. Nobody seemed to be of the opinion that the redefinition of nexus was itself a bad idea, or that taxing online sales was a bad idea. A better-written bill might have passed. My opinion is that unless we have a larger affiliate industry turnout if or when this bill comes back, we could see a very different result.

I did not get any face time with any of the Representatives because once a bill has been resolved, they move on to the next order of business. There were several other bills on the agenda and I had already been there for almost three-and-a-half hours. I needed to get on the road home, as I wasn’t too keen on driving over an hour in the kind of snow we were getting yesterday.

I’ll be following up with Rebecca Madigan of the Performance Marketing Association and will post any other information I have as I get it.

I consider yesterday a win for our industry, and I’m proud to have been a part of it.

Over at the Geek Dads Weekly site, I’ve just posted a one-hour recap of Affiliate Summit West 2010, the affiliate marketing conference that I’ve just returned home from. The event was incredible – I really have no complaints about it at all, which is itself incredible. Previous Summits have always had a negative aspect or two, whether it was a problem with a fellow attendee, a problem with a session or the schedule, or overall lack of benefit to my efforts at the time (not a reflection of the quality of the show, but a statement about my own lack of discipline). This time around was pitch perfect. I made a lot of great contacts, shored up some sponsorships for Geek Dads Weekly, had a great time with every single person I met there – I’m so high on this thing I’m going to be talking about it for months (probably just in time for Summit East in New York in August).

Check out the show, I hope you find it informative and helpful – or at least entertaining!

Also, for those interested in the blog I maintained during Summit, it’s located at danielmclark.tumblr.com. Lots of good stuff there, too.

It’s been said that 2010 will be the Year of FourSquare (via Peter Shankman) but it’s also been called annoying and worthless by folks who’d rather not see FourSquare updates on Twitter and Facebook. Like any technology or social application, there are ways to use FourSquare without annoying anyone – or, with minimal annoyance at least.

1. Turn off notifications to Twitter and Facebook
   This seems counter-productive, but users that login and search nearby areas will see you. FourSquare doesn’t break when you don’t send updates to Facebook or Twitter. If you don’t want to go all the way, at least turn off the notifications of unlocked badges and achievements.
2. Think about where you’re checking in
   There is no reason why you should check in at your house. Remember, locations you create, like your home, are publicly searchable. While paranoia shouldn’t be the rule of the day, there are few compelling reasons to put the location of your home out there for all to so easily find. Checking in at  church, at a bar, at a movie theater? That’s one thing. Checking in at your doctor’s office, your (for the ladies) gynecologist, or your kid’s preschool? That’s altogether different.
3. Updating every 20 minutes isn’t necessary
   There’s no need to check-in at every store you visit while you’re out running errands. “At Walmart” followed by “At Ace Hardware” 15 minutes later followed by “At Staples” 20 minutes after that gets old pretty quick. If you wouldn’t take the time to type “I’m at Walmart” in your Twitter client, don’t bother checking in with FourSquare. Like anything else that goes out to the social web, ask yourself if it’s worth putting out there.
4. Participate with people that want to participate
   Seek out businesses that want to use FourSquare as part of a marketing strategy. They will often offer discounts to customers that check-in at their location. Bars have been quick to jump on this. Don’t go overboard! The previous three suggestions still apply.
5. Don’t be rude in real life, either
   Whatever you do, don’t hold up the line at the grocery store trying to check-in while you’re standing at the cashier. Don’t belly up to the bar, get the bartender’s attention, then make him wait as you check-in. True, there are people online who are annoyed by FourSquare updates; there’s no reason to annoy people in real life, too.
6. Show you can have fun with it without taking it too seriously
   Check in from someplace like Missy Ward’s Ample Cleavage (wish I’d known about that little bit of comedy while we were all in Vegas). If you’re making people laugh, you’re probably not annoying them.

Like anything (especially abusing services like twitterfeed), FourSquare can be used in ways that others don’t like. While I do believe that there aren’t any hard-and-fast rules when it comes to social applications, I do believe in strong guidelines. Are you on FourSquare? How do you use it?

As we transition from 2009 to 2010, another transition is taking place with the weekly podcast that I co-host with Joe Magennis. We began the show as Geek Dads @ Home in December 2008, and as of December 2009, that show is over. Last week we recorded our first show as the revamped and freshly painted Geek Dads Weekly!

We decided that it was time to drop the never-enforced “@ Home” requirement and open the show to any geek dads out there who would like to come on as a guest with us. If you’d like to come on the show, contact us via the form on the new site – http://geekdadsweekly.com. The site has a full archive and a wiki for our show notes. We’re excited about 2010 and we hope you’ll join us!

Episode #1 was recorded January 6th, and the second episode will be recorded tomorrow.

One of my favorite comedians, George Carlin, died last June at the age of 71. I can remember thinking to myself, on at least two occasions when he was playing in the town in which I was living, that I would see him another time. I put off going to the shows because money was tight, because I couldn’t find anyone to go with me, because I had to work that night – I’m sure my excuses reasons were justified at the time.

My biggest regret on June 22, 2008 was that I never got to see George perform live. I own every album he put out, but I never got to the live show.

My first concert was Poison, in 1988. Since then, I’ve seen Aerosmith, Skid Row, Tesla, Warrant, Rush (7 times), Queensryche, Counting Crows, The Cure (3 times), Primus, Def Leppard, and a few others. Comedians, I’ve only seen a couple – Jeff Dunham (before he turned into a right wing racist lunatic) and Janeane Garofalo are the two you’ve probably heard of. There are a few artists that I’ve always sort of had on a “well, if they come around and I’m not busy maybe I’ll go” list, but after Carlin passed last year, I’m upgrading most of the artists to “whatever it takes, I must see them perform before I (or more likely, they) die”.

Peter Gabriel tops the list. Morrissey. Robert Plant (though I will steadfastly not go to any sort of Led Zeppelin reunion, just on principle). Kevin Smith. David Cross. Henry Rollins. Patton Oswalt. There are quite a few more, but I’m curious…

Who’s on your list?