Have you noticed that sometimes the conversation on the social web feel less than calm - in fact it can be very stormy?

I often wonder what makes some people want to 'lash' out online? Yet when they meet you in person or by phone they can be very pleasant.

Some may say 'toughen up'. But many people I meet are concerned about being more visibile online not only for reasons of privacy but also what people might 'say about them' once they become more visible.

Through one of my networks online I became aware of a little 'dust up' between two well known people on the Internet - I am not going to link to them or reference their names as their personal story isn't the point of this post. Unfortunately though it's not unusual. But a response by Geoff Livingston to the case in point did encourage me to write this post.

What do you do if someone 'challenges'  your position or point of view online? Do you respond openly on the web, send an email knowing it could get published online, pick up the phone and talk to the person, send a private message on Twitter or just ignore it?

I am not suggesting there is one answer to cover all eventualities. Each case needs to be considered. What I do know is that it does help to have friends to talk the situation through with - to talk you through your feelings of being annoyed, upset, humiliated - what ever it may be. Thank you to those of you who have been a sounding board for me over the years.

Here is what Geoff wrote that I think would be a great screen saver:

In all activities online, I find it useful to ask myself is this about me, or about being of service to the larger community? ....our tongues can be powerful weapons… or forces for good. It’s a choice.

The only change I would make to his comment is that I would change the word 'tongues' to 'words'. It doesn't matter if the words are spoken, written or typed and distributed to cyberspace - Geoff's comments are a great reminder that we can build positive relations or destroy them with our words and actions.

Thank you Geoff for the reminder - and the courage you gave me to write this post.

My Mum always used to say 'never go to sleep on an argument'. I am sure she was influenced to say that as it was literally in the middle of the night that my Dad passed away when I was little - I am not suggesting she they had an argument the previous evening - but I am sure she did not expect to be left widowed with two children to raise in her thirties when she went to sleep that evening.

I'm left thinking what legacy do I want to leave behind and how does the Internet help me do that? And what role model am I being for those I am priviledged to mentor in business or nurture in my family?

What about you?

There is a great article in Forbes about storytelling through your speaking and covers five ideas for the content of your stories:

1. The quest
2. The stranger in a strange land
3. Rags to riches
4. The love story
5. The tale of revenge.

What type of stories do you use in your speeches?

Friend and collegue Neville Hobson will be in Dublin next week to facilitate a workshop for the PRII especially aimed at experienced PR practitioners and will explore how new media can be incorporated into PR campaigns.

This is a full day workshop.

The course curriculum includes:

    * Where social media fits into the business world
    * Social media platforms that can be adopted to complement and enhance your organisational objectives
    * Guidance on best practice use of these technologies.

Neville is an accredited communications practitioner with over 25 years' experience in public and media relations, marketing, employee, compensation and benefits communications, as well as investor and financial relations communications.

He is a friend, someone I collabirate with on projects and a guide to me especially in all things technical and I can guarantee he'll bring a lot of value to this workshop.

How much does it cost? For PRII members €385 and for non-members €520.

Book your place HERE. I understand there only a few places left.

I'll be there attending the afternoon session - so say hi if you are there.

And see what other programmes and events I am attending over at my Plancast page. And for events I am hosting check out my events page on Biz Growth News.

Today I was hosting a meeting and unfortunately duue to the weather one of the attendees could not join us as their flight was cancelled from the UK.

So we decided at the last minute to connect through a conference call. We were in a hotel and the call was going to be for over 2 hours - so what other options did I have for making the call?

- I have a low cost calling card

- I have Skype on my laptop

- but what I opted for was Skype on the iPhone.

We had four people in one conference room with my iPhone and placed the phone in the middle of the meeting table. And with the speaker phone on we were able to speak to our colleague on their office landline. I have a monthly account for worldwide Skype calls of just €8.95 plus vat per month for unlimited number of calls to landline. How is that for keeping your communication costs down?

I use Skype all the time in the office - now with this app I just might use them for conference calls on the run.

What's your favourite example of using Skype to connect to colleagues, customers, familyy and friends?

I was reading a Tweet from Steve Rubel which directed me to an example of a newspaper in the US using Posterous the free blogging platform (that I am posting to here) where you can post using email.

The Austin American Statesman 'Weather Watch' page says:

This has been a summer we won’t likely forget — thanks to the record-setting heat. Today, we get something of a break and, for the third consecutive day, should stay under 100 degrees. We’re expecting folks to get out and take advantage of the relative cool.

Help us document a “day in the sun” by snapping a photo today and emailing it to post@austinheat.posterous.com.

The subject line of your email becomes the headline on your photo. Include some description in the email text, if you like. To have your photo considered for print publication, be sure to credit the photographer.

View your photo (once it’s approved) and the photos of others at austinheat.posterous.com, a blog that we’ve set up just for this heat project.

You can find the Austin Heat Posterous blog HERE.

You can also follow the Austin Heat photo blog via Twitter.

On the Posterous blog for Austin Heat it says:

We're zeroing in on the all-time Austin record for 100+ degree days. The record, which has stood since 1925, is 70 days. The Statesman has set up this blog to give you a chance to record what you did during Austin's blazing hot summer.

Just e-mail a picture of what you are doing today in the heat and a short description to post@austinheat.posterous.com. (If you want your picture to be considered for print publication in the Statesman, you must include the name of the person who took the photo.)

This is a terrific example of making it easy to enable content to be sourced from your community with them simply having to send an email. And with the cross posting ability, you could also share the photo's into your Facebook page or Flickr - just be sure that you make it clear with your contributors what your plans are for using their content.

Can you think of ways you could use Posterous to crowd source ideas and information?