The Age of Conversation 2: Why Don’t They Get It? is now officially on sale in hardcover, paperback and ebook versions. You can also order it by going to the AOC2 widget in the left sidebar, which links to the Lulu Press sales site.

You also get access to a whole series of podcasts with the very same authors who populate these pages. Hurry, while this offer lasts—go to: http://www.ageofconversation.com

The first Age of Conversation book, published in 2007, featured 102 expert authors. David Armano, Vice President of Experience Design with Critical Mass, and a contributing author, designed the cover of this sequel, as he did for the first Age of Conversation. The unflappable co-editors, Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton, located respectively in Iowa and Australia, have returned to shepherd the authors of the second book into submission—and they’ve done a great job again, persevering through challenges that would have driven other editors to distraction. But they’ve kept their eyes on the prize, producing a truly updated and in-depth book that is a must-have resource for anyone planning to use the Web for marketing, branding, PR, or building an online community.

So, is it worth buying the sequel if you’ve already bought the first one? My honest response—if you bought the first book, you’re going to want this one, too. There’s so much new material and added topic areas in the new book, you’ll find you’ll want both as a set. There have been so many shifts in social media tools and the ways we do business just in the past year, it’s necessary to keep up with the new thinking in the 2008 sequel, which contains almost three times as many pages, written by 237 authors this time. For transparency here, I must admit that I’m one of them.

My own chapter in the book is entitled, “Creativity Comes from Conversation—What’s Innovation Got to Do with It?” As a sneak preview, I will only say that it was written for a section of the book called A New Brand of Creative, which explores the idea that now that many companies and organizations are integrating social media, social networks and online communities into their overall marketing and public relations outreach, does that mean we need some new thinking about the qualities and skills of people we hire to fill not only those roles, but also other positions in an organization? Does The Age of Conversation imply that we need to change not only hiring, but also, our staff training procedures? I’ve drawn upon my experiences as a creativity and innovation consultant, executive coach, management consultant and trainer, as well as my PR, social media and marketing background, in writing my chapter.

The intriguing content areas of the book, which were divided among the authors on a voluntary basis, are entitled:

Manifestos; The Accidental Marketer; A New Brand of Creative; My Marketing Tragedy; Life in the Conversation Lane; Keeping Secrets; From Conversation to Action; and Business Models.

Another great reason to buy The Age of Conversation 2008: Why Don’t They Get It? is that, like the first book, net proceeds will go to Variety, the Children’s Charity, which has raised over $1.5 billion to date for children’s causes around the world, according to the organization’s web site. I was pleasantly surprised to see a van in my own Berkeley neighborhood that is used to transport disabled children to programs run by Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program, which was partially funded by Variety.

Here’s a SlideShare presentation about The Age of Conversation 2: Why Don’t They Get It?, put together by contributing author Faris Yakob:

In alphabetical order by first name, here are the 237 Contributing Authors, who are located around the globe, making AOC2 one of the most ambitious collaborative literary projects about Web 2.0:

A Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi

B Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich

C C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson

D Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner

E Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller

F Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson

G G Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming

H Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber

J J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster

K Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski

L Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux

M Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel

N Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice

O Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz

P Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman

R Rachel Steiner, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen

S Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Sreeraj Menon, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood

T Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman

U Uwe Hook

V Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau

W Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff

Y Yves Van Landeghem

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