For marketing types, word of mouth advertising is the Holy Grail. We work really hard to create stakeholders who are so engaged and so invested, they can't help but tell everyone they know about what a great organization we are.

In the pre-internet days, that meant engaging some REALLY invested people, because the barrier to entry for telling a friend was pretty high. They'd have to pick up the phone or send letters, or have the topic come up in conversation, to spread your good word.  

With the introduction of email, and now social media, that barrier to entry has been removed.Flickr Photo: dannebrog  It's more than easy for someone to spread the word -- it's STUPID easy.  But, in a classic "be careful what you wish for" way, word of mouth advertising comes with a price. Your supporters can now easily spread your message, and just as easily market it.

It's this dillema that Nancy Schwartz, consultant and blogger at Getting Attention, will take on at her 2009 NTC session,  The Open Source Brand in the Age of Being Everywhere.  I talked to Nancy about that session -- and buffalo -- earlier this week: