Specialize. Be Vulnerable. Don’t Panic. We’re all media junkies. And imagine the future of books. It’s my Friday roundup.

I’ve missed the past couple of Fridays due to our user conference last week. Seems there’s always many last minute details that consume your precious time when you’re hosting 500 people face to face. Fortunately we have a wonderful team who all came together to create successful event. We’ll use the learnings from this year to make next year’s even better. That said, I have to share our funniest technology story – in one of our breakout sessions, the presenter plugged their own laptop, inadvertently flipped their presentation upside down. Instead of flipping it back, they turned the projector upside down and ran their session!

Joe Pullizzi has carved out his specialty in content marketing – and extols the benefits of specialization. His key point is that no one differentiates themselves as a generalist. While geared towards marketing executives, the same applies to every business. You have to find out why you matter and to whom. If this post doesn’t do it, read Jack Trout’s Differentiate or Die (Amazon affiliate link).

I read this the other day and reread it again. It’s a powerful post on leadership and why the best leaders may be the most vulnerable. Read it. Bookmark it. And read it again. It’s about how the best leaders are those that aren’t really seeking the power. They set aside ego and lead because they’re compelled into action. I’ll say no more because Lisa Petrilli says it so much better.

Google instant isn’t really going to kill SEO after all. As someone who spends a great deal of time on SEO and PPC, I’ve been watching with interest how Google Instant might affect both. The chatter was deafening almost immediately after they launched it, but I, like many, believe that time will tell what the real impact will be. This post is a great sanity check, I believe. In other words, a change by Google, which most should realize is always a given, doesn’t mean you gotta panic. As the famous British WWII poster urged, Keep Calm and Carry On.

You spend more time consuming media than working or sleeping. Mitch Joel points out this startling fact in this timely post. Just as I’m finishing Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows – What the Internet is doing to our Brains. In short, we’re being rewired to hop, skip and jump our way through and endless labyrinth of information. We devour it nonstop and are losing the ability to focus long anywhere.

I love the printed word. The tactile feel of fine paper and the knowledge contained within. But we all have heard about the demise of print and traditional publishing. Between the Kindle and iPad, the way we buy and consume books is changing. Fast. Although I’ve not yet made the plunge outside of Kindle on my iPhone, the ability to instantly download a book, tag it, share it and search it is enticing. So is the ability to carry a library in my pocket just like my iPod holds my entire CD collection. What are those silver disks anyway? IDEO reimagines the book. Take a look at what the future (Tomorrow?) might hold.