Tom Collins

After (or in spite of) a 25-year career as an appellate lawyer, my focus is on implementing practical social media that our clients can learn to use for themselves.

I was introduced to blogging in 2003, in a masters program in Informatics. Blogging amid course work on information architecture, organizational communication, social network analysis, by the end of the Fall semester I was ready to apply the theory in my then-legal-oriented consulting practice — and my first blog, Knowledge Aforethought, was launched.

In March 2004, the potential for blogging and online social networks was driven home when I received an email from the editor of Knowledge Managment Magazine at Ark Publishing (London, UK). She wrote that she had found my blog linked from James Robertson's ColumnTwo blog (Sydney, AU) and wondered if I'd write a book review of one of the books in my blog's reading list. Two months later, I'd been published in two of their European business magazines (both print and online editions), Knowledge Management (now Inside Knowledge) and Managing Partner (for law firms).

I've been eagerly learning about the rapidly evolving tools and techniques of social and business networking online ever since — from the point of view of a non-programmer. I bring the innate curiosity and experimental mindset of a lifelong backyard mechanic/do-it-yourselfer to helping our clients discover and implement what will work best for their unique situation.

I currently share my thinking on blogging, social media, publishing 3.0, and related topics on our Books, Blogs, and Beyond blog.

Courses taught by Tom Collins
How to Display Twitter "Tweets" on your Blog