Making Whuffie: Tara Hunt

I had a great time at this year’s TED conference in Palm Springs. One of the most fun bits was spending time with Tara Hunt. I have high regard for Tara, not just because she’s a fellow Canadian, but because she hangs out on the edge of what’s happening with business and stirs things up. She’s a social media star – but not just as a “I know about the technology” but from the point of view of “How does this matter to us as humans?” and “How does this help us build and shape community?” She’s also the author of The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business about how social media impacts the way business is done now, and plans to call her next book “Happiness as Your Business Model.”

In our conversation, we discuss:

• Why business seems to operate in a way antithetical to how we are wired to live and operate as human being
• The deeper roots of happiness – and why that matters in business
• The balance between numbers and community
• How to start building your community around you and your business

[audio:http://s.rypplecdn.com/mwm/audio/Tara-Hunt.mp3|titles=Whuffie Factor with Tara Hunt]

You can follow Tara on Twitter at @missrogue and check out her (brilliantly named) website www.horsepigcow.com

(RSS/Newsletter readers: you may need to click through to listen to the interview.)

Photo of Tara from her Flickr stream. Licensed under CC.