@RossGoodman Business intelligence consultant at Maxima |

Q1 Name
Ross Goodman

Q2 Twitter username
RossGoodman – http://twitter.com/RossGoodman

Q3 Location
Larkhall, Scotland

Q5 Bio
I’m a Business Intelligence consultant for a UK technology company: http://www.eclectic.co.uk or as we are now know http://www.maxima.co.uk
I love databases, data, information, business intelligence and dashboarding.
I have been fortunate enough to help a few high profile organisations get started on the data warehousing path.
Currently I seem to spend my time flicking between designing new datawarehouses for new customers and prototyping dashboards.
I also love the ETL process but I know a lot of clever people who can do that better than me !
I also love photography but cannot find the time to do as much of it as I would like.
I’m currently trying to restart jogging, but that is even harder, what with the dark and COLD nights !

Q6 When did you start using Twitter and how were you introduced to it?
I actually went and looked it up, I joined Twitter on 13:08 24th June 2007.
I’m currently on tweet number 993, I’ll have to try and make sure #1000 is “interesting” !
I can’t remember how I was introduced to it, probably from Lifehacker or some other similar site.
It was definately though my other web weakness which is Google Reader http://www.google.com/reader/shared/17077310112699559183

Q7 What are your typical Twitter habits on an average day (e.g. frequency & time of day most active)?
I check twitter every lunch time and every evening when i get home from work.
I have it configured so that an Direct Messages (DMs) are emailed to me that makes sure I stay in the loop.
I find myself more and more using TwitterBerry om my phone.

Q8 What are the main reasons you use Twitter (e.g. business, marketing, fun, community etc)?
I have tried to get my work colleagues into Twitter, with some limited success, it tends to be blacklisted on customer sites
I use it mostly for fun, keeping up to date with the heartbeat of the twitterverse (that sounds so corny!)
I also have some pre-canned twitter searches that I send into my Google Reader to keep abreast of work items.

Q9 What aspects of Twitter do you love?…
The fact I can find what I’m looking for by searching and the fact I can be blown away by the randomness of it !

Q10 …and dislike (if any)?
The dropping of the SMS annoyed me, but I can understand the commercial reasons behind it, now I have TwitterBerry it is not an issue.

Q11 If you could make changes to Twitter what would they be?
Innovation! They have built a fantastic platform but all the shiny bells and whistles are being done by third parties.
Why would I go to the main Twitter site?
Groups: I would love to put people into groups ie; friends, family, work, web. That way I could read the timeline each group in order.
It’s not that I’m not interested in what Robert Scoble has to say, it’s just that if I have five minutes I want to read what’s relevant at that time.

Q12 If you Tweet from a PC or a Mac which Twitter applications do you use and why (e.g. main Twitter site, Tweetdeck etc)?
I tweet from my PC, I mostly use the main Twitter site, I have Twitterlicious installed and I also carry that around on my USB stick.
I also have the TwitterBar plugin installed in Firefox but I find I am using that less and less.

Q13 When posting Tweets via mobile, what applications do you use most (e.g. Twitteriffic, Tweetie, Twinkle etc)?
TwitterBerry all the way. I tried a few others but none of them come close.

Q14 What other Twitter apps and tools do you use and would recommend?
TwitterFeed – You point it at an RSS feed and it tweets the contents. I currently use this to share my Flickr photos, Google Reader shared items and my Delicious bookmarks.
This could be abused but I try and be selective about th content I add.
DMWhacker – Allows you to manage your Direct Messages. I have set up RememberTheMilk to DM me when a task is due, I neet to know that but after a few days I want to clear them out, this tool does that.
TwitterVision – Wow, watch the world tweet at you !

Q15 Do you actively seek followers? If so how do you go about increasing your followers?
Other than putting my details on my web site or encouraging friends, family, colleagues to use the system not really.

Q16 Do you automatically ‘follow’ back or are you more selective?
If I have “heard of them” or have seen them on friends time lines I will tend to follow without thinking.
If I am unsure, I’ll have a look at their timeline, if they interest me, they are followed. See Q17.

Q17 If looking for people to follow what attributes do you look for?
Make me think. Make me smile. Preferably both !

Q18 What type of behaviour would make you unfollow someone?
Someone who uses TwitterFeed and then puts hundreds of photos on Flickr: Sorry folks, I have learnd my lesson.
Someone that fails the criteria of Q17. For example I recently started following a few real celebrities.
I love every tweet from Robert Llewellyn http://twitter.com/bobbyllew but the real Shaq is starting to bore me http://twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ ,no offence just does nothing for me.

Q19 What tips do you have for newbies?
Don’t be shy, be informative, be funny, be yourself. You don’t always have to be “clever”, sometimes I AM interested in what you/your cat/your children are doing too !

Q20 Do you use an auto welcome message?
No what’s that? Time to hit Google again !

Q21 How do you find new people to follow (e.g. Twellow, Summize, friends of friends etc)?
Friends of Friends, Twitter Search.
I also like Twitter Local http://www.twitterlocal.net/ to find local folks worth listening to, although it does get Hamilton in Scotland mixed up with Hamilton Ontario a lot !

Q22 How many Twitter accounts do you have? If more than one – how many actively used?
Just the one, http://twitter.com/RossGoodman

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OK, I do have another one, I used that for a twitterbot I wrote for a work project. Nobody was interested then the API changed and broke it so I took it down.Q23 What are your views on Magpie?
Why would I want to alienate people?Q24 Do you know what hashtags are and do you use them?
I know what they are, I use them in searches but I very rarely use them in my tweets.

Q25 Qwitter – do you use it? If someone unfollows you do you reciprocate?
Just because they don’t want to listen to me does not make them any less interesting. I don’t “expect” a reciprocal follow but it’s nice when it happens.

Q26 If you agree that Twitter should be monetized do you have any suggestions how?
Any web based service that I LOVE I pay for, I have pro accounts at Flickr and RememberTheMilk. I would pay for Twitter, but what is the benefit of a “pro” Twitter account other than the warm fuzzy feeling?
If it went exclusively paid for, “everyone” would leave.

Q27 What other social media communities do you belong to? Which do you use more often?
There are other communities other than Twitter??????

Q28 Any famous people you’d like to see join up with Twitter?
This is probably the most “difficult” question so far! I don’t really buy into the “celebrity” culture thing so none of the obvious celebrities.
How about, Steven Hawking or Patrick Moore! Or maybe David Allen of GTD fame.

Q29 I’m looking for interesting people to follow – who do you recommend and why?
That really depends on what interests you.
I recently started following “things”. http://twitter.com/ISStation http://twitter.com/SSDiscovery and http://twitter.com/SSAtlantis give an irreverant view on whats going on “up there”.
There is also something satisfying about sending a tweet “to” the Space Station.
One that makes me chuckle without fail is http://twitter.com/overheardatmoo Not only do they print great products but it sounds as if they have a good laugh in the office while they do it !

Q30 What other question would complete this interview (if any)?
a) Ross, what’s with the profile photo?
It was taken at Rachel House, the children’s hospice http://www.chas.org.uk/rachel-house and I have so many fond memories of the place. I really should take a proper/work photo instead!
b) Richard McKay, where are your answers?