The issue of cost has arisen a few times in these posts/comments, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts.

A communications model that puts people at its center is inherently time-intensive, therefore expensive.  It is impossible to use technology to replace a genuine conversation; technology is merely an enabling tool.

Mass communications is relatively cheap comparatively, but has much waste in terms of its "misses."  Only a very small percentage of targets yields a positive return to any campaign.

In order to solve this time-intensive/expense problem, we need to turn to the model's premises itself: how can we use conversation to recruit others to do our communicating for us?

I as an individual can only talk personally to a small fraction of my audience.  Yes, a blog helps to increase that number, as my personal voice can be broadcast, in a sense.  But to reply to individuals who comment in a more private fashion (via email, a call, etc.) takes time. Commenting on other people's blogs takes time.  Identifying influencers takes time.  Every influencer has to be approached personally, conversationally.

Over time, through our construction of networks of connections via our conversations moderated by all of these tools (and therefore made visible), we increase the number of people who can communicate your message to others in a way that is positive for your organization.

In a sense, we have always done this with media and other "filters" or infomediaries.  But of course, that is still diffuse/mass in scope.  I am not suggesting we abandon that route by any means.  I am suggesting we need to expand our efforts to many individuals who are outside these traditional groups, who can then use their influence to persuade others.  This will ultimately cut the cost to the organization of communicating its messages.

But lets be real here:  the initial cost to set this up will be significant.  Using these new tools, applying this new model is IN ADDITION TO the normal PR/marketing/comms activities.  It has to be budgeted for.  We are still unsure what it really costs (we have started some research in this area).