Thanks to the Twitterings of JasonCalicanis this little gem came to my attention.
http://community.izea.com/blog/2007/11/google-goes-aft.html
yes my blog does not currently use advertising to any potential but we should all be concerned.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Recession, what recession ?
just a theory i have surmised, thanks big brain, in the past month the Canadian dollar has soared 15 cents in value. Something is brewing and quickly.
US Production is down, stocks are down, consumer confidence is at an all time low, i think that possibly :
North America is headed for a big fat recession.
Back in 1989 we saw the same sort of thing where the big media businesses and economic poo-bahs for 6-8 months played with the word 'recession' by referring to it as the 'R' word. Do you remember that? Then one day in May 1990 the word popped out of dyke, the finger could no longer hold in the flood waters of facts.
I remember it like yesterday.... I had a full head of hair, a $1200 Hugo Boss suit, a new girlfriend, and the chance at making a fortune... I was selling accelerator cards for the Mac Plus!
I had a full list of corporations and small businesses with these computers that i had cold called myself, in april the sales were hot hot hot, i was wearing shades, listening to the song 'gotta wear shades', I was Tom Cruise in Risky Business, the world was my oyster.
I was depending on those sales to put me thru Univeristy the next year.
When the word 'RECESSION' officially hit the streets and you could literally hear the wallets snapping shut. Customers calling me back trying to cancel orders. Work for me instead, was back to the Generous Motors as a summer student / assembly line worker. I was one of the lucky ones.
I wonder if i had social networking tools back then how much easier it would be to sell something of value to people who genuinely wanted it regardless of any looming recession.
Social Media has the power to transform the ways in which we work, consume energy, enlighten how each of us can help make changes to the policies in place, and therefore millions of people around the globe. A big global hug please.
I believe that in the next year social media will explode in popularity not because 'i am new to it' but because of the looming financial crisis facing the United States, Canada, and the global economy.
From my understanding the current problems are partly thanks to the deficit spending of the Bush Administration, steady rise of cheap imports, sharply rising fossil fuel costs, and the failure of aggressive mortgage lenders - the junk bonds of our current time. Take a second look at the decreasing US dollar and increasing imported fuel costs an we will have an even greater devastating effect on many commuter driven economies than publicly thought.
Still people need to eat, work, communicate, consume, and entertain.
In tough times people will look for inexpensive ways to do the same things they did before. Companies are reducing overhead and selling off expensive office real estate, (downsizing for you 1990s peeps), this will enable computer savvy managers to turn to solutions that are outside of the box. aka not sold by microsoft or oracle etc.
Everyone is trying to figure out how to make a buck and how to keep the old job and be prepared for the worst. I don't know of anyone that is truly confindent in their employment.
....
US Production is down, stocks are down, consumer confidence is at an all time low, i think that possibly :
North America is headed for a big fat recession.
Back in 1989 we saw the same sort of thing where the big media businesses and economic poo-bahs for 6-8 months played with the word 'recession' by referring to it as the 'R' word. Do you remember that? Then one day in May 1990 the word popped out of dyke, the finger could no longer hold in the flood waters of facts.
I remember it like yesterday.... I had a full head of hair, a $1200 Hugo Boss suit, a new girlfriend, and the chance at making a fortune... I was selling accelerator cards for the Mac Plus!
I had a full list of corporations and small businesses with these computers that i had cold called myself, in april the sales were hot hot hot, i was wearing shades, listening to the song 'gotta wear shades', I was Tom Cruise in Risky Business, the world was my oyster.
I was depending on those sales to put me thru Univeristy the next year.
When the word 'RECESSION' officially hit the streets and you could literally hear the wallets snapping shut. Customers calling me back trying to cancel orders. Work for me instead, was back to the Generous Motors as a summer student / assembly line worker. I was one of the lucky ones.
I wonder if i had social networking tools back then how much easier it would be to sell something of value to people who genuinely wanted it regardless of any looming recession.
Social Media has the power to transform the ways in which we work, consume energy, enlighten how each of us can help make changes to the policies in place, and therefore millions of people around the globe. A big global hug please.
I believe that in the next year social media will explode in popularity not because 'i am new to it' but because of the looming financial crisis facing the United States, Canada, and the global economy.
From my understanding the current problems are partly thanks to the deficit spending of the Bush Administration, steady rise of cheap imports, sharply rising fossil fuel costs, and the failure of aggressive mortgage lenders - the junk bonds of our current time. Take a second look at the decreasing US dollar and increasing imported fuel costs an we will have an even greater devastating effect on many commuter driven economies than publicly thought.
Still people need to eat, work, communicate, consume, and entertain.
In tough times people will look for inexpensive ways to do the same things they did before. Companies are reducing overhead and selling off expensive office real estate, (downsizing for you 1990s peeps), this will enable computer savvy managers to turn to solutions that are outside of the box. aka not sold by microsoft or oracle etc.
Everyone is trying to figure out how to make a buck and how to keep the old job and be prepared for the worst. I don't know of anyone that is truly confindent in their employment.
....
Solving Global Warming and Terrorism in one swoop
For those of you who don't know me, i have a dry sense of humour.
I spoke to Chris Brogan at VON 2007 and agreed that his post on new workplaces and social media will eliminate the need for traditional workspaces, and went one step further, stating these modes of change would greatly reduce automobile traffic, aiport traffic, travel, and subway / public transportation, therefore, eliminating terrorism because of a lack of targets, ha ha what an incredibly simplistic thought? Put a cape and a mask on social networking please ? ( my true mimbo shines ! )
(i give credit to Chris for Twitter linking workplaces of the future on his blog)
http://chrisbrogan.com/social-media-inside-the-firewall/
Fewer cars and less transportation equals less greehouse gasses and better air quality for all. Is it more likely that social networking and easy communication will work quicker to clean up our planet than government(s) political mandated or corporate smackdowns? Will social networks help eradicate terrorism?
Why?
Saving money is the reason why many corporations will turn to social networking and current tools like Twitter, FaceBook, and Skype to name a few. ( and we are heading into an 'R' word ). So i believe we as a whole are bound to depend on it with every point drop in the DOW. And that could mean many more people using these tools at home, working from home. Look at what happened to centralized call centres because of the relatively free use of skype? In an instant things can change.
On to my second conclusion about terrorism, with fewer people using public and mass transit especially at regular rush hour times terrorist elements will have less and less attractive targets. Take away as many temptations as possible.
Attempts to frighten the populus will have greatly reduced impact if individuals have a good support network of friends and loved ones nearby or apparently nearby and easy to communicate with. A well informed up to date public are more likely to rise to occasion to respond and prevent attacks than dozy TV watchers that only see colour warnings on the boob toob. So once again high benefits for social networking peeps.
There are many ways that online social networks can greatly improve our lives past the obvious friend making associations. Perhaps, better one-to-one communication goes a long way to solving some larger problems as well?
I spoke to Chris Brogan at VON 2007 and agreed that his post on new workplaces and social media will eliminate the need for traditional workspaces, and went one step further, stating these modes of change would greatly reduce automobile traffic, aiport traffic, travel, and subway / public transportation, therefore, eliminating terrorism because of a lack of targets, ha ha what an incredibly simplistic thought? Put a cape and a mask on social networking please ? ( my true mimbo shines ! )
(i give credit to Chris for Twitter linking workplaces of the future on his blog)
http://chrisbrogan.com/social-media-inside-the-firewall/
Fewer cars and less transportation equals less greehouse gasses and better air quality for all. Is it more likely that social networking and easy communication will work quicker to clean up our planet than government(s) political mandated or corporate smackdowns? Will social networks help eradicate terrorism?
Why?
Saving money is the reason why many corporations will turn to social networking and current tools like Twitter, FaceBook, and Skype to name a few. ( and we are heading into an 'R' word ). So i believe we as a whole are bound to depend on it with every point drop in the DOW. And that could mean many more people using these tools at home, working from home. Look at what happened to centralized call centres because of the relatively free use of skype? In an instant things can change.
On to my second conclusion about terrorism, with fewer people using public and mass transit especially at regular rush hour times terrorist elements will have less and less attractive targets. Take away as many temptations as possible.
Attempts to frighten the populus will have greatly reduced impact if individuals have a good support network of friends and loved ones nearby or apparently nearby and easy to communicate with. A well informed up to date public are more likely to rise to occasion to respond and prevent attacks than dozy TV watchers that only see colour warnings on the boob toob. So once again high benefits for social networking peeps.
There are many ways that online social networks can greatly improve our lives past the obvious friend making associations. Perhaps, better one-to-one communication goes a long way to solving some larger problems as well?
TV and Advertising are Dead
OK just as i suspected and many others have as well, including writers
Traditional TV is dead
Traditional Advertising is dead
thanks to Sassysonya on twitter for steering me to this link
http://www.podcastingnews.com/2007/11/13/advertising/
Traditional TV is dead
Traditional Advertising is dead
thanks to Sassysonya on twitter for steering me to this link
http://www.podcastingnews.com/2007/11/13/advertising/
Friday, November 2, 2007
VON 2007 post 1
this post is a solid week old and was saved as draft by mistake
Here is the scoop,
iPod touch, can it be used for live webcasts, both ways ?
We need a transparent device, the TV of the future NOW, TV with Internet easy to use.
Nobody has an idea how to monetize anything, people are competing for eyeballs. Big Networks and small peeps alike, no kidding.
PreRoll ads don'w work if they are crap, they work if they are customized to the audience, proof = DOVE
AP has killer syndication in the works, you agree to share, the exception is not to share = workaround to complex waivers.
Skype Phone, is interesting, esp for us Canadians.
BLOGTV works like a charm, i was a cameraOP for one session and i was adjusting my shots to match the broadcast as seen by a person sitting next to me... read this slower..... as a camera operator instead of being connected to the production monitors and feild monitors i was just watching the final streamed video.
That means devices like iPod touch could be used for field monitors attached to cameras? my hair is standing on end.
Twitterers get ready for seesmic explosions
Facebook lookout ... more to come.
Here is the scoop,
iPod touch, can it be used for live webcasts, both ways ?
We need a transparent device, the TV of the future NOW, TV with Internet easy to use.
Nobody has an idea how to monetize anything, people are competing for eyeballs. Big Networks and small peeps alike, no kidding.
PreRoll ads don'w work if they are crap, they work if they are customized to the audience, proof = DOVE
AP has killer syndication in the works, you agree to share, the exception is not to share = workaround to complex waivers.
Skype Phone, is interesting, esp for us Canadians.
BLOGTV works like a charm, i was a cameraOP for one session and i was adjusting my shots to match the broadcast as seen by a person sitting next to me... read this slower..... as a camera operator instead of being connected to the production monitors and feild monitors i was just watching the final streamed video.
That means devices like iPod touch could be used for field monitors attached to cameras? my hair is standing on end.
Twitterers get ready for seesmic explosions
Facebook lookout ... more to come.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
PodCamp and VON Boston Bound !
I need your help and advice, read on :
Its a go !
My producer has given me a green light to take a few days off to attend the VON.
I cannot afford to hear the speakers. I will go and talk to people on the floor instead and try to get up to speed after the conference by reading blogs and listening to podcasts. i know i know. i just don't have the $2gs entrance fee.
note to self : get a sponsor.
I intend to, I am bringing an old GL-1 MiniDV camera, and a small sony DV with a wide eye, and some decent mics, so i am asking for your advice on whom should i interview?
If nobody responds i may just hose down the event with footage and write a story. Use some sound bites and VO and some O/C and sell myself as writer producer, conference coverage blogger, trend video blogger to companies that need some exposure.
please leave a comment !
A private message for you from me
Its a go !
My producer has given me a green light to take a few days off to attend the VON.
I cannot afford to hear the speakers. I will go and talk to people on the floor instead and try to get up to speed after the conference by reading blogs and listening to podcasts. i know i know. i just don't have the $2gs entrance fee.
note to self : get a sponsor.
I intend to, I am bringing an old GL-1 MiniDV camera, and a small sony DV with a wide eye, and some decent mics, so i am asking for your advice on whom should i interview?
If nobody responds i may just hose down the event with footage and write a story. Use some sound bites and VO and some O/C and sell myself as writer producer, conference coverage blogger, trend video blogger to companies that need some exposure.
please leave a comment !
A private message for you from me
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Death of Traditional TV : stumbleUpon that !
Broadcast is Dead.
Cable / satellite providers are crapping their pants.
Lets face it:
Traditional cable TV watching is a rigid investment in time and creates unwanted boundaries on my social networking and lifestyle timelines.
In Canada we don't get Streamed Television shows in full on demand like what is happening in the USA. Just recently ABC has announced and has provided service of no small importance; web streamed HD full episodes of its best shows.
Look at the big media in the states and they are all providing streamed versions of their shows.
Look at VEOH.com, Bliptv, REVVER, and other video hosting and streaming sites, the technology is there and it is impressive and fast. In Canada the shows and videos that i want to watch that are available are easily accessed and painlessly watched through these players, full screen on my 30" cinema display or sometimes just in a little window while i work on text documents, it s all very productive and invigorating and very very entertaining.
Lets put the video aside for a moment shall we ?
I am reading the Chris Anderson book 'the Long Tail" and in it he states that the reason why all the blockbuster movies are the same is the same reason why the smaller 80% of wanted products makes up for the majority of sales now in unlimited supply markets: consumers have been suffering from a lack of choice.
In the past, like many people, i have been victim to the 'claw', the couch that sucks you in at the end of the day and never lets go, with the tv on mindlessly watching and changing channels, next thing its 2 am. Not so much in the past few years but it has happened.
Let me tell you about the past few months.
I went to a conference that was filled with thought leaders, podcasters, social and new media entrepreneurs, visionaries, and awe inspiring success stories. and i came out plugged in, turned on, with volume up high. I go to work and the volume drops but as soon as i talk about this new media my energy level is back on full and unlimited. So with that bit of information out there let me tell you about StumbleUpon.
I installed the web browser tab option to stumbleUpon, as per Jason Van Orden speech at PNME 2007. That fucking globe has changed my life. Every night for the past 2 weeks i am up clicking that globe button StumblingUpon to the next great web site for new amazing information, incredible pictures, humour, theories, people, places, truly inspiring and entertaining like only travelling itself can bring.
If you don't know stumbleupon it is a place where people in their daily use of web sites will give a site a thumbs up or nothing, or a thumbs down, so when you are bored or want to surf, StumbleUpon will take you, transport you to something that many other people have found to be entertaining and of value.
Talk about supply and demand, this makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. I can't stop exploring all the great things i never knew about. I can't believe how incredibly funny and heartwarming just regular folks are ! I don't need to be entertained by celebrities and stuffed shirts. I don't need to be told by the advertisers who is good, who is interesting etc. There are no marketers involved in StumbleUpon just one great site after another.
There is advertising on the individual web sites, but i am choosing to either stay and peruse the site or to go on to the next one. This target advertising has a better chance of appealing to me than a Tampax Ad on TV. That is the big difference.
I will go to Steve Garfield, or Chris Brogans blogs or a dozen others and read what they have to say, and go where they reccomend i go a look for new information. I will follow their Tweets on Twitter and instantaneously look and read the links.
I am an editor, i make TV shows, i make corporate TV, watching TV today is a passive couch oriented task compared to the voluminous information and entertainment i can get from StumbleUpon. It is a different experience than watching a show or a movie.
The web offers bite sized chunks if i want or bigger if i want, where TV is rigid and definitely takes more effort navigate and find the shows that i may find entertaining. And traditional TV is a bitch to watch because I don't have a PVR and even if i did I can't go back and record something that isn't available, once i've missed it I'm screwed.
Lets face it:
Traditional cable TV watching is rigid investment in time and creates unwanted boundaries on social networking and lifestyle timelines.
But if i could stumbleUpon great new broadcast shows rather than having to reserve time ahead of time, that would be better for me and my busy single guy lifestyle.
For me Broadcast is Dead because after a week of StumbleUponing and discovering all the multilinks it took me to, including video, then turning on the TV to watch and realizing that I wanted to go back to the internet, the internet was more fun, the internet was more rewarding, the highs were higher, the funnies were funnier, and best of all i could share it with all of my friends - i could forward them the links or I could show them the websites and media at work the next day.
I can't do that with TV easily.
Cable / satellite providers are crapping their pants.
Lets face it:
Traditional cable TV watching is a rigid investment in time and creates unwanted boundaries on my social networking and lifestyle timelines.
In Canada we don't get Streamed Television shows in full on demand like what is happening in the USA. Just recently ABC has announced and has provided service of no small importance; web streamed HD full episodes of its best shows.
Look at the big media in the states and they are all providing streamed versions of their shows.
Look at VEOH.com, Bliptv, REVVER, and other video hosting and streaming sites, the technology is there and it is impressive and fast. In Canada the shows and videos that i want to watch that are available are easily accessed and painlessly watched through these players, full screen on my 30" cinema display or sometimes just in a little window while i work on text documents, it s all very productive and invigorating and very very entertaining.
Lets put the video aside for a moment shall we ?
I am reading the Chris Anderson book 'the Long Tail" and in it he states that the reason why all the blockbuster movies are the same is the same reason why the smaller 80% of wanted products makes up for the majority of sales now in unlimited supply markets: consumers have been suffering from a lack of choice.
In the past, like many people, i have been victim to the 'claw', the couch that sucks you in at the end of the day and never lets go, with the tv on mindlessly watching and changing channels, next thing its 2 am. Not so much in the past few years but it has happened.
Let me tell you about the past few months.
I went to a conference that was filled with thought leaders, podcasters, social and new media entrepreneurs, visionaries, and awe inspiring success stories. and i came out plugged in, turned on, with volume up high. I go to work and the volume drops but as soon as i talk about this new media my energy level is back on full and unlimited. So with that bit of information out there let me tell you about StumbleUpon.
I installed the web browser tab option to stumbleUpon, as per Jason Van Orden speech at PNME 2007. That fucking globe has changed my life. Every night for the past 2 weeks i am up clicking that globe button StumblingUpon to the next great web site for new amazing information, incredible pictures, humour, theories, people, places, truly inspiring and entertaining like only travelling itself can bring.
If you don't know stumbleupon it is a place where people in their daily use of web sites will give a site a thumbs up or nothing, or a thumbs down, so when you are bored or want to surf, StumbleUpon will take you, transport you to something that many other people have found to be entertaining and of value.
Talk about supply and demand, this makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. I can't stop exploring all the great things i never knew about. I can't believe how incredibly funny and heartwarming just regular folks are ! I don't need to be entertained by celebrities and stuffed shirts. I don't need to be told by the advertisers who is good, who is interesting etc. There are no marketers involved in StumbleUpon just one great site after another.
There is advertising on the individual web sites, but i am choosing to either stay and peruse the site or to go on to the next one. This target advertising has a better chance of appealing to me than a Tampax Ad on TV. That is the big difference.
I will go to Steve Garfield, or Chris Brogans blogs or a dozen others and read what they have to say, and go where they reccomend i go a look for new information. I will follow their Tweets on Twitter and instantaneously look and read the links.
I am an editor, i make TV shows, i make corporate TV, watching TV today is a passive couch oriented task compared to the voluminous information and entertainment i can get from StumbleUpon. It is a different experience than watching a show or a movie.
The web offers bite sized chunks if i want or bigger if i want, where TV is rigid and definitely takes more effort navigate and find the shows that i may find entertaining. And traditional TV is a bitch to watch because I don't have a PVR and even if i did I can't go back and record something that isn't available, once i've missed it I'm screwed.
Lets face it:
Traditional cable TV watching is rigid investment in time and creates unwanted boundaries on social networking and lifestyle timelines.
But if i could stumbleUpon great new broadcast shows rather than having to reserve time ahead of time, that would be better for me and my busy single guy lifestyle.
For me Broadcast is Dead because after a week of StumbleUponing and discovering all the multilinks it took me to, including video, then turning on the TV to watch and realizing that I wanted to go back to the internet, the internet was more fun, the internet was more rewarding, the highs were higher, the funnies were funnier, and best of all i could share it with all of my friends - i could forward them the links or I could show them the websites and media at work the next day.
I can't do that with TV easily.
Free WiFi coming to you soon
I am in a state of transition.
I earn my living editing video, but the connected world is so exciting, new, and developing and unfolding before me. Twitter is unbelieveable. So powerful and simple in nature, I can sit back and watch the world timeline develop like a polaroid picture in bite sized sentences or twitters.
If I like a particular comment I click on the person, check their bio and previous posts, and choose to follow them. Usually when I decide to follow a person they choose to follow me.
As well on twitter I can either blast a post out to the whole world, the world timeline, or twitter a post to a friend only.
I can say "hey world i feel great today, having a low fat mochachino at the gym cafe"
or like Chris Brogan I can ask some seemingly harmless question about the future of social networks and business realtionships, why bother having a boardroom meeting if we are all connected anyway? which leads to responses on this blog.... "why bother having a boardroom? why bother having a corporate headquarters in this new age of connectivity? and Chris has all the buzzwords and phrases like "the bluetooth VOIP station smells my phone"
big deal right?
it is a big deal depending on whom you choose to follow.
I am following the right people for me, probably not enough but i do have to work and make a living too. My sources guide me to a spring of new bloggers and thought leaders i never would have discovered on my own. People who comment on the simple observations about trends and other bloggers in no big detail but powerfully revealing. someone I'm following in Arizona twittered that they have a new iPod touch and said that people who have these devices go to get their coffee at places that have free wifi. As a result local Starbucks business is down. They concluded that Starbucks will have to offer free WiFi as a result to win back customers.
No big deal you say ?
BIG DEAL !
the implications for the free market economy are staggering .
It might start at the Store level to attract customers but it will move to bigger and bigger business partnerships, community partnerships, and possibly city wide and state / province partnerships. That is my theory.
What happened was at the end of work day today my manager was telling me how exciting his Sirrus Satellite radio is and how he can record a little note if he wants. and he gets the shows he wants to hear. and he can record them if he wishes.
I then had to tell him about RSS, Video, all Media, and the 'One Box' and in the middle of my rant i told him that satellite will probably be dead because free WiFi will be everywhere sooner than you think and i quoted my Twitter friends' economic reality in Arizona as the example.
People want the information and don't care how it is delivered.
these WiFi devices are gaining huge popularity even if people don't fully understand them now.
The technology is spreading and is underutilized, the infrastructure is growing with many consumers completley unaware of what is happening and with early adopters ever so hungry for more, driving it with spending dollars and a new wave of consumer spending, with new exciting marketing opportunities.
The Simple Story
Stores will offer free wifi to gain customers which will eventually lead to competitive widespread free wifi and internet.
Now follow me to the future of free widespread WiFi, wherever you go, drive, ride a bus, or fly, there will be free WiFi. Why? because big companies and advertisers need the attention and rapore gained by offering such a welcome service, and competition to provide WiFi services will be very aggressive and spotty. Rogers, bell, hydro everyone wants to be your WiFi provider but that poses problems right now and will in the future.
Free WiFi poses many problems for these big cell phone companies because of Voip, Twitter, and other internet based communications will rapidly eat into cell phone airtime billing. And the big telecommunications companies don't want that! In canada they want to charge you through your ancestry for everything. Oh and, free WiFi is also going to be the death of satellite radio, ( sorry ! this is just predictions folks! )
So, i have predicted that big television broadcast budgets will be hatcheted and advertisers will get more bang for the buck through Internet based RSS linked 'made for internet' podcasts and video entertainment, to your 'one box' at home. And advertisers will be able to link to you through your WiFi device wherever you go. Advertisers will not have to pay for wasted promotional space because people are looking for specific information, specific programming, which equals smaller advertising to a smaller audience, but the right audience, and to the people who will spread the word, and buy the product.
And now i am predicting free widespread WiFi, city based, run by a conglomeration of Advertising and communications companies, footing the bill because that is where the sales will be, the Wifi will be paid for by advertisers and, like busses people take to work might, one day be plastered with coke ads and the next day plastered with pepsi ads but the ride is next to free.
people will go to where they can help themselves to as much as they want and when they want (which is the success model behind such social networking successes like Facebook ( Steve Morris : Web 2.0 conference )), and they will come back for more and for different experiences and different information. Provide people with the means to getting the information easily and affordably and in large quantity and you will have the ability to communicate WITH them, not TO them. Communicating with your audience is the key to marketing in the future. People will no longer tolerate being marketed to. the next site is a click away.
I earn my living editing video, but the connected world is so exciting, new, and developing and unfolding before me. Twitter is unbelieveable. So powerful and simple in nature, I can sit back and watch the world timeline develop like a polaroid picture in bite sized sentences or twitters.
If I like a particular comment I click on the person, check their bio and previous posts, and choose to follow them. Usually when I decide to follow a person they choose to follow me.
As well on twitter I can either blast a post out to the whole world, the world timeline, or twitter a post to a friend only.
I can say "hey world i feel great today, having a low fat mochachino at the gym cafe"
or like Chris Brogan I can ask some seemingly harmless question about the future of social networks and business realtionships, why bother having a boardroom meeting if we are all connected anyway? which leads to responses on this blog.... "why bother having a boardroom? why bother having a corporate headquarters in this new age of connectivity? and Chris has all the buzzwords and phrases like "the bluetooth VOIP station smells my phone"
big deal right?
it is a big deal depending on whom you choose to follow.
I am following the right people for me, probably not enough but i do have to work and make a living too. My sources guide me to a spring of new bloggers and thought leaders i never would have discovered on my own. People who comment on the simple observations about trends and other bloggers in no big detail but powerfully revealing. someone I'm following in Arizona twittered that they have a new iPod touch and said that people who have these devices go to get their coffee at places that have free wifi. As a result local Starbucks business is down. They concluded that Starbucks will have to offer free WiFi as a result to win back customers.
No big deal you say ?
BIG DEAL !
the implications for the free market economy are staggering .
It might start at the Store level to attract customers but it will move to bigger and bigger business partnerships, community partnerships, and possibly city wide and state / province partnerships. That is my theory.
What happened was at the end of work day today my manager was telling me how exciting his Sirrus Satellite radio is and how he can record a little note if he wants. and he gets the shows he wants to hear. and he can record them if he wishes.
I then had to tell him about RSS, Video, all Media, and the 'One Box' and in the middle of my rant i told him that satellite will probably be dead because free WiFi will be everywhere sooner than you think and i quoted my Twitter friends' economic reality in Arizona as the example.
People want the information and don't care how it is delivered.
these WiFi devices are gaining huge popularity even if people don't fully understand them now.
The technology is spreading and is underutilized, the infrastructure is growing with many consumers completley unaware of what is happening and with early adopters ever so hungry for more, driving it with spending dollars and a new wave of consumer spending, with new exciting marketing opportunities.
The Simple Story
Stores will offer free wifi to gain customers which will eventually lead to competitive widespread free wifi and internet.
Now follow me to the future of free widespread WiFi, wherever you go, drive, ride a bus, or fly, there will be free WiFi. Why? because big companies and advertisers need the attention and rapore gained by offering such a welcome service, and competition to provide WiFi services will be very aggressive and spotty. Rogers, bell, hydro everyone wants to be your WiFi provider but that poses problems right now and will in the future.
Free WiFi poses many problems for these big cell phone companies because of Voip, Twitter, and other internet based communications will rapidly eat into cell phone airtime billing. And the big telecommunications companies don't want that! In canada they want to charge you through your ancestry for everything. Oh and, free WiFi is also going to be the death of satellite radio, ( sorry ! this is just predictions folks! )
So, i have predicted that big television broadcast budgets will be hatcheted and advertisers will get more bang for the buck through Internet based RSS linked 'made for internet' podcasts and video entertainment, to your 'one box' at home. And advertisers will be able to link to you through your WiFi device wherever you go. Advertisers will not have to pay for wasted promotional space because people are looking for specific information, specific programming, which equals smaller advertising to a smaller audience, but the right audience, and to the people who will spread the word, and buy the product.
And now i am predicting free widespread WiFi, city based, run by a conglomeration of Advertising and communications companies, footing the bill because that is where the sales will be, the Wifi will be paid for by advertisers and, like busses people take to work might, one day be plastered with coke ads and the next day plastered with pepsi ads but the ride is next to free.
people will go to where they can help themselves to as much as they want and when they want (which is the success model behind such social networking successes like Facebook ( Steve Morris : Web 2.0 conference )), and they will come back for more and for different experiences and different information. Provide people with the means to getting the information easily and affordably and in large quantity and you will have the ability to communicate WITH them, not TO them. Communicating with your audience is the key to marketing in the future. People will no longer tolerate being marketed to. the next site is a click away.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Wanted : endless time and money
www.Iamthemedia.com just launched today and I am very happy to have watched a few things unfold come to light and then it is done... Paul makes things happen. So i watched closely and became member #4.
I have only recently begun to listen to Paul Colligans podcasts on the reccomondation of Rob Walsh, whom i bumped into at the IN-OUT( PNME story #1 ). After i got back to my hotel room i connected to the internet and downloaded about 4 of Pauls podcasts and decided upon listening to the episode with Mignon Fogarty, GrammarGirl.
I went to the expo because of her story, and how it inspired me to consider possibilites of promoting myself, and others through a fun and creative channel. I had an idea for an existing client of mine but there were more questions than I could find answers to. In my mind my big sales pitch i could envision me saying "GrammarGirl", then i go to wikipedia and type in her name, then the iTunes music directory, etc... then ask my client if they want that kind of recognition? ah ha! ... the big sale ? Prolly not. More than likely just more questions about implementation, search engines, strategy, etc. my head hurt.
I had heard Mignon speak to other podcasters about her show, and had seen her interviewed before. But the questions i wanted answered, nobody was asking. Just fluff questions IMO. So i had to fly to California to get the answers from whomever, i had no intentions of thinking i would ever meet her.
That first night at PNME i heard the podcast, Paul Colligan talking with Mignon. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the questions flowed from Paul and how happy she was to answer them. Literally, in my hotel room i was blown away by the information she revealed and additional information she happily offered about profitable podcasting. I sat there and shook my head with disbelief, it was just that good, period, and clear and to the point. Paul makes interviewing sound easy.
It seems that nobody had ever been bothered to even ask her about how she made it work and the fact that she had actually been trying for a few years to make a profitable podcast and she wasn't just doing it for the hell of it!
That was it. I was hooked. and then the next day at the Podcast Academy i met Paul Colligan, he gave this great talk about who is the media, RSS and boxes that automatically download content, even for people that hate Apple, there is something for them. He introduced a box that blinks when there is new unwatched media on it. and i think the rest of it was a bit of a blur... blinking box, new media, transparency.
I had a eureka moment without the shovel to the back of the head. I tried to speak with him at the end and i sensed that he knew i was a greenhorn, sipping his soda, "hey kid, talk to you outside" he said to me.
Well the next thing i knew i was at the warm up party and this cute girl with a big smile comes up to me and says hello. It's GrammarGirl ! I am once again blown away by the coincidences, chances and opportunities that have just occured. It was only last night i was listening to a great interview by these two great people and now today i had just met both and could talk to them in person easily. I decided that i had to ask her about her interview with Paul and tell her what a great interview it was. Yes, she told me, nobody had bothered to go into the detail that Paul did.
Things happen, there are possibilites out there if you take a chance and let them happen. If you open the door of opportunity, and greet new information with open arms chances are you've just increased your potential to become a better person and to achieve greater things. I certainly feel like i have pushed my boundaries a bit more and my circle of comfort has become bigger. My sense of adventure is tweaked and i am signed up for podcamp boston, and VON.
Back to my "I am the Media" story.
I started to follow a bunch of folks on twitter, added a few to facebook, read what Chris Brogan was reading, Evo Terra, Greg Cangialosi, Kris Smith, GrammarGirl, Paul Colligan, Susan Bratton, Pistachio, Mobasoft, and others.. Started to visit the sites they were reccomending to look at for social network potential, Shelfari, goodreads, posting on Gregs blog, Pauls, Evo, and reading others. I love this stuff, i honeslty don't want to work, just read everything i can get my hands on.
So I am somewhat surrounded by people who are making things happen in the web world, it is exciting to me. A welcome change from being around the corporate and broadcast world. And i know when these folks say they are going to do something they do it. When Paul asked us about some input for his own plans I know who is going to follow, who is going to be there, where the site will go and its incredible potential by the simple fact that Paul has a huge network of the industries best and brightest and most motivated media aware people around.
I have no product to sell, I am not looking for editing work from these people, I am looking for positive inspiration and i am getting it from all these people. I don't know where tomorrow will take me. All i know is that I am hungry for information and communication. I know there is something great happening right now and we are all witnessing it, and we are all a part of it.
When i was a kid i played the piano, and the trombone. I always liked swing music and jazz. It wasn't until i was about 13 that I started to play Jazz, and listen to Count Basie and Oscar Peterson and others. At the age of 16 i was going to Oscar Peterson concerts, my hair standing on end listening to Oscar at the height of his game. When i was 20 i met him, he kicked me to one side of the piano and showed me a few things.
That same year i met Stevie Wonder and hung with him for hours, October 1986.. i heard amazing stories.
In university and at home I had read about the start of bebop, mowtown, studied ethnomusicology, and stared in amazment at the black and white textbook photos, my old jazz record album pictures of these players hanging out together, wearing suits, having casual fun. My all time favorite photo is from Count Basie Jam #2. Clarke Terry, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Al Grey, Joe Pass, and count basie with a cigar, and you know they are going out later skirt chasing. They got that look, and the music is them finishing each others solos, continuing the sentences. You know they hang out!
And the same first night in Ontario PNME, I heard Rob Walsh talk to Quincy Jones about the 'old days' and often even today i wished i was around to wittness this music and the everyday musicians that helped it along, driving in seatbeltless cars across the country germinating their own musical experiences in each place, each bar, with new people, fresh faces.
I missed those days of excitement and simplicity. i can only read about it now. Or hear a few old-timers talk about it.
I know with certainty that social network developers, media trend watchers, twitter junkies, and the like are all part of a seatbeltless instant s.networks, spreading the new "jazz" phenomena of conectedness.
Iamthemedia is something that is going to transform me, educate me and teach me how to blog, communicate, and hopefully earn a bit of a living in a new way. I know this will work even though i do not know all the details yet.
Endless time : to read everything and keep up to date on broadcast and video on the web.
Endless money : so i don't have to worry about the endless amounts of time i am spending reading about technology, and just plain fun on social networks.
Note to self : a blog like this might be better as an audio podcast.
I have only recently begun to listen to Paul Colligans podcasts on the reccomondation of Rob Walsh, whom i bumped into at the IN-OUT( PNME story #1 ). After i got back to my hotel room i connected to the internet and downloaded about 4 of Pauls podcasts and decided upon listening to the episode with Mignon Fogarty, GrammarGirl.
I went to the expo because of her story, and how it inspired me to consider possibilites of promoting myself, and others through a fun and creative channel. I had an idea for an existing client of mine but there were more questions than I could find answers to. In my mind my big sales pitch i could envision me saying "GrammarGirl", then i go to wikipedia and type in her name, then the iTunes music directory, etc... then ask my client if they want that kind of recognition? ah ha! ... the big sale ? Prolly not. More than likely just more questions about implementation, search engines, strategy, etc. my head hurt.
I had heard Mignon speak to other podcasters about her show, and had seen her interviewed before. But the questions i wanted answered, nobody was asking. Just fluff questions IMO. So i had to fly to California to get the answers from whomever, i had no intentions of thinking i would ever meet her.
That first night at PNME i heard the podcast, Paul Colligan talking with Mignon. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the questions flowed from Paul and how happy she was to answer them. Literally, in my hotel room i was blown away by the information she revealed and additional information she happily offered about profitable podcasting. I sat there and shook my head with disbelief, it was just that good, period, and clear and to the point. Paul makes interviewing sound easy.
It seems that nobody had ever been bothered to even ask her about how she made it work and the fact that she had actually been trying for a few years to make a profitable podcast and she wasn't just doing it for the hell of it!
That was it. I was hooked. and then the next day at the Podcast Academy i met Paul Colligan, he gave this great talk about who is the media, RSS and boxes that automatically download content, even for people that hate Apple, there is something for them. He introduced a box that blinks when there is new unwatched media on it. and i think the rest of it was a bit of a blur... blinking box, new media, transparency.
I had a eureka moment without the shovel to the back of the head. I tried to speak with him at the end and i sensed that he knew i was a greenhorn, sipping his soda, "hey kid, talk to you outside" he said to me.
Well the next thing i knew i was at the warm up party and this cute girl with a big smile comes up to me and says hello. It's GrammarGirl ! I am once again blown away by the coincidences, chances and opportunities that have just occured. It was only last night i was listening to a great interview by these two great people and now today i had just met both and could talk to them in person easily. I decided that i had to ask her about her interview with Paul and tell her what a great interview it was. Yes, she told me, nobody had bothered to go into the detail that Paul did.
Things happen, there are possibilites out there if you take a chance and let them happen. If you open the door of opportunity, and greet new information with open arms chances are you've just increased your potential to become a better person and to achieve greater things. I certainly feel like i have pushed my boundaries a bit more and my circle of comfort has become bigger. My sense of adventure is tweaked and i am signed up for podcamp boston, and VON.
Back to my "I am the Media" story.
I started to follow a bunch of folks on twitter, added a few to facebook, read what Chris Brogan was reading, Evo Terra, Greg Cangialosi, Kris Smith, GrammarGirl, Paul Colligan, Susan Bratton, Pistachio, Mobasoft, and others.. Started to visit the sites they were reccomending to look at for social network potential, Shelfari, goodreads, posting on Gregs blog, Pauls, Evo, and reading others. I love this stuff, i honeslty don't want to work, just read everything i can get my hands on.
So I am somewhat surrounded by people who are making things happen in the web world, it is exciting to me. A welcome change from being around the corporate and broadcast world. And i know when these folks say they are going to do something they do it. When Paul asked us about some input for his own plans I know who is going to follow, who is going to be there, where the site will go and its incredible potential by the simple fact that Paul has a huge network of the industries best and brightest and most motivated media aware people around.
I have no product to sell, I am not looking for editing work from these people, I am looking for positive inspiration and i am getting it from all these people. I don't know where tomorrow will take me. All i know is that I am hungry for information and communication. I know there is something great happening right now and we are all witnessing it, and we are all a part of it.
When i was a kid i played the piano, and the trombone. I always liked swing music and jazz. It wasn't until i was about 13 that I started to play Jazz, and listen to Count Basie and Oscar Peterson and others. At the age of 16 i was going to Oscar Peterson concerts, my hair standing on end listening to Oscar at the height of his game. When i was 20 i met him, he kicked me to one side of the piano and showed me a few things.
That same year i met Stevie Wonder and hung with him for hours, October 1986.. i heard amazing stories.
In university and at home I had read about the start of bebop, mowtown, studied ethnomusicology, and stared in amazment at the black and white textbook photos, my old jazz record album pictures of these players hanging out together, wearing suits, having casual fun. My all time favorite photo is from Count Basie Jam #2. Clarke Terry, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Al Grey, Joe Pass, and count basie with a cigar, and you know they are going out later skirt chasing. They got that look, and the music is them finishing each others solos, continuing the sentences. You know they hang out!
And the same first night in Ontario PNME, I heard Rob Walsh talk to Quincy Jones about the 'old days' and often even today i wished i was around to wittness this music and the everyday musicians that helped it along, driving in seatbeltless cars across the country germinating their own musical experiences in each place, each bar, with new people, fresh faces.
I missed those days of excitement and simplicity. i can only read about it now. Or hear a few old-timers talk about it.
I know with certainty that social network developers, media trend watchers, twitter junkies, and the like are all part of a seatbeltless instant s.networks, spreading the new "jazz" phenomena of conectedness.
Iamthemedia is something that is going to transform me, educate me and teach me how to blog, communicate, and hopefully earn a bit of a living in a new way. I know this will work even though i do not know all the details yet.
Endless time : to read everything and keep up to date on broadcast and video on the web.
Endless money : so i don't have to worry about the endless amounts of time i am spending reading about technology, and just plain fun on social networks.
Note to self : a blog like this might be better as an audio podcast.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
RSS still the next big thing
by Scott McDougall,
A Toronto, Canada based Content Producer & New Media trend follower
( This is my first blog ever, First one is for purging, second is for beginning the improving process. )
Hello readers,
I just came back from the PNME 2007 in Ontario California with a laptop bag full of business cards, some inspiration for a new blog and an upcoming podcast.
I am surprised on a daily basis how many people in the broadcast industry just do not know anything about RSS and what it can do for them. To quickly get to the point of this post, RSS is the future of down-loadable video and audio to your TV, iPod, iPhone, and other WiFi devices. No need for an expensive computer in your home to download audio and video, the devices themselves are capable of retrieving the free content you want or purchasing it on the spot with a single button push.
Transparency is the buzz word for 2008 ( IMO ), and it means being able to use the devices without thinking about the technology.
Think of your old TV • it works and you watch.
No matter the brand, make, model, size or signal delivery method you don't need to think about it.
A simple technology question : Consider a...
HDTV with :
internal drives, FW-400 ports,
peripheral ports, ethernet and WiFi
* VRS *
Widescreen home computer with :
coaxial, HDMI, RCAs, SVHS inputs?
Internet video will drive demand
In 2008 we will begin to see the shifts toward the expanded usage of the traditional TV set from cable box input only to TV connected to 3rd party internet TV devices. ( i am excluding VCRs, DVD players for practical purposes here), This is only going to increase rapidly as the marriage of the Quicktime H.264codec and Adobe's Flash container rapidly spread through the internet giving surfers and downloaders much higher quality video than ever seen before on the same bandwidth.
These new WiFi iPods, iPhones, and internet TV devices are a big wake up call for all industry consumer electronics companies to push the envelope to avoid lagging behind. I believe we are on a steep uphill demand slope toward the all in one TV / internet / RSS product with built in storage of 200 gigabytes or more.
It makes sense that a manufacturer would produce such a product.
The question is when and who?
Butter or Margarine? I can't tell...
if I am i watching TV or the Internet, possibly the only time you will know you are watching internet TV is when you see virtually advertising free content.
Magic Tricks... and Advertising
I may be pulling a silk purse out of my butt here when i say this but I think that the traditional broadcasters and advertising companies with their big budgets are not too keen on letting the public know that this low cost entertainment option is available right now. Nor are they too keen on promoting it in the near future. JMO.
I have worked at large ad agencies, psst ! they like their big office towers, 3 martini lunches and nobody wants to let that go and work out of their homes to be competitive do they?
Risqué Ad Content ?
Internet TV has fewer advertising restrictions than the FCC, CFC regulated broadcast streams so be prepared for a bit more creativity, humor, and blue language as a possibility. Although the classic Ed Sullivan techniques are a chosen favorite if the company believes their brand is strong enough to stand on its own and risk potential diagloge flops from hosts.
From couch potato to WebTV Producer is one step away
GimpTV. BlipTV, Veoh.
Interestingly enough RSS feeding your box at home will create a huge demand for decent web content in the form of the full range of shows from sports, cooking, pets, household, travel, comedy, sitcoms, news, sex, personal interest, finance, that many small web production media companies may find themselves with large infusions of Advertising dollars.
One of my favorites is an upbeat sexy show called AverageBetty.
Reverse flow of portable content to broadcast
At the PNME 2007 in Ontario, California I talked to a few entrepreneurs who are banking on the reverse flow of programming for success. That is, instead of creating a hit TV show then releasing it later for podcasting, they are creating multiple made for Web / podcasting shows and hoping to strike it rich by going back to TV with full production budgets.
Also look into Wall Strip, a podcast startup that was recently sold for $5 million dollars. Yes this could be you and your pals and your video hobby collecting the new media cash sellout.
Start creating your own shows NOW !
be master of your own destiny
be specific to your expertise no matter the field or topic.
.... here is the secret of the internet (thanks to a twittering evo_terra) : specific information is better than generic information.
In depth knowledge of a topic will be more successful than a general overview. The depth and expertise you will bring will attract dedicated viewers and subscribers even if you are not the most photogenic person around.
It is a well known fact that in this day and age of the internet people smell a rat quickly and click away as soon as they sense slick marketing.
_________________________________________
I am excited about RSS and new media possibilities. I have seen some very interesting and powerful productions done by folks who are not professional hosts but who know their topics and are real people with genuine qualities and display passion.
Its great to make a connection to others, the human experience thru computers, Imagine that?
..........
Wow that was longer than i expected, i hope you enjoyed it.
Please post a comment so I know what you want to hear about.
A Toronto, Canada based Content Producer & New Media trend follower
( This is my first blog ever, First one is for purging, second is for beginning the improving process. )
Hello readers,
I just came back from the PNME 2007 in Ontario California with a laptop bag full of business cards, some inspiration for a new blog and an upcoming podcast.
I am surprised on a daily basis how many people in the broadcast industry just do not know anything about RSS and what it can do for them. To quickly get to the point of this post, RSS is the future of down-loadable video and audio to your TV, iPod, iPhone, and other WiFi devices. No need for an expensive computer in your home to download audio and video, the devices themselves are capable of retrieving the free content you want or purchasing it on the spot with a single button push.
Transparency is the buzz word for 2008 ( IMO ), and it means being able to use the devices without thinking about the technology.
Think of your old TV • it works and you watch.
No matter the brand, make, model, size or signal delivery method you don't need to think about it.
A simple technology question : Consider a...
HDTV with :
internal drives, FW-400 ports,
peripheral ports, ethernet and WiFi
* VRS *
Widescreen home computer with :
coaxial, HDMI, RCAs, SVHS inputs?
Internet video will drive demand
In 2008 we will begin to see the shifts toward the expanded usage of the traditional TV set from cable box input only to TV connected to 3rd party internet TV devices. ( i am excluding VCRs, DVD players for practical purposes here), This is only going to increase rapidly as the marriage of the Quicktime H.264codec and Adobe's Flash container rapidly spread through the internet giving surfers and downloaders much higher quality video than ever seen before on the same bandwidth.
These new WiFi iPods, iPhones, and internet TV devices are a big wake up call for all industry consumer electronics companies to push the envelope to avoid lagging behind. I believe we are on a steep uphill demand slope toward the all in one TV / internet / RSS product with built in storage of 200 gigabytes or more.
It makes sense that a manufacturer would produce such a product.
The question is when and who?
Butter or Margarine? I can't tell...
if I am i watching TV or the Internet, possibly the only time you will know you are watching internet TV is when you see virtually advertising free content.
Magic Tricks... and Advertising
I may be pulling a silk purse out of my butt here when i say this but I think that the traditional broadcasters and advertising companies with their big budgets are not too keen on letting the public know that this low cost entertainment option is available right now. Nor are they too keen on promoting it in the near future. JMO.
I have worked at large ad agencies, psst ! they like their big office towers, 3 martini lunches and nobody wants to let that go and work out of their homes to be competitive do they?
Risqué Ad Content ?
Internet TV has fewer advertising restrictions than the FCC, CFC regulated broadcast streams so be prepared for a bit more creativity, humor, and blue language as a possibility. Although the classic Ed Sullivan techniques are a chosen favorite if the company believes their brand is strong enough to stand on its own and risk potential diagloge flops from hosts.
From couch potato to WebTV Producer is one step away
GimpTV. BlipTV, Veoh.
Interestingly enough RSS feeding your box at home will create a huge demand for decent web content in the form of the full range of shows from sports, cooking, pets, household, travel, comedy, sitcoms, news, sex, personal interest, finance, that many small web production media companies may find themselves with large infusions of Advertising dollars.
One of my favorites is an upbeat sexy show called AverageBetty.
Reverse flow of portable content to broadcast
At the PNME 2007 in Ontario, California I talked to a few entrepreneurs who are banking on the reverse flow of programming for success. That is, instead of creating a hit TV show then releasing it later for podcasting, they are creating multiple made for Web / podcasting shows and hoping to strike it rich by going back to TV with full production budgets.
Also look into Wall Strip, a podcast startup that was recently sold for $5 million dollars. Yes this could be you and your pals and your video hobby collecting the new media cash sellout.
Start creating your own shows NOW !
be master of your own destiny
be specific to your expertise no matter the field or topic.
.... here is the secret of the internet (thanks to a twittering evo_terra) : specific information is better than generic information.
In depth knowledge of a topic will be more successful than a general overview. The depth and expertise you will bring will attract dedicated viewers and subscribers even if you are not the most photogenic person around.
It is a well known fact that in this day and age of the internet people smell a rat quickly and click away as soon as they sense slick marketing.
_________________________________________
I am excited about RSS and new media possibilities. I have seen some very interesting and powerful productions done by folks who are not professional hosts but who know their topics and are real people with genuine qualities and display passion.
Its great to make a connection to others, the human experience thru computers, Imagine that?
..........
Wow that was longer than i expected, i hope you enjoyed it.
Please post a comment so I know what you want to hear about.
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