93South - Thoughts on New England Web 2.0 » Opinion

Social Media Revolution Video

David — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:39:19 +0000

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I know at some point someone in my company is going to send around this video and wonder at all of the wonderful game changing facts and figures – remember, statistics are like management crack. I just wonder if this type of video should have some sort of creative direction attribution? Should the author reference the Shift Happens videos or other compilations that have used this same style?

You could also ask the same question about attributing a source for the claims in the video as well? Curious? Just visit the Socialnomics.com blog where you can pick up his book of the same name. The video was produced by Erik Qualman who is Global VP of Online Marketing for EF Education and based right here in Cambridge, MA.

Enjoy!

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Must Watch Video: Why Boston Might Just be the Center of the Universe

David — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:25:15 +0000

As interesting for anyone interested in the national economy as it is for those of us concerned about the Boston technology sector, here is a video that you must watch. It comes from a recent presentation given at a TED conference in February by Juan Enriquez, Managing Director of Excel Medical Ventures. Please watch it and leave your comments below.

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Red Sox 2.0 an Inspiration for Boston Web 2.0!…and Thank You for The Free Furniture

David — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:39:15 +0000

Is it that bad that as much as I was rooting for the Red Sox to win the series last night, I was equally as invested in them taking the title so I could sleep easier on my free bed!

I’m not quite sure how to handle this new found culture of winning in Boston with the Red Sox, Patriots and potentially even the Celtics becoming dominant teams in their sports. After all, we are the town that is supposed to find a way to lose?

How does this relate to Boston Web 2.0 Perhaps some of the attitude that you find on the field in Boston will rub-off into the board room. Being successful is sometimes as much attitude as it is aptitude. The Red Sox have always had a deep talent pool from which to draw but now the difference is an attitude that they can pull through no matter what. That is – they start with the idea that they will win and then set out to achieve it. The Boston technology scene has a lot of talent and a large number of start-ups in the area that should learn from this lesson.

As for the bed…I will be at Jordan’s soon to cash in on my own little World Series trophy.

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Pay Your Parking Tickets in Second Life? Boston’s Virtual World Experiment Begins

David — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 14:26:17 +0000

I was reading a recent top article on Boston.com about the plans for the City of Boston and Emerson College to bring the hub into the Second Life universe and it made me think about how far will these virtual world technologies will take us and where will real world Boston fit in?

Here is a test. In your minds eye, quickly create a picture of the typical Second Life daily user looks like in real life? Does a creepy basement in their parents house come to mind…do you think something seedy? That may be the picture that you have now but with many major companies and thought leaders looking to virtual world technologies as “the new, new media” that picture may morph quickly into a picture of yourself in the future.

Boston city officials are, according to the article, hoping that the novelty of Second Life will inspire people to take a more active part in civic life, help virtually imagine how they can improve the city and maybe even interact with the city offices in the future. They plan on building out parts of the city in Second Life as part of a joint project with Emerson College students who will handle the virtual construction. This is all part of a course that Emerson is offering called Hub2 that will be taught by Emerson professor Eric Gordon, who will run the course for Emerson students, and Harvard’s Gene Koo, who will teach the “open class” for non-students.

Other examples of brands and city governments experimental efforts in the virtual world;

Sweden recently opened the first virtual embassy in Second Life. It’s is more or a visitor center, I do not think you can apply for a visa there and for Swede’s looking to renew your visa…I do not think this counts as “leaving the country” to renew your current visa.
The Vancouver Police Department has begun recruiting for Police on Second Life
Second Life developer Second Promotion and other teams have started building out virtual versions of major European cities including Salzburg, Munich, Manchester and Amsterdam
Manpower and several other recruiters have opened islands to start virtual recruiting for real world jobs
A company called Unisfair has launched to help real business run virtual tradeshows and corporate events for fortune 500 companies

As for the local virtual scene? The Boston world already has a decent footing the building of the virtual sphere. Active Worlds, hidden up in Newburyport, MA, is one of the grand-daddy’s of the space is that was started in 1995 and launched in 1997. They have quietly built out their own virtual world as well offering a license their technology for commercial or educational use. You can also include MMORPG (not sure if I can ever get that acronym right) game providers like Westwood-based Turbine who recently released The Lord of Rings Online which looks incredible but I refuse to get sucked in (I’m just too busy and I know it will kill hours of my time).

In addition, Second Life recently acquired Waltham-based Windward Mark Interactive to help enhance their 3D capabilities. The team from Windmark will join the also recently created Linden Software Development office in Cambridge, MA. [ Update: Thanks to Pathfinder Linden for pointing out that the recruitng party I had linked to here was for a party in the UK next week!...my bad! the Boston event was awhile back. ]

The interesting story on Second Life, outside of the local scene of course, is the debate over how “active” the popular online destination really is anyway and if it con be considered a viable marketing program. Second Life has captured almost 8 Million registrations in the pas 4 years but only, according to the debate, (a.) 40 – 50,000 active users or (b.) 500,000 active users. Just so you know (and would like to quote either of these in a meeting to make yourself feel cool), these are referring to 2 different numbers and the point is really moot anyway. The lower number is quote from the a Forrester analyst posted in recent L.A. Times article and is referring to a “peak usage” number or the number of users who are logged in at any give time. The later is an “active weekly user” number as reported by a recent GigaOm article where “active” is defined as users who have logged in the past 7 days. The number that I would like to investigate is user engagement or what avatars are actively involved in on a regular basis.

Marketers for the past year or 2 have been clamoring to build out a presence in this and other popular online worlds with very mixed results ( also read the release on Second Life customer satisfaction ) However, it is probably too soon to really use this platform as a viable line item in your overall marketing plan because the “world” is just not that large anyway. If you can think of some clever gimmick (like a virtual version of your city!) you can get good press and awareness externally for your message but do not expect the Second Life minions to embrace you or your product because you “care” about their world. You may even end up on the wrong end of the Second Life Liberation Army if you are not careful (I’ve tried to join with no success but the SLA is more hype/humor than reality anyway). Do they issue invites like Pownce?

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Technorati tags: Second Life, Boston, Boston Web 2.0, Blog, Blogs, Linden Labs, Avatar, Virtual Worlds, Emerson, Active Worlds, Marketing, Online Worlds, Interactive, Jobs, Social Media, web 2.0, Turbine, Lord of the Rings

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Do I Look Fat? Look Mom, I Made the Front Page…

David — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:05:49 +0000

Does the camera really add 10-pounds?

Mass High Tech published an article this week about the day-job that included my picture, which would normally be great – but look at the size of that head!…I believe it has it’s own gravitational pull.

I guess I should get off the start-up diet and setup an account with Cambridge based fitness site Traineo.

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The Verdict is In – Superbowl Commercials Were Lame!

David — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 15:00:03 +0000

Not that the game is all about the commercials but for most of us – it’s 50% of why we tune to watch the Superbowl each year when your team is not going to be on the field. However, mediocrity seemed to be the name of the game for both on and off the field (actually the game was pretty good considering the conditions). Each spot was worse than the last and many advertisers either showed their off-the-shelf spots or ran ads that looked like it.

The winner of the night was either the Letterman and Oprah promo for his show or the Blockbuster mouse ad. Also interesting (because it was reportedly made for $13 bucks) was the Doritos contest winner…didn’t one of the beer companies run the same contest?

Here are the three top spots cut from the footage using the (shameless plug alert) Gotuit Scenemaker video tagger:

What were your favorite Superbowl Commercials?

Technorati tags: Superbowl, Commercials, Ads, TV, Spots, Funny, Letterman, Oprah, Doritos, Blockbuster, Mouse, Peta, Humor

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The Moon Is Invading! Give Me a Break…Boston Held Hostage by PR Stunt

David — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:28:40 +0000

I am so pissed – now I have another show to watch on television. I am already overloaded with the amount of pop-culture that I can consume in a given moment but now I have to watch the Adult Swim show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. That’s right, I am falling for the either insanely stupid or insanely genius PR stunt that just nearly shut down the city of Boston.

If you have not heard yet. There has been a potential “bomb scare” around the city of Boston where up-to 10 suspicious packages were found in various places around the city. The bomb-squad was called into to investigate and the packages were found to have the image of a crude cartoon character from the Aqua Teen show – The Mooninites. Except for the negative consequences for those involved, the show could not write a better script that some of the local news coverage that I am watching right now.

I have several key questions that I would like answered…

1. How come I have not watched this silly show before

2. Who is feeling more stupid now

a. The Marketing Department at Turner Broadcasting Network

b. The person who reported the first “suspicious package”

c. both?

3. Why did I not think of this stunt?…I guess I could say, “its good that I did not” because there may be some potential jail time for this tom foolery.

According to Turner Broadcasting:

The ‘packages’ in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim�s animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.

I just love and hate it all at the same time…but now I will have to watch a few episodes to see if the Moon Does Rule.

A Bit of Common Sense – And Reality People

I will say, in this groups defense, that this is not the first stunt of it’s kind nor will it be the last. The marketing team probably did not intend to have this happen. How many of us have seen the Andre the Giant stickers (or any of 100 other stickers like it) around everywhere? There was probably an effort out there to get a n underground movement of “what is that” and/or to get bloggers to take pictures and post them on Flickr and on their blogs. After all – the billboard for this has been up at Logan for weeks and I’ve heard on the news that theses packages were there as well.

That is why I ask the question again – who feels more stupid now, the marketing group at the show or the people that reported it…and then the other people that kept reporting it?

Technorati tags: mooninites, aqua teen, aqua teen hunger strike, boston, bomb threat, turner broadcasting, bad pr stunt

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List of 2008 Presidential Candidates on MySpace

David — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:03:57 +0000

I just can’t wait – this election season is going to be so good! In an earlier post I wrote about how this election was going to shift to online video like never before. This time, I wondered how many candidates had MySpace profiles and what they were doing with them. Here is the “semi” official list of 2008 Presidential Candidates MySpace profiles.

News Flash – The Democrats are Much More Popular Than the Republicans

19,000+ 25,000+ 1,110+

Not that MySpace is such a bastion of political thought and objectivity but “grassroots” has now become “webroot” campaigning and some of the candidates are taking to their profiles to get their message across. The headline above is a slightly misleading because it is really Hillary Clinton’s, Barack Obama and John Edwards profiles that amount for most of the friends attached to any candidate profile.

Here is the list of current and considering candidates. Not all of theses are the official profiles for the candidates with the ones that that are least likely to be officially sanctioned marked with a “**”. If you have the links for the ones I could not find or the correct profiles, please email me.

Democratic Candidates (Announced & Considering) 56,000+ “Friends”

Hillary Clinton (Sen. D-NY) :: MySpace Profile (19,000+ Friends)
Barack Obama (Sen. D-IL) :: Myspace Profile (25,000+ Friends)
Joseph Biden (Sen. D-De.) :: MySpace Profile (187 Firends)
Christopher Dodd (Sen. D-CT) :: Myspace Profile ( 95+ Friends)
John Edwards (Fmr Senator) :: MySpace Profile ( 10,000+ Friends)
Mike Gravel (Former Senator) :: No MySpace Profile Found
Dennis Kucinich (Rep. D-OH) :: MySpace Profile ( 649 Friends)
Tom Vilsack (Former Gov.) :: MySpace Profile ( 1,100+ Friends)
Bill Richardson (Gov. New Mexico) :: MySpace Profile ( 480+ Friends)

Republican Candidates (Announced & Considering) 5,550+ “Friends”

John McCain (Sen. R-AZ) :: MySpace Profile ( 1,110+ Friends)
Rudy Giuliani (Fmr Mayor NYC) :: MySpace Profile ( 1,200+) **
Mitt Romney (Fmr Gov. MA) :: MySpace Profile ( 180+ Friends) **
Tommy Thompson (Govenor WI) :: No MySpace Profile Found
Sam Brownback (Sen. R-KS) :: MySpace Profile ( 520+ Friends) **
John Cox (Civilian) :: MySpace Profile ( 27 Friends)
Duncan Hunter (Rep. R-CA) :: No MySpace Profile Found
John Gilmore (Former Govenor) :: No MySpace Profile Found
Ron Paul (Rep. R-PA) :: MySpace Profile ( 1,610+ Friends)**
Tom Tancredo (Rep. R-CO) :: MySpace Profile ( 900+ Friends)

Technorati tags: Barack obama, Hillary clinton, John McCain, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney

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Is Boston the PC and San Fran the Mac?

David — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 00:48:17 +0000

I’ve been reading a few threads lately about the difference between the East and West Coast technology markets and I wanted to respond with some witty breakdown of the cultural differences between the two markets. I wanted to stand-up for the small start-ups who have had difficulty getting the attention of the technology establishment here on the East Coast. However, as I was outlining the salient points of my argument and attempting to find an image to hang my post on it hit me…Is Boston the PC and San Fran the Mac?

I’m not actually making a “digg” at Boston (where I am based) or the East Coast but more of an observation that may hold the key to why the East Coast is so cautious and, as a result, lagging well behind the West Coast when it comes to web innovation. The image of the “PC guy” and the “Mac guy” from the popular Mac television commercials works on so many levels as a metaphor for the 2 markets that it has inspired me to start another open-source commercial script project…

HELP WRITE THE EAST vs WEST COAST WEB 2.0 COMMERCIAL SPOOF

The idea is not about the great web based start-ups in the Boston area…it’s about some of the traditional East Coast tech execs that tried getting jiggy with that web 2.0 thing only after some start-ups starting getting attention (unfortunately, recent developments may send them back into their shells).

I’ll set the stage…East Coast has decided to hold it’s own web 2.0 conference….

“Hey West Coast…I’m holding a Web 2.0 conference and I’ve got a set of huge web 2.0 speakers as my keynotes…I’ve got big execs from Lycos, EMC and Genzyme!”

“ Great EC. Lycos? …are they still around?”

Keep the script going…add your own comments.

Technorati tags: Web 2.0, web, spoof, commercial, mac, apple, pc, humor, funny, blog, blogs, blogging, internet, east coast, west coast

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This Election Will Be Televised…Online.

David — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 23:10:51 +0000

I’m not actually sure what the reference in the title is but it jumped into my head when I watched Hilary Clinton’s “I’m In” speech posted on the Hillary Clinton campaign website. The amount of incremental press gained from announcing her entry into the 2008 US Presidential Election via an online video is huge. As I am writing this post, one of the major cable networks is running a story on the “role of the Internet” in the upcoming election with her announcement as the centerpiece of the spot.

Hillary was not alone this week. Earlier in the week Democratic rock-star Barack Obama also made an entry into the online video space via local broadband video start-up Brightcove (which made it’s own fireworks this week via another round of funding).

Here is the part in the video, posted on both the Barak Obama website, YouTube and tagged on Gotuit, where Barack does not announce his candidacy but does announces that he will think about and get back to you on February 10th. Not to be upstaged, Hillary announced here candidacy today…online.

This election promises to be one that will have the online world, including all of the Web 2.0 sites that did not exist back in the 2004, be one of the main battlefields for the candidates and their supporters. I suspect that the candidates will spend a decent amount of effort trying to ”out-web 2.0″ each other.

The interesting thing will be how the candidates on both sides will be handled on sites like Digg, YouTube and others. It is pretty certain that social media sites are very “left” leaning in bias so my bet is that the Dem’s will fair better online than their Republican counterparts.

This new interest in using the Internet as a platform for political campaigning almost makes Dean look like a maverick?

Today’s move by Hillary officially opens the 2008 campaign season and the hunt is going to be televised in a whole new way. I just hope that my Apple TV shows up in time for the good stuff.

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Technorati tags: blog, blogs, internet, video, online video, politics, hillary clinton, clinton, barack obama, president, election, election 2008

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