I've had to put my foot down...with myself. No more book buying! That is, no buying books in case someone might want them. We are still trying to process everything that I ordered last November. I'm now limiting myself, with perhaps a few exceptions, to new editions and books requested by others in the firm. And loose leaf I am only purchasing in extreme cases since we are having a time keeping up with all those filings. Unfortunately I won't get that same "kick" I get when someone asks for something and we already have it, but so be it.
I felt kind of bad (well, maybe not really) when a publisher rep called me up today asking to drop by and have me order all the great new things coming out in the next quarter. I declined, saying I would just order things one at a time as we need them.
But, this seemed to be a good step towards getting my office and my workflow back into order. Instead of a 90 minute meeting in which I order things which will come and clog up my office in 3 weeks time (not to mention invoices), I now have 90 minutes towards clearing up some of this backlog.
It's a good thing. Right?
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
More Cartoons - welcome to libraryland
I generated a few more cartoons with the Strip Generator.
Here are the links:
Help! I need something about monkeys! Fast!
So a man walks into the library... [gak! just noticed the typo!]
Who called this meeting?
and the original:
Hi! Can I help you?
If you wish to print these out, I suggest landscape and small margins.
The strip generator does leave something to be desired. For example, once you start something you have to finish it. You can't go back to edit, so I can't fix my typo that I just noticed after several days. Also, there doesn't seem to be an easy way to copy the strips off the service and reuse them elsewhere. I could probably do a screen capture and then crop and save into Flickr or the like, but that doesn't seem quite adequate. Finally, I can't print them out without getting a lot of the additional admin sections of the screen. Okay, not to mention the whole site is in two languages at least and there are no instructions.
Now that I've given you all the "down" sides to it, I challenge you to give it a shot and see what fun it really is! I love looking at others' cartoons (most of which are violent unfortunately) but there is such a creativity there.
Here are the links:
Help! I need something about monkeys! Fast!
So a man walks into the library... [gak! just noticed the typo!]
Who called this meeting?
and the original:
Hi! Can I help you?
If you wish to print these out, I suggest landscape and small margins.
The strip generator does leave something to be desired. For example, once you start something you have to finish it. You can't go back to edit, so I can't fix my typo that I just noticed after several days. Also, there doesn't seem to be an easy way to copy the strips off the service and reuse them elsewhere. I could probably do a screen capture and then crop and save into Flickr or the like, but that doesn't seem quite adequate. Finally, I can't print them out without getting a lot of the additional admin sections of the screen. Okay, not to mention the whole site is in two languages at least and there are no instructions.
Now that I've given you all the "down" sides to it, I challenge you to give it a shot and see what fun it really is! I love looking at others' cartoons (most of which are violent unfortunately) but there is such a creativity there.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Day of Firsts: Podcast Recording and Comic Strip!
I'm very excited about my first recording (that I did myself!) which has been incorporated into this week's episode of Check This Out! I discuss the KM conference last week, giving a run down of the sessions and what I took away with me.
And here is my first comic strip from the strip generator. I called it "welcome to libraryland". It's not particularly funny but it was my first attempt. I encourage you to try your own and post the links here!!
And here is my first comic strip from the strip generator. I called it "welcome to libraryland". It's not particularly funny but it was my first attempt. I encourage you to try your own and post the links here!!
Sunday, June 18, 2006
One Step Closer to Podcasting
Usually when I participate in the Check This Out! podcast as "Canadian correspondent", Jim Milles calls me up using Skype (internet based phone call service or VOiP)and he records us from his end. We have also experimented with both of us speaking using Skype. This weekend Jim gave me the assignment of recording my bit on my end, and then emailing the MP3 file to him. He knew I already have an iRiver capable of recording, and even an external microphone, so the only thing left to do was read the manual and figure out how to record.
So, after playing with a few of the settings I believe I have managed it. I recorded 15 minutes (probaby too long!) which has made a 14 MB file. I've emailed it to him and hope it makes it to him.
The subject of my talk was the Ark Group KM conference I attended. Mostly it is a brief summary of the sessions, highlights of things I learned, and a wee bit of my own commentary. I hope it works out!
What next? It's only a matter of time before I get the video thing working....
So, after playing with a few of the settings I believe I have managed it. I recorded 15 minutes (probaby too long!) which has made a 14 MB file. I've emailed it to him and hope it makes it to him.
The subject of my talk was the Ark Group KM conference I attended. Mostly it is a brief summary of the sessions, highlights of things I learned, and a wee bit of my own commentary. I hope it works out!
What next? It's only a matter of time before I get the video thing working....
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Video in the Law Firm
This was something I originally wrote in an email to Jim Milles since I know he has started experimenting with video, and I decided to share it with everyone--
I must say, this past week a couple of things have got me even more jazzed about video. First was the brief interview Rocketboom did with Robert Scoble about his leaving Microsoft. He mentioned that their videotaping people around the office was pretty popular. Of course, a lightbulb went off in my head that that would be a terrific way of getting people to know one another in my office. Then at this KM conference some of the professional development people talked about capturing professional development sessions on video, and one person even suggested having experienced lawyers talk about discrete aspects of their work so associates can view the video before embarking on a certain aspect of work. An even further aspect would be a part of a "retrospective" after a project is completed, asking a client a number of questions on video as a wrap-up to the project. Then it could be "sliced and diced" down and re-edited to have various clients talking about one topic for internal review. So many possibilities... Now I am anxious to get a video camera and start playing!!
I must say, this past week a couple of things have got me even more jazzed about video. First was the brief interview Rocketboom did with Robert Scoble about his leaving Microsoft. He mentioned that their videotaping people around the office was pretty popular. Of course, a lightbulb went off in my head that that would be a terrific way of getting people to know one another in my office. Then at this KM conference some of the professional development people talked about capturing professional development sessions on video, and one person even suggested having experienced lawyers talk about discrete aspects of their work so associates can view the video before embarking on a certain aspect of work. An even further aspect would be a part of a "retrospective" after a project is completed, asking a client a number of questions on video as a wrap-up to the project. Then it could be "sliced and diced" down and re-edited to have various clients talking about one topic for internal review. So many possibilities... Now I am anxious to get a video camera and start playing!!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Webcom Toronto 2006
Webcom Toronto 2006 - November 7 - 9, 2006. Billed as an "International Conference on Interactive Communications and Information Technologies". It looks to be something Jane Dysart is working on. Not a lot of information on the site yet, but it is supposed to be conferences in 45 countries running concurrently and somehow linked. Cool.
Website redesign: Dysart & Jones Associates
I quite like the look of Dysart & Jones Associates newly updated website. Clean and uncluttered, but still fresh looking. I've always liked that they have the blog on their home page--continuous new content.
KM: Cultivating a Knowledge Sharing Culture
This week I attended the Ark conference on KM in Toronto. Yesterday I participated in a panel, along with Mary Saulig and Stephanie Grenier, on the role of librarians in KM. We had Joshua Fireman of ii3 moderate the session and we largely organized it as a conversation based on a few questions. I think it went quite well, and I was pleased with feedback I received throughout the rest of the conference.
This morning I live-blogged one session called Cultivating a Knowledge Sharing Culture on blog Slaw.
That is the last of my big professional commitments for a little while (well, until I attend AALL and make an appearance at the NE2007 reception being put on by ALLAGNY and ALLUNY). Hopefully my blogging will become a little more regular for the next while.
Cheers,
Connie
This morning I live-blogged one session called Cultivating a Knowledge Sharing Culture on blog Slaw.
That is the last of my big professional commitments for a little while (well, until I attend AALL and make an appearance at the NE2007 reception being put on by ALLAGNY and ALLUNY). Hopefully my blogging will become a little more regular for the next while.
Cheers,
Connie
Monday, June 12, 2006
Internet Librarian International 2006
Hi everyone! It has been far too long since I have blogged anything. Life has gotten in the way!
Anyway, I just had a notice that the Internet Librarian International 2006 conference programme will be published this week. ILI2006 takes place in London October 16-17th.
From the notice:
This conference, and the Internet Librarian conference held in Monterey, always sound fabulous. I can't wait to see the full programme. Reading programmes for me is a bit like reading cookbooks. I may not actually cook something up, but it is certainly fun to dream...
Anyway, I just had a notice that the Internet Librarian International 2006 conference programme will be published this week. ILI2006 takes place in London October 16-17th.
From the notice:
This year's dual themes for Internet Librarian International - discovering new resources and demystifying new technology - reflect the concerns of information professionals worldwide.
Opening with a Keynote about the knowledge glut and how it affects librarians and information managers, this year’s Internet Librarian International concentrates on practical applications for internet technologies. Speakers explain how they implement new technologies, adopt Library 2.0 techniques, employ management skills, collaborate with colleagues and bring information to remote areas.
Through a range of panel discussions, master classes, formal speeches and networking opportunities, Internet Librarian International provides a unique educational opportunity for all those who need to find new resources and understand new technology.
This conference, and the Internet Librarian conference held in Monterey, always sound fabulous. I can't wait to see the full programme. Reading programmes for me is a bit like reading cookbooks. I may not actually cook something up, but it is certainly fun to dream...
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
How to Engage the Blogosphere
May 16, 2006
From left to right:
David Carter
Sarah Spence
Nathan Rudyk
Note the live IRC chat being shown on the screen above their heads! Risky Web 2.0 behaviour indeed.
Tag: mesh06
Traditional media covering Mesh
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at the beginning of the Corporate Blogs session.
Did anyone see TV coverage of Mesh??
Tag: mesh06
Corporate Blogs - How and Why
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
From left to right:
Jeremy Wright
Tara Hunt
Debbie Weil
Tag: mesh06
Building a Brand Online
May 16, 2006
Left to right:
Jonathan Ehrlich, Bruce Philip, Jim Coudal, and moderator Stuart MacDonald.
Tag: mesh06
Building a Brand Online
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Moderator: Stuart MacDonald (SM)
Panelists:
Jonathan Ehrlich(JE), senior vice-president of Chapters Online
Bruce Philp (BP), president and managing partner of GWP Brandengineering
Jim Coudal (JC), Coudal Partners
JE: the business models today are worse because anyone with a credit card can start a business. Segments are emerging into each other.
Consumers feel they have a right to say something and say it loud. Marketers can no longer gloss over problems with a product; they are now forced to spend money on delivering a great experience.
SM: Are we creating a great experience?
JC: People are creating a market and companies without accessing the mass market. We will see more of that.
SM: “Follow the money” – originally he did mostly traditional placement for Expedia, and a little to web advertising; by the time he left, most of his marketing budget was going to paid search ads.
SM: What happened to having a great campaign and running it for two years?
BP: a lot of his industry is doing 30 second video. If people laugh at the video then it is considered to be influential.
JE: the tools available to them for managing the money is much greater. From a marketing perspective it is great, but reaching customers is tougher.
SM: We are standing at the end of something or the beginning of something, depending on how you look at it. Can’t we just do this for free? Can’t we just connect directly with some woman in MySpace? Where is this headed? Marketers still have a job to do building a brand.
JC: I don’t know how you take a multi-million dollar brand and translate that into a consumer marketing campaign. When something works they do more of it, and when it doesn’t they do less of it. They are coming closer to having to develop a better product. If you create a product and branding together, there is a lot of possibility.
JE: It is all about investing in the experience. If you aren’t delivering on the experience, you are dead.
BP: a brand is a cultural phenomenon that allows you to charge more for something; that is disappearing.
JE: No, brands stand out in the environment.
BP: The whole model has been democratic. The underlying assumption has been that if you hear me over and over and over again in exchange for watching Ed Sullivan, you will buy my product. Television programming being on TV has been a democratic process.
Rob Hyndman: Thus far marketing has been one-way, marketers talking to the audience. What happens when the audience can talk back? What happens to the model?
BP: Example: Tylenol fiasco when there was tampering with the bottles and people died. It was handled well with a PR puppet – you liked the fellow who spoke and trusted him. Ten years later the brand is stronger than ever.
SM: Bullshit can be called faster with a brand. People will say you are right or you are wrong.
BP: A brand was never created in a boardroom. It is an election campaign that never ends.
JC: Some of the messages have started coming from underneath. The ads his company writes are conversational. Tylonel incident is like the first blog entry.
Audience question: Everyone is saying it is a conversation, but no one is saying what to do with this. Doesn’t it make sense to find those who love your brand and turn them into bloggers?
JE: People participating on the web have overarching influence on where things go, how things are done.
SM: This conference is an example – came up with what they thought was a consumer insight; they asked on their blog what people would like to see and listened to them. Don’t underestimate the value of just asking.
JC: Coudal Partners do a lot of things that don’t seem to have a purpose – movies, contests, etc. They have created products they want e.g. jewelboxing shows such as Dead Can Dance tour; the people who go to the shows want to see the same thing. How do you do this for a big consumer brand?
Audience question: You can’t talk about iPod branding without talking about their advertising campaign. YouTube – ugly website, quality of video is bad. Google is a search box with a button to click. These things have nothing to brand.
BP: Stop thinking like a marketer. Marketers are frequently wrong about this stuff. Apple brand has, from the beginning, been an advocate for its customers. They have stood for computers serving people, not people serving computers.
JE: Search was dead until Google came along. Brand is a collection of experiences; brand is not just what something looks like. The experience that everyone had when they first used Google was positive. They started with a great experience.
JC: You would think Google Video would outstrip YouTube, but uploading video with YouTube a lot easier.
Audience question: How do you engage the blogosphere?
JC: Coudal does monitor the blogosphere. Jewelboxing brand has a blog detailing how they built the business including what went wrong. Maybe the concept shouldn’t be whether our business should have a blog, but whether a blog should have a business. Build your audience first and then find what business they would like to see.
Blogging is just all about writing. This is nothing new.
SM: One of the first serious applications of consumers taking part has been TripAdvisor – the first and biggest application of what people like me think about stuff – it is a referral model.
Audience comment: Everyone defines quality different. YouTube video quality is not necessarily important.
Audience question: If we are move from mass to micro communication model, don’t we need the data to know how to target the message. How do we use the analytics?
SM: Marketing is no longer about putting something into an email box. It is all about the data.
BP: It is not just about data; it is about imagination, or we all wouldn’t be here. Segmentations may or may not be the way to determine value and how to spend my money.
JC: JE, do you target wildly different people on your website?
JE: we are just getting started on the personalization front. It is all about data. Amazon has figured out how to do this. Looking at their customers' data and their book buying habits.
JC: Personalizing can be dangerous. For example, see the blog post: “My TiVo thinks I’m gay.” [Connie's note: I believe he is referring to the classic Jeffrey Zaslow article in "The Wall Street Journal" from December 2002, "Oh No! My TiVo Thinks I'm Gay." Subscription probably needed.]
SM: Don’t get too caught up if you aren’t crunching the data mining because nobody is.
JE: Privacy and personal issues around things. If someone put something into a cart and then decides against buying the item, do they have the right to send them a coupon to encourage them to buy it.
Audience question: Unleash the blogger within. What about engineers, internal people who love the brand and are blogging about it?
BP: His organization does a tremendous amount of internal marketing before selling it to the consumers. To do this it has to be a mission-driven organization.
Audience question: I hear more fear than anticipation. Is it because big companies are represented on the panel? In terms of the brand and the whole brand experience, will the brand be created by the consumer, and the consumer decides whether the brand stands?
BP: How does this differ from the past? The strongest brands are benevolent dictatorships.
Tag: mesh06
Moderator: Stuart MacDonald (SM)
Panelists:
Jonathan Ehrlich(JE), senior vice-president of Chapters Online
Bruce Philp (BP), president and managing partner of GWP Brandengineering
Jim Coudal (JC), Coudal Partners
JE: the business models today are worse because anyone with a credit card can start a business. Segments are emerging into each other.
Consumers feel they have a right to say something and say it loud. Marketers can no longer gloss over problems with a product; they are now forced to spend money on delivering a great experience.
SM: Are we creating a great experience?
JC: People are creating a market and companies without accessing the mass market. We will see more of that.
SM: “Follow the money” – originally he did mostly traditional placement for Expedia, and a little to web advertising; by the time he left, most of his marketing budget was going to paid search ads.
SM: What happened to having a great campaign and running it for two years?
BP: a lot of his industry is doing 30 second video. If people laugh at the video then it is considered to be influential.
JE: the tools available to them for managing the money is much greater. From a marketing perspective it is great, but reaching customers is tougher.
SM: We are standing at the end of something or the beginning of something, depending on how you look at it. Can’t we just do this for free? Can’t we just connect directly with some woman in MySpace? Where is this headed? Marketers still have a job to do building a brand.
JC: I don’t know how you take a multi-million dollar brand and translate that into a consumer marketing campaign. When something works they do more of it, and when it doesn’t they do less of it. They are coming closer to having to develop a better product. If you create a product and branding together, there is a lot of possibility.
JE: It is all about investing in the experience. If you aren’t delivering on the experience, you are dead.
BP: a brand is a cultural phenomenon that allows you to charge more for something; that is disappearing.
JE: No, brands stand out in the environment.
BP: The whole model has been democratic. The underlying assumption has been that if you hear me over and over and over again in exchange for watching Ed Sullivan, you will buy my product. Television programming being on TV has been a democratic process.
Rob Hyndman: Thus far marketing has been one-way, marketers talking to the audience. What happens when the audience can talk back? What happens to the model?
BP: Example: Tylenol fiasco when there was tampering with the bottles and people died. It was handled well with a PR puppet – you liked the fellow who spoke and trusted him. Ten years later the brand is stronger than ever.
SM: Bullshit can be called faster with a brand. People will say you are right or you are wrong.
BP: A brand was never created in a boardroom. It is an election campaign that never ends.
JC: Some of the messages have started coming from underneath. The ads his company writes are conversational. Tylonel incident is like the first blog entry.
Audience question: Everyone is saying it is a conversation, but no one is saying what to do with this. Doesn’t it make sense to find those who love your brand and turn them into bloggers?
JE: People participating on the web have overarching influence on where things go, how things are done.
SM: This conference is an example – came up with what they thought was a consumer insight; they asked on their blog what people would like to see and listened to them. Don’t underestimate the value of just asking.
JC: Coudal Partners do a lot of things that don’t seem to have a purpose – movies, contests, etc. They have created products they want e.g. jewelboxing shows such as Dead Can Dance tour; the people who go to the shows want to see the same thing. How do you do this for a big consumer brand?
Audience question: You can’t talk about iPod branding without talking about their advertising campaign. YouTube – ugly website, quality of video is bad. Google is a search box with a button to click. These things have nothing to brand.
BP: Stop thinking like a marketer. Marketers are frequently wrong about this stuff. Apple brand has, from the beginning, been an advocate for its customers. They have stood for computers serving people, not people serving computers.
JE: Search was dead until Google came along. Brand is a collection of experiences; brand is not just what something looks like. The experience that everyone had when they first used Google was positive. They started with a great experience.
JC: You would think Google Video would outstrip YouTube, but uploading video with YouTube a lot easier.
Audience question: How do you engage the blogosphere?
JC: Coudal does monitor the blogosphere. Jewelboxing brand has a blog detailing how they built the business including what went wrong. Maybe the concept shouldn’t be whether our business should have a blog, but whether a blog should have a business. Build your audience first and then find what business they would like to see.
Blogging is just all about writing. This is nothing new.
SM: One of the first serious applications of consumers taking part has been TripAdvisor – the first and biggest application of what people like me think about stuff – it is a referral model.
Audience comment: Everyone defines quality different. YouTube video quality is not necessarily important.
Audience question: If we are move from mass to micro communication model, don’t we need the data to know how to target the message. How do we use the analytics?
SM: Marketing is no longer about putting something into an email box. It is all about the data.
BP: It is not just about data; it is about imagination, or we all wouldn’t be here. Segmentations may or may not be the way to determine value and how to spend my money.
JC: JE, do you target wildly different people on your website?
JE: we are just getting started on the personalization front. It is all about data. Amazon has figured out how to do this. Looking at their customers' data and their book buying habits.
JC: Personalizing can be dangerous. For example, see the blog post: “My TiVo thinks I’m gay.” [Connie's note: I believe he is referring to the classic Jeffrey Zaslow article in "The Wall Street Journal" from December 2002, "Oh No! My TiVo Thinks I'm Gay." Subscription probably needed.]
SM: Don’t get too caught up if you aren’t crunching the data mining because nobody is.
JE: Privacy and personal issues around things. If someone put something into a cart and then decides against buying the item, do they have the right to send them a coupon to encourage them to buy it.
Audience question: Unleash the blogger within. What about engineers, internal people who love the brand and are blogging about it?
BP: His organization does a tremendous amount of internal marketing before selling it to the consumers. To do this it has to be a mission-driven organization.
Audience question: I hear more fear than anticipation. Is it because big companies are represented on the panel? In terms of the brand and the whole brand experience, will the brand be created by the consumer, and the consumer decides whether the brand stands?
BP: How does this differ from the past? The strongest brands are benevolent dictatorships.
Tag: mesh06
Building a Community
Keynote Conversation: Building a Community
Tara “Miss Rogue” Hunt,
- Online marketing director, Riya.com
- blogger HorsePigCow
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
An interactive session, involving audience participation.
Who here have blogs? Who have multiple blogs?
Photos
- Flickr
- Riya.com
- Bubbleshare
Videos
- YouTube
People are becoming disenfranchised and want more. They want to find community.
- The Consumerist – how to sue an airline
People recognize marketing lies. There are too many unsatisfactory choices with products.
DRM locks people into their choices. Loosing your choice isn’t good either.
There are too many messages – there are ads everywhere. Who uses FireFox? You can get rid of the pop-ups and other ads.
The end consumer revolution has been around forever, but something has changed.
Threadless – T-shirt designs and people vote for them
Citizen media – what does it mean for the future. Bowiechick - video of girl using new Logitech camera potential. 250,000 downloads. What does this mean for marketing in the future? What is the potential??
- is this advertising? We don’t know
- we are finding a distrust of anything that is broadcast
- the video has been passed around MySpace only because it was a kid, not an expert
- what about a hybrid model, where they take this girl and put her video in an ad?
The wisdom of crowds – when you become an expert you stop learning.
Pinko marketing manifesto:
Pinko marketing wiki:
- marketing in the post-Cluetrain era.
Pinko principle #1
- inbound, rather than outbound messages – creating the tools for people to voice how they use a product; we can start using money used for outbound messages to instead make the product better
Pinko principle #2
- be a community advocate – go with the direction of people; take the voice of the community and fight for your community back to your company
Pinko principle #3
- 100% authenticity – stop using the word “viral”. Creating viral is not authentic. It is not about creating connections; viral created by companies is damaging to client relations e.g. Chevvy Tahoe ad – they let everything run, including the bad [Connie's note: see Rocketboom]
Pinko principle #4
… [missed it]
- don’t ignore part of your market e.g. 90% of people who work with photos use Macs. Need to have Mac capability if you want to appeal to this market.
Pinko principle #5
… [missed it]
New-style medial hype: Snakes on a Plane [Snakes on a Blog.com]
How do you market to a community? You have to be part of the community.
How do you earn the reputation with little time? You cannot just drop things in and expect them to work. You have to take part and be a human like anyone else. You have to build a reputation and rapport.
Tag: mesh06
Tara “Miss Rogue” Hunt,
- Online marketing director, Riya.com
- blogger HorsePigCow
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
An interactive session, involving audience participation.
Who here have blogs? Who have multiple blogs?
Photos
- Flickr
- Riya.com
- Bubbleshare
Videos
- YouTube
People are becoming disenfranchised and want more. They want to find community.
- The Consumerist – how to sue an airline
People recognize marketing lies. There are too many unsatisfactory choices with products.
DRM locks people into their choices. Loosing your choice isn’t good either.
There are too many messages – there are ads everywhere. Who uses FireFox? You can get rid of the pop-ups and other ads.
The end consumer revolution has been around forever, but something has changed.
Threadless – T-shirt designs and people vote for them
Citizen media – what does it mean for the future. Bowiechick - video of girl using new Logitech camera potential. 250,000 downloads. What does this mean for marketing in the future? What is the potential??
- is this advertising? We don’t know
- we are finding a distrust of anything that is broadcast
- the video has been passed around MySpace only because it was a kid, not an expert
- what about a hybrid model, where they take this girl and put her video in an ad?
The wisdom of crowds – when you become an expert you stop learning.
Pinko marketing manifesto:
Pinko marketing wiki:
- marketing in the post-Cluetrain era.
Pinko principle #1
- inbound, rather than outbound messages – creating the tools for people to voice how they use a product; we can start using money used for outbound messages to instead make the product better
Pinko principle #2
- be a community advocate – go with the direction of people; take the voice of the community and fight for your community back to your company
Pinko principle #3
- 100% authenticity – stop using the word “viral”. Creating viral is not authentic. It is not about creating connections; viral created by companies is damaging to client relations e.g. Chevvy Tahoe ad – they let everything run, including the bad [Connie's note: see Rocketboom]
Pinko principle #4
… [missed it]
- don’t ignore part of your market e.g. 90% of people who work with photos use Macs. Need to have Mac capability if you want to appeal to this market.
Pinko principle #5
… [missed it]
New-style medial hype: Snakes on a Plane [Snakes on a Blog.com]
How do you market to a community? You have to be part of the community.
How do you earn the reputation with little time? You cannot just drop things in and expect them to work. You have to take part and be a human like anyone else. You have to build a reputation and rapport.
Tag: mesh06
Venture Capital and Web 2.0
Keynote Conversation: Venture Capital and Web 2.0
Matthew Ingram talks with venture capitalist and blogger Dr. Paul KedroskyTuesday, May 16, 2006
A lot of talk of Web 2.0. There is a lot of money floating around. There is a lot of uncertainty.
Maxthon - overlay over Internet Explorer
Venture capital is concentrated in what is perceived as the best companies. It is, however, a rigged market. The reason why the best funds look successful is because they are fishing in the best pond: they are surrounded by the best projects. The rest of us don’t have such good opportunities for investment.
Alternative assets = Venture capital
MI: If you can finance a Web 2.0 on your credit card, do you need the giant sums of money people are trying to hand out?
If you can avoid venture capital, do so. If you can build a company that doesn’t require capital and you can own 100% stock, you can exit at the full value of the company instead of worry about what the venture capitalists will take.
A lot of the consumer-based Web 2.0 companies can be created very cheaply. The democratization of entrepreneurship – it comes with a corollary: there is no longer a barrier to entry, you will have 30 competitors pop up. “Every monkey with a credit card is in the market.”
MI: Can you build a great big thing and then create a business model later?
Sure. Google is an excellent example. He has seen companies that had no idea what the business model was; some borrow business models from other successful companies. The precedent is well set. You may get a lot of venture capital money and stumble into a business model; however, to do this you better be on a very big scale.
Community building model that is hugely successful – e.g. grassroots dating at
Plentyoffish.com - if you keep the cost down and find like-minded community, you can be very successful.
MI: Is there a seed financing gap in Canada?
Everyone in the world thinks they have a seed financing gap, even in Silicon Valley. In Canada in particular, the level of wealth per capita, the level is low enough that you don’t have individuals that go out investing. The economics of see investing doesn’t work. You can’t keep track of your investments, you can’t sleep at night, you better have been invested in Skype.
VC helps companies attract talent.
If you invest too early, you are a seed investor. If you wait too long, you will be competing with big mezzanine investors.
Chicken and egg problem in Canada: we need more successful exits in populated areas to encourage people to create bigger and better companies. In Silicon Valley if you aren’t making 7 figures for your company you have to go out and build one because the guy down the street has.
There are Canadian venture guys. There is an appetite for investing in interesting things. Think creatively in how you approach people and how you structure thing, especially amongst the institutional investment community.
Tag: mesh06
Matthew Ingram talks with venture capitalist and blogger Dr. Paul KedroskyTuesday, May 16, 2006
A lot of talk of Web 2.0. There is a lot of money floating around. There is a lot of uncertainty.
Maxthon - overlay over Internet Explorer
Venture capital is concentrated in what is perceived as the best companies. It is, however, a rigged market. The reason why the best funds look successful is because they are fishing in the best pond: they are surrounded by the best projects. The rest of us don’t have such good opportunities for investment.
Alternative assets = Venture capital
MI: If you can finance a Web 2.0 on your credit card, do you need the giant sums of money people are trying to hand out?
If you can avoid venture capital, do so. If you can build a company that doesn’t require capital and you can own 100% stock, you can exit at the full value of the company instead of worry about what the venture capitalists will take.
A lot of the consumer-based Web 2.0 companies can be created very cheaply. The democratization of entrepreneurship – it comes with a corollary: there is no longer a barrier to entry, you will have 30 competitors pop up. “Every monkey with a credit card is in the market.”
MI: Can you build a great big thing and then create a business model later?
Sure. Google is an excellent example. He has seen companies that had no idea what the business model was; some borrow business models from other successful companies. The precedent is well set. You may get a lot of venture capital money and stumble into a business model; however, to do this you better be on a very big scale.
Community building model that is hugely successful – e.g. grassroots dating at
Plentyoffish.com - if you keep the cost down and find like-minded community, you can be very successful.
MI: Is there a seed financing gap in Canada?
Everyone in the world thinks they have a seed financing gap, even in Silicon Valley. In Canada in particular, the level of wealth per capita, the level is low enough that you don’t have individuals that go out investing. The economics of see investing doesn’t work. You can’t keep track of your investments, you can’t sleep at night, you better have been invested in Skype.
VC helps companies attract talent.
If you invest too early, you are a seed investor. If you wait too long, you will be competing with big mezzanine investors.
Chicken and egg problem in Canada: we need more successful exits in populated areas to encourage people to create bigger and better companies. In Silicon Valley if you aren’t making 7 figures for your company you have to go out and build one because the guy down the street has.
There are Canadian venture guys. There is an appetite for investing in interesting things. Think creatively in how you approach people and how you structure thing, especially amongst the institutional investment community.
Tag: mesh06
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)