Invitation to Sutori closed beta

So it's been ages since I posted about Sutori, the project that's taken up much of my life in recent months. But now I'm happy to report that we are on track to launch a closed beta early next week.

If you'd like to get in there and kick the tires a bit, you can either leave a comment here or just submit your email address at the teaser page.

See you there!

Tags: sutori

Great quote from Jeff Bezos

"One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. If you're really interested in software and computer science, you should focus on that. But if you're really interested in medicine, and you decide you're going to become an Internet entrepreneur because it looks like everybody else is doing well, then that's probably not going to work. You don't choose your passions, your passions choose you. One of the reasons you saw so many companies that were formed in 1998 or 1999 fail is that they were chasing the wave. And that usually doesn't work. Find that area that you are interested in and passionate about--and wait for the wave to find you."

Full article.

Tags: passion work bezos business advice

The change function

Author, thinker, investor and advisor Pip Coburn has a published a ChangeThis manifesto cheekily titled Non-Geeks are Not Morons.

The piece previews some of the ideas in his new book The Change Function: Why Some Technologies Take Off and Others Crash and Burn.

It's a great read, built around a central insight that is simultaneously obvious and eye-opening. In other words, it's grade A obviousness and right up my alley.

Here's a quote that sums up the central nugget of obviousness:

The "build it and they will come" model assumes that change is seamless for humans and so if something is "better", it will be adopted--a rational world model. But change is emotional, not rational. And I think that people hate change. So why are they willing to change their habits for this external intrusion? And why are they willing to hand over money to do it?

I believe people change habits when the level of crisis in their current situation--on a scale from indifference to full-out crisis--is greater than their total perceived pain of adopting a possible solution.

Beautiful!

And I love this bit, too:

I have no desire to be game-changed or disrupted. Zilch! I want technologies that make my life better somehow, and I want them to be easy to adopt. That's all. Simple. None of my non-geek friends have ever, ever, told me that they want to buy an innovative technology. "Innovative" is a supplier-centric word.

If you're more of a listener than a reader, try this podcast interview with Coburn.

(Via Urlocker on Disruption)

Tags: pipcoburn pip_coburn books technology disruption changethis

BarCamp Vancouver

Geek culture and a post-cluetrain mindset about marketing and business--these things go together like eggs and bacon, Ren and Stimpy, Spock and Kirk.

Which is why I'm happy to report that I've just signed up to take part in the first ever Vancouver BarCamp, happening August 25 and 26th.

For the uninitiated (which if I'm honest included me until very recently) here's the wikipedia definition of a BarCamp:

BarCamp is an international network of unconferences -- open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants -- focusing on early-stage web applications, and related open source technologies and social protocols.

And here's the definition provided by the BarCamp wiki:

BarCamp is an ad-hoc un-conference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees.

If you're interested, there is still some room left. They're capping attendance at 90 and 40-something people have signed up so far.

Check out a list of attendees and proposed session topics at the registration page.

Tags: barcamp vancouver un-conference un-conferences marketing

Links for July 19, 2006

(Speak of the devil!)

• Hugh at GapingVoid coins a colourful phrase: Ooze = objects of sociability. Not 100% sold on the phrase itself, but the idea behing it is sound. Best quote: "A traditional marketing 'message' acts like a wave. In the future, I believe marketing messages will behave more like particles [that is, if they want to succeed]. A wave stays connected to its source, a particle does not. Once the particle leaves you, it is no longer yours. You no longer control it, anymore than a dandelion spore controls the wind. Where old companies are getting mixed up with new marketing is, they're trying to treat particles like waves, and failing."
  
  
  
• The folks at the NewPR Wiki have started an Anti-Astroturfing campaign. Astroturfing is defined as "formal public relations projects which deliberately seek to engineer the impression of spontaneous, grassroots behavior." Sound reprehesnible, for sure. And the campaign sounds like a worthy one. Although for my money the best anti-astroturfing device is the finely tuned bullshit sniffer of today�s empowered customer. (via Joho the Blog)
  
  
  
• Discovered a great blog today. Put together by fellow Vancouverite James Sherrett, AdHack has a mantra I can get behind: "Cut through the crap of advertising to hear the real deal on products and services you care about. Better yet, make your own ads. It's DIY. It's AdHack." Amen!
  
  

Link dumping

I've heard the term "link dumping" applied to a certain type of blog post. One that I've been doing a lot of lately.

Basically, a link dump is a list of links collected by me and presented to you. Not much context. Just the links.

Although of course, the links have presumably been specially selected because they are particularly relavant to readers of the blog doing the dumping.

So here's a question . . .

Do you think link dumps are a sign that I'm too busy/preocuppied/lazy to post anything original? Or do you think they are a valuable editorial service that shoots you ers right to the best, most interesting, most relevant stuff on the web?

I'd say they're probably a bit of both.

Ultimately, though, I think that link dumping exemplfies one of the great things about blogging. Namely: if you have something to say and someone says has said it better than you likely could, you can just link directly to them instead of trying to saying it all over again yourself.

Tags: blogs, blogging, links, link_dumps, linkdumps, link_dumping, linkdumping

Links for July 14, 2006

• Asi Sharabi slices and dices the list of YouTube�s 100 all-time most popular videos and comes up with some interesting numbers. The biggest revelation for me was that 58 of the top 100 are user-created. And the all-time most-viewed video has been seen 28,643,691 times (via Karl at ExperienceCurve).
  
  
  
• Steve Rubel makes a great point about playing around on YouTube, Flickr etc, during work hours. Best quote: �If you're going to get engaged with social media world, you need to live in it.�
  
  
  
• Angie�s List is a very cool site that collects user reviews of home repair contractors in dozens of US cities. Customer power in action! (Via Garfield: The Blog)

In praise of the low cost of failure

"Magnificent Seven" by Photochiel

I love my digital camera because it allows me to make mistakes without spending a dime. I used to have a Polaroid, which would cost me about $1.50 per picture. This price tag prevented me from experimenting and ultimately killed any desire I had to use it.

All that changed when I got my first digital camera. I now take thousands of photos per year instead of dozens, and some of them actually look pretty good (to me at least).

In fact, I would argue that more people than ever are taking great pictures thanks to the low cost of experimentation created by digital cameras. Have a browse around Flickr if you don�t believe me.

The great news is that this same principle can now be applied to starting a business, especially web-based start ups. As the folks at 37Signals point out so eloquently in their book Getting Real:

These days it doesn�t take much to get rolling. Hardware is cheap and plenty of great infrastructure software is open source and free.

The onslaught of web 2.0 start-ups we're seeing these days is a direct result of the new low cost of entry. Or to put it another way, the low cost of failure. Sure, a lot of the business plans may be a little fuzzy and out of focus, but I'm sure we're going to see a lot of amazing new things in the world thanks to the low cost of making mistakes.

Tags: business creativity entrepeneurship photography gettingreal getting_real flickr

Links for July 12, 2006

• Karl Long sums up why mass marketing measurement techniques aren't much use in a digitally democratized marketplace. Best quote: "Would any big company recognize .5% of their market-share disappearing? . . . What if I said that was the best, most passionate, most creative, most talented most vocal, most evangelical .5% of their customers leaving, to go and create something amazing with another company?"
  
  
  
  
• Jonathon Krantz at the MarketingProfs blog notes that ad agencies are trying to co-opt social media, user-generated content, citizen marketing etc. by "integrating" these ideas into their services. Best quote: "Typically, when ad agency people talk about 'integration,' you can be sure it's a play to remain relevant in a marketing world in which traditional media purchases (i.e., how ad agencies make most of their money) are steadily declining in value."
  
  
  
  
• Speaking of ad agencies and social media, Advergirl looks at the issue from a different perspective, imagining the meeting that spawned Coke's new foray into user-generated content. Best quote: "When your client makes a couple billion a year and is to all appearances unstoppable, no matter how inane the advertising and marketing gets, just how much strategic advice are they really looking to the agency for?"
  

BBC's homepage design contest

In the last few months, the BBC have emerged as the first major news organization to understand and embrace digital democratization/web 2.0.

The latest example is a contest they've just run to re-design their BBC News homepage. My favourite thing about the winning design is the slider above, which allows the user to quickly dial up their desired flavour of content, from personalized to BBC-generated to "everyone else"--including, I assume, other news outlets and other users.

That one little element is a beatifully simple summation of everything a news portal needs to offer in order to survive: personal relavence, good content that's homegrown as well as imported and, most importantly, lot's of control.

Plus it's really cool.

Congrats to the winning designers, FF Ecosystem!

Related: Web two point naught, The BBC gets it

Tags: web20, web2.0, bbc, media, user_generated

Comcast's sleeping technician

I always love a good customer power story. This one's pretty much made the rounds already (it's even been mentioned in the New York Times), but I still think it merits a better-late-than-never post.






Tags:youtube, customerpower, comcast, digital_democratization, customers, customer, user_generated

Bloggers call foul on analysts

It was only a matter of time before the effects of digital democratization made there way to the cloistered confines of the analyst world.

Over at the Church of the Customer blog, Jackie sums up a recent head on collision between the digerati and analyst firm JupiterReseach.

(After reading the press release) Toby called the PR rep for JupiterResearch and requested clarification on the report's research methodology. She got the brush-off. "Information about JupiterResearch reports are available to accredited members of the press for free and clients." Ouch.

. . .

Like a disturbance in the Force, a number of blogs picked up the story. Then it appeared on Techmeme. Then it showed up Digg, whose spreadable influence can be seismic.

Even moreso than traditional media--already under attack by the participatory web on so many fronts--analysts rely on closely on proprietary methods and sources to justify the premium they place on the content they create.

In some cases, this premium is justifiable.

But where it gets muddy--and where I believe Jupiter made their first mistake (of many, it seems)--is to publicly issue a press release about your findings while refusing to divulge the methodology they are based on.

You can't have it both ways, guys. Once your shouting to the world and making big, bold statements, you've gotta be ready to back them up. Otherwise, you're gonna get called on it.

Publicly.

Repeatly.

Mercilessly.

Such is life in the age of digital democratization.

Tags: digital_democratization, citizen_journalism, blogs, bloggers, digg, analysts, jupiter, jupiterresearch, jackiehuba

Giant rss buttons are funny because they're true

I'm really enjoying bLaugh--the brand new "unofficial comic strip of the blogosphere".

But my favourite part (so far) isn't actually the strips themselves. It's the super-gigantic rss feed subscription button.

I love the implied commentary about the naked hunger for readers boiling beneath the benign surface of so many blogs. Mine included, of course. Which is why, as you can see, I've adopted the button as my own.

So what do you think? Do you like it? Does it make my posts look important?

Tags: blaugh, pirillo, rss, subscription, feed, feedreader, blogs, blogging, ambition, giant_button, giantbutton