MarkChristian360

Came across a random blog today by Steve Pavlina about positive changes he experienced by giving up tv. I have advocated less tv for as long as I can remember primarily due from the fact that we never bought into the cable craze when it first came out on the market (thank god for that). But obviously so many others out there couldn’t even imagine a life without tv. I always find those people *interesting*.

Steve makes some good points about the other areas in your life that can benefit from simply investing less time into such activities as tv and internet usage. Overall, this issue references a number of things that are going on in the world right now. Media convergence and its ever increasing pervasiveness is a concern of mine, not just from the fact that it turns us into entertainment-addicted media zombies, but also for reasons of privacy (my questions about media convergence here, and a video example of unbridled exhibitionism here).

I was really pleased to meet with a member of today’s younger generation recently for a lively debate about the potential implications convergence and consumer generated media might have on an individual’s future. It was a refreshing discussion compared to the many people today who don’t take but a moment to question future implications of actions made in the present, but captured forever in corporate databases and online websites for the world to see.

I’m probably rambling at this point but the main thing is that as more and more “media” gets created out there, and as media convergence makes being “on” a 24/7 phenomena, I will find those who ignore, turn off, and all-together abdicate pervasive media as uniquely interesting and will look to them for a balanced perspective in an increasingly unbalanced media-frenetic world. Less is more, and always will be.

A very raw, real, unabridged look into the YouTube community, otherwise known as the human condition.

Before Podcamp Boston took place, a friend and I had a huge debate as to what podcasting really is and if it actually lends anything new to the medium that is audio. After hours of going back and forth about it, we both gave up, exhausted. Basically the summary is that I like it and think podcasting has its place in modern media, whereas my friend doesn’t really agree with all the hype around it, saying that its no differernt than radio, which has been around forever. Then the other day I came across this explanation from AskANinja. I think he nailed it.

I’m glad the argument is finally settled.

American Chopper is one of Discovery Channel’s most popular reality TV shows which focuses on a father & son business that builds custom motorcycles. Of course, since its television there are obviously “Hollywood” elements to the show, such as over-dramatized diatribes between characters, artificial dialogue about project status, and extra curricular activities optimized for on-camera antics. But my facination with the show is from the business perspective.

Continue reading ‘“American Chopper” as business case study’

Interesting last-page column in the current issue of Information Week from Rob Preston, CMP’s VP/Editor In Chief. He talks about Web 2.0 as seen from the perspective of a primarily enterprise-level IT audience (the difference being that enterprise-level companies make money whereas Web 2.0’s are still figuring that out). From the article

…we have plenty riding on the euphoria. But we realize that this movement has legs only so long as its practical applications start measuring up to the hype.

How one defines ‘practical’ and ‘hype’ is up to the individual, but it’s fair to say that many Web 2.0’s are facing the elephant in the room when it comes to sustainable value and utility.

Jon Stewart just rocks.

I often get asked what events I go to for social and professional networking. So to answer this question fully, I put together this rough list. These are in no particular order and I know I’m missing a few. I won’t be checking the links since keeping track of events and clubs is like herding cats. But I will be adding to this list as I come across new events. Enjoy and good luck!

Social

Hey Let’s Go
http://www.heyletsgo.com

Boston Ski & Sports Club
http://www.bssc.com

Boston Young Professionals Association (BYPA)
http://www.bostonypa.com

Boston Event Guide
http://www.bostoneventguide.com

Society of Young Professionals
http://www.societyofyoungprofessionals.com

Greater Boston New England Mountain Biking Association
http://www.gbnemba.org

Professional - Startups - High-Tech

Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX)
http://www.mitx.org

MIT Enterprise Forum
http://www.mitforumcambridge.org

Web Innovators Group
http://www.webinnovatorsgroup.com

Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council
http://www.masstlc.org

Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network
http://www.boston-enet.org

Boston Product Management Association
http://www.bostonproducts.org

Corporate Networking Collaborative (CNC-Boston)
http://www.cnc-boston.com

Geek Dinners
Google "geek dinner boston"

Online

Meetup.org
http://www.meetup.org

Meetin
http://www.meetin.org

Ecademy
http://www.ecademy.com

LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com

OpenBC
http://www.openbc.com

Harvard Startups
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Harvard-startups

One great thing about networking is that the more people you meet, the more you realize that everyone faces the same business challenges – just at different levels. That’s the feeling I walked away with from this mornings MITX CEO Roundtable event held at the downtown offices of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP (say that 5 times fast). This event drew a considerably smaller crowd than their Future of TV event a few days before, but this made for a more engaging, laid back discussion.

On deck were Fred Bertino, President and Co-Creative Director for MMB, and David Song, Director of Digital Media. The topic, as you may have guessed, centered on strategies, approaches, and perspectives that professional services firms should keep in mind as they build a strong professional brand. Here then are a few interesting key points I thought were worth sharing:

• Keeping it simple – The complex, often times vague concepts of marketing can be defined with three very tangible questions, helping both you and your customer understand what it is you do and why they need it:
• Who are you?
• How are you different?
• Why do I need you for my business?
• Phasing – the idea that getting the sale should be thought about in phases. It’s the mental attitude you should have going into the bidding process. You don’t invest tons of hours doing research and creating a RFP – only to accept a “No”. If so, don’t throw all that effort out the window. Instead, keep it warm and be ready to serve it up again at the next most opportune time, i.e., Phase 2. Chances are, if you keep your prospects close and well informed, they will be ready to sign up with you down the road.
• All or nothing – In today’s attention economy, you have to use everything at your disposal. Focusing on or implementing only one idea or tool to reach and engage your customers will not generate the results you need. To succeed, businesses today need to roll out synchronized email, blog, podcast, direct mail, video, and web campaigns to maximize response and ROI.
• The elite often do something unexpected.

The rest of the session covered the more basic elements of a sales and marketing strategy relevant to almost any business. Various points here included:

• Target a key list of companies
• Target individuals within those companies
• Invest in conducting seminars, writing articles, speaking engagements, and strategic alliances to attract the right customers
• Competitive advantages for smaller firms include being more nimble, typically less expensive, and more responsive
• Try to become a subject-matter expert on a specific issue your customers deal with – and become a valuable resource to them by anticipating their challenges to deliver the right solution at the right time.
• Lose well – make sure you understand why you lost the bid and take any corrective measures to ensure that you get another chance to get that customers business next time.

The Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network held a special event the other night, despite the torrential downpour. Their annual Sunset Cruise on the Boston Harbor brought out a fairly large crowd of seasoned as well as up and coming small business owners for a great night of networking. During the past year, I have been to literally dozens upon dozens of networking events and the thing I appreciate most about Boston Enet is that many people there have real experience, real customers, and real stories. For the most part, there are no hypothetical business models, there are no untested, fringe technologies, or as-yet-undetermined pricing strategies. Just a bunch of folks who have been there and done that. Unfortunately, I spent the entire time chatting it up so I hardly got out on the upper deck to enjoy the Boston skyline at night. But I guess at a networking event, that would make that a secondary priority, huh.

Boston Enet events pick up again in September.

“The Future of TV” was the topic at Tuesday’s MITX event. Thanks to Kara Boudreau for kindly inviting me as her guest. The panel included David Weinberger (Harvard Berkman Center for Internet & Society), Adam Berry (Brightcove), Matt Emans (Navic TV), Peter Kim (Forrester), and Brent Simon (Verizon FIOS). Below are some notes and observations I took down from both the panel and the crowd:

• Amateur / low-budget video is becoming more widely accepted, and is considered “for the people, by the people”
• Teenage children are beginning to watch more video on portable devices as opposed to through a traditional television
• In the next 5 years, television time-tables/listings will become a thing of the past as on-demand video takes over
• Over-produced, quality video is beginning to be regarded as “slick, untrustworthy, & uncool”
• Multiple mediums (video, web, email, mobile, print) are challenging advertisers and producers to focus on overall experience
• No real measurement systems and metrics exist that can accurately track response across entire, multiple mediums - yet
• Media buyers face challenges in determining budgets for investments in new media where ROI is hard to measure
• “Branded Entertainment” is quickly becoming the new form of advertising (Example: Extreme Makeover)
• No one has the answer yet - the new “norm” is that ideas, concepts, methods, strategies evolve “daily”

Of course, following the money was the underlying issue here for everyone. And as is usual with these kinds of topics, my unease comes at the point where these ideas revolve around tracking and measuring advertising performance. With our society becoming more and more dependant on technology for just about everything, media/entertainment/technology convergence creates limitless potential for corporations to collect more information about individuals than ever before. The unfortunate drawback to all this convergence comes at the expense of individual privacy. Enabling content producers and distributors to measure and track video gives companies never before seen insight into multiple aspects of peoples lives. Give this a few years, add a little RFID, GPS, and throw a few other identity-aware apps in the mix, and pretty soon our private lives won’t be private at all. Here, my guess is that the younger, upcoming generation(s) that will be most engaged in such environments either won’t fully understand the implications or totally not even care (case in point being the growing privacy issues/concerns that came with MySpace’s meteoric growth). I really do love technology, but it’s way too easy to see where all this is headed. Is it possible for consumers to opt out of such tightly integrated convergence?