Thursday, December 15, 2011

Oh, The Books You Might Be Able To Read!

Who says that tech conventions are without their own drama and intrigue? SXSWi 2012 might not have espionage or gunplay, but a publishing freeze on a potentially plagiaristic book title is about as close as it gets.

Author Kevin Nguyen, and his blogging cohort at The Bygone Bureau, were slated to present their latest writing endeavor at the upcoming SXSWi book reading panel, but they are currently dealing with a little legal snafu.

The Bygone Bureau launched in 2007 and is a self proclaimed ‘Journal of Modern Thought’, that publishes articles about travel, humor, cultural criticism, etc.

The Bygone Bureau editors: Kevin Nguyen, Nick Martens, and Darryl Campbell

“The Bygone Bureau is a passion project. It's profitable, but just barely so -- not enough to make a living on. But I like it that way. It keeps the entire thing pure in my mind, and free of any pressure to put up an article just because I think it'll be popular. In fact, I think I'm encouraged by pieces that I think are wonderful and I know will never connect with a large audience,” explains Nguyen.

The blog was met with acclaim, so the editors decided to give print work a try.

“A long time ago, Andrew Sullivan linked to a funny Venn diagram with one circle that said "people who want book deals," one that said "people who think publishing is dead," and the intersection labeled "bloggers." It's totally true. I think a lot of bloggers see a book as a form of validation. And it certainly is, but it can't be the only reason to write a book. The first step is to recognize why something might work better in print than it does online,” said Nguyen.

Making the jump to print meant finding a topic that would translate well to a universal audience, come from a place of personal passion, and was something that could be profitable to appease publishers.

“I was tired of reading [New York Times] pieces about how crappy the recession is for graduates. What I was seeing, among friends and peers, were people doing remarkable, daring things with their lives that they might not have otherwise attempted if the economy wasn't so shaky--working at nonprofits, starting businesses, moving abroad, etc. And no matter how much college debt you have, you will not starve to death. That's a good lesson, too. We wanted the book to illustrate the breadth of the modern post-graduate experience. And most of all, we wanted it to be earnest.”

What they came up with was, “Oh, The Places You’ll End Up Hanging Around: Advice For Today’s Graduates.” Which sounds like a fun, interesting, and fresh take on the thousands of young adults with college degrees that haunt them, as they lay suspended in the ectoplasm of the recession.

However. The inspirational words and unexpected success stories in Nguyen's book are on hold because the title of the book apparently sounds too much like the title of another book. Another book written by someone whose name rhymes with “Boctor Teuss”.

I guess publishing companies simply don’t want to confuse children who are learning their alphabet if a parent buys the post-grad version by mistake.

Hopefully the issue with the title can be resolved, because Nguyen, The Bygone Bureau, and their little book of insight seems to hold some of the only positive spin when it comes to higher education in the mess of the modern day economy.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Do you doodle?

Doodling is usually portrayed as a mindless, unproductive way to pass time, but this is not the case anymore. Visual Communication has become increasingly important as a result of the constant flow of information we encounter from day to day. To really hone in on certain concepts,ideas, facts, and figures, we seek simplicity, not complexity. A business telling you what they can do for you means nothing, while a business showing you what they can do for makes an impact.


In a panel organized by Sunni Brown, a local Austin doodle enthusiast, the topic of discussion is visual communication and the power of sketching out ideas. The ability to send a message in a concise, effective way is an art, but this panel emphasizes the fact that you don't have to be an artist to master it. Brown and her team of other visual communication specialists will teach attendees the tools to start thinking visually.

At a TEDx event held at University of Texas in Austin, Sunni Brown explains that "visualization is a broad field," but she focuses on "graphic recording, which is a subset of the field." The abundance of information and messages available to us create a need for visual note taking to better understand complex concepts. Brown says that visuals are important for four reasons:


  • High levels of comprehension

  • Increased retention

  • Increased creativity

  • "Ninja-level" listening skills





This video explains how high tech companies in Silicon Valley are going "low tech," and using sticky notes, index cards, and whiteboards to engage their employees and promote creativity at the workplace. This is a process known as "gamestorming," which is the title of a book written by Sunni Brown, Dave Gray, James Macanufo.

Storytelling. The Skill every entrepreneur needs.



We all have heard a great story. A story can be sad or funny. When you think of a great story or a great storyteller it is rare that you think of a businessman. One of the few that may come to mind is the great Steve Jobs. He had a a great ability to present and make you interested in whatever he was talking about. Storytelling is a form of communication that can benefit entrepreneurs.

“One of the core elements of storytelling is making a connection with the audience.  A good story brings out the essence of the message in words and images and enables your audience to relate to what you are sharing. New media gives additional tools to choose from to help you create, share and deliver your story in a compelling manner that can further enhance the relationship you are building with the listener.”

~ Lyn Graft, Producer/Founder LG Pictures


Entrepreneurs have to be great storytellers. It is essential, probably even closer to vital. They need to be able to sell people to purchase their product or service and they need to get investor to buy into their dream or vision. Lyn Graft is the speaker for the forum " Storytelling for Entrepreneurs & Startups". Graft wants to attendees to understand the importance of storytelling. Graft feels that the key to good storytelling is to make sure that you have a good core or story to begin with. You need to have a story that will makes people connect with you. What is it that separates bad stories from great stories? Great stories don't just inform they connect. They connect the storyteller sending the message to the listener receiving the message. You can use fishing as an analogy because if you lack a good core or "bait" then you will have no one "bite"or buy into you story. So when attendees leave the forum they will be sure to leave with an understanding of not only how important storytelling is and how to improve storytelling allowing it to do the for you by improving your core story or using digital new media to enhance you story and provide clarity to your audience.


For More info on Lyn Graft:
Follow him on Twitter
Read his blog
Look at his website
View his SXSW Interactive forum


Future of Entertainment: Viewer Becomes User


Generally speaking, there aren't many things surpassing the popularity of entertainment television, in terms of consumption nowadays in the U.S. But when you think about it, there is one thing that just might rival it: mobile social networking. So what do you think happens when you mesh both of those elements together? Speakers from the "Future of Entertainment" panel at next year's SXSW Interactive festival will be explaining just that.

Of the five speakers set to participate in this session, three will focus on the social media aspect of this discussion: Jared Hecht, of GroupMe; Kimber Myers, of GetGlue; and Tom Thai, of Bluefin Labs. The remaining two participants, Mike Scogin of MTV Networks and Paul Chang of Showtime, will speak about the entertainment television aspect of the panel.

GroupMe is a social media application that focuses on collectivism. This application focuses overall on connecting its users with multiple others, instantly. The prominent features of this app are group messaging and conference calling. The application also offers its potential consumers a free number from which to message the members of its chosen social circle. According to Tech Crunch, the company was acquired by social and video messaging giant Skype in August of this year.

The social media company GetGlue is already in the entertainment lane, in terms of mobile networking. This application tailors to the social media audience that is interested in check-ins, but alters this element to apply to what the user is watching, reading, or listening to, rather than physical or geographic check-ins. GetGlue's primary focus centers on television events, whether they be sporting events, prime time shows, or any other category of television entertainment. GetGlue representative Kimber Myers explained the concept of the GetGlue company, and how users are, and potential users can, apply and incorporate the social media application to their lives.

"People are looking for new ways to connect to their favorite shows on TV, as well as [to] other people who are watching them," Myers said. "The growing prevalence of smart phones and tablets is making this a seamless experience for viewers."

Bluefin Labs is a different sort of social media tool, in the sense that it focuses more on the statistics related to social media consumption. In a very unique approach, Bluefin Labs analyzes how consumers respond to television. The elements of this analytics tool range from "response level," which measures the number of commenters for any given episode of a show, to "response share," which is described as the percentage of a program’s share of social response within a specific part of the day. The results gathered from the Signals analyses are available to audiences such as programmers, marketers and buyers in order to enable them to better understand the meaning behind the numbers, and apply that knowledge to the television market.

MTV Networks and Showtime are relatively well known forces in the entertainment industry. The representatives (Scogin and Chang, respectively) of these companies will factor into the panel discussion by offering the perspective of how entertainment networks are adjusting to the upsurge in social media usage, and how this influx is influencing the entertainment field to integrate social media elements into the the television genre.

GetGlue panelist Myers believes that this session as a whole can factor into the SXSW experience for attendees of this particular panel.

"Attendees of SXSW have traditionally been ahead of the curve where tech is concerned, and social TV continues to be an emerging, growing field for people to enter," Myers said.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Programming from Scratch

Mention computer programming and many intelligent and fairly computer-savvy college-bound youngsters and adults metaphorically throw up their hands, assuming it's too hard and certainly way beyond them.

As a result, relatively few study programming in college, a reality that caused enough concern for Microsoft, Intel Foundation, Google, Iomega, and the MIT Media Lab research consortia, not to mention the National Science Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, to provide funding for efforts to turn that around.

The folks at the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab put their heads together to come up with ways to break down barriers holding students back from pursuing a future career in programming.

The result? Software called Scratch that makes programming fun and easy. Download and use is free. Young people can remix and make their own video game, invite friends to play it, and those friends could, if they choose, remix that game by changing the icons, script, movements, and even music. Since its inception in 2007, Scratch has taken off.

"There are almost a million accounts and more than 2 million downloads of the Scratch software. It also comes pre-installed in some of the XO laptops [that are] part of the One Laptop Per Child program, so Scratch has reached a broad audience."  
                                                                  ~Andrés Monroy-Hernández

Designed to encourage borrowing and transforming the work of others, not unlike the way rap and hip hop remix music - "scratching" and manipulating the sound on a turntable (the inspiration for the name of MIT's program), Scratch offers users the opportunity to take an existing program uploaded by others in the Scratch community and alter it in novel and amusing ways. They can also add original art or other elements.


Scratch: overview from andresmh on Vimeo.

Andrés Monroy-Hernández, a postdoctoral researcher who was part of the research team headed up by Mitchel Resnick, created an international social media website called the Scratch Online Community, available in many languages. The site allows users from all over the world (mostly young people and educators) to upload and share, remix their own animations, video games, and interactive art projects.

"Many kids work on their projects over the course of multiple sessions, it's a common approach. I do not know if all the kids participating know there have been more than 2 million projects shared so far, but the number is displayed prominently on the front page, so I assume a lot of them - they notice it. They do have access to a lot of statistics information, we even
developed a website to share those numbers (stats.scratch.mit.edu). I think we see the effect of this on kids' pursuit for "fame" on Scratch, which is
both a powerful driving force for participation and a problematic obsession.”
                                                             ~Andrés Monroy-Hernández

The community Monroy-Hernández created now has almost 1 million members, who have shared more than 2 million projects so far. His presentation on the process, during SXSWi, Designing a Creative Online Community for Kids, is one of those parents and educators of kids from K-12 should check out.

The story of the Scratch Online Community and how it came to be is one that Monroy-Hernández says offers lessons that are generalizable to many other efforts to combine creativity, learning, and social media. While Scratch is unique, he believes their failures and successes provide much that others can learn from.

The experiences of the developers of Scratch have already played an influential role in the development of other online communities such as Kodux.com for users of Kodu, Microsoft's game-programming software that allows young users of  XBox 360 to create their own games and share them with others.

For this review, I downloaded Scratch and was able to figure out how to take an existing game, add figures or icons, and manipulate a script and tools in order to get my adaptations to take a series of actions.

It was both intriguing and fun. In fact, if I had not had other commitments, I would have gone back to see what else I could create.

And that's the point. Students may get a first taste of using Scratch in school, but it is designed to attract users to come back again and again. In the process of playing, they are learning many of the basic elements of programming. Users only see the fun, not all they are learning in the process.

Monday, December 12, 2011

SXSW 2012: "Why Cleanweb Will Beat Cleantech"

As we continue to consume the world's natural resources, we are left with diminishing clean air, water, and land.  It is a common idea that new technologies, such as biofuels, solar energy, electric vehicles, and wind energy, will solve the global concerns of climate stability, oil security, and food supply.

At his SXSW Interactive 2012 panel, "Why Cleanweb Will Beat Cleantech," Sunil Paul, founder of Spring Ventures, a multi-stage/multi-strategy venture fund that invests in novel information technology and cleantech companies, proposes there is a better, more powerful way to solve these problems.

Paul coined the term "Cleanweb" as the aggressive application of information technology--such as Twitter, Facebook, and other social media--to resource constraints, as well as accelerate cleantech deployment and restructure many diverse industries, including hotels, automobiles, agriculture and food, clothing, buildings, lighting, and renewable finance.

First involved as an investor in cleantech, then an Internet pioneer, Paul will explain how companies like AirBnB, Zipcar, Skype, Sungevity, and other businesses have already begun improving efficiency by reducing the need for fossil fuels, water, food, land, and other resources.

The creativity of entrepreneurs and investment from venture, corporate, and government funds are now producing profound breakthroughs as a result of forces such as the Internet, social media, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and other technological advances.

Paul has two goals with cleanweb: "First is to simply stretch the minds of entrepreneurs and challenge them to step up to the biggest challenges of our generation.  Second, I hope many of these entrepreneurs will see value in Spring Ventures investing in their startups."

In the face of so many concerns for how to create a sustainable future, it seems it would be beneficial for companies to explore new markets and market products, building new businesses that utilize information technology, and rely less on the world's diminishing natural resources.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Self-Publishing: A Revolution for Midlist Authors?

It's no surprise that technology is quickly taken over our everyday lives. Everywhere we turn we are surrounded by it. With everyday life slowly making its connection to technology it is no surprise that books are making the same move.

With the move from hard copies of books to e-books comes a new way for authors to get their work to the public. It's called self-publishing. Self-publishing is a way for authors to step around big publishing companies, "the middllemen," and opens the door to previously published authors and authors trying to break into the field.

Already published authors; Neal Pollack, Joni Rodgers, Carolyn Kellogg, Marty Beckerman, Joshua Tallent all come together on the panel "Self-Publishing: A Revolution for Midlist Authors?" to explain the potential for greatness in the emerging self-publishing arena.

So what is a "midlist author" you might ask? Well, according to Neal Pollack a "midlist author" is "a writter like me, which is to say, most working writers — midcareer, midlist, middle-aged, more or less middlebrow, and somewhat Internet savvy — self-publishing seems to make a lot of sense at this point."

What's great about this panel is all the authors either have, or are planning on self-publishing, so what better way to for authors thinking about self-publishing themselves to get insight into a new area of book writting.

To learn about the benefits, pitfalls and potential in the emerging self-publishing field, this panel is a must.

Questions to be answered at the panel are as follows:
  1. Why is this a good time for midlist authors to self-publish?
  2. In what ways has the publishing industry changed that's forcing or encouraging the self-publishing movement?
  3. What's easier about self-publishing as opposed to the traditional way? What is more difficult?
  4. What are the technical challenges?
  5. In a world with seemingly infinite content, how do you call attention to yourself and your work in the self-publishing world?

Preview - The Rise of Brooklyn Food Scene

Even in hard economic times like the ones we are living through right now, people have ideas for new businesses and pursue them in hopes of a new lucrative career. In Brooklyn, New York, there has been a recent rise in food entrepreneurs trying to make a living selling anything from cookies to organic meat to beer - brewing kits.

Creative ideas that take a slightly less conventional approach can be risky, especially in an economy where people try to save money by eating at home and cooking more instead of going out to dinner. It can be hard to secure capital to get the business off the ground and differentiate it from the fierce competition in the food industry. Loving what you do though plays a large part in entrepreneurs' decisions to go ahead with their ideas and embrace the risk. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Erica Shea, who started the Brooklyn Brew Shop with Stephen Valand, talked about how the duo came up with their idea. "My dad had done some home-brewing [...]. I came across all my dad's old equipment and decided it would be a fun thing to get into."


Dawn Casale, who worked corporate jobs before opening a bakery, used her marketing expertise to help her business to a successful start. In an interview with Vocation Vacations she explained "I knew I needed to find a niche. New York didn't need just another caterer."



Both Shea and Casale will be speakers at the SXSW panel titled "The Rise of Brooklyn Food Scene". Others include Joshua Applestone, owner of Fleisher's, and Christina Tosi, pastry chef and owner of Momofuku Milk Bar.

Questions answered during this panel include:

1) Where the business idea came from?
2) How did it get funded?
3) What was the model?
4) What were the beginning months like?
5) How do you go from idea to store front to book deal?

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Tanks and Tweets: U.S. Army Deploys Social Media


The United States Army is opening up the communication lines with the world with unfiltered solider blogs, Twitter, interactive web experiences and many more.  Army Strong also has an iPhone app. Their website, Army Strong, features blogs and stories about their everyday life experiences. It is an open platform, so anyone can blog - any solider, family member or friend. They just have to sign up, and 24 hours later, can begin blogging on Army Strong . Soldiers have blogged from 25 countries, more than 60 occupations and more than 20 ranks, which provides readers a wide variety of information and perspectives.  The goals of Army Strong is to help keep soldiers connected to one another as well as to their family friends and to give potential recruits access to serving military members.

"Social media is all about the conversations. The conversation has to be authentic. It doesn't get more authentic than a solider sitting in his hooch in Iraq or Afghanistan telling you what he's doing that day," said Major Benjamin Grimes in an interview with C.C. Chapman.

The members on the panel, feature military personnel and a civilian, will discuss how this program was established. Depending on March deployments, there may also be a live stream from Afghanistan/Iraq. Questions that will be answered include:

1.    How does the Army deal with restrictions and security guidelines as it implements social media?
2.    How does the shift in user behavior among high school students impact military recruiting in the year 2012?
3.    When deployed, how do Soldiers use social media to connect with family and friends?
4.    In a time of war, how can the military use social media to connect with the American public?
5.    Which emerging technologies and interactive innovations will shape the Army of 2012? 2022?

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Can you tweet that? Social Media and the Law

Dara Quackenbush, a Texas State University mass comm professor, will be presenting her panel, "Can you tweet that? Social Media and the Law."

"I find this stuff very interesting and relevent. It's a new area of law emerging, and laws do not always keep up with technology. The stories have always fascinated me."
The topic of social media and the law is very important due to the enormous increase in popularity that it has received over the recent years.

"I teach PR," said Prof. Quackenbush. "I'm also teaching a social media class this semester and I incorporate social media into my public relations teaching, becasue I think there shouldn't be a distinction between new media and social media; it should just be media."

The one question that Prof. Quackenbush proposed was, "How does this effect the PR for the company and how does it effect business?"


While listening to a radio show, Dr. Quackenbush recalled a story that she had heard about back in June or July. "A photographer leaves his camera in the jungle, and some monkeys get a hold of it and start taking pictures. Who owns the copyright? The reporter said no one owns the copyright, and the company the photographer works for said that they own the copyright. It was an interesting discussion that morning."

After having a guest speaker come to talk to one of her classes, Prof. Quackenbush felt that she could speak on the topic of of social media and law.

"I'm going to make the presentation fairly interactive. In the realm of social media who's considered a public person and who's considered a private person."

I learned a lot during my interview with Prof. Quackenbush, and I think that anyone who visits her panel will also come away with a wealth of knowledge.

The questions to be answered at the panel are:

1. Wat are the five tests of defamation, what is the defense of defamation, and how does it apply to social media?

2. What's teh difference between a private citizen and a public person and how has that changed with the growth of social media rock stars?

3. Is hate speech covered by the 1st Amendment? What constitutes hate speech?

4. How is copyright determined? What copyright can you use/not use freely?

5. Why does every organization need an employee social media policy?







Monday, December 5, 2011

Get Smart! Hack Your Brain!

It has been said that once you get to a certain age, everything and everyone some how becomes set in their ways.  A routine in what to do, where to go, and how to think about doing all of it. 

Perhaps, the mindsets aren't as concrete as first glance would suggest.

Get Smart! Hack Your Brain panel is all about increasing the brain's-your brain's-capabilities.  Panelists range from leaders in research to practicioners to nero-scientists. 

Co-founder of Lumosity.com Michael Scanlon will talk about neroplasticity (the ability of the brain to change) and how to enhance the ability of the mind.
http://www.lumosity.com/

"We've seen a great deal of research recently that demonstrates that the brain changes all the time," said Scanlon.  "We are working with a network of the top-25 neuroscience programs with the goal of using Luminosity.com as a platform for learning about cognitive enhancement and brain performance."

One method of increasing brain-power to be discussed is the power of sleep and the improvements of brain function. 


Megan Miller, Bonnier R&D technology researcher, will also present some of the trends of cognitive enhancement as well as some applications to communicative technologies and overall trends.

Overall, Get Smart Hack Your Brain, will be a stimulating look into how people think and ways to break those mindsets. 
















Thursday, December 1, 2011

Bubble and People Power

Bubble and People Power.


The last videos within the Download: The True Story of the Internet series begins with "Bubble" which discusses the success stories of eBay and Amazon. This video section is so interesting because it shows the development and growth of two companies who had completely different business models and founders. It also discusses the different innovations and their successes or failures throughout the past years. Amazon's "Get Big Fast" motto is amazing to hear about now considering how much Amazon has grown since the company's early days. As a frequent Amazon shopper, I would say Amazon is more than big. They're a HUGE company. The video goes over the public key cryptology and how the use of of credit cards could be used safely and effectively across networks. Both Amazon and eBay led the dot-com boom and paved the road for future business models. When watching the Bubble video, it's unbelievable to imagine the beginning of e-commerce and online shopping. So many people questioned the success of most of the companies. And, many were leery of purchasing stock from any of these dot-com companies. All of this occurred in the 90's and early 2000s. It wasn't that long ago. It's so crazy to see how these companies and others have grown and succeeded since the early e-commerce and dot-com boom days.


The last video "People Power" talks about Facebook, Myspace, digg and Napster. Originally, the Internet changed millions of lives. Now, people are changing the Internet. I remember when I was in middle school and high school when you had to drive to the store, purchase a music CD and also have a CD or tape player in order to actually hear the music. In 1999, Shawn Fanning had the idea for Napster and the peer-to-peer sharing with other computer users. This entire revolution has completely changed the way we listen, share and download music. Napster changed the entire music industry. Now, we have iTunes and many other innovative music sites on the Internet. It's unbelievable to see how Napster started and also how quickly it ended. But, this company completely changed the life of music! Amazing. Music is a powerful tool and many people listen and share all varieties of music for different reasons. The Internet has made this sharing and downloading an easy, quick task to accomplish. I can't wait to see what happens with music innovations in the future.