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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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?

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. 

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.

Browsers and the Modern Day Pirate

Browser Wars

The epic battle between Netscape Navigator and Microsoft has shaped the way we use the web. This David vs. Goliath type of tale shows that even in the online world, money is power.
I actually remember using Netscape Navigator. You actually had to insert the installation disc into the disk drive (located above infamous A: drive, the floppy disc) and install the program onto your hard drive. The presence of Netscape was threatening to Microsoft because Netscape was becoming the portal to this new and emerging media, the World Wide Web. To Microsoft it was like manufacturing a car and having someone else build the highway on which the car would drive. A company like Microsoft wouldn’t stand for such a concept. After putting some programmers on the case, Microsoft had a perfect mock of Netscape’s browser. The advantage of a browser made by Microsoft was that they could install the program on every machine. They made using their product simpler and in the end that’s what Netscape did not have the power to do.
Presently speaking, it’s funny how the “browser war” has shifted. Internet Explorer, although still leading in market share, is the bane of existence for many web developers. Older versions prove to be incompatible with many basic functions coded into websites, which for a leader in digital innovation should be embarrassing.  Better, faster browsers have proven to be strong competitors against Internet Explorer. Google Chrome has even released a line of laptops that are completely browser based. See video below:


I think this marks the slow death of the desktop interface and the move toward cloud computing.

People Power

Shawn Fanning, the father of online piracy. The Napster revolution has shaped an entire industry. Many argue that Fanning has cost the music industry billions of dollars, but has he? 
There is no way of knowing the state of the music industry had Fanning not made it so easy to get free music. One thing we do know, however, is that he has expanded the music library of the average human being. Whether you get your tunes on the online black market for free, download iTunes every now and then, or stream music on Pandora, your exposure to music has significantly increased.

Fanning could also be dubbed the father of the people power revolution. The Web 2.0 movement has allowed everyday Internet surfers to become content contributors to their own selected areas of expertise. The almost unfortunate consequence of this is that people have become slightly obsessed with themselves. It isn’t unlikely for a 12-year-old boy to host his own video web series with hundreds of followers.

New direction for social marketing?

"The State of Social Marketing" will look at current and future trends in social, and how companies can best utilize these trends for growth.  Brad McCarty, the North American editor of  The Next Web will give a ten minute presentation on the three most essential changes in social marketing over the next year, and then a panel of marketing leaders will dissect his presentation, challenging him on any points of dissension.  Both companies and individuals who are looking to improve their social marketing strategies will benefit from this panel of award-winning marketers, while gaining insight into the following issues:  The three most important changes to social marketing, how strategies should evolve in 2012, companies that serve as examples, and any social marketing topics that experts disagree on.

Brad McCarty

As an author on The Next Web, Brad McCarty writes blog posts that focus on startups and the future of social marketing.  His blog posts provide a range of information from the latest tech news to how businesses can best utilize social media, and everything in between. Follow Brad on Twitter for up-to-date technology and social marketing news.

Jascha Kaykas-Wolff works for Involver and oversees all of the marketing efforts, including strategy, branding, product marketing, advertising, and social relations.  With his work with Involver, Kaykas-Wolff recognizes the impact of social for businesses today.  "Brands are held accountable for the content they create and the conversations that spawn from it. Social is driving changes to the entire marketing profession."  Additionally, Kaykas-Wolff believes that social marketing has evolved over the past four years.  "Social marketing has grown into a 'channel' for investments.  The focus on investment, return and optimization have supported the growth of an ecosystem of software companies like hoot suite, buddy media, radian6 and Involver making investments in social marketing accountable to businesses."

Joe Chernov is the VP of content marketing for Eloqua.   Eloqua automates the science of marketing by focusing on campaign execution, testing, measurement, prospect profiling, which allow marketers to acquire customers and devlop strong brands and creative campaigns.  In addition to being VP of content marketing, Chernov writes articles for Eloqua and blog entries on his own website.  Read this article about how Chernov and Eloqua create catchy content to drive sales. 

Jesse Thomas

Jesse Thomas is the founder of JESS3, a creative interactive agency that specializes in the art of data visualization.  He believes that "social marketing is critical for companies, because in front of our eyes people are spending more and more time online."  Additionally, he emphasizes the importance of innovation in marketing.  "Creativity and innovation are critical to marketing and advertising.  As one brand tries something, their competitors start thinking about copying them and so on.  Technology in marketing is an arms race!"  Thomas attributes social marketing to "walking down a crowded public street that seems to go on for an eternity...A marketer must figure out how to make a sale in the middle of this great thriving main street."  He speaks about some key changes in social marketing, including "group deals like groupon, group chat like beluga, geosocial marketing via Foursquare," as well as "co-branded content via media partnerships like Vice and Intel Creators Project, and the gamification of experiences like mint.com."

JESS3 created this neat video about how the Internet has grown and how much it is ingrained in all of our lives...

Ekaterina Walter is the social media strategist for Intel.  She spoke to thousands about how small-to-medium businesses can utilize social media to increase and engage customers.  Walter works closely with Intel's corporate marketing group to provide a set of best practices and strategies.  She also has her own blog, including a story about her journey here as an immigrant from Russia. 

Ekaterina explains how Intel utilizes social media...

Follow Ekaterina on Twitter to get updated information.

Join us in March at SXSW Interactive for an in-depth look at the future of social marketing from these knowlegable panelists.

Download: History of the internet

Compared to the previous "out of date" History Channel version we watched earlier in the semester, Download: History of the Internet is a great documentary that delves into the history of Web 2.0 and the growth of several key products or companies that have changed the world for the better.
Search The first part of the series called "Search" detailed how search engines started and the battle the inevitably ensued. Yahoo was the first name to jump onto the scene developing the first site that would list related sites or sources queried by a user. Yahoo was developed by 2 Stanford students that experimented with the internet while there advising professor took a year sabbatical. Their idea was novel in the web world, most people didnt look at the web as a great source of revenue. One of the venture capitalists that invested in Yahoo! described the Yahoo! "office" (a mobile trailer) as an "Abysmal pit".
Very hesitant to the idea, Yahoo! began to post banner advertisements in an effort to generate revenue from the site. The founders feared that the ads would alienate and drive users away from their site. Fortunately for Yahoo this was not the case, the site would continue to grow and be considered one of the top search engines on the web.
Not far after the formation of Yahoo was a simplistic site that rocked the search world and to this day continues to actively shake and jive the web world; of course I am talking about Google. Google initial claim to fame was developing a rating system for sites based on the number of links to that site. This meant when a specific site is linked by other sites, the site's search ranking or relevancy in the google search engine would increase. This simplistic system revolutionized search engines and launched Google to their current power house position in the World.

People Power
It is quite amazing in the last 10 years how important individualism became in the web world. Search engines and other platforms initially generated revenue through advertisements on a massive level, money from the public as a whole. Recently, advertising has made its way into the world of social networking and related material like Facebook, Digg, Myspace, youtube and more.
The internet has become the strongest tool for crowd sourcing, market research, and public opinion. Before the internet, newspapers and TV companies controlled information dissemination and most viewable materials. Back then it was nearly impossible for a single person to distribute his or her message without bending and obeying the companies controlling information outlets. This has radically changed with the development of social networking through the internet. It is as easy as writing a sentence and clicking a mouse, those 2 actions place your message on the internet for the viewing public to witness. Click of a mouse can now instantly upload a video that normally would not be seen, this act has shaken up traditional journalism allowing anyone individual to post acts of journalism.
Facebook is a prime example of explosive growth in a social networking niche' that everyone boastfully or secretly enjoys. Facebook allows a user to post information about themselves or subject of interest allowing all accepted friends to view or interact with. Founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg was astonished by how quick his site grew, "within the first 2 weeks, 2/3 of Harvard was on Facebook. Then Students from other schools starting emailing us asking to open sites for their schools. It went to all universities then highschools then businesses then open to the public".

Download: The True Story of the Internet

After watching the Search and People Power segments of Download: The True Story of the Internet, I am glad to say that I learned, as well as confirmed, a few things that have been stirring in my subconscious for who knows how long.

The Search video really opened my eyes to the magnitude of the power and importance of search engines; most importantly, Google's power. I really had to stop and think, "Where would I be, where would we be without Google?" It's become such an important part of our lives that we don't even think twice when consulting it. If I had to guess how many times a day I Googled something, it would very likely be upwards of 30 times a day, and that's probably being generous to my inner-nerd. I'm very curious to see what, if anything, will be able to stronghold Google from its place as the number one source of of all things search-related. Another thing I observed in this video was the dominance of Stanford entrepreneurs. From Yahoo to Excite to Google, Stanford students (students, people!!) had a hand in the creation of some of the most important technological advances of our time. Something tells me that's not a coincidence.

The People Power video was also incredibly informative. I had a great time learning about the creators and pioneers of the MP3, YouTube, WinAMP, Digg, and especially Napster. I've always heard of the nightmarish lawsuit stories behind Napster and never really knew how it started, or how far it truly escalated. It's pretty scary to think about being hunted down by your favorite artist for simply trying to help spread their work, albeit in an illegal fashion. As I was watching the Napster breakdown, I was able to draw a comparison to my own experiences. Just a couple of weeks ago, a video that I uploaded three years ago to YouTube was taken down for copyright infringement. When I uploaded it, I didn't think it would be an issue, because it was simply a video of an artist performing a song at a concert. I learned that the artist had just released an official video for the very song being performed in that video from so long ago; consequently, mine and countless others had to come down. I was peeved, but found the situational comical. That is, until I was forced to watch a 5-minute cartoon video on copyright infringement, and take a quiz about what I had learned, courtesy of YouTube. I was absolutely dumbfounded. I still feel as though I did nothing wrong. Unfortunately, I'll probably hold that artist and YouTube at a slightly lower level of regard for a while to come. This incident just goes to show that the consequences of Napster are still rippling across the country, years later.

Overall, the segments that I watched were pretty cool. It was great to get an inside look at the full story behind topics that I had always wondered about.

P. S. - That John Heileman. What a guy.

Search and People Power: the story behind a new revolution

These two documentaries from Download: The True Story of The Internet, provided me with new insights about the history of both the "search revolution" and the web 2.0 revolution. It was interesting to learn more about the obstacles encountered by these people and companies along the way. It was also amazing to learn more about how far the Internet has evolved in a fairly short period of time. Journalist John Heilemann did a thorough report in these two documentaries, leaving the viewers with even more of an appreciation for the people behind this revolution.

Search: It was in the Search documentary that you learn more about the power of people in Silicon Valley when it comes to launching Internet-based companies. It was also the beginning of the trend for two college students from a prestigious university to launch a revolutionary company. Stanford University students Jerry Yang (pictured above) and David Filo were just trying to find basketball informationon the Internet to win a fantasy basketball tournament when they realized the need for a search engine.

This started their endeavor with Yahoo! that has led to one of the most successful search engines, which has paved the way for Google and others. The two started a guide in 1994 called "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web", a guide to provide people with a way to organize their favorite Web sites. The guide became a hit and made them realize they could possibly be successful with launching a search engine site. It was interesting to learn about the steps they took along the way and the perseverance they had in launching the site. Yahoo! was the first site that really changed the way people seek information on the Internet.

The site was joined by Excite and Google shortly after. The Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin sought out to be different and encountered many doubters along the way. Even though Yahoo and others figured out a way to make a profit, Google wanted to figure out a more user-friendly method, which they did and have established themselves as the leader of search engines. I never realized how much it took for Google to get to this point. They were faced with much skepticism at first. However, as John Heilemann said in the movie, "Google mania has started to give way to Google phobia". This documentary was fascinating. I look forward to see the continuing evolution of the "search revolution".

Google co-founder Sergey Brin talks about Yahoo and Bing:

People Power:

In this documentary, Heilemann brings the audience into the world of "our media", meaning media shaped by those who use it. This includes Facebook, MySpace, Napster, Digg, and others.

Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook, has a played a huge role in the web 2.0 revolution discussed in this documentary. He played off of the new idea that people enjoy hearing their own voices, as was discussed in this movie, and that the media is controlled by no one and shaped by everyone.

YouTube,bought by Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion, has also played a huge role in the new media. Their motto is "broadcast Yourself". This documentary made me thinkback to the days when television was the only option, and when you could not watch a television show unless you were at home during the time it was shown live. It is amazing how far the world of technology has come along in just the past decade.

Another interest that has been brought into the realm of the web 2.0 revolution in a big way is music. The mp3 player and Napster paved the way for music being readily available on the Internet. This documentary showed how skeptical people in the music industry were at first about the idea.

The skepticism and journey that all of these companies made was a major theme in both documentaries. It was very inspirational to see how all of these visions have impacted society.

The True Story of the Internet

The video "Download: The True Story of the Internet" investigates the digital, social and commercial revolution that the Internet has created, as well as showing how the competition for markets and growth/improvement towards new and improved solutions continues to drive innovation and success.

Search:

This section of the video revolved around the search engine startups that have revolutionized the Internet: Yahoo, Exite, and, of course, the leader of them all, Google. It’s interesting that corporate communities were, at first, doubtful about the use of search engines for business and commerce, as they have now completely integrated commerce and search engines, generating billions of dollars in revenue each year.

Although Google is now one of the largest companies in the U.S., it did not start out that way. Before the creation of Google, Yahoo stood as the main search engine until people started to look for new ways of searching because their searches were not generating the right results. When Google came along, they brought with them a new way to search, using keywords and algorithms that provided the consumer the results they were looking for. With the goal of pushing Yahoo out of the competition, Google attempted to form an alliance with Exite, offering the company for $1 million. It’s ridiculous how many insane opportunities have been passed up because of skepticism! Exite didn’t think there was any money in search engines, and passed up the chance of a lifetime by refusing the offer of the now multi-billion dollar company! I wish I had the money to invest in something like that...because I would do it in a heartbeat!

I also thought it was interesting that Google stole Bill Gross’ idea of advertising on the Internet. Needing to create a source of revenue to please their angel investors, Google knew that they only way of doing so was through advertising. But being “Google,” they wanted to maintain the user-friendly experience, which led to them to Bill Gross, founder of Idealab, who solved the problem of Web advertising by linking together the keywords entered by the user with sponsored links from advertisers calling it “Overture.” Stealing it from under Gross, Google created a similar experience with a few tweaks, calling it “AdWords.” At least Gross was smart enough to realize what he had discovered and after filing suit was given a hefty settlement of Google’s market shares. It seems all the great ideas were somehow taken from something/someone else--I mean take Facebook for example! Zuckerberg is dealing with all kinds of lawsuits!

This realization of how to generate income from Internet advertising on search engines has become the future of market research, and will continue to stand as such in the years to come.

Power People:

This section shows how the creation of Web 2.0 and social networking sites have forever changed how we use the Internet and our reasons for using it in the first place.  Once the Internet was primarily used to  search and look up information, but now it is used to communicate with friends and family, and even acquaintances, sharing stories, photos, music and videos...and it all started with Napster.  

I remember when Napster came out...it was the hottest thing around because it was the first site to bring music to the Web through peer-to-peer sharing.  Though it was a huge controversy, the rise and fall of Napster marks an important time in history as it began a digital revolution that gave rise to a world of online sharing and communicating.  That's what I love and find the most interesting, is that no matter where you are, next door or in another country, we can now share with anyone, communication with anyone.  This digital world is constantly changing and I am so excited and eager to see what will come out next.

Oh How far we have come!

I watched the third video about the technology bubble. It fascinated me just to sit back and realize how far we have come in such a short amount of time. To many of us now e-commerce is a common occurrence, and many of us have shopped on Amazon and Ebay. The most interesting fact is that black friday was the term used to describe the crash of the nasdaq after the technology bubble burst, but now it is the term to describe one of the biggest consumer shopping days in the year. I really enjoyed noticing how the companies now truly are the embodiment of the approach taken by their founders. It is also a common theme in technology that once something great is realized, it becomes a mad rush for everyone to jump on the bandwagon and try and find the next big thing. It really goes to show that the successes are not by accident, but are truly great, innovative ideas. Just look at how in order for these businesses to work they had to create a way for personal information to be given online without it being stolen. Today that is such a common thing that we take for granted but at that time it took three men to crack the code and create a safeway for e-commerce to thrive

Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar didn't write a business plan he just sat down one weekend with an idea and designed the code himself. When I think of Ebay I feel that carefree attitude he took. The just go without thinking out the business plan feeling. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had a more thought out, organized way of creating Amazon. He created a business plan and really thought through his idea. Which really embodies Amazon. When you think Amazon you think organization. I feel Amazon is a more organized way of shopping. It was also interesting to see the approaches to the founders. Pierre Omidyar is not very public now and you don't hear much about him in the news. Jeff Bezos on the other hand is a public figure who some feel could be the next Steve Jobs type. Here is an interesting article featuring Jeff Bezos. It talks about who will win the technology war of 2012 as they call it.

Search and People Power

Excite was a web search I used all the time in collge. In fact, I had forgot all about it until the video had mentioned its name. Today, I use Yahoo and Google for most of my searches. As soon as the website mention that the Yahoo creators were from Stanford, I automatically thought Steve Jobs. It's crazy how so many bright minds went to the same school. The guys thought of the Yahoo name, because they wanted something short and catchy. It's exactly what it is. The video increased my knowledge of what Yahoo and Google go through and how they have grown into the companies they are today. The gambled with advertisersing and came out on top. I am most shocked that all of the creators went to Stanford and that they were so young.

Personally, I use Yahoo! for email, but I use Google more to search. I think I use Yahoo! because I have had it for so long. Google brings up more searches when I use it, so it has become my first search engine source of information.

I had never heard of Digg before the video. It was interesting how the CEO thought a blog and the New York Times could be at the same level. Mark Zuckerburg the founder of Facebook said, "What your friends actually have to say is interesting to you." I think this is true. It kind of relates to the American nature to want to know everything about everything. The guy who had been using 85% of Stanford's bandwidth was funny. It's unbelievable how people are able to come up with these ideas and bring them to life. We have moved from the walkman stage, to disc players, to mp3's, to iPods. It is unbelievable and exciting. I'm always interested in seeing what the new fad is. I understand Napster's point of their company, but I also see why the record companies were upset. I would be too. Napster was amazing, but like the video said, "it's still causing troubles today." Napster=Free Music

In 2001, Napster was shut down and they turned on its fans. The result of the close of Napster, led the way for Steve Jobs and iTunes. It was something the music industry was definitely satisifed with. Youtube was acquired by Google at the end of 2006, and it had helped the company stay afloat with the various issues they run into reguarding copyrighted material.

It's not just web-surfing anymore

Conducting search on the Internet has changed greatly within the past 20 years.  For what was once nothing more than a directory-based hub of information, the Internet has morphed into a keyword search to find information instantly.  The fledgling search-engine, Yahoo!, was the first major website to also deduce a way to earn money using the power of the internet.  Google was also a key game-changer in terms of search.  Google based its search around how often people link to a particular site and/or how often people visit a particular site to gain information.  The more popular a site is to users the more likely it will appear within a search query on Google.  It is the advancements and connections made within the Internet that have made seeking information by users faster and easier.  As users needs grow and change so too will the way users search for information will change.

Internet has changed the world by connecting people with information as well as to other people.  People and the creation of sites such as YouTube have allowed a breakdown of control.  Users can create their own content for the most part, without bounds unlike traditional media outlets. 

http://www.simplyzesty.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Social-Media.png

The freedom to communicate with the world with little boundaries and the opportunity to connect with and share a little bit about you with people you may never see or meet are incredible powers of Internet advancement.  Another power is the heightened control of the masses in producing web content. Overall, the possibility of creating and sharing are the driving forces of the power of people and the growth and change in how the internet is used.

Search/People Power

When you are looking for an answer to any type of question, or when you are looking for resources for your research paper all you have to do is go on the Internet and find what you need. However, that was not the case more than 10 years ago. Now, the Internet is a central part of our lives and many people today have no idea how they could ever function without it. Download: The True Story of the Internet is about the ongoing revolution of the internet and about the men and women who made it possible. This documentary is hosted by technology journalist John Heileman.
Search:

In this portion of the documentary "Search" is about the history of search engines, mainly Yahoo, Google, and Exite. Similar to many inventors, the invention of Yahoo was unintentional. Founders Jerry Yang and David Filo were trying to find a way to win a fantasy basketball league by using the internet. The idea of a search engine, Yahoo, was created and banner ads were used as funds for the company. Yahoo's biggest rival at the time was Exite.

Google was founded by two young Stanford students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Both were able to find sites that were relevant by counting the links. The issue of funding became a problem, yet these two youngsters found a way to fund their new company. They came across an idea that Bill Goss, founder of Idealab, had and altered it. Goss's idea was to sell keywords and show paid ads that were of interest to people. Page and Brin decided to separate ads from the organic search results.

It amazes me how in class we constantly see graduate students or young people creating multi-billion dollar companies. It is truly inspiring to see 

People Power:
This portion discussed the rise and fall of Napster as well as some insight on Facebook and YouTube. Due to the creation of these social media websites, the new era "Web 2.0" was created. I remember using Napster when I was younger and remember thinking how slow it was to download one song. There were no other sites that were anything like Napster, but even then, such a innovative site made me want something that was faster. Regardless, Napster was also the beginning of music on the web. Today there are a variety of websites and music softwares such as Pandora, Spotify, iTunes, and radio stations that might have been brought about due to Napster. The fall of Napster might have been a major controversy, but because of this company, music on the web is constantly evolving.

An interesting point that was made in this video was that the internet should bring back the common person as an author. I believe that the internet is going to keep evolutionizing and new forms of communication are going to keep being created. Facebook, for example, has helped connect friends and family members all around the world. YouTube and Facebook keep updating their websites and the constant changes and improvements allow for more communication styles.