Whose Up For A Little Rock/Viva La Conversation

The Trip Was A Success (so far)


For those of you that did not read the last post, please do so I don't have to recap everything :)


Anyhow, my trip to speak to the Little Rock chapter of the PRSA has been successful so far...why do I say "so far" you ask?


Well, the conversation has only just begun. I challenged the folks at the meeting to blog and to trackback to my original post. I also challenged those who were not members of Facebook to sign up and add me as a friend. Finally, I challenged them to join Second Life and meet me in one months time for a follow up on our meeting.


Here are the stats so far:



  • 7 blog comments

  • 1 email through my blog

  • 2 Facebook friends

  • 3 Linkbacks

  • 0 TRACKBACKS


I would like to thank the following people for joining the conversation:



  • Becca Gardiner

  • Drew Stephens (who I apparently shocked with my mention of The Cluetrain Manifesto. Drew, everyone loves that book, no? Well, for those who don't, lets get them reading. It is about time the entire PR world knew. Also, I know that you will see this, so let's take this conversation offline and see what we can do about starting a Podcamp in Little Rock. You seem like the perfect leader for it!)

  • Lance Turner

  • Bryan Jones (a Lebowski after my own heart :) )

  • Dan McFadden

  • Carol Cassil

  • Mary Wagoner

  • Jamie Higgins


...and last but not least the man who drove me around, showed me the Clinton Library and let me use his camera when mine died, John Twyford.


If I left anyone out, it either means that I have not slept much in the last week and I apologize, or you have not joined the conversation, shame on you :)


The Arkansas Business Journal


The Arkansas Business journal is doing a great job of getting social (and I am not just saying this because they wrote an article about me). Second, I would like to thank Ashley Suffle for showing up to the event, engaging me with some great questions and above all, PODCASTING THE TALK!


I Think We Are Are Doing Ok, But Come On Little Rock, I Am Rooting For You!


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Good Morning Little Rock/Hello PRSA. This Post Is For You!

I woke up this morning and took this picture from the beautiful Peabody Hotel In Little Rock Arkansas (where I will be speaking to the PRSA today).


Thanks to Mary Wagoner for inviting me here and to Andrea Morrissey, who I heard is the youngest and one of the best presidents of the Little Rock Chapter of the PRSA ever.



I have been told that we will not have that many bloggers in the audience today. While I understand that people are very busy, I think it is really essential to experiment with blogging, podcasting, vlogging etc. to really "get it". So this post is for today's audience.


What are you waiting for!??


Here are my challenges


Challenge Number 1


 I challenge all of you to blog within the next two weeks and trackback to this post.


It does not have to be on your own blog (although that would be best and you can feel free to call me for help). If you do this it will validate the importance of my journey to Little Rock (remember, I tried to make it here in February and that did not work, so I have put in my time to get here).


Challenge Number 2


In a month from now I will be holding a private meeting for the Little Rock Chapter Of The PRSA at Morpheum Island in Second Life  (Andrea, Mary and I can sort out the details). Your second challenge is to sign up for Second Life and be there for a reunion (you may just find that you miss me, I tend to have that effect on people :) )


Now, let's get to work!


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AT&T-- Do You Think We Are Idiots?

Keep The Net Neutral


I just got done reading an article in mediapost that speaks of AT&T's planned attempt to minimize piracy on its network. Of course, I am not pro-piracy, but I cannot believe that companies are still focusing so much attention on controlling media as opposed to accepting it's democratization and learning to work within the new framework.


What got me the most (and what prompted me to write this post) was some of the reasons that AT&T is making this effort.



AT&T says it is protecting the best interests of its network and its customers, because illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing sites not only raise the cost of DVD and CD sales--they also eat up bandwidth on the network.



Raising the cost of CD's!!!


Come on guys...do you think we are idiots?


We all know that plastic media is on it's way out. A rise in such media would necessitate more bandwidth cost and potentially more money for you. Why are you so worried about a rise in the price of plastic media anyhow?


Phew.


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The Irony and The Agony/Ecstasy

I pulled the numbers below from MediaPost today as I though that they were highly ironic. The impact of Google Universal Search has resulted in a slight decrease in what their core site used to be, and a tremendous increase in a company they just acquired. The largest shift further positions Google as the place to go for directions, maps and local information.


I guess Google really is on their way to organizing the worlds information!



Percentage U.S. Visits to Top Google Properties

























































































Rank Property Week
Ending
5/12/07		 Week
Ending
6/2/07		 Change
1 Google 69.28% 69.06% -0.32%
2 YouTube 10.65% 11.53% +8.26%
3 Google Image Search 8.17% 7.58% -7.22%
4 Gmail 5.42% 5.27% -2.77%
5 Google Video 1.42% 1.44% 1.41%
6 Google Maps 1.18% 1.42% +20.34%
7 Google News 1.02% 0.94% -7.84%
8 Blogger 0.51% 0.49% -3.92%
9 Google Book Search 0.36% 0.29% -19.44%
10 Orkut 0.28% 0.28% 0.00%
Source: Hitwise

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How To Play Nice And Still Crush Your Enemy

How Important Is Playing Nice?


Why did the one time market leader, Apple, lose so much market share that at one time they were no more than an after thought in the worldwide desktop computing industry?


Why, as of March 2007, has Apache served 58% of all web sites worldwide (cite)?


Why is Friendster no longer popular?


What is Second Life one of the fastest growing Virtual Worlds?


Ok, But Do You Really Need To Be Nice?


My answer is no. No one ever said you needed to be nice. In fact, in business I don't think that anyone really expects you to be nice, but it is this very lack of expectation that may give you an unpredicted lever which may just tip the scales in your favor. Sure, business and markets can be war, but that does not mean that they must be a full on attack. Unlike head to head combat modern business often requires a more subtle strategy that takes in to account all facets of the market you are in,  as well as all complimentary markets that may only be noticed in the the nuances of of that market.


Shut Up And Tell Us Where You Are Going With All This!


Ok, OK!


As a self proclaimed fan of Apple, but someone who refuses to continue to be one of those self righteous fan-boys that refuse to see anything but what they want to see, I am thrilled with the recent movements by Apple.


For a while I was really getting sick of the arrogance coming out of Apple, but yesterday, June 11, 2007, Apple announced a few things that illuminated their further dedication to working with their users as well as competitors.


The first announcement, not as earth shattering but still important (as it is not the first time that Apple has opened up software to PC users) was the fact that Apple has thrown their hat into the cross platform browser wars, announcing Safari for windows. I must admit that I use Firefox on my Mac and Flock on my PC, but this news still excited me and I still downloaded Safari to my PC. The implications here go beyond the personal computer. This announcement comes at a time when Apple is going after the mobile market, and if they think they can take the mobile market without being cross platform friendly, they have another thing coming. This however is not the case and, just as with iTunes Apple has realized that the way to world domination is by employing a strategy that is inclusive. 


On to the iPhone.


There was no way that I was going to get an iPhone. I use outlook at work as well as various other PC apps. There is no way I was going to subject my only means of mobile voice communications to platform confusion. Well, perhaps this will not be the case after all. Apple has announced that they are dedicated to supporting third party Web 2.0 applications and to the developers who create them. Perhaps I will reconsider the iPhone.


Web OS Where Are You?


For a long time I have spoken about, thought about and prayed for the coming a a true Web OS. An interoperable platform capable of diminishing the importance of a local terminal and creating open source ubiquitous computing. We are on our way, but not there yet. Both Apple and Google have been devoted to the very same dream. Microsoft and Yahoo, where are you!


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All About Adam/North By Northeast

Those of you that have known me for a while know that I am a musician (listen to one of my songs here), and while I am not a very active musician these days, it is in the blood.


This past weekend my buddy Jay Moonah (of Uncle Seth) invited me to speak on a panel at North By Northeast in Toronto about the potential for musicians to market their stuff in Second Life. While we did not have the best turn out, I think the panel went really well and I got to meet some cool people. I also got to hang out with my friends and Amaya Thompson (also of Uncle Seth) and Julien Smith and  listen to his panel on podcasting.


I got to check out a really cool B52's -esque, dance pop, good-time-rock-but-still a-bit-edgy band Spiral Beach (who I meet at the conference the next day) and I had the pleasure of having lunch with and partying with Jenn Mierau (who totally rocks, you should check her stuff out).


Overall a good weekend!



"I never though I would have a career, I never wanted one" (in reference to his career in podcasting)


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Shut Up And Syndicate

Digital Content Has No True Home


This is nothing new. Modern consumers want their content when, how and where they want it. This has been proven by the growing adoption of VOD, iPod Video, and RSS (amongst others).


In recent conversations about widgets, I have often taken the stance, "who care, they are widgets, Apple has been doing this forever and so have bloggers!".


Well folks, it is rare that I admit I was off target, but to a certain degree I feel that I was.


NBC Universal Launches Widgets to Expand Distribution of Content on Digital Platforms


NBC continues to lead the network charge towards innovation by adopting Clearspring to distribute content via widgets across the web.


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Good Idea, Questionable Execution


In a unique marketing push Netflix has announced a summer concert series called Netflix Live! On Location. That is the good news.


Who is performing you ask:


The Bacon Brothers


Dennis Quaid and The Sharks


The Bruce Willis Blues Band


Contextually it makes sense but....





Let's Stick With The Topic Of Music


I love Bob Marley. In fact, in high school I was in a Marley cover band. So do you think I was excited when I heard the news Exodus+ special additions will be release on a USB memory stick to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the legendary album?


Not at all!


Yes, it is a first, but there is a reason for that. It makes no sense!


Anyhow, if you are interested, find more here



Microsoft Ignites Musicians


Microsoft's new Ignition initiative helps recording artist's promote new material across their various platforms such as the Zune, Xbox and MSN. While this can be seen as a a move to help out the faltering music industry, I see it as a play to leverage Microsoft's more successful to bolster usage of it not so successful "iPod Killer".


The Audience is there, will they adopt the technology?


The first promotion is for U.K. artist Maximo Park and looks something like this:


Zune Marketplace and Zune.net

























•

“Our Velocity” featured as a free download on Zune Marketplace
•

“Don McPhee” offered to U.S. audiences as an exclusive track for two weeks on Zune Marketplace
•

Playlist of 10 favorite tracks from Maxïmo Park lead singer Paul Smith available for download on Zune Marketplace
•

Maxïmo Park’s personal commentary on “Our Earthly Pleasures,” featuring song-by-song descriptions and comments
•

Maxïmo Park-specific page on Zune.net promoting the band’s current activities

Xbox LIVE Marketplace









•

Promotional video download of “Our Velocity” offered at no cost to Xbox LIVE subscribers

MSN Entertainment













•

Promotional video stream of “Our Velocity” on MSN Video
•

Listening parties for “Our Earthly Pleasures” during the first two weeks of June on MSN Music, which will allow consumers to listen to the entire album via streaming audio for free


What I really like about this whole thing is that it is a realization of music as franchise, not as solitary product.



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The Worlds Largest Focus Group

In the past I have written about new ways to glean consumer insight such as the concept of the "Focus Experience". I suppose that is why this release caught my eye.


The World's Largest Focus Group



While I am not fully sold on the concept, I am certainly intrigued by Adoodle Inc.'s new platform TVAdsAgain.com. Like many marketers currently do with YouTube, television spots are placed uploaded in order to gain insight and interest levels. The difference here is that users are incentivized to review  spots for "Adbucks".


Perhaps the wisdom of crowd will pay off.


Also On The Video Front...



Life explained on Film!


Over 15,000 professionally produced informational videos. I think the name of the game hear will be scale. In order to really make this work they will either need to position themselves as, "The Place To Go For Video Information" or do a hell of a job with SEO.


I guess we will see.


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Useful Web 2.0 App Of The Week

How many more social bookmarking tools do we need anyhow?


It never ceases to amaze me how many start-ups there are that have very few points of differentiation. Over the last few months I almost feel as if innovation has slowed in the "web 2.0" space. I feel that innovation has shifted to virtual and geo-spatial technologies, hence my focus has moved there as well.


But wait, something useful came along


The idea is nothing brilliant on the surface but it applications could be tremendous.



If you have ever sat through a usability test you know how amazing it is to watch people interact with a site that seems easy to navigate. Still, e-commerce experts spend a great deal of energy optimizing sites to ensure that conversion rates are as high as possible.


What if you were just to tell users what to do? That is what Demofuse does and I think that they could be on to something. Go have a look.



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Entertainment Roundup: AppleTV, Shoptext, iTunes

You Call That News


"YouTube coming to Apple TV"


Sure we all love apple but my questions is, does anyone (who is not an crazy apple fanboy) actually own an Apple TV? I read an article about the lack of success with Apple TV, do they think You Tube will help?


My question is, would you sit down on your couch and watch You Tube videos, or are they really something you pass around at workand watch sitting in front of your PC?


The Medium Is The Message.



The Future Of Live Music Meets Short Codes


"Knitting Factory Entertainment Revolutionizes Concert Ticket Buying: First U.S. Venues to Launch Ticketing-By-Text"


I actually saw this yesterday and did not have a chance to write about it so for all of you who missed it, here it is! The service will allow concert goers to purchase tickets on the go with Shoptext short codes. While this seems very cool to me, is it really valuable?


It would be one thing if billing could be handled through you mobile provider, thus removing the need to pull out a credit card. It does not seem that this is the case. Until that is part of the agenda I am not sure how well this will do. After all, the whole point is to be able to buy with speed. If I have to text my credit card number and a short code, I may as well just wait until I get to my PC. Or better still, go on my cell phone and open a browser....


Free The Music


In case you have been living under a rock, Apple had announced a while back that they will begin to peel back the layers from the smelly DRM onion (terrible metaphor). Yesterday they announced the process had begun...at a premium.


$1.29 to be exact. iTunes Plus users will have the freedom to copy music as they please; no restrictions on usage!


You will even have the chance to go back and "plus" tracks you have already bought for 30 cents. I would say that this is a step in the right direction for the music industry. I don't think it will be lucrative, but music tracks are not the real product of the future of the music industry anyhow. I like to think of the actual music as a marketing tool for a professional musician to capitalize on other parts of their franchise (live show, merch etc.)


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Geospatial, Mutli-Angle Video and The Metaverse..Oh My!

The Morning Hunt For Information


I started scouring the web this morning and a thread popped out at me instantly. Sure, it is the morning of Where 2.0 and there is a reason for the common thread, but this thread is certainly nothing new, and nothing that many of us have not been talking about for quite some time.


Yesterday I read about the launch of MSN maps in 3d. MSN has been doing Virtual Earth (check out Greg Sterling's post from Nov. 2006 to get you up to speed) for some time now but it requires a desktop client to access.


I was recently in Seattle I at Microsoft's Strategic Account Summit and they displayed a new technology called Photosynth which is software that takes social photography, mashes it up, pools the data and creates a virtual world (that is of course a laymen's description).The install is actually pretty easy and it surprisingly plugs right into Firefox, go MSN! I have to say that this technology is pretty damn cool!


What would a blog post about tech be without mentioning Google. Notice that each of these apps play up the concept of Virtual Worlds. It is important to remember that Virtual Worlds do not equal Second Life, There or Kaneva (per se). There is much more to the metaverse! Have a look:





Online Video


Finally I would like to alert all those ranting and raving about Online Video to have a look at what Immersive Media is doing. I am not saying that they have the silver bullet, but as everyone talks about how to produce video for the online space they tend to focus on pre-roll, post roll, mid roll, 30 second, 15 second etc.


This is crap!


The true realization of online video will come when we find ways to take the video beyond sight, sound and motion and add  new layers of interactivity, immersion, control and whatever other ways we can be creative with it. This is also the point when hopefully advertisers will be able to learn how to engage through video and not just disrupt.


Bottom Line


As the web moved closer and closer to a fully immersive, experienced based medium marketers will need to look at these technologies and find creative ways to integrate their messaging into these experience. Notice I say integrate, not dominate!


As this blog is supposed to have a marketing focus I feel the need to not just speak about the technologies themselves. As a marketer I am always thinking of how these technologies can be plugged into communications strategies. I would love to hear (from all of you out there) some creative ways you think these technologies can be used to get the message across.


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Much Ado About Facebook

If you enjoy scouring PR wires as much as I do you probably noticed a thing or two about Facebook this morning. Sure, I may have been in the dark about the Facebook f8 developers conference last night, but even so, this would still have been an overwhelming amount of news.


As I have a bunch of work to do today I can illuminate all of the new companies working with facebook, rather I am going to make it easy for you by putting links to all the press releases in one place for your perusal.


  Tiny Pictures Launches Deeply Integrated Radar Application on Facebook(R) Platform


  Attendio Launches Event Finder Application on Facebook(R) Platform




Shopping Online Finally Gets More Social

What is the difference between shopping in person and shopping online?


OTHER PEOPLE!


Why it has taken so long for e-commerce to adopt a more robust social structure is beyond me. Sure, many great companies have tried to make e-commerce social but it has just not taken off.


One company that I admire greatly (although there are some elements of their platform that I just do not get, which is not a good sign for someone who is a social networking addict) is a company called Stylehive. They have been at the social shopping game for a while now and seem to be doing pretty well (they even have a presence in Second Life. Talk about socializing e-commerce...that is a story for another post).


Anyhow, Stylehive has just made a brilliant move in creating what they are calling "Nectar Hives". Essentially what they are doing is providing functionality of their platform to retailers in a plug and play manner--brilliant!


CEO Michael Carrier had this to say,



Online retailers and publishers are looking for a way to make their


sites more social, to take advantage of the "authenticity" and viral


distribution that communities like the Stylehive offer



Another elements that was mentioned in today's press release is something right at the core of modern marketing, getting the audience to sell for you!


Creating brand ambassadors is a priceless endeavor and Stylehive saw the potential for retailers/publishers and thus has rolled out their platform to the following ones:



InStyleGapShopBopLisa Kline

Ron Herman
Hayden-Harnett
Design Public

GenArt

CraftzineReady Made Magazine


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3D Commerce

Sure, my title is director of emerging and creative strategy but the fact of the matter is Morpheus Media has strong roots in e-commerce and much of my early days in this industry were not at all focused on things "emerging" (of course, I was working on emergent technologies, they were just not referred to that quite as often).


In my never ending search for the latest and greatest in new technology and ways to leverage new forms of communications for marketers, I always ask the questions in the back of my head, "how are we going to close the loop with this one?".


Closing the loops means different things to different people. Some are trying garner leads, other are trying to sell product and so on.


Since my fixation with Second Life began I have always thought about the day when 3D spaces would be more pervasive in the mainstream and provide real tangible value for marketers. Particularly marketers looking to drive their ecommerce engines.


While that day is not fully here, many signs points towards the emergence of that day.


Enter:



While I need to dive into the product further and see more applications of it, they are promising that types of things that VRML once promised.



  • 3D virtual stores and showrooms;

  • 3D product configurators and visualizers;

  • 3D social networking experiences;

  • 3D Web sales automation systems;

  • Interactive 3D room planners;

  • Interactive brand promotion and online advertising



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Choice-- Coming To A New York Neighborhood Near You

I was just reading a Verizon press release that spoke of the fact that their Fiber Optic Television (Fios) will be available in select New York locations for the first time.


Having grown up in the clutches of Cablevision and then under the regime of Time Warner cable, it is nice to know that alternatives are on the way.



Read More Here



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Virtualive.tv Live From Morpheum Island

As the Virtualive.tv teams plans for the next big event we are working on getting all the content from the first event together. Below is some grade A machinima shot by Amulius Lioncourt (aka Josh Stortz) of The Vesuvius Group. The real life footage at The Canal Room was directed by Stas Lipovetskiy.




For More GO CLICK!



As you can see what is being created by the Virtualive.tv platform is a persistent media experience that spans the live linear platforms in both the real world and the virtual worlds as well as various forms of non-linear media.


Speaking of which, you have to check out Sir Jerry Paffendorf's latest reality mashup starting tomorrow night at the Fuse Gallery. If you don't know the guy you must be living under a rock and I recommend googling him.


In addition to being super nice guy, Jerry is leading the charge in the multi-media, reality mashup, virtual world space (amongst other things). Here is the info:


Jerry Paffendorf & Christian Westbrook: "Destroy Television"
Opens May 23, runs through June 2, 2007


Fuse Gallery
93 2nd Ave
(between E 5th & E 6th)
NY, NY 10003
Phone: +1.212.777.7988
www.fusegallerynyc.com


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Blurring The Boundaries Between 2D/3D and Real Life

It is all about strategy and integration


It is my belief that the "emerging technologies" practitioner must not operate in a vacuum. New platforms for delivering communications must be integrated into current strategies and extend the potential of these strategies.


 Sure, new strategies can be built off of new technologies, but too many people are fixating on emerging platforms as a way to generate new marketing concepts. This is not the way that the potential of platforms such as Second Life, Mobile or Video will be fully realized. Their realization will be most effective by examining the story you are trying to tell, the value proposition of the said platform and the ways in which this value can be exploited appropriately for the the story at hand.


Agencies are moving quickly to create silos for emerging media practitioners and appointing "czars" for these practices. Greg Verdino, David Berkowitz and many others (including myself) have been given titles that reflect this new agency role. Having spent a good deal of time with Verdino and having read Berkowitz in Mediapost it is apparent that each of them share my belief and do not look emerging platforms as something that can be planned in a vacuum.


I just hope (for their sake and the sake of their clients) that their agencies share this belief (having worked at Digitas I imagine they are doing a good job with this).


Get To Your Point Already, Adam!


I have read a number of article's talking about how IBM is integrating virtual spaces into their sales chain as well as other aspects of their business. While I am not sure of the exact strategy, the fact that IBM is taking this approach is very promising. An article in CXO Today spoke about the ways in which IBM was building the 3D web into their CRM system as well as their sales chain.



The IBM sales representative will help the clients who are interested in buying hardware, software, services or solving a business problem through exchange of private information such as signing of contracts, passing of money or credit information. It would be done through a link to IBM's website or by phone.



Adam, all you talk about is Virtual Worlds these days!


It is true, I talk a lot about 3D virtual worlds these days. I spend a lot of time considering the potential of 3D worlds in communications strategies, but anyone who truly knows me knows that my focus is on leveraging emerging channels to add value to brands, not virtual worlds (per se). 3D virtual worlds represent (for me) a channel that has the potential to take advantage of various other forms of media. It is also a space that is the sine quonan of social media.


I look forward to a future where emerging channels begin to be realized in a more holistic manner. Perhaps someday I can be the Director Of Channel Integration Strategy.



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