Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 270

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #176

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

Frankenstein Reassembled: Monster - Eyestrain Productions . "My good friend, Shane, has a newly-tweaked blog, which every reader of these links should subscribe to because Shane is brilliant and funny and subversive. This week he dusted off a comic of a story he wrote, which he can now publish online, about Frankenstein. Seems appropriate for Halloween, or as some call it, 'Goth Christmas.'" (Alistair for Hugh).

Nordtsrom's Big Data . "I was at Strata in New York this week. Since we launched the event two years ago, it has grown from 500 to nearly 3500 people, driven by a burgeoning interest in Big Data across nearly every industry. One of the companies that presented was Nordstrom , and they took us behind the scenes of how they analyze data. It's fascinating--and beautiful. They also posted their content on GitHub for all to see." (Alistair for Mitch).

U.S. drone operator says he's haunted by time in squadron that killed 1,626 by remote control: 'The number made me sick to my stomach' - National Post . "President Obama, it turns out, is the most ironic winner of the Nobel Peace Prize since Kissinger. Obama has expanded and embraced a policy of global assassinations the likes of which we have never seen, with 'unmanned drones' - pilotless aircrafts -  raining down death on bad guys and children alike. Historians will someday debate whether the tradeoff between dead jihadists and terrorized civilians was worth it (Pop quiz: how many jihadis do you create when a drone strike kills an innocent family? Answer: who knows?). But regardless of the morality, or effectiveness of American drone assassinations, one thing is sure: drones make pretty grim work for the people who wield the joysticks back in Nevada and Utah." (Hugh for Alistair).

Researcher Controls Another Person's Brain Over the Internet - The New York Times . "In another decade or so, we'll be saying: 'Remember the quaint old days when people used to complain about the lack of jetpacks? Who needs a jetpack.'" (Hugh for Mitch).

How the TED website is being rebuilt from the ground up for a new generation of people and devices - TNW . "If you had to build a website today, would you just build a website? Of course you would not. Now, people watch videos on their smartphones, iPhones , websites and more (think Apple TV , etc...). So, when it was time for TED to think about what their digital experience should be, they went deep. Very deep. This isn't just about building something that millions of people can use. It's about thinking differently about what consumer's need in this world. I called this ideology, The One Screen World in my second book, CTRL ALT Delete . Thrilled to see the people at TED embracing it and sharing their thinking with others, because every brand needs to start acting this way." (Mitch for Alistair).

Remembering Lou Reed - Grantland . "For my dollar, Grantland could be one of the most fascinating online spaces for creative journalism and op-ed writing. Seriously. I was heartbroken to hear about Lou Reed' s passing (as others were). The difference for me is that I had the chance to meet him a couple of times over the years, when I was working in the music industry back in the nineties. Beyond having a deep respect for his work, I have to admit that I was never a fan of his work. I knew it, but it just wasn't my genre (as I got older, my feelings have changed). In this awesome piece, Chuck Klosterman (who is awesome), pays respect." (Mitch for Hugh). 

Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

Tags:

alistair croll

apple tv

big data

bitcurrent

book a futurists manifesto

chuck klosterman

complete web monitoring

eyestrain productions

gigaom

github

grantland

hugh mcguire

human 20

iambik

iphone

kissinger

librivox

link bait

link exchange

link sharing

managing bandwidth

media hacks

national post

nobel peace prize

nordtsrom

president obama

pressbooks

social media

solve for interesting

strata

ted

the new york times

tnw

twitter

year one labs

A Fascinating Point Of View

We have all marveled at Chris Hadfield and his work on the International Space Station.

And, if you haven't marveled at his acumen for social media and connecting people to space unlike others have, please watch this:

(yes, that's him singing).

And let's not forget about Twitter .

Hadfield would regularly tweet updates from space, respond to questions from students and even send pictures from his amazing view. What got a significant amount of attention were his hilarious tweets with William Shatner (aka Star Trek's Captain Kirk). Here's the exchange:

Shatner: "@Cmdr_Hadfield Are you tweeting from space? MBB," (MBB = My Best Bill).

Hadfield: "@WilliamShatner Yes, Standard Orbit, Captain. And we're detecting signs of life on the surface."

Yes, Hadfield is just that awesome.

Now that he's back on earth, he has retired from government and recently published a book titled, An Astronaut's Guide To Life. He will also be doing speaking events (in fact, we have the same talent bureau... so I'm hopeful that we'll get to meet in person soon). This past week, he spent over thirty minutes on the massively popular program Q With Jian Ghomeshi and it is truly fascinating and motivating to watch his story.

Enjoy this amazing conversation about motivation, career paths and our beautiful planet...

Tags:

an astronauts guide to life

business book

captain kirk

chris hadfield

international space station

planet earth

q with jian ghomeshi

social media

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star trek

twitter

william shatner

20 Best Marketing Books Of All Time

What are the best marketing books of all time?

It's a question that I get asked, multiple times per week via email. It seems like people just coming out of school or professionals looking to up their game want to know not just what the latest and greatest books are, but which ones would be considered the seminal books on the subject of marketing. So, if I were putting together a MBA program with a focus on marketing, and was gifted the privilege of providing the reading list, these would be the ones that make the final cut.

The 20 Best Marketing Books Of All Time (in alphabetical order):

The Anatomy Of Buzz by Emanuel Rosen. Before word of mouth marketing became a profession unto itself, Rosen was busy trying to figure out why certain brands get attention and how they do it. This is one of those classic business books that every marketer should read.

The Art Of The Pitch by Peter Coughter. If you are in marketing, you will have to get good at presenting and selling your ideas. I've read countless books on the topic, and this is the only one worthy of reading, studying and applying. Woe the marketer that doesn't heed these words.

The Cluetrain Manifesto by Chris Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger and Rick Levine. If you could point your finger at one book that changed the face of marketing, it would be this one. The entire social media movement came out of this book. Long before Facebook and Twitter, this visionary book told the tale of everything we believe and hold dear in these times of inter-connectedness.

Seth Godin . I am cheating here (so, sue me). Not only could I not choose just one book by Seth Godin, but I found it hard to choose only five. So, I made my life easy by doing this. Buy and read everything Godin has published. Permission Marketing? Yes! Purple Cow? Of course! Unleashing The Ideavirus? You better! Linchpin? If you're interested in a future, yes! The Icarus Deception? How could you not? I could go on and on (The Dip!), but I'm hopeful that you get the idea. Buy all of his books. You won't regret it! 

Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky. This book is not for the timid. Shirky is more academic than fluff, and this book dives deep into technology and social media with beautiful and high-brow writing. So well written and researched. It is a gem.

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan. When was the last time that you read a business book and laughed out loud? Yes, this book is that funny, but it's also one of the best books out there on what makes an ad great, and how to push yourself to create a great one as well. Written by a copywriter, this book demonstrates the power of words and the power of spending the time to find the right words.

Influence by Robert Cialdini. An incredible book about how we make decisions and what influences them (hint: it's not what you think)... and this was published long before behavioral economics became so very cool. This is profoundly powerful because of all of the science and research behind this book. Most marketers haven't paid any attention to this book, and it shows in the vast majority of terrible work that we're exposing the public to.

The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen. Marketing isn't just about the ads. Marketing is also about the product and how to bring it to market. So many companies do everything right and yet still lose market share. If you're interested in marketing and you haven't read this book, it is a must-read.

Life After The 30-Second Spot by Joseph Jaffe. Another one of those seminal books that you can look back at and marvel at just how prescient it was. This one is almost a decade old, but still resonates with some very deep thinking about where advertising is going.

The Little Red Book Of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer. Don't be fooled by the title. This simple, fun and short book is full of how to better position, market and sell both yourself and the products and services that you represent. In fact, anything by Gitomer is well-worth your time. This just happens to be one that I re-read each and every year.

Made To Stick by Chip And Dan Heath. There have been countless books written on viral marketing and how brands should tell a better story. None of them hold a candle to this one. Perhaps one of the best books ever written on how a brand can (and should) tell a story (and how to do it).

Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. A key component to better understanding the power marketing is to learn about how to network and connect with others. I devoured Never Eat Alone when it first came out, and recommend that anyone trying to figure out how to better market themselves pick up this book. Stop eating lunch at your desk and get out there!

The New Rules Of Marketing And PR by David Meerman Scott. This book has been updated by Scott many times over. If you're looking for the ultimate primer on social media, what it means and what it can do, this is the perfect book to bring you up to speed.

Ogilvy On Advertising by David Ogilvy. What would a list like this be without a nod to one of the most well-known Mad Men of our time? David Ogilvy had a passion for advertising. He believed that it was a noble pursuit and a profession that should be taken seriously. This book is a great example of how to think like an advertising executive whose sole purpose it was to help brands sell more. Sometimes, in our digital times, it's fun to read books like this and re-think all of the analytics and optimization talk we have and get back to the advertising as a form of art.

Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout. This is one of the "must have" books if you're in marketing. It covers a ton of space on the topic of how to brand products and services and how to place them both in market and in the mind's eye of the consumer. This should be the first book that anyone reads when they enter a Marketing 101 course.

Re-Imagine! by Tom Peters. Not exactly a full-boar marketing book, but still Peters delivers in spades with this one. It's also beautifully designed, which makes it fun to read. There are countless brand stories about excellence in this one.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. A wise individual once said to me that Gladwell has a knack for writing books that business leaders feel stupid for not having on their bookshelves. Pretty poignant and true. The Tipping Point is great because it helps marketers better understand the inflection point that happens when a product is ho-hum and how it then takes off like a rocket. It's not really science so much as cultural, but it's fascinating.

Waiting For Your Cat To Bark? by Bryan and Jeffrey Einsenberg. The Eisenberg brothers posses an expertise unlike any other. They are experts at understanding and explaining the power of marketing optimization. Sadly, this is one of the most important aspects of the marketing sphere that most professionals spend little-to-no-time working on. This book is chock full of practical and powerful advice about consumers and how to help them by making your marketing easier to follow.

Web Analytics 2.0 by Avinash Kaushik. If you have spent more than two minutes reading any of my content, you will know that I am an unabashed fanboy of Avinash Kaushik, the digital marketing evangelist at Google. In fact, the notion of Sex With Data from CTRL ALT Delete was heavily inspired by Kaushik's work/thinking. Most marketers eyes glaze over when they hear the word 'analytics,' but thankfully Kaushik is here to help make it fascinating and important. This book is packed with ideas about how to think better about your marketing and what it's capable of doing.

Where The Suckers Moon by Randall Rothenberg. Most people in my world know Rothenberg as the President and CEO of the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau). What most people don't know is that in 1995, he authored this book. A book that is, without a doubt, one of the best books on the advertising industry.

Anything missing? What would you add?

(special thanks to Jean-Philippe Belley for asking the question again to me today via email, and for inspiring me to pull this list together by roaming through my personal book collection).

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advertising agency

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al ries

avinash kaushik

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chip heath

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david weinberger

doc searls

emanuel rosen

facebook

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here comes everybody

hey whipple squeeze this

iab

influence

interactive advertising bureau

jack trout

jean philippe belley

jeffrey eisenberg

jeffrey gitomer

joseph jaffe

keith ferrazzi

life after the 30 second spot

linchpin

luke sullivan

mad men

made to stick

malcolm gladwell

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marketing 101

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mba

networking

never eat alone

ogilvy on advertising

permission marketing

personal brand

peter coughter

positioning

presentation skills

purple cow

randall rothernberg

reimagine

rick levine

robert cialdini

seth godin

social media

technology

the anatomy of buzz

the art of the pitch

the cluetrain manifesto

the dip

the icarus deception

the innovators dilemma

the little red book of selling

the new rules of marketing and pr

the tipping point

tom peters

twitter

unleashing the ideavirus

viral marketing

waiting for your cat to bark

web analytics

web analytics 20

where the suckers moon

word of mouth marketing

When Important Websites Crash

The political punditry around the healthcare website crashing is laughable. People not getting access to their healthcare is serious business.

This isn't about politics. It's about technology. As the owner of a digital marketing agency, I frequently find myself in conversation with very senior marketing professionals on the topic of IT and technology. The truth is that I am not an IT professional (not even by a long shot), but I do understand the complexity of creating something in a computer language that was never meant to be commercialized the way it has been, and then put it on to the Internet - a channel that was never meant to support these types of media and work channels - with the expectations that once something is "live" it is as final and complete as a printed ad. It is not.

Technology is a very different form of business.

From programming languages to different Web browsers to Internet service providers to hosting solutions and beyond, actually creating something and getting it online is not as simple as it looks. Sure, businesses will tell you all about their guaranteed lack of downtime and how perfect and smart they are about building robust digital experiences that can withstand the pecking, prodding and pushing of millions of consumers, but in the end, there will always be crashes, bugs and more. In fact, if you're in this business, you know that bugs and crashes are not only normal, but it is a part of how the product will evolve, improve and be tweaked even after it is live. There is a reason why brands like Google and others always label their live products as in "beta."

The Internet is a living organism and not a final piece of print.

I read a funny tweet and/or Facebook post the other day (can't remember who said it and I am paraphrasing), but it went something like: amazing how everyone is up in arms and calling the Obama healthcare website a disaster because it keeps on crashing or not working, but when Apple launches a new iPhone and the same thing happens to their website, it's considered a huge success. Apparently, the media pundits on the news networks would much rather give their perspective on why a technology is failing rather than discuss the sheer volume and appetite that the public has and is demanding for these types of services.

Embrace the crashes and the bugs.

There is no doubt that heads are rolling down in Washington. The IT and software development companies responsible for this website are probably neck deep in trouble and pulling all-nighters to get it back up and working at an acceptable level. There is nothing funny about this. While it may be an extreme case of how these launches happen, not a day passes without hearing about how a brand or online experience has been hacked, or went buggy or went down for a myriad of reasons. This past week, Buffer was hacked (you can read more about it here: Buffer security breach has been resolved - here is what you need to know). This is problematic, because Buffer allows its clients to schedule the social media that it would like to share across a myriad of social networks. This social media management tool was suddenly pushing spammy comments on to individual's and corporation's public pages. Within hours the problem was resolved, and the team at Buffer performed what could only be described as a best practice case study in social media crisis communications, in terms of how they resolved and communicated the issues. And, while the impact of having some sketchy posts on a corporate Twitter feed gets less recognition than a stalling healthcare website, we're still faced with the true reality of our digital economy:

Technology is a porous wall.

We see this everyday. From governments spying on other governments to e-commerce sites being hacked and revealing consumer's credit card information to regular glitches and stalls. Who among us doesn't get frustrated when a simple video on YouTube won't play or when wi-fi connectivity in a hotel room is shoddy? If you don't have the education or know-how to understand the many different layers, components and moving parts that keeps this all together, it seems easy to point the finger at one individual, but it's not. Perhaps the easiest way to think about all of this Internet and technology development is to realize that it is one, big MacGyver moment (yes, the television action series from the eighties). What we have is a media and business platform that has been pulled together by hardware and software, much in the same way that Richard Dean Anderson would escape from a perilous situation by stringing together some chicken wire, bubblegum and a shoelace. Of course, technology is more stable and proven than this. Of course, over the years we have been able to produce much more scalable and solid platforms, but it is still very much all based on a very sensitive and fragile system. One that can collapse with just a few lines of bad code or a whole lot of people trying to do the same thing at the same time on a system that was even tested to handle that type of bandwidth (because tests are never reality).

Let's not make excuses.

That's the default position that most people will take. Everything is just an excuse. It should all work perfectly. That is simply not the case with technology. In fact, I would be happy to debate that bugs, crashes, delays and hacks are in fact not mistakes but rather a healthy and normal part of a truly functioning technology. It is as much of a component of what happens in the digital economy as passing gas and burping is to maintaining one's personal health (smells, sounds and all). Perhaps, the opportunity in all of this hacking and crashing coverage is to better educate the mass population that these sorts of things are a natural part of the technological eco-system, whether we like them or not.

It would be interesting to live in a world where known bugs, crashes and more were expected by all, this way we can be surprised and marvel when technology works rather than being disappointed when it doesn't.   

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for The Huffington Post . I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original version online here:

Huffington Post - When Important Websites Crash.

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apple

beta

buffer

buffer app

business column

computer language

crisis communication

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digital economy

digital experience

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downtime

e commerce

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What Keeps The Chief Marketing Officer Awake At Night? - Part 3

Is Gartner right about Chief Marketing Officers spending more on IT than the Chief Information Officer in the coming years?

A very senior Chief Marketing Officer at one of the largest telecommunications companies in North America leaned over my shoulder after someone mentioned the famed Gartner report at an event, and sighed, "if I hear about this report one more time, I am going to blow a gasket." Still, it is hard to argue that every business is now a digital business. We're not just talking about the availability of that much more consumer information or data to help brands make better decisions and connect more powerfully with their consumers (you can read more about that in the last installment: What Keeps The Chief Marketing Officer Awake At Night? - Part 2), we're talking about the actual infrastructure of the marketing department and what keeps it humming along.  

Are marketers still scared of technology? 

When we started Twist Image in 2000, the vision was to help the marketing community understand and embrace the power of the Internet. The timing was - somewhat - precarious. Back then, if the brand even had a website, it was being developed, handled and maintained by the IT department. As the commercialization of the Internet increased and brands began to understand the power of e-commerce, online ordering, social media and more, the best-in-class players extradited the website from the clutches of IT, but a lot had to happen for this to work. Back in 2000, it was common for marketing professionals to be scared of technology and the IT department (that being said, there are many marketers who still have their collective heads stuck in the sand), and the IT department didn't trust the marketers with the technology (that being said, there are many IT pros who still don't, and think we're mucking it up pretty good). Fast forward to this date and things have improved, but we still have a vast chasm that needs to be collapsed.

Can we get the CMO and CIO to shack up?

You probably won't find a CIO who doesn't think that they need better alignment with the CMO, and the feeling from the marketers is mutual. As data and analytics take a more predominant role in business decisions, marketers are going to face a world where IT (both hardware and software) to operationalize the department of marketing is going to hit some exponential growth curves.  

The strategic partnership between marketing and IT.

Here's what we know: the social layer of technology is still running at full bore. Brands are diving deeper and deeper in the realms of digital marketing, and we are seeing the media dollars continue to shift (especially as mobile ramps up on advertising). From the TechCrunch news item, Digital Ads Will Be 22% Of All U.S. Ad Spend In 2013, Mobile Ads 3.7%; Total Global Ad Spend In 2013 $503B, on September 30th, 2013: "mobile is growing seven times faster than desktop Internet spend, with mobile ads growing by 77% in 2013, 56% in 2014 and 48% in 2015., driven by the rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets. Globally, internet advertising will grow at an average of 10% a year." Marketing departments are going to soon push beyond the data and media component as newer needs arise. Currently, we are seeing strong investment in technology companies that specialize in contextual marketing solutions. The wealth of information that provides marketing context now extends well past things like simple location. Because of smartphones and tablets, the ability to understand environment, emotion, culture and economic factors is here. Wearable technology and the Internet of things is only going to push this further. Yes, we have ten billion-plus wireless connected devices today, but it's looking like that number will triple by 2020 to over thirty billion devices (more on that here: 10BN+ Wirelessly Connected Devices Today, 30BN+ In 2020′s 'Internet Of Everything', Says ABI Research). If everything that can be plugged in or has a battery is also online, just imagine the technology infrastructure that brands will require to better connect messages and products to their consumers?

The humanization of technology.

Technology has removed technology from technology. Look no further than the iPad for proof of this. A simple button to turn on and it works like electricity (switch it, and it's on... no boot up time). Also, no instruction manuals. These devices are as easy to use as plugging in a lamp and flipping the switch (just slide to unlock). Because we have arrived at this inflection point, it's safe to say that everything from cloud computing, personalization and localization are going to become increasingly more relevant for marketers to pay attention to. What this leads to is a world of marketing automation (yes, more IT and technology). What sounds like more buzzwords and a means to scare the professional marketer, is really just another way to say this: if the CMO does not become increasingly adept at IT and technology, they will get left behind. These tools, services and applications aren't just engines to push advertising conversion in a more positive direction, they are quickly become core tools of the marketing trade.

The technology can't be stopped.

As the CIO's role continues to evolve within the organization, the CMO must be deeply connected to the technological infrastructure that will be driving business results. It doesn't take much more than some general sniffing around Google to see how profound and dramatic the infiltration of IT and technology in the marketing department has become... and how much more pervasive and important of a role it is going to play. The marketing function of an organization is a technology-driven one. That fate has been sealed. Now, we just need the marketers to accept, embrace it and work with it.

What does this mean for media and communications?

In the next post (in about two weeks time), we will look at how the Chief Marketing Officer is dealing with convergence, disintermediation and the massive shift from advertising as a means of producing revenue to a world of true business solutions (where advertising may just be one of the many mechanism that a brand will use to inform the public of something new and/or different). We will look at the transition to the one screen world (where the only screen that matters is the one that is in front of the consumer) to how CMOs have been at dealing with the signal to noise ratio in a world where content is both king and so easy to produce and distribute.

And, in case you missed it...

There are five core foundational reasons why the Chief Marketing Officer's role within the organization is in such a fragile state. Over the next few months, we will deconstruct the following five areas that the Chief Marketing Officer must pay increased attention to, in order to figure out what the next decade of marketing will look like for businesses.

The five areas that Chief Marketing Officers need to pay attention to:

The corporate function (which you can read here: What Keeps The Chief Marketing Officer Awake At Night? - Part 1).

Data and information (which you can read here: What Keeps The Chief Marketing Officer Awake At Night? - Part 2).

IT and technology (this post).

Media and communications (next post).

Talent and recruiting (coming soon).

As always, please feel free to add your perspective below...

Tags:

abi research

brand

business solutions

chief information officer

chief marketing officer

cio

cloud computing

cmo

communication

connected devices

consumer

consumer information

contextual marketing

convergence

digital advertising

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twist image

wearable technology

website

Why Can't We Buy Everything Like We Do On iTunes And Have Access To Everything On Netflix?

Every morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed: How geography and archaic publishing laws are ruining the great fun we could all have on iTunes and Netflix, as well at some other fun tricks and apps.

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chom 977 fm

chom fm

ctrl alt delete

ctrl alt delete with mitch joel

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Can You Really Work Less And Earn More?

Episode #381 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Richard Koch is someone I have been following for a long time. He is a very prolific business writer known best for his hit business book, The 80/20 Principle (and you probably also heard of Superconnect). He recently published, The 80/20 Manager - The Secret to Working Less and Achieving More, and this is where things start to get interesting. Koch is no Tim Ferriss or Chris Guillebeau (in terms of age and passion). Koch has been around the block way more times as a former management consultant (Boston Consulting Group and Bain) and entrepreneur (he built L.E.K. Consulting with Jim Lawrence and Iain Evans), along with using his concepts to make a fortune from several private equity investments made personally. So, does he have the facts to back up the notion that we can all work a lot less and do/make a whole lot more? Take a listen and enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #381.

Tags:

advertising podcast

bain

blog

blogging

boston consulting group

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chris guillebeau

david usher

iain evans

itunes

jim lawrence

lek consulting

marketing podcast

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richard koch

superconnect

the 80 20 manager

the 80 20 principle

tim ferriss

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #175

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

How to do good talks at conferences - The Startup Toolshed . "It's the middle of the fall conference season. In gearing up for O'Reilly's Strata , I've spoken with dozens of sponsors and keynote speakers, helping them to hone their presentations. My one go-to rule is this: 'If your audience won't feel smarter for tweeting your slide to their network, delete it.' This post by Makeshift 's Nick Marsh tackles the problem of salesmanship that inevitably infects any event as it grows. It's a great checklist for speakers and event organizers." (Alistair for Hugh).

Stay Put, Young Man - Washington Monthly . "Americans used to be a nomadic country, moving around both physically and economically. That's changing. They don't go West, and they seldom move up. 'Between the 1980s and the 2000s, the percentage of young adults (those aged eighteen to twenty-four) who migrated across state lines declined by 41 percent.' This piece in the Washington Monthly looks at the changing demographics of US citizens, rethinking a nation we think we know." (Alistair for Mitch).

Why We Don't Care About Saving Our Grandchildren From Climate Change  - Time . "Unless we do something about climate change, we are all doomed. We won't do anything about climate change." (Hugh for Alistair).

Resource riches pull Canada into geopolitical battle it can't afford to lose - Financial Post . "Unless Canada does something about aggressively exploiting its arctic oil riches, Canada is doomed to be in the poorhouse. But. Wait. What about climate change? My head hurts." (Hugh for Mitch).

Confessions of a Drone Warrior - GQ . "When killing people becomes like a video game (maybe easier), we have to be able to take a step back and ask ourselves, 'what really is going on here?' There has been a ton of ink on the topic of soldiers living in the basement of a Nevada military base blasting enemies away thousands of mile away with a joystick. This is a personal account of one such young individual. It's kind of chilling to think that these people are handling drone strikes in the morning, heading to Taco Bell for lunch and then off to some cool concert in the evening, as if they just worked a shift at Target." (Mitch for Alistair).

The decline of Wikipedia - MIT Technology Review. "Every organization has its politics, in-fighting and challenges. Ones that are more open, non-hierarchical and Web-based open up a whole new level of issues. Beyond that, it seems like people just aren't that into Wikipedia anymore. For people like Hugh and I (who love all things Wikipedia), this is somewhat heartbreaking. Personally, I use Wikipedia countless times on a day-to-day basis and I trust the content on there more than the vast majority of gunk I come across in general Web searches. Still, I make sure to double-check facts, etc... I love Wikipedia. I don't want it to disappear. I hope whatever it is being challenged with gets resolved. Fast." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

Tags:

alistair croll

bitcurrent

book a futurists manifesto

complete web monitoring

financial post

gigaom

gq

hugh mcguire

human 20

iambik

librivox

link bait

link exchange

link sharing

makeshift

managing bandwidth

media hacks

mit technology review

nick marsh

oreilly strata

pressbooks

social media

solve for interesting

taco bell

target

the startup toolshed

time

twitter

washington monthly

wikipedia

year one labs

On Drones And Weaponizing Lego

If you think wearable technology is interesting, you have to watch this.

We are spending a lot of time thinking about wearable technology like Nike+, Jawbone's Up and even Google Glass, but things are getting super-interesting in other areas of technology as well. Chris Anderson (the former editor of Wired Magazine and the author of the bestselling business book, The Long Tail) published his second book, Makers - The New Industrial Revolution, about one year ago before leaving the magazine to launch his company, 3DRobotics (which manufactures drones for commercial use). It's an amazing read about where the new economy is probably headed. In fact, I've become so fascinated with the use of wearable technology, robotics and drones as a means to augment the future of work (instead of replace us), that I have been blogging about over it at We, Robots (it's a tumblr!) since January of this year. Anderson was speaking at this year's Google Zeitgeist event in Phoenix and his presentation is one to watch, if you're at all interested in how much technology will continue to impact everything that we do.

Chris Anderson - Zeitgeist Americas 2013:

Tags:

3drobotics

blog

business book

chris anderson

commercial drone

drones

future of work

google glass

google zeitgeist

jawbone up

lego

magazine

makes

new economy

nike plus

technology

the long tail

the new industrial revolution

tumblr

we robots

wearable technology

wired magazine

The Price Of Personalization

What kind of advertising do you want?

It's a serious question. It's a question that most consumers don't ask themselves, but they should. I was invited to speak at Vogue magazine's leadership conference in New York City the other week. One thing is certain about that magazine: people buy it for the ads as much as they're buying it for the content. They're not the only ones. Many people can't wait to go to the movie theater to see which previews they're going to show. When an upcoming movie is going to be previewed before certain movies, there are individuals who go to the film just to catch a glimpse of the preview. Personally, I look forward to the monthly editions of Wired and Fast Company in paper format, to not only enjoy the content, but the ads that are a part of it.

Sometimes we forget about the role of advertising.

Advertising doesn't have to be a nuisance or annoying. The true role of advertising is that it acts as a commercial vehicle of information delivery. The intent of it is to create interest, desire and even action in consumers. Not all consumers. Just the ones that it is aiming to appease to. Sadly, we have spent decades being bombarded with ads everywhere (and not very good ones at that). So, here we are. The day and age when certain types of media outlets can now target and deliver an ad that we, the consumers, might find that much more relevant. We've seen it in the nascent stages of behavioral targeting and now in a much more pervasive way with remarketing.

But, there's a big problem with marketers today.

In my second business book, CTRL ALT Delete, I delve much deeper into the problem of how marketers have done a terrible job of explaining the difference between privacy and personalization. It has become such a problem, that the pitchforks came out when I suggested that personalization is a good thing in a recent national newspaper article (Financial Post - Bell's move to track customers' web history, TV viewing sparks probe by privacy regulator). There are a couple of things that must be better defined for everyone to understand why I (and all marketers) feel so strongly that personalization creates the best win-win scenario:

Private account information must remain private. That highly personal and sensitive information (who you are, where you live, your account information, payment methods, etc...) should never be shared or used without the explicit permission of the account holder.

All other information that is being used to create a more personalized experience must be both anonymous and clearly explained to the account holder.

Permission must be granted by the account holder to have their usage tracked for marketing personalization.

The ability to opt-out - at any time - must also be clear and permitted.

Why we must not confuse privacy with personalization...

I believe this to be an amazing moment in time for brands, advertisers, media companies and yes, the consumer, as well. The more personalized the advertising, the more useful and good the experience will be for the consumer. The more personalized the advertising, the more media companies can charge for ads (hopefully, this means that the quality of ads will improve along with the price of admission). The more personalized the advertising, the more brands will ensure that they're not wasting their time, money and/or energy on people who are only being annoyed or disrupted by the engagement (that would be an expensive waste). Still, we can't get over this whole "privacy" thing. It's too bad. If you ask consumers - over the history of time - what kind of advertising they would prefer, the answer has never changed. In all of the research, you will always see the same answers. They want "relevancy," "personalization" or ads that, "speak to them." Well, that time is here, and instead of embracing it, they're rightfully being scared off because marketers have done a terrible job in the past of both protecting their privacy and rights, and clearly explaining that we can now personalize and optimize their experience without breaching any real privacy issues that can uniquely attribute their usage to anything but the usage.

It's too bad.

Tags:

ad

advertising

behavioral targeting

bell

consumer

content

ctrl alt delete

fast company

financial post

magazine

marketer

media

media company

media outlet

movie theatre

newspaper

opt in

opt out

permission marketing

personalization

personalized experience

previews

privacy

privacy regulator

relevancy

remarketing

vogue

vogue magazine

wired