Happy Holidays And To A Great ‘08


To all of our clients, publishers, industry friends, and supporters around the world… Fixion Media wishes you the world in 2008.

Share 2007: An Annual Tradition By Way Of Twist Image


Hey Twist Image! Share 2006 was very cool but Share 2007 is even better. You’ve already pre-set the bar higher for next year and this just just hit the feeds.

Check it out for yourself: it’s a digital holiday card that embodies the spirit of 2007. There are some special appearances on there by Seth Godin, David Weinberger, and Jaffe amongst some other names you’re likely already familiar with.

Happy holidays everyone and to an amazing 2008. Meanwhile, 2007 will fade as a great business year in the digital world but… it ain’t got nothing on 2008. Recession or not. Here we come.

$1,679 Per Person Per Night…


Assuming that you can find 27 other friends to share in the experience. It’s Necker Island:


Alive In Baghdad Journalist Killed


Thanks to CC Chapman for blogging about this story.

This event is going to cause a massive ripple effect in new media and independent journalism circles. Truly shocking.

Calling All Three-Handed Folks


This product appeared on The View today:

1. Your own personal “lost and found” gloves: ($16.50-$24)


These patented and trademarked gloves are a fantastic idea. How many times do you lose one of your gloves? Whether you’re a tot, teen or adult, it happens to all of us. What’s great about these gloves is they come in a set of three so if you happen to lose one glove you always have a spare. (handcrafters.com)

This is the blowback from excess consumption. What’s next, an extra shoe when you buy a pair? The factories in the third world are going to love that.

Kid Nation Goes To The Looters


You’ll likely remember the stink that was raised when CBS’ Kid Nation hit the waves. Accusations of child neglect though couldn’t stop it from being one of the most riveting television shows I’ve ever seen. At the end of the day it was a great sociological experiment.

Can 40 kids survive for 40 days without parental supervision and furthermore keep an old deserted desert town afloat? Could they create a functional society? With a bit of guidance from more mature kids and the town council, coupled with prodding from the storyline setup by CBS, I would argue that the experiment was indeed successful.

There was a lot of tension at times. Crying too. Less than a handful of kids ultimately packed up and went home before the shows end but the majority braved the conditions and came out appreciative of the experience. The honesty of these kids ranging from 8 to 16 combined with an appropriate amount of common sense truly made the show feel at par in terms of sophistication than any other reality show that I’ve had the displeasure of viewing.

At the end of the day, it’s not everyone’s idea of an hour well spent. That said, those like myself with a curiosity about human behaviour will very well enjoy the psychology on display.

But the best scene came from the finale, when the crew torched the kids’ job board. There were four teams, each divided by class which dictated their weekly pay and job duties in the town. The rules went out the window. The kids went absolutely nuts and looted the general store, hauling buckets of candy and goods back to their bunks. It was a shining example that left with a pack mentality and to our own devices that sometimes the world can turn itself on its head. After following the rules for 30 something odd days and then falling to temptation was certainly a low point but certainly very insightful. I can certainly only hope that chaos doesn’t reign in on a larger societal scale.

Props CBS.

Prosperilously Speaking


While we all support the striking writers, folks like myself in the online business of advertising are hoping for less than swift negotiations. First, the web needs more top content producers. Second, more marketers need to shift their budgets online. While it may not sound like a decisive blow to television in the long-term, it’s at least an opening for the digerati.

As highlighted by this AdAge article though, there are more important markers of success in 2008 that we should be on the lookout for…

“We predict internet advertising to pass three milestones over the next three years,” ZenithOptimedia’s forecast said. “We expect it to overtake radio advertising in 2008; to attain a double-digit share of global advertising in 2009; and to overtake magazine advertising in 2010, with 11.5% of total ad spend.”

Although, even the title of the AdAge article (”Forecast for ‘08 Is OK, but Only Online Shines”) presents a less promising outcome for other ad sectors. Factors like the Presidential Election, the Olympics, and Soccer will boost spending but where will the economy chime in this time? Recession? Depression?! Likely the former, hopefully neither.

Whatever the case, let’s raise our glasses to those who weather the storm in 2008. Fixion Media will be at the table tooth and nail.