Slightly overcast in Montreal today on the heels of the official kick off to summer. They call it Formula 1 racing and it’s the biggest party of the year some would say. Unfortunate to say, however, that thunderstorms are expected to hit during the festivities. Montreal is a classy lady when she wants to be but don’t expect to see that side of her this weekend.

As I’ve been noticeably absent of late on this blog (save for my Twitter feed) and with respect to engagement within social media circles I’ve become more focussed on my company Fixion Media. It’s easy to get lost in YouTube. On TED. In Google Reader. Facebook. Definitely Twitter. And of course old media streams. Well you get the picture. But frankly to me it’s time to flush the fishbowl and start anew.

Given that media, agencies, and marketers are pretty well connected in the digital realm I’m seeing little progress in companies actually working together in a social manner that is compatible to how we speak to each other in the corporate / private world via social mediums. In business terms the contracts read the same. The due dilligence is there (and the wallets are light “due to the credit crunch”). The risk to a given brand seems to great to bear should an experiment go wrong.

I believe in a general sense this to be a turning point in my philosophical outlook on the web and business. The internet mirrors its real-world corporate counterpart in real ways where profit and glory rule the day. I of course have no problem with profit nor glory but I’ve come to appreciate and better understand the needs of real people. Normal people who can’t afford iPhones with unlimited data plans. People that think $50 is too much to pay for a concert ticket. Musicians that think they’re famous but are actually dead broke. And most importantly perhaps I’ve come to better understand where my company fits into the bigger picture in terms of serving such communities and likewise protecting their interests from sharks. It’s a fascinating dynamic which has ruled my thoughts of late.

“Always remember the art of good business is being a good middleman.” That quote is from Layer Cake, a film. While I’ve changed my personal definition over the years of what being a “good middleman” entails I’ve come full circle to boil it down to its simplest state again. Such a state in my opinion requires independence. Right now, that is justification enough to pull away from the day to day drama of social circles and into the real world of business. Striking a good balance between the two will prove necessary to the success of my companies.

Filed under: Rants, Economy, Social Media, Personal Branding, Politics, The Future, Music Industry, Wealth, Leadership

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Chris Brogran and Christopher S. Penn offer their takes here and here respectively as to why PodCamp Boston 3 is charging $50 this year per attendee. While that is certainly far more reasonable than paying $1895 for the Canadian Marketing Association’s annual convention and trade show, I think that the gateway fee will be of hinderance to the younger generation.

Conferences as we know are networking vehicles. But let’s for a second accept that we are really attending to learn about new industry trends so that we can make our corporations more profitable. *cough* Shmooze. *cough* Steak and drinks on the expense accounts. *cough*

Where was I?

I find PodCamp’s to be far more populist in nature where networking is certainly of value but it seems to me that people are more jazzed about being self-empowered, they’re jazzed about the technology, and they want to be cutting edge leaders whereas let’s face it; corporate conferences are for wheeling and dealing.

This brings me to David Armano’s “We Are All ‘Internet Dating’” post from yesterday. It’s a bit creepy to me and possibly the reason why I neglect to attend most ad-hoc gatherings. This may very well be the Achilles’ heel to my survival in marketing / social media but I am comfortable in taking the risk.

As a young go-getter, I grew up on the net thanks to a parent with an old school laptop and 14.4 modem connection. The 90s were lovely. Remember then ya’ll? Newsgroups (ie the original RSS)… IRC channels (yeah, we actually used to chat back then instead of throwing text darts via Twitter)… community-driven message boards (as opposed to personal blogs). The point is that I shook all of my “sociality” back then in order to glue myself to CNN for 12-hours per day to learn about stock markets, the internet boom, and other matters of the free market. This filtered view of the global trends, cash, and movers and shakers enthralled me.

I’ll tell you something you already know: the free market isn’t anything like social media/new media. And most the fun we all have on Facebook and Twitter and GoBoDoWee–future “hit” social network I’m sure–is mainly to be connected to the world on a philosophical level. We all know who our real friends are. We also know who we respect most within the context of business. And most importantly we all know how to separate business and pleasure. (Or do we now?)

My arching point coming back to the formerly-free / now $50 PodCamp unconference experience versus the $1895 corporate conference model is that I don’t particularly care for either model. One now has a cost, the other is too costly. Neither have comfortable chairs. Conferences are about who you know (or who you want to get to know) and to that there is a cost to pay. The X factor is star power where silly folks like me actually ponder dropping two grand on seeing almighty headliners like Seth Godin and Avinash Kaushik. Meanwhile, while surely worth the expense, I would think it more difficult to convince the average PodCamp / podcasting fan to attend with such a fee because it becomes a business transaction rather than a free-spirited community event (such with IRC and message boards of yore).

I hope I’m wrong. But I can’t yet find the logic in wanting to pay $1895 when I could be paying $50 for what could be a more beneficial experience. At the end of the day and money aside, I want to be in the company of leaders and policy makers. I’ve leveraged social media in order to learn from such leaders and I hope to repay it in kind by helping others along my path.

Just like one social network might be similar to another, all conferences have similar aims whether it be advancement of a cause, activism, networking, or otherwise. But are Geek Dinners worth attending? Are unconferences worth it? Who cares. Just attend a couple and you’ll find out. (And yes they are worth it BTW). My point is that if unconference organizers aren’t careful, they risk falling into the free market trap of needing bigger speakers and even bigger sponsors to bridge the gap. It’s going to happen: and this $50 fee for PodCamp Boston is just the seed. Once the free market comes into the picture it will become more difficult to control the fate of the movement that is still admittedly nascent. I suppose this worries me more than any cost of admission in itself.

Filed under: Social Media, Personal Branding, Politics, The Future, Branding, Leadership, PodCamp

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“Online is getting to the point where it may be more important than the 30-second TV spot.” - VP of Marketing at car manufacturer XYZ

I hope this is a quote from the era of enlightenment–otherwise known as the period that ushered in Joe Jaffe (circa numerous years ago). If it isn’t, then I just might be retired before these major co’s ever shake the old media.

Filed under: Rants, Television, Politics, The Future, Television Ads

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What happens when I find myself with 5 minutes to burn on a Sunday? This week I started a Facebook group called “Twitter Petition For International Users” which has the following description:

This Facebook group is a lazy effort to bring equality to global Twitter users that cannot at present take advantage and enjoy the same powerful uses of that of U.S. users given the SMS cap of 250 received messages per week. Viewing messages on the web or RSS, albeit useful, is not what Twitter is all about.

Considering that Twitter has been useful for me in a business capacity I thought this to be a useful cause for thousands of other users.

NB. I have not yet consumed any Saint Patties day drinks. This is a lucid experience.

Filed under: Politics, The Future, Twitter, Leadership

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Mitch Joel’s blog posting titled, “Marketers - I Believe The Children Are Not Our Future”, tackles a tangible issue facing marketing companies at the moment. While I agree with Mitch’s stance on the whole, I likewise must default to the theory that educational institutions shouldn’t cater wholly to the needs of corporations. Rather, the government should generally guide and fund educational programs that cater to new and/or emerging markets without influence. Otherwise, the learning process is tilted off its axis and becomes a forum to learn “answers to the test”–in this case the skills needed for a particular job function–rather than instilling knowledge and passion into vibrant young minds.

There is another layer to this problem and it is the institutional reliance on the almighty resume. I would bet that there are thousands of teenagers pulling computers apart in their basements and building ad-hoc networks. School might not be for them. There are also thousands more editing their own YouTube videos, designing Flash applications, or creating powerful social networking groups. Yet school mightn’t be for them either. Such types of independently-minded workers are all around us–they might simply lack the proper “corporate environment” at present to thrive. This is especially important in that money as a motivating force is less important now than ever. I have excluded people that operate small businesses for the sake of making a point here, but it’s important to note that such workers couldn’t possibly be in contention for such job openings because they perhaps value freedom, time, and creativity more than the average person. This makes them too costly to employ for the average corporation. But I digress.

Building a successful company involves growing its revenues, getting more focussed, hiring staff members in cycles, and aggrandizing the overall apparatus of a given company. The irony is that Web 2.0 and social media are areas in opposition to concepts like “corporation-building”, which involves skilful layering of executives, staff members, investors, and clients required to achieve success. In the new economy, more people are clearly interested in making their personal brands matter within specific corporate climates, which for obvious reasons is often a conflicting ideal vis-a-vis that of corporate prerogative.

At the end of the day, there are only a handful of “types” of people out there: leaders, workers, those in between, those on the outside, and the “owners” who serve to manage the leaders. Since more people want to be leaders or owners than ever before, it’s fairly clear to me that’s it’s going to take far more than pinpoint precision educational programs and goofy 2.0 office settings. We’re in this for the long-haul and corporations need to take responsibility to breed, train, and provide the opportunity for upward mobility based on meritocratic policies.

Perhaps the brand of the future will consist of dozens or hundreds of companies intertwined in a progressive new form of organization of equals. Equality is a rare concept in the business world though. That’s a lot of egos to check at the door.

Filed under: Rants, Economy, Social Media, Politics, The Future, Leadership, HR

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Strategist Joe Trippi nearly kicked the bucket this time around on the election trail leading the campaign for John Edwards. Why? Because Trippi has diabetes and he runs himself into the ground every time he gets a campaign. While that may be the sign of a true warrior it was rather unfortunate to see Edwards suspend his efforts early to give way to Clinton and Obama.

Trippi is the real deal. A kingmaker amongst men. He does however have one major weakness as a political operative and it is that he staunchly believes in democracy. He chooses to work with specific candidates for who they are. As such, the talent pool tends to dither down to those with less political power tilting more towards heart.

Rewind to the last Presidential election cycle and you might remember Trippi as one of the influencers behind the historical Howard Dean campaign, until of course the devastating and infamous “Dean Scream”. The Deaniacs couldn’t reverse the flow of a media-driven assassination which was once again led by the mighty Right Wing.

Question for Obama supporters: don’t you think the same thing is going to happen to Your Man? After all, a free ride in the media only lasts as long as the Right Wing declares it to be so. I’m afraid we might even have to coin a new term to describe Swiftboating. Let’s hope that Obama supporter John Kerry warned him. You might remember Kerry as the guy who lost to Bush in 2004. Must have been a difficult election to lose but he still managed it. But I digress.

The reason I’ve mentioned Trippi here is that I’ve been following him on Twitter virtually since the start of the election cycle. To my knowledge he has yet to endorse anyone but knowing his long-running dislike of Clinton might suggest that is leaning towards Obama.

Here are a few choice Tweets from Trippi in the last couple of days. Please read carefully:

Last day of vacation going home tomorrow. Anyone know of congressional races might need someone like me? about 24 hours ago

Change politics and launch new government funded by the people and only the people. Obama — challenge Clinton and McCain to do that pledge 10:58 AM February 18, 2008

Why doesn’t obama do real public funding in general? Accept nothing over $250. 10:18 AM February 18, 2008

Knowing that this will be the last time top down has a chance. My thanks to those who helped me through the darks 03:08 PM February 14, 2008

Much more at peace than I was after Dean. Watching bottom up politcs grow stronger this cycle. Knowing the ok 03:06 PM February 14, 2008

On beach in sun. Making democracy work better on hold for a few more days on my priority list 11:23 AM February 13, 2008

Here are my observations:

1) Trippi challenges Obama to fight for public campaign financing. You might remember Obama campaigning for public financing (even McCain called him out on it) but he seems to have changed his mind now that the coffers are being filled with thousands of micro-donations. Interesting flip-flop. Power often changes the game.

2) Is this really the last time that “top down” politics has a chance? The world is banking on that coming true but we can’t ignore the traditional power structure. One might assume that Trippi knows someone that we don’t.

3) Trippi is “more at peace” than post-Dean campaign. That might just be the glow of Bush leaving office, but nonetheless I agree that the youth is rising and that a new generation is surfacing. All of the social corruption of the 80s and 90s has served to create a free-thinking movement. Given that apathy is always around the corner we should still be weary of this crazy Obama train.

I’m with Trippi for the most part here but at what cost? Obama comes out of left-field to take down the Clintons? Not very likely without a silent push from the Right Wing. But of course, I wouldn’t want to stray beyond what the mainstream is currently saying. Not worth the attacks from Obamas disciples.

Filed under: Rants, Politics

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Now this is classic, wouldn’t you say?

IN 2006 EMI, the world’s fourth-biggest recorded-music company, invited some teenagers into its headquarters in London to talk to its top managers about their listening habits. At the end of the session the EMI bosses thanked them for their comments and told them to help themselves to a big pile of CDs sitting on a table. But none of the teens took any of the CDs, even though they were free. “That was the moment we realised the game was completely up,” says a person who was there. - The Economist

It is understood that physical album sales are on the decline. The only logical solution would be to push consumers towards digital media. I however suspect that marketing departments the world over need modernization, many of who still favour overpriced campaigns in traditional television and in print mediums. This used to be a clever move thanks the “make-good” exposure that many outlets offered as an incentive to ad buys. Nevertheless, this money is better spent in niche circles–namely on the web–in order to take advantage of millions of users that aren’t hearing your message. And if they aren’t hearing your message, it’s obvious they aren’t sharing it either.

If we depart from the assumption that brands are built from collective perception, it’s safe to state that most artists–save for the megastars–don’t have much of a public brand. In the age of disposable music–one hit CD and you’re out–it is going to take more than a magazine ad, album review in Rolling Stone, or premiere on MTV to build critical mass.

Going off on a tangent, I think the rise of Hip Hop mirrors the future business model of the music industry. It involves cliques and collectives that support each other to create opportunity and community for its members. But this assembly must remain agnostic. Members should be free to choose their own labels, agents, and other labourers that specialize in diligence.

The previous model, typified by the seminal Indie record label, was swallowed for all intensive purposes by the majors. While this was a great farming system, it is too closely tied to major label interests. While some still cry foul with collusion, it simply became a miscalculation by corporate executives. If they want a complete system reboot, and by extension a digital music success story, then they are indeed on the way to accomplishing this.

Conversely if this was indeed a miscalculation rooted in arrogance, then investors and board members should beware. There is a right way and a wrong way to make a buck in NYC and LA. Bring back the meritocracy and the ideas and profits will flow. Grandfathering musicians should be the best time of our lives.

Filed under: Economy, Personal Branding, Politics, The Future, Music Industry, Wealth

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Steve Rubel calls it again. And in the spirit of the decline of deep blogging it’s best that I and we face this woe in early ‘08 to avoid sinking any further.

The fact is that I would love nothing more than to read the dailies all day, books, and magazines in order to follow the latest trends, gadgets, and social movements. I suppose that would render me somewhat of an academic and philosopher, which is bound to occur organically and permanently when I make the switch to suspenders in a couple of decades. But I digress.

Rather, I’ve chosen to surround myself with smart people on Twitter (a favourite of mine), Facebook, LinkedIn, and of course another personal favourite in Google Reader. The power of RSS indeed.

While I may still lack on some of the finer points within philosophical and ideological mandates set by the Digerati, I like to believe that I’ve learnt a great deal last year from following and engaging the community. Now I’m ready to birth certain policies that I’ve extracted from dozens of influencers to the benefit of my company. It should be a complement to the teaching of others. To use a Jaffe-ism, I’m motivated to use new marketing to prove new marketing–to put into action all that I have absorbed.

To tie this into the grander theme of “change” and “hope” and “conversation” in 2008 I think some of us, myself included, need to realize that we too are allowed to shape the debate action. It will certainly counterbalance some of the BS coming out of the blogo/podosphere of late.

Shoot I forgot: It’s the Lazysphere now.

Filed under: Rants, Economy, Social Media, Personal Branding, Politics, The Future, Wealth

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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.

Filed under: Politics

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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.

Filed under: Media Planning, Television, Politics, The Future, Print Magazines, Radio

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