broadstuff - Comments

Joanne Jacobs: The Great Location Shakeout

nospam@example.com (Joanne Jacobs) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:47:09 +0000

Or, here's an idea, don't check-in with anything unless there's actual value in doing so. Or if you absolutely must check-in, just post to twitter where you are with a #checkin hashtag, and get the applications to do the work 'reading' hashtagged posts.

Lurch: What Hitler can teach Google

nospam@example.com (Lurch) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:16:17 +0000

Comparisons are odious but this is also specious, not to mention tacky.

Less laboured analogies please.

Joanne Jacobs: SXSW and the 2010 Sarah Lacy Keynote Award

nospam@example.com (Joanne Jacobs) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:27:46 +0000

Actually I think this has less to do with Harvard Biz School quals and more to do with what I see as a really serious problem in the UK with interviewers and Chairs at events.

I have been so frustrated with many Chairs who feel it is their place to be the thinker, representing the audience, and to have equal footing with the speaker or panellists. It's appalling. A Chair's role is merely to introduce the talent, and to facilitate communication between the talent and the audience. Live events are not the Andrew Marr Show. There's an audience out there that want to interact. But even if a session Chair does play the role of interviewer, then they have a responsibility to tease out and shape a story FROM THE INTERVIEWEE, not to comment themselves. They should also have half an eye on the audience AT ALL TIMES and to watch shifting in seats to consider how the audience are engaged with any topic being discussed - and to shift topics when that happens, quickly and naturally. You don't ask the questions that are interesting to you (you can do this privately, or in blog posts), you ask the questions that are most likely to fire passion in your interviewee, and thus engage the audience.

This week, at an event that was otherwise substandard in organisation, Robin Hamman (@cybersoc) did a fantastic job as a Chair because he was non-intrusive, he was brief and to the point, and because he facilitated communication. He's one of the very few I've come across of which I approve.

Frankly, a good event Chair is someone who keeps to time, is focused on the audience and who channels interest. It's a skill and the vast majority of people I come across fail miserably at the task. SXSW should learn from this incident to select people who are skilled interviewers, not to avoid disciplines.

gary: Dana Boyd, SXSW and Privacy Feudalism

nospam@example.com (gary) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:27:36 +0000

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/privacyroundtables/index.shtml#comment

Gordon Rae: Can London be a Startup Hub?

nospam@example.com (Gordon Rae) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:14:12 +0000

The way you put it, London has everything on the 'supply side' but it doesn't have a culture of investment. And I'd say your right about having to go abroad, but what I don't understand is where's the London money going? What and who is ticking the boxes of the local VCs.

Deirdre: Managing within Social Networks

nospam@example.com (Deirdre) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:58:30 +0000

Wait, the benefits and sustainability of a well-managed online community is news in 2010?

Or is it just that it's actually more Cluetrain in terms of its impact on business (or learning, in this case) than a big buzz freeform project gone haywire?

And you can add to that: less short-term wow factor, more long-term gains; takes a tad more effort and realignment inside the enterprise; is generally more painful and difficult; and thus ultimately a much harder sell. In sum: not really the domain of drive-by consultants or the (social media) marketing brigade...

Just some idle musings

Steve Gill: One Mobile App success does not a summer make

nospam@example.com (Steve Gill) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:56:39 +0000

What is noticeable is the comparative lack of apps for the Win Mobile platform.

Possibly because Win Mobile browsers already have tabs and flash, but I'm thinking it's more because the users have already been through the PDA curve and realise they don't need them.

alan p: Google's turn at the Network Computing Hype Cycle

nospam@example.com (alan p) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:38:24 +0000

@andrej - I agree with your first points in that more goes into The Cloud each cycle, but I don't think evidence supports the conclusion you make - the desktop/ data on my machine environment has proven very sticky.

andrej: Google's turn at the Network Computing Hype Cycle

nospam@example.com (andrej) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:27:30 +0000

And they were all correct:
after the shift to client-server, people used client-server applications more than standalone applications
after the shift to internet, people used browsers more than desktop applications.
* after the shift to mobile, people will use mobile browsers more than they will use desktop browser.

Every prediction in the past was correct, so i'm pretty convinced that in a few years mobile internet usage will be a log bigger than desktop internet.

alan p: Google's turn at the Network Computing Hype Cycle

nospam@example.com (alan p) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:12:33 +0000

Are you accusing me of taking a position and exaggerating it for dramatic effect - surely not