World Future Conference: Reporting from Tomorrow

Sunday kicked off the World Future Conference, an annual gathering of future thinkers from around the world. I'll report in based on my experiences (only a tiny slice of the whole conference) over the next few days.

We were welcomed to the conference by a pair of keynote speakers, Helen Fisher (professor at Rutgers University and author) and Gregory Stock (president of Signum Biosciences and author) .

I am excitedly anticipating the meat of the conference after these keynotes. While Fisher focused on her area of expertise, love and attachment, and Stock on his, the cutting edge of biotechnology, one theme ran constant. I think Stock himself summed it up nicely: "we are here to change our vision of who we are as human beings." Both spoke about their areas of development as they related to us as people. What it means to prescribe Zoloft, which lowers sex drive, and thus reduces the body's ability to produce dopamine? Does that mean people love less? Or what will happen when there is a pill created that will control aging (Stock thinks that the first person to live to be 150 is alive today)? These are big questions that could affect any of us, or all of us. I didn't have an extensive knowledge of the World Future Society before deciding to attend the conference, so I'll admit that a little part of me was afraid of three days of hyperfuture geeks speak that I wouldn't be able to make actionable for our clients or Fallon, but after the kickoff, I'm no longer concerned.

Trash Talk: Aki Day 01

Met Ashley Menger at Frog Design a few days ago and was introduced to their Trash Talk Initiative.

As an attempt to research our (dis)connections with the trash we create (and hopefully evolve some solutions), Trash Talkers commit to a few weeks of living with the trash they create daily. Common wisdom insists that it takes 3 weeks to actually change human behaviour so I will take on the Trash Talk challenge for 21 days and keep my daily trash with me everywhere I go.

Here's my first day's trash...

Direct mail did me in. 1 week of direct mail at that. Travel Tomorrow. Tickets to the theater tonight...lemme think about how I'm gonna get my trash in the show. Doh!

Postcards from Second Life: Metaverse

Derek Lerner at GHAVA shot a film on a NOKIA N93 to film video feedback loops "creating abstract video drawings as a metaphor for 3D immersive virtual space. Infinite syndicated regurgitated communicative white noise evoking feelings of becoming so intertwined with digital communications that the grayness of life as we currently know it is a blurry place of virtual and real."

See some of his Flickr photos of the work here

He further explains the work:
"For the last year I have been heavily involved in virtual worlds, primarily Second Life. This has prompted many thoughts about the concept of virtual space in general as well as blurring lines between simulation and real.

Mixing of realities, infinite space, multi-user online 3D collaborative environments, and time travel.

When asked to contribute work to the NOKIA Trends Lab project I immediately started to think about the level of connectivity and immersive experience handheld wireless hybridized multifunction devices offer, resulting in a type of virtual space. The sense I get when walking down the street taking photos, listening to the radio, & then uploading images to a server is of a disjointed reality where one's mind is in another place but body is walking down the street."

Postcards from Second Life: Virtual Recruiting Gets Hot

While many are likely to keep pouring on more haterade (such as here and here) and proclaim virtual worlds to be little more than a fad, many companies are finding that one of the more practical applications for them are as a good tool for recruiting. Check the CNBC segment on it here (short ad at the beginning).


It's interesting, while I can understand all of the skepticism around virtual worlds, I'm surprised more people don't acknowledge the similarities to mass reactions to the Internet in the 90's. Look at how far the internet has come in 10 years: in 1995, did anyone (besides perhaps the most techie guys out there) envision a future internet of MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, podcasts, etc and the tremendous impact all of these have on our lives?

Personally I don't think it's unrealistic to picture a similar path as virtual worlds become more user-friendly, visible exposure makes them less weird/freaky to the masses, brands learn how to actually do something of value instead of putting up buildings for no reason (and in particular, how to make it easy for people to get started and comfortable in-world ), and we all become more savvy at finding ways for them to provide value in our own lives.

Segmenting the Social Video Platforms

Politics 2.0: Post-Debate, Obama Has Work Cut Out For Him

Riding the tails of Sarah's post on the Democratic CNN/YouTube debates, an article in the Economist showed the Barack is trailing in some key markets where he should be performing strong. For example, in South Carolina, more than half of the states black primary electorate are actually pulling for Hillary over him.


The article goes on to say that this is not for lack of any star power, but his challenge is a difficult one: clearly communicating to black voters that he understands their concerns while also attracting white suburban voters.

This is really shaping up to be an interesting election, especially when compared with the last one where all we had was a choice between the lesser of two evils. Combine this with the fact that, according to CNN, the leading Republican candidate among Republican voters is none of the above, with nearly 25% unwilling to back the leading Rep candidates. And even better, none of them seemed to have gained any sort of clear advantage among the Christian right.

A last comment on the YouTube debates, I'll be very interested to see how the Republicans handle themselves when they get theirs in September.

The Launch of 'One Laptop Per Child'

Happy to see this article yesterday in MarketingVox announcing that this project will finally start mass production in October of this year. Made by Quanta Computers of Taiwan, the computers are kid friendly to the fullest-- sunlight readable, a pull chord to recharge, built in wireless...

An incredible idea and even more incredible that government red tape and bureaucratic bullshit did not hinder this til the end of time. Though my worry is that somewhere along the chain that may still be the case, and we'll see this drag on...

But that brings and interesting opportunity for Quanta. I don't know how profitable these computers can be for them, but the PR exposure and benefit to our global society they are providing are an incredible incentive for this company to push this thing through with whatever they have.

And for all of us it's a chance to connect with kids that have largely been ignored and kept out of sight from most developed nations because it's easy to put the problems of people "over there" out of mind. How cool is it that we may be, hopefully sooner than later, able to hear their voices, understand their view on the world, listen to their opinions, learn about their life. Those who have the most reason to feel rejected by the world will now have the chance to let us all know what they think. Amazing that even 10 years ago this was a relative impossibility.

Call me an optimist when it comes to this project, but with every good sign of progress I'll continue to keep my hopes up, because if it pans out I think it will be a great step forward for all of us.

Though I wonder, who will be first on the Election '08 ballot to try and use this to their political advantage?

Connection Planning Conference 2007

Still in the process of confirming speakers but here's a leak on Facebook:

October 26, 2007
New Orleans, LA

Speakers:
Ed Cotton; Butler Shine Stern & Partners
Adrian Ho; Zeus Jones
Jim Elms; Barkley Evergreen & Partners
Gareth Kay; Modernista
Demian Brink; Boone/Oakley
Lisa Seward; Mod

Venue:
Le Chat Noir - a Cabaret Theater and Piano Bar located in a restored turn of the century New Orleans townhouse (715 St. Charles Avenue).

Sign up for email updates at http://www.polygamousweddings.com/, or on Facebook

Politics 2.0: CNN/YouTube Debates

Who watched the debates last night? For weeks, YouTubers have been submitting video questions from their couches and kitchen tables. Thirty-nine lucky submissions were selected for last night's CNN-broadcast debate. Missed it on CNN? The whole debate, question by question, is parceled out on YouTube (was this the final frontier of appointment television?).

While the questions were sifted through by some staff team somewhere, they weren't squeaky clean. Obama even commented on the fact that nearly every question was colored with a tone of skepticism. Here's a guy asking what Hilary thought of the idea of potentially 28 years of the same two families running the country, (Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton) and if the other candidates found that troublesome.


And now, YouTube is looking for reactions; what did viewers think of the candidates and their answers.

This debate format is reflective of our desire to participate in, instead of just holding on to the ride of life. People from all walks of life set up their tripods and, in varying levels of seriousness, asked what they really wanted candidates to talk about. I'd say that the candidates still need a little work at this whole "genuine, authentic" thing; responses tended on the side of sidestepping, finger-pointing and the occasional unrelated answer. But I give them credit for participating in this new experiment and look forward to the upcoming Republican Debate, which will take place in the same format.

User-Created: Simpsonize Me!

Aki Simpsoned


Alyson Simpsoned


Adam Simpsoned


Sarah Simpsoned


Murray Simpsoned


Lachlan Simpsoned


Avin Simpsoned


Get Simpsoned here!

Likemind this Friday!

Likemind is a coffee and chat kind of a deal thought up by Piers Fawkes and Noah Brier. They decided to post an open invitation on their respective blogs to see if anyone wanted to get together to drink coffee and talk about what's going on--in advertising, in the blogosphere, in the world. It worked pretty well, and now there are Likemind events going on all over from NYC to Oslo to Jakarta.

We have a great little MPLS edition; please come by.
Open invite to Minneapolis Likemind:
Friday, July 20
8-10a come whenever you want, leave whenever you want.
Espresso Royale (1229 Hennepin Ave, btwn. N 12th and N 13th, Minneapolis) MAP

Leave a comment here if you need more info.

Burger? Salad? Maybe the Sustainably Raised Chicken?

I read a few months ago an editorial from Gourmet magazine’s editor in chief, Ruth Reichl, wherein she discussed the idea of “Occasional Vegitarianism.” “Isn’t it time we realized that eating vegetarian meals is neither penance nor virtue, but simply another mealtime option?”, she asks. As part of her case, Reichl pointed out that we now consume more meat than any other society in history, and that our grazing and feed production uses 30% of the surface of the planet.




Makes me wonder if she’s correct in her assumption that it’s not a penance nor virtue to consume wisely. It’s becoming just duty. This week, the NYT reported on the popularity of certain varieties of fish and its impact on sushi consumption; US consumers believe salmon and tuna rolls are the end all be all, and the rise in sushi’s popularity has placed a strain on these species. The article suggests that sushi lovers expand their orders into a wider range of sushi options.

When Americans sit down at a restaurant—from the sushi bar to Applebee’s—their method of evaluating menu choices has changed. We have become more conscientious of what we want to eat versus what we should be eating. We saw it in the tiny salad selection growing into an array of main dish options for patrons interested in a tasty dining experience without three days’ worth of fat and calories. Menus developed further with the proliferation of a rainbow of symbols to tell us exactly what made food healthy—low fat, low carbs, lactose-free. Today, as demonstrated in the Times, Americans are becoming more aware of their food’s origins—an organic farm locally grown, or from a sustainable resource? So should we be thinking one step beyond ourselves when we sit down at the diner, to consider what we should be consuming? And should restaurants be pushing this agenda by clearly labeling menus with a revised edition of the symbols to help customers make the right choice?

Jazz up nasty ppts

Jim Bumbgardner thought up this neat little flickr hack that allows you to search for flickr images by color.

This guy said it nicely:
"This is either something that designers and photo editors have been waiting their whole lives for, or one of those "I've created this because the Web lets me do it" kinds of things."
-- Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

I think it's both, actually.

Politics 2.0: More Obama Girl

UPDATE: the full clip hot off the presses. Some real heated debate for you:



The hotly anticipated trailer to her new song...ahh, yeah! Servin' up politics b-boy style.

Avin dug up the info and tracked down more on Obama Girl here, and here. I'm seein' opportunity...live televised political debates between "Hot For Hill" and "Obama Girl". Bring it! "You 'bout ta git served, Hillary!"

Politics 2.0: Hot for Hill

Eh, Obama Girl is hotter...

Tell it like it is

Outlaw Consulting recently published the results of a Gen Y trendsetter study. 21-27 year olds were asked which brands they trusted most, and here's the outcome.

1. Apple
2. Trader Joe's
3. Jet Blue
4. In-N-Out Burger
5. Ben & Jerry's
6. Whole Foods
7. Adidas
8. American Apparel
9. Target
10. H & M clothing stores
11. Levi's
12. Volkswagen
13. Converse
14. Vitamin Water
15. Red Stripe Jamaican beer

Sometimes I feel like all we do is harp, harp harp on how brands need to be authentic, and this is good evidence to make me believe we're not wasting our time. These brands are alike in that they are FRANK. They speak like Gen Y speaks, they live where they live, and they are fast on the move to stay fresh. And it works. People are buying it.

Unifying The Home: An Interesting Space?

Inspired by an ad I saw in Wired, I snooped around on the Living Homes website (www.livinghomes.net). This company is taking a green approach to building houses that are modern and efficient. This picture is of their flagship model.

The mission reads: “We work with leading architects to create lines of homes that feature modern form and functionality and an unprecedented level of healthy/sustainability materials and energy systems. We're using high volume, factory production to increase the quality of our homes as we reduce their cost, schedule, and construction waste, compared to those that are similarly constructed on site.”

Somehow this “efficiency” concept got me thinking outside of conservative appliances and materials and more along the lines of the entire home operation in general. With the impact of Home Entertainment and increase in popular technology devices, I wonder if there is an interesting space unoccupied by any companies yet. In regards to this trend, Tom Gardner writes in Fortune:

“This past winter holiday season, one out of every four gifts was a consumer electronic device, and spending in the category topped $21 billion. The industry has prospered over the past decade, in large part because you and I want to transform our living rooms in to Cineplex Odeons, complete with six-foot-wide flat screens, surround sound, and the full integration of PCs, iPods, Wiis, TiVos, and DVD players. To my eye, there is not clear end in sight to this trend. Video-on-demand is just around the corner, and consumer will enjoy an embarrassment of programming riches via the Internet.”

Combining these two thoughts, I wonder if utilizing consumers’ increasing desire to simplify, customize and “go green” in our society opens up a space that electronics companies can consider. I’m thinking along the lines of a home device that simply controls all electronic aspects of the home in an efficient manner. Lights, music, all the Home Entertainment components, computer and internet devices, appliances, security system, etc. seem like they could all be easily managed and efficiently controlled from one central location – preferably some sort of mobile hand-held device.

This sort of product/service appears as an opportunity for something interesting in terms of positioning and branding. If appropriately developed and marketed this sort of item could satisfy an array of wants from the consumer with a green spin. I haven’t been able to find companies that seem to be doing something like this (through a however menial google search), which makes me wonder if this is an interesting opportunity unclaimed.

There is hope!

I'm an eternal optimist about this sometimes mad world. One thing that helps feed this positive view of things is the encouraging, and it appears dramatic, rise in the popularity for Atheist writings as reported in the Guardian Newspaper. It's about time that we non-believers had a stronger voice amongst all the psycho babble we have to endure from crazy religious dogma on a daily basis. 

Now if only those same nutters would get their hands off our stems cells we might make even more significant break throughs in the reduction of human suffering. 

Role on the election!

Prediction of social networking doom and gloom

Lance Ulanoff of PC Magazine writes an opinion piece on the inevitable death of MySpace, Second Life, Twitter, and the whole lot of social networking sites.

Some highlights:

"MySpace could be the first to collapse. It has now suffered the same fate as the millions of personal Web sites that sprang up in the mid 1990s: It's huge, ugly, unmonitored, unrestrained, and pointless."

I take issue with his proclamation that MySpace is pointless; I would equate that to the idea that letter writing or putting my photos in an album are both pointless, too. Not buying it.

More...

"Second Life could just as easily be the first to go. No one believes its reported participation numbers anymore, even though big companies, such as Circuit City and IBM, have built virtual stores (and Playboy is jumping in with both, er, feet this month). Some individuals are even claiming to make real-world money in there, but are they really?"

There might be some validity in the flaws Ulanoff highlights, but I think he neglected to take into account one important variable: innovation. If they sit, at stasis, until the end of the decade, these sites and utilities will probably lose their luster. But they're ever-evolving. The Facebook, for example, is shooting out new applications left and right. They're not solving global warming or emptying our prisons, but they are adding dimension to relationships. The new variety of closeness that we collectively have developed online won't go away, even if it does evolve into something different. But way to go for it on the prediction, Lance. I appreciate it.

Full article here

Pollution Penance: Adventure Ecology Floods Second Life

I'm late to this, but seems organization Adventure Ecology (in conjunction with Ogilvy UK) subjected London, Amsterdam, Ibiza, Tokyo and other regions in Second Life to a sudden flash flood which thankfully lasted for only a few hours. The flooding of the areas was done to show the financial, and more importantly, environmental implications of global warming. David de Rothschild, a London-based environmentalist and founder of Adventure Ecology, spoke about the event saying that "Our message was, you may have a second life, but [you still need to] offset your second life in real life."


via MMORPG Blog and GreenNormal"

Postcards From Second Life:Draft FCB in 2L

Draft FCB are really in Second Life.

Mass Interactive:Trevor, the Mentos Intern

Check out Trevor, the Mentos Intern. He's livestreamed on the web. Give him work. Rate him. Make friends with him on Facebook.

Similar to Justin.tv, only with a purpose (so says Sarah). Either way, fun idea.

Truth Awareness:Delta Flight 6499

Robert McKee made a YouTube of his experience being stuck on the JFK tarmac for seven hours.

And now you see it too. 464 viewers today. Lets see where this goes.

Oh, did I mention this is Delta Airlines?

Notice that crying baby throughout the video. Nice.

The ubiquity, ease, and low cost of consumer recording, editing and sharing software is quickly making it less feasible for big companies to get away with stuff like this.

via Consumerist

Web 2.0: WidgetCon 2007

I like toys and candy, what of it?

In a world of more choice, and more complicated choice, are we taking shelter in behaviors and preferences whose simplicity offers comfort?

Benjamin Barber believes that pressures from society today and our insatiable consumer culture are making us revert to childhood familiarity. I heard him speak about his book, "Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole” on National Public Radio. He sites three years of Superman and Shrek movie blockbusters, and the number of adults reading Harry Potter books, among other examples (a listener phoned in to comment on the candy-flavored drinks now offered at Starbucks) to prove that our capitalist society has finally cracked our rational being.
While I don’t agree with Barber’s citations (Shrek has plenty of humor and messages unintelligible to 9 year olds), nor his point on capitalism, I think the notion of our instinct to revert is interesting. In certain ways, I can see that coming to life online, in smiley faces that stand in the place of a complex thought, and in the escapism of virtual worlds (Avin and I have an ongoing debate about whether Second Life fits here). The internet is home to endless choice, and yet it’s a sanctuary where people can exist simply, childishly, without someone razzing them about it.

Just something to chew on, I guess.

Politics 2.0: Hillary Soprano

Hillary gets jiggy with the Web2.0ness. Check the "8 Things You Can Do" social/share features on this site, plus all the social net share buttons throughout. Beats headshots and a lame resume.



Though ObamaGirl is better.

Politics 2.0: SiCKO Seeks Your Stories

Michael Moore gets jiggy with the Web2.0ness.

Politics 2.0:CNN/YouTube Debates

Anderson Cooper and CNN get jiggy with the Web2.0ness.

Postcards from Second Life: Crayon's Virtual Branding Event

Yesterday, a few of us gathered around my computer and watched as my avatar made his way through SL to the Crayonville Amphitheater- virtual home to new marketing firm Crayon which was hosting a panel on Marketing in Virtual Worlds.

Much of the panel discussion hovered around what the panel members respective companies had tried so far to build their in-world brands (such as Coke's Virtual Thirst contest).

A central theme that emerged- not so different from discussions around here- was that companies have thus far mistakenly hedged their bets on simply having a presence in Second Life as the end goal- setting up shop in the same fashion as the do in the real world and assuming people will just come to them. Now, those companies are left with often times barren landscapes as residents gravitate elsewhere...

...towards brands/companies that view Second Life for what it is: a tool used to ENGAGE people. Coldwell Banker is a recent example of a company that gets the need to provide value to be relevant. Other (relative) success stories include Pontiac's Motorati Island, HBO's island for the L-Word (which holds recreations of the show in it's lobby), and IBM (company island includes tutorials on open source coding). These three have some of the highest weekly unique visitors in SL among real world brands (+4000 according to SL demographic experts).

Despite these few exceptions, it's not a surprise that the most trafficked areas in SL are those created by residents- they offer more than a slick logo and building, and bring some value to the table and the experience of being in-world (such as Amsterdam Island, a recreation of the real thing...complete with many familiar Amsterdam activities).

The panel discussion appeared to be one of those places residents respected as adding to the experience and not just "being there"...


Well, it's not bursting at the seams, but compared to the largely empty buildings of most companies, this is pretty good. And, according to Crayon, the sim was at max capacity and they actually had to turn away some last-minute sign ups.

Perhaps just as interesting as the panel itself was watching how the audience of avatars engaged with the presenters. While one might assume that, in this world where the laws of physics can be broken, and one has the ability to create objects from nothing, keeping people's attention would be tough. But there we all sat, pointed at the stage, listening intently to the words of these virtual branding experts.


We also started to see how closely this virtual world can mirror the experience of First Life. Just as you would lean over to a friend who was at a conference with you, whispering side-conversation back and forth, avatars were doing the same. (In Second Life, you can chat with basically anyone within earshot- simply start typing, hit send, and your words appear on screen for all to see. Think chatroom- with a visual component).

As we sat in our Minneapolis conference room, discussing the panel's comments, many of the same comments were popping up on screen from the avatars in attendance- some questioning the need or use for Second Life, and many other's pouncing quickly in defense of the world. The general consensus from the audience was that, while SL is important and shouldn't be ignored, it is still too complex, too vague, and not user-friendly enough for adoption by the masses.

Overall, a good event to take in. It was the first in what will be a monthly thought-leadership series. They also have weekly informal chats- Coffee with Crayon- every Thursday @ 9AM EST at Crayonville for more new marketing goodies.

The more things change

Social media maven Dana Boyd sees a growing divide between users of MySpace and Facebook (essay at link). The divide appears to be socioeconomic. Boyd is dissapointed to see familiar class divisions appear in what some have idealized (projected, perhaps) as a borderless utopian social community. Perhaps it is dissapointing, but it also seem entirely expected. Many of us want to see the internet as an entirely new social phenomenon. In many ways, it is, but culture is a persistent devil.

I actually see this development in a more positive light. Just a few years ago, we fretted about the growing digital divide. The fact that more than one class even exists on the web is surely progress.

Blog DNA

WEB2DNA converts your website into a DNA graphic image. It was inspired by DNA 11 - a company that turns your real DNA into works of art, and, Marcel Salathe's Websites as Graphs - another system that visualizes your website structure.

Pollution Pennance:Batman Drives Green

Even Batman has eco-friendly intentions. Seems that gigantic jumping Batmobile-thing that he used in the last movie is just getting too expensive to drive, even for the super rich Bruce Wayne. So, meet his new ride: The Bat-Pod!

via AutoBlogGreen

Citizen Journalism: Festivus (err....Cannes) For the Rest Of Us!

Not a bad idea. 4 Arnold employees decided that, rather than sit around and wait for Adweek and industry trade to tell them about the Cannes festival this year, why not just crash the damn thing and report from the front lines for those of us not privileged enough to be registered attendees?

"The stuff you won’t hear at the seminars, won’t get printed in the trade pubs, the stuff that’s more likely overheard at the bar aka Cannes’t HQ."


While not an overt campaign for the Arnold brand, it's an example of an agency doing something clever and different to insert itself into culture and create a buzz, something that puts the attention on them instead of clients.

Peep the first in a series of videos (on Arnold's website as well as YouTube) explaining what it is they're trying to do over there...

Commercial Interruption:"You Will"

AT&T's classic visions of "the future" circa 1993. How much came true?

A Pefect Storm: NH Hotel PR Stunt

NH Hoteles, a Spanish hotel chain, recognized the stress of modern business travelers and schemed up a therapy session. Thirty lucky winners will be let loose in one of NH's hotel rooms with mallets and hardhat to release their aggression. You might think that's pretty sweet, until hearing the detail that these people were psychologist-selected--my question: what was the criteria? Sane enough to not off someone with a mallet? Or crazy enough to really reduce their demolition costs?

I really hope that NH takes this event and squeezes every opportunity out of it. Wagering on success based on profiles of contestants, creating a virtual reality game, posting footage from a head cam on youtube....

unhinged exec+weapon+lots of glass windows=awesome opportunity.

Giving a brand a REAL face on social networks

Hotlists is an extension of Hot-Or-Not.com which allows the user to upload brand logos or images into a database and then browse the database to create a personal lists of brands, images, logos etc that he or she deems hot-or-not. The application was recently added to facebook which allows a social network user to integrate brands into his or her online profile. Although not very widely used yet, this widget would give a brand a tangible (or many) face to look at and profile to read and judge.

Real site can be found here http://hotlists.hotornot.com

Simon Delivering

From our White Bear Lake, MN operative (you all know. It's King.)

"Thought this was an interesting example of brand action. Last night my wife Stacey took our daughter to her Thursday night soccer game. The fields are a busy place with parents, cars, not enough parking, and overlapping games.

As they arrived they noticed a completely out of place, and large Simon Delivers truck trying to park.

Next they noticed some Simon Delivers guys muscling large plastic tubs onto the field best they could.

As the story goes Simon Delivers decided to reward one of their best customers by deliverying the post-game treats to their kids soccer game. Right after the game the entire team (and a bunch of other people including my son) was able to load up on ice cold bottled water, ice cream sandwiches, etc.

Needless to say many, many, over-scheduled soccer moms and dads left the field last night talking about Simon Delivers having witnessed both an actual fresh delivery (their business) and demonstration of a company who appreciates their customers."

Politics 2.0: "I Got a Crush On Obama"

Pollution Penance: "Column B"

glumbert.com - The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See

Maker Faire 2007

CoolHunting tours Make magazine's second annual Maker Faire in the SF Bay Area.

Periodic Table--Wait! Come back!

The periodic table of visualization methods is a great planner gadget. Practically any method of organization...organized! And they even remembered Lachlan's prized iceberg chart. So please come back, I wasn't going to talk about science.

Bankrupt!:20% of Americans Fear They'll Never Escape Credit Card Debt

According to a new survey by Lending Tree, 20% of Americans fear that they will never escape their credit card and other non-mortgage related debt and will be stuck with it for the rest of their lives.

via Consumerist

Postcards from Second Life: Alternate Virtual Worlds

Found this great compile of alternate virtual worlds.

AlphaWorld - “SW City Revolution”:

From the website:

AlphaWorld, is the oldest collaborative virtual world on the Internet, and home to millions of people from all over the world. Since it’s birth in 1995 AlphaWorld has rapidly grown in size and is roughly as large as the state of California, and now exceeds 60 million virtual objects!

Furcadia

This has been open since 1996

Entropia Universe (aka “Project Entropia”)

The Sims Online - “”Sims Online” - game commercial”

PlayStation Home - “GDC ‘07: Playstation Home Debut Trailer”

Sony has officially and vehemently disqualified PlayStation Home as an alternative to Second Life. Here’s a quote from a recent Phil Harrison interview on the flog:

PH: I think you’re way oversimplifying by suggesting Second Life and Home are the same. In Home, you get a character and a 3D world, and that’s where the similarity ends. Second Life does some brilliant things but with Home, we’re providing a service. Therefore, the tone of voice is what will differentiate it – Home is about entertainment, it has a game focus, and it’s about sharing with a like-minded community. We don’t give users the level of influence over the environment, behaviour and object definitions that Second Life does – it’s as secure as any other PS3 game. With some of the operating system protocols that are built into the Cell chip, it’s about as secure as you can be on a consumer device.

Kaneva - “Kaneva - A Worldly Vision”

There - There.com First Virtual Steps

HiPiHi - “hipihi Newest test video frequency”

There’s no Chinese port of Second Life, but somebody decided to build something just like it. (The claim here is that they didn’t even know about SL when they started.)

Pre-Beta

Areae Inc. - They’re being very secretive, but seem determined to create a space that marries Web 2.0 (social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube) with immersive user-created environments like Second Life. They have an all-star cast of advisers, but so far we know very little else.

Outback Online - Promises to be just like SL but also with multiple planets.

-

Other Neat Worlds

Whyville - A 2D world for 8-15 year olds. It’s been around since 1999 as a safe and educational social environment. Players interact in environments where they learn about science, math, art, civics, and economics.

Cyworld - A huge hit in South Korea and a newer phenomenon in the west.

Check out this quote from Wikipedia:

Korea’s Internet culture has embraced the Cyworld model, which differs from the blog culture of the United States. The simplicity of buying items to decorate one’s minihompy, without needing to learn HTML or Photoshop, has attracted many young women who had not previously used the Internet. This item-based business model has also bolstered Internet community sites that had previously struggled as free services. Many renowned Korean socialites and celebrities have been known to possess a cyworld account in which details of their upcoming tours and works are posted, such is the case with korean icons such as Duk-In Joo, poet and author of the bestselling meaning of meanings novel.

The corporate world has also embraced Cyworld, with examples of companies creating minihompies to accompany product launches. Celebrities and politicians have also increasingly opted for minihompies, rather than homepages, to gain closer contact with the population.

Worlds.com - A collection of themed worlds commercially created. Free to play (although there is a premium account option), insanely low system requirements, and lots of music-band themed worlds.

See Habbo Hotel, Webkinz and Club Penguin for three more fun and monstrously popular social spaces… but I’ve got to stop somewhere here.

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via Second Life Games Blog

Politics 2.0: Elect Susie Flynn

9 million children in America lack health insurance. Children’s Defense Fund wants you to do something about it—not just feel sad. By harnessing the power of people, we are trying to give this issue the fuel to ignite mass action and make politicians listen.


Results (3 months into our campaign)

Stage 1: Growing a Citizen Army from 3,000 to 20,000+
By courting the attentions of influencer segments—Mommy Bloggers, Youth/College, Educator/Health Advocates, Faith-Based Activists, DC Elite/Politico Insiders, NetRoots, as well as Traditional Mainstream Media—we boosted our supporter ranks from 3,000 email subscribers to almost 20,000 Susie soldiers.

(A) Amplified the conversation through chat rooms, blogs, and
dinner tables.

• Over 420,000 Google search results link to ElectSusie.com
• 20,000 Web activists and 1,000 friends across MySpace and Facebook
• 60,000+ unique visitors to the Web site, mostly referred by word-of-mouth
• 160,000+ pageviews
• High conversion rate—30% of visitors also signed our petition
• Over 800 letters of support to Susie Flynn
• 30,000+ viral video viewings on sites like YouTube
• 160,000+ brand minutes engaged with electsusie.com and her YouTube channel

Lacking budget, we exploited the viral rewards of every possible “earned media” opportunity: press coverage, email pass-alongs, social networks pages, blogs, YouTube video, and OOH to garner attentions.

B) Provoke More News Media Coverage of This Important Issue
• Over 26.5 million PR impressions valued at $600,000

Stage 2: Activating the Citizen Army
C) Expect Increased Pressure on Elected Officials at Local and National Levels
Within a month of launch, CDF secured the support of Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) who introduced the All Healthy Children Act (HR 1688), which is currently pending congressional review. Web site visitation and signatures are highest in the Washington, DC metro area.

Susie is well on her way to agitate the willing public to influence legislation. If successful, 9 million children will be guaranteed health insurance by the end of 2007.

Sign her petition @ website and en Espanol

Watch her videos @ YouTube

Make "friends" with Susie Flynn
@ MySpace
@ Facebook
@ Care2

Neo Health: Keep your brain in shape

Lumosity is a program/belief/business oriented around the idea that the brain needs to exercise its muscles, too. It's a program run by Lumo Labs (a group of mostly Stanford scientists) who have each been "touched by the devastating impact of declining brain health" and have subsequently dedicated themselves to finding ways to improve brain function as it ages.


They've created a brain fitness program designed to help improve memory, attention, processing speed, and cognitive control through a "balanced workout." While they don't have a wealth of scientific results, they are offering a beta test program; the way I see it, it's the safest unproven way to try to improve health today--much better than new drugs, supplements or diets!

Ad Agency Deathwatch: "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better!"

An NYT article today discussed another emerging trend exposing the weakness of traditional agency models. Richard Beckman, el presidente of the Conde Naste Media Group, has taken it upon himself to create a "agencylike business within Condé Nast’s ad sales unit, generating new revenue by planning events for advertisers and creating advertisements that help sell more magazine pages."

Among others, the in-house creative team has developed ads for department store Dillards


The National Gold Council


and even Lexus

Whether or not these examples meet creative standards of award shows isn't really the point. With clients (Miller Lite being just one example) and now their media partners increasingly handling traditional ads on their own (or hell, even by asking their customers to create the ads for them), its all the more important for us to not just be vendors and "people who make ads". Yet another sign that the traditional agency model needs to evolve to where we are true partners, not only creating communications but helping to craft and influence the business strategy of which the creative is just one component.

I often wonder how many people actually listen/take seriously all this talk of "agency deathwatch" and associated apocalyptic signals, but hopefully if we keep beating that drum there will be action before it's too late.

Ad Agency Deathwatch:The Break Up

Allegory for the relationship we have with our customers.

 

More info at http://bringtheloveback.com/ or check this analysis from Sarah