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Martin Hofmann

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Archives for October 2006

Links of Note – October 30

by Martin · Oct 30, 2006

More podcasts: ITBusiness.ca debuts a new weekly podcast series which will feature “conversations with vendors, with IT managers and CIOs, industry analysts and our newsroom colleagues”.

Less readers: Circulation for big U.S. Metro newspapers continues to decline. It is the fourth consecutive semi-annual report to register a drop, according to Editor & Publisher. Only three of the top 25 papers reported an increase.

Same old (now online): Toronto’s top three mayoral candidates have all posted videos to YouTube, the Toronto Star reports. So who will be the first to open a campaign office in Second Life? Sigh.

Filed Under: Media

Chancellor 2.0 – Bonding with citizens on the Web

by Martin · Oct 28, 2006

First German Chancellor Angela Merkel started her own video-podcast series. Then a bunch of smart students and university graduates turned the tables on her and launched Direkt zur Kanzlerin! (“Direct to Chancellor!”), a platform where citizens can post questions for Angela Merkel. Anybody can submit a text, audio or video message for her on the site. Then people can vote for their favourite questions by mouse click. 

After getting blog buzz and media coverage for their idea, the students got Angela Merkel’s attention. The Federal Press Office has now stepped up and agreed to answer the top three question each week on behalf of the Chancellor. 

It is a different kind of Web 2.0 success story – a great little example of the potential that the ongoing spread of new, user-friendly technologies holds. What a great example of a couple people getting together and trying to make a difference through tech-driven grassroots democracy!

Consultant and author Anthony D. Williams recently blogged about the question: “is government ready for the Web 2.0 era?” Looks like the German government is playing catch-up with its people.  But the Federal Press Office deserves credit, too. At least they are ready to participate in the project. It’s a start.

Note: The “Direct to Chancellor!” site is only available in German.

(via Welt.de)

Filed Under: Great stuff, Technology, Transatlantic

"Radio into Talkies" – Visionaries are still in demand

by Martin · Oct 25, 2006

Ryan Anderson over at The New PR has a great post about how “we’re married to our media of choice” and slow to adapt to change.

I just read an old Time Magazine article from 1929 called “Radio into Talkies” about radio and television pioneer David Sarnoff. It talks about Radio Corporation of America’s change from “communications company” to “entertainment company”. RCA entered the entertainment business as an outsider because David Sarnoff saw the potential of the “talkies” while many of the established entertainment companies were still lingering somewhere between silent movies and talking cinema. He went on to grow RCA into a radio and television empire (also see his Wikipedia entry). A lot of his entertainment competitors went under while others were able to adapt and change.

Today, it is the news(paper) business that is changing. I don’t know if blogging and online formats necessarily mean certain death to print newspapers (the death of radio has been announced repeatedly since the 1950s). But one thing is still the same after almost 80 years: established players are afraid of change and it still takes visionaries like David Sarnoff to drive change.

I think we’re at a stage where more and more newspapers are switching their priorities to put more emphasis on online editions. The next step will be that they treat print editions as an afterthought and, to Ryan’s point, we will probably see an established newspaper switch to online-sooner than later. But it will be just as interesting to watch the ongoing development of existing online-only players and blogging networks to see if one of them can become as strong a brand as, for example, the New York Times.

The Time article from 1929 includes a great quote by David Sarnoff: “While the sylvan mouse-trap maker is waiting for customers and his energetic competitor is out on the main road, a third man will come along with a virulent poison which is death on mice and there will be no longer any demand for mouse-traps.”

He was talking about how phonograph makers adapted to radio while the “pre-radio phonograph is absolutely dead”. Today, it could be somebody like Steve Jobs (iPod vs. radio) or maybe Michael Arrington (blogging vs. newspapers) making similar statements. Visionaries – right or wrong – are still in demand, especially when the rest of us are still trying to figure out what’s good and bad about the changes we’re experiencing.

We’ll see how the newspaper business will develop but in the meantime, I agree with Ryan that “it’s important to remember that those who accept change have the biggest successes and the biggest failures.  Mediocrity is rarely rewarded either way.”

Filed Under: Media

How about a gaming panel at mesh?

by Martin · Oct 24, 2006

The mesh conference is back. That’s good. What I would really love to see at the next mesh conference is a panel on gaming and virtual worlds. Since getting “a better understanding of the impact of new developments online” is part of the mesh conference mission statement, I think we’d be missing out a huge part of the latest online developments without it.

When I look at our consumer and interactive entertainment divisions and what kind of new work has emerged due to these online developments, and then I think back to the ancient times where I typed program code for games into my Amstrad computer or my friend’s Sinclair ZX Spectrum…we’ve come a long way! And yet it feels like the real deal in online gaming and virtual worlds hasn’t even started yet.

Being in the PR industry, I agree with David Jones that a PR panel at mesh would be nice. But if I only had one vote (not that I have any vote in it), it would go to online gaming.

Filed Under: Canada, Events

Ironing out some thoughts on brainstorming

by Martin · Oct 23, 2006

After Ed Lee posted his thoughts on brainstorming, Julie Rusciolelli provided her perspective:

If we rely on sanctioned brainstorms to come up with every creative solution for our clients it can be taxing on the staff and burn up valuable resources. […] The best creative ideas I’ve had, have not been inspired by a big group of people in the boardroom. Even those silly books on creativity, stimulus cards and there’s even a software program to help you harness the power of your right and left brain are all useless tools. It’s being alone with my thoughts; a clear unobstructed mind that allows new ideas and concepts to seep in and take over is a best practice I adhere to.

Julie Rusciolelli, Rusciolelli Blog

While I agree with Ed on some of the nutritional challenges of having too many brainstorms, I’d like to expand on Julie’s perspective. I don’t really understand why the concepts of boardroom brainstorming and thinking creatively on your own should be weighed against each other.

I don’t get my creativity kicks at the ironing board like Julie (maybe a newer iron and a better board would help me) but I have my own little ways of letting my mind wander and explore new creative territory.  Where and how doesn’t matter – as long as you do it. So, first of all, clearing your mind and allowing new ideas to seep in should be a no-brainer. If people aren’t thinking creatively on their own and need encouragement, what are they doing in a PR job? Inspiring people is important but it should only be the icing on the cake.

Second, the key to “sanctioned” brainstorms is preparation and discipline. Sounds boring? Maybe. But if you think that a boardroom brainstorm starts in the boardroom, you’re making a huge mistake from the get-go. It’s not about stimulus cards or software programs, it is about managing the process (if you are the organizer) and showing up prepared (if you are a participant).

If people haven’t started thinking on their own before the meeting, the whole group brainstorm could end up a huge waste of time. It’s about everybody doing some creative thinking on their own and then getting together as a team to develop something truly unique – based on everyone’s input. In other words, if Julie hasn’t ironed a few sheets on previous nights, she shouldn’t be in my brainstorm.

My High Road colleagues Natasha Compton and Hugh Scholey have taught me a thing or two about managing brainstorms:

  • Management starts days ahead of the brainstorm. It only works if you apply discipline to your process. To think outside the box you first have to know what’s inside the box.
  • Prepare and send out a brainstorm briefing. If you take care of the preparation and anticipate the biggest questions, you make it a lot easier for everyone else to free up their minds and focus on creative ideas
  • Choose your participants. Not everybody in the agency needs to come to every brainstorm. Everybody has a different background and a different way of thinking. Put together a good mix of people.
  • Ask everyone to come prepared with a few ideas based on your briefing.
  • Facilitating the brainstorm meeting is critical. Just like a good moderator improves a talk show or press conference, you need somebody to be leading the meeting and keeping it focused.
  • The biggest mistake made in brainstorms, and meetings in general, is keeping the participants thinking in the same direction. Brainstorms are made up of two essential elements – converging for ideas and diverging on one idea at a time to explore it further. If everyone in the room is converging and diverging separately then they’re not working toward the same end goal at the same time. You need to know how to run a good session.
  • There are a number of different brainstorm techniques. Apply them. It works. If you want to know more about it, I’ll be happy to put you in touch with Nat or Hugh. I found that the techniques that sounded the worst on paper actually helped me come up with some good stuff

We’ve used this approach for internal meetings and for joint brainstorms with our clients, and it has been quite a success. Not only does it help to come up with bright thinking, it also allows us to do it without wasting time or resources. And it makes it more fun for everyone.

However, I do agree with Julie that boardroom brainstorms don’t necessarily inspire creativity. They are just a productivity tool. You don’t need a team brainstorm for everything. Choose wisely!

It is important to keep finding new ways and stimuli to inspire creativity in people. But once you’ve got them inspired, putting heads together in boardrooms can be a smart way of coming up with the next brilliant strategy for your client.

Filed Under: Communications, Innovation

Radio Paradise meets Flickr

by Martin · Oct 21, 2006

It is a good thing that Sun Labs researcher Paul Lamere loves Radio Paradise as much as I do (or more). He has created a mashup of Radio Paradise and Flickr which he calls Snapp Radio. He has found a way to connect Flickr images with songs that play on Radio Paradise (also works with Last FM). So instead of looking at weird geometric shapes evolve in your regular run-of-the-mill visualization program, Snapp Radio serves up concert photos from the artists as well conceptual images. Sometimes the choice of photos can be a bit strange but a) what a great idea and b) it’s addictive!

How does it work?

Snapp Radio will connect to Radio Paradise or Last.FM to figure out what song you are currently listening to. Snapp Radio augments this information by connecting to Last.FM and finding any social tags that have been attached to this song and artist. Snapp Radio then uses all of this information to fashion a set of queries to Flickr to find a set of interesting images that are related to the song. Snapp Radio collects the images, orders them in an interesting way and presents them to you in your Web browser.

Snapp Radio FAQ

Filed Under: Great stuff

Canada has higher average growth than all other regions in Deloitte’s 2006 Technology Fast 500 Ranking

by Martin · Oct 20, 2006

Last year only one Canadian company made it into the top ten, this year there are five. In addition, Canada claims the top average growth of all North American regions. To download the full list and ranking, go here.

-The National Post – Canada’s tech firms outpacing U.S. ones: Half of the top ten companies in this year’s Deloitte Fast 500 are based in Canada

-ITbusiness.ca – Name, rank and number: Shane Schick puts it into perspective

Here are “Canada’s Top Five Fast 500“:

  • Westport Innovations Inc.

  • Airborne Entertainment Inc.

  • Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • DragonWave Inc.

  • Imaging Dynamics Company Ltd.

Filed Under: Canada, Technology

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