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[Techmeme.]

le web 3 paris

The speakers for Le Web in December, in Paris have been posted. Rock on.
My talk has a very silly tentative name: “Love 2.0″. I blame Euan Semple.
[Note to self:] Come up with a better name, dammit.

you’re kinda cute

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the blue monster

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[Landscape: click on image to enlarge etc.]
[UPDATE: To see all the cartoons in The Blue Monster Series, click here. To get the Blue Monster printed on a business card, go here.]
I just designed this poster for my buddies over at Microsoft [you know who you are]. Feel free to download the high-res version by clicking on the image, and print it out onto whatever– posters, t-shirts etc [My regular licensing terms are here].
I’ve been told by Stormhoek that if the poster gets enough traction within Microsoft and its extended family, we’ll consider doing a signed, limited-edition lithograph of it as well. [UPDATE: The signed lithographs have arrived. Steve Clayton reports.]

[Portrait: click on image to enlarge etc.]
The headline works on a lot of different levels:

Microsoft telling its potential customers to change the world or go home.
Microsoft telling its employees to change the world or go home.
Microsoft employees telling their colleagues to change the world or go home.
Everybody else telling Microsoft to change the world or go home.
Everyone else telling their colleagues to change the world or go home.
And so forth.

Microsoft has seventy thousand-odd employees, a huge percentage them very determined to change the world, and often suceeding. And millions of customers with the same idea.
Basically, Microsoft is in the world-changing business. If they ever lose that, they might as well all go home.
I chose the monster image simply because I always thought there is something wonderfully demonic about wanting to change the world. It can be a force for the good, of course, if used wisely. It’s certainly a very loaded part of the human condition, but I suppose that’s what makes it compelling.
Anyway, Redmond, I hope you like. Feel free to drop me a line, if you have any feedback. Thanks.
[UPDATE: 24th January 24, 2007:]

[VIDEO:] Microsoft’s Steve Clayton talks about the Blue Monster cartoon. My evil plan finally goes public! Rock on.
[Blue Monster video on YouTube.]
The Blue Monster was designed as a conversation starter. To paraphrase the ongoing dialogue between Steve and I:
For too long, Microsoft has allowed other people– the media, the competition and their detractors, especially– to tell their story on their behalf, instead of doing a better job of it themselves.
We firmly believe that Microsoft must start articulating their story better– what they do, why they do it, and why it matters– if they’re to remain happy and prosperous long-term.
If they can do this, well, we don’t expect people in their millions to magically start loving Microsoft overnight, but perhaps it might get people– including the people who work there– to start thinking differently. Small moves.
[Afterthought:] Granted, none of this is rocket science. But maybe that’s Microsoft’s main problem.
[Disclosure: gapingvoid is more evil than Microsoft. Just so you know.]

if in doubt

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[Another one of my new Stormhoek wine label designs.]

ft article on danah boyd, plus calacanis etc

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The Financial Times publishes an interesting piece about danah boyd, one of the great Social Media academics. Her blog is here. Great stuff.
[Bonus Link:] Jason Calacanis posts a very lucid e-mail exchange he had with an unnamed journalist, on the business of blogs-as-mass-media. Again, great stuff:

We are an eight figure a year business today. In terms of profitability the blogging business is better than the magazine or newspaper business in two main ways: 1. there is no distribution cost to blogging (i.e. printing, shipping, and postage), and 2. we don’t have the large management cost structure because our bloggers are not edited.

Jason has been high up on my “must read” list for a while. I have nothing but admiration for the guy.

October 29, 2006

advice to a young advertising hopeful

Brad sent me an e-mail earlier today:

Dear Hugh,
I stumbled across your site tonight and downloaded “How To Be Creative”. Fantastic. I’ve got my “cash” handled, the “sex” is the hard part (no pun intended). [Ref: “The Sex & Cash Theory”].
I love commercials. Good commercials. Stuff that makes you think, or shoot beer out your nose, or that inspires you. I’ve always loved commercials. I write them in my sleep. I even challenge myself by trying to write ads for the mundane things in life. Cotton balls…or pencil sharpeners. The problem is, I’ve got no one to write commercials for.
My day job pays well but allows zero creativity. I get to write the occasional ad to get more people through the door, but I work in a non-sexy industry. The leap from my world to the creative side of the advertising world seems like a big jump. How do I get there from here? It’s not just the jump that is daunting though. I’ve worked for myself or with small companies most of my life. The idea of drowning in the office pool of a massive company is uninspiring. Where do I find my “sex” with an independent firm who likes to take chances on creative types with no experience in the field? How do I get experience?
I’m willing to go to school, but where do I start? My ideas are in my head, and I can translate them verbally, but I can’t draw to save my life. Do I start in art school? I’ve taken some course work toward an MBA. Do I get a job somewhere else in an advertising firm and slowly work my way toward the creative end of things?
Unless someone on the bus just happens to ask “do you have any great ideas on how I can sell my new line of cotton balls” I’m destined for a life of “cash” without “sex”. If you have any ideas, directions or life altering criticisms, I would be eternally grateful.
Sincerely,
Brad

Dear Brad,
I’d give you the same advice as I’d give any young advertising hopeful, just starting out:
Start a blog and start posting your best ideas up there. If your ideas are any good, somebody worthwhile will find it eventually. And it’s a lot quicker, cheaper and easier than schlepping a vinyl portfolio around town, trying to get interviews.
Of course, with this approach you may have conflict-of-interest issues with you current employer. iI that’s the case, you might want to consider publishing the blog under a pseudonym.
Good luck and Godspeed!
Hugh
PS: Thank for the kind words!

there’s a word

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e-mail of the week

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A certain Michael Baldeon sent me an e-mail, consisiting of only one single line:

No talent. None. Way too obscure for general consumption.

Too funny.
I think worrying about what interests you, what stirs your passion, is a far more effective recipe for success than worrying about “general consumption”. I have a strange feeling that Mr Baldeon hasn’t quite learned this lesson yet. Poor guy.

October 27, 2006

let’s make a movie

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October 26, 2006

i.t. cork podcast

From Tom Raftery:

Welcome to the IT@Cork pre-conference PR podcasts. In this podcast series, kindly sponsored by Blacknight Solutions, we are talking to some of the speakers in the upcoming 2006 IT@Cork Business and Technology conference.
In this podcast, second in the series we are talking to Hugh MacLeod. Hugh is a blogger, cartoonist and rogue marketer. Hugh coined the phrase Global Microbrand referring to the extremely low-cost, hyper efficient brand strategies he used to gain two small companies global recognition.
Here are the questions I asked Hugh and the time in the interview I asked them:
How did a cartoonist get into marketing? — 0:22
For anyone who is unaware, can you tell us about the Cluetrain Manifesto and then segue from that into the term you have coined, the Global Microbrand? — 07:43
But you have used blogs as a cheap way to get brands out there… — 14:17
And you have done the same for a small South African vineyard, Stormhoek… — 20:24
Can you speak to sales increases for Stormhoek over the last 12 months? — 25:51

It was one of my better podcasts, I thought. You decide.
[I’m speaking at the IT@Cork conference in Ireland on November 29th.]

October 25, 2006

move over, youtube…

…now there’s PhilTube.
“The Office” meets “The YouTube Generation”. Or something.
Expect to see more of this stuff in the future: cheap, easy to produce, creative, with no TV execs, huge budgets or mainstream ad agencies to have to go through. Some will make shedloads of money, some won’t; some will be artistic masterpieces, some will be utter drivel, but it’s all good. Rocketboom and Ze Frank led the way, and here’s PhilTube trying to take it further as well…
I like it.

english cut cashmere

[A misty, chilly autumn morning outside the English Cut offices in Cumbria.]
English Cut is expanding into the cashmere business. Very exciting.
As with the shirts, we don’t mind naming our suppliers. If people want to buy from us, great. If they prefer to buy directly from our suppliers, that’s great too. There’s plenty of business out there for everybody, so it’s all good.
[And in case you were wondering:] Why does some cashmere cost $20, and some cost $1000? Hype? Marketing? Or maybe something a bit more substantial? Read “Cashmere Truths” for further insight [NB: The latter was written by Arthur Rennie, our supplier].

October 23, 2006

barcelona girl geek dinners

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There wil be two Girl Geek Dinners in Barcelona on the 7th and 14th of November, organised by the lovely Sarah Blow, of London Girl Geek Dinners fame. Details here.
Men are allowed to attend, of course, provided they are invited by a girl who’s also going. Says Sarah:

The idea of the girl geek dinners was to get the girls/ women feeling happier in a social tech environment and not worry about being the only female there… I was also hoping that by providing a way of getting people to meet each other that they would arrange to meet at such events having been to a girl geek dinner. I hope that this trend continues and that it really does help to bring more females into the industry and for those in the industry to not feel like they are the only ones out there!
The number of guys looking to get invites to the dinners is some what amusing… It means that if they want to come along they really do have to find some of those girl geeks that I know are out there and get themselves invited. At least it gives the men a reason to actually take note of the girl geeks around them and maybe they could also be persuaded to help encourage more females into the industry too.

Sounds like a good reason to visit Spain to me.

October 22, 2006

victim 219

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rock & roll is about freedom

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A rather sad article in The Guardian about the British film director, Terence Davies, who in spite of receiving all this critical acclaim over the years, finds himself in late middle age, mostly penniless and out of work. His painful rants about unsuccessfully trying to receive funding from various illustrious British film organizations, is worth the read alone.

“There’s a man there called Robert Jones [former head of the Film Council’s Premiere Fund] who made us jump through all sorts of hoops, and we actually did everything he wanted, and he turned round after four months and said, ‘It won’t travel’.” He pauses for effect. “And that was somebody who had just put money into Sex Lives of the Potato Men! The way in which we were treated was absolutely shocking. If I can misquote Shaw, ‘Those who can, do, and those who can’t become Robert Jones.’ ” His voice is deep, theatrical, camp, hints of Liverpudlian with a touch of Noël Coward.

One of the reasons I like the “cartoons on the back of business cards” format is that it’s cheap and easy. This allows me to do what I want. If I were beholden to more expensive media, like film, I’d need other people and their money on board. Which means only means one thing: Other people telling me what to do. No thanks.
I remember a great quote from Henry Rollins: “Rock & Roll is about Freedom”.
Exactly. As soon as you lose the freedom, it ceases to be Rock & Roll.
But it’s a hard lesson to learn, especially when one has hitched one’s cart to the insanely seductive, competitive and expensive world of film. And based on what I know about British public art bodies, if you’re still putting all your faith in those losers, you’re just asking for the kiss of death. Let Mr. Davies’ example be a lesson to all of us, poor man.

October 21, 2006

hooray for

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October 20, 2006

quick update

I’m still in London. Leaving tomorrow [Saturday] instead. Long story.
Yes, last night’s Techcrunch party was a blast. More later.
[PS: Neither Mike Arrington or Steve Ballmer made it to the party, more’s the pity. The latter was in town and rumored to be coming. Life is suffering etc.]

October 19, 2006

purple puppy prints

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Today I spent the morning aat the Stormhoek office, signing a large stack of purple “puppy” lithographs.
This story is kinda neat. Last week our US importer sent an email newsletter around, to all their distributors and retailers. In the newsletter was an offer for a free “puppy” print. We sent them 50 prints, thinking maybe we’d get pickup from 30 people or so. And even 30 people felt pretty optimistic.
In the end however, it turns out we got pickup from 500 people. All people within the wine trade. Five. Hundred. Wow.
Though there’s no objective way to measure it properly, a wee voice tells me that the more prints I sign, the more Stormhoek will move through the market. “Indirect Marketing” and all that. So even if, yeah, signing prints all day long can get pretty tedious sometimes, on another level I find it extremely exciting.
Meanwhile, my month-long stay London is about to end. Returning home to Cumbria tomorrow.
I’ll soon be searching for a new cottage to live in. Hopefully one with a big garden. I like the big city, but it doesn’t suit me in large doses. Too many distractions.
The older you get, the harder it is to be creative without large swathes of peace, quiet and solitude to sustain you. Or maybe that’s just me?
Anyway, it’s after 5pm here; I’m about to head off to the pub, followed by the Techcrunch UK party. I’ll let you know how I get on.

October 18, 2006

if you are an atheist

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[Update:] This cartoon has generated 75 comments so far, many from atheists. Heh.

techcrunch uk lithographs

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One thousand new Stormhoek lithographs just arrived at the London office, which I have to sign in time for tomorrow’s Techcrunch UK bash. One thousand. Ouch.
I’ve heard rumors both that Michael Arrington is turning up for it, and rumors that he isn’t. I guess I’ll find out on the night, but I’ve been looking forward to meeting him for a while. It’ll be a fun evening either way.
And of course, congrats to Sam and Daniel for adding a fine new string to the Arrington/Techcrunch media empire bow.

hughtrain update

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It’s been well over a year since I’ve added anything to The Hughtrain. My last update was January, 2005.
The reason is simple. I had written everything I had to say to my satisfaction, and then I moved on. English Cut came along, then Stormhoek.
I got busy.
But recently The Hughtrain has been niggling me. Not everything on it I’m happy about. Stuff I should have said differently, stuff I should have said but didn’t etc etc.
Time changes everything.
So here’s the question: Do I re-work The Hughtrain, and improve upon it? Or do I just move on, and write something completely new and different?
Like I said, it’s been niggling me.

October 17, 2006

fake walmart blog

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My own opinion? Edelman aren’t stupid enough to have let this happen on purpose. Something else is going on. My guess is either Walmart pulled a Cleopatra on them and Edelman’s taking the rap, otherwise it was just your average middle-mangement SNAFU [If I were a gambling man, I’d wager more towards the latter]. Not that it matters. Errare humanem est. Stuff happens. Learn and move on.
Doubtless Edelman will dust themselves off and get straight back in the saddle. And THE NEXT TIME someone inside their circle suggests withholding due disclosure…
As my mother is fond of saying, “Education is expensive”.
I still stand by the nice things I said about Edelman. I enjoyed meeting Richard Edelman and his team last week.
[AFTERTHOUGHT:] I know bloggers like their high-horse feeding frenzies, but compared to the day-to-day flames large PR agencies have to douse on behalf of their clients, this stuff is child’s play.
[Meanwhile:] Tris Hussey puts it in perspective.
[UPDATE:] From Scoble:

Richard Edelman, head of Edelman*, just called. He wrote a blog post about the Walmart/Edelman disclosure (or lack thereof) issue over the weekend. He says “this should not have happened.” He also said he didn’t respond until he had all the facts, which is why both him and Steve Rubel hadn’t responded until now. Now that he has, he says that they didn’t do a good job here and he’s working to educate his staff so this doesn’t happen again. Steve Rubel also wrote about it and was pretty specific “our firm failed to be completely transparent.”
Richard also apologized for his firm’s error.
That’s enough for me. It’s pretty clear, based on our conversation that this isn’t allowable behavior at Edelman and that he isn’t telling his clients it’s a good thing to do this and that, if a similar site goes up, that full disclosure will be there and will be there from the beginning.

That’s enough for me, as well. Given the circumstances, I think Richard and Rubel handled it pretty well.

October 16, 2006

too busy

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October 15, 2006

the cleopatra effect

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One of the main reasons I never really pursued corporate blog consulting as a career, even though I’ve had some definite opportunities in this department, is because of what I call “The Cleopatra Effect”.
I remember when I was a kid watching this old black & white movie about Cleopatra. I can’t remember the name of the movie, but one scene always stuck with me:
Cleopatra is walking through the palace, when she’s suddenly stopped by the sound of pretty music, being played off in the distance.
She follows the sound of the music through the palace, till eventually she finds one of her courtiers in the garden, playing the harp.
“What pretty music,” she says to the courtier. “You play beautifully.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” says the courtier, obviously flattered.
“I would love to play music like that,” says Cleopatra. “Do you think you could teach me?”
The courtier, now that he’s feeling flattered, tries to win even more of her favor.
“Well, yes,” he gushes. “I’m sure a Queen as talented as you in so many things, would be talented at this as well.”
“Oh, good,” says Cleopatra, obviously delighted. “Here’s the deal. You teach me to play the harp. If I cannot play as well as you within one month, I will have you flogged. If I cannot play as well as you within three months, I will have you executed.”
The courtier’s face turns white. Cleopatra gives the courtier an evil smirk and then turns and walks off.
Make of this what you will.

October 14, 2006

gapingwidget

Hurrah for global micoromedia: Dave Snowden over in Singapore has the gapingvoid widget on his blog. Thanks, Dave!
I love the internet. I love watching stuff spread all over the world, like a global virus. It’s cartoons in my case, but it could be anything. Which makes the whole global microbrand thing so damn interesting.
We live in wonderfully amazing times, no?

October 13, 2006

top ten reasons why you didn’t sell your web 2.0 company to google for $1.6 billion.

[NB: This cartoon is available as a Blogcard.]

“Top Ten Reasons why you didn’t sell your Web 2.0 company to Google for $1.6 Billion” [in lieu of the recent YouTube sale]:

1. You already sold your company. For a lot less, to somebody else. Ouch. Ouch. Pain.
2. Instead of giving your company an easy-to-spell, easy-to-talk-about name like “YouTube”, you decided to give your company a name that [a] nobody likes and [b] nobody can spell. Robert Scoble explains.
3. Your company probably isn’t even worth $1.6 million, let alone $1.6 billion. Heck, $1.6 thousand would be considered “not bad” in some books…
4. You’re still working at Starbucks. So you went from dotcom entrepreneur in 1999, to a penniless barrista in 2001, to… ummmm.… still a penniless barrista in 2006. Life is unfair.
5. Your business model doesn’t scale. In fact, I’m not quite sure about your business in the first place, let alone whether the model scales or not…
6. Marc Cantor likes you. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
7. “Inbound Links” is not the same as “Inbound Cash”. Some people take a while with this one.
8. None of the A-Listers linked to your blog. If only people like BoingBoing and Engadget had agreed to a little ol’ mutal backscratching, the market would have blissfully overlooked the fact that nobdoy likes or uses your product. Next time, offer cash bribes. Seriously.
9. It doesn’t say “Beta” on your home page. Why does that matter? What, you mean you don’t know?! Loser.
10. Valleywag doesn’t try to crash your parties. I know. Not having Nick crashing your parties takes some doing… it’s like having mosquitoes in Northern Maine not trying to bite you. Kinda spooky when it happens.
[Bonus Link:] “Top Ten Reasons Why Nobody Reads Your Blog”.

walled gardens explained

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[Bonus Link:] After a recent trip to Big Sur, California, Evelyn Rodriguez rambles on nicely about its most famous resident, the great Henry Miller.

October 12, 2006

giving vs taking

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I was in the pub the other evening, trying to explain the difference between Web 1.0 [“Dotcom”] vs Web 2.0 [“Blogs & Social Media”] to a web neophyte friend of mine.
The short answer: “Dotcom was about ‘taking’. Web 2.0 is about ‘giving’.”
Dotcom basically built glorified Yellow Pages. You go, you get the info you need, hopefully you buy something en route. The relationship between the user and the website is impersonal, not unlike the realtionship between the Yellow Pages and its readers. They show, you select. They give, you take.
The architecture of Web 2.0, however, is about people giving away their stuff i.e. “sharing”. Whether its a well-written blog post, or photos uploaded onto Flickr, or videos uploaded onto YouTube, the act of you giving is every bit as important as people other people receiving. This is why the number of blog readers isn’t that much larger than the number of blog writers. Writing is as important as reading. Giving is as important as taking.
Suddenly for the first time in history, the world’s most powerful form of media is about giving, not taking. The implications are vast.

This explains why Madison Avenue has had such a hard time getting their heads around blogs. Their culture, evolved during an era of television, radio and newspapers, is all about THEM giving, and nobody else doing so i.e. producing a one-way information exchange, aka broadcasting. People [‘The Consumers”!] are only invited to “take”. They’re not interested in the reader being able to give back. “Giving” is only allowed by a bunch of pre-selected professionals, who are on their payroll, beholden to their rules, who they deem worthy to stay on message. Amateurs need not apply.
Giving vs. Taking. Exactly.

i got into the wine business

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valentine 001

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[Another one of my new Stormhoek wine label designs.]

October 11, 2006

to the left

[Dedicated to Jeremy Walters, who I hear is going through a very tough time at the moment. Sorry to hear that, Jer… Hope things get better for you soon.]

our last meaningful conversation

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360 degrees

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brief mention in the f.t.

Based on the Edelman/Technorati study I mentioned yesterday, The Financial Times cites gapingvoid as the most influential blog in the UK.
Though it’s nice to get a mention, I don’t feel particularly influential these days. My focus has shifted away from the blogosphere a lot in the last year, towards the more capitalist world of selling wine.
It seems to me that if there was a “blogging revolution”, it has already happened. 2002 – 2003 were key years for me, and a lot earlier for people like Winer, Megnut or Doc. The genie is already out of the bottle.
Again, it comes down to my favorite quote from Clay Shirky:

“So forget about blogs and bloggers and blogging and focus on this — the cost and difficulty of publishing absolutely anything, by anyone, into a global medium, just got a whole lot lower. And the effects of that increased pool of potential producers is going to be vast.”

Shirky’s quote to me is the real story. The Blogopsphere and “Web 2.0″ are just small parts of this greater whole.

October 10, 2006

edelman and technorati in london

This morning at 8.30 I found myself in a conference room at Claridge’s Hotel in Mayfair [where my sister also had her wedding reception a few years ago, funnily enough], attending a small Edelman/Technorati confererence.
As far as conferences-with-a-corporate slant go, it wasn’t bad at all. It was only an hour and a half [thankfully], which is about how long I think all conferences should be.
This was the panel:

* Richard Edelman, President and CEO, Edelman
* Peter Hirshberg. Chairman and CMO, Technorati
* Kevin Anderson, Head of Blogging, Guardian Unlimited
* Iain Dale, political commentator and blogger
* David Brain, Head of Edelman Europe
* Nick Reynolds, Senior Advisor Editorial Policy, BBC

Other people in the audience:

*Mike Krempasky, VP Edelman Washington, DC.
*Stephen Davies, Edelman London
*Neville Hobson, who has relocated back to London from Amsterdam.
*Suw Charman, a well-known UK blogger who has also done some work for Edelman in the past.

The conference seemed to spilit into two distinct halves.
1. The PR Bit. Edelman and Technorati telling people about their new strategic partnership, which Edelman’s Steve Rubel also wrote about today:

* To influence the influencers, you need to take both a local and a global view of the conversation
* The dialogue in each region is fairly balkanized and reflects the local culture and influences. However, it is influenced by media and blogs in other countries
* Companies and brands are discussed in European blogs, but not nearly as often as in the US or as product categories are talked about
* Brands have a big opportunity to become part of the conversation by listening and developing programs

2. Blogging in General. This bit, athough there were certainly some smart comments coming out of it, I found less satisfying, simply becasue the non-Edelman/Technorati part of the panel were made up of people from the political/journalist/media side of the ‘sphere. I wish this had been more balanced with some entrepreneurial and Web 2.0 startup bloggers adding their two cents [someone like Sam Sethi would’ve been good]. But that’s really a minor point.
All in all, I enjoyed meeting the Edelman crew. Richard Edelman I found particalrly interesting. Though Edelman is known as the people who “get it” more than any other of the large PR firms, he was quite candid in talking about how diificult it has been trying to acclimatize his clients to this brave new world of ours. I’m guessing his attitude is, his clients will resist at first, but will be thanking him in five or so years’ time.
After the conference Peter Hirshberg and I went out to lunch, to talk about all things Technorati. En route I took him down Savile Row to and introduced him to one of my bespoke tailoring friends, Ravi Tailor of Airey & Wheeler.
[Jacki Danicki also was at the conference, and writes about it at length here.]
[UPDATE:] The whole event has been put up on YouTube here.

October 9, 2006

hate is just a word

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October 7, 2006

love and convenience

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les blogs III, paris, december 11-12th, 2006

Loic announces Les Blogs 3. Good reason to visit Paris in December.
Less blog talk this time, more Web 2.0 stuff, apparently. Sounds like a good step in the right direction.
I’ll definitely be there. You?

October 6, 2006

nicola’s tee

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Very cool. Nicola just e-mailed me this photo. She downloaded this cartoon off gapingvoid, then stuck it on a t-shirt. Thanks, Nicola!
[Meanwhile:] The Head Lemur points me to this great article on Ethmar.com: “7 Things I Wish Wine Retailers Would Figure Out Someday”. I especially like Number Two:

2. Quit telling us what Wine Spectator recommends. Yeah, this should piss someone off. But seriously folks: I don’t want to hear about what they or any other wine-oriented magazine said about the wine, I want to hear what you thought about it. You’re selling it, right? Give me a sign that you’ve had some exposure to the product. Anyone can post signage that comes in the wine case, or tear strips out of a magazine. What did you like about it?

hallam foe blog dinner