Buzzwords might be great for PowerPoint decks, but if you are part of a buzz-worded industry, it sure as hell gets annoying,
Take a look at this Google Tends page for “Social Media.” The past two years have seen the kind of growth curve in terms of search queries that would make dot com boom investors salivate like Pavlov’s dog.
Don’t forget though: media is inherently social. We consume it and share it with others. A boombox with 2 cassette bays is a social media device as it lets me share my music. Is it as elegant and fast as embedding a Soundcloud player (or carrying a ghetto blaster with you at all times)? No, but that doesn’t change the designation . The obsession, then, comes from increasing numbers of tools to share various media. However, this is an ever present trend (DVDs are easier than VHS tapes and those are easier than laser discs) and just because all of a sudden there is a word to define it, doesn’t mean everyone needs to hop on the “sell the buzzword bandwagon” and create noise in the digital creative industry. This noise locks people into a frame of though and doesn’t let some truly bright minds behind this “digital media sharing” space push us forward.
Here, as always, to jump start your weekend is Mix it up Friday! Yeah! This week we have an Austrian DJ. Roman Rauch, from Vienna, throws down some interesting tunes going from jazzy to house motiffs in a stylistically “messy in a good way” mix.
He doesn’t have a cute bio that I can stick in here, so instead here is a wiki link to Vienna. :p
What makes the web great is that it is measurable. Marketing on the web is very effective (when done right) because you can gauge how effective your targeting is.
I would like to talk about a metric that the typical model of “get a ton-o-users then monetize” often overlooks: revenue per user. As your number of users grows, the revenue per user drops drastically.
Why does this happen? 2 reasons:
Infrastructure is not free. Storage and most importantly bandwidth, although dropping in costs, are fat bills that you have to factor in. These are so large, in fact, that companies like Facebook have to invest in creating new compression and storage technologies (like Haystack, for example) to cope with the large volumes of data.
More importantly, a bigger body of users is much harder to target. Once you step outside of the realm of interconnected communities, you are screwed. You might target males between the ages of 23 and 34 who live in Chicago and love Electronic Music, but you are not guaranteeing that they interact with each other or interact communally with your brand.
Read on to see what sites get the aforementioned issues.
Whatever happened to space being cool? I am not talking about Trekkie space or Star Wards space or Vin Diesel assassin space. What I am talking about is big white spacesuit, moon rovers, rockets, and the quest to conquer the unknown. Back when the USSR and US were duking it out for world mojo, countries would unite behind their space programs.
We need to go to space again, and in a big way. Some world leader (perhaps someone charismatic, educated, outspoken, and loved by all (so far)) needs to pull a Kennedy and say we will colonize the moon within a decade. I am not talking a tiny pod either. Something with a low gravity foosball table and everything.
“But Gary, we are too focused on the financial blah blah blah…” OK, I get it, but get over it. This recession business is the official cop out for getting shit done now… cut it out.
Innovations in space exploration lead to creation of durable and lightweight materials, compact food storage, flight dynamics, miniaturization, advancements in muscle atrophy prevention, and etc etc you get the point: space is pretty cool.
Time for some deep dark groovin’. Otherwise known as another entry in the weekly Mix it up Friday! This week I bring you DP-6. I’d write something about the duo, but they did the job for me with a nice bio on their SoundCloud page!
DP-6 project represents DP-6 Records label.
It was founded in the beginning of 2008. The label conception is unique electronic music of different styles. DP-6 records sound range is not limited by any frames. It extends both on hard sound & deep music. The label owners are DP-6 project participants – Vadim Indigo & Alexey Filin. Their experience of producing & releasing tracks begins from 2000. They know how to surprise you by quality & conceptual electronic music. DP-6 records continues the project traditions opening new sound horizons.
This week’s mix is from a DJ that needs no introduction (at least on my site he doesn’t). Keith Lotta (known to some as DJ Baton) from the awesome-sauce KGBeats crew brings another great mix.
Loops Around You, a collection of smoothly deep jazzy and ethnic house music. Inspired by spring moods and unusually rough weather in Chicago this year.
Please remember to support your local DJs and record shops!
As promised, I am going to share some insights as to what it takes to kick some serious ass at a conference. I just returned from MIPTV in Cannes and, despite the awful weather, we had a terrific show.
This post is meant to be a timeline guide to avoid anxiety in planning a conference appearance for your company
8-9 Weeks out
Prepare your budget. Make sure you know exactly how much you want to spend on a show in total. This includes:
The stand itself
Per Diem for your team
Space at the show
Size of team
Accommodations
Team dinners
Lead generation events
Advertising and promotion
Transportation
7-8 Weeks out
Book your space and register your team with the conference.
Determine what sort of printed materials and document you will need at the show. These include:
Brochures
Business cards for the entire team (we had our booth on ours)
Product sheets
Price lists for services
Template proposals
Printed in depth presentations for on site follow up meetings
5-7 Weeks out
Work with your booth builder and creative team to create the design for the booth.
. The obsession, then, comes from increasing numbers of tools to share various media. However, this is an ever present trend (DVDs are easier than VHS tapes and those are easier than laser discs) and just because all of a sudden there is a word to define it, doesn’t mean everyone needs to hop on the “sell the buzzword bandwagon” and create noise in the digital creative industry. This noise locks people into a frame of though and doesn’t let some truly bright minds behind this “digital media sharing” space push us forward.
