I read someone on Twitter describe this week’s ad:tech Sydney conference as a “love-in for marketers and ad agencies.” (Read ad:tech twitterings here.) It’s an interesting description that betrays an obvious slant towards the “other camp” which I heard one ad agency exec describe with a hint of derision as “all these social media consultants.”

As an aside, we’ve also got the “tech” part of this whole “ad:tech” meme. But that’s been conveniently sidelined in the battle of marketing ideologies. Maybe we just take technology (ie. the one giant computer called the internet) for granted now, since it’s use-case scenarios that matter.

So all this got me thinking. What is it about the mindset of agency-types, and the mindset of social media consultant-types (I tend to fall into the latter), that causes mild friction at events like ad:tech? Read the rest of this entry »

So I’m getting ready for the ad:tech panel on social media that I’ll be moderating this Wednesday. Just checked out the conference site, and I see that they’ve updated the program.
Joining me will be Adrian Toy, Regional Director Digital, Universal McCann, Australia and New Zealand’s Bebo GM Francisco Cordero, and Mike Murphy, VP, Media Sales, Facebook. Mike’s actually the conference’s main keynote, so together with the other guys we’ve got quite a crew.

The conference organisers have given us the task of deciding whether a value proposition has emerged for social media and consumer generated content. Given the companies in question, I can hardly imagine it will be “no”…. but it’s interesting that we should even be faced with the question.

So, what should I ask these guys?

Update: Fox Interactive Media (MySpace) business development director Nick Love is also on the panel.  So that’s Facebook, Bebo and MySpace all on one panel. You don’t get that every day.

It nearly didn’t happen. I was booked on a flight from Sydney to Canberra at 6am to attend the first day of the AFR’s GovTech conference in July. And in hindsight it would have been far less stressful if I flew down the night before. Instead of telling it to wake me up at 4am Thursday morning, I inadvertantly ticked 4am on Friday morning. It turns out it is possible to outsmart your smartphone. Lesson One: don’t set your alarm when you go to bed at 1am on the same day you have to get up… late nights affect your judgement.

So you can imagine how I felt when I sat bolt upright in bed at 6.35am, a full 35 minutes after my flight took off without me.

Skip forward to when I turned up at Sydney’s domestic terminal at 7.30am, still trying to regain composure. Here’s where I’ve got to tip my hat to Qantas. The woman at the ticketing counter graciously put me on the next flight at 8.10am and didn’t charge me for another ticket. By some small miracle I made it to the Hyatt Hotel in Canberra at 9.20am, just in time to hear the final 5 minutes of Philip Ruddock’s keynote. It was also 10 minutes before video interview was scheduled.

Our film crew had already set up the camera gear and lights (I was told), so after a quick handshake I walked with Ruddock across the corridor and we got stuck straight into the interview. It was all done and dusted in 10 minutes, and after he’d gone I just sat there and stared at the ceiling for a moment. It was the second video interview I’d recorded with the AFR, and the first time I’d met Ruddock. And it nearly didn’t happen!

The rest of a day was something of a blurr, but fun. We interviewed Special Minister of State Gary Nairn, Federal Government CIO Ann Steward, and other federal and state CIOs. Edited versions of these interviews are progressively making their way to the site here.

As for Mr Ruddock, you can see our interview here. As a special bonus it contains my first crack at borrowing from the “piece to camera” playbook of your favourite ABC/commercial TV reporter. Yes, I am a print/online journo discovering 3D. Be gentle! Oh, and Lessson Two: when fronting a camera in Canberra in July do yourself a favour and wear a warm coat. How cold is it down there for crying out loud???

Just in case you’re fooled by that picture of me on my blog, I don’t always act like a dude in a suit. Big Mick’s got the (kinda scary) evidence from last night’s STIRR party.

Anyway, congrats to all the guys behind the Dinner 2.0 party, particularly Tangler, Atlassian, TVP and Neo. Make no mistake, the Internet business is back in Sydney and it’s alive and well.

Update: Cam’s video of the night is gold. Make sure you keep watching to see Chris Saad give Mike Z. from TVP an elevator pitch in an elevator.

Down in Canberra tonight staying at the (slightly weary-looking) Rydges to attend the AFR Government Technology Summit this week. Check out the agenda here, it’s a pretty heavy-hitting lineup of government types.

I’m up tomorrow facilitating a panel about single sign-on and related e-government issues. But that’s not what’s got my attention right now.
I’ve got my hands on an AFR-issue notebook that the help desk kindly agreed to equip with one of Vodafone’s new HSDPA data cards (disclosure: they sent it to me for a review, and I guess I’ll have to send it back some day… ; ). That means no hassles about finding WiFi, or paying through the nose for in-room broadband.

I just ran a couple of bandwidth tests and got download speeds of 810.8 kilobits per second and 961.7 kbps. Apparently it can get up to 1.8 mbps - we’ll see.

Oh, and if you’re in Canberra swing by the conference and say hello.

A quick thumbs up to Frank Arrigo and the Microsoft execs who hosted a ‘Microsoft bloggers’ brunch at TechEd in Sydney this morning.

One of the PR women there looked at me suspiciously (and I can’t blame her) when I said I was impressed. The group of 20-odd people comprised of bloggers, media and Microsoft execs spent 1.5 hrs talking all things Vista. It was an open, honest conversation. We had questions and they had answers. If they didn’t have answers, they said as much as they knew.

This sort of dialogue represents a subtle, but significant shift in the way tech companies relate to key influencers. Microsoft has recognised that bloggers and media are opposite sides of the same coin, and a new approach to disseminating information is now required. The press release and press conference is dead. The new era is about conversations that are open, transparent and yes, making the vendor vulnerable. But with vulnerability comes respect. And by ‘respect’ I don’t mean that we stop asking hard questions. It’s just that we expect real answers and Microsoft is one vendor apparently willing to dip their toe into this brave new world.

For people like me, media’s in the blood. There’s something compelling about news, feature stories, and comments that make you think. Then there’s the buzz you get from publishing a story, a quality product, or starting a new conversation.

I’m one of the speakers at Ross Dawson’s Future of the Media Summit, being held simultaneously (ie connected across the net) in Sydney and San Francisco (my two favourite cities) on 18/19 July. If you don’t know about the summit, check out the event’s site, or Ross’ blog. Btw, this ain’t no dinky event. Speakers include Wired’s Chris Anderson, Technorati’s Dave Sifry, and Fairfax Digital’s CEO Jack Matthews.

On the agenda are some pretty familiar topics: globalisation, how content will be created, future revenue models, and so on. There’s an argument to be made that media has been deconstructed and separated into its basic elements - content, community, revenue models, etc. Just look at the rise and rise of separate online job sites, or classifieds businesses. Likewise, blog-style media outfits like Alwayson, or Crikey, are carving out a niche as sources of "independent" information.

So one question in my mind is to what extent are we simply deconstructing old media, calling it new media, and then putting it back together in slightly different fashion? That’s my cynical Aussie view of the world. The happier (Californian) view says citizen, or community-driven media is a refreshing change and a noble pursuit for all forms of media.

Got any thoughts?

G’day from sunny Coolum, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. I’m here with about 70 other journalists and 80-ish other IT vendor, analyst and PR types at MediaConnect’s annual Kickstart conference.

Just attended a session about blogging, and its interface with media, journalism and marketing. One of Filtered’s favourite topics, of course. On the panel was Charles Wright (who, by the way was the first editor of the AFR’s Information section), Darren Rowse (Australia’s favourite self-employed blogger) and Phil Sim (conference host, and the man you can blame for Squash).

The target audience for this discussion was marketing and PR types, who’s carefully controlled world of massaged communications has been turned on its ear by the blogosphere.

Given time was short, and much of the time was focussed on the basics of the experiences of Wright, Rowse and Sim, we didn’t get too deep into the sharp end of the disruptive stick.

But there were a few nice quotes:

Wright on the decision to close the Razor blog (Fairfax’s flat-fee payment wasn’t enough to justify the 3-4 hrs spent on it each day), and start a paid subscription service. The blogosphere “is extremely loyal, unbelievably loyal.”

“People started to pay me $50. One person started to pay me $100, plus $10 per month,”
“We’re reinventing economic laws, and the laws of commerce here,”

Rowse on that vexed question of fact-checking and relying on your readers to do it for you: “The light of truth does tend to shine through, I don’t know how it does.”

Rowse on how he stumbled into blogging with a personal travel site: “No one looked at the photos, but there were lots of hits to my digital camera review.”

Rowse on the launch of B5 media with two other business partners:  “I will meet my partners for the first time later this year.”

Sim on advice to the PRs: “Bloggers don’t want a conduit. It’s all about direct conversations.”
“I would encourage you to get your executives blogging.”

“To me the blog is this one great social networking tool.”

Updated below

When you’ve got four helicopters hovering above your house for an hour from 6:30am that’s usually a good sign that something’s wrong.

So imagine my surprise when I turned on the TV to see images of Epping Road, 50 metres from my house in Lane Cove, completely blocked with traffic. A hole about 6 metres wide had opened up underneath the corner of a unit block about 200 metres from my house. Here’s the SMH story.

The unit is close to my bus stop, so I had to walk with my fellow commuters a short distance up to the Pacific Highway, get a different bus, and catch a train to work.

I’ve got just a few questions that need answering given that the tunnel almost runs directly under my house, not too far from where the ground has already given way.

Here are a few pics taken on the camera phone.

On Thursday afternoon it looked like this:

And on Friday while various media reports say they’ve plugged the hole with truckloads of concrete, an amusing document fell into my inbox containing the following words (not the ominous absence of "location, location, location"

“Affordable Living… On the Edge!”

Recently renovated

Large windows 360o views… down

Good airflow - cool all summer!

Open-plan living

Split Level

½ a bathroom

Large basement

Easy access to Lane Cove tunnel

Owners anxious to sell

Hurry, this offer won’t last. Many expressions of interest already!

You might recall on August 23 the AFR published a mammoth 12 page special report to recognise 10 years since the advent of the commercial internet, ie, 10 yrs since the Netscape IPO. Since I can’t point you to the free stories on our site, Mick Stanic returned the favour (I quoted him) and summarised it here (actually, if you email me I can probably twist the arm of our edit assistant to send you a back copy).

Anyway, Slattery IT next Thursday, Sept 15 is will hold an event to dive into the issue with Rewind Fast Forward. Yep, this is a free plug, but hey, I’m one of the people up the front, so why not come along and throw a few tomatoes… Seriously though, aside from yours truly, Rachel Slattery & the team look like they done a great job getting some high-flyers of the industry to speak. Check out the program.