Over the River

Weber Shandwick has an active and growing Clean Tech practice and will be co-hosting a Renewable Energy Business Network reception this evening in conjunction with Cleantech 2008. Here are the details:

Time/date: 5:30pm, Monday June 2nd
Place: The Hynes Convention Center, room 304 – in conjunction with the Cleantech 2008 event going on next week
What to expect: Lots of open conversations, a drink or two, a few brief words of encouragement from your co-hosts and some announcements from the REBN.

In order to get into the convention, you need to register – FOR FREE – with the conference organizers. Your registration will enable you to attend the REBN reception, as well as tour the exhibit hall.

To register, go to https://www.eshow2000.com/nano2008/nano_reg.cfm. Fill in your contact info, and select “Cleantech2008” as the event you’re planning on attending. Important: On the second page of the registration site, you need to enter both the Registration Code “REBN” at the top of the page, and select “Exhibit Hall only” – the page will indicate that the cost is $80, but don’t worry, on the next page you’ll see that your REBN membership means the fee is waived. There will be a name badge waiting for you at the Hynes Center when you get there.

Brokaw started his comments with some self-deprecating humor and jibes at Harvard (where he was accepted but not given financial aid).

MIT, he said, is at the intersection of information technology, the personal computer and the Internet. While he doesn’t understand the inner workings of technology, he does recognize that the introduction of technology will fundamentally change the world. In fact, he sees this as the most transformative era of technology that he can imagine.

He likens this transformation to a second big bang; with all of us looking and trying to determine which of the new planets will support life, watching planets merge (or attempt to merge) and grow to play a larger-and-larger role in our digital life.

One of the things that is striking about the advances in technology, he said, is that it isn’t happening in the darkened cloisters of nerdish wonks. The advances are being driven out in the open by all kinds of people. The power of the transformation available through technology is limited only by our imaginations. As technology makes our planet smaller, it also makes the possibilities larger.

But, he went on to say that life can’t be a virtual experience. What happens, he asked, if we have capacity without compassion; or if speed outstrips reason. It will do little good, he continued, if we wire the world but short-circuit our souls. A bit overwrought perhaps but I got his point.

Brokaw went to to talk about the people whom he’s met who were the most interesting and he ran through a litany of the saints of power and influence. The most memorable people though, he said, were ones whose names he never know (he could have asked them or something – just sayin’): civil rights workers in the 60s, American doctors in Somalia, Chinese students in Tiananmen Square, NY firefighters after 9/11. What made these people memorable was that they were willing to put their lives at risk to make the world a better place for everyone; and, he said – perhaps again with more drama than was needed – technology was providing new tools for these people.

He went through examples of how technology is making a difference and cited Rwanda and Pakistan. He suggested that the tools being used need to always have a human face to help “lower the temperature of fundamentalist rage.” I think I got where we was going with this but not 100 percent. People of goodwill from around the world have been putting themselves at risk to help others for a very long time – often with nothing but a human face to present to the world.

If anything it seems that technology can – while making the process of providing support more efficient and effective – throw up barriers between people that even technology with a human face might now be able to surmount. His point was a good one though as he described the possibility of connecting technology with commitment to help define this generations contribution to the world.

He went on to describe the horrors witnessed during the 20th century and pointed out that we are now living on an even smaller planet where the limits of power have become increasingly apparent. He ticked off a list of the problems we’re facing today – the growing gap between the haves and the have nots, global warming, etc. - and suggested that while we had the technology to deal with these issues (which is questionable) we needed to find the will; and the attention span.

This led to his addressing concerns around the Internet. He feels that we need to think about the source and the integrity of what appears on the small screen (as, frankly we do with information from any source) and his message to the audience was to beware of the unidentified matter that comes from the edges of the blogosphere. Of course this assumes that the blogosphere – like the universe – has edges, which isn’t necessarily the case.

He expressed concern that there are “small media meteorites” that may be the product of imagination, error or malevolence bombarding us every day. And while how we receive information is changing the requirement that information be gathered and distributed by trained professionals remains. I suppose as someone who has spent his life in the traditional media this point of view is understandable; but clearly the rise of citizen journalism is in response (at least in part) to the frustration people feel with the main stream media.

Brokaw likes the democratic nature of the Internet for sharing ideas and opinions, for sharing information and connecting with others and for hearing voices that one might not otherwise hear. The access to information is powerful. He pointed out, however, that the possibilities for distortion, fraud and anarchy are there and that we need to recognize our moral, and intellectual commitment to leave the planet better than we found it by putting our boots on the ground while using technology as an extension of our hearts as well as our minds.

The whole of his comments lasted only 20 minutes or so (about the time I spent waiting in line to get in) and they were generally innocuous. There was nothing unexpected or profound in them (perhaps others would disagree) and they left me with the impression of an honorable man’s attempt to offer his perspective on a rapidly changing world.

Technorati Tags: Tom Brokaw, MIT, technology, media

One of Boston’s best events – WebInno – is on for tonight at the Royal Sonesta in Kendall Square. If you’ve never been you need to go and if you’ve been before you know you don’t want to miss out. As I’ve done for some time now, I’m offering my rundown of the companies that will be on hand and I’ll be following up in a few days to see if I was right in my predictions and assumptions.

Main Dishes

Good2Gether – one of the really nice things about WebInno over the past several months is that there’s been an undercurrent of social benefit in many of the participating companies. We’ve seen Carbon Rally, Make Me Sustainable, GoLoCo and SpotScout to name a few. Good2gether continues this tradition.

The goal is to help connect people and causes. The idea is that they will put non-profits in front of potential donors, volunteers and advocates. It all sounds well and good and some of their launch partners are terrific (the American Red Cross, the National Audubon Society, the MS Association, etc.) but I wasn’t able to get on to really monkey with things.

The company is planning to launch in 11 cities over the coming months, staring here in Boston in April. Given the general economic slowdown, non-profits are going to need all the help they can get to stay relevant and well-funded. I sure hope this is a solid, well-executed and well-received idea.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed: at the moment they’re pretty low. The site looks good and the idea seems strong but there wasn’t much to go on.

Chances that I’m way off base: wicked low

PicMe Photo Sharing – I love taking and sharing pictures. I am totally addicted to Flickr. It’s probably the service I use the very most and find the most satisfying. But is there another category that is as splintered and diverse as online photosharing? I mean you have the big walled sites – Kodak, Shutterfly; the public sites like Flickr and Photobucket; the hybrid sites like Phanfare and into the fray leaps PicMe. How many of these do we need and how many are going to stick around?

PicMe seems to be all about organizing photos. (A good thing for someone taking a few thousand photos a month.) I signed up, downloaded the desktop application and was pleased to see how quickly it found and stacked the few photos on my work PC. I liked that I could see my Flickr contacts but couldn’t figure out how to see my own photos. I scared me that I could right mouse click on a friend’s photo and get the options: “Remove Photo from Flickr” and “Remove Photoset from Flickr.” I was too chicken to find out if that really works but if it does it’s really, really bad.

Sharing photos seems a little annoying as everyone you want to share with has to have the desktop client (which is currently Windows only . . .). Even the old-school sharing sites allowed you to share with just an email address.

Not to be a total gloomy Gus though. This has some very positive points. The ability to see all of my contacts images in a single UI is pretty nice (of course I can do that with the Media Bar in Flock, my main browser). I think PicMe is an interesting application and one worth checking out. I do kinda feel like most people have their imaging workflows more or less together so it will be interesting to see where this fits in.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed: I liked what I saw but didn’t exactly love it. I’m sure it will demo well though and that it will get plenty of ohhh and ahhhs.

Chances that I’m way off base: pretty high I guess. I could see myself walking out of there and wanting to go to town and use it every day.

Jack Cards – Connecting our World Thoughtfully? What might that mean? The home page includes a quote from the Wall Street Journal: [jack cards] “ . . . saves users the hassle of last-minute trips to the card store.” Guess what? I don’t make FIRST minute trips to the card store. In fact, I don’t like cards in general. When I get them I look at them for like a second and say, “Aww, that’s nice,” as I walk to the recycling bin. Clearly I am not the target market.

What’s weird about this is that unless I am mistaken this is the second greeting card company to present at WebInno in the past year. Nichie-nichie or what?

Expectations that I’ll be wowed: On a scale of zero to negative infinity, I would say there is an infinitely negative chance of that happening.

Chances that I’m way off base: If I become a woman between now and this evening I might think this is perfect; but I’m not expecting that to happen (and if it does I’ll be pissed) so I think that speaking for me I have this right.

Side Dishes

Traackr – can I tell you all a little secret? I am a total attention whore sometimes. Not *ALL* the time but certainly sometimes. My greatest aspiration is to be a supahbrand. I spend hours on end clicking refresh. I can’t control myself. The along comes Traaker. It promises to do this mindless checking and double-checking for me. I signed up but I can’t figure this thing out to save my life. I’ve put in my user names multiple times but they never seem to stick. There’s a tick box but it never seems to click.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed: Pretty high actually. I would LOVE to have an easier time of determining how awesome I am. I just wish they’d look at a broader range of sites and services.

Chances that I’m way off base: not that high. This seems straight forward and if it actually works it would be a cool site.

Moborazzi – When I first heard the name I thought of Lego Bionicles. Then I went to the site and saw that it was a play on words “Mob” and “Paparazzi” – two popular and friendly terms . . . So this is ANOTHER way to share photos? This is a service that allows you to take picture with you phone and post it to the Web. Ummmm and this is new how? Most of the photosharing sites seem to allow this and new services like Utterz and Qik are allowing people to do more and more interesting things with their mobile devices.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed: See Jack Cards.

Chances that I’m way off base: Moderately good I guess; maybe this is just what the world needs.

Lingro – first blush – a dictionary? Meh. But then I checked this thing out and man is it cool. You can go to ANY Web site and click on ANY work and get details on the word in a number of languages. How cool is that? I tried it on a number of sites and it worked awesome. Go and try this – it really is cool and I think if like words you’ll like this site.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed: Well, I already am so I guess the expectations that I’ll be wowed are very high. I suspect that seeing it in person will probably show things I didn’t find on my own. I can’t wait.

Chances that I’m way off base: Very low. If I am not as excited after I see this I’ll be extremely surprised.

Yamli – This is kind of a niche but it’s cool never-the-less. Yamli lets you search Arabic Web sites in English. That’s pretty neat. Of course the results are all in Arabic so it lessens the utility a little bit (at least for me since to say my Arabic is rusty is to say the sun is bright). It also provides the ability to type in English and have it converted Arabic on the fly. Here’s an example:
ذي والروس ات مي انجلش مفنس. (In case you can’t read it, it says “The walrus ate my English muffin.) Definitely a tool with potential but it still feels a little rough and the utility could be stronger.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed: I like the idea of being able to expand my ability to search beyond English and to write in other languages so I have high hopes for this one.

Chances that I’m way off base: Total. I could be totally wrong.

Entrecard.com – These are essentially ads for blogs. They kind of reminded me of the ads you see over urinals – kind of weird, generic and untargeted. I have to be honest – the site does a terrible job of explaining what it does. I’ll try to stop by to check it out but man it doesn’t do much for me.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed: I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Chances that I’m way off base: Any time I take an extreme position my chances of being off base go up. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen.

FLIMP – Except for its really unfortunate name this is pretty cool. The site allows you to create video sites very quickly and then distribute them to targets via email. The email distribution this is cool because it allows the site to collect crazy analytics. From a content creators perspective it’s pretty cool. As a content consumer, boy, do I really want all the details of my behavior analyzed so quickly and easily?

I like what they are doing and offering. I like the look and feel of the site and I REALLY like the look of the microsites generated by Flimp. It’s cool, they have awesome customers and it seems to work well.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed: High – I already like this service and am imaging ways to use it.

Chances that I’m way off base: Pretty low.

Stylepath – A neat idea – kind of a personal online shopper/stylist that learns about you and makes suggestions for additional products you might like. If I had a less slovenly sense of style I might find this site really useful but as it is I don’t care as much as I probably ought to. I will say that the site is pretty slick in terms of look and feel and functionality.

There would probably me more in it for me if it allowed my to create a profile based on broader interests – books, movies, music – and made style suggestions based on my similarities with other – more stylish – people who share my taste.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed: For people who are into and care about how they and their space looks it might well be a total “wow!” For me, not so much.

Chances that I’m way off base: I think it’s pretty low.

When I heard there’d soon be free WiFi on the Worchester line (which is the one I take every day) I couldn’t stop grinning. I considered it to be a potentially life-altering development. A week later and a few opportunities to try it out here’s what I think.

First of all, it is totally nice to be able to get online on the train. I know lots of people already do with WiMax and Mobile Broadband but for the rest of us it’s nice to have an opportunity. It does seem like the program - especially in the early days - is a little confused. I have seen a number of on-train networks: DemoProject, Junctionbox and Commuter Rail Connect.

DemoProject - which gave me a nice strong signal on Friday morning wouldn’t actually allow me to connect with anything. Junctionbox that afternoon gave me a connection and a strong signal but was incredibly slow. CRC is the official network and this morning brought me to the T’s terms and conditions page.

Right now the connection is technically limited to one car. I’ve looked for the network in cars not marked with the on board broadband sticker and haven’t had any luck. I’ll bet if you were in the very next car you could get on no trouble.

I get on in Natick and the signal has been strong all the way into the city. The speed isn’t terrific - 400k down and 200k up but it’s better than nothing. I haven’t seen anyone else using the connection on any of the trains I’ve been on and I wonder how slow it will be if there are 30 or 40 people sharing the bandwidth. It won’t be pretty.

I’ve been using it for pretty light online activity - posting to this blog, IM, twitter, etc. While it might not be the fastest connection you’re going to find it’s free, fast(ish) and sure makes the commute a little more pleasant. Hats off the the MBTA for taking this first step.

I wasn’t familiar with these guys until the wrote asking to use some of my photos for their guides. I’ve been seeing a number of new travel companies recently and like some of the approaches people are taking. I’m a big fan of Untravel, not so much of Urban Interactive and way of Schmap (OK, so the fact that they use my photos for free helps . . .).

This past Tuesday’s WebInno was great. The event continues to grow and, in fact, may be getting TOO big (at least for the room it is currently in). It’s size actually made it hard (and in some cases impossible) to see many of the sidedish companies. I was near the door and the conversations in the foyer - even with the door closed - made it hard to hear some of the presentations. But these are nits.

While I really enjoy the presentations and the companies, what’s most valuable about WebInno for me is the chance to see people and to get a sense of the Web market here in Boston. Based on this week’s event that state of Web innovation and interest is higher than ever. I was only able to spend time with two companies - MakeMeSustainable and Glassbooth.

I really liked what I saw from MakeMeSustainable. Their analytics and Facebook integration - with its carbon tree metaphor for building a network for carbon reduction - were very impressive. Ben Brown, the CEO, and David Delacourt, the COO, were kind enough to show me the product and to discuss how they see themselves fitting into the market.

We talked for a while about how MMS compares with Carbonrally - a company that was at WebInno a few months ago. MMS has the analytics well in hand while Carbonrally has done a great job of building on people’s competitive spirit to engage them around the issue. It’s hard to say which approach will be most successful (if either) but some hybrid would be very appealing.

I went in expecting to love Glassbooth and I totally did. Robert Boyle explained things to me in more detail than I had gotten on the site - including their plans for the future. This was something I think a lot of people wondered about - sure, it’s a great tool heading into a presidential election but what do you do afterward?

Robert explained that they hope to use the system for a growing number of elections - local, state and federal. It sounds like a plan - especially since they are a non-profit that is receiving its funding primarily through foundations. I continue to be impressed by the depth of the site and by the commitment of the people involved with it.

As for the main dish presentations - my opinion of SpotScout and Urban Interactive is unchanged from my preview. SpotScout seems like a really niche product (if I don’t take the T I just part in a garage most of the time) and Urban Interactive still seems like it could be an annoying idea. That said, I can imagine examples of Urban Interactive executions that would be totally engrossing and fun. Maybe it’s just the way it was described - with references to reality TV, etc - that turned me off.

A new wrinkle on the event was the ability of everyone to vote on the coolest main dish. SpotScout won in a landslide so they certainly had something to say to many of the attendees.

Paper Hats did well at the event. More than 20 people were willing to don the recycled headgear and allow themselves to be photographed and the Paper Hat movement seems like it is poised for some exciting growth. Keep your eyes peeled for Paper Hats cropping up wherever the cool kids congregate.

Ans speaking of congregating - post-WebInno saw a terrific traveling Tweet-up. First downstairs at Dante and then across the street at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a veritable who’s-who of wicked fun people.

The next WebInno isn’t until April so we’ll have to come up with something else to amuse ourselves in the meantime.

Did everyone else have a great time?

At last week’s MITX event I badgered the panel about the possibility to payment for content creators on social sites. I was told the question was “naive” and heard from a commenter that there was no way this would happen in for foreseeable future. To his credit, that person did mention that YouTube was doing something like this but he wondered is anything had actually been paid.

Imagine my relief this morning when I saw this article on the BBC.com. Apparently I’m not as naive as some believe and the foreseeable future as arrived!

YouTube users in the UK will be given the chance to make money from the videos they post on the site.

The project is already up and running in the US and is now being extended to other countries, starting in the UK.

In the US some contributors are already earning thousands of dollars each month from their films, according to the video-sharing site.

The amount that is earned will depend on the number and popularity of the videos, it said.

Will this eventually extend beyond YouTube and become standard industry wide? Why not?

WebInno16 is right around the corner and so I thought I’d take a few minutes to preview the companies that will be presenting and sidedishing at the event. To see them for yourself, come to the meeting on Tuesday, January 29th at 6:30 at the Royal Sonesta in Cambridge.

Here’s who’ll be there and what I expect from each of them:

Main Courses

MakeMeSustainable

The Rap:
This is a tool that helps people understand and do something about their carbon footprint and it’s pretty slick. Lots of nice graphics that illustrate how much carbon is being used and some very practical suggestions for reducing CO2. One of the things that I thought was really cool about the site is that it tells you not only how much carbon you can reduce by doing simple things (recycling, composting, raising or lowering your thermostat, etc,) but also how much money you’ll save in the process.

I found parts of it to be a little confusing. The “action” (where you make adjustments to your carbon use) is rich but not always super clear. For example, it suggests limiting the number of newspapers you receive. Well, I don’t have any delivered but there’s no way for me to tell it that. I THINK I can commit to the number that I will reduce by but if I’m already at zero, well, what can I do?

That said, it’s a really clean and good looking site and given the fact that it’s still in beta very strong. It’s similar in spirit in some ways to Carbon Rally but it doesn’t have the same competitive edge to it. Both are cool and ought to be checked out and supported.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed:
I’m looking forward to seeing the demo and hope that someone who knows the site will be able to make it clearer to me. I mean the idea is pretty simple but I’d love to see all it can do. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be wowed and don’t expect to be disappointed.

Chances that I’m way off base:
Pretty low. I think I get this one.

SpotScout

The Rap
From discouraging the carbon life style to celebrating it! Talk about niche, SpotScout is a parking space. It’s not really fair to say these guys are about celebrating carbon, in fact, a ton of fuel is spent cruising and looking for spaces so anything that improves the process will actually cut CO2. While I get and like the concept, it seems like it could be tricky - especially for on-street parking.

Reading about it makes the whole seem sound pretty complicated to me. There are “SpotCasters” who broadcast information about available spaces via the Web and “SpotScouts” who are looking for spaces. These can be spaces on the street, a driveway, parking lot, etc. I guess that since I don’t usually drive this doesn’t seem that pressing to me but I guess I could be missing something.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed:
Very low. I just don’t see the pressing need. Hey everyone, leave your cars at home if you can and take the train. Here in Boston they’re a way better alternative.

Chances that I’m way off base:
Pretty low. This seems like a cumbersome answer to a petty annoyance.

Urban Interactive

The Rap:
“Discover the secrets of a city with an interactive sight-seeing adventure,” hmmm, sounds kind of interesting I guess. But the site goes on to say, “learn about a city while solving riddles, performing stunts and competing for prizes.” Performing stunts? Listen, if I live in the city and am confronted by a gaggle of giggling yucksters on a fun filled adventure in my neighborhood I could see myself being a little less than amused.

I CRINGE when I see people acting like idiots and the idea of people “engaging in exquisitely goofy behavior” is probably more than I need to know. Last WebInno featured Untravel which seems like a more civilized and less annoying way to learn about a city.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed:
Very low. The idea of people wandering around searching for “lost relics” and interacting with comedians is enough to make my skin crawl - no thanks.

Chances that I’m way off base:
Pretty high. This is probably a really fun way to see a city and I’m sure that the people involved have done a great job in setting things up and preparing the groundwork so a good time is had by all.

Side Dishes:

MyHappyPlanet

The Rap:
“Learn a Language. Make Friends. Have Fun.” Hard to argue with the concept. Unfortunately, the site is in a closed beta so I can’t say much about it.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed:
Super high, I mean, how couldn’t they be since I don’t know anything about it.

Chances that I’m way off base:
How can I be off base?

Survol

The Rap:
“Building Wireless Data Use through Usability” Hi Survol, 1996 called and they want their Web site back. This is all about streaming data to mobile devices. I THINK i has to to with navigational data but I’ll be honest, the site is SO poorly designed and written that I glazed over in five seconds flat. And I actually really like geeky stuff but this was a snoozer.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed:
Pretty high. Look, just because the site stinks doesn’t mean that what they’re doing isn’t cool. I just can’t really get it online. I’ll bet that talking to a person about it will make everything clear. At least I hope so.

Chances that I’m way off base:
Moderate. It’s possible that this is just really, really boring . . .

Glassbooth

The Rap:
“Glassbooth connects you to the 2008 presidential candidate that represents your beliefs the best” Heady stuff and this site tackles it well. In fact, this is a totally awesome site. If you don’t know who you’ll be voting for next month, you have to go to this site. Not going, why that would be just dumb.

Basically, the site starts by asking you which issues matter to you more or less. You’re give 20 points to weight your preference. While I was doing this I was thinking, “Hey, it’s not clear if I’m saying I am for our against these things.” As a friend of mine would tell me, “Patience young Jedi.”

Why be patient? Because the very next thing that happens is a little quiz. There are only 20 questions and you’re asked to rate statements like, “I support or oppose gay marriage” or “I support or oppose increased funding for public schools” on a five point scale, from “strongly oppose” to “strongly support.” The questions are based on the issues you said mattered to you.

Once you take the quiz, it lets you know which candidate is closest to your point of view. For me, it came out with John Edwards and Mike Gravel being 81% similar to me. What’s really great about the site is the ability to drill down into all of the issues and to see each candidates statements, voting history, etc.

This is a totally awesome site. You’ve GOT to try it.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed:
I already am about as wowed as I can be with my clothes on.

Chances that I’m way off base:
I would put that at a great big ZERO.

Mofuse

The Rap:
“Increase your brand awareness & conquer the mobile Web!” I’m still trying to crack the Web that’s sitting right here still in front of me but I guess I could use this thing. I have a bunch of blogs and there’s one in particular that would benefit from a little mobile twist. Mofuse sounds totally smart and easy. I didn’t set it up because I don’t have a mobile browser that I don’t think sucks. Maybe tonight I’ll try it and check out the results on my wife’s Touch.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed:
Very high. I think this is a great sounding tool and am looking forward to see it in action.

Chances that I’m way off base:
Pretty low. This is fairly self-explanitory and if it works like they say it will be great.

Buildium

The Rap:
“#1 in online property management” Last WebInno saw two companies - FlipKey and iiManagement - dealing with property management. And now a third? Who knew that online property management was such a strong sector here in the Boston area? Just doesn’t do much for me.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed:
Very, very low. I though iiManagement was cool but it will be hard to impress me with this kind of thing two events in a row.

Chances that I’m way off base:
Very high. I think, as is often the case, that seeing it in person will be cooler than reading about it on the Web.

Socrato

The Rap:
“Test preparation getting smarter” First, I can’t stop giggling about the name for some reason. You know, half the time I hate getting old and then I see something like this and I’m so grateful I don’t have to deal with these kind of tests any more. My kids do - but, hey, that’s their problem. I kinda wish I’d had something like this when I was a kid though. Basically, you can take sample tests, see how you’ve done and receive study materials based on your results. Sounds pretty smart to me.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed:
Moderate. I think this is a great idea and can’t wait to hear more about it.

Chances that I’m way off base:
Petty low, this is a simple concept that I expect will be really helpful.

So that’s my take on the companies lined up for WebInno16. Of all of them, Glassbooth is the one that really gets my blood flowing. Check back later next week to see what REALLY happened.

So a colleague sent me this article from Computerworld last night - finally, I have a label!  I am part of the Virtual Generation - and I am with pride.  Here’s how Gartner describes GenV in the article:

Generation Virtual, or V, is made up of people from multiple age groups who make social connections online — through virtual worlds, in video games, as bloggers, in social networks or through posting and reading user-generated content at e-commerce sites such as Amazon.com, said Adam Sarner, senior analyst at Gartner.

Forget Generations X and Y: Here comes Generation V

I spend WAY more time active and interacting in virtual communities and relationships that I do the physical world (OK, so that might be an exaggeration - but I do a lot online). And I do these things through a number of persona that have developed for different purposes.

So here’s my life as a 41 year old member of GenV:

I have three blogs that I update regularly - two of them every day.  Only this one is by me the person.  The others are written as persona - and one of those was a splinter from the first . . .

There is an online relationship with a fan of one of my blogs.  I’m very open about this.  My wife knows, friends know, she knows I’m married - we all know the terms and it’s all good.  Our relationship is built around collaborating on what is frankly pretty much pure filth smut.  The stories are a lot of fun and have resulted in a very popular blog (and no, I am not telling anyone where to find it).

I have three Facebook profile that I am on every day.  One is me, the other two and tied to my other blogs and have distinct friends.

I can’t even guess how many email accounts I have but there are four that I use on a daily basis.

Flickr is my friend and though I’ve slowed down recently (I need to revise my photographic workflow) I visit the site every day.

Twitter - and the network of friends and contacts there - has become a big part of my day.

(There’s more but I need to get moving - I have to bring my daughter to Spanish soon.)

When I read or hear people criticizing virtual contacts, communities, connections, relationships, etc. I always think that they’re the ones missing out.  Online communities and just as rich - if not richer - that their real world analogs.  They are populated by a far more diverse range of people and interests than you come across in the real world.  There’s only one GPC wandering around in physical space but there are several versions and variations of me active online.  And truly, I think that is a good thing.

Technorati Tags: Generation V, Computerworld, GenV, persona, person, identity, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, email, communities, Flickr, relationships

Blogged with Flock

I’m a bit tardy in getting up my scorecard from last week’s event - I had to travel, got real busy, etc., etc., etc. OK, so it’s lame that it’s taken a week; but better late than never, right?

So let’s see how I did calling the companies:

FlipKey

These guys are all about helping find great vacation rentals. Now you may be saying to yourself, “how hard can it be?” and to a certain extent, you’d be right. But their point is that most people find it much easier to simply book a hotel room rather than looking for a place to rent. They’re also saying that there are tons of vacation properties around that are vacant most of the time so their owners are missing out on some economic upside. FlipKey wants to make finding and renting a vacation property simple. Maybe it’s not a cure for cancer but sounds pretty cool to me.

Expectation that I’ll be wowed – not super high. The idea makes sense and all but I’m not sure it’s going to be a big show-stopper demo.

Chances that I’m way off base - pretty low. I get the idea and am looking forward to seeing it but don’t expect it’s far from my expectations.

I was definitely impressed by what these guys had to say. There was one point in their demo when they showed a search for property on VRBO. It was a totally confusing mess. Then they showed the same search on Flipkey. Let me just say that the results were way, way different. And different in a good way - no, a great way. The site is slick, the content strong and they’ve really seemed to think through the business details.

I missed the boat in terms of being wowed by the demo - the night and day difference between Flipkey and what’s out there now was pretty dramatic.

Lemonade

Billed as ecommerce for everyone, I’m a little confused by Lemonade. It’s not like you have to own the products you sell on your stand, you only “recommend” them. You can put your stand on Facebook and other social networks which is good since who’s going to go to Lemonade to find my stand? Seems odd but what the hell, I signed up. That process was pretty smooth (the section for selecting your date of birth didn’t really work) and parts of it were really slick (the tool for choosing your stand color comes to mind). The range of products you can include on your stand is pretty extensive – almost a million – and they run the gambit from pretty cool to pretty crappy. One thing that I wasn’t clear on – and it might just because I didn’t read everything as carefully as I should have – was how you (and Lemonade) actually make money. I guess they’ll explain all that on Tuesday.

Expectation that I’ll be wowed – I really, really want to be wowed by this. If it’s a way for me to make a little cash I’m all over it.

Chances that I’m way off base – very high. This sounds too good to be true so it probably is.

So I saw the demo and heard the story but I still wasn’t that blown away but Lemonade. I get the idea, but I’m not a big impulse shopper and that’s kind of critical for this to work. I mean, if I’m looking for something, I’m more likely to go to a company Web site or Amazon or Google rather than a friend’s Facebook page. But that’s just me.

I will say that they have a good looking site and that they’ve considered how they’re going to make money - both good things; but I just don’t see how it’s going gain any traction. Of course their job got a whole lot harder when Facebook announced a new, friendly approach to advertising . . .

iiProperty

I guess if one “i” in front of a word is good, two “i”s must be twice as good. Either that or this is targeting aspiring sailors. Joking aside, this is an online property management tool for owners, builders, realtors, etc. who need to manage property as a commercial asset. This is the second property related demo at the event and it will be interesting to see if there is any connection between the way they each talk about themselves and their market. It’s also the second company I’ve seen in the past few days that seeks to automate a business process to make it easier and more palatable. (The other is FreshBooks http://www.freshbooks.com/ - which is seeking to provide billing systems.) Not being in their target market (although I do like boats) I didn’t register for this one to check it out. The idea makes sense though, and I will say, I was a building manager at one point and there were lots of parts of the job that would have been easier with a computer or something but it was the 80s so what can you do?

Expectations that I’ll be wowed – moderate. I don’t really know all the ins and outs and intricacies of property management so I may be pretty easy to impress.

Chances that I’m way off base – equally moderate. Who knows . . .

So it turns out that the “ii” has nothing to do with sailors - which is kind of disappointing. What wasn’t disappointing was their demo. Now I’m not going to say that EVERYTHING about it was cool or impressive but there was certainly some stuff in there that was. They are going after “casual” landlords - people with a few properties but who aren’t living the landlord dream.

They showed a pretty slick dashboard for managing properties, contacting tenants, etc. It looked pretty nice. But that wasn’t all. They also showed a version that’s intended for renters. It allows them to put in repair requests, correspond with their landlord and even, in the future, pay rent online. There was another slick little think they showed - the rentometer - that showed all of the current rents for specific kinds of properties. It looked nice and all but I don’t think it’s going to help anyone argue for a rent reduction . . .

Side Dishes:

Carbon Rally

Now this is cool. It uses competition to get people to make little changes in their lives to deal with environmental issues. The site issues challenges – things like giving up bottled water for a week – and calculates the carbon impact this will have. It encourages people to create teams of friends and colleagues to compete with others to see who can eliminate the most carbon from their day-to-day activities. As someone who recently gave up his parking space in Kendall Square in favor of the train, I’m all for what they’re doing.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed – pretty high. I like what these guys are doing, I like the approach they are taking and want it to work.

Chances that I’m way off base – pretty low. What I’ve seen of the site looks good.

I had a chance to talk to these guys a little before things got rolling and was impressed. It’s clean and simple site, it’s not trying to do too many things and I could see how it might get people engaged. What I don’t see is any way from these guys to make money.

Mixandmeet

Kind of like flashmobs meet online dating – but not quite, Mix&meet lets you create social situations with random people on the fly. Hmmmm. So you feel like grabbing a drink after work but all your co-workers are losers? Just tell Mix&meet where you are and what you want to do and you’ll get a note telling you who you’re meeting, where and when. It sounds pretty cool to me. I actually met the founder, Bruce Franco, the other night at the xconomy launch party and he sure made it sound appealing. I signed up for the service but it’s not quite ready just yet so I guess I’m going to have to wait.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed – as someone who loves going out to drink and meeting new people, I expect I’ll think this is pretty cool.

Chances that I’m way off base – pretty good. I’m 41 and I’m willing to bet that this is going to be popular with a slightly younger set and I’ll be seen as kind of an outlier.

I didn’t have a chance to talk with Bruce but saw his short description of the site. It does sound good and he’s pretty passionate about it. I can’t really say much beyond that.

Panospin

Haven’t I seen this somewhere before? Panospin provides 360 degree panoramas and to be honest, I know these have been around for years – years and years and years. So I’m honestly curious about what makes this different, new or better than previous incarnations. The language on the site seems a little bizarre to me - “Although still photography is good for detailed views, it doesn’t simulate a real life experience the way a 360 degree panorama can.” Huh. By this logic, video would be even better for “simulating” real life, so why not just grab a camcorder and go nuts. Color me skeptical.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed – hovering at or below the Mendoza line.

Chances that I’m way off base – fair I suppose – it’s possible that I’m missing some wonderful and essential fact about Panospin that will totally blow me away . . . but I doubt it.

OK, so I checked this out. Still doesn’t do much for me but I do understand it better. These guys didn’t develop the technology or anything, they’re basically a production company that can make products, sites, etc. look good in 3D. I wasn’t wowed, not by a long shot, but I guess I can understand why people might use them. How many places have this capability themselves? Let alone the skill and eye to do it well?

360gadget

When I first saw this company’s name I thought, “is it really possible that there are TWO 360 degree panorama companies coming to WebInno?” Not surprisingly, the answer is “no.” So what does 360gadget do? The apparently provide a customized Facebook page that can contain all sorts of terrific stuff – Google search, RSS, YouTube, etc. I say apparently because every link I tried on the page gave me a slightly different error message. I’ll try it again at some point but I didn’t really do that much for me.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed – gimmie a Z, “Z”, gimme an E, “E”, gimme an R, “R”, gimmie an O, “O”, what’s that spell? “Zero!” What’s that spell, “Zero!!”

Chances that I’m way off base – very high. Look, the thing wasn’t working when I went to check it out and so it might be beyond fantastic. Having a broken site isn’t good though so I’ll have to wait till Tuesday to see for sure I guess.

So I didn’t really check this one out. Things came up, what can I say? I have to say though that I just don’t think this is very interesting at all.

Student Concourse

Ah for those halcyon days of carefree youth! But it looks like youth isn’t as carefree as it used to be (or at least as carefree as I remember it). Student Concourse vows to help though and they’ve created what looks like a pretty slick application. Not only does the application itself look pretty cool, the site is nice as well. Being that I’m not a student in the most technical sense of the word, there’s plenty about this application that’s probably Greek to me but I’m still looking forward to checking it out.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed – very high. From the little I’ve seen I want to see more so I am hopeful.

Chances that I’m way off base – pretty low. I think this looks cool – of course there are a ton of questions and I’m only talking about this from an application/technology perspective – who knows about the business model . . .

OK, so I didn’t really check this one out either. But what was cool about it is that it was developed by a kid in high school. I’m betting he has a pretty good handle on what’s needed to be a successful student these days so I’m willing to guess that this is probably a pretty solid offering. A pity that I won’t have the occasion to attend high school again, that would rock on so many levels.

Untravel Media

So just because of the order they’re listed on the WebInno page (kinda sorta alphabetical) this is the last company I checked out. It also happens to be the one that I think is the most interesting. It combines a bunch of stuff that I really like – mobility, travel, media, etc. So what is this all about? It’s about portable content on places produced by the people who live there and telling interesting stories. There are a few examples up on the site now - “Creeping through Boston” - that has to do with Salem (for Halloween and all). The concept, content, site, etc. are all very polished. The process for creating the content is pretty complicated and I hope that it isn’t always going to be (you have to apply to product content, go through a review and training process, attend regular meetings, etc.). It would be great is people were able to do these films in a faster and more flexible process. I can imagine people seeing this content and deciding they can do it without all of the process and overhead. Either way though, this is cool.

Expectations that I’ll be wowed – super high. I like this one very much.

Chances that I’m way off base – tiny; it’s possible that it’s going to seem way less cool when I see it in person but I don’t think so.

I went in expecting to be impressed and I wasn’t disappointed. Having worked at Alcatraz (I was a park ranger) I understand how much people love location-based rich content (I’m referring to the audio tour of the prison). Untravel is making that kind of content - even richer with the addition of images and video - available for anywhere someone wants to produce it.

The types of content and kinds of devices they support was good and will only get better as they add GPS support in the future. I also love it that anyone can create content for the platform. I like being able to share and hear stories about places (I liked SpotStory and am bummed that it folded) and can imagine all sorts of tours that I’d like to create. The tools for doing them looked good and I am hoping to try my hand before too long.

So that was it in terms of the companies last week. Beyond the companies though there was the whole social scene that is WebInno. That continues to grow and improve. No more WebInnos now until the end of January. That stinks.

Hope you enjoyed this little recap. Let me know what you think - if you agree, disagree, etc.

Technorati Tags: WebInno, FlipKey, Lemonade, iiProperty, Carbon Rally, MixandMeet, Panospin, 360gadget, student concourse, untravel media