ChadTech

My take on all things tech and social media.

[chadtech-blog-blog]

I do not, nor to a really intend to, jailbreak and iPhone. But I do believe, once I've purchased the device, it's mine to do with as I please (along with the right to not complain about anything I do to void the warranty). So news like this is something I find frustrating. Read on...

Whether or not jailbreaking or rooting one's smartphone is a legal act isn't something most of us in the U.S. have had to think about for some time. That's because, in 2010, the U.S. Copyright Office declared that jailbreaking devices is not a violation of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Fine, said Apple, but it will still void your warranty and we bet it will screw up your phone.

Despite the company's official disapproval, jailbreaking iOS is still big among a certain subset of users, as evidenced by the popularity of the A5 Absinthe tool that was released last Friday. But should people in the jailbreak community continue to rest easy, assured that freeing their devices will forever remain legal? Probably not.

[chadtech-blog-blog]

The Economist: The last Kodak moment?

This is a really good article on how, even an innovative company like Kodak can fail to adapt in time to a changing technological environment.

http://www.economist.com/node/21542796

[chadtech-blog-blog]

From Techcrunch: The Uphill Battle Of Social Event Sharing: A Post-Mortem for Plancast

An interesting, fairly objective post-mortem from the creator of PlanCast on why his social network failed to reach critical mass. Like a lot of folks, I wanted to like PlanCast, but I just didn't have enough plans that were worth sharing with the world. 

http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/22/post-mortem-for-plancast

[chadtech-blog-blog]

And here I thought the delay was just because Timeline was acting buggy. Don't get me wrong, I really like the feature. But I, and friends who have also enabled it, have noticed some weird glitches. That's typical of something that's just been released to developers...but what was odd is that we'd been noticing them awfully close to the rumored September 30 launch.

Although a federal judge has refused to grant a temporary restraining order on Facebook at the request of Timelines.com, a small Chicago company that claims Facebook's new Timeline feature threatens its business, Facebook has promised to delay a full launch. Facebook Timeline, a feature that r...

[chadtech-blog-blog]

This is totally worth you trying. When I heard the word "developer" I thought, "well, I can wait a week." But a couple other folks' attempts made me brave, and it was crazy easy. 

You've been hearing about all the wonderful new Facebook features, and like us, you're probably super-eager to get started with them. If you're willing to go through a series of eight steps, you can get into the brand-new Facebook Timeline right now. Simply follow the instructions in our ...

[chadtech-blog-blog]

Finally. Google+ yawns, stretches, scratches and ponders getting up.

Amidst all the Facebook news, have you noticed how quiet the Google Plus team has been this week? Too quiet, eh? Here's why: they've just released the first documents for the Google Plus API. Today on the new Google Plus Platform Blog, the Plus team has opened parts of the API to developers, and this is "just the beginning."

The time has come for outside applications built on the Google Plus platform. With this release, Google has laid out its policies for independent developers, which it summarizes with three simple principles: "put the user first, be transparent, and respect user data." And with that, off to the races.

[chadtech-blog-blog]

Looking forward to trying this out. Been using Facebook Lists for a while, and I'm glad they've decided to upgrade the feature. See below for the Mashable article...

Facebook is launching a massive upgrade of its Friend Lists feature in an effort to make it more useful for users. The feature, which debuted in 2007, is currently used by less than 5% of users, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The revamp is designed to make Friend Lists easier to ma...

[chadtech-blog-blog]

#SocialCongress Details How Congress Feels About Social Media

One of the things I find vexing, working as I do right now for a trade association, is the lack of understanding about how Congress uses (or even views) Twitter. Obviously we can intuit some lessons from campaign buzz and from the Anthony Weiner debacle. But thus far I haven't seen a lot striving for empirical cred.

So I was glad to get an invite (after a fashion) to the #SocialCongress research presentation by the Congressional Management Foundation. You can see a .pdf of their report at this link, but here are some stats I found interesting:

64% of staffers surveyed said that Facebook was somewhat or very important to "understanding constituents views and opinions;" 74% thought it was somewhat or very important for "communicating the Member/Senator's views and activities to constituents"

42% of staffers surveyed said that Twitter was somewhat or very important to "understanding constituents views and opinions;" 51% thought it was somewhat or very important for "communicating the Member/Senator's views and activities to constituents"

34% of staffers surveyed said that YouTube was somewhat or very important to "understanding constituents views and opinions;" 72% thought it was somewhat or very important for "communicating the Member/Senator's views and activities to constituents"

34% of staffer surveyed said that a Member/Senator's blog was somewhat or very important to "understanding constituents views and opinion;" 39% thought it was somewhat or very important for "communicating the Member/Senator's views and activities to constituents"

As you might expect, members of Congress are using tools like Twitter and Facebook for instant virtual polling on issues. And it doesn't take much to move the needle for them either. CMF says as few as 20-30 tweets on an issue can impact perceptions in your Congressional representative's office. 

The report is refreshed and republished regularly so it might be worth following CMF's RSS feed.

[chadtech-blog-blog]

Spotify - The First Weekend

Was responding to buddy in a Facebook thread about Spotify so I'd repurpose the response into a couple of notes here about Spotify after my first weekend with the service. This is my first foray into this type of online service, I haven't really used Rdio, Mog or Naptster. So mostly my online music streaming has come from Pandora.

There has been some discussion online about Spotify v. Pandora, and that's probably the wrong comparison to make. So far there's some overlap in how I use Pandora and Spotify, but I haven't really embraced the social elements of Pandora (a task, I gather, that will be getting harder to avoid now that they've begun restructuring the Pandora site as a social network). But after my first weekend with Spotify, I have to say I do like their Facebook integration. 

While I find I enjoy Pandora's playlists, I do find them limited...much in the way I found satellite radio's playlists limited when I subscribed to that. And that's the best comparison I can make. As a user, Pandora is really more like radio to me and so far I'm using Spotify like iTunes. Judging by the most recent Lefsetz Letter I'm not alone. But I disagree with Lefsetz on one point, I think there is actually room for both Pandora and Spotify in my listening experience. Sometimes people want the delight of not knowing exactly what track is coming up next. They just want to know they'll probably like it. Other times you do want to move through a musical mood of your own creating. So for me, Spotify is likely to bring back the Mix Tape madness of my youth. And maybe that's not a bad thing. 

Now will I pay for Spotify? After a few days of listening, the ads are still not annoying enough to make me want to plunk down $5 a month. But I'm still debating whether I want to drop $10 to go mobile. My big hang-up? I'm also considering using Amazon and/or Apple's cloud lockers. Spotify might change that, but my music collection is sizable and diverse. And Spotify hasn't cleared the rights on everything I have. So if I want to listen to my whole collection when Spotify doesn't have access to my hard drive, I really need an Amazon or iCloud. Or so it seems.

I guess I'm still weighing my options there, but either way this array of options is leaving this recovering music collector quite happy. 

[chadtech-blog-blog]

The Google Wonder Wheel...

I was at a presentation Google made to the staff of National Geographic the other day. It didn't have the "wow" factor of other G presentations I've heard legend of, but I was introduced to what I think will be a very useful tool. It's called the Wonder Wheel and it arranges relevant and related search results in a hub/spoke (or mind-map) way.

This looks like it could be very useful for SEO strategy, but also for helping to brainstorm marketing ideas. Gonna try it out with Facebook ads and see if it gives me any strokes of insight.

And if your looking for pics, GoogleLabs has a similar tool in development called Image Swirl.

[chadtech-blog-blog]

SaaS-shups...

Final Idea Lab of the ASAE Tech10 conference. Gonna to spend it looking a mashups using Software as a Service (SaaS)...which combines the data or functionality from multiple sources that are, in part, services offered via the web. Our tour guide: John Stover from SusQTech (makers of Sharepoint). One common question people have...how do you integrate your site with Facebook, Twitter, etc.? AddThis (or ShareThis) shares your HTML page with over 300 social networks. Installing this is a very easy cut & paste of Javascript code. This service will also provide with some analytics that you can work into your regular reporting dashboard. Interested in file sharing? Check out Dropbox, which gives you up to 2GB of storage space free (works well with iPad). Could be useful for small businesses. The nice thing is its free, but if you're Mac-based, MobileMe will do the same for an annual fee. For other fun and experiments check out jQuery: an open source, concise Javascript library that give developers a backbone on which to build mashups. Adobe, Google, Microsoft all use jQuery. It's lightweight and cross-browser. Good to get to know and it's as easy as going to the jQuery library and just performing a search. The Twitter API is an easy to work with. It's not hard for developers to drop Twitter feeds into a site. Another cool example, Capitol Words has an interesting API that allows you to pull in all the speeches made on Capitol Hill each day, parse and segment out keywords that are important to your audience. Could be useful if you interact frequently with legislators. But mapping mashups are the "cool" tools these days according to Stover. Google, Bing and third-party solutions (offering Flash-map or Silverlight control) are all options. Google and Bing are free though. Also, the jQuery libraries have free map interfaces. Third-party options all have the potential to cost you money. The last demo is for Federated searches. These show results from multiple search technologies on one end result page. It basically lets you add another set of search results from another source. You can use this in a widget that you include on your page. You can include Bing, Twitter, the Library of Congress, Flickr, YouTube, or anything using Osearch to provide search that delivers value to your audience. For example you can set up a federated search for keywords that your audience might have special interest in, and then project those through a widget on your webpage. Finally here are some SaaS categories you can mashup: ads, blogging, bookmarks, calendars, chat, database, email, events, feeds, photos, reference, tagging and video. This presentation was heavily based on examples of Stover quickly cutting/pasting codes...making it all look fairly easy. There's not much more to say here beyond the fact that SaaS feels like a cool source for inspiration that's worth exploring. And that's a wrap from ASAE Tech10.

[chadtech-blog-blog]

On How Not To Run a Social Networking Site

After a lengthy networking lunch (where a surprising number of people were crashed out asleep in chairs spread around the convention center), we're back into the Idea Labs here at ASAE Tech10. I'm opting for the session on how not to run a social networking site, hosted by Pat Rich, Director of CMA Online Content. Even good people with the best intentions attempting to follow best practices can still fail if certain fundamentals aren't met. Pat is telling us about the downfall of the Canadian niche social network Asklepios (trivia: the Greek god of medicine) targeting members of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). They embarked upon creating the site because of member demand and because of the threat of outside competition. And they checked off key benchmarks like matching technology with mission, asking audience what they wanted (and give it to them), ID'ing key features of the tool, and having an implementation plan. What they got was a site with their audience at the center (gave them what CMA thought they wanted). Rolling out the site they found the early adopters (the audience that was already online), performed segmenting and targeting and kicked the launch off with an event. In the beginning they kept things simple (not a lot of bells and whistles) and let their audience guide the project. One advantage...they were able to set the social network up so that a member's registration for their main website also worked for Asklepios. Without recounting the story, here are some of the lessons: -most importantly, establish/define a good value proposition for the social network -Have a good RFP process to get good vendors on-board -Perform extensive audience research (they did some, but not enough) -Make sure you have IT support and resources -Make sure you have Executive support, but make sure it's based on adequate knowledge -financial resources are only part of the battle, make sure you have human resources allocated -have a clearly defined governance structure for how oversight of the project was going to work -name is everything. It's good to have a unique name, but if people can't pronounce it you're in trouble -give your staff access (CMA staff couldn't see or use the site due to the wishes of members) -it's okay to keep things simple when you launch but you still need some functionality. Finding the right balance is difficult but critical -establish metrics for site use early on, review them regularly -establish a marketing budget and use it. Too many sites are simply launched and left to languish. You've got to spark some enthusiasm for the social network. -follow-up with new users, welcome them, be more interactive with them -let the community police itself. Not only is it more social, but it limits your liability when you don't promise to catch every little faux paux -have a plan to add and increase functionality. The magic of new versions...give people something to get excited about -don't wall your social network off from other social media initiatives undertaken by your organization -perform a regular review of your policies and make major adjustments when it's clear they are needed Not a bad presentation. It provided some good review, and I'm happy to say that even though this was a story of a #fail the site is continuing to grow and they are continuing to learn from their early mistakes.

[chadtech-blog-blog]

Tips to Keep from Drowning in a Sea of Analytics

For the first Idea Lab (breakout session) for ASAE Day 2, I opted for the session on analytics with Marissa Goldsmith from Beaconfire. She broke the session down this way….

Tips on how to think about analytics:

•You have to start by defining success, and avoid using analytics to do this. State your goals and then use analytics to see if you met them.

•Focus on trends less than the specific numbers. Trends help you add context to your numbers. Analytics are detailed, but there are limits.

•Be careful about comparing data from different sources. WebTrends and GA may get different numbers for the same stat and that’s okay…they measure stats differently.

•Only look at actionable analytics…stats should tell you if your doing a good job or if you need to do something better.

Tips on how to present data:

•Be wary of overarching organization-wide dashboard reports. They are dull because they just present numbers, not stories. And as a rule, if it’s dull to create, it will be dull to read. They are often difficult to understand. And not everyone cares about everything. Consider a series of smaller dashboards instead.

•Never leave anything unexplained and never just say something is bad. Dig further into the analytics to find out why, then propose a solution.

•Add fun graphics when you can.

•always double check your numbers before you present them, and be aware that some issues are implementation issues.

Tips on implementation:

•You do have to plan, it’s not just cutting and pasting code.

•You can use WebTrends and GA simultaneously, just don’t mix and match numbers. Supplemental programs worth considering include: CrazyEgg, DoubleClick, Flurry, AdThis/ShareThis.

•Don’t rely on your analytics tool alone. Take stock of your tools: CMS, eCRM, Blog, Community Tool, Online Membership Tools. Present reports based on a variety of sources.

•GA will not track PDFs, external links, or other specialized tracking (eg., between CMS and CRM pages). So you need to write scripts (or ‘borrow’ someone else’s) to compensate for these. (consider using Brian Clifton’s external tracking script for GA.

•use GA filters: eg. To filter out your office’s traffic so you don’t skew your numbers. But be sure to create one profile that is filter free (a “raw” profile), just in case something goes wrong with your filter

•test your analytics. Use GAIgnoreMyHits to isolate your particular visit. Test each situation and in some cases wait…and test again to see if the results are the same.

Recommended Analytics Reading:

•Beaconfire Blog

•NTEN Article on Dashboards

•Lunametrics blog

•Measuring Success blog (by Brian Clifton)

•EpikOne Blog

[chadtech-blog-blog]

Gary Shapiro, CEO of CEA, Speaks...

Sitting here at Day 2 of ASAE's Tech10 Conference. Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of CEA is giving us his take on how mobile tech is changing business in 2011.

Some trends based on what he knows is coming at CES11:

•Tablets: there will be 80 tablets introduced at CES11

•"Internet enabled everything:" TVs will get a lot of press in the next month, but Internet connected cars are on the horizon too.

•Apps: there is not a single hardware category that will not have apps. 'Command and control' models are really catching on.

He's pivoting away from trends to talk about the importance of innovation to the US economy (see http://innovation-movement.org). Shapiro believes innovation is the American way. It's our strength, and it's rooted in the fertile soil of the First Amendment...in an open society.

Some lessons from innovation (there were 10:

•think three years out, you have to look beyond the next fiscal year. For example, with CES2011 a few weeks away, he's actually focusing more on CES2012 now.

•keep the big picture in mind at all times

•recessions are not necessarily bad, they force you to take a critical look

•"mistakes are healthy," so long as you don't sweep them under he rug

•"context is everything": eg., just knowing one score doesn't tell you who won a game

•"speak in plain English:" Shapiro thinks big words are a sign of weakness (Strunk & White is his bible)

•"one page is better than two:" always be brief whenever you can

•"have goals": make them measurable

•Apps are the future, not just the the actual App but an App mentality. Explore these tools as ways of reaching your measurable goals

•be passionate about what you do

Recommended reading: "The Comeback" by Gary Shapiro (out in January, conveniently in time for CES). (Trivia point: Shapiro says the original title of his book was "We're ****ed," but his publisher told him he needed to be positive if he wanted to sell books. It's interesting, he feels extremely passionate, and is extremely concerned about the state of America's future.)

[chadtech-blog-blog]

I’m at Walter E. Washington Convention Center

“ASAE Tech Conference, Day 2”

Follow me on Gowalla

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Holly Ross and Setting Up a Social Media Strategy

Well, this was a much longer post at one point, but one thing to know about using the web interface for Tumblr on your iPad...if you switch between windows it erases your post. Tumblr: Strike 1. An online service shouldn't remind me of one of college's worst moments (moment of silence for the Iroquois Confederacy paper...). Okay, so instead of notes, you're getting my impressions (as best as I can remember in the minutes after the event). Holly gave a good presentation to a pretty drowsy room. I give her credit for a valiant effort. Tactics for social media strategy include: •objectives: make sure your goals are SMART goals (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Results-based, Time-bound) •audience: define your target audience...this could mean starting from a target audience in a company marketing plan •integration: make sure the tools your audience uses are the tools you choose. And make sure you have a deliberate voice that is appropriate for your audience •tools: -listen and participate: you can use Google Analytics, RSS readers, Twitter keyword searches, and social median monitoring tools (eg, Radian6) -share your story: give your audience something to relate to you with -generate buzz: the preconditions of buzz are: trust, a critical mass of "friends" and reciprocity. -community building and social networking •measurement: analytics...measure hard data and qualitative data Wish I could remember more, but that will have to suffice. Recommended reading: Clay Shirky, "Here Comes Everybody."

[chadtech-blog-blog]

Using Games if You're A Small Business or Association

Still at the ASAE Tech10 conference. Checking out Jon Aleckson’s talk on gaming as education and engagement tools. The book “Changing the Game” talks about using games to bring communities together, and that is a central tenet of his talk. He advocates trying to repurpose content that’s already being created in your organization.

Note: His bias is toward online games over apps.

Why would your organization want to use games?

•Helps you gain social media muscle. Promotes group discussion and the urge to check their account (can equal traffic increase)

•It can help you build community. Try to tackle a ‘real’ problem and have gamers create ‘real’ solutions

•Search Engine Optimization. Can be handled through logo link-thru. But is it the traffic you want? That’s an important consideration

•Can promote certification if you use immersion learning (think ‘Flight Simulator’ model)

•Event attendance games can generate buzz and draw a new crowd

Game Mechanics (Design Fun Games):

•Scoring: doesn’t have to be points. But if you use points, when you start, add three 0’s to the point (old game design trick)

•Feedback: status reports along the way (the first level of any game is always the tutorial stage)

•After action reports: let’s you know what did right or wrong. Also, think Leaderboard, which you can segment

•simulators: need to make sure it’s casual to keep it fun

•timing: increase urgency by including a time component, possibly reward finishing early

•power-ups: mid-game rewards the improve status

•strategy: increases engagement

•Resource management: like timing, it introduces scarcity into the equation

•becoming a character: can empower players

•Story: the best games always have a story behind them

Closing thoughts…Cost is an issue. A good flash game can run as low as $45k, but Jon says these average around $100k. Development time…you should allow for 7 months to move through alpha, beta and pilot stages. While you should involve topic experts in designing the game mechanics, be careful about having too many chefs in the kitchen. When you start, keep it simple. Save complexities for future versions/releases. And be careful about using virtual worlds (or apps) for game design as they create a barrier to entry for users.

All in all, Jon gave a good session. Recommended reading: Clarke Aldrich, “The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games.”