by cameron | Oct 3, 2006 | Uncategorized
I got an email this morning advising me that the 13th Annual AIMIA Awards was now open to entries and suggesting I should enter TPN. A quick read of the terms and conditions of entry brings up this: "You must be an AIMIA Business, Corporate, Associate or Student member to enter the awards." The price to become a small business member? $660 + GST. The awards claim to be "Celebrating the very best in digital content innovation across all genres and interactive media platforms, the AIMIA Awards showcase the industry’s finest" but I’m not sure this is legitimate. I can’t afford to spend $660 on being a member. So TPN can’t even apply. I’m sure there are other Aussie internet start-ups which would find better ways to spend their $660 as well. If I’d raised Podshow-style $24 million, then perhaps I could afford it. Sounds to me like the "awards" are a thinly-disguised membership recruiting and funding drive.
by cameron | Sep 25, 2006 | Podcast, Uncategorized
I’m speaking tomorrow morning (Thursday Sept 26) at the Australian Marketing Institute breakfast about "Brands and Blogging". Also speaking is Paul Crisp who (according to the bio on the AMI site) manages public affairs for Telstra’s Consumer Marketing and Channels Division. He also leads Telstra’s New Media Project, managing the company’s corporate blog at www.nowwearetalking.com.au and its podcast service.
Does anyone know what Telstra’s podcast service is? Ever even heard of that before?
by cameron | Sep 22, 2006 | Iraq, Melbourne, Uncategorized
Chavez is making geopolitics interesting again. Just as it looks like the Fidelissimo is riding off into a khaki sunset, along comes Hilarious Hugo with his attacks on Bush. According to The Australian:
VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez has taken his anti-imperialist rhetoric to New York’s Harlem overnight and ridiculed US President George W. Bush as a puffed-up John Wayne wannabe. And a supportive crowd loved it.
Mr Chavez stunned delegates at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday by calling Mr Bush "the devil himself" and saying he left the smell of sulfur hanging in the chamber from his appearance the previous day.
He received an ovation at the United Nations, but nothing like the raucous and upbeat receptions later Wednesday at a free university and again overnight at a Baptist church in the predominantly black neighbourhood of Harlem.
Crowds soaked up his critique of the Iraq war, his interpretation of the history of US military interventions and his stories about visiting Cuban President Fidel Castro, who is recovering from surgery.
You have to love this guy. He doesn’t just stay home and slag Bush. He goes to New York muthafraking City and says it. This is a man of the people. He’s also doing almost as much for Noam Chomsky’s book sales as his appearance on G’Day World:
Mr Chavez began his speech by displaying a copy of American writer Noam Chomsky’s 2004 book Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance, and recommended it to UN delegates and US citizens.
By yesterday, the book had risen from backlist obscurity to the No. 3 bestseller at Amazon.com
And the reason why the Democrats won’t win another election? They denounced Chavez! They should be getting this guy tattooed on their freaking skulls. He’s doing what they (and the US media) seem too scared to do – criticize Bush in a way that gets people’s attention.
Grandma Funks by the way is a terrific café in Richmond (Melbourne) that I’m having breakfast in this morning and I’ve just discovered they have FREE WI-FI. I’ve been coming here for years because I love the vibe of the joint (and the quality of their latte) but the big free wifi sign on their wall makes it a clear winner for "best Melbourne cafe 2006".
by cameron | Sep 21, 2006 | Uncategorized
Mary Jane Watson… sorry, I mean MARY JO FOLEY… has announced she is no longer writing for Microsoft Watch and is now going to be writing a blog about Microsoft as her own business.
I’m interested in this for a few reasons.
- I had the opportunity to meet MJ last year at a flashy party in NYC and she was lovely. She even pretended to know who I was. I had been reading her stuff for many years and even though I suspected she was just doing a Clinton on me, it had the right effect – my ego was inflated.
- For a while now when I’m discussing the future of the media business with newspaper folks, they harp on and on and on and on and on and on and on (get the idea) about "why the world needs journalists". I am usually quick to agree (unless I’m just trying to annoy them, which can also be a lot of fun) but then I ask "but do those journalists need YOU?". We’ve started to see journalists break out on their own and I hope this is a trend which will continue. As I said on G’Day World last week – if Chris Masters, Australia’s #1 investigative journalist, wanted to go out on his own, I’m sure he could find enough corporate sponsorship to pay his annual salary and legal/travel expenses. He has his own brand. What does he need a publisher for these days? Dan Gillmor did it. Om Malik has done it. Now MJ is doing it.
- I’m wondering what MJ’s model is. She’s blogging, not under her own brand, but under ZDnet’s. I don’t get that model. I’ve asked her on her new blog how it works and I’ll try to get her on the show for an in-depth discussion.
by cameron | Sep 16, 2006 | Video
 Download the iPod version here.
Here are the edited video highlights (edited to protect the innocent) of the TPN dinner from Sept 14. Lots of talk about Sharon Stone, geek film and tv reviews, some moleskine talk, with a special appearance by Father Bob Maguire who spanks us for being “social journalists” instead of “social activists”.
Warning: it’s about 20 minutes long.
