My Blog Mentioned at Vancouver ChangeCamp

Though I don’t always tend to this space as much lately–mostly thanks to Twitter, which has stolen away most of the precious few moments that I devote to this sort of thing–it was a nice surprise to hear that at today’s Vancouver ChangeCamp a post from my blog was referenced during one of the sessions. Very cool.

The post was one about the BC Government’s new Spark! collaboration site.

Sounds like it was a good day in Vancouver. Would have been great to be there, but instead I followed along via–what else?–Twitter. The hashtags #vcc09 and #vanchangecamp kept me informed and up-to-date.

YouTube Remixed Thru You

Yesterday on Twitter I received a tweet from crushlovely saying that they were “Enjoying the mix at http://thru-you.com.” Well, Thru You is the most fantastic and talented example of remixing I’ve come across online. The artist, Kutiman, has taken a variety of YouTube video clips and pieced them together to create original music that is, frankly, incredible. Now, the style might not suit everyone–I personally love it–but the effort and talent is unmistakable.

What’s wonderful about this effort is how it illustrates what’s possible today. The web becomes this massive repository of user-generated content–which is itself a huge shift from previous modes of mass communication–and then artists take this a step further, remixing and reinventing, along the way creating original content that, in this case in particular, far exceeds the quality of any one individual piece.

Thru You is inspiring. I can’t remember that last time I was so blown away by something I experienced online, so taken aback that I could feel my pulse quicken and excitement and wonder flow throughout my being. This is creativity, vision and execution perfected. Riveting. Beautiful. Genius.

Do yourself a favour: Check it out.

Talking Twitter at TED

Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter, was on the TED stage talking up his booming business. He’s a little nervous, but overall the presentation is decent and informative–not exactly one of those stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks TED talks, but interesting nonetheless. I really liked how he used great visuals to support sample tweets; would make Garr Reynolds proud.

Using Twitter As a Tool

Guy Kawasaki has a great post on the power of Twitter. It’s full of good advice on using Twitter for more than your typical friend updates, complete with useful links.

This post comes at a valuable time for me as I get more seriously into Twitter myself. I’ve been following Twitter’s development since its inception, and have had an account for some time, but I never really took advantage of it. At first I saw it as one more way to communicate inane comments about day-to-day trivia. Incidentally, in his post, Guy talks about this exact use of Twitter, saying:

If the concept of using Twitter in a commercial manner interests you, keep reading. If it doesn’t, then you can continue to send and receive tweets about how cats are rolling over and the line at Starbucks.

But as the use of Twitter’s matured–along with social media in general–it’s real power as a tool is becoming clearer.

Just yesterday there was a post on VentureBeat about how Twitter has made Dell $1million. And I managed to come across this story because of a person I follow on Twitter–Ann Handley of the fantastic MarketingProfs.

Internal communications I think is one area where Twitter–or perhaps better yet,  a corporate Twitter-like tool like Yammer–would really shine. Even small organizations typically suffer from internal communications challenges, and integrating a tool like this has the potential to really break down barriers.

BC Government Tries to Ignite a Spark with Staff

Homepage of Spark

The BC Government launched a new social media Intranet site last week called Spark. The site is meant as a place for staff to share ideas with colleagues which can then be voted on by other users of the site. Of course comments are enabled, allowing for some development of a particular idea within the context of its post.

While I’m actively participating in the site I’m left wondering how effective it will be in the long term. It’s being pitched as a Web 2.0 site for government employees, and it’s an encouraging step in that direction. But in my use so far, I’m not sure there’s enough there to get users coming back and continually participating. Possibly out of pure curiosity staff might return to check in on what ideas are being posted. But it’s lacking a mechanism for building community.

For example, I posted an idea about trying to get similar-minded communications and web workers in government to

Spark post page

come together to share ideas, best practices, etc. My idea was “voted” a few times and garnered a few comments. Okay, not bad. Then today I noticed that my idea had been given the status of “Run with it,” which, in the scheme of the Spark site means the administrators have looked at my idea and have given me the go-ahead to move forward since it doesn’t technically require any input or immediate support from them for me to make it a reality (it’s not like I’m suggesting government change a financial policy or something).

But now I feel suddenly alone. There’s no mechanism–at least from what I’ve been able to discover–for me to use the Spark site, or even the broader government intranet site in general, to move forward with my idea. If I’m interested in pursuing things, I need to go back to more traditional means, like email, to setup a connection with the people who commented on my idea. This seems like a big flaw in the system.

If an idea gets the go-ahead, it would be great to suddenly be given a space within the Spark site to collaborate. Possibly a wiki tool, for example, so that interested parties can begin sharing ideas in a centralized collaborative space. This is especially important given the government’s broad user base. Users could be anywhere in the province of British Columbia! I’m assuming those who commented on my idea are in Victoria, but they may not necessarily be here. And even if they are, my physical office is located out at the relatively remote Selkirk Waterfront, far enough from the hub of downtown Victoria to make quick meetings impractical.

So extending the purely idea-based structure of Spark into a place where the ideas themselves can begin to take form would make it much more useful, and give it more of the Web 2.0 credibility I think the site creators might have been shooting for.

However, I’m encouraged by this development, and will continue to follow it to see just how far one good idea can go.

Dan Pink’s Latest Book: Johnny Bunko

Dan Pink, best-selling author of A Whole New Mind (a great book, by the way) has a new book out, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need. To promote it he has produced the fantastic video trailer above. This is creative, beautiful stuff. Based on this video, and on Garr Reynold’s distillation of the book in presentation format (see below), I’ve got a copy of the book coming. I can’t wait.

March of Dimes Baby

This interface is fantastic. Beautifully executed, impossible not to watch. Great use of Flash. Wow.

Whopper Freakout Freakin’ Funny

Check out Whopper Freakout. Funny stuff! I noticed the TV commercials recently and decided to check it out, especially since it’s from Burger King and I still remember the great Subservient Chicken campaign of a few years ago. It’s a great short doc about spoofing customers by telling them they no longer serve the Whopper. I have no emotional connection whatsoever to Burger King–or any fast-food outlet, come to think of it–but for the people they managed to catch of video, this news really hit home. It’s interesting how Burger King has used rude chickens and a low-quality video spoof to differentiate itself from McDonald’s. When I think McD’s I think family, cartoon characters, the Happy Meal! I don’t think they would try something quite like what BK has done since it doesn’t fit their brand. But for BK, they can take more risks. Though interestingly, as a couple of the guys in the video point out, BK may have the elements of a more down-home marketing approach if they wanted to explore that. One guy talks about the right of passage eating a Whopper was growing up–when he was finally able to finish one, that’s when he knew he was a man (seriously)–while another started waxing poetic about driving to another state 30 years ago just to get a Whopper. Classic.

Pension Plan Videos Online

Well, the videos are now online! Just before I left on holidays the videos were on the verge of being posted and I’ve noticed they are now live. We’re in the process of developing a marketing strategy for the board to get these videos even greater exposure–I’ll be jumping right back into that when I return from my break.

HD Video Online

I’ve seen the future of online video, and it’s gorgeous. Vimeo hosts HD video, which looks fantastic and streams smoothly. Never mind poking around YouTube watching grainy, pixelated teens falling off rooftops. On Vimeo you can see detailed, crisp images, in full-screen HD.

Now, so far there’s nothing like the selection on YouTube, but what’s fascinating about Vimeo and its HD fans is the passion for video and for wringing the most out of the cameras. Canon’s HV20 has a loyal following on this site and it’s great to see not only what the camera is capable of out of the box, but also what creative DIYers are able to achieve with some add-ons. The current item of technolust is the 35mm adapter that allows you to take your 35mm lens from your still camera and connect to your camcorder. The idea is simple enough–and for the handy, tutorials for creating your own are posted and freely available–but the results are stunning.

For a great example of what people are doing, check out this video by a user named twoneil. Watching his samples I was truly blown away by the quality of the video. It’s the closest I’ve ever seen video come to film, and in fact, I think it would be tough for a casual viewer to really tell the difference, at least online.

What this does, of course, is completely open the realm of high-quality movie-making to almost anyone. The look of video, while becoming more accepted every day, still represents a barrier to an independent filmmaker. Film is obviously the gold standard and if it looks like video your work is immediately–if not consciously–taken a little less seriously. Video folks are always looking for ways to make their video appear more like film. And now, with the advent of reasonably affordable HD equipment and a little ingenuity, this goal is within reach.

Of course, just having the “look” of film doesn’t make someone’s short- or feature-film great. But if the raw materials are worthy–script, cast, director, etc.–there’s one less hurdle to clear towards the goal of making something great.