Rob O'Reilly Stand-up at Caroline's

Rob O'Reilly is pretty hilarious for a 23 year old; check him out in this set at Caroline's in NYC and find out more about his US tour here.

Video Search Monetization, according to Blinkx CEO Suranga Chandratillake

In this clip, Suranga Chandratillake (try saying that fast 5 times), CEO of Blinkx, discusses his thoughts on video monetization potential and why it, like performance advertising, may be less negatively impacted than other traditional advertising forms during the current economic downturn. I've read quite a bit as of late about the buzz around video monetization especially for this year. Just having a cursory awareness of this model however, it does make sense that as budgets continue to tighten, marketers will be interested ad formats that allow them to recycle what is already in production (or has been produced) for traditional TV advertising. He also makes some interesting points that there is more demand for professional content vs. UGC, primarily because of the quality and control factors. This is good news for the professional advertising/production elements that may start to see dips in their traditional ad sales/production business. What this also means for marketers is that those campaigns most likely to be successful will have found the sweet spot between the TV's mass-reach and commonality with viewers, and the edgy/quirkiness of online so that it can fit in both worlds.

What is Blinkx.com? According to their corporate site,
Blinkx, founded in 2004 with a current market cap of $350m, is the world’s largest and most advanced video search engine. Having built a reputation as the Remote Control for the Video Web, blnkx currently has indexed over 32 million hours of searchable video and more than 420 media partnerships, including national broadcasters, commercial media giants, and private video libraries, it has cemented its position as the premier destination for online TV. blinkx pioneered video search on the Internet, developing an engine based on technology that was conceived at Cambridge University, enhanced by $150M in R&D over 12 years, and is now protected by 111 patents. blinkx continues to pioneer innovative new approaches to digital video distribution in order to ensure it offers the most advanced capabilities and delivers the highest value to its audiences and partners.

The Website Is Down: Sales Guy vs. Web Dude

I imagine that this happens at most companies at least twice a day.

Malcolm Gladwell discusses Outliers

Over vacation, I read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, author of best-selling novels Blink and Tipping Point. Gladwell's latest work shares the same colorful writing style, beautiful weaving together of back-stories and arguments, and subtle yet impactful conclusions that he is known for; as a result I burned through Outliers far too quickly and will have to read it again in a few weeks so it all sticks. I will elaborate more on my thoughts when I have time to add but wanted to get this interview he did with CNN up first for your enjoyment.

Below is also a great clip of him speaking with Katie Couric discussing specifically how cultural differences play a role.

FINALLY! Yahoo announces new CEO: Carol Bartz

Hot off the presses, Carol Bartz has accepted the tremendous task of turning Yahoo! around; her first official day was Tuesday January 13. President Sue Decker has also announced she will be leaving the company after a transitional period; she has been with Yahoo! for 8 years.

Word on the street is that Bartz is a tough, straight-shooter with tremendous ties in Silicon Valley on the technology side, but with limited online experience. Thus, while it's certain she's a quick study and can relate to engineers and technologists, will she able to quickly grasp the dynamic trends and shifts that can happen subtly but also suddenly in the online space? One of Yahoo!'s biggest challenges has been the diversity of verticals that they have to compete in: portal, content-provider, search engine, e-commerce. All of these channels are distinct with unique competitors so grasping the nuances of all of them then making quick and decisive moves to optimize the future strategy will be key to Bartz' success. The reality is that she won't make the decision on her own and will rely on the input of key senior management. Some worry however that therein lies the problem and that the senior management, too far removed from the average user or advertiser, have driven the company's strategies into foul territory in the past, and may do the same thing with Bartz. Hopefully, she will clean up house at all levels so that Yahoo! can make a quick and speedy return to glory. Happy day for Yahoo!

In the below video, Carol Bartz gives a talk to a group at Stanford in 2006 with some good advice to consider your career path not as a ladder but a pyramid, arguing that those at the top need to have experience in multiple disciplines; let's hope she has such experience and will use it to Yahoo!'s advantage.

Danny DeVito Sex Tape: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Wrong, but funny, which is exactly what the show is like. Fred Savage's cameo appearance makes this clip 100% better in my opinion. WARNING: this clip has graphic language so make sure you've got headphones.

Wired.com: CES 2009 Recap

The Consumer Electronics Show, held every year in Las Vegas, finished up this past Saturday; here's a fairly geeky video summary by Wired.com's reporter Dylan Tweney:

Word on the street is that this show was smaller and less successful than previous years, largely due to the economic situation discouraging some companies from sponsoring or attending the event. Some also argue that this show lacked the unveiling of a hot, must-have product that gets all the attention. That being said, there were plenty of products that will likely get more buzz in the future. Here's a take on the Best of 2009, according to a Y!Tech article:

1. Palm Pre: smart-phone that is said to be iPhone's biggest competition
2. Sony Lifestyle PC: $899, 1.4 lbs, super-slim, soft yogurt dispenser
3. LG Touch Watch Phone: wrist-wearable phone, a wrist-wearable microwave is in production
4. Super-slip TVs: they're big enough, now make 'em thinner
5. 3D TV: being led by Sony, LG and Panasonic; I just wanna wear the glasses
6. Windows 7: said to be a huge improvement on Vista, which means it's about equivalent to 2000

TRAILER: The Wrestler (Jan 9 release date)

Mickey Rourke won a Golden Globe for his work in this drama centered on a retired pro wrestler (Randy "The Ram" Robinson) who considers a return to glory and tries to put together his personal life. I doubt it'll come out in my neck of the woods but I'm definitely gonna try and pick up the street version. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood.

Every "That's What She Said" from The Office

More genious from The Office. So good, able to be experienced over and over again, and full of great stuff. That's what she said. And as a bonus, check out some of BJ Novak's stand-up at Caroline's in NYC in June of this year - phenomenal.

Taiwanese Tribute - People are Strange, covered by Joanna Wang

My wife and I were in Taiwan this past week visiting some family and as a tribute, thought I'd post this great clip of Joanna Wang covering People are Strange by The Doors. Wang is a Taiwanese singer/songwriter and the daughter of famous Taiwanese music producer Bing Wang. I love her hypnotizingly deep and melodic voice, especially in this raw and unscripted cover. For more info on her or her debut album, check out her YouTube site.

What you already knew: Facebook gets more traffic than Myspace

According to Google Trends, the number of users to Facebook surpassed Myspace somewhere around mid-November 2007. I have used both (though I'm more familiar with Facebook than Myspace) and what I will say is that the former clearly has thought more about user experience and cleanliness than the latter. FB also has the advantage of being fashionably late to the party, giving it the advantage of improving upon those areas it perceived as weakness in Myspace's approach.According to a Jan 2 report by Heather Hopkins, Sr. Analyst of Hitwise, Christmas eve 2008 marked a new peak for Facebook. On that day, traffic to the site accounted for 2.18% of all US Internet visits, compared to the average of 1.42% for November. She hypothesizes that this increase in US traffic is the result of 3 factors:

1. Weather: bad weather on the east coast forced folks to stay inside making surfing not a bad alternative to freezing to death.
   
2. Boredom: people preferring to poke and write wall posts instead of spending meaningful time with family ~ sigh....
   
3. Holiday Greetings: most likely.

Read the full article here.

John Legend performing "Everybody Knows" on Conan O'Brien

John Legend is the man; check out this great performance in December. His new album Evolver is also worth picking up (click here).

Is Social Media Killing PR (from AllThingsDigital)

This is an interesting clip that tries to look at the impacts, negative or positive, of social media on the PR firm. I agree with the sentiments of the 2nd interviewee, Jeremiah of Forrester Research, who believes social media is enhancing the role that PR can play, as now users and consumers are able to communicate more quickly and with greater reach than ever before. He goes on to argue that companies (and PR firms) need to remember one of the basic maxim's of business and selling: LISTEN. Social media has given PR firms and the companies they represent a never-before seen look at the impressions that users and consumers hold. Leverage and engage with social media, don't be afraid of it.

Mashup by Hippomothamus: Go & Shut Up and Let Me Go

This is a cool mash-up of Go by Common and Shut Up and Let Me Go by the Ting Tings. Probably could use some additional producing to cut out some of the overlap singing but otherwise, it got me boppin my head. Both originals are great unto their own right so I'm sure there will be those that feel this is an unforgivable transgression but oh well. Enjoy!

Kara Swisher Interviews Yahoo!'s Tapan Bhat and Ash Patel

Kara Swisher interviews Sr. Product Yahoo Executives Tapan Bhat then Ash Patel regarding Yahoo's Open / Social Launch. The interview is fairly insightful as to the direction that Y! will be moving toward over the next several quarters which boils down to: 1.) dramatically improving the way Y! brings together the most relevant content for each specific user (i.e. increase relevance), 2.) improve the quality and speed of content sharing and social invention (I believe to really re-court lost programmers/bloggers that believe Y! to be a technical dinosaur).

Rainn Wilson EW - Digital Shorts

Dwight from The Office transofrmed himself into some of TV's most iconic characters for a summer edition of Entertainment Weekly. The above is him as Xena Warrior Princess, but he also gave his take on MacGyver, Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek) and Paulie Walnuts (The Sopranos).

30 Rock: Random Insults from Jack to Liz

Alec Baldwin's character combined with Tina Fey's writing, are probably the two primary reasons that 30 Rock is so insanely good. Enjoy this clip of his best insults to Liz!

Recently at the Globes, Baldwin and Fey won Best Actor and Actress respectively in a TV Series Comedy. In classic Tina Fey style, her first words after taking the stage for her acceptance speech were, “Good gravy. As a kid I had all of the Foreign Press action figures.” She also spoke about staying grounded even when you've had an incredible year as she has. “If you ever feel too good about yourself, they have this thing thing called the internet. You can find a lot of people there who don’t like you and I’d like to address some of them now; BabsonLaCrosse, you can suck it."

Charlie Rose: An Hour with Bill Gates (Dec 22, 2008)

Say what you will about Microsoft's monopoloy in the OS space and Bill Gates being too rich, but you can't argue with the fact this man has literally transformed doing business and is now doing starting to do similarly incredible things for his fellow man through he and his wife's non-profit, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Take a listen for an hour to this great interview by Charlie Rose, who by the way, would destroy Larry King or any other interviewer in an interview-off (old school rules).

Non-Profit: Every Future

Had a chance to catch up with my best friend and I was thrilled to hear that he's getting his non-profit off the ground and fully running. Every Future's goal is to empower motivated and rising high school seniors with the knowledge and resources to attend the best US colleges and universities; it can and will have tremendous impact. I'm hoping I can also have a chance to contribute to the students Every Future works with, albeit from outside the US.
What inspires me most about this is that about 9 months ago, my friend made the decision to look into how to do this, started talking to people that would have good input, then decided to do it. Sound simple enough in theory, but I can assure you there were obstacles he had to overcome along the way, the most important one being simple apathy; but none of it deterred him and now Every Future is not longer an idea but a reality. Attributes like self-motivation and inititave are mankind's most under-utilized resource, and I'm happy that I have friends, like the founder of Every Future, that are chock-full of it.

To find out how you can help contribute to the mentoring community being built by Every Future, click here.

Top 5 Viral Video Marketing Campaigns of 2008

Olivia Hayes of Ignite Social Media has put together her thoughts on the Top 5 most viral (or would it be virulent?) campaigns of 2008. Here's the summary (#6 I noticed in the comments section of her article and thought it also deserved mention):

1. "Will it blend?" campaign - Blendtec
2. Elf Yourself - Office Max
3. Yes We Can - Will.i.am & Barack Obama
4. Guys backflilpping into Jeans - Levi's
5. Ball Girl Catch - Gatorade
6. "The Ramp" campaign - BMW

I've seen all of them before and what you'll notice about each of them is they involve one (or a combination) of the following elements:

1. music
2. unique skill/talent
3. quirkiness
4. personalization

Here's one additional comment on item 3 "quirkiness". Many marketers fail at this one, as they simply try to think of something strange or different without actually achieving quirky. The main thing to remember about trying to make a campaign quirky is that it should elicit an eye-brow raising response; if the user simply notes that it's strange but not any more than say noticing your pee smells like funny after eating asparagus (read more), then it's not quirky. Worse yet, it may come off as "trying to be quirky" which is the kiss of death for viral campaigns which are supposed to inherently be inventions of inspiration (not intention). For my money, you've achieved quirky if you can show it to a few test users (age should be 16 - 38, but obviously depends on your intended demo) and get them to have one of the following responses:

• laughing (the more the better)
• forwarding (the more the better)
• WTF/disgust (without being offensive)

Good luck to all those viral marketers out there in 2009!