G. Kofi Annan is a strategist, and technologist with a passion for innovation, new/emerging markets, and global digital cultures. He leads global brands like Puma and Pfizer in translating cultural technology trends, identifying new business opportunities, and defining connected on and off-line growth strategies. Kofi has deep digital & marketing industry knowledge having held creative technology, and strategic marketing roles at Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann, Ogilvy, and Grey Group among others.
When he's not tapping his entrepreneurial and intrapreneural mindset to make big ideas happen, Kofi is presenting his insights on media, social innovation, and consumer trends to audiences at Harvard University, the Smithsonian Museum of African Art, and the SXSW Interactive among others. A futurist and strategic thinker, Kofi shares his ideas liberally on-line through blogs and social media, and has been a frequent contributor to numerous news channels such as The Global Post, and BusinessInsider.com.
Kofi's work and insights have been featured and cited in publications such as Entrepreneur Magazine, Reuters, and the LA Times.
While all of the early adopters anticipate Google Glass' imminent launch, and try to convince Google why they should each get access to a pair, one conversation has been missing. What about privacy? Sure, the Glass wearer can turn the recording and capture features on and off with voice commands, but what about everyone else in their vicinity? Knowing that someone near you is wearing the Glass device, how will we begin to (re)act? Do we all now become characters in someone's reality show?
Author Mark Hurst (@markhurst) writes:
The real issue raised by Google Glass, which will either cause the project to fail or create certain outcomes you may not want (which I’ll describe), has to do with the lifebits. Once again, it’s an issue of experience.
The Google Glass feature that (almost) no one is talking about is the experience – not of the user, but of everyone other than the user. A tweet by David Yee introduces it well:
"There is a kid wearing Google Glasses at this restaurant which, until just now, used to be my favorite spot."
The key experiential question of Google Glass isn’t what it’s like to wear them, it’s what it’s like to be around someone else who’s wearing them. I’ll give an easy example. Your one-on-one conversation with someone wearing Google Glass is likely to be annoying, because you’ll suspect that you don’t have their undivided attention. And you can’t comfortably ask them to take the glasses off (especially when, inevitably, the device is integrated into prescription lenses). Finally – here’s where the problems really start – you don’t know if they’re taking a video of you.
Now pretend you don’t know a single person who wears Google Glass… and take a walk outside. Anywhere you go in public – any store, any sidewalk, any bus or subway – you’re liable to be recorded: audio and video. Fifty people on the bus might be Glassless, but if a single person wearing Glass gets on, you – and all 49 other passengers – could be recorded. Not just for a temporary throwaway video buffer, like a security camera, but recorded, stored permanently, and shared to the world.
To some extent we've all come to accept being recorded in most places by security cameras. And the growth and spread of Youtube memes - The Harlem Shake meme is now being used to protest in Egypt - shows that more and more people are embracing the video medium whether they are doing the capturing or are the subject of it. Today, individuals still have to make a bit of an effort to capture an experience, but tomorrow, with stylish Warby Parker frames embedded with the Google Glass technology, barriers to unwanted surveillence are all but gone. And once that becomes more of a reality, privacy advocates will raise the red flag higher and governemtns will have to move quickly to set laws in place. Once again personal technology advancements are rocking the privacy boat and will certainly spawn brand new cultural bevahiors.
What do you think? Is the privacy fear warranted?
Note: If you're a paranoid about the future, here's a happy place....Ok, now for everyone else feel free to read ahead.
For some people, technology's impact on our future brings visions of the Jestons and for others the future is more Terminator/Matrix-like. I'd say I fall somewhere in the miiddle.
Two articles I ran into recently gave me a realistic view on the down sides of technology. The first is this article fron the December issue of Vanity Fair "Look Out—He’s Got a Phone!". The article outlines how during a recent conference, a security expert and researcher from a company called IOActive demonstrated a way to hack into an pacemaker with his smartphone and make the pacemaker overheat and malfunction!!
To engineers, the advantages are clear. Smartphones can relay patients’ data to hospital computers in a continuous stream. Doctors can alter treatment regimens remotely, instead of making patients come in for a visit. If something goes wrong, medical professionals can be alerted immediately and the devices can be rapidly adjusted over the air. Unfortunately, though, the disadvantages are equally obvious to people like Barnaby Jack: doctors will not be the only people dialing in. A smartphone links patients’ bodies and doctors’ computers, which in turn are connected to the Internet, which in turn is connected to any smartphone anywhere. The new devices could put the management of an individual’s internal organs, in the hands of every hacker, online scammer, and digital vandal on Earth.
Crazy stuff to consider, but does that mean we need to halt health care innovations being pioneered by folks like Rock Health?
The second article by software architect Troy Hunt, gives a great perspective on how the Internet of things opens users up to possible danger. In his post "Inviting hackers into our homes via the internet of things", Hunt says:
Clearly these “things” have the ability to improve our lives in all sorts of wonderful ways, but frankly, that’s a bit boring. Well at least it’s boring compared to the potential for misuse. That’s the exciting frontier; it’s one thing having your passwords breached on a website, it’s quite another when bad guys are controlling physical devices in your house. Let me speculate on just where this might be leading us…
Hunt goes on to outline a litany of possibilities of how the connected devices which made big news at the CES show last week could be turned against it's users. It's a good read for optimists like myself to ground us in the alternative uses our new shiny objects.
My view is that technocal like other innovations - e.g. the printing press, steam engine, and even fire - has a greater possibility to change our life for the better. But in the wrong hands, these same innovations can create a volatile society. Does that mean we should err on the side of innovatiors or laggards? Do we prevent harm by keeping things the way they are?
I watched the 1st episode of Downton Abbey (yes, I'm late), a British period drama set in the early 1900s. In one of the scenes, Lord Grantham walks into a room. His elderly mother Countess Violet Crawley turns to talk to him and immediately holds a black hand fan to her face, blocking the light from the indoor bulbs. When asked about her getting some electricity in her own house someday, Countess Crawley says "I couldn’t have electricity in the house. I couldn’t sleep a wink. All those vapours seeping about.” I laughed and scoffed at how ridiculous she sounded. Then I thought about it a bit. Would I have been the same way? Would you?
As everyone goes about their every day life in 2013 using platforms like automatic fare payment systems, Facebook, and mobile phones, we all contribute to the growing deluge of data for individuals and organizations. Hence the term Big Data is a hot topic these days. Smart organizations are looking at this as an opportunity to optimize and innovate products and services to better serve their customers without breaching their privacy. And how do you separate the signal from the noise to get real actionable insights? Thats the hard part and the human touch still has the machines beat.
Gartner says that Big Data is moving from small, individual, and focused projects to an enterprise-wide architecture. All this requires a breakthrough when it comes to current approaches for leveraging Big Data….Beginning in 2013, the market will be looking for innovation. Product-centric companies will begin to disrupt the patchwork of services-centric solutions that currently exist. The product-centric companies will deliver the speed of data-to-insight conversion with a compelling economic business case. The business case will include the time-value of data and the measure of its useful lifespan, which gets smaller as the data gets bigger. Hence, there is a compelling need for automation and a product-centric approach to Big Data.
Those businesses that start adopting the product-driven approach to Big Data early will have a significant advantage in their experience curve – leading to more enterprise-wide analytics usage. This will lead to competitive advantages in both the short and long-terms.
(via The Need for a Product-Centric Approach to Big Data | Emcien)
photo: Eric Fischer on Flickr
I recently came across this very interesting video on "How to Recognize Disruptive Opportunities" featuring a conversation between author/Altimeter Group's Brian Solis and Mark Suster (@msuster), serial entrepreneur turned VC. In about 18 minutes, the conversation covers a range of disruption-related topics from open systems (Twitter) vs. closed systems (Facebook), to how to get enterprises to innovate. Mark has a ton of experience and insights on innovation and many are spot on. I particularly liked his views on the need for digital natives in the board room. In my experience, innovative ideas are wasted on an organization which doesn't have the people and resources to implement it. This is not to say that innovative ideas shouldn't be explored, but equal attention must be paid to the "how" of the new product or system. Disruptive innovation is never about the biggest idea. It is about the effect the idea has on the industry it's released within, and that can't be seen until it's rolled out in some form. The sooner an organization can start prototyping and beta testing, the sooner the innovation can become disruptive. The idea of prototyping and iteration is hard coded (hehe!) into the work-style of digital natives and this perspective is key to bringing disruptive innovations to life in today's industries. As Mark mentions, the uncertainty and hesitance to pursue a disruptive opportunity is softened by having a digital native on the executive team. Oh, and what makes a digital native? Well, it's NOT their age, but rather their experience and perspective.
A few weeks ago I attended the always inspirational annual World Innovation Forum held here in New York City. One of the speakers was Russell Stevens, partner at SS+K, one of the most imaginative, innovative, and widely acclaimed marketing and communications agencies in New York. Stevens is an expert in generating creative social engagement. He's most famous for his role as the architect behind the social engagement strategy for both the Obama 2008 election campaign and Lance Armstrong's original Livestrong campaign. During his talk Stevens gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the thinking and structure of both campaigns and what made them viral. He outlined a simple methodology which could be used by companies and community organizations alike to create a viral movement in today's socially connected world. Here are the four phases of his new rules of engagement:
1. PROVOKE
2. CONNECT
3. SHARE
4. OWN
Here's video of Russell Stevens talking about how Obama won in 2008 with the help of a solid youth social engagement strategy.
The most important source of information for people making a day-to-day health decision, in many cases, is not a website, or even a clinician, but another person who shares the same condition. As mobile, social tools spread throughout the population, people are connecting with each other. Why not harness those tools for health?....Pew Internet research shows that when someone has a mobile device connected to the internet, they are more likely to share, to forward, to create, and to consume online information, from text to photos to videos. They are more likely to participate in the online conversation about health...Just like peer to peer file sharing transformed the music industry by allowing people to share songs, peer-to-peer healthcare has the potential to transform the pursuit of health by allowing people to share what they know and connect with other people.
This is an area I've been watching and thinking about for a while. I guess it's somewhat related to my previous post on digital illiteracy. My theory so far is this: As communities of color become the majority in the United States, and digital communications and online communities continue to play a large part in accelerating conversations, health issues which are unique to those communities will take the spotlight and shift the domestic health and wellness industry. There are already signs of this happening, but it'll be a while longer before the weak signals fuel a real shift. Any thoughts?
As access to devices has spread, children in poorer families are spending considerably more time than children from more well-off families using their television and gadgets to watch shows and videos, play games and connect on social networking sites, studies show...This growing time-wasting gap, policy makers and researchers say, is more a reflection of the ability of parents to monitor and limit how children use technology than of access to it...“I’m not antitechnology at home, but it’s not a savior,” said Laura Robell, the principal at Elmhurst Community Prep, a public middle school in East Oakland, Calif., who has long doubted the value of putting a computer in every home without proper oversight.
When will we learn that it's not what you have access to, but rather, how you use it. The race to develop and release new technologies cannot exclude the development of systems and processes which guide us in it's use. As a technophile, I struggle everyday with defining the effect such rapid iteration has on my own life. It's hard enough for me, so I can imagine why others swear off technology all together. But burying your head in the sand is not the answer either, just ask Blockbuster. One thing is clear to me, we'll increasingly need more processes and systems which are solid enough to give us stability, while being flexible enough to anticipate and adapt to change. As the saying goes, "the horse is out the gate" and we have 2 choices : 1) stand still and risk getting trampled or 2) think of a way to not only get out of its way, but end up in the saddle. What do you think?
I recently came across this tweet from OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter:
It took AOL 9 years to hit 1 million users. It took Facebook 9 months. It took Draw Something ~9 days
— Dan Porter (@tfadp) March 22, 2012
Reading about the amazingly meteoric rise of their Draw Something app and subsequent sale of the comapany to Zynga, I got to thinking about the speed of adoption of technologies these days. It used to be that 50 million users was a milestone, but these days analysts like myself watch these stats pass without blinking. In the time it took me to write this post Rovio's Angry Birds Space edition app surpassed Draw Something by reaching 50 million users in 35 days, setting a new record. Within the past 30 years, I've seen vinyl albums with only 6 songs give way to iPod nanos with 2000 songs. In the past 10 years alone technologies which were barely an idea before ahve infiltrated and disrupted whole industries almost overnight. It's still easy for some to dismiss companies like Google and Facebook as anomalies, but when you look at the bigger trend, the truth can be scary for the unprepared. I put this infographic together to help me visualize and analyze the larger trend. Of course, much is omitted from the story like geography, infrastructure, governing laws, demographics etc, but the trend is amazing nonetheless. Feel free to use the infographic it if it's helpful for you.
How long does it take to reach 50 million users?Telephone ~ 75 years
Radio ~ 38 years
Television ~ 13 years
Internet ~ 4 years
Facebook ~ 3.5 years
iPod ~ 3 years
AOL ~ 2.5 years
Draw Something app ~ 50 days
Angry Birds Space app ~ 35 days
Here are some notes and ideas from the "Agencies as Incubators" session at last week's Ad Age Digital Conference in NYC. More to notes to come:
[View the story "Agencies as Incubators (Ad Age Digital 2012)" on Storify]
Storified by G. Kofi Annan · Mon, Apr 23 2012 13:49:05
LESSONS FOR AGENCIES TO THINK LIKE INCUBATORS
Lesson 1: It takes leadership
Lesson 2: Need multiple benefits
- ROI, Clients, Inspiration
Lesson 3: Play hardball
Lesson 4: Driver was more about sharing ideas with peers
Lesson 5: Change the mindset
- Foster a creative & entrepreneurial environment
- They bring in speakers like Tim Westergren (Pandora), Jana Steadman (MTV), Simon Sinek ("Starts with Why" book)
Lesson 6: Start-ups feed growth; it's a cycle
- Maintain organic growth
- Start new business
- Invest in new business
- Offer new agency services
- Consider acquisitions
Lesson 7: Pitch selectively
- balance time & capital investment between new business pitches & start-ups
You're walking through a town square and see a large suspended sign that reads "Push to add drama". The sign is pointing to a big red button. Curiously you hit the button and....Whoa! Watch the video to find out what happens. Pretty cool stuff.
I've been working with health brands for a number of years and, while the industry stays mostly under the radar in tech & media news, it's been going through some major changes recently. From the transformation of the industry from "sick" care to true "health" care, to the tug of war between regulation and innovators, it's a unique industry to watch and work within. As with all industries these days, the prevalence and accessibility of technology has been having a major impact and brands and marketers are struggling to adapt. I, for one, see great possibilities for innovation within health care both from within the industry and outside. In the presentation below I outline how I see technology diffusion affecting marketers and brands' roles in the dialogue and practice of health and wellness. I've also presented examples for what I see are 6 digital trends that I believe will have the biggest impact on how physicians practice, patients learn & do, caregivers assist, and institutions manage health in the near future. As always, feedback is always welcome here or on twitter @gkofiannnan.
We knew that if we could identify [expecting mothers] in their second trimester, there’s a good chance we could capture them for years,” Pole told me. “As soon as we get them buying diapers from us, they’re going to start buying everything else too. If you’re rushing through the store, looking for bottles, and you pass orange juice, you’ll grab a carton. Oh, and there’s that new DVD I want. Soon, you’ll be buying cereal and paper towels from us, and keep coming back...Almost every major retailer, from grocery chains to investment banks to the U.S. Postal Service, has a “predictive analytics” department devoted to understanding not just consumers’ shopping habits but also their personal habits, so as to more efficiently market to them. “But Target has always been one of the smartest at this,” says Eric Siegel, a consultant and the chairman of a conference called Predictive Analytics World. “We’re living through a golden age of behavioral research. It’s amazing how much we can figure out about how people think now.
Picture walking into your local deli, and the owner recognizing you. Before you make it to the counter, the cook makes your "usual" sandwich, passes it to the cashier, who then bags it and hands it to you. All this with nothing more than pleasantries being exchanged. Now what if the deli was in a Target?
Well these days companies are trying to use predictive analysis to duplicate that process. But, of course, with all the Google and Facebook privacy concerns and horror stories of Target knowing a teen is pregnant before her parents, companies will have to think twice about what they do with all the info users are sharing with them. This'll be an interesting space to watch going forward, and if you're a marketer or a math nerd, opportunities abound.
Remember those facial recognition, augmented reality contact lenses in Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol (good movie by the way)? Well Microsoft and the university of Kansas are making some headway to making them a reality. Check the video beloww on the overview of the Augmented Reality lens project. Sidebar: I’m really liking Microsoft’s strategies these days. Seems they’re FINALLY realizing that the whole “We make Windows software and all other projects are only pet projects” thing is going away.
In a move that makes eye color correction seem boring, Microsoft and the University of Washington have made major advances in bringing augmented reality to contact lenses. The augmented reality lens receives radio signals and transmits them via optical nerves directly to the brain. The process was successfully tested on a rabbit, and the research team has the go-ahead to begin human trials.
While augmented reality has thus far been treated as something of a fad by corporations not involved with video games or marketing, Microsoft insists that incorporating the technology into a lens will make it practical for multiple applications. Possible uses include using facial recognition technology to assist security and police forces, or a virtual desktop that retrieves and displays information in the blink of an eye.
I just finished reading Nick Bilton's recent "I Live in the Future & Here's How It Works", a thoughtful book on the emergence of digital media and how it's impacting our society. One of the concepts that has stuck with me is Bilton's thoughts on how we naturally adapt to new media forms and learn to displace old ones in our daily life. As an example, he illustrates how the emergence of television caused people to change their media focus in homes, moving radio consumption to being experienced mostly in the car. Bilton makes a good point about how organizations demonize new media forms and their effect on learning and growth, especially in youth. Comic books were supposed to encourage juvenile delinquency, and now mobile and texting is supposed to limit children's use and understanding of the English language. There are many studies to support both viewpoints, but one perspective I find lacking in the discourse is the youth's perspective. Yes, media creation and consumption is in overdrive these days, but is it really a problem for 'society' or just the older of us? My 12-year old niece doesn't seem to have a problem texting, watching tv, and listening to music all at the same time — in fact, she sees it as a natural habit. In discussing the impact of the media deluge and what it means society's development, how much of the discussion is tainted by our individual ties to old habits and our hope that we won't get left behind? In the short video below, 12-14 year-olds talk about their everyday media use and how they feel about it. For many of us over 35, the only habits we might find similar to the younger generation is that texting and studying is not a good combination.
What do you think? Are our feelings about today's media diet tainted by our age and old habits? Can you teach an older dog new tricks? Comment here or wherever you interact with me.
The new Aakash android tablet has shaken up the tablet industry primarily because of it's price point: $35. Aimed at students, the tablet is being regarded as a innovative example both in global tablet industry and in the aid industry, where it's being seen as an alternative to the controversial $100 One Laptop Per Child device. The Aakash tablet is being marketed as a "Made in India" success story in hopes of championing India's manufacturing industry. In this video Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of UK-based tablet makers Datawind, speaks about the making of the Aakash and how they managed to keep the manufacturing price so low in India. The Aakash be sold as the DataWind Ubislate as of November 2011.
... U.S. middle-class cohort propelled GM past Ford into a leadership position among carmakers that lasted for the rest of the century.
Today, leaders of multinational corporations have a similarly lucrative opportunity on a much bigger playing field: a global middle-class market. This worldwide economic phenomenon encompasses a huge customer base. In 2011, it includes about 400 million people in the mature middle classes of the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and another 300 to 500 million people, depending on how the middle class is defined, in emerging economies. (The World Bank defines middle class as people who are above the median poverty line of their own countries. This might make them poor by the standards of Europe or the U.S., but gives them enough purchasing power to become consumers of manufactured goods and services.) This new global middle class is particularly evident in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Turkey, Vietnam, and other countries with relatively large working populations and rapid economic growth rates.
The middle class in each of these emerging economies has its own unique profile of demand. However, they all have one thing in common: They are recovering from the global recession with an increasingly urbanized lifestyle, and their numbers are expanding at very high rates, especially compared with the rest of the world. The value chain of companies that provide this population with goods, services, and infrastructure is becoming known as the “global middle market.” Companies that secure leading positions within that market could well become the 21st-century equivalents of Alfred Sloan’s General Motors.
Since the early 1990's Austin, Texas has been home to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festival, one of the biggest and - in my opinion - best conferences on new digital media, music, and film ideas. I've attended a few times both as a speaker and attendee and can honestly say that the content and community never ceases to disappoint. Voting is currently open for the SXSW PanelPicker, the conference system which allows the community to have a significant voice in programming Interactive, Film, and Music conference activities for SXSWeek 2012 (March 9-18). Here is a list of panel/talk proposals which have piqued my interest and I hope you will Vote for them as well. I'm involved in organizing the first two so please vote if you think the topics are interesting. Don't worry if you can't be in Austin, Texas next March. The SXSW organizers are pretty good about recording and releasing audio and video from the talks so you'll still get to experience your favorite talks afterwards. Will you be attending? VOTE and ping me with any questions/comments.
Panel: Beg, Borrow, Bribe. Startups in Emerging Markets - VOTE
Organizer: G. Kofi Annan – Afrimonitor
Description: Startup culture is blossoming in emerging markets like, China, India and Africa. Entrepreneurs are even leaving Silicon Valley to launch startups in their native countries, and giving American businesses a run for their money. But what and who do have to know to be successful? And how easy is it? Find out.
Panel: iVision Africa:New Medias Role In Reframing Africa - VOTE
Organizer: Ngozi Odita – Society HAE
Speakers:
Jepchumba Thomas – African Digital Art Network
Ngozi Odita – Society HAE
Joshua Wanyama – Pamoja Media East Africa Limited
G. Kofi Annan – Afrimonitor.com
Bob Reid – The Africa Channel
Description: Africa is more than AIDS, poverty, civil strife and safaris. With the ever-increasing access to digital tools Africans on the continent and all over the world are using the web to farm a new vision of Africa in the 21st Century. Social media platforms amplify and help spread this “new take” on the continent, both enabling Africans to tell their own stories and offering an alternative to mainstream media’s coverage of Africa. Ultimately, using new media Africans can and are becoming the architects of what very well may be a new “African Renaissance.” This panel will look at how Africans are using the mobile and social web, what sort of content is being produced and what are the messages being communicated. The panel will also examine new media’s social and economic impact as it relates to Africa.
Panel: Africa, Tech & Women: The New Faces of Development - VOTE
Organizer: TMS Ruge – Project Diaspora
Speakers:
Ebele Okobi-Harris – Yahoo!
Liz Ngonzi – New York University Heyman Center for Philanthropy & Fundraising
TMS Ruge – Project Diaspora
Isis Nyong'o – InMobi Africa
Milly Businge – Kikuube Village Council
Description: This panel provides a rare glimpse into the multitude of ways African women are applying technology to advance Africa’s development. The panel aims to dispel the myths about African women as breeders and victims -- incapable of participating in their own continent’s development, by: (1) showcasing contributions they are making in the technology field – through entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and community leadership; and (2) providing insights into how they are using technology to raise awareness about, mobilize campaigns against and address human rights violations. The panel will specifically explore how African women are using technology to make an impact through: - Digital advocacy to protect people’s rights - Social media to help grassroots organizations engage new supporters worldwide - Mobile advertising to enable small businesses to access new markets - Internet connectivity to integrate the often unheard community voices into the global conversation on development Throughout the discussion, panelists will provide anecdotes on how the resulting increased access to information, is altering the role of women in African society.
Panel: Social Change Film: Strategy+Transmedia+Evaluation - VOTE
Organizer: Debika Shome – harmony Institute
Speakers:
Debika Shome – harmony Institute
Shaady Salehi – active voice
Lina Srivastava – Lina Srivastava Consulting LLC
Description: Your job is not done once the film is complete. In fact, in today's media landscape, early strategic thinking, transmedia collaborations and entertainment evaluations are critical components to increasing the impact of film's for social change. They can help you reach a larger audience, amplify your message, connect with your audience, understand what worked and what didn't work and bring in additional funding. And the sooner you start thinking and working on these components, the more likely you are to create entertainment that connects and engages with your audience.
Panel: Bridging the African Diaspora Online - VOTE
Organizer: Sherry Bitting – Parlour Media LLC
Speakers:
Hillary Crosley – Parlour Media LLC
Minna Salami – MsAfropolitan
Nicole Blake – Nicoleisthenewblack.com
Phiona Okumu – AfripopMag
Description: The African Diaspora is vast and wide, and with that comes a variety of cultures separated by national boundaries but connected by the spirit and essence of Africa. For years, these cultures have lived separately with little understanding or connection to the lifestyles of others who share similar ideals, concerns or experiences abroad. The Internet has played a large role in connecting these cultures--through music, art, lifestyle and political interests. Over the past few years, there has been an emerging number of female bloggers of color who have become leading voices in their own communities and representations of their cultures to others all over the world. Parlour Media, owner of ParlourMagazine.com will host an open discussion featuring four leading female bloggers of color from three of the world's leading countries to discuss lifestyle and digital trends from their local communities and the benefits that they have gained by connecting with similar women abroad. In addition, panelists will discuss the tools that they have used to build audiences and the strategies that they have found most effective in developing their sites. For global brands that wish to target this segment, this panel will offer a glimpse into the minds and lifestyles of this powerful group who serve as global voices of their communities. It will also offer an opportunity to better understand digital trends and tools that are driving online growth.
Panel: Using Technology to Uncover Our Inner Wellness - VOTE
Organizer: William Martino – Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness
Speakers:
William Martino – Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness
Jacob Braude – Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness
Description: Over the last 20 years, cognitive science has been undergoing a revolution. Scientists now estimate that 85% or more of what our brains do is unconscious - meaning we have no awareness of it. On a daily basis, this unconscious behavior leads consumers to sabotage their own health and wellbeing through the product and lifestyle choices they make. Confronted by this startling fact, we as communications professionals have to ask ourselves if we've really been using the right tools to try and understand our customers. Interviews, surveys and focus groups are based on the idea that you can ask people what they think and get a real answer. Modern brain science, however, tells us this is a fantasy and anecdotally, we know that people lie. We need people to act, not speak, to reveal the things they won't—or can't—tell us. We'll show you how the marriage of new technologies and live field experiments, social gaming, and test marketing can tap into consumers’ unconscious and open new doors in helping us all feel well.
THE July/August issue of The Atlantic Magazine features a fascinating list of the The 14 Biggest Ideas of the Year: "A guide to the intellectual trends that, for better or worse, are shaping America right now." The magazine totes the rise of the middle class in emerging ecinomies as the #1 idea which will affect Americans in the coming years. Those of us who've been watching the space are not surprised, but the effects are still being felt.
The 14 Biggest Ideas of the Year
The New York Times responds that these "ideas" are really more observations, going on to say:
It may strike you that none of these ideas seem particularly breathtaking. In fact, none of them are ideas. They are more on the order of observations. But one can’t really fault The Atlantic for mistaking commonplaces for intellectual vision. Ideas just aren’t what they used to be. Once upon a time, they could ignite fires of debate, stimulate other thoughts, incite revolutions and fundamentally change the ways we look at and think about the worldThey could penetrate the general culture and make celebrities out of thinkers — notably Albert Einstein, but also Reinhold Niebuhr, Daniel Bell, Betty Friedan, Carl Sagan and Stephen Jay Gould, to name a few. The ideas themselves could even be made famous: for instance, for “the end of ideology,” “the medium is the message,” “the feminine mystique,” “the Big Bang theory,” “the end of history.” A big idea could capture the cover of Time — “Is God Dead?” — and intellectuals like Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal would even occasionally be invited to the couches of late-night talk shows. How long ago that was.
What do you think?
Today’s college grads need to be aware that the rising trend in Silicon Valley is to evaluate employees every quarter, not annually. Because the merger of globalization and the I.T. revolution means new products are being phased in and out so fast that companies cannot afford to wait until the end of the year to figure out whether a team leader is doing a good job.
Whatever you may be thinking when you apply for a job today, you can be sure the employer is asking this: Can this person add value every hour, every day — more than a worker in India, a robot or a computer? Can he or she help my company adapt by not only doing the job today but also reinventing the job for tomorrow? And can he or she adapt with all the change, so my company can adapt and export more into the fastest-growing global markets? In today’s hyperconnected world, more and more companies cannot and will not hire people who don’t fulfill those criteria.
...(LinkedIn’s founder, Reid Garrett Hoffman)argues that professionals need an entirely new mind-set and skill set to compete. “The old paradigm of climb up a stable career ladder is dead and gone,” he said to me. “No career is a sure thing anymore. The uncertain, rapidly changing conditions in which entrepreneurs start companies is what it’s now like for all of us fashioning a career. Therefore you should approach career strategy the same way an entrepreneur approaches starting a business.”
Every now and then we need to check our perspective on the world we live in and what we take for granted. Here's a classic video of comedian Louis C.K. speaking about how we take the amazing things we experience every day for granted. Funny and true.