Digital Interactif

Politics Online - Boston's Flaherty goes 2.0

Michael Flaherty announced last week that he will be running against Mayor Menino in the upcoming Boston Mayor's race.  The Boston Herald is touting Flaherty's campaign as being in line with the Web 2.0 strategy because he built a new site, MichaelFlaherty.com, and released a few videos on Youtube. 

My first impression of the new site is that the email capture that takes over the screen is a little invasive.  Additionally, it doesn't necessarily work - or if it does, there's no indication that it did, nevermind a "thank you" for entering your personal email that will surely be spammed with campaign emails over the next several months.

A nice feature is the SMS integration at the top of the right hand column, though I would be surpised if anyone opted-in for SMS texts from their computers.  I would imagine this marketing strategy would provide a higher yield out-of-home.  Cell phone numbers should be gathered at every single campaign event (in addition to email address) in order to ensure that the core supporters are fully in touch with the campaign.  "No kidding, we already collect cell phone numbers" some campaign worker would probably reply...but the means of collection can also be disguised as an end.  For instance, it is incredibly inefficient to have interns combing the event with clip boards while a savy field organizer could provide SMS Polls at events that provided the double task of 1)collecting cell phone numbers and 2)polling the base. 

One thing I find surprising is that Flaherty's campaign is paying $10,000/month to Echoditto, an online consultancy firm founded by Howard Dean's internet guru, and there are no Pay-Per-Click ads associated with the new MichaelFlaherty.com.  Good sir, buy up as much inventory on "Menino", "Boston Mayor", "Mayor Menino", and any local search query that involves "mayor".  While he's at it, he might as well invest in "Obama" as well.  Whatever keywords he buys, he needs to do something, anything, to get his site in front of more eyeballs...and the best way to do that is to employ Google Search Advertising in his favor. 

Anyways, I'm glad Flaherty's campaigh is going the Web 2.0 route because it'll be interesting to see if he can take down the Menino-machine that is Boston.     

R.I.P. Pownce

Wow...Pownce.com (the twitter-esque service started by the founder of Digg) is shutting down.

I guess it was only a matter of time before the real world economic problems started to affect the many web 2.0 startups that have sprung to life in the past year. It'll be interesting to see which companies go out of service next.

Likely more to come...

All U C - The new 'TV-Links'

It's been a few months since UK authorities shut down the website TV-Links.co.uk for hosting pirated content via embedded video players from websites such as Chinese Todou.  I, along with many others, was a big fan of TV-Links and I have never found a suitable replacement.  I tried finding content myself on Todou a couple times but it proved problematic. The trouble with Todou, as you'll quickly notice, is that it's in Chinese and very difficult to navigate. 

That's where alluc.org steps in! (Thanks for the tip Tom)

'All U C' is a German website hosted just north of Hamburg.  Though not as pretty as TV-Links, 'All U C' provides interesting functionality such as voting on which versions of a movie are the best quality.  You can also comment on the specific versions, which users appear to be doing quite often. 

Essentially, 'All U C' trolls Chinese websites, such as Todou, and directs users off of the 'All U C' site and onto the Todou site to watch the videos.  I am not 100% on the legal issues that brought down TV-Links, but I suspect that 'All U C' may be playing by the rules since it directs the users completely off of it's site.  Also, 'All U C' provides the following disclaimer before you watch the video:

Disclaimer

The author is not responsible for any contents linked or referred to from his pages - If any damage occurs by the use of information presented there, only the author of the respective pages might be liable, not the one who has linked to these pages.
Allfg.org and Alluc.org doesn't host any content

All Allfg.org/Alluc.org does is linking to content that was uploaded to popular Online Video hosting sites like dailymmotion.com/Youtube. All youtube/dailymotion users signed a contract with the sites when they set up their accounts wich forces them not to upload illegal content. By clicking on any Links to videos while surfing on Allfg.org you leave Allfg.org, Allfg.org cant take the responsibility for any content hosted on other sites.

If in the past couple of months you've found other suitable alternatives to TV-Links, drop a line in the comments section below.

French Youths Online - Forrester Study

I came across an interesting Forrester report on the French blog, Sortez du Cadre!. 

Forrester polled 1000 French youths, aged 12-24, and found that:

• 89% send email
• 72% read blogs
• 69% use search engines
• 57% utilize major web portals (ie. Yahoo!, MSN...)
• 55% research products online
• 51% comment of blogs
• 43% use chat rooms
• 40% use reference sites (ie. wikipedia)
• 37% look for news online
• 37% Maintain an online blog
• 29% look for sports results
• 29% download freeware
• 27% take part in discussions in forums and chats
• 26% prepare itineraries online (ie. directions, maps...)
• 24% use comparison sites (ie. Kelkoo)
• 24% use social networks
• 22% research/apply to jobs online
• 22% look at consumer reviews online (ie. Amazon, Ciao, DooYoo)

 

One small yawn for Yanks; One giant leap for Froggies

Monabanq, a subsidiary of 3 Suisses International Group and Groupe Cetelem, is a French bank that exists completely online and allows customers to manage all of their affairs through the Monabanq website.  Though this is a huge "yawn" for an American, this type of service is practically unheard of in France.  An interesting feature of this online bank is that they utilize Skype so that communications with the banking agents is free, essentially creating a cost-free operation.   

Whereas the typical French bank closes at 5pm on weekdays, Monabanq is geared towards the typical Internet user/full-time worker and offers live support until 10pm at night.   

The website itself offers a great interactive video that serves as a tutorial for new users.  If you want to test out your french skills, check it out.

Monabanq's main benefits include:

• No more paperwork : Digital copies of all your paper work
• No more mail : Interface for scanning and sending your documents to Monabanq via the Internet.
• No more pens : Electronic signature allows you to fill out bank requests without leaving your home.
• No more transfer delays (sort of...) : Transfer large sums of money in only 2-24 hours
• No more trips to the bank : Cash checks online (check must be sent to bank by mail though.  Once received, the account is credited to the date when the online form was initially filled out

Many of these features already exist in the American banking world but they are truly unheard of in France.  I lived in France for a year and learned to deal with a Bank (Banque Populaire) that closed it's doors for 2 hours during lunch time and closed at 12pm on Saturdays...I guess they never realized the beauty of running "lunch time" errands.  To see this type of change occurring within the French banking services industry is encouraging.  Hopefully, this level of consideration for customer service will spread like wild fire over there as the Internet forces the hand of traditional operating hours.   

Procruiting - Recruiting 3.0?

Dean Whitney has an interesting post about how recruiters advertise job opportunities on social networks such as Facebook and LinkdIn.  The Internet's affect on the recruiting process is beginning to come to light, but we still have a lot to learn about employee/employer behavior in a recruiting 2.0 environment. Nevermind the old story about employers "googling" prospective candidates - today, we face a world in which candidates are "facebooking" a prospective employer's employees to see what type of people work there. 

I recently came across a great example of how the Internet can affect the recruiting process at WebInno XIV.  Oncero, a Boston-based Internet start-up, operates a social network geared towards connecting employers with qualified job seekers through the trusted contacts shared by the users.  Essentially, employees post their company's open positions on the site and Oncero tracks how the positions are shared within the community.  When a position is filled, all the Oncero members involved in a the referral process receive a fraction of the employee referral bonus offered by the employer.

How it works:

1. my company has a $2,000 referral bonus and I post a job opening for a Marketing Associate position on Oncero.
2. Oncero-user "Bob", who is already happily employed, spots my posted job opening and sends it to his unemployed friend "Sam". 
3. "Sam" applies for the Marketing Associate position through Oncero and gets it! 
4. 90 days after "Sam" is hired, I receive $2,000 referral bonus, a percentage of which goes to "Bob" because he helped locate "Sam". 

Oncero is an outstanding idea because it brings the benefits of social networking and word-of-mouth/viral marketing to the recruiting process and then injects it with steroids by offering a monetary incentive to take action. 

Oncero is currently invitation-only.  If you would like an invite, leave a comment below and I will send you one.

When Writers Attack

Some of the writers on strike are blogging!  Blogging is a good first step for the writers because it allows them to bypass the traditional media and speak to the general public.  While this is an effective and proactive measure, I would like to see more writers using their time and energy to produce video content and post it online (ex. Clark and Michael and Funny or Die).  Now, I know this is no simple task (I certainly couldn't write/produce a show)...but I am expecting very talented and capable professional writers to pull it off, not the average person on the street. 

Check out this News Cast written and preformed by writers from The Daily Show (tip of the cap to Tom).  Aside from picketing, blogging, and drinking, this is exactly what writers need to be doing while they are on strike. 

For more info on the strike, I suggest going direct to the source: the strikers' blogs!

*Ironically these blog don't have advertisements

• Strike Points
• United Hollywood
• The Artful Writer
• Animation Writers
• Wannabe TV Writers
• News From Me
• others? (Post 'em if you got 'em)

Hulu let the dogs out!

Pardon the pun but I couldn't help myself. 

I received my invitation to Hulu's website last night and I am very impressed. Hulu is a video site that has signed content deals with major studios(MGM, Sony), television networks(NBC, Fox), and 15 Cable Channels(such as FX, SciFi, USA). 

Unlike Joost, Hulu actually has shows that I want to watch!  Hulu features full length episodes of TV series such as The Office, Arrested Development, Family Guy, 30 Rock, The Simpsons, SNL, Chuck, The A-Team, Airwolf, Scrubs, and the movies Blue Brothers and Conan the Barbarian among others.

Hulu creates new channels of distribution for TV Shows.  The best feature I have come across so far is that the site allows you to embed the videos on your own site.  Not only can you embed full episodes, but you can also create customized clips from shows and embed them as well.  It is very easy to create a clip. 

FAMILY GUY CLIP: This joke from Family Guy about Ringo Star is hilarious:

FULL OFFICE EPISODE: And it you have the time, watch the most recent episode of The Office (word has it that until the writers strike is over, there will be no more new episodes of The Office):

Advertising revenue generated from this content will strengthen the arguments underlying the Writers Strike.  It blows my mind that the studios would open up this site while negotiating with the Writers Union over online advertising profit made from television content posted online.  Though the ads in these shows are minimal, they go wherever the clips go.  eCRM for each video likely runs $40 - $120 for sponsorship.  Therefore, if a given video receives 100,000 views, Hulu stands to generate, at a minimum, $4,000 in ad revenue from sponsorship deals.  Considering that these videos can now go anywhere on the web, this estimate may be too low.  Regardless, this revenue source will grow at a near exponential rate in the next couple of years and this definitely supports the Writers on strike in Hollywood right now. 

12th Annual MITX Award Winners

Last night I attended the 12th Annual MIXT (Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange) Awards event at the Marriott Copley Hotel.  MIXT sponsors events focusing on emerging technologies and digital media in the Boston area.

Special thanks goes out to EyeWonder for sponsoring the fantastic after-party at 711 Bistro.  EyeWonder has been behind the iPhone Flash Banner ads you've seen online.  Not only do they produce great work but they also employ cool people.   

And now, without further ado...

12th Annual MITX Award Winners   

Awards

• Applied Techology
  • Outsight Interactive LLC
    • FootJoy: DryJoys Microsite
• Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals
  • One-to-One Interactive (OTOi)
    • Start the Talk  Valtrex Unbranded DTC Campaign   
• Consumer Goods
  • Mullen
    • Stanley FUBAR
• Corporate Training and Support
  • Weymouth Design
    • RSA enVision Product Demo
• Education and Learning
  • Six Red Marbles for Merriam-Webster, Inc.
    • Merriam-Webster Inc.'s Word Central web site
• Educational Institution
  • BigBad, Inc.
    • Connecticut College Web Site
• Entertainment/Sports
  • RDVO, Inc.
    • The Gillette Young Guns
• Financial Services
  • Avenue A | Razorfish
    • Prudentials Retirement Income Calculator
• Government
  • RDVO, Inc.
    • MBTA.com | Official Website for Greater Boston's Public Transportation System
• Health and Fitness
  • Bridgeline Software, Inc.
    • Center for Connected Health Website
• Human Resources
  • Staples, Inc.
    • Employment Brand Website - Staples Jobs
• Kids, 'Tweens & Teens
  • WGBH Educational Foundation
    • Curious George
• Nonprofit
  • ISITE Design
    • Solano County (Calif.) Library Website
• Online Commerce
  • Envisa, Inc.
    • Smith+Noble Site Redesign
• Professional Services
  • Kel & Partners
    • www.bicbac.com
• Real Estate
  • Lightfin Studios
    • Fars Realty Group Website
• Rich Media Application
  • Brightcove
    • Brightcove Aftermix
• Social Computing
  • Bit Group, Inc.
    • Web 2.0 Entertainment Portal
• Technology
  • PHT Corporation
    • www.phtcorp.com
• Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality
  • Kelliher Samets Volk
    • Stowe Find Yours
• BEST OF SHOW
  • WGBH Educational Foundation
    • Curious George

"Best of" Awards

• Acquisition/Direct Marketing Campaign
  • Digitas / Make 3D
    • The Home Depot Holiday Decorating Site
• Best Integrated Campaign
  • Carat
    • Reebok "Run Easy" Integrated Campaign
• Best Use of Mobile
  • Hill Holliday
    • Breaking the Code of Silence with Text
• Best Use of Search
  • Charles River Interactive
    • Bernardi Auto Group -  Fuel Efficient SEM!!!
• Best Use of Social Media
  • OTOi, a One to One Interactive Company
    • Comcastic! Island in Second Life
• Best Use of Sponsorship
  • Carat
    • Get it Done with John Deere
• Best Use of Video
  • Pod Design / Mittcom Advertising
    • Raw Talk from the raw bar
• Best Engagement
  • WGBH Educational Foundation
    • Curious George

The next MITX event, Mobile Social Networking: The Next Revolution in 24/7 Personal Broadband Engagement, takes place at the Hynes Convention Center on Tuesday, 11/13.   

Web Innovators Group XV is TONIGHT!

WOH!  Close call!  I just remembered the WebInno XV conference is taking place tonight at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, MA.  It starts at 6:30pm.

The Web Innovators Group sponsors events every couple of months that showcase various New England-based Internet Start-ups and I highly recommend checking it out if you have the time.

I went to WebInno XIV and it's a great chance to get out, have a beer, and see some local entrepreneurs present their business ideas.

Register here online by 3:30pm today. 

Here are the presenters: 

• Main

  • FlipKey       - T.J. Mahoney
  • Lemonade - Tom Zawacki
  • iiProperty - Owen Johnson

• Side Dishes
  
  
  • Carbon Rally - Jason Karas
  • Mix and Meet - Bruce Franco
  • Panospin - Carlton SooHoo
  • 360Gadget - Vivek Puri 
  • Student Concourse - Steven Bao
  • Untravel Media - Michael Epstein

It's sure to be a good time.  Drop me a line if you're going!