Web 2.0 Expo: Day Four

Location-Based Content Delivery Today marks the close of the 2008 NYC Web 2.0 Expo, and the very last session I attended offered one of the most intriguing tools. Chad Stoller, head of marketing for Drop.io, and Conor Brady, creative director for Organic, Inc., presented the result of their collaborative efforts.

Drop.io allows you to upload files to a secure online drop and share them with others. Combine the ease of Drop.io with the interactive marketing savvy of Organic, Inc. and you end up with Drop.io Location, which lets you drop a file and associate it with an area on a Web-based map. GPS-enabled mobile phone users can then download your files when they’re in the location you’ve specified.

I know what you’re thinking. We’ve come so far with technology that we’ve essentially traveled full-circle. Sending files electronically is a modern convenience that’s worn out its welcome, so we’re now creating tools that require people to travel to retrieve files?

True, you wouldn’t want to email your boss the following:

“Hey Mr. Johnson, I’ve completed the 2008 Second Quarter Report. If you’d like to review it, go to the Starbuck’s at the corner of 8th and Walnut.”

Mr. Johnson would probably tell you to pick up your pink slip at the corner of No Way Street and Suck It Avenue.

But Stoller and Brady offered some thoughts on how Drop.io Location might have practical value, and I’ll translate their examples to befit the arts.

Example 1: A local band has written some new songs exclusively for a theater company’s new production, and the only way for people to get those songs is to attend a performance of the play. The songs have been uploaded to Drop.io and associated with the theater’s address.

Example 2: A city has launched a new public art exhibit and wants to offer site-specific content beyond the traditional audio guides. Files could be dropped based on the location of each art piece and visitors could use their mobile devices to retrieve the content.

It’s a truly amazing tool, and it’s clear that Stoller and Brady are looking ahead. Location-based interactivity is the next major phase of marketing.

Drop.io Location is currently in beta, and you can request an account here.

Thought for the Day

If I Google search your name and get no results, does that reflect poorly on you as a human being? I think it does. Shame on you.

Web 2.0 Adventure

As there were nearly 5,000 people in attendance at the Web 2.0 Expo, it wasn’t a simple feat to physically connect with people. Case in point - my meeting with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson of 37Signals.

At about 4:30 PM yesterday, I received a text from Fried: “We’re at the keynote hall. Want to come our way?”

Me: “Cool. Be right there.”

As I arrived at the keynote hall, I received this from Fried: “Now we’re in the main lobby.”

Me: “OK, Headed that way.”

I rush to the main lobby only to receive: “Now we’re upstairs near registration.”

By this point, I was hearing the theme music from 24, and I felt like Jack Bauer in a race to save the life of some random dignitary.

Ultimately, I caught up with the 37Signals guys, and my interview with them will be featured on Technology in the Arts Podcast #51 next Friday, September 26.

Web 2.0 Expo: Day Three

As I wandered around the exhibition floor at the 2008 Web 2.0 Expo today, I was struck by the sheer number of online software tools that are available. Think of the most random activity, and there is likely a Web service to support that activity. Collaboration, aggregation, project management, stamp collecting, grocery list facilitator... on and on and on. Also, as I sat through today's sessions, it became apparent that some of these people don't know what they're talking about. And I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. In fact, most of them will admit that they don't know.

Often a Web site will become incredibly popular, making its creator very wealthy, for no obvious reason. The success is not really quantifiable and there is no formula for repeating that success. Basically, the developers threw something against a wall, it stuck and they were asked to speak to an audience of other developers about their process.

Again, I am not disparaging the Web 2.0 Expo, as there are some phenomenal sessions and speakers. It's simply the nature of the Internet that there's a scant amount of rhyme and reason to online marketing.

Clay Shirky spoke about the prevalence of Web garbage during the keynote session this morning, and he offered the grim thought that there might not be an end to the flood of data. He supported this with a quote from Yitzhak Rabin: "If you have the same problem for a long time, maybe it's not a problem. Maybe it's a fact."

Shirky also remarked that the Internet has allowed everyone to be a publisher because of the low cost, no cost capabilities. As there is no longer an economic "crap" filter, the onus to sort through the junk is placed on the user.

Further, Tim O'Reilly, who coined the term "Web 2.0" (much to my chagrin), pointed out that the best and brightest minds in the world are being used to create goofy Facebook and iPhone applications. So it isn't likely that the river of online trash will run dry anytime soon.

When I have a solution to this problem, I'll let you know. In the meantime, check out this post from ReadWriteWeb that outlines "6 Ways to Filter Your RSS Feeds." When it comes to clearing the clutter, it's a step in the right direction.

Additional Notes

Chrome Nearly Blows Chunks: A Google developer presented the company's new Chrome browser this morning. He apologized at the beginning, mentioning that he was ill and might have to "run off the stage." Way to relax an audience, dude. Also, if you're going to present a browser that only runs on Windows, you might want to think about bringing a Windows machine. Still, he made it through the presentation without losing his breakfast. Huzzah!

Surface Without Depth: Microsoft showed off its new Surface tabletop display in the Web 2.0 Expo Hall, and I wasn't very excited. The device offers a multi-touch, multi-user interface that lets users drag items around in a very tactile way. Here are some videos that show off some of the Surface's recent commercial launches.

Yes, it's cool, and it's certainly time to explore interactivity beyond the mouse and keyboard. But the consumer version of the Surface isn't set for release until 2011. By then, surely something much more innovative - and affordable - will be available.

Web 2.0 Expo: Day Two

The highlight of my day was interviewing Eileen Gittins, the founder, president and CEO of Blurb, an online publishing service that provides print on demand tools for the general public. With Blurb's book layout software, BookSmart, users can create books using their own text and images and upload them to the Blurb server for purchasing, printing and delivery. Like Lulu.com (see Josh Futrell's recent blog post), Blurb empowers writers, photographers, graphic designers, and other artists to control the publishing of their work.

Gittins is a passionate entrepreneur who truly understands her client base. (She started Blurb based on her own frustrations with the publishing industry.) Blurb and the related project Photography.Book.Now exemplify what is truly phenomenal about the power of the Web.

No more spoilers. You can listen to my interview with Gittins (and a few other Web 2.0 Expo players) on Technology in the Arts Podcast #51 on Friday, September 26. (Go ahead and subscribe already, you slouch!)

I also digested this morning some tips on viral marketing during Jonah Peretti's Web 2.0 Expo session, Viral Marketing 2.0. Peretti, known throughout Web circles as a guerilla media guru, is the co-founder of HuffingtonPost.com and BuzzFeed.

Peretti explained that, contrary to popular opinion, a message doesn't become viral because of influential users. Rather, a message spreads because of the network that supports it. For instance, he explained, a fire spreads when the conditions are perfect and not because the spark that ignited it was special.

"Facebook created a network that would make the driest forest possible so the fires would spread," said Peretti.

The network Peretti highlighted today is what he calls the "Bored at Work" network, which is a huge people-powered network comprised of distracted corporate employees. However, he explained that a big problem with trying to spread a viral message is the "radical unpredictability" of the Web. There is no way to know who will make something popular or what will become popular.

So how can Peretti possibly offer any advice on delivering messages that will succeed in a viral way? He admitted that he didn't have a perfect answer. Still, considering his repeated success at gaining viral acclaim (see The Contagious Media Project for a list of his online exploits that have blown up), there is a great deal of cred behind the tips he offered.

For instance, may absolute favorite of Peretti's techniques is one he dubs "The Mullet Strategy." As most people know, a mullet is a hair style that features a short, professional front-end with a long, flowing rear. Peretti compared this "business in the front, party in the back" approach to marketing. Since the most contagious media is often silly, fun and even shocking, it isn't always appropriate for that content to live on the front page of a Web site. However, if there is a "party in the back" and people are enjoying and sharing that party, it will most definitely drive traffic to the other areas of your site.

Web 2.0 Expo: Day One

Today was "workshop" day at the 2008 NYC Web 2.0 Expo, and while I enjoyed the two three-hour sessions I attended, I would not consider them workshops. I always expect a workshop to provide attendees an opportunity to put into practice some of the concepts discussed. I'd strongly encourage artists and arts organizations involved in the planning of a conference or professional development series to be cautious about the use of the word workshop. Any session that exceeds two hours should have some type of engagement activity or risk losing the attention of the laptop/iPhone-wielding audience.

That being said, the leaders of both sessions I attended today managed to keep my attention. I was especially engaged during Josh Porter's presentation, "Designing for Community." Porter is the founder of bokardo design and author of the book, Designing for the Social Web.

Toward the beginning of his talk, Porter mentioned two very important things. First, your message will get out into the world, and you can either choose to ignore the message or engage with users.

An arts example: A theater company is getting negative reviews in the local newspaper for its current production, but audiences are greatly enjoying their experience with the show. Unfortunately, those audiences are shrinking because users are believing the newspaper's message. If the theater had created an online space for actively engaging its audience, it could allow the community - not the voice of a lone critic - to define its show's success.

Second, Porter said that organizations probably already have communities, whether they know it or not. The idea is to "cultivate" that community. Often in the arts, an organization will try to artificially create a community rather than managing the one which already exists. In order to build a passionate online community, Porter says, an organization should "support an activity and make people better at the activity."

So how do you make people "better" at being an arts audience? Well, that's a much larger discussion than I care to launch here, and the answer is different from one discipline to another. But the point is that an organization should work with and grow its existing community and should not try to manufacture one.

"You want the people to identify themselves as a community," said Porter.

Another great point Porter made - which has been mentioned in many forms on this blog and on our podcast - is that when an organization is considering which interactive features to add to its Web presence, it should simply "model the interactions that already exist." In other words, study how your users are already connecting (both online and offline), and provide tools that support those connections.

Finally, according to Porter, most successful community-based Web sites comprise "objects" and "verbs." For instance, a YouTube page has objects (i.e., video pane, user profile, related videos, responses, etc.) and verbs (i.e., play, upload, respond, etc.).

I'll leave you with the following image from the "Creating Passionate Users" blog, which Porter mentioned today.