Marketers: Don’t Be the “Nice Guy”
Consumers live in an age of unprecedented choice. As discussed in Barry Schwartz’s great book , the number of choices consumers have the opportunity to make on a daily basis is mind-boggling. We are told that most consumers desire the unfettered ability to choose and I believe that many, if not most marketers, are affected by the perception that this is true. After all, on the surface, it seems that the more options a consumer has, the more “freedom” he or she has. And freedom is good. If a marketer doesn’t understand this and doesn’t find a way to actually promote choice, he or she seems to be backwards. Or an evildoer.
Drama’s Roundup - November 21, 2007
This episode of Drama’s Roundup contains some articles that are sure to spark interesting conversations at your Thanksgiving dinner. I’m hoping that some of you will be holding yours in Second Life this year (there’s less cleanup required and you can say whatever you want to your mother-in-law without fear of starting a family fist-fight).
Stanford Track Record of Producing Tech Innovations Continues
Many scoffed when Stanford . It seemed odd to some that a prestigious university which has produced some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent technology innovators, including the founders of Google, would offer such a course. But Stanford has proven once again that its campus is nothing less than a primordial soup for technology innovation. One of the Facebook applications developed by students in the course has passed the .
DramaFest 2007 Amsterdam a Mashing Success
The Google Party Jet touched down a few hours ago on its return flight from Amsterdam. Congratulations to the new members of Drama’s Mile High Club.
I’m happy to report that the inaugural DramaFest conference was a huge hit (both literally and figuratively) and went down as smooth as the Stolichnaya vodka that was in seemingly unlimited supply. As I knew they would, all of our speakers showed up (Michael Arrington was even there early).
Study: IMs a Crutch for Increasingly “Soft” Teens
An Associated Press-AOL poll released today seems to confirm something that has been discussed previously on The Drama 2.0 Show: communications technologies such as IM are negatively impacting the communications skills of their users. This latest poll reveals that:
- 43% of teens who use IM use it to say things they wouldn’t say in person.
- 22% of teens who use IM use it to ask for dates or to respond to date requests.
- 13% of teens who use IM use it to break up.
A couple of quotes from teen IM users are even more telling:
Glenn Kelman Proves Sanity Does Exist in Silicon Valley
Glenn Kelman, the CEO of Redfin and co-founder of Plumtree Software, wrote a great guest piece about entrepreneurship on TechCrunch. He focuses in on the serial entrepreneurs that Silicon Valley VCs have showered with money in this latest boom:
The second coming of the Internet bubble, Web 2.0, has in some ways been the love-child of Entrepreneur 2.0 — wealthy from his 1990’s success, restless from his time off. Venture capitalists have lined up with funding.
“Biz In A Box” Service Another Sign that Web 2.0 is Running Long in the Tooth
Digital Telepathy, a “digital marketing agency that embodies the Web 2.0 philosophy of a democratized Internet,” is hoping to make dreams a reality for wannabe Web 2.0 entrepreneurs who lack the skills necessary to get a startup off the ground. For $15,000 to $250,000, Digital Telepathy claims to be capable of providing aspiring Mark Zuckerbergs and Kevin Roses with a “truly unique business concept,” “proven user experience design” and a “completed web app” - all in three months. If that doesn’t sound juicy enough, they’ll even throw in a solid revenue model - something that the majority of the most popular Web 2.0 startups have failed to develop.
Making Technology Conferences Less Forgettable
There was drama in the blogging world recently when A-list bloggers Michael Arrington and Om Malik their speaking engagements at BlogWorld. I for one cannot blame Michael and Om for not showing, regardless of the true reasons behind their absences.
The reality is that technology conferences can be summed up with one word: boring. Why? It always seems like these conferences have the same speakers, the same topics, the same exhibitors. And they are always put together for the same reason: to make money for the organizers who recognize that you can always cash in by starting conferences that piggyback on hype.
According to and , Facebook’s Social Ads platform may be illegal under New York law. My attorneys at the prestigious law firm of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe LLP are currently preparing to take legal action on my behalf against Facebook.
Facebook’s Social Ads have caused irreperable harm to me and my reputation: a very attractive, highly-impressionable young woman I successfully wooed using pokes and wall postings on Facebook cancelled her date with me last night due to Social Ads which were displayed to her based on which were shared by Facebook. Social Ads are evil and I look forward to obtaining financial compensation justice for Facebook’s intentionally harmful actions.
Blackmailr: We Know
No VCs expressed an interest in funding PimpSpace despite the fact that my pimp friends are reporting record revenues from Silicon Valley johns this year. I still hold out hope that one of those wealthy johns will see the wisdom in funding PimpSpace even if social networks are commodities these days. But today I’m pitching a business that has some significant intellectual property and that offers a sure-fire way to monetize Web 2.0.
The Opportunity
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Drama 2.0 spikes the Web 2.0 kool aid by providing critical analyses of Web 2.0, its people, its startups and its impact on the world of media. Other topics are explored when Drama 2.0 has been drinking too much 1975 Dom Perignon. Read more about the Internet's version of Keyser Söze here.
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