It was a pleasure as always to get a chance to sync up with Greg "The Trend Junkie" Cangialosi the CEO of Baltimore-based Blue Sky Factory in San Francisco today. I had him swing by to do his Thursday afternoon live show BlueSkyFactory.tv from the Bebo office.
We discussed a number of topics including start-ups, shiny objects of the Web, bootstrapping, entrepreneurship, building community anywhere, TECH cocktail, SOMEWHAT FRANK and my recent work at AOL as part of the People Network group which includes AIM, Bebo, ICQ and Socialthing and life-streaming products. We are also were joined
by Jean-Paul Cozzatti the Development / Product Engineering Lead at Bebo to talk about the updates for Bebo that went live this past December and February as well as a hint as to what is to come in the coming months.
Tune into the video above to watch episode #7 of Blue Sky Factory TV (above).
I was in the Big Apple today so I decided to do a little breakfast meetup/tweetup event this morning. The event was open to anyone and we had a handful of folks brave the blizzard-like snow storm this morning to meetup. Aside from Comfort Diner in Chelsea having some very sturdy coffee mugs and solid waffles, bacon and eggs the breakfast discussions were very thoughtful and interesting.
The breakfast was made up of the following @innonate, @ceonyc, @noreaster, @msg, Ian Costello and myself (@somewhatfrank) and we did a couple of live streamed videos (via Flixwagon) about lifestreaming, backup, chat and other products and services. Oh we also explained how awesome Mom's are! If you were unable to attend please check out the two videos (below).
NYC Breakfast Intros & Shoutouts
NYC Breakfast Lifestreaming, Backup & Chat Discussion
Thank you to everyone that came out to have some breakfast and give their somewhat frank opinions about social media and technology while I was in NYC!
Last week, I previewed my trip to the Consumer Electronics Show as I had just touched down and was getting ready to experience my first CES. Well, I am back from CES and to be totally frank, all I can say is "Wow, that was a good time!" Unfortunately, it took me until today to decompress and get enough sleep to be able to spill details about all that I experienced last week at CES. First things first, a big thank you Intel for sponsoring my trip out to CES as an Intel Insider. It was an unbelievable experience.
So how did the party I co-hosted at CES on Thursday night go? I would have to say it was a success but you can see for yourself by checking out some of the photos taken by Brian Solis (this set of photos & photo below)
Wm. Marc Salsberry also took some super pictures (this set of photos & photo below).
We had the entire Sportsbook Bar & Grill at the Palazzo which was formerly the 40/40 Club owned by hip hop star Jay Z, so as you can imagine we felt like kings in the palace of a hip hop legend. It was pretty amazing and the attendees were top-notch. I never thought as a corn-fed Northern Illinois sixth grader attending a junior high sock hop wearing what I equated to MC Hammer "hammer pants" (which are rather baggy pants) that I would years later host a CES kickoff party in Vegas that MC Hammer would attend. I guess you just don't think about stuff like that as a 6th grader growing up in a small town. Oh and we both wore regular pants to the event.
Carpooling, sharing a shower or buying a hybrid are all causes that could help stop climate change. We Add Up is a company looking to help draw attention to ways to help stop climate change by creating products (mainly tee shirts) tied to a pledge to take action. Each person that makes a pledge for a particular cause is assigned a unique number and it is printed on your tee shirt, tote or other product. The number represents the number of people currently supporting a cause. I reviewed We Add Up previously back in May 2008 but I recently got a chance to talk with We Add Up Co-founder Jill Palermo (of the mother daughter duo) in episode 59 on SOMEWHAT FRANK. You can watch the two minute video interview as Jill explains WeAddUp (above).
What if you could get embed video into a printed product like a business card? This is exactly what Snapily, an Israeli based startup, looks to do with its recent launch. Snapily uses depth illusion digital imaging to create printed experiences that appear to be moving like a video. I got a chance to chat with Snapily CEO, Duby Hodd a few months ago at a conference and gave me a preview of some of their products that launched this past week. So I would like to share my video conversation Snapily CEO with Duby Hodd as episode 57 on SOMEWHAT FRANK.
Innovation starts with education and I believe in lifetime learning. I starting writing SOMEWHAT FRANK due to my curiosity and interest in learning more about blogging. Now I am inspired by personal technology. I like to figure things out and that helps to keep me constantly learning new things. Intel recently created, Inspired By Education, a site dedicated to helping to highlight the importance of education and lifetime learning. I shared my thoughts on "What Inspires Me?" in this video (above). Check it out and share what What inspires you? by uploading a video.
I got a chance to sit down and chat with Andrew Hyde, of TechStars and founder of Startup Weekend and VC Wear, while attending the TechCrunch50 conference. Andrew and I both love startups. We recently talked about startups and even gave some advice that startups might find helpful.
Check out episode 50 on SOMEWHAT FRANK an interview with Andrew Hyde (shown below) and help Andrew decide what to do for the next six months as he appears to be a crossroads.
Yesterday, I was in New York City and got a chance to meet up with Meghan Asha, one of the co-founders of NonSociety, a new online media play that lifestreams niche verticals (fashion, style and tech). NonSociety is a group venture with Julia Allison and Kate Rambin.
We took a walk in the park and got to chatting about startups, technology, electric cars, pets and even encountered a rather distracting making out session. Check out video episode 46 on SOMEWHAT FRANK with Meghan Asha (below).
Watch and interact live over the Web! Today at 7 p.m. EST, I am chatting with Washington, DC local marketing/PR guru Rohit Bhargava the author of the new book, Personality Not Included: Why Companies Lose Their Authenticity And How Great Brands Get it Back. I am excited to be able to chat with Rohit tonight as part of the Network Solutions powered event that SOMEWHAT FRANK teamed up to host.
I met Rohit last year as he moderated a panel that I sat on with fellow social media experts, Gary Vaynerchuk and Geoff Livingston. You can watch that video here, as I recorded it from a video camera mounted to my head. Interestingly, my three colleagues have all since published books - now doesn't that make me feel like a slacker. :)
Personality Not Included is different from your typical marketing book and we are going to discuss it at this event. The actual event is sold out but you can watch it below thanks to BlogTV.
The days of fumbling over a map while driving a car appear to be a parting memory as GPS systems have grown increasingly popular of the past few years. The iPhone and other mobile devices have adopted GPS for navigating your way through life. Some newer vehicles are adding GPS as a standard option. Portable GPS devices by Garmin, Tom Tom and other have continued to roll out improved devices. But there is a new GPS startup that is taking what Garmin and Tom Tom have been doing well and taking it a step further.
Dash Navigation, a Sunnyvale, California startup, has launched a product called the Dash Express
JOIN ME ON JONNY'S PAR-TAY!
I will be talking about startups, Web 2.0, social media, SOMEWHAT FRANK and TECH cocktail on the video show, Jonny’s Par-tay on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 9pm EST. The show is hosted live by DC TECH cocktailers Scott Stead and Jonny Goldstein so tune in. Here are the details:
What: A rollicking conversation with Jonny Goldstein, Scott Stead, and you! You get to interact with everyone else via live text chat.
When: Wednesday, June 18, 9-10PM EST
Where: jonnyspartay.com
Be a part of the live conversation as we talk about TECH cocktail, technology startups and more. It should be a lot of fun!
I am a taggaholic. I love to tag items in Flickr and across the Web. I even find myself sometimes tagging other peoples photos and online content. This would not be possible without "folksonomy" and recently got to watch Thomas Vander Wal present at AOL as part of the AOL Developer Network Speaker Series. Thomas Vander Wal invented the word "folksonomy" and knows a thing or
two about the social web. It's more than just today's social networks
- it's layers of interactivity, circles of sociability, reputation and
identity. He also shared his thoughts on the spheres of sociability, social objects, and the
path to get users to fully embrace creating and sharing social objects.
I got a chance to talk with Thomas after his presentation and it is episode 20 of SOMEWHAT FRANK TV.
Continue reading "Video: Sociality Talk With Thomas Vander Wal" »
Mark Zuckerberg was interviewed today at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas. This is the second time I have seen Mark Zuckerberg speak in person as I recorded at TechCrunch40. Unfortunately, this time though I was not able to get a seat in the main room where Mark spoke. Bummer. Sarah Lacey the author of a Business Week cover article as well as a book on Mark Zuckerberg interviewed him.
Startup Mixology: Tech Cocktail's Guide To Building, Growing & Celebrating Startup Success by Frank Gruber
