I spent the last 2 days at a customer site in the south east of England. On my way home last night I decided to explore a route up a mountain called The Blorenge. I did not take any pictures, though I am sure the view would have been great if it was light. Being Novemeber the 5th, I felt the youff of Abergaveny let me down somewhat with few fireworks going off.

The Blorenge from the north is just over 500 meters of ascent, some of which is up a old mine works incline and some on open hill side. Nearly all of it is steep, so until the top plateau there was little I was able to run. Still a great hill training venue which is quite reasonable to do at night. Indeed, I was quite surprised to see an other set of lights out running who clearly knew an easier/better way down than straight back down the north face. I really missed my Mudclaws for the 1st 100m of descent.

Many thanks to Martin Beal and his blog for the idea. I have passed 100's of time to my shame, but never though of using it as a training ground and an excuse to break the drive home up. So if Martin at the top of end of the sport can do the ascent in 21.5 minutes, those of us at the other end might find 30 minutes a good target. Last night the ascent took about 45 minutes to the plateau, but some of that was spent reading the route description and looking for the track in the dark.

Sun Startup Essentials - A big hand for your business ideas from stewart townsend on Vimeo.

How can Sun Startup Essentials help you ? Watch this and see how Sun can help your small business with it's Startup Essentials programme http://sun.com/startups

• The ACTA Internet Chapter: Putting the Pieces Together
  Michael Geist put the evidence together from the available "leaks" and shows us all why ACTA is anti-open, anti-freedom. If democracy means anything today we need to mobilise popular opposition to this disgusting travesty before it's too late.
  (tags: ACTA Rights Freedom Copyright DMCA politics internet)
• Leaked ACTA Internet Provisions: Three Strikes and a Global DMCA
  EFF's title sums up the purpose of ACTA nicely. It's a secret work by the copyright fascists to lock down their business model before we all realise what's going on, and to do so at a trans-national level so that no country is empowered to challenge it. Dirty, dirty, dirty.
  (tags: ACTA Copyright ThreeStrikes DMCA Freedom Rights EFF)
• Joss Stone Reveals Why Lily Allen Hates Piracy
  Once you're past the tabloid sensationalism, there's an insight in this piece - that the copyright fascists tend to concentrate on monetising a cult of personality whose actual music doesn't stand too much scrutiny.
  (tags: Music Copyright BusinessModel ThreeStrikes)
• The Photographer's Ephemeris
  Could prove useful, although I couldn't make the list of places work.
  (tags: photography travel)

Do you want to know where I will be on November 17th, Im going to be at the O2 Indigo, not hanging out trying to get signatures of the latest bands but at the #140conf London event, more details below but with Stephen Fry on the bill its going to be a fantastic day and if you want to attend as a Sun Startup Essential member you get 40% discount. Yep 40%....

The 140 Characters Conference: London will be taking place on 17 November at the O2 Indigo.

The schedule for #140conf: London offers 50+ speakers in 27 fast sessions during the course of just one day.

At the #140conf events, we look at twitter as a platform and as a language we speak. In London we will be exploring the effects of the real-time Internet on Business. Overall we will be exploring the systemic effects the worldwide adoption twitter is having on business.

Some of the topics we will cover at #140conf London include: Racism as a Resource; Sky News: Twitter, Reputation and #iranelection; twitter and Brands, twitter and Education, twitter and Media, twitter and Small Business, twitter and Sports, twitter and The Police, twitter and TV, twitter and Music.

Please review the videos from the NYC event to get a feel of the pace of the event and the content shared

It is our intention to provide a platform for as many people as possible to share their thoughts and engage in conversation with the attending delegates. You will find individual talks set to: 10 minutes; “Featured talks” 15 and 20 minutes and the various panel discussions are set for 15 and 20 minutes.

Speakers include special guest Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) together with:

Alex Bellinger (@alexbellinger) - Journalist; Founder, SmallBizPod
Andrew Davis (@andrew_davis)
Andrew Keen (@ajkeen) - Author, Cult of The Amateur: How the Internet is Killing our Culture
Babs Rangaiah (@babs26) - Vice President, Global Comms Planning, Unilever
Becky McCray (@BeckyMcCray) - Founder, Small Biz Survival
Boyd Hilton (@boydhilton) - TV Editor for Heat Magazine
Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) - President, New Marketing Labs
Ciaran Norris (@ciaranj) - Director Invention/SocialMedia8
David White (@daveowhite) - Chair
Dean Landsman (@DeanLand)
Digital Maverick (@digitalmaverick) - Learning technologist, Moodle evangelist
Ebony Rhiney-James (@EbonyRJ) - Digital Marketing Manager at Warner Music Group
Federico Grosso (@federicogrosso)
Gerd Leonhard (@gleonhard) - Media Futurist, Author, Blogger
Heather Gorringe (@wiggled) - Founder, Wiggly Wigglers
James Poulter (@jamespoulter) - Digital Strategist for Ogilvy PR
Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver), twitter investor, creator of #140conf
Jeffrey Hayzlett (@JeffreyHayzlett) - CMO, Kodak
Jonathan Almond (@jonalmond)
Josie Fraser (@josiefraser) - Social & Educational Technologist
Kathleen Hessert (@kathleenhessert) - CEO, Sports Media Challenge
Kyra Gaunt, Ph.D. (@kyraocity) - Associate Professor of Music and Anthropology, Baruch College-CUNY, writer, blogger
Lauri Stevens (@lawscomm)
Manny Norte (@mannynorte) - Kiss FM
Marsha Collier (@MarshaCollier) - Author, Ebay for Dummies; Radio Host
Maz Nadjm (@Mazi) - Responsible for social networking at Sky Television, sky.com
Nick Halstead (@nickhalstead) - CEO, TweetMeme
Nick Keane (@nickkeane)
Pamela O'Hara (@pmohara) - Co-founder, Batch Blue
Peter Gregson (@petergregson) - Cellist and Co-founder of the Production Company Coffeeloop
Ray Paul (@raypaulbbc) - Executive Producer for Weekend Programs at BBC Radio 1
Roberto Bonanzinga (@Bonanzinga) - Balderton Capital
Saul Klein (@cape) - Index Ventures
Sean Seton-Rogers (@setonrog) - PROfounders Capital
Sherry J. Bitting (@SJBRules) - Co-founder and Marketing Director, Parlour Magazine
Shirley Williams (@shirleyearley)
Stephen Fry (@stephenfry)
Steve Saul (@stephensaul) - Social media/blogger for Simon Cowell's X-Factor
Sue Black (@Dr_Black)
Tal Givoly (@givoly) - Chief Scientist, Amdocs
Tim Bradshaw (@tim) - Digital media correspondent, Financial Times
Vikki Chowney (@vikkichowney) - Editor of Reputation Online, Centau Media

The take aways from this event will provide the attending delegates knowledge, perspectives and insights to the next wave of effects twitter and the real-tme internet will have on business.

As Sun Startup Essentials is a friend of Jeffs we have a lovely discount for you, save 40% on a Delegate Ticket up until 15 November or until tickets last. 

Click here to register:

Get the tickets quickly as this will be a sell out shortly.

SmallBizPod is a podcast, blog, news and community site for small businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs. This is how it all happened.

Back in March 2005, Alex Bellinger became one of only a handful of people in the UK to start podcasting.

Looking around for a subject he realised there were no British-based podcasts on business. Since he had just set up his own business and had spent many years focusing on the small business sector, a podcast on entrepreneurship seemed like a good way to go.

SmallBizPod was born. The podcast, blog and website now attract tens of thousands of listeners and readers a month from all over the world.

Inspire, Inform, Entertain

From the start SmallBizPod has been there to inspire, to inform, and to be fun to listen to and read as well. I think thanks to some wonderful contributors and interviewees, it's achieved just that.

Over time, the site has grown to become one of the most visited sites for SMEs in the UK. It's also developed into a wonderful free audio resource to provide inspiration and advice from business people with real experience and real insight.

Take the time to listen to some inspiring interviews from some renowned people on subjects such as marketing, business advice, funding and many more, the beauty is that these are free and really insighful and great to hear that not just you in that Startup boat alone.

Visit http://www.smallbizpod.co.uk/  now and keep an update on the latest podcasts.

Sun Startup Essentials helps small business reduce carbon emissions by 85%

La deuxième édition du BarCampSophiaAntipolis se tiendra le jeudi 5 novembre à l’Agora Einstein - Sophia Antipolis, de 16h30 à minuit. Les participants ont opté pour le thème du Ecommerce. L’OpenCoffee Club Sophia sera partenaire de cet événement majeur des nouvelles technologies de la Côte d’Azur, a tel point qu’il aura lieu au sein même du Barcamp spécialement à cette occasion.

Le thème du Ecommerce, présenté aujourd’hui comme le nouvel eldorado des commerçants, sera débattu sous plusieurs angles de réflexions, aussi bien techniques que commerciaux. Il y a d’ailleurs déjà plusieurs sujets très pragmatiques proposés par les futurs participants :

• Le Ecommerce est-il toujours un eldorado ou une affaire de professionnels ?
• Quelle solution pour se lancer dans la vente en ligne ?
• Les différentes méthodes de communication et leurs retombées en terme d’audience.
• La place du mobile dans le Ecommerce de demain.
• Les outils communautaires : Facebook, Twitter, …
• Les moyens de paiement et la difficulté de convaincre les banques.

L’entrée est gratuite, mais l’inscription est obligatoire afin de faciliter l’organisation de cet événement. Pour ce faire, il suffit simplement de se rendre sur le wiki et d’éditer la page pour rajouter son nom. Il est également possible de contacter Sandra Bayer par email (à sbayer@cari.fr) si vous rencontrez des difficultés pour vous enregistrer.

Vous pouvez commencer à discuter avec les autres participants ou suivre le déroulement du BarCampSophiaAntipolis grâce aux sites suivants :

• Groupe Facebook (plus de 120 membres)
• Groupe Google (pour les propositions de thèmes)
• Twitter (pour être tenu au courant de tout)

• Google Redefines Disruption: The “Less Than Free” Business Model
  Important to understand how this model works as it will be at the core of the disruption all technology businesses face from Google over the coming years.
  (tags: Google BusinessModel GPS Navigation Mobile Advertising android disruption)
• MP warned over electronic readout
  Dinosaur alert.
  (tags: UK Politics parliament eBook)
• Google Chrome Extensions
  Looks like the extension capability in Chrome is already getting plenty of exercise. If the ones I'm hooked on in Firefox show up, maybe Chrome will get more of my attention.
  (tags: Google Chrome Browser Plugins)
• Am 13. November „South Tyrol Free Software Conference” in Bozen
  I'll be opening this conference (which is mainly in English) in the splendid town of Bozen (or Bolzano). Come for the wine (the local Lagrein grape is great) if not for the tremendous content, which includes Sam Ruby.
  (tags: Events SimonPhipps Italy Bolzano Conference FOSS OpenSource)
• TV Finds That a Mortal Foe, the DVR, Is Really a Best Friend
  And naturally this will be the story with internet downloads as well. All the fuss from the big media companies - and their manipulation of legislation through their powerful joint lobbying with the pharmaceutical and software industries - will be shown to have been based on false assumptions depending more on a desire to retain their oligopoly than on any benefits to society.
  (tags: Television advertising ThreeStrikes)
• xkcd - Movie Narrative Charts
  A thing of beauty, not to say obsessiveness.
  (tags: Movie xkcd visualisation humour comic lotr lordoftherings starwars)

Congratulations Micello team for winning the Runner-up award at the AT&T Platinum Fast-Pitch contest!!! Wow!

The event took place at CTIA, held on October 7-8, 2009 in San Diego, CA where AT&T reviewed over 60 entries. The winners received a share in $40,000 of prize money and opportunities for inclusion in an AT&T distribution channel.

Micello has built a database of maps of places people go to shopping malls, college campuses, convention centers etc, and allows users to access, navigate and explore those places using their mobile phones. Unlike, its competitors, Micello keeps its own database of place of interest rather than relying on satellite-based map systems. In addition, by integrating social networking services into the application, Micello brings together all the activity happening inside a building where people gather. 

Find out more at micello.com. 

Sun Startup Essentials est l'un des partenaires mondiaux de Startup Weekend et s'associe à l'organisation de la première session à Paris, du 4 au 6 décembre 2009 à La Cantine.

Il s'agit d'une nouvelle formule venue tout droit des US : vous avez un week-end, c'est-à-dire 54h, pour monter votre startup, de l'idée initiale à la création de la société ou au développement du produit ! C'est possible ? On verra bien... En tous cas, ce sera l'occasion de rencontrer des gens intéressants, de former des équipes dynamiques, de partager des expériences, de s'amuser et de créer des liens pour l'avenir. On ne sait jamais ce qui peut se passer dans ces moments-là. La prochaine star française du web sortira peut-être de Startup Weekend Paris. Vous pouvez vous inscrire dès maintenant sur le site.

• Depression link to processed food
  "Eating a diet high in processed food increases the risk of depression, research suggests. What is more, people who ate plenty of vegetables, fruit and fish actually had a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found." In my experience being depressed leads to eating more processed food.
  (tags: Food Health Depression Reserach Science BBC)
• 11 Apache Technologies that Have Changed Computing in the Last 10 Years
  The scope of the work covered by Apache is just enormous. This list omits the Apache project I think has the largest potential to change the web for the average business, OfBiz, but otherwise does a good job.
  (tags: Apache FOSS OpenSource history)
• Illegal downloaders 'spend the most on music', says poll
  "The people who file-share are the ones who are interested in music," said Mark Mulligan of Forrester Research. "Duh" say the rest of us, "a crack-down on file sharing will harm all but the richest music superstars."
  (tags: Music P2P BusinessModel UK download Policy ThreeStrikes)
• Imogen Heap UK Tour
  Tickets already going fast. We can't decide on Oxford, Bournemouth or London, all equally inconvenient.
  (tags: Music ImogenHeap Concert Tour)
• Startup Visa
  Nat Friedman from Ximian & now Novell with useful observations supporting the idea Paul Graham proposed to have easy access to US (or indeed any other country) visas for bona fides startup founders. A much better option than expanding H1Bs (or their local equivalents).
  (tags: USA Visa Immigration Startup entrepreneurship business)

A rather lovely Wordle of the SSE blog - rather funky don't you think.

Free and open source content management systems (CMS) like Drupal and Joomla have given entrepreneurs everywhere an opportunity to bootstrap their concepts quickly and effectively. What's the difference between them, and which one is right for you? Let's take a look.

Joomla - This CMS is very popular and freely available as an open source software package. It can be used to design Web sites, community portals, online magazines, corporate intranets, and even e-commerce sites. Out of the box, users can build data reporting tools, inventory control systems, product catalogs, business directories, and more. You don't need to be a technology whiz, however, to use Joomla. To get a feel for how easy it is, try this interactive online demo.

Mambo - Another open source option on the playing field is Mambo, a CMS with Web- and server-based installation options. Its template system means there's no complicated coding required but, because it's open source software, you can customize, tweak, and get as technical as you want. Mambo handles media content like images and video exceptionally well, and has a robust content publication scheduling feature to help keep your site fresh and updated around the clock.

Drupal - This open source content management system made headlines recently when it was announced that the White House uses Drupal to power WhiteHouse.gov. The basic package is loaded with tools to create all kinds of terrific Web sites and portals, but when you include the free add-on modules things really get interesting. Use Drupal to create e-commerce sites, podcasts, newsletters, picture galleries, forums, message boards, and more.

concrete5 - For many startups, an online presence is mainly about branding and selling your company's message. When that's the case, many entrepreneurs wish they could find a CMS that's meant for marketing. Concrete5 may be just the ticket. Designed for "regular people," not developers, concrete5 makes setting up a Web site as easy as sending an email. Down-to-earth editing tools make it possible for someone with no developer experience to build and edit a quality Web site in minutes. That's a terrific bonus, since most startups don't have extra cash lying around to spring for a professional Web designer.

Most open source content management systems have the same basic capabilities and features, and mainly vary in level of difficulty to set up and use. The easiest way to determine which CMS is best for you is to try their online demos and play around a little bit to get a feel for which one best matches your computer skill level. No matter which one you choose, each project has a healthy community of developers and users at the ready to help you get set up and troubleshoot along the way.

Flickr image courtesy of Marco Belluci.

Originally posted at http://blogs.sun.com/sun4startups/entry/cms_startup_in_a_box1

...The CRASH you haven't seen yet...

This time we go behind the scenes of the worst financial calamity that flooded our TV screens last Christmas...

What lessons have we learned? 

What do you do when your whole world has SUDDENLY collapsed, the rug has been pulled out from under you, the regulators are circling and the media spotlight is focused on you?

We are doing business in unpredictable times - impacted by the collapse of the financial systems.  And experts are predicting another down surge...

How do you lead your team, your employees, shareholders and family who are all looking to you for inspiration?

As we get closer to the 1st anniversary of one of the darkest winters the finance markets had ever seen, we bring to you our next breakfast...

Leading through a Catastrophe!

 

Mark Sismey-Durrant is the Chief Executive of Heritable Bank. He knows what he is talking about - having been at the heart of some of the most dramatic events before Christmas last year...(Iceland rings a bell?)

He has been there, done it - and is coming out on the other side.   He has never spoken at an interactive public event - this is the first time Mark will share his insider secrets of leading in these uncertain times.

So, here is your invitation to a breakfast full of shock, surprises, inspiration and intrigue.

Insider Secrets - Behind the Scenes with Mark Sismey-Durrant

Date: Monday, November 23, 2009 at 8:00 AM (GMT)

Location: London Customer Briefing Centre Sun Microsystems Ltd. Regis House 45 King William Street London, London EC4R 9AN
United Kingdom

Click here to book: http://marksismeydurrant.eventbrite.com

Sun Startup Essential Members check your November newsletter for a Discount code and for 3 FREE PLACES to attend.

• The Fun Theory
  It may be an advertising stunt, but the videos are great and it embodies the idea central to open source that people contribute readily to thinks they get a kick out of.
  (tags: Motivation Marketing Advertising Volkswagen Creativity)
• There's an election coming
  "But to suggest that taking ecstasy is less dangerous than horse-riding, or that cannabis is safer than alcohol and tobacco - however true that may be - is to say the unsayable in the political drugs debate" -- The UK has a government that would rather appear OK to the Daily Mail reader than actually do what's right according to the experts advising them. It's true in the case of drugs, and it's true in the case of the internet and downloads. Watching Labour erode its core of support as it desperately tries to win over the Conservatives' heartland.
  (tags: UK Politics Science drugs)
• Top things to do after installing Ubuntu Linux 9.10 Karmic Koala
  Good list, although I disagree with a few of thee choices which seem to prioritise simplicity over safety (for example, there's no way I will use Empathy for IM without OTR).
  (tags: Ubuntu Karmic Linux)

A balance between processor performance, memory bandwidth, and IO performance all contribute to system performance. Applications like business intelligence and data warehousing (BIDW), and Rich Media are particularly sensitive to overall performance. 

The Sun Fire X4275 is designed for the ground up for powering both rich media streaming applications, and business intelligence and data warehousing applications.

In this webinar, you'll find out:

• The design principles of the Sun Fire X4275 (Intel Xeon 5500 series processors, 64 GB of memory, 12 TB of storage, 8xSSD or 12x15K drives for IOPS performance all in the same 2U chassis, and up to 24 GB of network bandwidth)
• How flash technology can multiply IO performance offering significant savings in cost/stream, cost/IOPS and cost/GB as well as savings in energy and space
• How the Sun Fire X4275 is the building block of the powerful Oracle Exadata V2 server recently announced by Oracle.

Date: November 4, 2009
Time: 8:00 am PDT / 11:00 am EDT / 4:00 pm UK / 5:00 pm Central Europe / 8:30 pm India (New Delhi) (check timezone)
Speakers: Tushar Katarki, Product Manager, Angelo Rajadurai, Sr. Technical Evangelist, Sun Startup Essentials

Register Now

Archived Webinars

Bonjour Séverin, peux-tu te présenter ?

Bonjour Laurent ! Entrepreneur du web depuis 2006, je m'appelle Séverin Benizri et je suis fondateur de la société Paris Labs qui édite des plateformes de réseaux sociaux, notamment le service Helia.fr. J'ai un parcours un peu hybride entre le commercial et la technique, comme beaucoup de monde dans ce secteur.

Que fait Helia ?

Helia est un réseau social professionnel qui encourage le partage d'expérience entre des internautes qui ont des affinités pour le même métier ou les mêmes entreprises. Helia propose également des outils de communication aux entreprises qui souhaitent maîtriser leur réputation sur le Web. D'ici à la fin de l'année, il y aura des informations à jour sur plus de 500.000 entreprises sur Helia, des actualités et des offres d'emploi.

Pourquoi as-tu adhéré au programme Sun Startup Essentials ?

Nous étions très impliqués dans le développement Java. Il nous a paru naturel de nous associer à la maison mère... Le programme présentait de belles opportunités aussi bien dans le domaine du conseil que dans l'acquisition de matériel informatique.

Quelles technologies Sun utilises-tu ?

Aujourd'hui, nous travaillons avec des ingénieurs Sun sur une migration vers OpenSolaris afin d'utiliser ZFS, la virtualisation avec les zones Solaris et GlassFish.

Pourquoi as-tu choisi d'installer OpenSolaris sur une Dedibox ?

Aujourd'hui, Dedibox propose un bon rapport qualité/prix qui correspond à nos besoins actuels d'hébergement. Nous voulions explorer les possibilités d'OpenSolaris sans pour autant changer de fournisseur de services dans un premier temps. En revanche, nous nous intéressons de près aux serveurs Sun, notamment aux processeurs SPARC.

Comment s'est passée l'installation ?

Après avoir envoyé le DVD d'OpenSolaris aux équipes Dedibox, nous avons obtenu un accès VNC (partage d'écran) sur notre serveur pour procéder à l'installation. L'installation s'est déroulée sans problème, tout le matériel ayant été reconnu avec des pilotes adaptés dans la distribution Sun !
Ensuite, avec l'aide d'un ingénieur de Sun, Amir Javanshir, nous avons pu configurer le serveur pour qu'il héberge notre service. Après quelques adaptations et configurations des principaux outils, notre service était dupliqué sur l'environnement OpenSolaris. 

Quelles sont les prochaines étapes pour toi ?

Nous sommes en train de d'effectuer des tests fonctionnels et de performance sur les différentes architectures. Parallèlement, nous faisons évoluer notre technologie vers une architecture plus modulaire (OSGi). Notre objectif est d'héberger la nouvelle version de la technologie sur un serveur Sun avec l'environnement OpenSolaris à T1-2010.

Merci Séverin et bon courage pour la suite !

Pour en savoir plus, vous pouvez envoyer un email à severin.benizri@parislabs.net

• Send the GNU GPL to the Amazonia
  Carlo Piana (Europe's answer to Eben Moglen) once again delivers a clear analysis, this time showing how Amazon's announcement of hosted MySQL in the cloud punches a hole in Stallman's argument against the Oracle acquisition. Looking forward to hearing from Stallman both why Carlo is wrong and why dual-license is good for software freedom.
  (tags: FOSS OpenSource Dual-Licensing MySQL Amazon Oracle)
• mmmeow
  Finally Flickr has a serious competitior.
  (tags: Cat)

The other day I was one of the lucky few with the opportunity to attend the Media140 Branding event over at RIBA in London.  The event was aimed at media professionals and the majority of the audience were PR agencies and branding professionals.


Having spoken to a number of the attendees I would have to say there were as many experts in the audience with interesting things to say on Branding, building a brand and representing the brand on Twitter and related tools as there were on stage.   The content that was provided on the stage was only a small part of what was actually shared and the #media140 twitter stream provided a raft of additional conversation and content. 

So what came up at the event... And what did not... Here's a few of my notes:

Community

Rather than engaging directly with communities the general consensus for agencies represented by the speakers and panels was that you should seek out those that influence rather than those that look after, or run communities.  This was an interesting perspective from my point of view as a community owner through Girl Geek Dinners and as a brand advocate with TweetMeme.  I have to say that in some ways the community leaders are also to some degree influencers but not in the traditional agency approach.  It's interesting to hear how the agencies see influencers in terms of followers and retweet reach rather than people who can direct a mass of people towards a brand.  I'm sure I'll be writing more on this in the future!

Acceptance

The acceptance of a brand seems to be directly related to respecting the privacy of individuals and engaging at a relevant point, not at random or at a point suited to the brand owner.  Brands don't seem to be accepted unless they are honest and open... Transparency is key.  The issue of transparency came up many times across all the panel discussions.

Trust

Transparency of the conversation became really important+, who are you talking with if you are talking to a brand... Brands being personal came up a lot and the conversations flowed around being a brand on Twitter versus being an individual on twitter that happened to work for a brand.  Consumers were less rude with individuals who worked for a company than they did with a company that was represented on twitter.

"richard baker of Virgin Trains gets fewer abusive comments than @virgintrains - are people rude to brands over people?"

Engagement

How do you converse or shout at people who you want to engage and purchase your brand products?  After all that really is what you are after right?  Is it all about conversation or is it about shouting out to get your brand heard and noticed.  The Habitat example got a fair bit of time at today's event.  Along with Ryanair.  Both were seen as examples of brand failure today due to negative press but as the stats show negative press can result in the case of Ryanair as positive sales as people hear the brand name and recognize it.  So does that still mean that all press is good press.  It certainly suggested that TV and newspapers still have the greater traction and action as a result of them.  But could over time Twitter, Facebook etc actually be better and provide a faster route to a sale... The answer still hangs in the air on that one at the moment with a lack of stats on conversion rates.

Identity

There was a lot of conversation around the brand identity getting lost on Twitter with too many Twitter accounts and people not knowing which account or even if they should be tweeting to an account to get a response or go through formal methods such as a call centre to get a response.  Today's wifi and subsequent BT wireless failure was a classic example of this.  The issue was tweeted and a promise of it being rectified was made via twitter but the Wifi never did come back up properly.  The issue was said to be with BT for the whole of the local area.  So would they have been better off calling in the issue... I guess we will never know and this is the same sort of experience most customers have with brands on Twitter.  Then you have the situation where brands are represented by individuals such as @kerryfromDell compared to @innocentdrinks where lots of people are under one brand name.  Personally I went looking for @innocentsmoothies and guess what... I probably wasn't the only one... Identifying the brand and finding them can be as hard as finding out their rules of engagement.  These should be clear and concise... Do you just follow people back or only follow those that you engage with.

Values

One thing that came up today was that older brands struggle to find out what their true brand values actually are today.  These were lost when the original founders left the company.  They are also split and reduced as companies merge or are acquired.  So then companies have to look deep within themselves to find their true brand values and show these through their brand and it's representations online.  And for those companies where this is proving to be hard we are seeing individuals with personality within an organization being brought forward to represent the brand with their own personal flair.

Mission

What is the mission of the brand... Is it to make reading cool.... Or to provide healthy drinks to all!  What is your mission and also what do you want to get out of your social media strategy!

Tools

There were a whole range of social media tools that were mentioned in the talks today, granted most were from just one talk but across the talks here's the tools that were recommended by the speakers at Media 140!

TweetMeme (analytics, custom channels, interesting content, retweet buttons & search)

TweetTabs (Multi tabbed real time search)

Cymfony

ViralTracker

Delicious

TweetDeck

TweetFunnel

TwitterFall

Trendistic

Audience is a conference aimed at those who recognise the need to reach engage and influence audiences of all kinds, an investigation into how this is changing, and a look at how technology has in the past and is now, through new media tools and the social web, changing audience participation and interaction.

The  speakers range from large traditional media organisations with Dan Farber of CBS, though the recording industry with Warner Bros. Music CTO Ethan Kaplan, advertising with Crayon’s Joe Jaffe, HR and internal audiences with Frank Roche of iFractal and new media players like Mike Arrington of TechCrunch and Jason Calacanis of Mahalo, not to mention Musicians like Adam & Mia and the inimitable Andrew Keen of “Cult of the Amateur” fame with more being added all the time.

Engaging on November 6th in the Hudson Theatre, one of New York’s oldest playhouses. We felt it was appropriate to hold a conference that was about Audience in a place that was specifically designed for one.

If you’re interested in meeting with a diverse and eclectic crowd and have a goal of understanding how the methods used to reach engage and influence audiences have changed and are changing as we speak and the possible future direction of these things then please do head along. They’d be delighted to have you.

More Details below and also a SPECIAL OFFER for SSE members - $50 discount - use the code  sunstartup and go here to get your tickets now

Several years ago, we had the chance to visit a crocodile farm in Queensland, Australia. There were several highlights, not least the chance for the children to hold a crocodile - a very small one, of course, with its jaws taped shut. Even with one that small, the frisson of terror remained and the children all laughed nervously for the camera.

[☝ Continued on Webmink Personal...]

• Many open-sourcers back an Oracle takeover of MySQL
  Indeed, my experience of late is that there are very few voices without a vested interest who are against.
  (tags: FOSS OpenSource Sun Oracle EU)
• Cell Size and Scale
  Really great visualisation.
  (tags: Science Education visualisation)
• FOSS FAQ
  Stephen O'Grady's new initiative to build a good, old-fashioned, answering-questions-in-public Frequently Asked Questions hub for the Free and Open Source Community.
  (tags: FOSS FAQ via:sogrady OpenSource)

Techcrunch50 and Demo are two of the most premier tech events out there, and they both had their share of startup talent. This edition of 'Spotlight your Startup' features 12 startups from each, and you have until Monday to vote.

• US Department of Defence Posts New Guidance on Open Source Software
  This has been a long time cooking, but finally allows the US Defence Department to proceed with clear guidance, ending much of the FUD that the vested interests have used to keep it at bay. DoD consulted very widely and did the politics carefully so I believe this is a landmark moment for the FOSS movement.
  (tags: USA Politics Defence Military FOSS OpenSource Policy)
• Twitter vs. the Dunbar Number, and the Rise of Weak Ties
  I noted on Twitter how many of the people I know have gravitated towards following roughly twice the Dunbar Number. This article considers the matter in greater depth and includes a number of interesting references.
  (tags: Twitter SocialGraph SocialNetworking DunbarNumber Society Relationships Zeitgeist)

Busy entrepreneurs need to stay on top of all the latest startup information, but who has the time? Here's a look at what went on around blogosphere and in the news last week, in case you missed it.

Are advisory boards a good or bad idea for startups? Entrepreneur-turned-VC Mark Suster says that depends on your goals.

All the advice from startup industry analysts who recommend entrepreneurs consider starting new green-tech business aren't just spouting rhetoric. Finance mogul George Soros recently committed a whopping $1 billion to the clean-tech startup sector.

Do you have trouble balancing work and home life? Do you love the art of the deal? Are you addicted to pursuing the next big opportunity? You may be an entre-holic.

Some startups don't need barrels of money to get off the ground. If you're a U.S.-based business looking for a micro-loan, there's a good chance Kiva.org can help.

Startups looking to raise capital sometimes hire finders to help them out. If this is something you're considering, “We can’t find investors on our own� isn't a good enough reason to go this route.

Flickr image courtesy of angermann.

Scary. Nerve-wracking. Exciting. Game changing. There are several ways to describe what it's like to pitch to a venture capitalist (VC) or angel investor, but boring typically isn't one of them. Considering the possibilities that go along with an large influx of cash, the experience of pitching a VC is both invigorating and anxiety-ridden at the same time. Here are six ways to make the job a little easier.

1. Research, research, research. Make absolutely sure you know your audience. At the very minimum, make sure you read up on the company, investor biographies, and some of the startups they've funded in the past. Another really great way to do due diligence on the people you're pitching to is to connect with someone they've funded in the past, or even an entrepreneur they turned down. You'll get the inside scoop on what to expect, what works, and what might not.

2. Rehearse. Don't think you can go into a pitch meeting with little or no preparation and expect to succeed. Even though you know your company better than anyone, you still need to get your ducks in a row and be prepared with answers to tough questions. If you're taking a slide deck with you, make sure to rehearse until the entire presentation is second nature to you.

3. Prepare a good elevator pitch. Ed Sim, Managing Director of Dawntreader Ventures, recommends you go to your meeting armed with an elevator pitch. "If you can't explain to me succinctly what your product does, what problem it solves, and how you will make money then I wonder how you will explain it to your customers. Don't worry, I want to see your baby in action, but save the demo for later as I want to hear you articulate these points first."

4. Keep your emotions in check. Pitching to a potential investor can be exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. While you want to appear passionate about your startup, you don't want to be overly-confident to the point that you alienate the VC. Investors will be assessing the viability of a long-term relationship with your company so make sure you let them know you're a team player and easy to work with.

5. Listen to feedback. While you may know more than most anybody about your company and even your industry, VCs bring loads of experience and wisdom to the table. You can learn a lot from them by simply listening to their feedback an opinions. Even if the investors choose not to fund your startup, you can still use the pitch experience to learn about the process and what VCs are looking for so you're in better shape next time you try.

6. Be authentic. David Beisel, Vice President of the venture firm Venrock, advises, "Entrepreneurs should present themselves and their businesses genuinely as they are. Attempts to 'dress up' or 'massage' their own individual backgrounds or the current company situation which aren't a true reflection of reality will be either immediately recognized or discovered later in the due diligence process. Obviously, in any introductory meeting, one should put his/her best foot forward, but never at the expense of the truth."

Flickr image courtesy of artolog.

Mark your calendars! There are a couple of super cool events in November you don't want to miss: SVASE & GABA BIGs Digital Media, and Startup Weekend.

SVASE & GABA Present the BIGs Digital Media, November 19

Social Financing - Using the Web to Mine Money for Your Venture

Raising money from VCs is increasingly difficult for early stage companies--even ones with a good product.  Social networks have been great for generating awareness but how do you turn social equity into funds for your business?  Social financing is working well for entrepreneurs in developing countries and those improving the well-being of society and the environment.  Could that same model work here?  New models are rapidly emerging that are changing the landscape for how businesses raise money. 

Join this dynamic panel of experts as they discuss this timely topic!

• What is social financing?
• What is microfinancing?
• What new tools are available today?
• How companies facilitate sources of social funding
• How social networks can become social financing engines

The Panel: Marc Dangeard, Founder, Entrepreneur Commons; Joshua Sams, Co-Founder & CEO, Sprowtt Marketplace; 2 additional panelists TBD

Moderator: Sumaya Kazi, Sr. Social Media Manager, Sun Microsystems

WHEN: Thursday, November 19

6:00 – 7:00 pm: Networking and hors d’oeuvres

7:00 – 8:15 pm: Panel Discussion and Q&A

8:15 – 8:30 pm: Additional Networking

LOCATION: Sun Microsystems, 12 Network Circle, Building 12 (make a left at the main entrance), Menlo Park, CA 94025. Map

Register now!

BAY AREA STARTUP WEEKEND

WHEN: November 20-22nd

WHERE: The Hacker Dojo

Register Before 10/30 for 20% off – Use code “swearlybird”

There are 10 Startup Weekend events going on for Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) this November! Last year they had over 25,000 events, 3 million participants, and over 1 billion media impressions. 

Additional Locations:

November 13th-15th: Tulsa, OK – Boise, ID – London, UK

November 20th-22nd: New York – Bay Area (Silicon Valley) – Cleveland, OH – Dallas, TX – Los Angeles, CA – Lexington, KY – Atlanta, GA

December 4th-6th: (just a little later) Paris, France – Corvallis, OR – Boston, MA

What’s new:

• Global visibility for your startup – GEW will have amazing exposure and follow-up with national coverage for Startup Weekend and startups in likes of The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, NYTimes, Forbes, and USA Today.
• Meet more investors, vc’s, ceo’s, cto’s, lawyers, and successful entrepreneurs working one-on-one with teams.
• Sunday night voting among your peers will allow one startup to win a grand prize.
• Top teams will be invited to Startup Weekend exclusive spots at the top tech events.
• Spotlight your startup via Startup Weekends global partners.
• Coaching and mentoring for startups after the weekend.
• Free web hosting for startups at the event
• Free business plan guidance
• Other Free software and discounts

Student Tickets are limited – Remember to bring your Student ID!

Startup Weekend is a now a non-profit out of Seattle, WA. 

• Introducing Amazon RDS - The Amazon Relational Database Service
  That's MySQL in the cloud as a web service. This is exactly the sort of thing that creates demand for service at the point of deployment and drives the open source ecosystem. I hope those declaring the future of MySQL gloomy are paying close attention here; it seems that open source makes this sort of thing possible and it's hard to see who could stop it.
  (tags: MySQL Amazon Cloud FOSS OpenSource Database cloudcomputing)
• Welcome to OpenSolaris.org - XWiki
  OpenSolaris has a new web site, built using XWiki.
  (tags: OpenSolaris OpenSource Unix FOSS)
• Everything you always wanted to know about MySQL but were afraid to ask
  Matthew Aslett makes a bid to become the definitive index of community comment on the MySQL dimension of Oracle's attempt to buy Sun.
  (tags: Sun Oracle MySQL Acquisition FOSS OpenSource Analyst)
• RMS, GPL, The Peculiar Institution of Dual Licensing
  Brian Aker thinks dual licensing (or what Richard Stallman calls "selling exceptions") is bad for open source. I tend to agree with him.
  (tags: FOSS OpenSource Dual-Licensing MySQL GPL business)

I've been rung up by three separate cold callers this week, trying to sell me financial services.

The pattern and patter is the same each time -

"'Ello Chwis, this is Dave Geezer/Robbie Wide Boy/Haroon Halfwit speakin'. We spoke a month or so ago, but you was a bit busy wasntcha and asked me to call you back around now to discuss your finances/pension/investment portfolio."

My reaction to the last two calls was -

'You are either a liar or an idiot, as I have never spoken to you before in my life and if I had, I would have told you clearly and politely to leave me alone'.

The response to that was 'uh?'.

I asked the final caller where they get their sales patter from and whether it worked - as it was clearly a lie that we had spoken before. The last geezer insisted it wasn't a lie and was adamant that we'd had 'a conversation'. I asked him if he'd had an imaginary conversation with me and he suggested he may have called me but I'd been asleep and talked to him during my slumbers. I put the phone down.

Look, cold callers - I appreciate it's your job to cold call people and maybe get a client or two in return for your efforts. But! Do you really think starting your call off with an idiotic lie about having already spoken to the person you're calling is already going to work?

Let me know if I'm wrong, Dave Geezer and friends, but I suspect the answer is that most people think this approach is as stupid as I do.

ps Please stop calling me.

pps I've lost my notes, but I fink you wanted to transfer all your funds dahn my neck of the woods, innit? Lahvely.