DavidCrow.ca http://davidcrow.ca Helping companies with marketing, product strategy, user experience design, and technology development. Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:09:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Toronto Tech Week 2.0 http://davidcrow.ca/article/7357/toronto-tech-week-2-0#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=toronto-tech-week-2-0 http://davidcrow.ca/article/7357/toronto-tech-week-2-0#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:09:15 +0000 davidcrow http://davidcrow.ca/?p=7357

Wow, May 17-20, 2010 is shaping up to be Toronto Tech Week 2.0. It’s going to be a busy week, but like Social Media Week TO and Mobile Innovation Week. This has something for most of the industry. Coverage of engineering, clean tech, software, health, bio, policy, culture, news, participatory culture, entrepreneurship!

You can’t ask for a better set of conferences in Toronto. If we had Rudy’s BBQ, I’d be almost as excited as I am about SxSW.

]]> http://davidcrow.ca/article/7357/toronto-tech-week-2-0/feed 3 Planning for SxSW http://davidcrow.ca/article/7350/planning-for-sxsw#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=planning-for-sxsw http://davidcrow.ca/article/7350/planning-for-sxsw#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:44:43 +0000 davidcrow http://davidcrow.ca/?p=7350

My copy of SxSWorld arrived. And I would like to claim that I prefer accessing this information digitally because of the environmental and other factors, I really like glossy print. I like books and magazines. I like the tactile, emotional experience. It’s probably rooted in my childhood and trips to the Byron Library. But suffice to say, I was flipping through SxSWorld with Smokey Robinson on the cover and I’m excited about this years festival.

Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator @ SxSWi

Are you innovative enough?

Chris Sacca (whatisleft.org) is hosting the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator event. A couple of things. This is a SxSW event that is sponsored by Microsoft. It’s not a Microsoft event. There are 32 startups competing for attention, recognition and prizes. It was a fun event, it’s basically product pitches and commentary from judges. Think DemoCamp with feedback. I’m looking forward to spending 2 days in the Hilton, unfortunately there is not a single Canadian company in the list of thirty two.

There was a huge ad for a Montreal company that I want to adore, Tungle. Tungle solves calendaring at the edge of an organization, i.e., meeting scheduling when not everyone is on Exchange or Notes. It’s the free-busy time when everyone is using a different calendaring system. You can see my schedule at tungle.me/davidcrow. Good on the Tungle marketing team making the investment to go after a market segment that attends SxSW. While I don’t necessarily think this is the segment that they will currently get to profitability on (we’re a bunch of cheap, early adopters), it’s a sign that they are finally pushing forward with a go-to-market plan. And the full page ad in SxSWorld.

Hugh Forrest doesn’t get enough recognition. And unlike in the past when I’ve been sucking up to Hugh, this is just an honest tip of the hat for his great work. The addition of Core Conversations in 2007, and the addition of Future 15 sessions shows the risks that the SxSW organizing committee is willing to take to improve the attendee experience.

“New media technology constantly evolves and re-adapts itself. Similarly, we try to continually evolve and re-adapt the SxSW Interactive Festival programming format. One of the new additions for the 2010 schedule is a series of short talks called Future15. As the title implies, these are 15-minute solo presentations curated from proposals submitted to the PanelPicker. We grouped these Future15 presentations into two-hour blocks of programming related to a single theme. For 2010, Future15 themes range from “connected business” to “government and technology” to “wireless innovation”".

I presented a Core Conversation in 2008 which was one of the most engaging formats at SxSW. I’m looking forward to the addition of the Future15, I’m hoping to see a lot of smaller easier to digest content chunks from people. This coupled with the always engaging keynotes which include: dana boyd, Ev Williams, and talks including Douglas Rushkoff, Jaron Lanier, Marissa Mayer, Josh Koenig.

Digital Mission - UK Trade & InvestmentIt’s is great to see the UK Digital Mission bringing 40 UK digital and mobile companies to SxSW. In the same vein, there is a Canadian Blast for the Music Festival supporting Canadian recording acts. I know that Canadian Consulate has hosted events at SxSW. It will be interesting to see if SxSW is the key event for product launches, business development, marketing for a certain segment of digital/mobile companies. It has become the launch pad for music, will it do the same for interactive (specially with CES, MWC, TC50, Demo, OSCon, Web2Expo, and a huge variety of other shows).

There is a large contingent of Canadian companies travelling to Austin for SxSW. I’m looking to meet with any (Canadian) startups that want to talk about product development, marketing, fund raising, and growing their business. I’m also looking forward to talking to others about lean/customer development, fund raising not in the US, global business development and marketing, and everything else. Time to start building a plan, filling up a calendar and trying to meet more great people at SxSW.

]]> http://davidcrow.ca/article/7350/planning-for-sxsw/feed 4 A Major Milestone http://davidcrow.ca/article/7347/a-major-milestone#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-major-milestone http://davidcrow.ca/article/7347/a-major-milestone#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:17:54 +0000 davidcrow http://davidcrow.ca/?p=7347

Milestone Test Drive

Photo by gillyberlin

The Motorola Milestone goes live on Telus today. I’ve been playing with one for about about a week now. It’s a great device, as others have described the Droid as posing a “more significant challenge to the iPhone than any other phone to date”. The Milestone is the HSPA/UTMS/GSM version of the Droid. The dock and the Alarm Clock app are cool but it’s just a dock, not a deal breaker for me.

Likes

  • Network Unlocked – Whether this was intentional or a feature of a pre-release phone, I just popped out the Telus SIM card, stuck in my Rogers card and I was good to go. With Fring/Skype and Google Voice I’m pretty much up and running anywhere.
  • Speed - The tradeoff for battery life, is speed. This thing is a speed demon. Network fast. Processor fast. Everything but the camera was fast.
  • Apps – There was an app for almost everything I needed. Only 2 of the apps have paid versions (PDANet and Twidroid). The only app that was really lacking is the Skype Lite application, in comparison to the iPhone application this is just an embarrassment. Otherwise the new apps have their quirks but Seesmic, EverNote
  • Google integration – This is either a like or a dislike. If you believe in a Skynet like future, having the GOOG on a device that integrates with their services and with my location scares me. Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Voice, Sky, etc. All executed very, very well.
  • Soft keyboard – I’m hoping to try out Swype at some point, but the soft keyboard is pretty good. I find the auto-correction less intrusive than the iPhone. I was also surprised how little I use the physical keyboard. I only use the keyboard when in landscape mode.
  • Landscape mode – It’s great to have the entire screen real estate in landscape mode. While the physical keyboard isn’t a must have feature, it is very nice to see everything on the screen when banging out a long email.

    Dislikes

    • Battery life - I only get about 3/4 of a day under heavy usage. This might be a feature of all 3G phones but it feels like I need to bring the USB->micro-USB cable and charger with me every where. Given that I’m comparing it to a Palm 750wx (with 3G modem disabled) and an iPhone 2G the battery life is appalling.
    • Unlock button - You press the power button in the top right corner to bring up the unlock screen. It’s just an interaction design nightmare. I can’ hold the phone in one hand and press the big home button like on my iPhone and sweep across using the gorgeous gesture unlock.
    • Industrial feel – The iPhone feels like a piece of nature. Like a comfortable stone shaped by water to fit in your palm. The Milestone has a much more industrial feel. Hard edges, sharp lines, metal and glass. It’s a beautiful device that feels great but it’s harder.
    • Physical keyboard – It’s a little cheap. It takes some getting used to. I had though this was going to be something like the HTC TyTN that was a selling feature for me. However, while it is a nice to have, it’s is not a must have feature. I think the iPhone has taught me how to be very effective using a soft keyboard.
    • Background processes – I feel like a Unix administrator always running “ps aux” trying to figure out who is using memory, battery and other resources. Even with task killers, I just want my OS to effectively do the memory management for me.  It’s still way too low level and nerdy. I want the simplicity of the iPhone where the OS manages it for me.
    • Camera speed – The camera is slow! The pictures are fine. But it’s like going backwards 7 years in terms of speed. I missed every picture of the little ones at a birthday over the weekend because the camera would stutter and then take a pic 100-500 msec slower than I was expecting.

    The Milestone is a great device. It’s a worth competitor to the iPhone.  I’m interested to see the newest generations of HTC devices running both Android and the Windows Phone 7 Series. However, in the meantime, the Milestone is a great experience.

    ]]>     http://davidcrow.ca/article/7347/a-major-milestone/feed 12     Week in Review – 2010-02-05 http://davidcrow.ca/article/7342/week-in-review-2010-02-05#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=week-in-review-2010-02-05 http://davidcrow.ca/article/7342/week-in-review-2010-02-05#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:06:00 +0000 david http://davidcrow.ca/article/7342/week-in-review-2010-02-05

    ]]>     http://davidcrow.ca/article/7342/week-in-review-2010-02-05/feed 0     Coworking in Toronto – Camaraderie http://davidcrow.ca/canada/on/toronto/7334/coworking-in-toronto-camaraderie#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=coworking-in-toronto-camaraderie http://davidcrow.ca/canada/on/toronto/7334/coworking-in-toronto-camaraderie#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:46:29 +0000 davidcrow http://davidcrow.ca/?p=7334

    Yeah, independents, freelancers, emerging startups, web developers and others rejoice. You have a coworking option in Toronto again. After Indoor Playground “moved” in January 2008, Toronto has been lacking a general coworking space. (Yes I know about the Centre for Social Innovation, but it has mission-based selection criteria that helps create it’s ecosystem and not everyone qualifies). But today, Rachael and Wayne have announced the opening of Camaraderie. I provided some coverage over on StartupNorth, I’m hoping that we can again try to rally around a different office space model that is enabled by this emerging participatory culture.

    Camarderie - Coworking in Toronto

    Camaraderie is a located at 102 Adelaide St E, Toronto, ON. The doors are scheduled to open on Feb 15, 2010 and the space will be free until Feb 28, 2010. I’m hoping that many of the independents that are looking for a part-time, downtown coworking space will check out Camaraderie. The pictures of the space are still very raw.

    The Building 102 Adelaide St E, Toronto, ONOpen WorkspaceKitchen AreaBoard Room

    The Details

    • memberships will be $300/mo for unlimited use during business hours
    • we’ll work out keys later, but for now the space will be open 9:00am-6:00pm (or later)
    • free wifi, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate every day
    ]]>     http://davidcrow.ca/canada/on/toronto/7334/coworking-in-toronto-camaraderie/feed 10     Week in Review – 2010-01-29 http://davidcrow.ca/article/7333/week-in-review-2010-01-29#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=week-in-review-2010-01-29 http://davidcrow.ca/article/7333/week-in-review-2010-01-29#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:06:00 +0000 david http://davidcrow.ca/article/7333/week-in-review-2010-01-29

    ]]>     http://davidcrow.ca/article/7333/week-in-review-2010-01-29/feed 0     Social Media Week + PowerPoint Karaoke http://davidcrow.ca/article/7328/social-media-week-powerpoint-karaoke#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=social-media-week-powerpoint-karaoke http://davidcrow.ca/article/7328/social-media-week-powerpoint-karaoke#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:04:04 +0000 davidcrow http://davidcrow.ca/?p=7328

    Eli Singer, the team at Entrinsic, and a supporting cast of  people & advisors have organized the first Social Media Week Toronto.

    There is a great schedule of events that span the gamut of social media for companies large and small, not for profit, and local case studies. The schedule is a week with independently organized events. Some of the events I’m watching include:

    PowerPoint Karaoke is one of my favorite social formats. It is just brilliant. I first saw it executed in 2006 at ETech. And I wrote about as an alternative format to DemoCamp. I’m stoked to see that my friends Tom & Jay are making the effort to make it happen in Toronto. Remember it’s a social event, it’s meant to be a way to have fun!

    North by Northeast Interactive

    If it feels like there is a push of activities in Toronto, there are.

    You don’t need to attend every event, there is lots going on.

    ]]>     http://davidcrow.ca/article/7328/social-media-week-powerpoint-karaoke/feed 4     Corded Innovations http://davidcrow.ca/article/7325/corded-innovations#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=corded-innovations http://davidcrow.ca/article/7325/corded-innovations#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:07:17 +0000 davidcrow http://davidcrow.ca/?p=7325

    It’s time for a new laptop. In the recent past I’ve owned/used:

    • Dell m1330
    • Apple MacBook Pro (late 2007)
    • Lenovo X60 Tablet
    • Asus EeePC 1000HE
    • Apple Powerbook G4

    All have been great machines but they have been lacking. The Dell m1330 has the audio jacks on the front edge, which makes using headphones on the couch an impossibility and the plasticy bits are glued/taped on, lots of power and battery life. The MacBook Pro is missing an SD card slot, the battery life is mediocre but the MagSafe connector and overall industrial design are winners. The Lenovo is a tablet which means it’s overpriced and under powered, it’s a good solid machine. The Asus EeePC has great battery life, but it is too small the keyboard is tiny.

    Replug.com

    I really like the MagSafe connector on my MacBook Pro. It has saved the laptop from an excessive number of falls (though the frame is now dented and bent from the few falls it’s had). I was wondering why we haven’t seen other manufacturers attempt to innovate around the power connector. Sure the easy answer is because Apple owns a patent for a Magnetic connector for electronic device. However, there are other patents with similar ideas and different implementations.

    There is the Replug connectors for headphones (see photo). This combined with the MagSafe connector would provide break away connections for the 2 items often plugged into my laptop.

    But why has no other vendor innovated on their power connections? Do consumers just not care? Is this feature non-essential in the selection of a laptop? Or is it like many of the features on a Mercedes S-class as described by Jeremy Clarkson,

    “When a new S-class hoves into view, you need only look at the technology that lurks under its vast bulk and you’ll know precisely what will be fitted to the Ford Fiesta 10 years down the line”

    It’s a look at the future of laptops. As much as I like hardware hacking, I’d rather not have to hack my power connector with a DIY solution (which is strangely similar to my desire to not add aftermarket products to a car).

    ]]>     http://davidcrow.ca/article/7325/corded-innovations/feed 8     Week in Review – 2010-01-22 http://davidcrow.ca/article/7324/week-in-review-2010-01-22#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=week-in-review-2010-01-22 http://davidcrow.ca/article/7324/week-in-review-2010-01-22#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:06:00 +0000 david http://davidcrow.ca/article/7324/week-in-review-2010-01-22

    ]]>     http://davidcrow.ca/article/7324/week-in-review-2010-01-22/feed 0     Social and Personal CRM http://davidcrow.ca/article/7298/social-and-personal-crm#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=social-and-personal-crm http://davidcrow.ca/article/7298/social-and-personal-crm#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:54:53 +0000 davidcrow http://davidcrow.ca/?p=7298

    Erick Schonfeld blogged about Ten Technologies that will rock 2010 on TechCrunch. Number Ten is Social CRM. It’s started me thinking about the power of personal or small team CRM. There are many incarnations of CRM including those with a focus on:

    • marketing automation,
    • sales automation,
    • and customer service & support.

    There are a number of converging trends that are making both personal CRM and social CRM an interesting place:

    • Consumerization of technology
      We’re buying our own laptops, mobile devices, home services and entertainment. The combination of low-cost, easy-to-use devices and consumable content is helping to change expectations about procurement, enablement and scarcity.
    • Email and communication overload
      You can check voicemail, email, Facebook messages, IMs, tweets, Skypes, etc. But conversations often get lost or forgotten in the flow of messages.
    • VoIP
      Skype, Google Voice, Microsoft Office Communication Server. While not perfect, I can imagine making quality or reliability tradeoffs for VoIP usage, i.e., email withe every conversation I’ve had with people on social networks, over email or voice. That would be awesome. Imagine a searchable database of every conversation. Think I’m nuts, well check out Total Recall.
    • Mobility
      Let me pick the device. Netbook, laptop, slate, tablet, phone, console. Yes. Home, office, on the move. Yes. I want the open Internet on which ever device I’m using.
    • Cloud
      I hate feeling like I have better access to personal data on my PC. It’s my data, I want to access it on whatever device I’m using, laptop, mobile, gaming console, etc. Security and privacy are tantamount, but it’s my data and as credit card companies have proven, privacy is dead. So put my files, images, music in the cloud, preferably on hardware that I own so I don’t have to pay a subscription fee for everything.
    • Social media
      Next generation platforms are  where there is some very interesting change happening. Commerce, communications and consumer shifts.

    Companies and products to watch in enabling both personal and social CRM.

    Related Links

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