Press "Enter" to skip to content

Month: January 2009

Podcamp Halifax: Rocketboom's Andrew Baron

Published January 27, 2009

By Ben Boudreau

3226546295_3e2e7b9309Before it even began, Podcamp Halifax was ready to launch the social media scene of Atlantic Canada into orbit with the help of keynote speaker and founder of Rocketboom.com, Andrew Baron. For most of us, the thought of sustaining a daily international news program online may sound daunting enough but for Andrew and his team it's just another day in the life of the people behind the podcast featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone and even CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Andrew's keynote, delivered to a diverse crowd spanning all ages, industries and levels of expertise, covered a lot of ground but one of the biggest takeaways was his analogy of social media immersion. He suggested quite eloquently that learning how to use social media is like adjusting to a new city and culture. If you were to move to North Korea, you would adapt and get your footing faster by leaving the house, eating at local restaurants, talking to people and exploring surroundings. If you were to just sit inside your house and peek out the window, you wouldn't get the same level of understanding.

To understand social media, you have to be a citizen of the internet both taking information from the Photobucketcommunity and contributing to it. Read more blogs, get a Twitter account and follow people, participate, comment, and push yourself past being an observer to truly witness the value of social media today.

Oh – and don't claim to be a social media expert. Andrew will make fun of you and you will deserve it.

Here's a brief interview with Andrew before his keynote at the first ever Podcamp Halifax:

Continue readingPodcamp Halifax: Rocketboom's Andrew Baron
Comments closed

Podcamp Halifax: Does design even matter anymore?

Published January 26, 2009

By Ben Boudreau

Photobucket

Jeff White is an experienced and innovative web designer and professor based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. With a passion for social media and an eye for aesthetics, his perspective is one focused on integration, usability and – of course – super cool internet toys.

You can find Jeff blogging, tweeting and presenting at Podcamp Halifax but I managed to catch up with him for a quick chat before his session!

1) How are we seeing design's impact on the internet change as social media grows?

I'm planning to circuitously discuss this on Sunday. I think design has an even bigger role to play in the social web. As tools for interacting with people get more and more complex, we need good quality design and usability experts to make the process simpler, more straightforward and enjoyable. Look at the difference between MySpace and Facebook. Sure, MySpace allows for more personal expression, but you can't even read the damn thing! At least Facebook sets standards for everything that make it relatively easy to figure out what's going on. This is why it has become a tool that almost anyone can get into, no matter their age or computer experience.

2) Of the major players, which are the ones pushing the bar with design?

I really think we can all learn a great deal from Facebook. They have set standards and this creates challenges for app developers, but at the same time it shows which apps are truly pro and which are more fly-by-night. As a recent iPhone convert, I am a serious advocate for the platform. What Apple has managed to do with the iPhone OS puts every other smart phone maker to shame. I'm also really stoked on what Palm is doing with the Pre. RIM, Google and Microsoft seriously have their work cut out for them if they intend to compete on a similar usability level. They're simply not even close. I also have to say I'm blown away by the design work coming out of the Obama campaign and the recently released whitehouse.gov. If the Whitehouse is blogging, what excuse does any business have?

Continue readingPodcamp Halifax: Does design even matter anymore?
3 Comments

Podcamp Halifax: Social media in Atlantic Canada

Published January 26, 2009

By Ben Boudreau

Photobucket

Giles Crouch has been passionate about marketing and communications for close to 20 years much of which has been spent working in international markets. Also the co-creator and founder of the Ice Awards, creative advertising awards for Atlantic Canada, Giles has long been pushing for change and innovation within the industry. It's only natural that he has come to spend the past two years entirely immersed in his newest passion, social media.

Giles was happy to chat with me before his state-of-the-nation presentation at Podcamp Halifax!

1) Atlantic Canada's social media scene – how does it measure up with the rest of Canada/North America?

We’re on a par in many ways with the rest of Canada in terms of what social media services and tools we use and how we consume but participation is another matter. We’re seriously lagging with mobile application usage. In terms of Internet usage Ontario and BC lead simply because of density of urban populations, higher incomes and access to broadband in more rural areas coupled with increased populations since the Stats Can survey in 2005. As the Atlantic Provinces increase broadband access in rural communities I think we’ll see a big increase in social media usage as these rural communities find their “voice” and we expect that to be with tools like photo and video sharing, music sharing and blogging. The work the provinces governments are undertaking to build high-speed infrastructure in this regard is very positive and shows insight to the future.

The interesting thing we’ve seen in Atlantic Canada is the way the Power Law curve has come into play. This means that while many people are “consuming” social media (watching, listening) fewer are very “active” in social media in terms of writing and creating. This will change in 2009. We saw a drastic upswing in people voicing opinions and discussing issues from the spring to winter of 2008.

Continue readingPodcamp Halifax: Social media in Atlantic Canada
1 Comment