interREACCION

Paul Graham: Why Y Combinator Replaces The Traditional Corporation

Austin Carr — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:35:17 +0000

If Y Combinator is the next PayPal Mafia, then Paul Graham is Silicon Valley's godfather. Graham is the cofounder of Y Combinator, the investment firm that plugs seed money ($18,000 on average) into early stage startups in exchange for mentorship and access to its ever-growing network of alumni.

It's the latter benefit that's truly made Y Combinator a Valley powerhouse--YC's vast network of influential entrepreneurs that includes breakout Valley stars such as the founders of Dropbox and Airbnb. (We attempted to capture this network on our list of the Most Innovative Companies in Business with this fantastic infographic.) Early on, Graham envisioned this network as a "replacement for the traditional corporation."

"You know what’s great about the YC network? It gives the benefit of being part of a large company without being part of a big company," Graham says. "The problem with doing a startup--even though it’s better in almost every other respect--is that you don’t have the resources of a big company to draw on. It’s very lonely; you have no one to give you advice or help you out. In a big company, you might be horribly constrained, but there are like 1,000 other people you can go to to deal with any number of problems. Now [with YC] you have 1,000 people you can go to to deal with problems, and you don’t have all the restrictions of a big company."

The YC network, he says, now operates as a "distributed peer-to-peer replacement" for the traditional company. Comparing himself to an air-traffic controller, Graham says much of his time is spend making introductions and helping the YC community solve problems within the network. "Simon Willison, for example, the guy who wrote Django, was in a batch I think a year ago," Graham says. "So when someone had a problem with Django, we just introduced them directly to Simon Willison, and they’re like, 'Holy shit!'"

“As YC grows, the number of startups we’ve funded in the past keeps getting bigger," Graham continues. "This latest batch now has 317 startups-worth of people they can ask for help...It's very helpful for the founders. It didn’t really exist before. There are so many YC founders around now. It’s a small world: If I go to San Francisco and walk down the street for a few blocks, I will run into someone we funded."

Read more about Y Combinator and check out our infographic about the next Silicon Valley from our list of the Most Innovative Companies in Business.

[Image: Flickr user Mark Sebastian ; Thumbnail: Flickr user Al Abut]

Facebook News Radio Streaming Targets The Social Network’s Aging Demographic

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:41:28 +0000

Stitcher presents a new way to share news and spoken stories that acknowledge the large late-20s an over user base.

Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes Has Lasted Over 25 Years

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:18:39 +0000

Why has the artist whose radical ideas galvanized the1960s art world continued to dominate the market and permeate popular culture?

Augmented Reality 4D Themepark Lets Visitors–Or Their Avatars–Play

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:09:45 +0000

The Live Park interactive is an attraction equipped with Kinect, RFID tech and data sensors to offer an immersive virtual experience.

Follow-Up: Google’s Goggles Come Into Focus

Kit Eaton — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:59:02 +0000

Google's working on a new device, a pair of augmented reality glasses that've been all but confirmed by the New York Times. We looked at this idea a couple months back--now here's what's new.

The New York Times isn't messing around with today's headline: "Google to Sell Heads-Up Display Glasses By Year's End." Nick Bilton's convinced enough by info from his sources to really go for it. And the article's original pre-publish headline even borrows a little sci-fi iconography to spice things up: "Google to Sell Terminator-style Glasses..."

That's more or less what we said back in December when we included a clip from that very film to illustrate what an Augmented Reality system could ultimately be capable of.

Now, according to the Times's sources (who are "several Google employees familiar with the project who asked not to be named"):

"...the glasses will go on sale to the public by the end of the year. These people said they are expected “to cost around the price of current smartphones,” or $250 to $600. The people familiar with the Google glasses said they would be Android-based, and will include a small screen that will sit a few inches from someone’s eye. They will also have a 3G or 4G data connection and a number of sensors including motion and GPS."

That's pretty detailed. Other leaks add yet more detail, describing a unique navigation system which uses head motions to scroll and click and a low resolution camera that views the world in real-time to feed data back to the wearer. They're not designed to be worn long-term; rather they are meant to be slipped on and off about as often as you'd dig a smartphone out of a pocket. Google's also said to be very concerned about privacy, and whether or not passers-by need to be aware they're being recorded by a camera. As for data, the idea is that the Android-powered specs will tap into Google software like Latitude, Goggles, Maps and so on--with the bonus that you'll be able to do things like check in to locations through the glassses interface itself.

Back in December we pointed the logic of this out--noting Google has "access to data that other AR firms can't compete with and it has the globe-spanning clout to actually change habits." We even guessed that we wouldn't be wearing them 24/7 and instead would "make it a habit to slip on a pair to aid with work, navigation or shopping."

Retail Visionary Launches Love Concept Store With Online Dating Website

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:56:42 +0000

Rachel Shechtman team ups with dating site Nerve.com to launch innovative shopping experience for the month of February.

iPad-Equipped Taxis Enable Users To Social Network During Rides

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:34:32 +0000

Mobile payment company Square proposes a pilot program to replace the mini televisions in NYC taxis with iPads to foster more credit card transactions.

New Infographic Maps The Origin Of Rapper Names

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:51:00 +0000

The Magnificent Map of Rap Names is thorough and enormous guide to the semantics of the various artists' monikers, and spans over seven square feet.

How To Pitch A Startup In Three Minutes

Philip Butta — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:25:49 +0000

h5.boxxytitle {font-family:impact;font-size:24px;text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:normal;} .gradient {display:block;background-color: #ffde00; background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left right, from(#bf9b6c), to(#ffde00)); background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: -moz-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: -ms-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: -o-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorStr='#bf9b6c', EndColorStr='#ffde00'); height: 6px; width: auto; } .color {color:#00b3e6;font-weight:bold;}

Each year, Startup Riot gives entrepreneurs three minutes and four slides to pitch their business--the top three win coveted investor meetings. As hopefuls gather in Atlanta on February 22, founder Sanjay Parekh shares the winning formula.

Prepare for everything

TripLingo, a language-assistance app, formed just two weeks before last year's Riot--and won, thanks to ultra-preparedness. Where did they find the time? Says founder Jesse Maddox: "During those two weeks, we slept at the office."

Amp Up the Visuals

Last year, fraud-monitoring company Pindrop Security gave Parekh a preview of its presentation, which he called "clip-art bad." His impassioned plea led Pindrop to hire a designer; the new, appealing, and engaging slide show took second place.

Don't be dramatic . . .

In 2010, a professor named Charles Hofer presented a glucose-monitoring device and simulated insulin shock by fainting--twice. Too much, says Parekh. "I bet 99% remember he fainted, but how many remember why?"

. . . But Put On A Show

Schmoozing never hurts. Allan Branch, cofounder of LessAccounting (which won in 2010), perfected the art. "I told everyone: 'If you sign up today, I'll give you a free piggy-back ride for two minutes.'" You can bet he kept his promise.

[Illustrations By David Cowles]

A version of this article appears in the February 2012 issue of Fast Company.

Nike Debuts Its Lightest And Most Sustainable Shoe On Record

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:24:34 +0000

Major sportswear supplier is launching a new line of running equipment this summer, just in time for the London 2012 Olympics.

Driverless Cars Might Be Available Much Sooner Than You Think [Infographic]

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:04:50 +0000

Automated vehicles could mean steering the wheel will be a thing of the past.

Driverless Cars Might Be Available Much Sooner Than You Think [Infographic]

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:04:50 +0000

Automated vehicles could mean steering the wheel will be a thing of the past.

Brands Get Physical To Build Trust

Martin Lindstrom — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:47:55 +0000

From handshakes to hardware, intimate signals constantly affect us in life. As the world becomes increasingly digital, we are losing many sensory signals that once moved us. Here's what can companies do to reclaim these touching moments.

I’m sure you’ve had the experience of reaching out to shake someone’s hand, only to be surprised by a palm so limp that it feels more like a dead fish than a warm welcome. What was your immediate impression of the person? How, then, did you reassess them? If you thought it indicative of a weak character, you’re onto something.

Some years ago, researchers at the University of Alabama studied 112 male and female students whose handshakes were evaluated by four handshake coders. The coders had received one month of training and practice in shaking hands and evaluating handshakes before the study began. The students, who didn't know their handshakes were being evaluated, had their hands shaken eight times (twice with all four experimenters) and they also completed four personality questionnaires.

Results of the study, led by Dr. William F. Chaplin, showed that a person's handshake is consistent over time and is related to some aspects of his or her personality. Those with a firm handshake were more extroverted and open to experience, and less neurotic and shy than those with a less firm or limp handshake. What strikes me is that we are somehow intuitively aware of this personality evaluation filter, where something as simple as a touch significantly influences our decision-making processes.

Having worked with sensory signals throughout my career, I’ve come to appreciate how the smallest sensory details can have the greatest impact. Take, for example, the sound and feel of opening a bottle of water. You’re at least subconsciously familiar with the subtle click of a breaking seal. However, let’s say you’re in India, where the water bottles open silently. When I heard about the absence of the subtle click, I questioned the safety of the water. Apparently I wasn't alone: I remember reading about a competitive water bottler who took advantage of this, changed the top so that it clicks, and gained a competitive advantage in the water market place. People believe the water is safer.

Homer Simpson’s Duff Beer Goes On Sale In The UK

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:38:54 +0000

The fictional beer brand from animated TV series The Simpsons has been made into a reality for the British market.

Homer Simpson’s Duff Beer Goes On Sale In The UK

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:38:54 +0000

The fictional beer brand from animated TV series The Simpsons has been made into a reality for the British market.

Tea & Biscuit Dunking Guide

Randy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:30:02 +0000

The Tea and Biscuit infographic from Green Hat Design in the UK shows avid dunkers of biscuits the proper timing to keep their favorite snacks in the tea or coffee to conquer floppage and avoid the disappointment of contamination!

Jonathan Harris To Speak At PSFK CONFERENCE NYC 2012

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:24:24 +0000

The artist and computer scientist shares why he believes that the internet needs to be a slower-paced environment that acts as a repository for shared human experience.

Jonathan Harris To Speak At PSFK CONFERENCE NYC 2012

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:24:24 +0000

The artist and computer scientist shares why he believes that the internet needs to be a slower-paced environment that acts as a repository for shared human experience.

Innovating Office For iPads: Or, Why Microsoft Should Stop Worrying And Learn To Love Apple

Kit Eaton — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:22:53 +0000

The tablet-based publication (tab-lication?) The Daily is embroiled in a fuss about its leak of plans to bring Microsoft's Office suite to the iPad. The Daily's convinced the software is for real, but Microsoft has issued a tissue-thin denial that actually confirms or denies nothing material. Meanwhile, the general feeling is that MS would be crazy not to expand its Office domain onto the best-selling tablet PC--one that's causing a computing revolution. But Microsoft is actually facing a stickier problem here.

It's about price and precedent.

MS would be foolish not to address the iPad App Store as a market space because Apple's tablet is continuing to dominate the scene, is likely to do so for a while, is affecting PC sales, and is penetrating into business workplaces (with a recent survey saying 91% of business and IT pros using one for work). That's MS's traditional Office stomping ground. MS's own Windows 8-powered tablets aren't due for a while yet and will likely take a while longer to actually establish a decent market share, so delaying a tablet edition of Office until then could miss out on potential sales. It's also arguable that while Android is building its tablet market share, writing Office to be compatible with so many subtle variations of Android OS and hardware would be a lot more work than aiming at Apple's product.

PlayStation’s Jack Tretton On Today’s Vita Launch [Video]

Kevin Ohannessian and Adam Barenblat — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:10:07 +0000

Today marks the American launch of the PlayStation Vita, Sony's latest handheld gaming device. We talk with Sony Computer Entertainment America president Jack Tretton about producing a dedicated game system in the era of smartphones and tablets.

[twistage 812c7148e967c]

FAST COMPANY: What are you feeling as the launch approaches?

JACK TRETTON: This is my fourth launch now at Sony. They never get old. I equate it to the Super Bowl. You only get to launch a few times in your career. And just like the guys that play in the Super Bowl you say, "Take a look around and make sure you soak it in." It's so incredibly exciting. You build up something for years and you get to see all the consumer excitement on launch day. And later, you look back over the course of the product's life cycle and all it's accomplished and you remember that launch date forever. February 22nd is going to be a lifetime memory for me.

As you have seen the Vita come together, what feature has surprised you?

I am amazed at how quick technology moves, in such a short period of time. If you think back to life without cell phones or other things and it is hard to remember. But being so close and so involved in the industry, I remember every ounce of innovation. I remember the first time I saw the original PlayStation. It just made my jaw drop and I said, "That's like nothing I have ever seen."

I think the great thing about the Vita is that I saw the promise in the original PSP of the ultimate portable gaming device for an older consumer, a console gaming experience with multimedia capabilities. And I think for it's time, in 2005, it was an incredibly noble effort. But it's great to sit here in 2012 and see really the culmination of what was the vision back in 2005. To have those dual analog sticks, and the front and back touch, and the front and rear cameras, and to really look at how beautiful that OLED screen is--and look at the power it has under the hood--it really is the vision we had back in 2005 brought to full life.

What game are you looking forward to playing on the Vita the most?

I'm a Hot Shots Golf addict. I am spending all of my spare time building up all my attributes. I am already online and competing in tournaments. I thought I would get there early and get ahead of the game. But I am amazed I wasn't the only one with that idea. I thought I would have to compete with some Japanese consumers who had a two-month headstart on me--but good old fashioned American ingenuity and Canadian ingenuity--you look at the top of the leaderboard, it's already a bunch of Americans and Canadians who had their hands on it for a week.

What would you say to those who feel that in this day and age of smartphones and tablets, a portable game system can't succeed?

I guess everybody is entitled to their opinion. My first assumption is that they are not gamers. If you're not a NASCAR fan--and I can't necessarily say that I count myself as the core NASCAR fan--the non-NASCAR fan, they'd say it's a bunch of people taking left-hand turns, waiting for an accident. If you are a NASCAR fan you would think that was incredibly ignorant and people don't appreciate the depth of it. I think the same is true about gaming.

If you are a gamer, you are not going to be at all confused when you get a Vita in your hands and you play something like an Uncharted: Golden Abyss; you are not going to be at all confused as to why there would be a market for a dedicated game platform. But if you're not a gamer, and you are not into that in-depth experience, and you don't spend the type of hours and dollars that gamers do playing it, then I can see where you would say, "Why would you need a dedicated portable gaming device when there are smartphones and tablets?" I would tell you, that quite frankly, that is not our target audience for day one. But the good news is that I welcome all those consumers in because just a few short years ago, those people didn't play games at all, but now smartphones and tables are whetting people's appetite for gaming.

I think they are more of a potential consumer for us in the near future, than they were back in 2005 when we debuted the PSP. I see it really being more additive to the ecosystem and we are trying to bring that PlayStation experience to those consumers before they get a hand on the Vita, with things like PS Suite where they can experience PlayStation quality gaming on an Android smartphone or on a tablet. It's not a part of the industry that we are intimidated by.

The 3DS had a rocky launch with a $250 price point and Nintendo lowered the cost. Are you worried the $250+ prices will also slow the market's acceptance of Vita?

I think at the end of the day, we are in a fashion industry and what drives people are the must-have item. It's what my friends have. It's where the best games are. I think software drives hardware. I much prefer a system that is $249 with a great launch library--we have 26 games and 100 games that follow that. If you play an Uncharted: Golden Abyss, you appreciate that $249 value immediately. If the contrast is that it is incredibly reasonably priced, but it doesn't have the software library, I'd rather make my way with the $249 pricepoint and the launch library. I think people will respond very positively to the price point.

If you had two minutes to show something from the vita to reluctant gamers, what would you show them?

Talking about it and even showing them video really doesn't do it justice. We have invested so heavily in our pop-up stores and promotional events, and actually bringing Vitas to retail and setting up full-blown displays, because you can't do it justice describing it. You have to put it in people's hands. As soon as people hold it, they are immediately drawn to the OLED screen. They get the nice comfortable feel in their hands. They see the dual analog sticks, the shoulder buttons, the d-pad, the things they are very comfortable with. And then the casual gamer will be very comfortable swiping and using the touchpad. And then that rear touchpad is going to appeal to the casual gamer and the core--for the first time, if you are a core gamer, all ten fingers can be in play, controlling different characters on the screen.

Our goal as gamers, is to get the most immersive experience possible, and to have as much control as possible and having it as intuitive as possible. And I think the Vita really marries those together. So what I would do is just let somebody hold it and not do a lot of talking. I would point out some of the key features they should notice right away. But I would really try to get them to spend some time with it and try one of the 26 launch games, depending on the genres that appeal to them. If they even got a passing interest in gaming, we got a good chance of getting them on board.

Ultimately, what is Sony's strategy with the Vita?

To me, the message is simple; the strategy is simple. First and foremost, it's not a debate to us whether there is a market there for us. I think we carved out a heritage in gaming. We know what we are talking about; we invested million in this dedicated portable handheld device. And then we evangelized to consumers, retailers, and to the development community--and I think they have responded very positively.

The target audience is a PlayStation owner, male, early 20s. Now, that's the center of the bullseye, that's not the entire target. But if you say that is the center of the bullseye, you've got all your PlayStation network attributes, all your trophies, all your friend lists that immediately crossover. You got cross-play opportunities using your PS3 content, cloud saves, picking your games up and continuing them on your PS Vita. And I think we expand the first circle out from that to non-PlayStation 3 owners, but core gamers, and that's an extremely large audience. And then we start to fan out to those consumers that even have a passing interest in gaming--and there is a Billion of them worldwide, 163 million in the United States.

So to me, the easiest question in the world is do you think there is a market for this, do you think the gaming industry is healthy and expanding. I think it is expanding like no other industry or other form of entertainment out there. To be focused on gaming, and to have a device that is just targeted to that audience, is extremely exciting to me. I think at the end of the day, every device has a core competency and ours is gaming. So if you are a gamer, check out the Vita. And if you are not a gamer, keep an eye on your friends, because you'll want one soon.

Want more?

Sony's Quest To Conquer Mobile Continues With PlayStation VitaSony Brings PlayStation Characters To A Live Action SpotPlayStation's Jack Tretton on 3-D Games and the Gamification of Business

Follow the author (@khohannessian), video producer (@adambarenblat), or Fast Company on Twitter.

Digital Binocular Display Aiport Information As A Digital Overlay

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:00:56 +0000

Real-time data on planes are collected from the control tower and instantly shown in the viewfinder.

How A Japanese Architect Interprets Starbucks

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:47:23 +0000

A new location in Tokyo tests whether a localized interior design better represents the brand.

Does Rihanna’s 24 Karat Gold Nail Polish Cost $5,000 Or $9.99?

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:45:32 +0000

The celebrity wore the luxury limited edition Amor 24 by Red Carpet Manicure, who are also releasing a downmarket version

Augmented Reality Photo Exhibit Adds Musical Score To The Visuals

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:30:39 +0000

'Project Paperclip' uses QR codes and reactive soundscapes to enrich the viewer experience.

Book Brief Hotel Stays For A Nap Or A Rendez-Vous

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:15:24 +0000

Day Use Hotels books hotel rooms for guests seeking a room for 3-7 hours during the day at cheaper rates.

Fab CEO Jason Goldberg On When To Go Big (He Should Know)

E.B. Boyd — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:08:54 +0000

In the last two weeks, the design flash-sale site has added five verticals and opened a site in Germany. Isn't that expanding kind of fast for a company that's not even a year old?

Fab has been a busy bee recently. Last week, the flash-sale site launched five new verticals. And now, the New York-based startup has snapped up Berlin-based Casacanda and opened up their first international site, Fab.de.

That's a lot of expansion for a company that's not even a year old.

Sure Fab is growing like gang-busters. After opening its digital doors in June, it grew to 1 million members in November and got to double that earlier this month. It's doing an average of $1.5 million in sales a week and plans to log at least $100 million this year. Along the way, the startup has scooped up over $51 million in venture funding, including a $40 million Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz in November.

But still, knowing when's the right time to expand is always a tricky call: Try to do too much too soon, and a nascent startup risks imploding under its own ambitions. But wait too long to get all your ducks in a row, and you might be overtaken by competitors. So how do you know when's the right time to start branching out?

We asked Fab cofounder and CEO Jason Goldberg how the company knew it was the right time to start expanding. Here's what he told us:

The Power of Google [infographic]

Delano Taylor — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:00:53 +0000

Google.com is pretty self explanatory. Right? If you said yes, there’s a good chance you’re not using Google to its full potential.

Recently, I found that there’s this complete underground world of mind-blowing search tools for Google, never before mentioned to me. The infographic says that three out of every four students couldn’t perform a “well-executed search”. Typing “regular show death punchies” instead of simply “regular show” does not constitute a well-executed search. Instead, there’s a whole list of tildes, brackets, and quotation points that can tweak a search for better or worse.

With midterm papers beginning to breath down my back, this information will be quite beneficial. Being able to use Google properly won’t guarantee me residency on the Dean’s List. But here’s to wishful thinking. [Via]

Robotic Bees That Fold Like Origami May Change The Face Of Manufacturing

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:00:15 +0000

Harvard University engineers have developed a technique for quickly fabricating and assembling tiny and complex devices.

Test Your Start Up Savvy On Your Phone

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:30:02 +0000

The Tech Startup Genius app guides users through the stages of starting their own company.

Sonic’s ‘Two Guys’ Get ‘Rehired’ in Social Media Publicity Stunt

Bob Marshall — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:09:45 +0000

For eight years, NYC-based former “The Colbert Report” writer Peter Grosz (driver’s seat) and Chicago-based improv comedian T.J. Jagodowski (passenger’s seat), were best know as “those two guys” from the Sonic Drive-In spots. While noshing on fast food from the front seat of their car, the duo’s silly inane (and mostly improvised) slice-o-life conversation made unlikely stars of the pair. That is, until the two were “phased out” two years ago.

Since then, Sonic left indie Kansas-City, MO-based Barkley after a 17-year run to name GSP+P as the chain’s new AOR. Perhaps inspired by a drive-in serenade video that caught fire on YouTube last month with over 1.2 million views, Goodby decided to slowly re-introduce the brand’s longtime spokesdudes via social media. As Jeff Goodby told The New York Times in this gargantuan feature that ran this morning, the two guys “were put away a little too early because if they stayed around they really would have come into their own in the social media context.”

Over the last few weeks, Grosz and Jagodowski seemed to plead for their old jobs back via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and a few “self-produced” videos posted to YouTube. Now, before we start declaring this a shoo-in for every social media award in adland, let’s look at the numbers: 158 followers on Twitter, 10,701 “Likes” on Facebook, nine connections on LinkedIn, and 3,100 views on their most popular YouTube video (excluding the video which is a direct response to the aforementioned drive-in “serenade” video).

Even if it’s not quite the social media sensation that some are making it out to be, at least it’s nice to see “those two guys” back in the saddle. Now, what happened to all of those other Sonic spokespeople? Credits and another video follow after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Grow Your Own Food At Home In Hanging Spheres [Pics]

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:01:43 +0000

The height-adjustable objects have been designed to maximise the use of urban outdoor space.

10 Ways to Deal With Upset Customers Using Social Media

Andy Sernovitz — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:00:04 +0000

How are you responding to upset customers?

No matter what you sell or what industry you’re in, you’re going to experience negative word of mouth.

You know, those customers who are expressing their complaints on social media.

It just happens.

Things break, problems come up and employees have bad days. But it’s how you handle it that separates you from everyone else.

Remember: Negative word of mouth is an opportunity.

A great response strategy can convert angry and upset customers into loyal, raving fans. The rule of thumb is that while unhappy customers talk to 5 people, formerly unhappy customers you win back talk to 10.

So get out there and embrace the negativity. Start responding. Here are 10 steps you can take to stop the negative, earn new fans and generate a ton of respect.

#1: You Can’t Respond to Conversations You Don’t See

Great response starts with great listening.

Set up Google Alerts for your brand and industry keywords.Keep a close eye on your Facebook page.Listen on Twitter.Depending on the type of business you have, read reviews on sites such as Yelp, TripAdvisor and Zagat.Make a list of any forums or communities where your customers congregate and regularly check in on them.

Whether you’re paying attention or not, the conversations are happening. But a great listening program makes it easier for you to catch negative buzz and spot issues before they build momentum and become much harder to turn around.

Google alerts are free, easy to set up, and instantly help you keep an eye on key conversations.

#2: Determine if it’s Worth a Response

Not all negative comments are worth a response, and not all critics are worth trying to win over. Sometimes, as hard as it can be, it’s best just to move on.

Avoid these situations:

The criticism is on a really small blog or forum, and your response will only bring attention and credibility to an issue nobody saw in the first place.It’s a blatant attack that’s clearly rude and outrageous—and anyone who reads it can see the critic has a personal problem.A known crackpot who is only looking to pick a fight.

There’s just no way to win in these scenarios. So stay out, move on, keep your head up and focus on the wrongs you can right.

#3: Act Quickly

When you’re facing negative word of mouth, time is not on your side. The longer you wait to respond, the angrier the customer will get—and the more likely others will pick up on the issue and spread the negative buzz.

At the very least, say this:

“Hi, my name is ____ and I hear you. We’re looking into it now, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. If you have any questions, contact me directly at _____.”

A message like this does two things:

The ranter knows he or she has your attention—there’s much less incentive to keep spreading the anger andIt makes a real person with real contact info available, so if the person is still angry, you’ve at least specified a place to vent other than online.#4: Speak Like a Human

The only thing worse than ignoring upset customers is to respond with a canned corporate response. If you thought they were mad before, wait until you see how they react to an excerpt of your policy terms and fine print.

Show empathy, communicate in a friendly tone and use your real name. And if the forum supports it, it helps to include your actual photo.

It’s easy to yell and scream at an anonymous company. But when someone shows up and says, “Hi, this is Emily and I’m so sorry for the trouble…” it changes everything.

The critic now realizes he wasn’t yelling at a giant, faceless company. He was yelling at Emily. Quickly, the anger fades—and you’ll often get an apology.

Check out how Zappos replies to this fan. It’s human; it’s friendly. And even though they couldn’t immediately fix the problem, you can bet this fan will be back.

Check out Zappos’ Facebook page for a real-time guide on how to respond in a personable, friendly tone.

#5: Offer a Real Apology or Don’t Apologize

A strong, direct apology will always earn more respect than a flimsy, “kinda-sorta” apology.

Consider the difference between an apology like “We’re sorry you feel that way” to “Absolutely, positively unacceptable”—which was the headline to FedEx’s blog post after a delivery driver was caught throwing a package over a customer’s fence. The post included this straightforward video from Matthew Thornton, a senior vice president at the company:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ESU_PcqI38

And it doesn’t get much better or more direct than Jeff Bezos’ apology for how they handled pulling copies of 1984 and other novels off Kindles:

This simple, straightforward apology from Jeff Bezos drew more than 750 overwhelmingly positive responses.

#6: Offer to Make it Right

Apologizing is part of turning around negative word of mouth, but to actually fix a problem is how you really win over critics.

We all make mistakes. It’s how we fix them that people remember.

At burrito chain California Tortilla, making it up to customers is part of every response they send when someone is upset. It’s this simple:

California Tortilla replies to every upset customer with a simple, straightforward offer to make it up.

#7: Never Get into a Fight

Any time you win an argument online, you’re losing. All anyone really remembers is that you’re combative.

This doesn’t mean you can’t respond, explain your side of the story and start a conversation. You just need to be in the right mindset:

Don’t get emotional.Remember, it’s a real person. Just as they see you as a faceless company, it’s easy to see them as just another complainer.The critic is actually doing you a favor. They’re helping you learn to be a better company. For every person who actually speaks up, many more walk away quietly, never to return.

For more on how to reply, check out this quick explanation from Jeff Diamond of Oakland’s Farmstead Cheeses and Wines:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ_DJGDIIMM

#8: Keep the Discussion in the Open

When a negative issue comes up, a common gut reaction is to ask to move the conversation offline. But when you do this, the world can’t see all the effort you put into fixing the problem.

Nobody sees the private email where you give that sincere apology. We can’t search for that phone conversation where you politely explain why the situation happened in the first place.

But when you do it online, in public, you earn word of mouth. For the same effort and cost, thousands more people see that you actually care about customers. Plus, you save on all the people who now don’t need to call in (or write a similarly angry post) to find an answer to the same question.

Graco’s quick and transparent use of Twitter during a recall of more than 2 million strollers, for example, helped get an important message out much more quickly, showed customers how much they cared and it just might have saved some lives, too.

Customers were thrilled with how Graco kept them updated and informed during a product recall.

#9: Use Fans and Third-Party Sources to Help Tell the Story

What you say about yourself isn’t as powerful as what others say about you. It’s true when people are promoting you, and it’s true when people are calling you out.

When their brand was under attack from a competitor-led PR campaign, UPS’ Debbie Curtis-Magley and her team pointed to third-party content from news articles and industry experts to help explain the full story.

And even more powerful than experts can be the voice of your fans. You never want to put them in an uncomfortable situation, but it’s OK to ask for help sometimes.

For example, a blogger might share how he’s frustrated with a particular product feature. In which case, you might turn to your Facebook or Twitter fans with this message:

“Hey guys! Chris over at [blog name] is having trouble with [feature]. Can anyone share how they’re using it?”

#10: Involve Them in the Fix

If someone’s criticizing you, it’s often just a form of tough love. They’re doing it because they care. They see potential, and they want you to do better.

So instead of seeing them as critics, start looking at them as frustrated fans that might have some worthwhile ideas.

On one hand, Dell’s IdeaStorm is just a big list of things people think they’re doing wrong. But it’s actually a release valve—a proactive community that gives people with ideas, suggestions and complaints a place to share and vote on their favorites.

Every idea on Dell’s IdeaStorm can be voted up or down, and Dell keeps everyone updated on progress.

A platform like IdeaStorm isn’t right for everyone, but giving your biggest critics a way to get involved is. Try inviting yours to customer advisory boards, beta tests of new products and brainstorming sessions.

See! Negative word of mouth doesn’t have to be so bad after all.

How do you handle critics? How are you making the most of negative word of mouth? Leave your questions and comments in the box below. Tweet

The Unexpected Way To Use Your Social Network Strategically

Don Peppers — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:47:30 +0000

If it’s a clear night tonight, go outside about 9 p.m. and look west at the two brightest stars, beautiful as jewels, one above the other. Low to the horizon will be the planet Venus, the “evening star,” just beginning to set. Above Venus is the planet Jupiter, the gas giant with more than 60 known moons (and still counting). Now turn around and face east. Coming up off the horizon you’ll see another jewel, this one quite reddish; that’s Mars, the Red Planet (two tiny moons). On March 3 this year, our Earth (one giant moon) will pass closest to Mars, overtaking it in our orbital race around the Sun.

The solar system is a network of planets, each of which has its own network of moons, so it provides a picturesque (if inexact) analogy for social networks, which are also networks of networks. Everyone seems to be on the social media bandwagon now, with the most enthusiastic advocates often competing to build up their networks of Twitter followers, Facebook friends, or LinkedIn connections.

Focus-Free Camera Snaps What The Human Eye Sees

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:30:15 +0000

The Lytro could change increase the level of visual accuracy of photographs.

Fast Talk: How Warby Parker’s Cofounders Disrupted The Eyewear Industry And Stayed Friends

David Zax — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:26:17 +0000

Meet Neil Blumenthal, cofounder and co-CEO of Warby Parker. He tells Fast Company how a pact over a beer at the company's inception helped its founders preserve their friendship.

Last year saw 500% growth for the online eyewear brand, Warby Parker. The company is disrupting prices in a business historically rife with mark-ups, all while advancing a social mission of bringing corrective eyewear to people who can’t afford it. Fast Company spoke with Warby Parker cofounder and co-CEO Neil Blumenthal to discuss dentistry, data visualization, and friendship.

Give us a quick refresher on why Warby Parker is innovative.

We’re a new brand of designer eyewear, designed to let people express their personality while doing good in the world. We’ve made pricing simple--there’s one price, $95. And for every pair we sell, we distribute one to someone in need.

How have you kept prices so low?

Simply put, we bypass the middleman. We design our own frames under our own brand, and we work directly with suppliers. We avoid paying licensing fees, and we sell directly to consumers through WarbyParker.com. We started the company because we were sick and tired of radically overpaying for eyeglasses. It didn’t make sense to us that a pair of eyeglasses should cost as much or more as an iPhone. Eyeglasses were invented over 800 years ago and don’t contain rare minerals or state-of-the-art technology.

You founded Warby Parker with three friends from Wharton Business School. Was there a moment when you knew your were onto a good idea?

It was our first semester, the fall of 2008. We were in the computer lab between classes, having a conversation, and the light bulbs just went off. The next morning, we all quickly called each other. None of us could sleep the night before--we were all up thinking, “Is this a good idea?” Later that night, we ended up going to a bar, Roosevelt’s on 23rd and Walnut in Philadelphia, and we had that gut check where we all, over a beer, promised each other two things. One, that we were gonna work really hard on this. And the other thing we promised was that we were going to do everything possible to remain friends. We’d each read those horror stories about how founders quickly became enemies, and we didn’t want that to happen to us.

How did you implement the second promise?

We actually ended up putting in place a bunch of different mechanisms to help us remain friends. One was monthly 360 reviews between the four of us, where we’d come back to the same bar, and put each one in the hot seat. We would basically say, “You’re doing this great, this could be improved, and hey, when you email me a 10-page email at two in the morning, I want to punch you in the face.” I think that helped create a very productive and friendly working dynamic. We each made ourselves equal partners, and we created a vesting schedule, where equity would vest every month until we graduated.

And you guys are still talking to each other...?

Yes, the four of us make up the board. We’re still close friends, usually talk at least once a week, and go out pretty frequently together.

Warby Parker recently became a B Corporation. Can you explain what that is?

A B Corp is a stakeholder-driven business. For us, we consider our customers, employees, the environment, and the community in every decision we make. While we’re still trying to scale and be incredibly profitable, we won’t necessarily make a decision that will increase profits at the expense of our customers, employees, the environment, or the community.

Getting B Corp status can be a long, probing process; an executive once compared it to going to the dentist.

It’s a long process, but it’s something we took pride in. It’s something we were very happy to do. The dentist analogy I’m not sure I agree with. If you’ve built your company from Day One under this mantra, it’s very easy to answer the questions.

Do you think it’s important for companies who talk the talk about being ethical to apply for B Corp status?

If you’re claiming to be having a positive impact and not being transparent, you’ll be found out, and it will be company-destroying: it will hurt your ability to build relationships with customers, and impede your ability to recruit and retain talent. The idea that you can slap on a cause to a product or service--I think people are too smart and becoming too well informed for that to work. I think the status quo moving forward, in the next five years if not sooner, will be companies that do good, that are transparent, and that can withstand the scrutiny.

You have a staggering assertion on your site, that year-end reports don’t have to be boring. But it’s true: you transformed your year-end report into a series of

Rhapsody, Spotify, Netflix, And The 28-Day Waiting Game

Austin Carr — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:15:50 +0000

The music industry may soon be acting even more like the film business and delaying streaming songs to avoid cannibalizing sales."Windowing," says Jon Irwin, CEO of subscription-based music streaming service Rhapsody, "[is] fundamentally the wrong thing to do."
New movies aren't available to Netflix subscribers until at least 28 days after they're released to the public (even 56 days in some cases). Movie studios use this practice of delaying releases, called "windowing," in order to stop subscriptions from cannibalizing DVD sales and rentals.
Soon, that same practice could become more commonplace in the music industry, where a number of popular artists believe "windowing" might offset any potential for subscription services to cannibalize single and album sales. It represents a huge obstacle for Rhapsody and Spotify, which are concerned with keeping their music libraries fresh in the eyes of iTunes-addicted consumers. And it's a a practice that Jon Irwin, Rhapsody's CEO, hopes to stop.
"Windowing," Irwin says," [is] fundamentally the wrong thing to do."
Rhapsody is the No. 1 subscription service in the U.S., and Irwin has seen plenty of big-name artists question whether it's better to release their albums on iTunes before Rhapsody in order to boost sales revenue. Coldplay, for example, released Mylo Xyloto in October, but it was nowhere to be found on streaming services such as Spotify and Rhapsody until earlyer this month. There was no official window that Coldplay agreed to--the band simply added it (quietly) to Rhapsody and Spotify several months after it went on sale.
"EMI, in this case, said, 'They're not releasing it for streaming; you can't put it up in your feed.'" Irwin recalls. "I said, 'Okay, well, are they going to?' And they said, 'I don't know.' We try to have a dialogue with the labels and the band management to understand why [they're] making this decision."
The reason was simple: "Spotify competes with download stores," Dave Holmes, Coldplay's manager, said in January. He was "very concerned" that subscription services would hurt Coldplay's sales--and who can blame him? The band set digital-sales records in the U.K.

Samsung Portable Burner Looks Like An iMac For Your Kitchen

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:00:08 +0000
The electronic's giant launches a colorful compact culinary device with a temperature control touch wheel.

YouTube Is Asking Hollywood To Help It Create Original Content [Headlines]

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:00:01 +0000
Popular video sharing website is investing money to create 25 hours of new programming a day.

Skunkworks, Reorganization, And Other Tactics To Excel In The Digital Age

Aaron Shapiro — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:46:11 +0000

Outside of the technology sector, most of the large companies that I encounter are startlingly similar.
They're massively successful, indisputably recognized as world-class leaders by consumers and the business community. Their executives are all quite smart and good at what they do. They acknowledge the world is going through a technological revolution and that digital technologies are transforming their businesses. They know that to stay up to par, they have to lead in the Internet space, too. But for some reason they just can't get it done.
Here’s why: traditional organizational structures are ill-equipped to meet the challenges of the digital age. While they can execute like a fine-tuned machine against core business goals, they generally consist of a series of silos--and digital is inherently integrated. Management of what I call the Software Layer, a layer of technology that surrounds the core business and serves as the focal point of interaction with the outside world, requires a more unified approach.
I’ll demonstrate the mismatch through GlobalCorp, a hypothetical company. GlobalCorp has a division for each country in which it operates, and within each country, it maintains a different business unit for each kind of product it sells. Then it has separate organizations for its internal operational departments like sales, marketing, customer service, and so forth. Each group is set up to accomplish those specific tasks, and pre-Internet, this worked pretty well. Now enter the digital era. GlobalCorp needs to be able to interact with individuals through the Web, but no one has the authority to create a company-wide Web experience. As a result, each group goes it alone, implementing its own solutions. They mean well, but their efforts are often tailored to the sole interests of their own group. The needs of the broader organization are not considered.
Flip to the experience of Internet users. They go online to interact with GlobalCorp, one task of many that they’re trying to accomplish in their busy day. But the company’s digital footprint is so fragmented and disjointed, they’re unable to figure out where they need to click to get where they need to go, and they have an inconsistent brand experience. Neglecting user needs is the fastest way for companies to lose potential and existing customers, business partners, press calls, job candidates, and various other valuable interactions and relationships.
Two main types of unusable digital experiences result from management by traditional organizational structures. At the digital marketing agency I run, some clients come to us with more than 1,000 discrete websites for a single company. That’s a big problem. Another issue is when the company has one site, but presents the content in a way that matches its internal organization--even though most users aren’t familiar with a company’s internal structure and lingo. In both cases, users become confused and even stymied, unable to complete their intended digital interactions with the company. These problems become exponentially more deleterious as they surface in mobile, social, and other digital touchpoints.
The transition to an organizational structure that supports long-term leadership in digital can come to life in three phases, all of which can eventually run concurrently.
Step One: Launch a Skunkworks Project. This step requires the least amount of heavy lifting and political strife, yet it can produce tremendous results. A skunkworks project is an undertaking where a new, small, and nimble division is placed outside of the existing organizational structure, reports directly to a C-level executive, and is tasked with creating groundbreaking products and solutions that support user and business needs. Even companies structured to excel at digital, like Google, lean on skunkworks projects to nurture great leaps ahead. For non-technology companies, it can produce the big bang needed to fuel great momentum toward digital leadership.
Step Two: Implement Concentric Organization. Concentric organization requires that a small group of digital experts, perhaps some of the same individuals from the skunkworks team, develops and implements a company-wide digital infrastructure that, again, is designed to meet both user and business needs. This team must be a full-fledged, accountable business unit with its own P&L and performance goals, and it must have the authority to influence company-wide operations. Without these attributes, it often becomes a powerless internal agency responding to the whims of various departments. Its end product should be a system that allows large numbers of nontechnical employees to use digital tools to advance their specific business goals, which protects the external user’s experience by standardizing the output. Once developed, key digital team members should be exported to relevant departments throughout the company to aid in integration.
Step Three: Reorganize Comprehensively. The final step is to combine the online and offline functions of a particular area. For example, a single customer-service group should handle issues via telephone, email, and social media, and a retail merchandizing group should manage products in both the offline and online stores. The result is an organization structured around each stage of the relationship between customer and business.
When all three elements are working together, the company is unified by a strong foundation of clear digital business goals and tools, and can maintain a consistent and wholly usable experience for users, while producing cutting-edge digital products. But this machine, the Software Layer, won’t work for long without adequate leadership. One person acutely aware of user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility must remain in charge of the company’s entire digital footprint. Everyone “owning digital” is almost as destructive as no one owning it--it’s all too easy for factions to fracture from the whole, for the infrastructure to deteriorate, for top-level business goals to lose their weight, and for the user experience to degenerate. A company is a truly digital organization only when management maintains a keen focus on meeting user needs.
Author Aaron Shapiro is CEO of Huge and author of Users Not Customers.
[Image: Flickr user Dan Dzurisin]

Samsung’s ‘SSD Angels’ Play Matchmakers

Bob Marshall — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:41:54 +0000

Solid state drives (SDDs) are currently on a trajectory to overtake the use of hard disk drives (HDDs) in laptops in the very near future. SDDs, which predominantly rely on NAND-based flash memory, are already coming stock on some laptops like Apple’s MacBook Air. And, as even novice technophiles know, as Apple goes, so goes the world.
Leaps in flash memory technology mean a whole new laptop SSD market, of which Samsung is trying to tap into. The issue, of course, is that computer drives aren’t exactly very “sexy” looking devices. So, Samsung called upon director Sam Bailey and the folks at The Viral Factory to create the “SSD Angels,” a rag-tag group of nerds who travel around Europe and harass people in public.
In this first episode, the SSD Angels prey on the insecurities of Europeans going through relationship problems with their computers. In a refurbished ambulance, the team convinces 42 people to replace their current hard drives with Samsung 830 SSDs. And, wonder upon wonder, computers installed with the new drives go a lot faster. Yes, with SSDs, simple web-browsing and boot-up time seem miraculously quicker than HHDs. But, a word to the wise, if you’re actually running multiple programs simultaneously, stick with HHDs (at least for now).
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

10 Ideas Festivals [Headlines]

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:30:48 +0000
A list of alternatives to the pricey TED Global lecture series.

Google May Sell AR Glasses This Year, New Premium Ads Expected From Facebook, Apple Plans Second Enormous Data Center

Nidhi Subbaraman — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:17:28 +0000

Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day.
Google's Doodle commemorates 155 years since the birth of Heinrich Hertz, the first person to prove the existence of electromagnetic waves.

What Say You, GlobalHue?

Kiran Aditham — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:11:40 +0000

It’s been a while since we’ve shed some light on GlobalHue, save for the random Jeep campaign, branding assignment or other drama, but the agency has announced that it’s bumped up SVP/ECD Vida Cornelious to chief creative officer, EVP/ECD Michael Jacobs to chief digital officer and EVP of client services Maria Lopez-Knowles to president of GH Latino.
In addition to the promotions, GlobalHue has welcomed MRM/TBWA\Chiat\Day alum Matt Lee as SVP of business development and Jorge Abascal as SVP, creative… Read on!

Google Quietly Launches Foursquare Competitor App [Headlines]

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:00:19 +0000
World's largest search engine introduces a Leaderboard-style, location-based service for Latitude that combines it with Google+.

Why Blind Obedience is Killing Your Business

Johnny B. Truant — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Picture three men racing through a tall hedge maze.
The first man runs off and begins following paths randomly, hoping to stumble upon the exit.
The second man is more methodical. He puts one hand on a wall of the maze and resolves to keep moving forward slowly, never taking his hand off the wall. Eventually, thanks to the rules of topology, he knows he’ll find the outside.
The third man pushes and shoves directly through the hedges in a straight line, finishing in thirty seconds flat and declaring himself the winner.
Did the third man cheat?
Maybe. But he also won.
How to cheat in business
If you’ve read everything in the world about how to make your business better and it’s still not better, I bet I know what the problem is.
If you’re doing everything right, but find yourself unable to stand out from your competitors and are barely able to keep your head above water, I can guess what’s missing.
The problem is that you’re listening too closely. You’re implementing too literally. You’re following too many conventions, societal norms, expectations of friends, “the way things have always been done,” and best practices.
To stand out, you need to think outside the box. You need to play by fewer rules.
Am I really going to advocate cheating here? Well, sort of.
And also, not really.
See, if the hedge maze race I’ve described above was a formally sanctioned Hedge Maze Runners of Northern Michigan competition with a prize purse at stake, and contest rules clearly stating that no contestant may run directly through the walls of the maze, then we can safely call our third man a dirty cheater and say he’s a miserable human being, and so on and so forth.
But what if the three men were racing out of the maze because a child was drowning in the lake outside? Do we call the third man a cheater now? Or do we call him smart and probably even a hero, because he thought of a lightning-fast solution that didn’t occur to the others?
There are two important points I’m trying to make here with my silly maze metaphor:
Whether or not “defying the normal way of doing things” is brilliant or a travesty is a matter of circumstance, and a matter of opinion. Breaking rules isn’t right and it isn’t wrong. It just is. We are all, right now, in a maze of our own. Some of the rules of the maze called “life” serve us and protect us, but some are forcing us to plod along with one hand on the wall, making our way slowly to the finish, while the kid drowns in the lake.
The rules you’ve been following have nudged you into a box. And if that box is serving you and everything is perfect, then great.
But if life could be better — if you don’t have all that you’d really like in your business, your life, your relationships, your family, and everything else — then it might be time to take a close look at those rules and see which ones you can start to disobey.
How to be crazy in business
If anyone thinks I’m going to suggest cutting out the middlemen in the wealth-acquisition chain by robbing a bank, relax. I don’t want anyone to do anything stupid.
Quite the contrary. I want people to stop doing stupid things, like taking the long route instead of the shortcut simply because the map says they should.
I recently heard from a man who had a job in the city.
He hated his job, but he had to have the job so that he could afford his house. He didn’t like his house much either, but it was all he could find that was close to the city. And he had to be near the city to keep the job he hated, so that he could afford the house that he didn’t like but had to keep because it allowed him to keep the job he hated.
So he quit the job and moved to the country, where the land was cheap, and became a freelancer, working remotely for a lot less money. His old job was an impressive, professional job that he had worked hard to get, and everyone thought he was crazy for throwing it all away, going independent.
But he didn’t think he was crazy.
He was making less money, but because of his new, lower cost of living, he was netting much more. He’d found a way to make less money and have more money, which is just about the easiest way ever to get a raise.
All of the most successful people do things that others call crazy, because innovation always comes before genius, and innovation is — by definition — always new. If you’re the first person in your group of peers to do the most brilliant thing in the world, your peers will still think you’re crazy because you’re breaking out of step. But that’s exactly what’s required to be successful.
Look at Steve Jobs.
Look at wacky old Albert Einstein.
I even know this lawyer dude who gave it all up to start a blog, and people thought he was crazy, too. (Only, he really is crazy. Seems to work for him, though.)
Want to really make a change? Then you need to look at what you’ve always done and what most people do and ask if there’s a better way. You need to ask if you want to keep playing by the rules that don’t serve you. You need to be willing to be called “crazy.”
A primer in entrepreneurial disobedience
I’m hosting a webinar on March 2nd that’s all about learning to identify, question, and (if necessary) break the rules that are stopping you.
It’s called Breaking Rules for Fun and Profit: 21 Lies About Business, Money, and Life That You Don’t Even Realize Are Holding You Back, and What To Do About Them, and you really should attend.
Here are a few of the 21 lies I’m going to talk about:
You need money to start a business (including big ones, like restaurants). You need to have a product in order to sell a product. You have to have a niche. You are unable to do X, Y, or Z skill (for 99% of all letters of the alphabet). You need to have a plan, goals, or an idea where your business is going. You need a lot of money to live on a yacht, live in an island paradise, or travel the world. You don’t have any connections or know any of the right people.
None of the above is true. If you’ve been mistaking lies for the truth, you’re cutting off vast areas of possibility.
Be sure to sign up, and try to be there early because it’s first-come, first-served.
You can sign up for the March 2nd webinar here.
But don’t go signing up just because I said you should. That would be entirely too obedient of you.
About the Author: Johnny B. Truant just released his novel The Bialy Pimps despite the fact that it’s totally crazy for a business and human potential blogger to write a novel about fame and bagels.
TweetShare

CP+B Takes Over on Arby’s Biz

Kiran Aditham — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:36:18 +0000

As you may know by now, Arby’s, minus any review, went ahead and handed its creative business to Crispin Porter + Bogusky. This ends a rather brief relationship with BBDO, which picked up the business for the fast-food chain just 15 months ago and put out ads such as this. Here’s a note we received from sources that BBDO NY CEO/president John Osborn sent to staff following the news of the loss:
“I received a call yesterday informing us that Arby’s is being moved to Crispin without a review.
We were awarded the Arby’s business in December 2010. Since then, the brand has enjoyed five consecutive quarters of sales increases, and ended 2011 with its highest sales increase in 10 years!
We created work around a tagline, “Good Mood Food,” which achieved 60% awareness in just ten months and became even more recognizable than other competitors with higher spending.
What’s more, we made the sales register ring.
Which is why I am absolutely confident we will be back in the food service business…
In the meantime, keep your heads high. We hope Arby’s can continue to show business growth. And let’s do everything in our power to ensure a smooth transition.
We’ll bounce back. This I know.
Ozzy”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Inside The Apple Factory: ABC Broadcasts Pictures From Foxconn [Headlines]

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:30:01 +0000
Bill Weir of Nightline takes an in-depth look at the working condition of factories in southern China to see how iPads are produced.

Bitly Uses Math Meant For Smart Weapons In Their Algorithm [Headlines]

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:00:21 +0000
Popular URL shortening website is trying to understand how internet behaviors are formed using old military technology.

The Co-Sharing Trend [Need To Know: SXSWi]

@PSFK — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:00:02 +0000
Digital technology allows anyone to find an object or service they need, when they want it, where they want it.

Wednesday Morning Stir

Kiran Aditham — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:40:52 +0000

-Publicis Healthcare Communications Group acquired Chinese healthcare network UBS. The new operation has been been christened UBS Saatchi & Saatchi Health. link
-While we’re on the acquisitions tip, should also let you know that Aegis acquired digital agency Roundarch and has integrated the latter into the Isobar network.
-Chrysler is now capitalizing on the “Imported from Detroit” tagline with a little merchandising (above). link
-Digital marketing agency Zeta Interactive launched Zeta Mail 6. link
-Are Sprint and T-Mobile in… Read on!

Starting 4/1, Dentsu LA Will Be Known as ATTIK LA

Kiran Aditham — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:00:04 +0000

Yes, we’ve received confirmation that the Dentsu network is making some shifts in the West Coast, mainly that starting April 1 (no joke), the agency will re-brand its Los Angeles office as ATTIK LA. Leading the new operation will be Ric Peralta, who once served as CEO of ATTIK, then moved into the president post-Dentsu acquisition in 2007. Peralta will be back in the mix as CEO of the agency network’s West Coast operations.
As a result of the impending merger, Dentsu had to make some cuts in the region, and from what we hear, 6-8 staffers were affected across departments in the West Coast region. Dentsu tells us it was part of the process in order to offer “a more robust offering.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Patterns of daily life in Netherlands from Above

Nathan Yau — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:36:25 +0000

In a similar fashion to their work in Britain from Above, CGI and animation group 422 South map the daily patterns of those in the Netherlands in VPRO's production of Netherlands from Above. It's hard to get a grasp on what exactly I'm seeing, since I know next to nothing about the Netherlands and the video narration is in Dutch, but the visuals are beautiful. Planes fly, cars drive, and patterns emerge. The technique never seems to lose its entertainment value.
Check out the short making-of video, too, which also includes folks from Stamen describing their work with the interactive portion of the feature.
[422 South | Thanks, Ben]

3D Printing: Digital Rights Management for Physical Goods?

Linda Bustos — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:09:12 +0000

When I was a kid, I dreamed of a machine that would spit out Barbie clothes that I designed with a push of a button. I thought I had a wild imagination, but little did I know that in a few decades toys-on-demand could be a reality.
The technology is 3D printing, a process of turning a digital file into a physical, 3 dimensional object layer-by-layer, similar to how an inkjet printer works. And while it doesn’t print tiny textiles (yet), there are a number of methods and materials used in 3D printing today, and it’s possible in the future that 3D printing could become so sophisticated and could replicate many more products in virtually any material.
It’s currently in use in various industries, including engineering (“rapid prototyping”), manufacturing, biomedicine (a woman recently had a prosthetic jaw “printed”), the food industry and architecture. There’s even an eBay / Etsy style marketplace where 3D designers can sell their digital CAD files or 3D printed physical goods called Shapeways.
CAD models can be constructed from scratch, or captured by scanning any object – even your own head.
While some of the industrial machines cost a mint, you could own your own SeeMeCNC for $350, the Printrbot for a pledge of $499 or the MakerBot for $1700.
If industrial or consumer at-home 3D printing takes off, and products could be sold as digital downloads instead of physical objects, what would this mean for ecommerce?
1. Physical products may become digitized, enabling the producer to design once and sell an unlimited number of digital files, potentially reducing the cost of production, inventory warehouse, shipping, damaged goods, returns, etc.
2. Consumers or retail partners could purchase goods at a lower cost and “receive” the item faster. Instead of waiting weeks or days for shipping, the item could be produced in hours.
3. Manufacturers could continue to offer “long tail” goods that are out of production but still valuable to consumers (such as old car or appliance parts).
Awesome. But this technology also opens up a can of worms regarding piracy and digital rights management.
Anyone with a 3D scanner could produce a file that could be resold, or anyone with a working knowledge of the software could modify a digital design and pass it off as their own. This is already a problem with Amazon’s self-publishing platform.
With media like mp3 files, ebooks, movies and TV shows, entitlements control who can access a digital product, how often, from what device, and what can be done with the content.
Even with DRM baked into a digital file containing a 3D image of a physical good, once the object is printed, it could simply be re-scanned and reproduced to get around the DRM.
If the world moves this way, piracy and illegal reproduction of intellectual property could become a bigger problem for physical goods than it is for digital. We’ll have to wait and see.

Progress Report | Reinvent The Wheel

TANiA KArAS — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:30:00 +0000

GOAL |PROJECT | Bridgestone "Airless Concept Tire"
Thesis Flat tires generate more than 3 million AAA calls each year, and blowouts can easily cause auto accidents. But what if tires didn't need air?

Method Bridgestone fashioned a prototype from recyclable aluminum, rubber, and thermoplastic resin, a material that's "strong enough to handle the [vehicle] load while at the same time easy to mold," says Hiroshi Morinaga, who manages the company's advanced-tire-technology department.

Results Because the interlacing spokes are curved and flexible--as opposed to the rigid metal in normal tires--it's easier for them to distribute pressure. "The bending stiffness supports the load," says Morinaga, noting that each wheel can withstand up to 660 pounds.
Remaining Challenges 1. Safeguard spokes Wayward debris can catch between the curves, locking the wheel in place.

2. Increase durability Because it's so malleable, thermoplastic resin sometimes breaks down in extreme heat and cold.
3. Don't pull a Michelin The Bridgestone rival's airless "Tweel" was thwarted because it would vibrate constantly above speeds of 50 mph, generating far too much noise and heat. "Those have not yet been issues for our tire," says Morinaga.
Future Plans The Airless Concepts are currently being tested on small electric vehicles (see below). But Morinaga says his sights "are ultimately set on creating a viable . . . alternative to conventional [car] tires," which are a $160 billion annual market.
[Illustration by Crystal Chou]
A version of this article appears in the March 2012 issue of Fast Company.

Brand Engagement Wins At The Academy Awards

Derrick Daye, The Blake Project — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:10:00 +0000

The Academy Awards are considered to be one of the biggest entertainment draws of the year, sometimes called the “Super Bowl for Women.” True, female ratings have been down. Overall ratings too. Last year’s viewership was down about 10% from the year prior. And they haven’t been doing all that well with those yearned-for younger viewers either.

As to that last point, last year the Academy went with the youngest co-hosts in its history – Anne Hathaway and James Franco – who received very bad reviews and didn’t bring in the younger, hipper viewers, who, one can only suppose, were supposed to have identified with them. The Academy was going with Eddie Murphy this year, but he bailed and Billy Crystal stepped in. Well, what can you say about that choice? Mr. Crystal, a 9-time host, can entertain with the best of them. But he’s 63 so not precisely a poster child for that coveted 18 – 34 year engagement Madison Avenue’s always looking for.

Which brings us to Brand Keys annual Academy Awards Engagement study. The way we approach the business, “entertainment” and “engagement” are two, very different things. Just like movies and advertising are two different things. One is there just to entertain. The other is there to convince viewers to behave positively toward the brand in the ad. You know, buy something. At the very least think better of the brand. Not to just sit there and laugh or be amazed at blue-screen special effects. In these days of fragmented media and titanium-strength consumer gate-keeping, this has become something of a tough assignment.
Attaining real brand engagement is more than just identifying an audience and blasting funny/exciting/sexy commercials at them. You don’t want to know they were just amused, you want to know they were engaged. And much as some marketers would like to believe it, the Academy Awards has not yet reached the lofty Super Bowl heights where people tune in to see what the advertisers are doing as much as for the show itself. No, people tune in to the Academy Awards for the 5-W’s: who’s wearing what and who wins! So it really is more important to know if your $1.7 million for that 30-second spot was a good investment.

We do that by using a validated process to fuse emotional and rational aspects of category and brand, and then quantify how exposure to the advertising caused the viewer to “see” the brand as better meeting the expectations they hold for their category Ideal. You know, see if they were engaged or not, and not just that they saw the commercial. This can be done predictively for virtually anything you can show or tell a respondent, but in this case we were looking at whether the combination of the media environment i.e., the Academy Awards, and the advertised brand created an engaged consumer by measuring if the combination of brand and media platform increased (or decreased) a brand’s equity.

And yes, before the critics start carping, entertainment and engagement are not necessarily mutually-exclusive. But if you’re a marketer and are given your choice between one or the other, you should always vote for “engagement.” Attaining both means not only was your creative top-notch, but your strategy was, as well. And just because a venue seems exciting and has the potential to generate an audience doesn’t mean it’s right for every brand. In fact, last-year-advertisers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Living Social – all brands that ended up on our 2011 “Entertainer” list – are not back for 2012. Coincidence? We don’t think so.

This year’s study was conducted among 1,200 men and women, 18-59 years of age, screened for advertiser category involvement, and who indicated a top-box intent to watch the 84th Academy Awards this Sunday, February 26th. Results for the 14 specific brands reported to be advertising this year were (alphabetically) as follows:

Engagement Winners: Entertainers

American Express Kraft
AT&T JCPenney
Diet Coke McDonald’s
Disney Pictures Met Life
Hyundai Sprint
Paramount Pictures Travelocity
Samsung
Stella-Artois

Anyway, last year – also based upon our predictive engagement assessments – we offered up some odds on who would win the Academy Awards in the “big” categories, and did pretty well. Please note we provide these for entertainment value only. If you’re looking to engage in real bets on the outcomes, you’re on your own. Just like advertisers without engagement metrics.

Best Picture

The Artist 5:1
The Help 7:1
Hugo 8:1
Midnight in Paris 10:1
Moneyball 10:1
The Descendents 11:1
Tree of Life 12:1
War Horse 15:1
Extremely Loud... 20:1

Best Actor

George Clooney 2:1
Jean Dujardin 3:1
Brad Pitt 6:1
Gary Oldman 10:1
Demian Bichir 11:1

Best Actress

Viola Davis 2:1
Meryl Streep 3:1
Michelle Williams 5:1
Glen Close 10:1
Rooney Mara 20:1

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer 2:1
Max Von Sydow 4:1
Kenneth Branagh 7:1
Jonah Hill 20:1
Nick Nolte 25:1

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer 2:1
Melissa McCarthy 4:1
Berenice Bejo 5:1
Jessca Chastain 10:1
Janet McTeer 11:1

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius 3:1
Martin Scorsese 4:1
Woody Allen Gerber 5:1
Terrence Malick 7:1
Alexander Payne 10:1

Good luck to all the nominees and the advertisers, too. Clint Eastwood once noted, “There’s a lot of great movies that have won the Academy Award, and a lot of great movies that haven’t. You just do the best you can."
Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider by: Robert Passikoff, President, Brand Keys
Sponsored by: The Blake Project, Strategic Brand Consulting

MIT Scientists Make Solar Panels From Grass Clippings [Headlines]

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:11:21 +0000
Researchers from Boston-based University create promising new green energy technology.

How Googley Is Yandex Anyway?

Nidhi Subbaraman — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:20:41 +0000

The Russian search company has just announced a collaboration with Twitter. Here's how they're becoming more like Google--and also how they also zag with every Google zig.
Yandex and Twitter just announced a collaboration that would give the Russian search company access to Twitter's fire hose of real-time updates, news, and events. In our MIC 2011

How Googley Is Yandex Anyway?

Nidhi Subbaraman — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:20:41 +0000

The Russian search company has just announced a collaboration with Twitter. Here's how they're becoming more like Google--and also how they also zag with every Google zig.
Yandex and Twitter just announced a collaboration that would give the Russian search company access to Twitter's fire hose of real-time updates, news, and events. In our MIC 2011

Apple’s To Create A Consistent Interface Across Its Devices [Headlines]

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:05:04 +0000
American computer company will aim to offer the same user experience no matter what product you are using.

Apple’s To Create A Consistent Interface Across Its Devices [Headlines]

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:05:04 +0000
American computer company will aim to offer the same user experience no matter what product you are using.

Ads That Can Tell Who You Are [Headlines]

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:51:46 +0000
London is now host to advertisements that can 'read' passers-by and customize content to better reach them.

Ads That Can Tell Who You Are

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:51:46 +0000
London is now host to advertisements that can 'read' passers-by and customize content to better reach them.

Ads That Can Tell Who You Are

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:51:46 +0000
London is now host to advertisements that can 'read' passers-by and customize content to better reach them.

Snowboard Gear Made With Coconut Fibers Is Hyper Absorbent

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:40:09 +0000
Homeschool has debuted a new product that is more successful than its man-made counterpart.

Snowboard Gear Made With Coconut Fibres Is Hyper Absorbent

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:40:09 +0000
Homeschool has debuted a new product that is more successful than its man-made counterpart.

Snowboard Gear Made With Natural Coconut Fibres Keeps You Warm And Dry

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:40:09 +0000
Homeschool has debuted a new product that is more successful than its man-made counterpart.

Snowboard Gear Made With Natural Coconut Fibres Keeps You Warm And Dry

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:40:09 +0000
Homeschool has debuted a new product that is more successful than its man-made counterpart.

3D Street Art Changes Depending On Your Vantage Point

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:28:29 +0000
This interactive piece is an optical illusion, where the image changes depending on the viewer's perspective.

Could A $315,000 Test-Tube Burger Be The Future Of Food?

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:03:34 +0000
Project funded by anonymous individual aims to cut the number of cattle farmed for food and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Climb On A Multi-Sensory Labyrinth Adorned With Spices

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:49:42 +0000
A Brazilian artist creates an interactive installation that stimulates all of the viewer's senses.

User Experience The Don Draper Way

Brian Solis — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:43:37 +0000

Products, pages, profiles, and entire click paths are often narcissistic by design, taking into account the needs of decision makers and stakeholders over the customers they’re designed to entice. Instead, they should be designed to evoke emotions and trigger a desired effect, regardless of platform or device.
This is part 2 in an ongoing series.

User Experience The Don Draper Way

Brian Solis — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:43:37 +0000

Products, pages, profiles, and entire click paths are often narcissistic by design, taking into account the needs of decision makers and stakeholders over the customers they’re designed to entice. Instead, they should be designed to evoke emotions and trigger a desired effect, regardless of platform or device.
This is part 2 in an ongoing series.

TASER’s New Police Glasses-Cam Lets Citizens See What Cops See

Neal Ungerleider — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:10:21 +0000

TASER, best known for their electric shock guns, has a new product: Tiny, sunglass-mounted cameras that upload live footage from a cop's POV to the cloud. The idea? They will help prevent police brutality lawsuits and increase accountability.
TASER has unveiled a line of lightweight, cloud-enabled cameras for police officers to wear on the job. The new AXON Flex system attaches magnetically to Oakley sunglasses and uploads a nonstop stream of camera footage to the cloud. Although TASER made their product announcement just a few hours ago, they already have a customer: The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police Department, which faces numerous charges of police brutality, has already ordered 150 cameras. Each camera stores approximately two hours of footage and has a 14-hour battery.
The 15-gram DVR at the heart of AXON Flex records a tamperproof stream of footage from the officer's POV (well, as long as it is turned on first) that is then automatically uploaded in encrypted form at the end of the officer's shift to the Amazon cloud-powered Evidence.com service. TASER CEO Rick Smith told Fast Company that “it's not just about storage, but about handling the security chain of custody.” Or, as he put it, “buying [these] cameras is cheaper than settlements” for law enforcement agencies facing brutality lawsuits.
Once on the market in late March, the complete package for the AXON Flex (including a DVR and a separate, iPod-sized wireless controller) will market for $950. This is TASER's second attempt to launch and market a cop-POV camera; the firm launched their first-generation TASER Cam--a headset-mounting video camera--several years ago. However, the TASER Cam is balky and uncomfortable for law enforcement to wear outside of special circumstances. The new AXON Flex is extremely comfortable--it weighs approximately the same as a Bluetooth headset and can either clip magnetically to special Oakley sunglasses or be affixed to an officer's hat, clothing, or bike helmet.
The project owes a heavy debt to Hadi Partovi, a TASER board member and Internet entrepreneur who largely joined the company to participate in this and similar projects. Partovi was previously a strategic advisor to Facebook and Dropbox whose iLike product was one of MySpace's last big purchases back in 2009. Partovi helped serve as a crucial bridge between TASER and the world of cloud-based technology and web development.
As soon as a law enforcement officer uploads video to Evidence.com, they lose control over the video. Individual users are unable to delete or edit videos already on the site; in order to avoid having damaging video ending up in an archive, individual officers will have to avoid turning their cameras on in the first place. Evidence.com's current package with TASER (for the TASER Cam) is currently used by over 500 law enforcement agencies nationwide. Video footage uploaded to Evidence.com is encrypted via RSA token and protected by SSL. Individual law enforcement agencies can set up their own security permissions to watch video uploaded by the AXON Flex; more liberal agencies can allow officers to log in remotely and watch videos from home, while stricter law enforcement institutions could restrict Evidence.com access to individual secure terminals.
TASER's electric shock guns are already equipped with cameras that turn on whenever they are drawn. These new cameras, however, have greatly enhanced shooting time (even though two hours barely covers a shift) and could be attractive to police departments which routinely deal with brutality and wrongdoing complaints. Even though individual cameras are not cheap, the manpower and administrative costs of handling complaint-related paperwork are considerable for most law enforcement agencies.
BART's decision to adopt the AXON Flex gives a good example of why police departments and law enforcement agencies may order the cameras in bulk. The agency has faced widespread allegations of police brutality, and faced widespread outcry after pulling the Syria-like move of knocking cell phone service offline to prevent a demonstration from gathering at a San Francisco train station. Being able to film contentious encounters may well assist BART when dealing with future brutality allegations. In addition, providing the cameras to individual officers is a savvy community relations move due to the perception that the officers themselves will be monitored.
While TASER's product isn't a magic solution to solving the problem of police brutality and official wrongdoing, it's a step in the right direction. The fact that the cameras currently only record two hours of video is a problem, but technological innovations mean that this will likely be rectified in the future. While the cameras might make activists happy, they also depend on one critical interface requirement--the fact that a law enforcement officer has to manually turn the camera on in the first place. Individual law enforcement agencies may also be uncomfortable with giving up de facto control over their video evidence rooms to a private firm.
Lastly, like any other transformative technology, TASER's camera creates new technical worries that didn't exist before. Although Evidence.com appears to follow industry best practices for encryption and cloud security, there are still flaws associated with cloud computing. Putting law enforcement camera footage in one centralized online repository creates a tempting target for hackers and cybercriminals; this may well be a worry in organized crime cases where suspects have resources to launch cloud attacks. Still though, the cameras are likely to become a part of law enforcement toolkits nationwide.
For more stories like this, follow @fastcompany

Social E-Reader Allows Users To Share On Facebook As They Turn The Page

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:55:37 +0000
A new device integrates networked sharing into the reading process, offering users a streamlined experience that also features music, video, games and apps.

Forget About An MBA: Mentorship Program Has Top Start-up Founders As Teachers

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:36:42 +0000
Unconventional education model enlists the help of well-known social and tech gurus.

Text Without Looking At The Screen With A Braille-Style Interface

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:16:07 +0000
Georgia Tech researchers create a prototype for touch-screen mobile devices that can enable users to text without looking at their screens.

Text Without Looking At The Screen With A Braille-Style Interface

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:16:07 +0000
Georgia Tech researchers create a prototype for touch-screen mobile devices that can enable users to text without looking at their screens.

Better Ways To Give It Away: Philanthropy 2.0

H. King McGlaughon — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:07:52 +0000

Our distrust is very expensive.--Ralph Waldo Emerson
As the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation recently discovered, mixing mission and politics can cost an organization both credibility and dollars. Susan G. Komen, dedicated to the least controversial cause imaginable, eradicating breast cancer, lost the support of many core donors over its (since reversed) decision to end its relationship with Planned Parenthood, a national organization that provides women’s health care, family planning, and, incidentally, abortion services.
Ironically, given the scope of Komen’s mission and the size of the foundation, the Planned Parenthood grants somehow became the tail that wagged the dog. Last year, for example, Komen gave Planned Parenthood $700,000 to finance 19 separate breast-related programs. That donation, while generous, represented a tiny portion of its $93 million in grants. Yet these grants, however small, however mission-appropriate, were nonetheless sufficient to plunge the entire organization into crisis.
Komen’s decision was widely interpreted to be politically motivated, and this perception is at the crux of the organization’s debacle. Komen’s existing supporters expected the organization to be politically neutral. Public charitable organizations are supposed to be broadly embraced, broadly understood, broadly valued, and broadly and publicly supported. Many of Komen’s core donors therefore felt betrayed by what they perceived as a breach of trust, a misappropriation of charitable funds to accomplish a political agenda seemingly unrelated to the organization’s stated public mission: eradicating breast cancer.
The Komen crisis begs the questions that all of us struggle with when we give to a nonprofit organization: How do I make certain that my philanthropic dollars align with my own philanthropic goals and my core beliefs? How do I prevent my donations from being diverted to spending and programs that don’t accomplish the intended purpose of my gift? Can I trust a public nonprofit to act transparently and consistently in support of its stated mission?
Increasingly, affluent donors are answering these questions by taking control of their own philanthropy. Instead of writing a $100,000 check to an organization like Susan G. Komen or the Red Cross or any other large public charity, they are funding causes directly through their own private foundations and donor-advised funds. With their own foundations, they can give that amount incrementally rather than in a lump sum, targeting effective and deserving grantees and monitoring their performance and continuing alignment with stated goals and objectives over time. Perhaps that’s why private foundations have seen such explosive growth in recent years. According to The Foundation Center’s Statistical Information Center, there are currently more than 76,000 private foundations in the United States--almost 33,000 more than there were just 15 years ago.

Secrets Of A Killer Media Buyer: Creativity

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:45:48 +0000
The PSFK original series focuses on the mandatory role of creativity in the world of the digital media buyer. How it helps to grow the industry while focusing in on originality.

Secrets Of A Killer Media Buyer: Creativity

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:45:48 +0000
The PSFK original series focuses on the mandatory role of creativity in the world of the digital media buyer. How it helps to grow the industry while focusing in on originality.

Hello Kitty Interactive Cookbook Lets You Tell It When To Turn The Page

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:37:24 +0000
Voice control options ensure a mess-free cooking session in the kitchen.

Hello Kitty Interactive Cookbook Lets You Tell It When To Turn The Page

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:37:24 +0000
Voice control options ensure a mess-free cooking session in the kitchen.

NY State Farmers Collaborate With Foodbanks To Provide Fresh Produce

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:31:52 +0000
Cornell Gleaning Project helps vitamin rich food get to those who need it most.

NY State Farmers Collaborate With Foodbanks To Provide Fresh Produce

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:31:52 +0000
Cornell Gleaning Project helps vitamin rich food get to those who need it most.

Apple Rumor Patrol: Fatter, Faster iPad 3, Later iPhone 5, MS Office For iPad

Kit Eaton — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:23:50 +0000

iPad 3 Fatter
NextMedia has gotten ahold of what they're saying is an iPad 3 rear shell, and photos of this thing are all over the web. It's consistent with previous rumored hardware, but for the first time it gives a true sense of what the iPad 3 will look and feel like. The MICGadgets website has yet more examples of the hardware, and they've also released photos.

Run-Down NYC Phone Booths Transformed Into Communal Libraries

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:55:30 +0000
New York architect redesigns these essential city landmarks turning them into pop-up book-borrowing kiosks.

Are Graphic Designers Ruining The Web?

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:40:50 +0000
Creatives have turned webpages from simple sources of information into bloated showcases. Is this the future of the internet?

3D Gloves Let People Talk Out Loud By Moving Their Hands

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:23:46 +0000
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have developed a way to create speech from gestures.

Tuesday Odds and Ends

Kiran Aditham — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:15:16 +0000

-BBDO’s David Lubars, Droga5′s Ted Royer, Ogilvy NA’s Steve Simpson, R/GA’s Nick Law and others are among the seven new names joining the One Club’s Board of Directors. link
-Deutsch LA has more than just Star Wars homages in its tank for Volkswagen (above).
-Chicago-based indie agency Tris3ct hired Lapiz alum Javier Osorio as creative director on Kimberly-Clark.
-Digital shop Fluid raised $24 million in funding via Goldman Sachs. link
-Matthew Lydecker joined Airship Post, sister company of Arcade Edit, in its L.A. HQ as creative director/lead artist.
-W+K Asia’s regional head of planning talks about “how to outrun the inevitable.” link
-FADER and MSN launched the Sound Discovery festival guide. link
-Director Sasha Levinson joined Toronto’s Holiday Films for Canadian commercial representation.

Why Clear’s Dead-Simple List Stands Out In The To-Do Market

Kevin Purdy — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:11:33 +0000

It's easy, it lets you swipe away tasks, and you literally can't get too detailed while using it. And Clear might just be the thing you need to make knocking out tasks fun again.
There’s a lot that’s interesting about Clear, an iPhone app that, at its core, makes gradient-colored lists of things. Its design has garnered a lot of kind words. In short, it breaks a whole lot of conventions, and it’s designed from the perspective of swipes, pinches, and pulls--things your fingers instinctively know how to perform on a glass surface.
But there’s something more interesting about Clear, once you get past how you use it, and that’s what you would use it for. For the past decade, and likely before that, the predominant jumping-off point for thinking about how people who work with distracting computers all day can track what they need to do has been Getting Things Done, often noted as simply GTD. David Allen’s system is centered around getting tasks written down, with proper context and step-by-step conception, so they aren’t in your head. It’s popular with technical-minded types, and, unsurprisingly, there’s a huge number of apps made by technical types that implement many of these ideas, with a huge variety of themes, interfaces, syncing features, keyboard shortcuts, and other things that make people like me eager to write about them. 2Do, Remember the Milk, Astrid, OmniFocus--the App Store runneth over.
But now that we're all a little more familiar with what it's like to have constant access to powerful data tools, and to the world at large, some app makers and tweakers have come to take a second look at productivity tools and wonder if it’s all too much. Some early enthusiasts see many modern “life hacks” and productivity tools themselves as distractions, and a counter-trend has been bubbling up in desktop software and mobile app design. Clear, clearly, is part of it.
“Whilst lots of folks swear by GTD, we wanted something that didn't need a book to explain a methodology or mindset,” wrote Nik Fletcher, product manager for Clear maker RealMac Software, in an email. “Something that felt as useful and effortless as pen and paper, but on your iPhone. 28 characters per task, most pressing at the top. Its enforced conciseness is deliberate.”
Explained another way, Clear is an app that aims only to, as Fletcher put it, “better pen and paper more than anything else.”

Why Clear’s Dead-Simple List Stands Out In The To-Do Market

Kevin Purdy — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:11:33 +0000

It's easy, it lets you swipe away tasks, and you literally can't get too detailed while using it. And Clear might just be the thing you need to make knocking out tasks fun again.
There’s a lot that’s interesting about Clear, an iPhone app that, at its core, makes gradient-colored lists of things. Its design has garnered a lot of kind words. In short, it breaks a whole lot of conventions, and it’s designed from the perspective of swipes, pinches, and pulls--things your fingers instinctively know how to perform on a glass surface.
But there’s something more interesting about Clear, once you get past how you use it, and that’s what you would use it for. For the past decade, and likely before that, the predominant jumping-off point for thinking about how people who work with distracting computers all day can track what they need to do has been Getting Things Done, often noted as simply GTD. David Allen’s system is centered around getting tasks written down, with proper context and step-by-step conception, so they aren’t in your head. It’s popular with technical-minded types, and, unsurprisingly, there’s a huge number of apps made by technical types that implement many of these ideas, with a huge variety of themes, interfaces, syncing features, keyboard shortcuts, and other things that make people like me eager to write about them. 2Do, Remember the Milk, Astrid, OmniFocus--the App Store runneth over.
But now that we're all a little more familiar with what it's like to have constant access to powerful data tools, and to the world at large, some app makers and tweakers have come to take a second look at productivity tools and wonder if it’s all too much. Some early enthusiasts see many modern “life hacks” and productivity tools themselves as distractions, and a counter-trend has been bubbling up in desktop software and mobile app design. Clear, clearly, is part of it.
“Whilst lots of folks swear by GTD, we wanted something that didn't need a book to explain a methodology or mindset,” wrote Nik Fletcher, product manager for Clear maker RealMac Software, in an email. “Something that felt as useful and effortless as pen and paper, but on your iPhone. 28 characters per task, most pressing at the top. Its enforced conciseness is deliberate.”
Explained another way, Clear is an app that aims only to, as Fletcher put it, “better pen and paper more than anything else.”

Design Creative Of The Week: Mark Bell [Fashion/Textiles/Accessories]

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:49:07 +0000
The hottest new talent of the week brought to you by PSFK x Arts Thread. This week a designer who creates original fashion illustrations that empower the underdog.

Top Ten Creatives Of The Week [Fashion, Textiles, Accessories]

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:33:44 +0000
The latest designs from the hottest young creatives in the business. PSFK x Arts Thread curate a weekly round up of people to be inspired by.

Are Anonymous Comments Worthless?

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:10:54 +0000
Actor-writer David Mitchell says that while the web is full of opinions, without knowing the authors' motives for posting them why should we pay them any attention?

GM Loss Leads to More Big Fuel Cuts, Closing of Detroit Office

Kiran Aditham — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:00:46 +0000

So, it looks like General Motors’ decision to cut Big Fuel from its agency roster is having a lasting effect as we’ve received confirmation from sources familiar with the social media agency that there have been cuts made across departments in the New York office which were all tied to the loss of the automaker’s account.
Perhaps the most notable casualty, though, in the wake of the GM loss is Big Fuel’s Detroit office, which sources tell us is now closed. Big Fuel opened its Motor City Branch at the end of 2010 following its selection as social media AOR for GM. We’ve been told by our sources that there are still some Big Fuel employees in Detroit, but they are working out of sister Publicis Groupe agencies.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Scientists Can Create Chips With Less Salt That Taste The Same

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:00:03 +0000
Accelerating the salt delivery time to when chips are actually being chewed will reduce our desire for high sodium foods.

The United States of Craigslist

Randy — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:45:24 +0000

Welcome to The United States of Craiglist! This infographic map, found on the IDV User Experience blog, shows approximately how craigslist divides its geographic zones across the U.S.! Very important for a website who bases its usefulness on location!
WHY?

The United States of Craiglist

Randy — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:45:24 +0000

Welcome to The United States of Craiglist! This infographic map, found on the IDV User Experience blog, shows approximately how craigslist divides its geographic zones across the U.S.! Very important for a website who bases its usefulness on location!
WHY?

Listen To The Best Of Bollywood Through Your Facebook Timeline

@PSFK — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:45:20 +0000
Gaana.com's new app gives users access to a large collection of Hindi and regional music they can share, in order to build engagement on the social network.

Mullen Beats Out Riney for U.S. Cellular Biz

Kiran Aditham — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:40:55 +0000

Two weeks after reportedly cutting its agency review down to two finalists, Mullen and incumbent Publicis & Hal Riney, U.S. Cellular has chosen the former as its winner. As a result, Mullen will handle brand strategy, creative development and performance analytics across all traditional, digital and emerging media channels for the wireless brand’s advertising account.
Regarding the decision, David Kimbell, VP of marketing for U.S. Cellular, says in a statement, “Mullen impressed us with the breadth and originality of its strategic thinking. We have bold ambitions for the U.S. Cellular brand, and in Mullen we have an agency partner with a proven ability to creatively express the unique qualities of challenger brands and make them stand out in the marketplace.”
No word on when first work from Mullen for U.S. Cellular will break just yet.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.