Chip Griffin: Pardon the Disruption

The Reality of Zuckerberg-Lacy at SxSW

I finally got a chance to watch video of the Mark Zuckerberg Q&A style keynote from SxSW. His interviewer, Sarah Lacy of BusinessWeek, has been almost uniformly excoriated for her performance. We are led to believe that the audience turned on her quickly, ridiculing her on Twitter, walking out of the keynote, and heckling from their chairs.

The Firestorm of Criticism

Candidly, I didn’t think it was even half as bad as a number of well-respected bloggers and commentators seem to believe. (Not surprisingly, Jeff Jarvis offers one of the most well-considered critiques.) The most common criticisms about Lacy seem to have been that she interrupted too much, focused attention on herself, acted too “flirty,” and didn’t ask questions of interest to the audience (specifically she focused on business more than technical aspects of Facebook).

The Reality as I Watched It

Lacy’s interruptions frequently added value to the interview. Zuckerberg was meandering his way through a story about Colombian guerilla fighters when she interjected a question about whether he ever thought Facebook would be used for that when he created the company. It was a good effort to get him back on track. Many saw it as an attempt for her to step on his story, but I saw it as her attempt to fill her role of keeping the Q&A lively and interesting.

Remember that the reason why someone like Zuckerberg gives a keynote in Q&A format is because he isn’t comfortable giving a solo speech. The interactivity is designed to overcome the deficiencies that he likely recognizes in himself. Perhaps she was a bit too conversational at times, but it appeared to me that she was trying to loosen him up and get him to forget the audience in front of him.

She did err in making the announcement of a French language version of Facebook rather than bringing it out in a question. That’s an easy mistake to make since the two had spoken prior to the keynote in an attempt to figure out what the discussion would focus on. Should she have been more careful? Of course.
Was it a mortal sin? Hardly.

As to the mix of questions, it seemed like she took a reasonable approach to the discussion. Sure, the audience was full of creative types, but the business philosophy behind a company as important (at least as of today) as Facebook should be of interest. Designers and developers who ignore the business realities do so at their own risk.

At no point did I sense that Zuckerberg seemed uncomfortable with Lacy’s interview style. He seemed relatively relaxed, at least as compared to his reputation. The few occasions where he seemed to “give it” to Lacy, it struck me more as an attempt on his part to be flippant and conversational himself, rather than an effort to express outrage or discontent.

I should also note that the audience did not seem as agitated as the coverage led me to believe. There were occasional shouts from the crowd, but nothing that would overtly signal to the people on the stage that the audience was extremely restless and discontented. That suggests either the outrage has been exaggerated or the crowd controlled its animosity well.

The Disconnect With Reality

Throughout, Lacy seemed respectful of Zuckerberg and Facebook, something that I didn’t sense from the Twitter and blog coverage. She was aware of the hostility from the audience over Beacon and attempted to get Zuckerberg to discuss it and have the crowd listen before they reacted.

For others defending Lacy, check out Mike Arrington and Brian Solis.

Beware the Mob

This is simply the latest incident where the social media mob rushed to judgment and sucked many of us in along the way. Until I finally had a chance to watch the video, I was left with the impression that the Q&A had, in fact, been an utter disaster. Fortunately, social media brought us the video to dispel that notion.

The best and worst thing about the blogosphere and Twittersphere is that everyone is empowered to share an opinion. The more vigorous (or perhaps vicious) the opinion, the more likely it is to get noticed.

As a community, we must all be careful not to rush to join the mob -- or believe everything it says. Further, there is a clear need for balance and reason in order to encourage more of the mainstream media, major brands, and average Internet users to join the conversation.

(By the way, kudos to Nick O'Neill for getting the complete video online so those of us not at SxSW could see the reality.)

Preview from StartRocket: WebInno 13 Side Dishes

As I have mentioned in this space previously, I will be launching a new media site called StartRocket on August 1.  It will feature text, audio, and video coverage of high-tech entrepreneurship -- especially East of the Rockies.

One of the great events taking place on the East Coast are the Web Innovators Group meetings run by David Beisel of Venrock.  Typically, 3 companies get to be the "main dishes" and present demos of their products to several hundred people.  In addition, 6 "side dishes" get to have tables and briefly describe for the audience what they're all about.

StartRocket will feature coverage of these events, among many others.  Earlier this week, WebInno 13 took place and most of that coverage will appear after StartRocket's launch.  But to give you a taste of what is to come, I produced a brief video that highlights the side dishes, as well as David's introduction at the event.

The companies mentioned on this video are: iZync, TeachAde, NextCat, CurbsideMD, and Frevvo.

Technorati Tags: David Beisel, Venrock, StartRocket, WebInno, WebInno13, TeachAde, NextCat, Praxeon, CurbsideMD, Frevvo, Zync, Wade Dyke, Jeff Pucci, Dennis Underwood, Ashish Deshpande, Brad Rosen, video

Heading to WebInno Tonight

Tonight I will be in Cambridge, MA at WebInno 13, the great get together for startups, entrepreneurs, investors, and the tech-fascinated organized by David Beisel.  Looks like there are nearly 400 people planning to attend -- amazing!

I like coming to these events to get to see what's going on and catch up with like-minded people.  But tonight I'm also attending as part of my efforts to set up StartRocket, my new media site focused on web entrepreneurship, especially east of the Rockies.

I'll be recording video of the demos and looking to connect with interesting people to interview for the site.  I'll be scouting companies to profile.  And, of course, I'll be looking to spread the word about StartRocket itself.

If you're in the Boston area, come on by.  It should be a great evening. 

Technorati Tags: David Beisel, StartRocket, Web Innovators Group, WebInno, entrepreneur, startup, venture capital, angel investing

PR Pros Enthusiastic About Social Media

PRSA's Technology Section and its New York Chapter put on a great event in NYC yesterday at the T3 Conference.  I spoke on a panel moderated by Don Bates accompanied by David Parmet of Marketing Begins at Home and Tony Sapienza of Topaz Partners.  Tony gave on overview of the tools in social media relevant to PR pros, including wikis, podcasts, blogs, social networks, and more.  David discussed SNCR's best practices for corporate blogging.  And I talked about 7 sins in 7 minutes.

What struck me most was the sea change that has occurred since last year's event by the same sponsors.  A significant percentage of people in the audience are now writing blogs and virtually all read them regularly.  That's a far cry from the last one where "what's a blog?" was a common question.

It was a great opportunity to meet new people and also catch up with some old faces.  For instance, I finally met Constantin Basturea in person and saw Steve Rubel for the first time in many months.  Speaking of those two, they were on a lively panel discussing the future of PR moderated by Richard Laermer.

(Photo of me here taken by David Parmet with his Nikon D80.  Check out more of his photos from the event on Flickr.)

Technorati tags: PRSA, public relations, T3, David Parmet, Tony Sapienza, Constantin Basturea, Steve Rubel, Topaz Partners, Marketing Begins at Home, Nikon D80, Don Bates, Richard Laermer

The Future of Conferences and Professional Associations

This probably deserves two posts, but I think the matters are related, so I'm lumping them together.  I found myself writing this after being asked by one of our team members at CustomScoop whether I thought a professional development conference was worth more than $2000 to attend.  Half of that was the conference fee and the other half travel-related expenses.  It, of course, did not include the value of that person's time since that would need to be factored in as well to make an accurate value judgment.

But two posts I read in the last couple of days entered into the mix as well.  The first was from my new friend John Wall (how long is a friend new, by the way?  in social media circles it seems like the timeline for everything is shortened!).  He wrote:

My membership to the Boston chapter of the Business Marketing Association is coming up for renewal. As I look back over the year, the only thing I got out of my membership is the certificate that’s under a pile of stuff somewhere in the pile of stuff that builds up with the trade mags in a random corner. Of course that still puts them one step ahead of my membership to the New England Direct Marketing Association (NEDMA), I don’t recall getting a certificate from them.

Another point of reference came from a Microsoft employee named Kintan Brahmbhatt.  He asked, "Why do you go to a conference?" and offered up a good post on the subject.  I find fewer and fewer people seem to attend conferences for the content, but more for the networking.  Kintan says something similar: "the common and the highest order bit for me to attend any conference has always been and will always be 'to meet new people', with similar or different interests."

With the rise of "unconferences" like the wildly successful Podcamp (over 1000 attendees in New York recently) and parties like the TechCrunch/August Capital one coming up or the mixers that Rafat Ali puts on for PaidContent, how necessary are conferences and associations? 

Conferences

I still pay substantial dollars to go to some conferences.  I pay over $2000 a pop to attend each of the two annual DEMO events put on by Chris Shipley.  It's a mix of the technology demos and the people that brings me there.  It is a real time to recharge my batteries by seeing great innovation and talking with fellow entrepreneurs and investors that I don't see often (as well as meeting new ones).  But I'm still undecided on whether to spring a similar amount for Michael Arrington and Jason Calacanis' TechCrunch 20.  I'm inclined to for many of the same reasons as DEMO, but how often can I shell out that sort of cash and feel justified in doing so?  Why not just read TechCrunch and Scoble to get my scoops and Twitter for networking?

Similarly, I will generally pay to attend major communications industry events like the PRSA or IABC annual conferences.  They're not quite as expensive as DEMO or TechCrunch 20, but they're still not cheap.  And with so much live blogging and official video now available, is the networking really worth it?  If so, how often?

What I'd really like to see is someone to take the best of these expensive, established conferences and blend in some of the elements of an unconference to make it a more affordable event to attend with more potent content.  I think it can be done.  Unconferences scare more mainstream attendees because most people fear the unknown.  So have an agenda, but offer up a track with some flexibility for those who are open to the concept.  Choose venues that may not be quite as grand, but that perhaps offer more affordable conference fees.  Find a way to integrate vendors in a transparent way that allows benefits to be shared by attendee and sponsors alike.

Professional Associations

This is one that's a much tougher nut to crack.  I belong to a number of associations, including PRSA and IABC.  I have been active with the PRSA New York board for a number of years now and have seen first-hand the challenges that associations face today.  It's much harder to entice younger people to shell out membership fees and employers are less inclined to foot the bill themselves.

When you're paying hundreds of dollars a year in membership dues, you expect something in return.  But what is the biggest value that most of these groups offer?  Newsletters and events.  The newsletters are free, though they offer far less value today in an age of blogs and other instant (and free) communication.  Often the events are good (PRSA chapters put on some great events, and not just the ones that I participate in!).  But the discounts provided to members are often fairly paltry (it seems like $10 to $25 less is fairly typical of the ones I see that aren't $1000 events).  It takes a lot of those discounts in a year to make up for the dues investment.

The bottom line is professional associations must do more to innovate and adapt to the changing environment we all operate in.  Newsletters and magazines that once served as a lifeline to professionals no longer fill the same need as they did in the pre-Internet era when niche news, information, and commentary was harder to find.  Local events that once offered a glimpse into the mind of an expert now need more to distinguish themselves.  The content isn't what drives me to go listen to Katie Paine.  I can get that from her newsletter, blog, and live blogging accounts of her conference appearances (and there's probably video, too, that I'm overlooking).  It's the conversation and networking.  So tailor events to maximize those benefits.

Conclusion

The landscape is changing for conferences and professional associations.  The old ways of doing things are dead.  The venerable COMDEX conference lost its place at the top of the computer industry heap because it no longer served a burning need in the community.  Others will face the same fate if they fail to innovate and adapt

Technorati tags: conferences, associations, professional associations, DEMO, TechCrunch20, TechCrunch, Michael Arrington, Jason Calacanis, PRSA, IABC, Katie Paine, Podcamp, Chris Brogan, unconference, Robert Scoble, COMDEX, Chris Shipley, live blogging, John Wall, Kintan Brahmbhatt

Recapping Reboot

Didn't make it to Reboot?  Neither did I.  But Sarah Wurrey, editor of PR Blog Jots and frequent contributor to the CustomScoop blog, just posted a nice summary of the discussion that went on in the blogosphere about the conference.  It's not as much fun as being in Copenhagen and enjoying some of the local spirit and spirits, but it's a good wrap-up anyway.  Check it out and feel free to add links to anything she might have overlooked!

Technorati tags: Reboot9, conferences, Sarah Wurrey, CustomScoop, PR Blog Jots

T3 High-Tech PR Conference in NYC

The T3 High-Tech PR Conference will be held in New York on June 19.  It's an event being organized by the PRSA Technology Section and the PRSA New York Chapter.  They did one of these about 18 months ago and it was well-attended and very informative.

I'm speaking on a panel called "Blogs, Vlogs & iPods: Best practices for implementing and leveraging social media in PR campaigns" along with Tony Sapienza of Topaz Partners.  Other participants include Richard Laermer of the Bad Pitch Blog, Constantin Basturea of Converseon, Steve Rubel of Edelman, Chris Brogan of PodCamp, and Greg Jarboe of SEO-PR and SearchEngineWatch.com.

The all day event will include discussion of viral video, blogs, podcasts, social media, pitching high-tech publications, search engine optimization, RSS, virtual worlds like Second Life, and the future of PR and technology.  It promises to be another valuable event.

You can find registration information here.  I encourage you to attend.

Technorati tags: PRSA, conferences, social media, blogging, podcasting, Second Life

Live Blogging Kicked Up a Notch with Video

Speaking of Shel Holtz, he has a great post about the next step in the live blogging revolution: live video.  This has been a topic of conversation in tech blogs this week because of the Web 2.0 expo.  I'll let Shel explain:

Over at PodTech Robert Scoble and Jeremiah Owyang took UStream for a spin at the recent Web 2.0 conference, using the live streaming capability to broadcast panel discussions and other activities. (Jeremiah wrote about it here.)

I can't recall where I saw it but there's a great if ridiculous photo of Scoble sitting next to Chris Pirillo while Chris is typing and Scoble is wearing a head-cam.  And did I mention they were on a panel at that time?  Only at a tech conference...

Though I managed to be enmeshed in the recent live blogging controversy, I suspect that I'll be able to remain on the sidelines of this discussion as I'm not sure I'm likely to become a videographer.  (Shel #1, Shel Israel, has an interesting post on the subject, especially since he was at ground zero of the debate.) 

I guess I'll just have to stick to annoying panelists and fellow attendees with keyboard clatter.

UPDATE: Jeremiah reminds me in the comments that I saw the photo on his blog.  It was from David Parmet.

Technorati tags: Shel Holtz, Shel Israel, live blogging, UStream, Robert Scoble, PodTech, live video, video streaming

Defrag Conference to Focus on Information Intelligence

So along comes an event that sounds like it's right up my alley.  Here's how organizers describe the Defrag conference:

Defrag is the first conference focused solely on the internet-based tools that transform loads of information into layers of knowledge, and accelerate the “aha” moment. Defrag is about the space that lives in between knowledge management, “social” networking, collaboration and business intelligence. Defrag is not a version number. Rather it’s a gathering place for the growing community of implementers, users, builders and thinkers that are working on the next wave of software innovation.

I first read about it earlier this week from Brian Oberkirch and I immediately put my name on the list for more info from the organizers.  Then one of those organizers, Brad Feld, wrote about the conference this afternoon and it got me noodling on the topic again.  He likes to talk about the issue in terms of "Intelligence amplification" to address the "trust/attention/relevance" challenge.

Obviously, this is an area that I focus on a lot every day, as CustomScoop's mission is to turn piles of news stories, columns, and blog posts into actionable media intelligence for clients.  As the mass of information continues to expand daily, our clients need more and better tools to monitor, analyze, and understand what's being said about their company, products, competitors, issues, etc.

Brad, Brian, and others emphasize that this conference will evolve based on public discussion of its content, so I want to do what I can to contribute to that process.

Off the top of my head, some of the topics I'd love to see this conference explore include:

• Understanding relative relevance in the social media space -- what matters and what doesn't?
• Extracting value from reader comments on blogs
• Exploring patterns of message travel in the blogopshere
• Focusing attention through niche information organization and analysis
• Blending and correlating disparate information sources -- corporate financials and news coverage, for instance
• Distilling information from fire hose to water glass to facilitate reader consumption

There's a lot of interesting activity going on in this space and there's huge room for improvement in the tools and services available to extract intelligence from information.

Hopefully as I spend more time with this and hear more about what others are suggesting, I'll be able to refine these ideas and come up with others.  Regardless, I'm enthusiastic about the potential for this event and wish the Defrag team luck in putting it together.  I plan to be there in November and expect I will extract a lot of value from it.

Technorati tags: Defrag, conferences, intelligence amplification, trust, attention, relevance, Brad Feld, Brian Oberkirch

WebInno11: Demos from Virtual Ubiquity, Cardvio, and MyDesignIn

I was going to do this great write-up about WebInno11 that took place in Cambridge, MA last night.  Unfortunately, my new friend John hit the key points I would have addressed.  And in the comments on his post, Virtual Ubiquity even addressed my biggest concern about their web-based word processor -- the challenge with offline editing.  And I give David Colletta of that company particular credit for disclosing in the comments that they lost Internet access during their presentation which underscored the need for them to develop solid offline editing capability.

So yet again today I find myself pointing to someone else's post rather than writing my own.

Technorati tags: Web Innovators Group, WebInno11, Virtual Ubiquity, Cardvio, MyDesignIn, David Beisel