Updated Jan 29, 2008: November Talk IT Column addedBusy weeks mean outdated blog posts. On Wednesday night, against all odds and terrible directions, I made it to the ITANS Annual Dinner to listen to Ken Rutkowski, often described as a one-man broadcasting network.
Armed with his MacBook Pro and Nokia phone, he incorporated user-generated videos, podcasts, Skype video-conferencing and long-distance calling to make a dynamic presentation for the crowd of a couple hundred IT folk packed into the University Club at Dalhousie - please note, UNIVERSITY CLUB; not the Great Hall or the Faculty Club that we were looking for. I, of course, was at the NSBI table as I continue to secure myself as Slevy's personal handler and fashionable accessory.
The presentation was exciting in that it let us hear from James Sun, CEO of Zoodango and runner-up in Donald Trump's The Apprentice; Scott Page, musicican for Pink Floyd, Supertramp and Toto; Nolan Bushnell, creator of both Atari and Chuck E. Cheese. Although overall, I must agree with Barbara Manning of GenieKnows.com [more on this later] that the material he presented wasn't exactly cutting edge. RSS, blogs, podcasts would be fine for a generic business crowd but maybe not as appropriate subject matter for the best of Nova Scotia's IT industry.
I'll leave you with some of the most interesting facts of the evening as well as the most memorable quote from Mr. Rutkowski.
- Old school IT businesses found success through Content, Community, Communication, Commerce - Ebay is a great example.
- New school IT businesses are finding success through Movement, Management, Measurement and Monetization. Think Apple and Google.
- There are over 2.78 billion mobile phones worldwide. A single wireless network in China has over 400 million subscribers.
- 30% of YouTube videos are of people lipsyncing - each of which technically violates copyright laws.
- 76000 blogs are created each day.
- The world's highest-earning professional video gamer makes over $10 million annually and is still playing Halo 3.
"C'mon James, you're asian; you're supposed to know how to make technology work!"
Nova Scotia businesses are getting with IT
HERE’S A QUICK test: Do you know what a blog is? What does RSS stands for? Are podcasts a part of your daily news-scanning routine?
If you answered no to any of these questions, technology futurist Ken Rutkowski says you had better catch up with the hundreds of business leaders in Nova Scotia’s thriving IT industry already taking advantage of these opportunities.
The California native and broadcast-industry commentator told guests at the recent 2007 ITANS annual dinner that innovations in the media, entertainment and technology market are changing the way the world does business and that they need to embrace new media or be left behind
"If you were to ask an old-school media company, ‘What is your product?’ they would tell you they produce shows, articles and content," says Rutkowski.
"Ask a new-school media company the same question, and they’ll tell you their products are their viewers, audience and community."
This small but powerful change to the business model is the reason that free websites such as YouTube and Facebook have built up millions of regular users solely by creating a place to connect with friends, family or like-minded individuals from around the world.
The company remains focused on the movement, management and measurement of their audience, leaving the users to create the content.
But content continues to be the driving force behind online traffic and business.
Thousands of videos, if not more, are uploaded onto
YouTube and similar sites every day.
Among the 106 million blogs in existence, there are too many daily posts to track.
Think now about the repeat web traffic caused by all user-generated content combined. Now you can see why advertisers, programmers, developers and technologists are paying attention. Not only that, but everyone is looking to get in on the action.
Through Skype, a communications software program with more than 245 million registered users, Rutkowski called on his friends to weigh in on the issue during his presentation — among them a finalist on the Apprentice, the world’s highest-earning professional video game, and the founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese. These businessmen are all finding their own success in the new world of user-generated content.
James Sun, runner-up on Donald Trump’s reality show, has established Zoodango, a social network for professionals. While using similar models as MySpace and Hi5, Zoodango combines contact lists with favourite coffee shops and restaurants to facilitate face-to-face meetings. Coffee giant Starbucks has already expressed interest in getting involved.
Nolan Bushnell, the founder of video-game consoles and one of the most famous pizza chains, said he would bank on the continued success of massive multiplayer online games, such as World of Warcraft, if asked to invest his riches into a portion of the online evolution. I’m sure Johnathan Wendel (a.k.a. Fatal1ty) would agree, as he earns more than $10 million annually competing in video game competitions and handling sponsorships, merchandise and his own business.
What about Rutkowski? With a network that includes business leaders from all around the world and his own broadcasts attracting an audience from more than 40 countries, he said he is confident in his prediction of the battle sure to shape the coming years of the market.
"Apple and Nokia will be the ones to watch. The people who have Mac computers here today are the smart ones," said Rutkowski. "As for cellphones, they are becoming the key to content with camera and video capabilities, music playback and Internet access."
As content continues to be the driving force behind online business and technology, the industry has become a playground for innovators, including many here in Nova Scotia. Over the next few months we’ll be offering the views of these forward-thinking professionals. In the meantime, click over to a blog or download a podcast. You’ll thank me later.
TalkIT is a monthly column prepared by the Information Technology Alliance of Nova Scotia, an industry organization committed to the development of the sector through lobbying, networking and training.
Nova Scotia businesses are getting with IT
HERE’S A QUICK test: Do you know what a blog is? What does RSS stands for? Are podcasts a part of your daily news-scanning routine?
If you answered no to any of these questions, technology futurist Ken Rutkowski says you had better catch up with the hundreds of business leaders in Nova Scotia’s thriving IT industry already taking advantage of these opportunities.
The California native and broadcast-industry commentator told guests at the recent 2007 ITANS annual dinner that innovations in the media, entertainment and technology market are changing the way the world does business and that they need to embrace new media or be left behind
"If you were to ask an old-school media company, ‘What is your product?’ they would tell you they produce shows, articles and content," says Rutkowski.
"Ask a new-school media company the same question, and they’ll tell you their products are their viewers, audience and community."
This small but powerful change to the business model is the reason that free websites such as YouTube and Facebook have built up millions of regular users solely by creating a place to connect with friends, family or like-minded individuals from around the world.
The company remains focused on the movement, management and measurement of their audience, leaving the users to create the content.
But content continues to be the driving force behind online traffic and business.
Thousands of videos, if not more, are uploaded onto
YouTube and similar sites every day.
Among the 106 million blogs in existence, there are too many daily posts to track.
Think now about the repeat web traffic caused by all user-generated content combined. Now you can see why advertisers, programmers, developers and technologists are paying attention. Not only that, but everyone is looking to get in on the action.
Through Skype, a communications software program with more than 245 million registered users, Rutkowski called on his friends to weigh in on the issue during his presentation — among them a finalist on the Apprentice, the world’s highest-earning professional video game, and the founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese. These businessmen are all finding their own success in the new world of user-generated content.
James Sun, runner-up on Donald Trump’s reality show, has established Zoodango, a social network for professionals. While using similar models as MySpace and Hi5, Zoodango combines contact lists with favourite coffee shops and restaurants to facilitate face-to-face meetings. Coffee giant Starbucks has already expressed interest in getting involved.
Nolan Bushnell, the founder of video-game consoles and one of the most famous pizza chains, said he would bank on the continued success of massive multiplayer online games, such as World of Warcraft, if asked to invest his riches into a portion of the online evolution. I’m sure Johnathan Wendel (a.k.a. Fatal1ty) would agree, as he earns more than $10 million annually competing in video game competitions and handling sponsorships, merchandise and his own business.
What about Rutkowski? With a network that includes business leaders from all around the world and his own broadcasts attracting an audience from more than 40 countries, he said he is confident in his prediction of the battle sure to shape the coming years of the market.
"Apple and Nokia will be the ones to watch. The people who have Mac computers here today are the smart ones," said Rutkowski. "As for cellphones, they are becoming the key to content with camera and video capabilities, music playback and Internet access."
As content continues to be the driving force behind online business and technology, the industry has become a playground for innovators, including many here in Nova Scotia. Over the next few months we’ll be offering the views of these forward-thinking professionals. In the meantime, click over to a blog or download a podcast. You’ll thank me later.
TalkIT is a monthly column prepared by the Information Technology Alliance of Nova Scotia, an industry organization committed to the development of the sector through lobbying, networking and training.
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