big blog

here’s the info on my speaking thing:

Date:     
Wednesday January 23, 2008

Location: 
Karl Strauss Brewing Company
901A South Coast Dr.Costa Mesa, CA  92626 

Price: 
$40 AeA Members/$50Nonmembers

Time:  
5:30PM Registration & Networking       
6:00-PM-7:00PM Program       
7:00PM-8:00PM Networking 

Please forward this to others who may benefit by attending this event! Space is limited 

The Confluence of Social Networks, Technology and Entertainment Gives Birth to New Opportunities 

“The best form of advertising is word of mouth.” This adage and itsprinciples are extremely well-suited to the explosion of Internet-mediatedsocial networks. If gaming and dating sites encourage member interactionthrough chat rooms and instant messenger, then Web 2.0 ushers in newopportunities as social media, technology and entertainment converge. Robust platforms that facilitate interactivity will create converged userexperiences, new content classes and new interaction paradigms. Potentiallynew revenue-generating models will emerge, such as virtual merchandisesales, in-game product advertisement, digital content subscriptions andsales. As content migrates from the Internet to mobile phones, incumbentsand new entrants are moving in quickly to capture these opportunities. Forbusinesses, market segmentation is easier than ever before as consumersnaturally rally around common interests and passions. As such, perceptivebusinesses can advertise meaningfully to and interact with consumers toincrease sales, enhance customer loyalty programs and for the developmentand testing of new products and services. Join us for this event as weexplore the ways in which all companies along the value chain can benefitfrom the value creation of this new frontier. 

About the speaker: Vinh Ha, founder, bigdevelopment Since 1998, Vinh Ha hasdefined how businesses harness the Internet as a primary marketing tool todrive commerce and connections. Ha is an evangelist who espouses the valueof social networking as a powerful marketing tool for companies and brands. Some of his clients have included Op, Wienerschnitzel, Orange CountyPerforming Arts Center and Sir Speedy Franchises. Ha holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and public law with an emphasis in business administration from the University of California, Los Angeles. 

How to register for The Confluence of Social Networking:To attend this January 23 program, please register by one of the followingmethods:or complete and return this form with your check or credit card.  A creditcard is necessary to hold the reservation.  Phone or Email: Call Alan Wald at (949) 450-1500 x104 or emailAlan_Wald@aeanet.org. Please include Name, Company, Email, and Phone. Ifregistering via email, please phone or fax the following credit cardinformation into the AeA office. 

Online:http://www.aeanet.org/events/EventsCatalog.cfm?Product_Major=OC010806

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Apple. And since I was reared in a PC household and began my career in IT and then web development, Apple always represented a giant thorn in my side. I remember writing contracts back in 1999 where we asked clients to pay extra for their website to work on a Mac. My thought was, Apple only had 10% market share and it would have taken an extra 20 hours to make the damn thing work on a Mac…

more in a moment…  

I was watching TV the other day, and saw a show about how technology is growing faster than it ever has. The newscaster was saying how we have more and more pieces of technology: mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, iPods, video iPods, etc. Computers are getting more complex, the internet is growing, and there’s more and more software out there that must all work together. 

At first, I thought to myself, “duh.” And initially I thought that even though technology was growing and proliferating, people were getting more tech savvy. But I think the reality is, technlology is moving along much faster than regular people have time to learn. here are some examples:

• There are computers in everything now. your toaster, oven, and fridge have computers. they are getting smarter and harder to use.
• And we thought VCRs were complicated? we now have digital cable, Tivo, HD flat screens, and surround sound. Have you ever tried hooking all that equipment up? The manual does not help, and once you do have everything set up, how confusing are the 5 remotes?
• Devices are getting more integrated/reliant on each other. iPhones have to work with iTunes on Windows Vista. Treos have to work on Macs running Leopard.
• Every day I read about how social networks are going to be woven into the fabric of the web. Three years ago, barely anyone knew what they were.

So, what’s the point? I guess the point is, I thought my type was headed down the road to obsolescence. But as it turns out, we are needed now more than ever. Thank god.

Have you been noticing a trend? Everyone is opening up their API (again), concerned about saving the environment, and all graphics have reflections.

All good things really. Hopefully the first 2 trends will persist, and um, the third too since our logo has a reflection, I just noticed.

My two new favorite things are: Twitter and Tumblr.

I’m sure you’ve heard of twitter by now. It’s nano- or microblogging, and personally, I’m addicted. It’s the child of the dude who co-founded Blogger. I didn’t get it at first, but being narcissistic and always wanting to tell people about my adventures, I got it really quickly, and so did they people who follow me on it. Imagine that, I am now able to tell my friends and colleagues about my escapades as they happen. The only problem is that my tweets (that’s what your posts are called), start to trail off around midnight or at the point where I’m on my second bottle of champagne, which ever comes first…

Tumblr is rad. To put it succinctly, it’s a tumbler where you put all your stuff in. And stuff, in Tumblr’s case, are all your social media: photos, videos, blog posts, and tweets! All your stuff is aggregated into one site. Again, since I am an exhibitionist, I love the fact that I can share with my fans all my adventures using words (twitter), photos (Flickr), and videos (Youtube).