Cuene.com

Month: April 2007

  • Rolling Stone to Jump on MySpace Bandwagon?

    Jann, don’t bother: Rolling Stone to Jump on MySpace Bandwagon. We don’t need another "me too" site.

  • CBS, into the Game with Both Feet

    The big networks are finally getting serious about the net, and re-thinking their roles in the content creation/consumption/commercialization mix. First NBC, now CBS:  CBS Corporation Announces the Creation of the CBS Interactive Audience Network.

    "CBS’s ability to partner with leading next-generation interactive
    platforms is the best way for CBS to evolve from a content company to an
    audience company    ,(emphasis mine -ed.)" said Quincy Smith, President, CBS Interactive.  "It’s
    really all about the user and in building the CBS Interactive Audience
    Network, we are bringing our content to each unique platform of their choice.
    In remaining open to all online distributors and community builders – big and
    small – we can learn more about our existing audience, be exposed to new ones,
    and flexibly cater to their changing consumption habits."

    An "audience company"? First of all, what does that mean. Second, is that really the business for CBS? That puts CBS in the middle, trying to match the advertiser to the consumer, with content as the middle ground. Presumably, CBS would be media agnostic – once the new network is up and running – recognizing the inevitability of a multi channel future for them. They’ve got radio, tv, online publications/sites and now an online distribution play. But, they are letting their content loose in the wild, and tracking which audience sees the content is going to be harder than ever.

    There’s a lot more the consider here, so i’ll need to give it a few days. In the meantime, i’ll re-read this deck from Spencer Wang. A mind opener.

  • Design Patterns

    Great list of Design Patterns from Chris Messina. Smart guy.

  • White Label Social Networking

    Thank you, thank you, thank you Jeremiah. At work, we’ve been going back and forth about how to build out some social/community features for our sites. Build vs. buy seems like a ridiculous conversation to have these days, but we’re having it. This list of “White Label” social networking platforms is just what i needed to prove the point that there is a ton of other, smarter groups working on this so we don’t have to.

  • Nail: Types of Engagement

    Jim Nail, the former Forrester analyst, is now at Cymphony. A while ago, he wrote about  " 4 Types of Engagement" at iMedia.com, as an analysis of the new energy behind the "engagement metric" which should take the place of page views. It’s a good disection of "engagement", and sheds light on the challenges inherent in defining a new cross-site metric.

    Even more interesting is his argument that the old, linear, rational model for advertising is broken, and maybe always has been. What’s replacing it is a more emotional, non-linear where consumers are soaking up all sorts of brand images and messages, and then act on it.

    "When the consumer ‘engages’ in this subconscious processing, he or she
    creates associations, affixes symbols, imagines metaphors and imbues
    experiences into the ad message to give it personal relevance."

    This, presumably, is what happens when a consumer gets "engaged". Its a little mysterious, and isn’t easy to understand (or manipulate) and shoots the idea of a nice, simple to understand "funnel" all to hell. Definitely appeals to the artist in us web geeks.

    Now, how to measure this in a way that makes sense as a comparative measure on a consumers interest? I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to do it. We’ll be able to measure the activity of someone who is engaged, perhaps more meaningful ways (see Compete’s definition of "attention").  But every site engages consumers in different ways, and the activity may be completely different on each site. 

  • I Really Will Take This Blogging Thing Seriously, But First

    I try to keep this blog pretty bland and non-personal. There are plenty of reasons why, but mainly i live a very boring life and the world doesn’t need that boredom inflicted on it. With all that is going poorly across the globe, i don’t feel my pissing and moaning would make things better or worse. So, i pretty much stick to dumb stuff like "irish hotties", "golf porn", and "Multiple ipods on XP". At least, that’s what my referrer logs say.

    But, evidently, this site is read by others, and i’ve gotten a few emails from former coworkers and old friends asking where i’ve been. Short answer: in a dark hole, and at a new job. Longer answer: Below.

    September & October:
    – Traveling back and forth to De Pere WI every weekend, watching Cancer kill my mother from the inside out, and my father helpless for the first time in my (and his)
    – Some insights into the problematic way i’ve been avoiding stress, emotions, and a couple other things. THey come home to roost, and I have to start dealing with them.
    – Fantastic new job starts.
    – I finished my second Chequamagon Fat Tire Festival, cutting 14 minutes off my time. Start looking to next year.

    November & December:
    – Still on the road to De Pere every weekend
    – Feeling pretty low,  but at the same time, more optimistic than ever about my future.
    – Sad to see my beloved brother crushed, too, dealing with difficult times himself
    – Mom dies. Dad crushed. Family shattered.
    – Meet Bob, a wise man, who can help me make sense of a couple questions i’ve struggled with for a while. Glad to have met him!
    – Holidays are weird with mom gone. She’s as present as ever, but not there at all. Stressful and tenative. Moreso than ever. But, Dickensian ending where we all hold hands and gain deeper, richer appreciation for the importance of having family to lean on and share pain with. Good times. Seriously.
    – New job is awesome.

    January
    – Trip to Uruguay with Dad and my brother and family friends. Great trip, but missed the family
    – A. goes to Las Vegas
    – Trip to Google, blown mind. Great possibility. This internet thing is going to be huge!
    – Feeling pretty good about the future

    February
    – Start riding my bike again (!) and feel better already. Looking forward to Fat Tire fest in September
    – Stop riding my bike due to work and sickness
    – Fantastic weekends at the cabin in WI, skating on the pond, making fires on the pond, great quality time with family.
    – Feeling very positive about the future

    March
    – More time at cabin (!)
    – Great trip to AZ, with a bunch of bike riding thrown in.
    – Start shopping for a carbon fiber bike to buy this summer
    – Work is still going well
    – The future is bright, I’m looking at shades

    April
    – Take Cooper to Kids Choice Awards 2007. Best trip of a lifetime ever.

    A couple other things:
    – Amy Winehouse is fantastic, and her new album is dynamite. Buy it today.
    – Listening to a lot of old Buffalo Tom
    – Love the John Hodgeman book/audio CD. Extremely false and equally funny.
    – Still trying to get in shape. That 15 lb weight loss is unicorn-esque, but I will capture it one day!
    – Looking at boats. Seriously. Runabouts, you know, for the kids! At the lake!

    All is good. Its getting better all the time.

    Thanks for reading. Seriously.

  • Mims’s “This Is Why I’m Hot”: A Graphical Dissertation on America’s Number One Song

    A fine analysis, yo. 

    As these claims and predictions are speculative, there are more possible outcomes; it seems reasonable to assert that Mims can’t sell more than a mil’ sayin’ nothin’. Though we would love to see him try.

  • Why?

    Seriously, what is this going to accomplish?: Oasis, The Killers to record new version of ‘Sgt Pepper’. Haven’t we had enough? We get it, Oasis, you looooove the Beatles.