Filtered

STIRRed, not shaken

Just in case you're fooled by that picture of me on my blog, I don't always act like a dude in a suit. Big Mick's got the (kinda scary) evidence from last night's STIRR party.

Anyway, congrats to all the guys behind the Dinner 2.0 party, particularly Tangler, Atlassian, TVP and Neo. Make no mistake, the Internet business is back in Sydney and it's alive and well.

Update: Cam's video of the night is gold. Make sure you keep watching to see Chris Saad give Mike Z. from TVP an elevator pitch in an elevator.

Wireless in Canberra

Down in Canberra tonight staying at the (slightly weary-looking) Rydges to attend the AFR Government Technology Summit this week. Check out the agenda here, it's a pretty heavy-hitting lineup of government types.

I'm up tomorrow facilitating a panel about single sign-on and related e-government issues. But that's not what's got my attention right now.
I've got my hands on an AFR-issue notebook that the help desk kindly agreed to equip with one of Vodafone's new HSDPA data cards (disclosure: they sent it to me for a review, and I guess I'll have to send it back some day... ; ). That means no hassles about finding WiFi, or paying through the nose for in-room broadband.

I just ran a couple of bandwidth tests and got download speeds of 810.8 kilobits per second and 961.7 kbps. Apparently it can get up to 1.8 mbps - we'll see.

Oh, and if you're in Canberra swing by the conference and say hello.

TechBloggers

A quick thumbs up to Frank Arrigo and the Microsoft execs who hosted a 'Microsoft bloggers' brunch at TechEd in Sydney this morning.

One of the PR women there looked at me suspiciously (and I can't blame her) when I said I was impressed. The group of 20-odd people comprised of bloggers, media and Microsoft execs spent 1.5 hrs talking all things Vista. It was an open, honest conversation. We had questions and they had answers. If they didn't have answers, they said as much as they knew.

This sort of dialogue represents a subtle, but significant shift in the way tech companies relate to key influencers. Microsoft has recognised that bloggers and media are opposite sides of the same coin, and a new approach to disseminating information is now required. The press release and press conference is dead. The new era is about conversations that are open, transparent and yes, making the vendor vulnerable. But with vulnerability comes respect. And by 'respect' I don't mean that we stop asking hard questions. It's just that we expect real answers and Microsoft is one vendor apparently willing to dip their toe into this brave new world.

Media, deconstructed

For people like me, media's in the blood. There's something compelling about news, feature stories, and comments that make you think. Then there's the buzz you get from publishing a story, a quality product, or starting a new conversation.

I'm one of the speakers at Ross Dawson's Future of the Media Summit, being held simultaneously (ie connected across the net) in Sydney and San Francisco (my two favourite cities) on 18/19 July. If you don't know about the summit, check out the event's site, or Ross' blog. Btw, this ain't no dinky event. Speakers include Wired's Chris Anderson, Technorati's Dave Sifry, and Fairfax Digital's CEO Jack Matthews.

On the agenda are some pretty familiar topics: globalisation, how content will be created, future revenue models, and so on. There's an argument to be made that media has been deconstructed and separated into its basic elements - content, community, revenue models, etc. Just look at the rise and rise of separate online job sites, or classifieds businesses. Likewise, blog-style media outfits like Alwayson, or Crikey, are carving out a niche as sources of "independent" information.

So one question in my mind is to what extent are we simply deconstructing old media, calling it new media, and then putting it back together in slightly different fashion? That's my cynical Aussie view of the world. The happier (Californian) view says citizen, or community-driven media is a refreshing change and a noble pursuit for all forms of media.

Got any thoughts?

Bloggers on blogging etc

G’day from sunny Coolum, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. I’m here with about 70 other journalists and 80-ish other IT vendor, analyst and PR types at MediaConnect’s annual Kickstart conference.

Just attended a session about blogging, and its interface with media, journalism and marketing. One of Filtered’s favourite topics, of course. On the panel was Charles Wright (who, by the way was the first editor of the AFR’s Information section), Darren Rowse (Australia’s favourite self-employed blogger) and Phil Sim (conference host, and the man you can blame for Squash).

The target audience for this discussion was marketing and PR types, who’s carefully controlled world of massaged communications has been turned on its ear by the blogosphere.

Given time was short, and much of the time was focussed on the basics of the experiences of Wright, Rowse and Sim, we didn’t get too deep into the sharp end of the disruptive stick.

But there were a few nice quotes:

Wright on the decision to close the Razor blog (Fairfax’s flat-fee payment wasn’t enough to justify the 3-4 hrs spent on it each day), and start a paid subscription service. The blogosphere “is extremely loyal, unbelievably loyal.”

“People started to pay me $50. One person started to pay me $100, plus $10 per month,”
“We’re reinventing economic laws, and the laws of commerce here,”

Rowse on that vexed question of fact-checking and relying on your readers to do it for you: “The light of truth does tend to shine through, I don’t know how it does.”

Rowse on how he stumbled into blogging with a personal travel site: “No one looked at the photos, but there were lots of hits to my digital camera review.”

Rowse on the launch of B5 media with two other business partners:  “I will meet my partners for the first time later this year.”

Sim on advice to the PRs: “Bloggers don’t want a conduit. It’s all about direct conversations.”
“I would encourage you to get your executives blogging.”

“To me the blog is this one great social networking tool.”

Lane Cove Tunnel collapse

Updated below

When you've got four helicopters hovering above your house for an hour from 6:30am that's usually a good sign that something's wrong.

So imagine my surprise when I turned on the TV to see images of Epping Road, 50 metres from my house in Lane Cove, completely blocked with traffic. A hole about 6 metres wide had opened up underneath the corner of a unit block about 200 metres from my house. Here's the SMH story.

The unit is close to my bus stop, so I had to walk with my fellow commuters a short distance up to the Pacific Highway, get a different bus, and catch a train to work.

I've got just a few questions that need answering given that the tunnel almost runs directly under my house, not too far from where the ground has already given way.

Here are a few pics taken on the camera phone.

On Thursday afternoon it looked like this:

 

And on Friday while various media reports say they've plugged the hole with truckloads of concrete, an amusing document fell into my inbox containing the following words (not the ominous absence of "location, location, location" :)

“Affordable Living… On the Edge!”

Recently renovated

Large windows 360o views… down

Good airflow - cool all summer!

Open-plan living

Split Level

½ a bathroom

Large basement

Easy access to Lane Cove tunnel

Owners anxious to sell

Hurry, this offer won’t last. Many expressions of interest already!

Rewind Fast Forward

You might recall on August 23 the AFR published a mammoth 12 page special report to recognise 10 years since the advent of the commercial internet, ie, 10 yrs since the Netscape IPO. Since I can't point you to the free stories on our site, Mick Stanic returned the favour (I quoted him) and summarised it here (actually, if you email me I can probably twist the arm of our edit assistant to send you a back copy).

Anyway, Slattery IT next Thursday, Sept 15 is will hold an event to dive into the issue with Rewind Fast Forward. Yep, this is a free plug, but hey, I'm one of the people up the front, so why not come along and throw a few tomatoes... :) Seriously though, aside from yours truly, Rachel Slattery & the team look like they done a great job getting some high-flyers of the industry to speak. Check out the program.

New Orleans a national disgrace

I just can't believe what's happened to the great Big Easy. The world's superpower has a government that knows how to wage war but not look after its own people, even though they had plenty of notice about the events that were to unfold. And where are all the aid agencies?

How about these two amazing quotes from this AP story (bold mine):

"This is a national disgrace," said New Orleans' emergency operations chief Terry Ebbert. "We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."

***

Police Chief Eddie Compass said there was such a crush around a squad of 88 officers that they retreated when they went in to check out reports of assaults.

"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon."

Gov. Kathleen Blanco called people who committed such crimes "hoodlums" and issued a warning to lawbreakers: Hundreds of National Guard troops hardened on the battlefield in Iraq have landed in New Orleans.

"They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded," she said. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will."

Why Forbes CEO conference failed the media test

I’ve been to a lot of conferences over the years. Some good were good, and plenty were bad. But I’ve always had a single expectation that until today was fulfilled. The typical scenario for a member of the press reporting from a conference usually follows this pattern:

1. Turn up & register at the event.

2. Sit in the conference room, usually in a reserved section, and if you’re close enough, catch a few spittles from an over-excited speaker.

3. If you’re in the

   US

   , open your laptop and connect to Wi-Fi (that's still an unheard of scenario in

   Australia

   btw.)

4. Speeches end. Return to media room, attend Q&A for press, say G’day to a few journo mates, write story, go home.

What caught me – and a few of my colleagues, I might add - by surprise today was the twisted version of the norm at the Forbes CEO gig. It wasn’t good for me, and I suspect it won’t be good for Forbes in the long run.

First up, media rego was at a hotel 10 minutes walk up the road. After the identity check and photo session, we were escorted in a mini-bus and driven past the police roadblocks, through the concrete and wire barricades that have been holding back the protesters, and up to one of the less trafficked entrances at the Sydney Opera House.

Our passes were checked again on entering the Opera House, and we were led striaght to the media room. At that point I’m wondering why we're not actually going to the Concert Hall where the live event is about to start. Then it dawned on me that our reporting would be done via two plasma screens in the media room. I could be doing this back at my desk via a webcast!

So there we are, scribbling away at our tables. A sideshow for me was watching the Asian media guys actually filming the action on the plasma screens and recording the acoustic audio feed that’s being pumped into the room. That won’t be a pretty result.

Oh, and a quick scan of the room, and nope, no Intel or Wi-Fi signs (call it a weird hobby).

Forbes was however kind enough to hold a Q&A after the panel session I attended so that us poor tortured souls could have access to the speakers in real life. Imagine that.

So now I’m left with a lot of questions that need answers:

* Were these CEOs in the audience so precious that they can’t stand being in the same room as journos? Or are we that dangerous?

* Tickets were $A5000 per attendee. If I saved them the mini-bus rental and walked a few blocks, surely they could include Wi-Fi in the media room?

* Does this sort of thing happen at other Forbes CEO gigs around the world?

* Do the organisers appreciate the irony of a publisher - that prides itself on being a focal point of conversations – corralling other media into a room where they can’t actually participate in the main event?

* More than that: this treatment of media, and the implied exclusive, restricted access to CEOs was actually one of the main reasons why protesters were outside. People want leaders who are accessible, not locked away. (ok, so that’s a statement)

* Forbes publisher Rich Karlgaard went to some length to admonish the audience of CEOs for using their mobile/cell phones. Have they not heard about AlwaysOn? The future of conferences is one that promotes active, participatory audiences, not one that seeks to control and manipulate.

What’s the net effect of my rant? Forbes attempts at controlling the media created ill-will among me and my colleagues. Was that intended? I’d like to know.

San Francisco here I come

It's approaching two years since I left San Francisco, and this Saturday I'll again set foot on Northern California soil. Together with one of my AFR colleagues, I'll be attending the AlwaysOn Innovation Summit, and will be interviewing a number of really cool IT types while I'm there (I'll keep that info under wraps for now...).

The best thing is that we are AFR-funded and completely free of vendor sponsorship. It's something of a novelty in the junket-ridden Australian IT media business, and I can tell you it's a great feeling.

So if you're in the Bay Area between July 16 and 29, lemme know. I'm hoping to catch up with as many old friends as possible. And while we're at it, let's do an experiment in collaborative journalism - if you're not going to AlwaysOn and have got burning questions for some of the people listed as attending, write it up in the comments below. No promises to deliver every question, but I'll try.