This is just amazing:
and here’s the Joy Division original:
Bing Twitter Maps Rock
This week I’m having a great time in Seattle meeting various Microsoft colleagues including Major Nelson (aka Larry Hryb) from Xbox fame and Steve Clayton who reports back on all things ‘New’ from Microsoft. Should be fun.
Meanwhile I’ve just discovered Bing Twitter Maps, so you can keep track of all my tweets (amongst other folk) below. This tool could really add to storytelling online so have a gander yourself.
More updates soon.
Friendly Fires cover Depeche Mode Strangelove
This is bloody good.
I <heart> the internet
Sometimes you just need to high five the internet. You waste hours of your life aimlessly surfing it and then you discover something absolutely amazing. I’m not sure if Photoshop is involved here. I hope not.
Media Standards Trust launches Churnalism Website
Talk about Big Brother. Now those pesky journalists can never copy and paste press releases into their copy ever again. Check out the Guardian Hall of Shame article. Now it’s back to original investigative journalism folks. Bah!
The Mixtape Club
I stumbled across The Mixtape Club a few weeks back and I’ve been hooked ever since. It’s a really simple concept – ten people, ten tracks, ten album covers. It’s a great example of curated content and the ‘editors’ involved are clearly passionate about their choice of tracks. I find this kind of experience far more compelling than just having access to a huge catalogue of music. Really looking forward to next month’s update!
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The Black Cab Sessions: Cheeky
Don’t believe this. Not only has someone ripped off my idea – they’ve also done a bloody good job of it as well. The London Bus Sessions anyone?
Good to see Jamie Lidell featured.
Jamie Lidell from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.
AOP Forum: Maintaining editorial integrity and making partnerships pay
Attended a good session today at the Association of Online Publishers at IPC. Chris Mooney (Topgear.com) chaired an informative afternoon, introducing speakers from Starcom, Bauer, AOL, CBSI and Dunhill to present their views on maintaining a healthy relationship between editorial and partnerships.
Transparency was heavily emphasised, users need to understand exactly what they are interacting with at all times with the use of ‘signposts’. There simply is no point in compromising the long-term integrity of your editorial product for the sake of short-term financial gain.
Here are my notes and links from the session.
- Nike Plus: Example of a brand that vetoed the use of an agency to connect directly with their audience, with great success.
- Hovis: Example of a brand that has a great connection with it’s audience. Over 80k fans to their Facebook page already.
- Did you know that 16-24 years olds define themselves through their choice in music and actually listen to what Celebrities say?
- Grazia TV: nice original production from the Bauer team
- Coming down the pipe from AOL: More video, tailored for local markets. Like this.
- AOL’s new ad platform Pictela coming to the UK this autumn
- A very cool site from Dunhill – demonstrating editorial integrity and advertising working together nicely. I loved the way they focus on a series of exceptionally clever non-celebrity types to leverage their brand. It’s still an advertorial, but it’s not directly selling to you. It is, dare I say it, very cool content. Plus, I’m not entirely sure if they used a marketing agency for this at all. ‘Build it and they will come?’. Exceptionally brave, or incredibly naive?
You can read full summary on the AOP website here
Thought for the day: What’s the actual difference between sponsored links and natural search links in a world where everyone’s SEOing their content? Answers on a postcard please.
*PS: I met a 14 year-old today who said they played games more than watching TV. That makes me feel about 102.
