VIA Recap: Audience Engagement 3.0

May 15, 2012 By Jennifer Hansen Leave a Comment
 On May 9 & 10, the SIIA Content Division hosted Content VIA Platforms – a conference dedicated to educating media, publishing and information professionals about the technology and business issues related to distributing content via mobile, social and other platforms. Guest blogger, Angus Robertson, gives his write up on the session Audience Engagement 3.0
 

Burt Herman, Co-founder, Storify

Go away helicopter before I take out my giant swatter :-/

Shoiab Athar posted this tweet on May 1, 2011, unaware at the time that he was witnessing the assault that led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.

Speaking at the SIIA Content VIA Platforms conference in San Francisco, Storify Co-Founder Burt Herman used this as a compelling example of how storytelling is becoming social. Of course his business is predicated on building stories out of social media, but he made a good case, arguing that the web is inherently social media. Examples include how social media can add context and meaning to photos and how pulling together tweets from Apple employees after the death of Steve Jobs provide a touching “story” that would likely not be available through traditional reporting.

Herman also argued that content “curation is incredibly suited to touch,” and showed how easy it is to use Storify to “swipe” social media and other web content into a “story” that can be easily shared as an embedded object:  “YouTube videos are embeddable anywhere on the web, so why not stories?”

As somebody who, like Herman, was once a wire service reporter, I was taken with the way in which constantly updating a Storify “story” with new information is similar to a constantly updated AP story. Storify is also stretching the definition of what a story is. Herman gave the example of the White House using Storify with a headline #DontDoubleMyRate to bring attention to its position on the issue of student loan rates.

Storify is a venture-backed free service that envisages including social ads in its stories as a way of generating revenue.

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This post was written by Angus Robertson, Robertson Advisors LLC

Filed Under: Content, Content VIA Platforms, Events, Platforms Tagged With: , , ,

TPP Negotiators Discuss IP aTPP Negotiators Discuss IP and Cross Border Data, OMB/NIST Talk Standards Reform, FTC MySpace Settlement Keys on Syncing and Cyber Continues to Slip in Senate

May 15, 2012 By David LeDuc Leave a Comment

TPP Negotiators Convene in Dallas
Negotiators for the nine countries committed to a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement met in Dallas starting on May 8 for a new round of discussions aimed at opening trade and encouraging investment among the countries that border the Pacific Ocean. SIIA had a presence at the stakeholder event held by the US Trade Representative (USTR) on May 12, which allowed interested parties to interact directly with the negotiators working on their issues. SIIA is supported a TPP agreement that would contain strong copyright enforcement provisions, measures to protect trade secrets and prevent the disclosure of software source code, and provisions allowing the cross-border flow of information and prohibiting mandated localization of cloud computing servers. A significant development at the discussions was the suggestion from several countries that some of the provisions of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) be substituted for the corresponding provisions in the US proposal on intellectual property. In addition, some countries raised privacy objections to the US proposal on cross-border data flows.

OMB Workshop on Voluntary Consensus Standards

Today, NIST hosted an OMB workshop on Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards. The workshop explored agency experiences in the implementation of OMB Circular A-119, public and private sector discussion regarding challenges associated with referencing private sector standards in federal regulations and industry case studies from their perspective on federal use of private sector standards and conformity assessment mechanisms. The Workshop is another step in an ongoing exploration of the Government’s participation in standards development, including a recent Federal Register Notice requesting public comment on whether or not OMB should consider supplementing the existing OMB Circular A-119, a memo earlier this year and proposed policy recommendations in October 2011.

FTC Settlement with MySpace has Implications on Syncing
On May 8, the FTC released a settlement with MySpace that has implications for companies that synchronize (“sync”) or link data through unique identifiers. The FTC charged that MySpace broke its privacy promises to consumers by making it possible for an ad network to connect MySpace’s user identifier with the ad network’s own user identifier . As a result, the two data bases of user information could be merged into a single record. In his post on the topic, the FTC’s chief technology officer, Ed Felton, issued a general warning to firms in this area: “If your product syncs pseudonyms or identifiers with third parties, or makes such syncing possible, you might want to ask yourself which information flows, if any, are enabled by the syncing, and whether those information flows are consistent with your privacy obligations.”

Cyber Continues to Slip in Senate
Senate leaders recently confirmed that consideration of comprehensive cybersecurity legislation will not take place this month, but they’re still hopeful this will now happen in June. Additionally, a planned bipartisan discussion among key Senators that was originally scheduled for today has also been pushed back to next week. These most recent setbacks follow major substantive opposition revealed last week when a coalition of civil-liberties groups urged the Senate to reject the legislation because it would allow military spy agencies to gain access to people’s personal information.

ICANN Announces Date to Reopen Applications
The latest from ICANN is that they are targeting May 22 to reopen its application system for new Web gTLDs, with the anticipated new deadline for submitting applications to be May 30.

For SIIA policy updates including upcoming events, news and analysis, subscribe to SIIA’s weekly policy email newsletter, Digital Policy Roundup.

David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy.

Filed Under: Digital Policy Roundup

VIA Recap: Facebook and Google+: Is the Reach Worth the Risk?

May 15, 2012 By Jennifer Hansen Leave a Comment

Rachael Monroe

On May 9 & 10, the SIIA Content Division hosted Content VIA Platforms – a conference dedicated to educating media, publishing and information professionals about the technology and business issues related to distributing content via mobile, social and other platforms. Guest blogger, Rich Kreisman, gives his write up on the session Facebook and Google+:  Is the Reach Worth the Risk? 

 

This session, moderated by Rachael Monroe, Vice President, Client Services, BBN Networks, brought two experts on social media, Jim Brady, Editor-in-Chief, Digital First Media, and Christopher Carfi, Vice President – Social Business Strategy, Ant’s Eye View, before the VIA attendees to share war stories of the learning years in social media  (since Facebook’s launch in 2004)– and the future, which both Brady and Carfi see as bright for publishers who innovate and experiment with social media.  Publishers are still finding their own formula to leverage social media platforms – for traffic, customer acquisition or to create new hybrid products combining their own content and user insights, both Brady and Carfi acknowledge.

Jim Brady

Carfi, whose consulting firm advises large companies like Cisco and Starbucks on social business strategies, says most companies (including publishers) view social media platforms as a broadcasting megaphone. “Social media is not just another ‘channel’.” Companies who look at it as a one-way communication tool are not succeeding, he says.  “Rather, my clients who really learn how to listen and engage in the conversations are getting the most benefits.”  Listening involves active monitor of all social media channels and engaging in two-way conversations with users – even if the news is  negative. Talking about his experiences at WashingtonPost.com and at Digital First Media (a venture of Journal Register Publishing and MediaNews Group), Brady notes, “Social media has to be in the DNA of everyone in the organization to make it work…and, in most newspaper newsrooms, it is not.”  To coach editors and writers through their initial forays into social media, Digital First Media offers training and support sessions.  

Christopher Carfi

But unless writers see a direct benefit for their reporting, they are unlikely to take the risk associated with the two-way conversations of social media.  “I always tell people to be patient,” Brady says. “It takes a while to build the conversation up.”   Brady finds when social media does take root in a newsroom, it becomes an important arrow in a publisher’s quiver and can deliver unique insights to readers.  Both men definitely seem to believe the reach of the large social media players is worth the risk.  However, they advise the audience that an 18-24 month learning curve should be expected for the average publisher. Experimentation and learning are key, says Carfi, as well as finding the champions of social media throughout the organization to prove its value to others.

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 Post written by Rich Kreisman, Principal Partner, Kreisman Information Consulting

Rich Kreisman is Principal Partner of Kreisman Information Consulting, LLC, a San Francisco-based consultancy advising publishers, content creators, websites and mobile providers on content licensing, syndication and distribution partnerships to meet their strategic business needs.  Rich can be reached at rkreisman@kreismaninfoconsult.com


Filed Under: Content, Content VIA Platforms, Events, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

SIIA Submits Testimony to Congressional Forum on Information Technology

May 15, 2012 By Mike Hettinger Leave a Comment

Last Friday, Representatives Elijah Cummings (MD) and Gerry Connelly (VA) hosted a Congressional Forum on Information Technology at the Fairfax County, Virginia Government Center to review government’s efforts to leverage innovative technology to reduce cost and improve citizen services. The forum featured testimony from Federal CIO Steven Van Roekel, as well as industry representatives including SIIA Public Sector Innovation Group Board Member, David Mihalchik of Google. SIIA was pleased to have been asked by the Members to provide testimony for the record.

SIIA’s testimony focused on the important transformative benefits of cloud computing – economic growth, choice and lower cost — and encouraged Congress to consider these when looking at cloud computing. We also highlighted the key security benefits that can be realized by implementing cloud computing, discussed the importance of the 25 Point Plan to Reform Federal IT, and explored the inter-relationship between Cloud First, FedRAMP, the Shared Services Strategy and the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative.
Overall, the interaction between Reps. Cummings and Connelly and the forum witnesses was thoughtful and successfully highlighted the issues of importance to government and industry alike as the federal government moves ahead with cloud computing. It was particularly encouraging to see these key members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee engage on an issue of such great importance to SIIA members and the federal IT industry as a whole and we applaud them for their effort.

Read the full text of SIIA’s statement.

Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG.

Filed Under: Cloud Computing, Government, Policy, Policy - Cloud Computing, PSIG, Software Tagged With: , ,

VIA Recap: The Gang of Four: Why Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook Dominate the Market

May 15, 2012 By Jennifer Hansen Leave a Comment
On May 9 & 10, the SIIA Content Division hosted Content VIA Platforms – a conference dedicated to educating media, publishing and information professionals about the technology and business issues related to distributing content via mobile, social and other platforms. Guest blogger, Rich Kreisman, gives his write up on the Keynote by Kara Swisher, Co-Producer, D: All Things Digital; Co-Executive Editor, AllThingsD.com Kara Swisher’s keynote reminded me why humor is an outstanding trait to maintain in a complicated and turbulent business landscape. Speaking to a roomful of top publishers, Swisher – with a wave of a hand – says, “You’re endangered – or really just irrelevant,” as she put up a slide of two dinosaurs chomping on each other, inspired by her 7-year-old son’s interest in All Things D – all things dinosaur, that is.

Swisher, who is the co-executive editor of the other AllThingsD (www.AllThingsD.com) and a noted Silicon Valley observer, delivers her dry one-liners like a techno-Fran Lebowitz.  But Swisher’s message was clear:  Publishers in the room need to pay careful attention to each move by the Gang of Four (GOF) – Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.   While acknowledging Microsoft, Swisher believes the software giant is too late to today’s platform game and purposely leaves them off her GOF list.

Swisher discussed the 4 key trends she sees among the GOF – along with new players vying to nab market share through platforms:

  1.  SoMoLo - social mobile local are keywords for all of the large players, looking to combine their users’ passion for social media on mobile devices, often to identify local information.  “But no one is succeeding in local yet, “ says Swisher. 
  2. Ubiquitous  - “Really more like promiscuous,” quips Swisher.   All GOF companies seek to be interwoven in all aspects of their users’ lives, she believes.   Poking fun at Google’s augmented reality glasses (dubbed Project Glass at Google), Swisher says she understands why Google is experimenting with them:  “Their business is search – they want to be with you at all times.”

Of Apple, which carefully controls all elements of its hardware and software, Swisher hilariously likens the company to “an elegant fascist universe… like living in Monaco or Switzerland.  It’s lovely, but it isn’t going to change for your benefit.” 

  1. Geolocated  - “You are never alone,” says Swisher, thanks to the geolocation abilities of mobile devices, allowing companies to highly target their data offerings to users.   Swisher speculates we are in the early stages of companies’ leverage of geolocation in their products.  Again, no clear winners yet.
  2. Data Flood – We are all drowning in the flood of information generated by the Web and social media.  Companies who address this issue – through better search, content curation and other data management tools – are going to be winners for the new consumer, Swisher asserts.   Many startups are trying to address data flood and some of them will be gobbled up by the GOF.

Swisher says the “always on” aspect of technology platforms – and consumers’ seemingly unquenchable thirst for more access to more data through new platforms — has led to a phenomenon she calls  “continuous partial attention”.  Users are interacting with information all the time, but in smaller chunks.  “This is probably most important trend for content providers to watch,” says Swisher.

Publishers either need to be “analytic, funny or obnoxious” to gain user attention in this intense, distracted environment.  “You must have some sort of take that adds value for the GOF” to be part of their future as a business partner, Swisher says —  or risk joining the universe of Protoceratops, Velociraptors and their long-lost friends.

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 post written by Rich Kreisman,Principal Partner, Kreisman Information Consulting

Rich Kreisman is Principal Partner of Kreisman Information Consulting, LLC, a San Francisco-based consultancy advising publishers, content creators, websites and mobile providers on content licensing, syndication and distribution partnerships to meet their strategic business needs.  Rich can be reached at rkreisman@kreismaninfoconsult.com

Filed Under: Content, Content VIA Platforms, Events Tagged With: , , ,

Gearing up for DataContent: Data Insight from Russ Perkins

May 14, 2012 By Jennifer Hansen Leave a Comment

We are excited about our partnership with the InfoCommerce Group to produce  DataContent 2012, coming up October 9-11 in Philadephia. The conference will focus on discovering the next big thing in publishing: The intersection of  Data, Community and Markets at DataContent 2012.  

If you don’t know him, Russ Perkins the founder of InfoCommerce Group,  is one of the more thoughtful individuals in our industry on all things data.  As we lead up to the conference, we will be highlighting posts from his blog which focus on the issues and topics we will be discussing at DataContent 2012. Enjoy!

 

 To Find Gold, Dig Deep

The travails of the traditional yellow pages industry are serious, with no end in sight. There are some interesting lessons and insights that can be drawn from the remarkable and relatively rapid meltdown of this seemingly bulletproof and impossibly profitable segment of the data publishing industry. Read more…

 


To Market, To Market

I have long been interested in the fine line that often divides marketplaces and buying guides, a topic that I am sure keeps all of us up at night at least every so often. A string of recent new website announcements has me back thinking about this again. Read more…

 

If the Pipe Fits…

Clay Shirky, the well-known professor at the renowned Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, in a recent interview gave this summation of the publishing industry: “Publishing is not evolving. Publishing is going away. Because the word “publishing” means a cadre of professionals who are taking on the incredible difficulty and complexity and expense of making something public. That’s not a job anymore. That’s a button…Read more…

 Tracking Error

A new report released by the Federal Trade Commission this week makes a strong case for increased online consumer privacy protection. This report builds on the “Consumer Data Privacy Bill of Rights” issued by the White House last month. The White House document is largely aspirational, setting general goals such as “Consumers have a right to secure the responsible handling of personal data.” The FTC report is far more specific, and includes an endorsement of a “do not track” option for consumers, along with a recommendation that “data brokers” be required to allow consumers to inspect the data that have been collected about them. Read more…

 

Made to Measure

It’s been well-known for many years that  Google periodically alters its search algorithms. These changes are made for two reasons: to improve the quality of search results, and to push back against those sites that it believes are gaming the system. To Google, gaming the system means that a website operator has divined in part how the Google search algorithm prioritizes results, and uses that knowledge to improve its own search results rankings. Read more…

 


Dead Letter Office

I got a call from the new postmaster at our local post office the other day.  Her staff had apparently discovered a sizable stack of year-old nixies from our conference promotions, and wanted to know if I would still be interested in them, for the requisite fee of course. After ruefully noting that the Postal Service is, “really hurting for money,” she pretty much offered to drop them off right away if we would just have a check waiting. Read more…

Filed Under: Content, Content Events, Data Content, DataContent, Events Tagged With: , ,

SIIA Honors Education Industry Veterans with Prestigious Awards

May 10, 2012 By Karen Billings Leave a Comment

SIIA’s Education Division this week honored Dr. Patrick Suppes, Lucie Stern Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Stanford University, with its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award. SIIA also presented the Ed Tech Impact Award to Charles Blaschke, Founder and President of Education TURNKEY Systems, Inc. In addition, the Education Division honored long-standing members of the Division during the recent Ed Tech Industry Summit (ETIS) in San Francisco.

During a special awards ceremony, SIIA President Ken Wasch and SIIA Vice President for Education Karen Billings presented Suppes with the award, which highlighted his accomplishments and contributions to the education technology industry. Suppes began conducting experiments using computers to teach students in the 1960s and led the charge of online instructional development. Computer Curriculum Corporation, the company he founded in 1967, is now part of Pearson Education Technologies. Among countless other awards, he received the National Medal of Science in 1990. With 50 years of experience in education technology at Stanford, Suppes is now Lucie Stern Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, and is Director and Faculty Advisor at Stanford’s Education Program for Gifted Youth.

In addition, SIIA presented the Ed Tech Impact Award to Charles Blaschke, Founder and President of Education TURNKEY Systems, Inc., a 40-year-old Washington D.C.-based firm which provides data and analysis about Federal funding policies and K-12 technology spending, including Title I, IDEA/Special Ed, the new ARRA stimulus funding, and other related Federal programs. Among many other contributions to education and technology, Blaschke developed one of the first two IEP special education administrative systems and co-authored the first Title I Policy Manual.

Several companies also were recognized by SIIA for helping support the ed tech industry through their long-standing membership of the association. Member companies recognized at the awards luncheon for attaining long-term membership levels included:

25 years of membership
Interactive Education Systems Design, Inc. (IESD)

20 years of membership
o Adobe

15 years of membership
o Texas Instruments Education Technology Group

10 years of membership
o Headsprout, Inc.
o CyberSmart! Education Company
o Apple Education
o Knovation/netTrekker/Thinkronize

Karen BillingsKaren Billings is Vice President for the Education Division at SIIA.

Filed Under: Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education Tagged With: ,
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