I was recently contacted by EA Clarke regarding a VP of Marketing position for a radidly growing Web 2.0 oriented company. If you are a fan of Chris Anderson’s “The Long Tail” then this company could be right up your alley if you think you can handle the job! This company provides an at Home DVD rental (including Blueray for you Sony fans) on-demand entertainment service. You rent whatever DVD’s you want from arguably the largest colletion of popular and niche titles this side of the border. The community of customers provide reviews and Zip does a pretty good job in the top N lists area.

They are the backend service provider for a large video rental chain (of which I’m a customer). This indirect/private label approach is smart assuming they can replicate the model through other entertainment oriented retailers. They could become the “Pegasus” of Digital Entertainment. (Pegasus was the prime distributor of books to Book retailers in Canada…then we know what happened….Schwartz and Heather).

E.A., the Executive Recruiter said they are looking for someone with web 2.0 experience. Contact E.A. Clarke if you are interested, he is at the StoneWood Group.

Slideshare is a free web 2.0 service that allows you to upload your presentation deck for the world to see. A YouTube for PPT essentially. You can embed code in you post so that the presentation will show in your own blog. So let’s give it a shot:

[slideshare=<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="https://s3.amazonaws.com:443/slideshare/ssplayer.swf?id=9053&doc=bloglines-training-11997" width="425" height="348"><param name="movie" value="https://s3.amazonaws.com:443/slideshare/ssplayer.swf?id=9053&doc=bloglines-training-11997" /></object>]
Hmmm…. =(

As soon as I figure it out…I’ll let you know. Web 2.0 service providers need to make it AND KEEP it simple for people to blog. Why? Because most of us do this in our spare time and out of “love” and “enthusiasm”. Don’t ever lose site of this folks. If you want mass adoption AND continued use…keep it simple, fun.

As I speak I’m having trouble with Windows Live Writer. In fact I’ve abondoned using it because images are not loading properly and it’s not working with IE 6.0 (with tabs) properly.

I’m participating in the CMA Digital Marketing Conference and kudos for them offering wireless! I believe they will be updating their blog live while the conference is on. This is cool to. Here’s their conference blog. You’ll need to be approved before your comments are posted.

Tool Used: Microsoft LiveWriter, Capstone Capture
Ease Factor:
Efficiency Factor:
Effectiveness Factor:
Grade: Failed
Comments: Can’t read the report! I captured image was copied and pasted into LiveWriter editor

The Toronto Star is launching a downloadable newspaper this Tuesday. You can subscribe here. This is pretty interesting and I’ve subscribed to the service. Essentially I will receive a daily PDF condensed version of the star and each page is 8 1/2 x 11 inches so it can be printed out if need be.

It should be interesting to see if they use web2.0 tools with this PDF paper or not. They are pushing content to readers, but I wonder if they will seek out opinion and comments and allow for conversation?

Another Web2.0 Experiment I’ve started is using Microsoft’s Windows Live Writer blog publishing application. This is my first post using WLW (hey, it isn’t a technology thingy if there is no acronym!).

Here is the link to more information and to download. A couple of interesting claims:

It is supposed to make it easier to upload posts. Sometimes it is a pain in the butt trying to format posts when photos are included or when you want to add bullets, indents etc.

So, let’s try adding a photo. Herbert lake is located in  British Columbia. A family member is out in B.C. and she sent me these photos. Here’s the sign.

Here’s a picture of the lake itself.

The verdict, too early to tell. It may take me just as long to learn how to use this then the WordPress (by blogging software service). The photos above were perfectly aligned when working in the Live Writer editor but when I did a preview (the same as a “print preview” one uses prior to printing a word document), the photo’s weren’t aligned. As you can notice.

What I like, initially:

1. Live Writer works with WordPress (not owned by Microsoft).
2. It works with Firefox a threat to Microsoft’s IE browser.
3. Microsoft isn’t forcing me to use their software and the client software seems pretty simple.

Saturn Sky

Originally uploaded by sandy kemsley.

I’ve already posted a pic from Flikr regarding this, but I wanted to show you and Agency.com how viral marketing works well. Saturn provided Blogher conference attendees with the opportunity to test drive their cool sports coupe. Think about the target audience. Intelligent, motivated, creative and forward thinking women and men who blog!

They communicate their thoughts, feelings and experiences. Here is a group of like minded people with common interests! They are communal and love to communicate and share their experiences and…. you guessed it photos! The result. They will share their experience and pictures of the car with their readers and on photo sharing sites like Flikr.

This was not forced it happened naturally…virally.

Saturn1

Originally uploaded by cherbert15.

Saturn provided Blogher participants with the chance to test drive and give feedback about their convertable product. The result? They came back smiling and took pictures. Pictures, this is one of them, were posted on Flikr and blogs. Pretty cool stuff.

Attensa is an RSS solution provider so some would view their blog posts as biased. While this could be the case a recent post on their blog regarding “Enterprise 2.0″ provides business leaders with some insights as to why web 2.0 tools are important.

Calling all Business and Technology Leaders. Give the Attensa post a read and if the mood strikes read the cited articles and listen to the podcast too.

Huh?!

It is really interesting to see how Podcasters like Joseph Jaffe who’s Podcast series Across The Sound (ATS)is trying, testing and daring to do things. Podcasting, as is the case with blogs, starts with one person picking an area of interest and producing content that is or becomes compelling to readers/listeners.

Across The Sound is about “new marketing” (see my “who cares” post on labels) which revolves around creating and continuing conversation with listeners. As is the case with great podcasts, Joseph makes a 1to1 and 1ton (many) connection for listeners. The 1to1 connection starts by providing compelling content that I helps me learn, makes me laugh and kills time when I’m on the stairmaster! This 1to1 connection is amplified when listening with an iPOD where pretty much all you hear is the voice of the podcaster in your mind. The earphones block out noise and distractions making it even more “connected”.

As is the case with every ATS podcast, I can leave an audio comment expressing my point of view on the subject, the overall podcast or anything I want. These comments can be integrated into a show or in some cases can become the basis of an entire show. By playing audio comments my views are broadcast to the listening audience. My comments may spur other comments and debate. This interactive conversation is different from radio programs for reasons I may go into detail when I’m less tired!

If you are going to podcast, I suggest you allow your listeners to leave audio comments and/or post comments.