September, 2012 Archive

This article has been reposted from the Pioneers of Digital Blog

Anyone who has used Google has been exposed to the groundbreaking work started by Vanessa Fox in 2005.

That’s a lot of people.

The 7th in our Pioneers of Digital series we’re blogging before the book launches in the UK and the US, is now founder of Nine By Blue, a Seattle-based marketing intelligence firm and author of Marketing in the Age of Google.

During her time at Google she took on a project that was described by her boss at the time as, “an experiment that will either fail miserably, or succeed beyond our wildest dreams, in making the web better for webmasters and users alike.”

It succeeded. And you can read in the book all about the way Vanessa, who was working out of their tiny Kirkland office at the time, persuaded engineers at Google’s Mountain View HQ, and the industry as a whole to help her create one of the most visited intelligence tools and community on the web.

Pioneers of Digital launches on October 3rd – pre-order your copy now by visiting Buy Pioneers of Digital Book and check back soon for the next ‘reveal’.

Thanks,

Mel & Paul

PS: If you liked this snippet from the book, please share it with your friends and followers using the buttons below and help us spread the word!

Update Weds 26th September 5.05am PST: I’m not publishing any more comments (or gossip) about the individuals involved or any opinion on whether the allegations are true or not. As I’ve said we don’t know if they are. That’s not the point of this post. It’s an opinion piece on the “evolution” of social media and news, not a playground for internet trolls.

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Anyone in the media industry in the UK, if not the world, has been exposed today to the #Shicklegate social media explosion radiating out of London right now.

A disgruntled employee resigns and sends out an email with a flurry of accusations about the conduct of their boss. Someone sticks it on Dropbox and it goes viral…….in a big way.

Thousands of people have commented on Twitter using the hashtag and probably millions of Twitter accounts have been reached as a result.

As many are pointing out, this sad episode just goes to show the power of Twitter if the content is juicy enough, regardless of whether it is true or not.

The Sun has run an article which it has now taken down. There’s already a Hitler “Downfall” video live on Dailymotion, but I gather that’s been deleted too.

I think it’s sad because two people’s careers may lay in tatters.

Shickle’s because whatever he says in his defence, it’s unlikely anyone will fully believe him, and Allen because he’ll probably get sued if these allegations are not true, and who’s going to want to work with someone who appears to be logging your every move anyway?

What else lays in tatters is the reputation of journalism for going after page views in lieu of actually checking facts. I know it’s The Sun we’re talking about, but still, the attitude of “publish” and then “oops sorry, unpublish” is starting to wear a little thin.

This one’s set to roll with a lot of Tweets asking if the BBC will talk about it on tonight’s news in the UK.

Let’s hope not eh?

There’s plenty more wrong with the world without worrying about this little spat.

Today is the official launch of my new business: Delightful Communications

Ever since I was 12 years old I have wanted to start my own company.

At school I would ask the teachers to stock the library with all manner of entrepreneur-type magazines and books, and you could often find me voraciously reading them, pausing only occasionally to stare out of the window and daydream about what it must be like to be your own boss.

Well, when fortune forced me to pull a sad face 8 weeks ago, those dreams started to become a reality as I realised now was the time to make them real.

The reaction to me leaving my seven-year role at Microsoft was overwhelming. Literally hundreds of people emailed or commented either wishing me well, or wanting to talk about possible new jobs or business partnerships.

To everyone who contacted me, I’d like to thank you very much again. The words of encouragement were the well-needed boost to the inkling that now was the time to set up on my own. I thought long and hard about the positions I was asked to try out for, and am grateful for the time people took to uncover potential roles for me.

After many discussions with my wife and family, coupled with the wise counsel of some of my closest industry friends, Delightful Communications was born.

The consultancy builds on the three areas I had the most success with during my time at Microsoft:

– Social Media Integration

– Digital PR

– Personal Branding

To understand more about how I’ll be helping my customers, click through to the site that has been so beautifully put together by Dave Naylor’s team at Bronco.

Clients and partners I’m already working with include: Sociagility, Nine By Blue, 3 Monkeys, Haiku Deck, Zaprica, Barokas PR and The Seattle Theatre Group.

I’m also thrilled to be getting into the “Big Data” space by taking on a part-time role as “US Ambassador at Large” for Majestic SEO. I’ve been watching their impressive development, and the strides my friend Dixon Jones has been making in the industry for the last few years. I am looking forward to learning from the team, and helping them reach more people throughout the US who are in need of the wealth of actionable information their platform holds.

As I said eight weeks ago, my time at Microsoft was an incredible experience. I spent seven years working with some of the smartest and most astute minds in technology and advertising, and I’m sure our paths will cross again over the next seven.

With my book – Pioneers of Digital – launching in just twenty five days, and a growing list of speaking engagements, I’ve certainly got my work cut out for me over the next few months!

Thanks again everyone for all the support and words of wisdom. It’s meant so much to me and my family!

Thanks too to the guys – Blake and Jess – from the video production company, Cherry, who put together this video of my career highlights. We had quite a ride shooting all those interviews over the years.

Cheers,

Mel

This article has been re-posted from the Pioneers of Digital Blog.

Sohu.cn in China has the largest combined search, social and entertainment portals in the world. With over 505 million internet users – more than the entire population of the USA – Sohu contains many of the world’s most populated sites.

Zhang Minhui managed Sohu’s brand advertising and commercial content across its digital platforms during the key years of growth from 2002-2010, which makes him one of the most influential pioneers of digital.

Minhui negotiated how marketing would work through search, social, gaming, mobile, news and interactive media. Where Sohu created the formats, Minhui made it commercial.

A chapter profiling Zhang and Sohu also traces the four key periods in China’s recent and groundbreaking digital history.

Pioneers of Digital launches in October – pre-order your copy now by visiting Buy Pioneers of Digital Book and check back soon for the next ‘reveal’.

PS: If you liked this snippet from the book, please share it with your friends and followers using the buttons below and help us spread the word!

Thanks,

Paul