We create the stories of the connected society

One of the highlights of the upcoming WeMedia Conference in Miami is the WeMedia Pitch It competition. We are looking for ideas for new services, experiences, products and business models for media and technology – coupled with a potential for social impact and social benefit.  We will award up to $50,000 in seed funding to the [...]

In a Harvard Business post that has tongues wagging in Cambridge and Davos, Umair Haque trashes a century of capitalism. Twentieth Century growth was not only dumb, but it is now eating itself. A hearty appetite, apparently. Hague posits four pillars of smart growth for economies, communities and corporations for this century: 1. Outcomes, not [...]

Occasionally I am reminded of the paradox that we each have a limited existence in the limitless framework of time. Or so reads the clock at the funeral home.. In a favorite movie, a jaded, cynical and arrogant weatherman covers the same, old story on February 2: the faked emergence of a groundhog from his [...]

President Obama has pledged to run a more open, participatory and collaborative government, and coming off a political campaign powered by unprecedented digital organizing, we have every reason to take him at his word. The relaunch of the White House web site minutes after he became president on Jan. 20 was more than symbolic. It [...]

Another podcast!  Whoa! two in one day… WeMedia is producing a regular podcast that features in-depth interviews with prominent media, technology, and social change figures, as well as distinguished experts on current affairs and news.  This is the fourth episode. Our goal is to help the WeMedia community understand the roots of the changes taking [...]

We’ve recorded another podcast! WeMedia is producing a regular podcast that features in-depth interviews with prominent media, technology, and social change figures, as well as distinguished experts on current affairs and news.  Today marks our third installment.  Our goal is to help the WeMedia community understand the roots of the changes taking place in our [...]

With February approaching, and snow falling across most of the east coast over the next couple of days, another plug for WeMedia in Miami seems appropriate.  Forget for a second that this will be a must-attend, everyone-talks-about, where-were-you? kind of event… and just imagine warm temperatures, sunny weather, and relaxing surroundings.  That’s Miami in February [...]

We are just over a month away from the beginning of our annual WeMedia event in Miami — and I assure you, it is going to be an incredible, must-attend event.  I strongly suggest you join us. I can prove it to you.  I am going to use this space on the blog each day [...]

I am not impressed by The Printed Blog — a Chicago start-up that plans to reprint blog posts on regular paper, surrounded by local ads, and distribute the publications free in big cities.

[UPDATE: We are aware that the application for the Pitch It competition is not working properly at the moment.  What great timing. Sorry!   If you have any trouble submitting your idea, email all the information directly to me (brian [at] ifocos dot org) and I will make sure your entry is recorded and you are [...]

Google announced yesterday that it will close its business that sells advertising space in newspapers, saying the effort failed to deliver the impact it wanted (article).  The program, which had attracted more than 800 US newspapers since it began in 2006, produced “good results” for some advertisers.  But as the director of Google Print Ads, [...]

We’ve recorded another podcast! WeMedia is producing a regular podcast that features in-depth interviews with prominent media, technology, and social change figures, as well as distinguished experts on current affairs and news.  Today marks our second installment.  Our goal is to help the WeMedia community understand the roots of the changes taking place in our [...]

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has been put up for sale by the Hearst Corporation.  If it does not find a buyer in 60 days (56 days and counting…) — most analysts believe it won’t — the paper will cease production.  This week, I am outlining my plan for how to save the Seattle PI, return it [...]

WeMedia is podcasting! Beginning today, WeMedia will produce a regular podcast that features in-depth interviews with prominent media, technology, and social change figures, as well as distinguished experts on current affairs and news. Our goal is to provide the WeMedia community understand the roots of the changes taking place in our society, hear from the [...]

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has been put up for sale by the Hearst Corporation.  If it does not find a buyer in 60 days (56 days and counting…) — most analysts believe it won’t — the paper will cease production.  This week, I am outlining my plan for how to save the Seattle PI, return it [...]