We create the stories of the connected society

Invitation to talk from Ros Atkins of BBC’s World Have Your Say show.

With her extensive experience on Capital Hill Ellen uses technology and the Internet to bring transparency to politics and make politicians and our government accountable.

This is a true testimony to the magic of a system that allows for open communication and collaborative problem solving around public concerns. You can really see how media, industry, government and private citizens can work together to improve their communities:

Back in the September, I wrote that “one of the fundamental tasks of design and business is to stand between revolutions and life, to help people deal with change.” That was the premise of The Right Brain Rules, a strategic vision and a portfolio of assets for creating value into the future.
Allison Arieff goes beyond  by [...]

There’s a media and technology feeding frenzy in Washington. Failing U.S. newspapers are looking for a bailout from the government; nonprofits, telecoms and policy wonks are scrambling to have their say and get their piece of the economic stimulus action – a few billion dollars – to expand broadband networks AND create more content and [...]

Over on my Fast Company Experts blog, I have issued a challenge.
Here is what I wrote:
I have come to the conclusion that most (maybe all) business and strategy books are useless. They over-generalize. They offer little value. I go in with such high expectations, based on reviews and descriptions, and am almost universally disappointed.
For [...]

Technology and the internet have given us greater control over our own media experience – what information we get and share, how we spend our time, and to whom we are connected.  We are more diverse as a society, more informed as individuals, and more involved as communities.  So what?
This morning I read a column [...]

Google announced this week that they were creating a venture capital arm whose main objective will be to turn a profit.  The group, called Google Ventures, is expected to invest up to $100 million in the next 12 months.
The New York Times article on the announcement notes that “Google will tap the connections of its [...]

I owe you an apology.  Part of my role is to help manage the blog and keep the conversation among those in the WeMedia community going strong.  I dropped the ball in a big way. I haven’t posted since the WeMedia conference at the end of February.  I haven’t followed up on many of the [...]

My daughter Amanda took the above photo in Nepal. The picture on the right is of my new granddaughter, Elizabeth Jane. I thought of them as I discovered The Girl Effect, a project from the Nike and UN Foundation that stunned global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The big idea: unlocking the [...]

An agenda for smart capitalism.

The sky is falling! Newspapers aren’t going to survive. They’re declaring bankruptcy en masse. The Seattle Post Intelligencer is the latest considering going digital-only, I was told last night at We Media, along with the San Francisco Chronicle. Others already have given up some or all of their print editions. TV networks are bleeding, book [...]

Welcome to the New Now.

Most Americans believe small business, science and tech leaders will lead the U.S. to a better future – not the news media, government or large corporations
Note: This week we’re holding our fifth annual We Media conference in Miami. Along with our research and other projects at iFOCOS, the We Media conferences, awards and community explore [...]