Jason quizzed Stephanie Agresta, Peter Shankman and Jeff Pulver on everything from their favorite brunch places in NYC to what they thought of Facebook privacy & Diaspora. It was nice to hear what these [...]]]> Last night, I had the pleasure of attending #SuperPanel put on by the wonderful Jason Keath (in conjunction with Doubletree and Chevrolet.)

Jason quizzed Stephanie Agresta, Peter Shankman and Jeff Pulver on everything from their favorite brunch places in NYC to what they thought of Facebook privacy & Diaspora. It was nice to hear what these digital influencers had to say outside of the large conference setting. The top 5 highlights of the night:

- Jeff Pulver has instated NDD – No Device Dinners – at his home. (I’m sure my parents wish they had thought of this!)
- Stephanie Agresta said that most problems with executing social media aren’t from agencies being poorly staffed but come from the brand side
- What happens at 11p isn’t always funny at 7a (says Peter Shankman)
- The panelists agreed that brands need to have (& show) their feelings if they want to be successful
- When asked about cursing on Twitter, all of the panelists said they refrained (though I have to say there was quite a bit of cursing during the panel itself!)

Thanks again to Jason Keath of Social Fresh for hosting the event!

I saw an email from a friend with the text above and immediately thought her e-mail account had been hacked by a Nigerian prince offering me his fortune.

But, alas, it was not. Instead, it was something much more interesting. It was a campaign for Stella Artois. They wanted to give this amazing weekend to Jacques [...]]]>

I saw an email from a friend with the text above and immediately thought her e-mail account had been hacked by a Nigerian prince offering me his fortune.

But, alas, it was not. Instead, it was something much more interesting. It was a campaign for Stella Artois. They wanted to give this amazing weekend to Jacques d’Azur, but he’s disappeared and they so they are on a mission to find the rightful heir to this amazing weekend in Cannes.

I clicked through to the website, watched the video and realized that I was indeed, the rightful heir to an amazing weekend at Cannes – a helicopter ride to a presidential suite, the best seats at all the shows and of course passes to the best parties.

I received an email from Jacques d’Azur’s lawyer letting me know that while many impersonators had applied, they did think that I could possibly be the rightful heir and would contact me as soon as they had anymore information.

Getting caught up in the campaign, I tweeted about how great the experience was and almost immediately got a response.

Not only was the campaign beautifully done, the transmedia experience was completely engaging and fun to be a part of. And turns out that you, too, could be the rightful heir! Stella will send 50 people to Cannes for the weekend. Hats off to Mother London for this great work!

Tim talked about process, quality and culture at AOL and how it contributed to both their successes and failures. Whereas Google does a great job of marrying art and science, AOL has missed the boat a bit [...]]]> This morning I was invited to an “Innovation Breakfast” with Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL, hosted by Wolff Olins.

Tim talked about process, quality and culture at AOL and how it contributed to both their successes and failures. Whereas Google does a great job of marrying art and science, AOL has missed the boat a bit and is now playing a game of catch-up.

Having come from Google, Tim had a lot to say about internal culture. The most important point, I think, was about competitive culture. Tim pointed out that everyone at Google had a competitive drive and wanted to do their very best – But beyond that, Google had also set the bar of quality pretty high.

Tim argued that to help employees succeed, they assume that employees are smart. By trusting them to manage their own time and workloads, you are giving them the freedom to create their own success. Think of micromanagement and then think of the opposite.

Beyond management styles, Tim touched on meeting culture at AOL. “We don’t do PowerPoints about PowerPoint,” he said, pointing out that this is just a waste of everyone’s time. The company is conscious of not wasting their employees time and has even implemented a 5 minute meeting rule – If you are 5 minutes (or more) late to a meeting, you’re locked out. This holds true for employees across the board: Tim cited an example earlier this month where there was a new business meeting with a large client and the Director of Business Development was late. Instead of pushing back the meeting, they locked the doors.

So can AOL redefine itself and truly succeed? I think so. And so does Tim.

Tim said he accepted the position at AOL because he is a “huge believer that the Internet is going to be much, much bigger than it is today.” Beyond AOL as an Internet Server Provider (ISP), Tim pointed out that there were a lot of other assets and features that AOL has such as MapQuest (the #2 online mapping site) and AdTech. He skipped over Beebo, but when an audience member brought it up, he pointed out that at the time of acquisition, it was a pretty solid social network – especially overseas.

What else is going on behind closed doors at AOL? Tim is challenging his employees to “beat the internet.” Looking at what’s available online today – from flavors.me to Twitter to Wikipedia – there are some amazing tools and platforms available. Tim and his team are taking close looks at what is out there and how they can create something better.

The biggest challenge I think they face is the stigma associated with AOL. While the new logos are cool, lots of people (myself included) still remember AOL as an ISP promoting their service on little CDs of free hours. When I think of AOL, I think ‘old school.’

AOL has a long way to go, but I, for one, am pretty excited about what the future may hold : )

Afraid it’s not as sunny and warm in NYC right now – but summers not too far away…

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

The first is the launch of their new Music Discovery Site. Likely inspired by Pandora’s Music Genome Project, YouTube has launched a section of their site where you can enter an artists’ name and you’ll be supplied back with their videos as well as suggestions of other artists [...]]]> We’ve seen two big announcements from YouTube this past week.

The first is the launch of their new Music Discovery Site. Likely inspired by Pandora’s Music Genome Project, YouTube has launched a section of their site where you can enter an artists’ name and you’ll be supplied back with their videos as well as suggestions of other artists you may enjoy. Why is this smart? Not just because it adds a layer to an already robust site, but because YouTube’s most watched videos are already music videos.

I tested the service out with a relatively small artist, Allison Weiss, and YouTube immediately gave me a 6 music videos by Allison as well as a handful of other artists that some of which, surprisingly, I hadn’t heard of:

While the music industry is generally known for being slow to adapt when it comes to sharing content in the digital space, labels are working with YouTube. They were working with YouTube prior to the launch of the Music Discovery section of the site, and because Vevo has promised increased ad revenue, they’re likely going to continue working with YouTube as the Music Discovery section grows.

On another note entirely, starting today YouTube will expand its offerings so that consumers will be able to rent full length movies from Sundance Film Festival through January 31st. Five films from the 2009 and 2010 festivals will be available for rent via YouTube with Google Checkout managing payment. YouTube also has put out an open call asking independent filmmakers to join the rental program.

Here’s to new music and new movies in 2010! Thanks, YouTube!

Improv Everywhere is the group behind the MP3 Experiments and Frozen In Grand Central. In their own words, [...]]]> On Sunday, I took my pants off on the subway. It wasn’t because I spilled my coffee or because I was trying to make a statement, it was because Improv Everywhere held their annual “No Pants Subway Ride.”

Improv Everywhere is the group behind the MP3 Experiments and Frozen In Grand Central. In their own words, they’re a group of people who “cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places.”

This was the 9th year that Improv Everywhere (IE) agents took their pants off on the subway and it has grown exponentially in size since its inception. While at first it started as a couple of friends, IE estimates that over 3,000 New Yorkers participated on Sunday.

A No-Pants Participant on Sunday

The past couple of years, “Pro Pants” evangelists have come to Union Square (where the pantless subway riders converge) to hand out pamphlets about the greatness of pants. I got invitations to no less than 12 after parties post the pantless riding. And yet – despite the subculture that has grown around this event – it has remained 100% unbranded.

As we move into 2010, I anticipate that more and more brands will focus on organic experiential efforts. Instead of focusing on new efforts, brands will take a deeper look into where consumers are already taking part. This is the new marketing: Connecting with consumers authentically in places they already are goes beyond Twitter and Facebook – which have now become traditional social media outlets.

A quick search shows that there were 11k+ tweets relating to the event and nearly 1,200 blog posts. My prediction? Next year there will be a brand involved in some way. So Levis – Go Forth! Gap – Get Together! What are you waiting for?

No Pants 2010 Mission Recap and Highlights here.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Things we learned: -People love blimps -People love free stuff -When you mix blimps with free stuff, people go crazy