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If everybody loves Super Bowl ads, then why don’t advertisers always make Super Bowl-quality ads?
February 8th, 2010
If everybody loves the ads during the Super Bowl, yet complain about ads in most all other programming, wouldn’t it be in an advertiser’s best interest to make the ads that appear the other 364 days of the year as appealing and as entertaining as Super Bowl ads?
The reason we like Super Bowl ads so much is that they’re usually entertaining (often funny) and they’re fresh and new. The formula couldn’t be any simpler. Make your ads entertaining, ideally funny, and make lots of them, so people will always have something new to look at. It’s the reason we can’t wait to tune into the next new episode of our favorite show. Why should that be any different in advertising?
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Filed under: Advertising, Tech debate, Tips, Video | Comments
Cool and not-so-cool from ‘Teens in Tech’ Conference
February 6th, 2010
On a non-school day, Saturday, I trotted down to Google’s offices in San Francisco to attend the “Teens in Tech” conference. So many of the conferences I attend are filled with the same mix of people. That’s why I always like to attend tech conferences that don’t play to the same audience. For example, I learned so much attending the Blogher conference and the same was true with “Teens in Tech.”
Steve Wozniak chatting with a teen in tech
Filed under: San Francisco, Spark Minute, Tech debate, Tips | Comments
VIDEO: What are you learning from teens at the ‘Teens in Tech’ Conference?
February 6th, 2010
Talking to a few of the adults at the conference, I asked them, what are you learning from the teens presenting and attending the conference? In the video are Harry McCracken, Robert Scoble, Sam Levin, Daniel Brusilovsky, Carlos Rodela, and Michael Nelson of Google. Make sure to also read my summary of the event, “Cool and not-so-cool from ‘Teens in Tech’ Conference.”
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Filed under: San Francisco, Video, Web 2.0 | Comments
Where it all started: ‘The Baywatch Report’
February 6th, 2010
It’s time for a little Dave Spark trivia. While I’ve written, produced, and appeared in and on more than 30 media outlets, there’s one place where it all started, and that was on radio in Chicago. I used to host a silly segment called “The Baywatch Report” on the most popular morning drive show, “The Kevin Matthews Show” on The Loop. My segment actually appeared just before Danny Bonaduce would go on air. Carlos Rodela, CEO of AllofUsAreFamous and co-host of “Rad on the Web,” interviewed me about my early days in radio.
Filed under: Audio, Comedy, Video | Comments
My podcast listening lineup for 2010
January 27th, 2010
In the past, whenever someone wanted some recommendations for a few good podcasts, I would just point them to my podcast listening lineup. Well, as people recently were asking me for suggestions, I realized that that podcast list was severely dated, by two years.
So here’s my updated list of my favorite shows and why I like them so much. I consume all my podcasts through my iPod Touch.
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Filed under: Audio, Comedy, Tips, Video | Comments
Personal productivity tips I actually use every day
January 26th, 2010
Lifehacking, personal productivity, there is an endless slew of advice and information, much of which isn’t applicable to you. While all of this personal productivity information is interesting, it’s not always applicable. I have to admit that I sometimes offer productivity tips that I don’t adhere to myself.
So that’s why I decided to write an article about personal productivity tips I use on a daily basis. My interest in this subject piqued when I heard entrepreneur Stephen Jagger describe how he has moved many of his company’s business operations to the cloud using cheap to free Web 2.0 applications. What made his story so interesting is it wasn’t just “advice,” he was actually using these tools regularly for his business.
So I’ve decided to do the same. I’m going to walk through every element of how I’ve improved the efficiency of my work process, personal branding, and media consumption. It’s far from perfect. I can still be highly distracted and I’m always looking for new productivity tips. If there are any that you can recommend, I’m always up for updating my regimen.
Tools and tips I use for everyday productivity
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Filed under: Advertising, Audio, Computing, Mobile, Search, Tips, Twitter-Tweets, Web 2.0 | Comments
One quarter of all people who friend me on Facebook don’t respond to personal messages
January 24th, 2010
I’ve just started receiving a flurry of Facebook friend requests from people I don’t even know. And like my mother, Facebook is recommending people for me to be friends with. I suspect the increase in friend invites has everything to do with Facebook’s new design feature which offers friend recommendations on the front page. It’s right there next to my news feed of my actual friends. It’s so intrusive. Just like my mother.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Cranky Geeks asks, “Are we living in a Googleopoly?”
January 14th, 2010
Yesterday, on Cranky Geeks, John C. Dvorak and co-host Sebastian Rupley, argued with myself and Cade Metz, U.S. editor of The Register. We complained about Google claiming that it’s going to pull its operations out of China, me getting uninvited to a press party, and my favorite, sex robots! Watch the 30 minute show.
Filed under: Computing, Mobile, San Francisco, Search, Tech debate, Video, Web 2.0 | Comments
Is Google dominating or leading the way?
January 10th, 2010
Friday night I appeared on KQED’s “This Week in Northern California” to discuss Google’s announcement of its Nexus One a.k.a. “Google Phone.” As mentioned by one of the reporters on the show, so many articles about Google lead with the headline “Are they trying to take over the world?”
(Video automatically skips ahead to my segment (6 min). Watch larger version.)
Most articles don’t follow through with telling the “Google taking over the world” story. The title comes off as more of a ploy just to get people to read the article. In my appearance I talked about how any business that’s delivering digital goods can get and are getting into anyone else’s business that also delivers digital goods. We’ve already been seeing it with cable companies becoming phone companies and vice versa.
In Google’s case, they’re not just getting into other people’s business, but they’re trying to help others get into each others’ business. Because their ultimate goal is so that their business, selling ads, can be seen on more screens, most notably the ones that everyone is looking at, the new age of smart phones.
See the whole episode and more on KQED’s “This Week in Northern California” site.
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Filed under: Advertising, Bloggers, Mobile, San Francisco, Spark Minute, Tech debate, Video | Comments
Pepcom: We’d like to invite you to a party that we don’t want you to attend
December 21st, 2009
Last week I received a nice invitation from Pepcom to attend yet another one of their press events, called “Digital Experience” being held at CES next year in January. I’ll be attending CES this year so I said sure, and thanked Pepcom for the invite. Over the past six years I’ve attended a handful of Pepcom’s press-only events such as “Digital Experience” and “MobileFocus” which are connected to existing major conferences such as CES and CTIA, respectively. The advantage of these events over the general trade show floor is I get to see a lot of new companies, new product announcements, plus it’s an opportunity to schmooze with my fellow journalists. I’m a 14-year veteran tech journalist and analyst that’s written and appeared in more than 30 media outlets in print, radio, and TV. I currently write and appear on ABC Radio, Mashable, Socialmedia.biz, Technologizer, Green 960 radio, Cranky Geeks (I’m on this week too), and KQED, not to mention blogging here at the Spark Minute.
After I graciously accepted the invitation to the event, I received the following message:
“Thanks for getting back to me, but unfortunately we will no longer be able to admit you. I just took a look at your site and saw you are doing media consulting. Please see our attached media guidelines. Of course this is nothing personal, just our policy!” – Pepcom representative
You invited me to an event and then you uninvited me? Wow, that’s rude.
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Filed under: Bloggers, Tech debate, Tips | Comments