Five questions. Can the internet improve our lives?

Posted on March 11th, 2010 by John Sostak

We are the World Wide Web

The Internet is About You…

The Internet is about you?  Is it about me or you?  Short answer is both.  The real answer is you.  You and I are one.

To many people are having there time on the web interrupted by a small group of anti social web terrorists.  To few of us are actually working toward using the web to improve our lives off line.

Facebook has a popular section where users post memorials to friends that have past away.  Reuters recently ran a story that I blogged about in which memorials were defaced by Facebook users.

How can we improve the experience for you?  I can never be a proponent of censorship, but to search for flowers and be subjected to adult movies is also not right.  Can Google create real filters, that work?  This cannot be considered censorship, just like yelling “fire” in a theater is not censorship.  K89YC3FMXBX2

The Internet has changed everything we do, and at 38 years old, I have had the pleasure of watching it.  The world wide web is what the printing press was.  Now how do we make it better for you?  If it is better for you, it is better for us.

Can we can can create online interaction that improves our physical lives?

Can we use this enormous amount of information at our fingertips, and in our pockets to be more productive, more intellectual, and happier?

Can we create an environment, like the labor movement of the 1930’s in which we can demand our governments listen to needs of the masses, rather then serve the corporations?

Can we market and advertise without vomiting on our audience?

Can the web serve me, rather then I serve the web?

There are a lot of other things on my Internet wish list.  I don’t think any of them are out of reach.  We are watching the Internet change our lives, and the world through Google, Facebook, social media, and mobile phones.  Let’s channel the power of the web together and improve our lives.

If you have any suggestions, any thoughts, please share them with Arcade.

Tags: Facebook, Internet Marketing, Media, social media

There is so much noise, is anyone listening? Welcome to the 2.0 generation.

Posted on March 9th, 2010 by John Sostak

It's crowded and noisy out here.

It is really noise in here.  In my little box, that is connected to 2 billion other people.

Communication has never had so many different forms.  Web 2.0 is social media and social networking.  Everyone has a voice, and an audience.  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and hundreds of other social networks have taken the Internet, and mobile web to another level, and it has happened quickly.

I am constantly responding to emails, text messages, blog comments, an occasional phone call.  Forget about mail, I will not answer it, email me the wedding invitation.  With all this communication, why do I feel like I’m disconnected from my friends, family and clients?

The 2.0 Generation.

Time has always been a non renewable commodity, and therefore, of the highest value.  Now when we get someone’s time, we do not necessarily get there attention.  I believe the 2.0 Generation is only going to become harder to reach, because we have to many ways to communicate.  As an Internet marketer, I need to get a hold this.  Now.

I won’t pretend to have an answer to an obvious question.  How can we communicate effectively?  To me, effectively means we get our message across, and we receive feedback or something that we can act on or think about.  How are you communicating?

Is your communication and channels effective?  Put some thought into that.  Effective today may have a lower bar then 20 years ago.  20 years ago we were using fax machines, beepers, we always had change in our pocket for the payphone at the airport or gas station.  We did talk more, and I feel like we had a longer attention span.  I’m not pining for the old days before the world wide web, just trying to get my arms around what is next.

There is so much noise, it is getting harder to actually reach the person.  That is the true marketers challenge.  Aggregating a million page views a day is only impressive if the viewer actually responds to the page.  So, favorite way to communicate leads to the second, and maybe more important question.  What have you found to be the most effective way to communicate?

How do you slice through the noise, like a samurai, and reach Generation 2.0?  I see people on Facebook, and I can tell they are on it for hours, that respond to a Farmville coin, but do not answer their phone.  The smart Internet marketing companies and businesses are creating an incentive in exchange for the members time.

Engagement and incentives may get them in, and make your site and product sticky.  This leads to many more questions.  It isn’t uncommon to go into production on a movie without knowing how it ends.  If you write, you also realize that every answer isn’t needed before the 1st chapter is completed, so we can save the questions related to how we use the people we collect.

The question that matters is what channels can we use to effectively reach Generation 2.0?

Tags: Facebook, Generation 2.0, Internet Marketing, LinkedIn, social media, Twitter, web 2.0

Facebook urged to act after memorials are defaced.

Posted on March 8th, 2010 by John Sostak

I had to share this article.  As much as I love the web, the anonymity has created an avenue for some people to just go wild.  To act less then civilized is ok, and even funny.  What is happening online a lot of the time now, is complete disrespect and hate.  I think it is because the person doing it feels protected by anonymity.

CANBERRA, Feb 25 (Reuters Life!) By Belinda Goldsmith – Cyber attacks on Facebook pages set up to pay tribute to two murdered Australian children has prompted calls for the social networking site to be more accountable for its users.

Social media experts say it is natural that people who use sites such as Facebook or MySpace as a major form of communication should turn to these sites with personal tragedies.  These memorial sites often attract thousands of friends and well-wishers, as in the case of the pages set up after the deaths this month of Elliott Fletcher, 12, and Trinity Bates, 8.

Students from Brisbane College in the state of Queensland flocked to a memorial site set up after Fletcher was stabbed in a schoolyard fight two weeks ago, but it was defaced with offensive comments and extremely offensive images.

The same happened to a site set up in memory of Bates who was taken from her bed in Bundaberg, Queensland, with her body found in a nearby storm drain on Monday. A teenager accused of her murder was also revealed to be a Facebook friend of her parents.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has appealed to the owners of U.S.-based Facebook to find ways to stop a recurrence of these types of “sickening incidents”.

“To have these things happen to Facebook pages set up for the sole purpose of helping these communities pay tribute to young lives lost in the most horrible ways adds to the grief already being experienced,” Bligh wrote in a letter to Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg which was released to the media.

“I seek your advice about whether Facebook can do anything to prevent a recurrence of these types of sickening incidents.”  A spokesman for Bligh said the premier had yet to receive a response from Zuckerberg.

But Facebook spokeswoman Debbie Frost said the site had rules to check content and reviewers were quick to respond to any reports of hate or threats against an individual, pornography, or violent photos or videos, and would remove the content, and either warn or disable the accounts of those responsible.

“Facebook is highly self-regulating, and users can and do report content that they find questionable or offensive,” Frost said in a statement.

She said in the tragic case of Elliott Fletcher, Facebook responded to reports of vandalism from others users and the police by removing the groups and disabling the accounts of the people responsible but that was about all the action possible.

“It is simply not possible to ‘prevent’ a person with a sinister agenda from undertaking offensive activity anywhere on the Internet where people can post content. Nor is it really possible in real life,” Frost added.

Detective Superintendent Peter Crawford of Queensland police said people should think twice before setting up such social networking groups. As well as memorial sites, Facebook pages popped up vilifying the man accused of murdering Bates.

“I would say anybody thinking about putting these sites up in the future need to realise that they’re going to attract these kinds of people,” Crawford told radio station Fairfax Radio 4BC.  “The reality is once you open these sites up to open access to anyone on the Internet, you are going to attract unsavoury people and clearly that’s occurred again.”

Tags: Facebook, Internet Marketing, Media, MySpace, social media

Flash Cab picked me up in a Scion…

Posted on March 7th, 2010 by John Sostak

Scion Taxi Cab in Chicago

I called a cab yesterday, Flash Cab, in Chicago.  I was a little surprised, they picked me up in a Scion.

The Scion looks like a car for kids into the Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift.  The Fast and the Furious franchise is one hell of an indication that we are a different world.  It’s not Rocky, or Die Hard or Lethal Weapon.

This post isn’t about bashing Toyota.  I know the recall has people who own Toyota’s annoyed.  It also has people who don’t own Toyotas acting like they are smarter then people who do.  The American made gene in me gets weaker every year, and every year I become more practical.  Buy a Toyota if you like it.  Millions of people have owned them, and have liked them.

Surprisingly, the Scion seems to be a very practical, utilitarian automobile.  I was shocked at how much leg room was in the back.  I own a Mercedes ML350, and there in NO leg room in the rear seat if you slide the front seat all the way back.  I’m 6′3″ tall, so my seat is pretty close to maxed out.  The Scion was roomy for 4 full size adults.

This also made me think about fuel efficiency.  I consider myself to be pro environment, so fuel efficiency is very important to me.  I am certain the Scion gets great gas mileage compared to my Mercedes.

This practical approach to building and buying vehicles is refreshing.  This car is much more practical then an SUV.  I hope this continues as we develop as a culture.  In Europe cars that have smaller engines are coveted.  A big block muscle car would be laughed at in Ireland.

I’m impressed by the Scion XB, so maybe I’m pro Toyota.  I’m definitely not furios that they have done a major recall.  The reality of manufacturing complex equipment things go wrong.  I’ve owned enough Chevy’s to be able to one up anyone on a broken car story.

Toyota may have a marketing challenge in front of them.  They will have to change a public perception that becomes negative quickly.  The Internet has opinions shifting quickly.  One day Toyota is a solid car, the next day they are death traps.  To control the social media and perception of your brand is a challenge.  Toyota be working hard to win back it’s reputation. Toyota competitors, like GM, Ford, Honda and Hyundai will be using the Internet and public relations to try and gain market share in auto sales.

I think if Toyota keeps making practical cars that are environmentally friendly, like the Scion XB that Flash Cab picked me up in, Toyota will recover quickly.  They are ahead of most automakers when it comes to Hybrid engineering, and when the media shifts away from the recall, Toyota will use the Internet to market this message.

Tags: Internet Marketing, Media, PR, Public Relations, social media

Arcade Digital is proud to launch WWW.CFDBLAZE.COM

Posted on March 5th, 2010 by John Sostak

The CFD Blaze

The CFD Blaze are the Chicago Firefighter and Paramedics Football Team.  They play in the NPSFL, which is the National Public Safety Football League.  Arcade Digital is very happy to take their new site live.  Click here to experience the CFD Blaze.

Arcade focused on the user interface, and back-end functionality developing a very sophisticated content management system (CMS) and Wordpress blogging platform.  The site is an Arcade custom web design and user interface built open source with WP 2.9.  Although not completely populated, is still a fun site to visit.  Like the team, the website has a strong blue-color feel, and an intuitive navigation and user interface.

This site will be rich in media,  These guys are not only football players, but firefighters, so they have great media content and a fabulous story.   We wanted to make compelling galleries and video as accessible and easy to share as possible.

Marketing needs demand social media integration, and with compelling media, we can use social media websites and Internet sharing as a low cost marketing solution.  By using YouTube and Flickr, we have social media partners that also contribute to the reach of this first year football team.

The 2010 season will be the first year the Chicago Fire Department fields a team in the 14 year old NPSFL.  A 1st year not-for-profit is as; or more, challenging then a young entrepreneurial for-profit start up.  Arcade wants to make sure that the compelling message of the firefighters and paramedics that compete in the NPSFL is well spread online.

Each of the players, coaches and administrators in the NPSFL, and the CFD Blaze are volunteers.  No one involved in NPSFL Football receives a salary, and they play for charities.  The Chicago Fire Department charities include The Burn Camp, which is operated by the IFSA and has been renamed Camp I Am Me.  It is a summer camp for Illinois children that have been scarred, and is a place where these children can interact without feeling uncomfortable because of the injuries and scars they have sustained.

The CFD Blaze are also playing for the Gold Badge Society, and Ignite the Spirit.  Ignite the Spirit is a very high profile organization, responsible for the annual Chicago Firefighter Calendar as well as the annual Chicago Firefighter-Paramedic Ball.

The Blaze are playing their first official NPSFL Football game on April 10th in Chicago.  They CFD Blaze will be playing the seasoned CPD Enforcers.  The CPD Enforcers are the Chicago Police Department’s NPSFL team.  I am certain that from game one, this will be a fun rivalry.  They play each other in baseball every year, and it is a great game, held at Comiskey Park (US Cellular Field).  Keep track of the Blaze on their site.

Some modules that will be introduced on the Blaze site very soon will be the Blaze store, which will make posters and t-shirts available.  The current store link on the site is merely a redirect to the Ignite the Spirit website and store, which has a few Chicago Firefighter calenders remaining.

The Blaze site will also offer ticket sales.  They will play 2-4 Chicagoland area games annually, as well 2-3 road games.  Our online ticket process will make it easier to lock in game tickets.  The men are playing stadiums that will be crowded, so as family, friends and fans, we want to insure we are in the arena.  Online ticket sales also allows for more efficient Internet marketing, with clear conversion statistics, which benefits the club, and the charity.  To be able to clearly predict what a game or fundraiser will generate allows the CFD Blaze to more accurately sponsor charities in need of benefactors.

Arcade Digital is looking forward the CFD Blaze season, and I hope everyone who reads our blog commits to helping the newest team in the NPSFL and the Chicago Fire Department Charities.

Tags: CFD BLAZE, CPD Enforcers, flickr, football, Internet Marketing, NPSFL, social media, youtube