Dopplr – is anyone part of the top 100?

Check out this post this morning from the folks at Dopplr. I’m not cool enough to be invited to anything like this, and to be honest, I am no global traveler (would like to be, but still working on it). I am more interested in seeing what the marketing/PR potential is for a Web 2.0 product like Dopplr, especially to better connect supporters of different brands and companies together when they are out and about around the world. It’s the Twitter principal, only global.

Not really sure what’s going on with the product, other than it is yet another, more niche, social network – aimed this time at Global Trekkers and their friends. I would love to have a looksy – is anyone employed by the list of 100 companies and if so can you sign up and give me a blow-by-blow of what the bloody thing is!!!

I got this screen shot from flickr…can anyone do better?

NPV and the Non-profit world

If you we’re following me on Twitter earlier today, you would have been barraged with thoughts and ramblings about using Net Present Values to gauge how successful a program may be in non-profit world. (Now THATS blogging gold, I hear you say!).

Regardless, I thought I would give it a shot. Of course, Net Present Values are essentially the value of the cash flows that stem from money invested today. Simply, the NPV helps understand whether spending x amount on one venture is worth the expense now, for the future gain.

Of course, that’s pretty hard to quantify in NGO Land. Most programs we run here at WV are not set up to profit, and so the amount of cash flow generated from the activities is not the most appropriate measurement. So…what did I come up with?

Eyeballs (groundbreaking…huh). By valuing how much it costs for us to get our message across using different programs, we can give a rough estimate of how much cash we would need to bring in to break-even. By using that figure, we can then get a better feel for whether the funds we spend on one program will provide a ‘return’ on that investment (i.e – more people knowing/caring about poverty…in this case).

Anyways, I’m experimenting with it at the moment…any other thoughts about how to measure the effectiveness of proposed investment in different programs which collect no cash and by definition cannot be profitable?

Documents so far..think free or something else?

I thought I might open this one up…I had an email from Ross (so far, commenter #1!) outlining that whilst the thinkfree.com site was alright, Scribd might be a better and more social, web2.0 option for sharing docs. Looking at their site, they seem to have better intentions, namely creating the worlds largest open source library of docs (very google!).

Does anyone know of any other sites out there that can log and store docs, and provide easy access for people following links?

A stranger, from the outside!!! Pixar and the Brand Me world…

Yes, continuing on from yesterdays post, I thought it would be worth talking about the Pixar a little more.

From the Mavericks at Work book I wrote about before, there was quite a good section which looked at some of the inner workings of the film company (valued at somewhere between 7-10 billion USD!).

“It’s fine to have wildly talented individuals. The real trick, the higher degree of difficulty, is to get a bunch of widely talented people to make productive partnerships, to produce great work”

Randy Nelson, Dean – Pixar University

Pixar seem to focus much more on the creation and preservation of partnerships than other film companies do. They employ their people, a marked difference from normal film companies that hire everyone on contract for different projects, then disperse them after the film is made. Normally, I prefer this kind of work style. I love the idea of swinging in and out of different, funky and creative projects. But, I gotta say, the Pixar model makes sense too. Because everyone is employed at Pixar, they can build on each project (film) they do. Team’s get used to working with each other, are obviously happy and consistently challenged, well paid and so choose to stay on and continue building great works.

It’s an interesting difference, and one I am always contemplating…Sheeds alluded to the benefits of people committing beyond contracts a few months ago…

“Part-time people, get part-time results”

Kevin Sheedy

Now, whilst I am a big fan (hell, I’m trying to live the brand me life!) of the project worker ideals, the thought does consistantly cross my mind that big things do tend to happen after a lot of effort and hard work being committed to achieve them. How do you juggle this tension between committing to a company or organization for a long period to achieve great stuff, and experiencing a great many different and varied projects by not-committing to anything?

Pixar vs Tom Peters??? Business Celebrity Guru Death match #1 Comment who you think would win 🙂

Pixar – 20 years of animation

Today, I finally got the chance to visit the Guggenhiem and Pixar, 20 Years of Animation, exhibits at NGV and Fed Square. The Guggenhiem was fantastic, and well worth a visit if you get the chance before it ships of-shore again on the 7th of October…but the real gold was to be found at the Pixar show.

Upon entering, you are confronted with the following quote from John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Pixar…

Seeing that, I knew I was in for a good one. The exhibit is rigged to showcase the process Pixar goes through to create a film, and what they focus on to build such powerful stories. It was great, and is well worth the (measly) $15 to get in if you, like me, jive off anything relating to innovation and creativity. The exhibit takes down the curtain around Pixar in a wizard-of-oz kinda way! Some highlights of the exhibit are below…

1) Special document here! I kept the map of the exhibit they give you when you walk in…check it out here

2) Definately spend time (lots) on the Interactive Kiosks. Listen to how they create the story, through their rigorous creative process around storyboards. This is great, and after listening I can see why each scene in each film works out so great. They map ,improvise, create, act each scene out in a pitch to a grou pof Pixar employees. Then, John Lasseter (seems, the heart and soul of the company, given he exhibit) adds his bit, sending the ‘Storyboard Editor’ back to his drawing board before the final flow of the scene is nutted out. Why don’t every company have a ‘Story Board Editor?’ Everyone is selling an experience now, so why not map it out as the pro’s do??? Must re-read The Experience Economy…

3) It was evident from the numerous quotes and storys told within the exhibit that the focus within Pixar is very much on creating emotionally powerful stories. The fact that they create these with high-tech computer graphics is neither here nor there…as is quickly evident from the freehand artwork on display.

4) There we’re, thankfully, many film clips and and film extracts (as you would expect going to a FILM exhibit). There was a show on how Pixar create their worlds (The Artscape), as well as a large collection of award winning Lasseter short films on display when you first enter (including the famous table light clip that inspired the Pixar logo). Obviously, make sure you see all of these things. (Although, the Zoetrope was a bit trippy…)

Overall, I loved the Storyboard process most, and am going to try this out in more of a business application way very soon…listening to the Pixar guys pitch each scene so passionatley inspired me!!!

Well worth it!!! *****