Everybody knows this job market is one of the worst since the Great Depression. I’m not going to harp on about that…it’s freaking depressing. Everybody knows that the current generation of 20-somethings is full of existential angst, has a short attention span, and has no idea where it’s going. All the pundits are saying, “Kids today, blah blah blah, get off my lawn.” The kids themselves are freaking out over the fact that they’re having to live in their parents’ basements while they hunt for a job—any job—and try to pay off some of their student loans. Parents freak out over having to support their kids when they themselves are already stretching every dollar.

I know. I’m one of those kids. Moved home. Having to defer my student loans. Repeatedly. Biting my nails and arguing with my folks about money, jobs, and who does the dishes. And it sucks. It really sucks, not knowing what’s coming next. I’ve always hated uncertainty of any kind and it’s worse this time, because there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. No more “when I go back to school in the fall” or “when I graduate,” because I’m done with school. No more “when I save up some money” because that’s probably not going to happen. For a long time.

It’s really easy to get depressed about…well…everything. But I came across this article on an education blog the other day with a really thought-provoking title: “Dancing Towards Uncertainty.” The author, Josh Barkey, a teacher, describes a confused student:

“I think Brandon is confused because he is living in a confused world. Like most young people, Brandon is searching for a passion equal to the raging tornado of yearnings that perpetually spins inside him. Yet he knows that as a privileged member of a privileged class he is gifted with a lot of potential and wants some meaningful way to live it out, but what he sees with his razor-sharp mind is a collapsing house of cards…Brandon is left wondering why he has bothered to conquer the academic mountain in the first place. He wants his life to matter, and is told that the way to do that is only to keep on climbing.”

Barkey goes on to theorize that perhaps our current obsession with security, with success, with finding that perfect, meaningful, lucrative path as quickly as possible, is what is keeping us in the dark. Perhaps we are too focused on looking for one CERTAIN thing, and as a result, we are missing out on countless wonderful opportunities.

“I…am tired of the coldly constructed educational approach that demands a clear answer to every question. I believe that before growth can happen there has to be a period of doubt and uncertainty. Certainty kills innovation, and while I need a degree of certainty in the surgeon poking around in my brain or the pilot flying my airplane, I also hope that somewhere along the line they have learned how to be creative. When problems develop for which they have been provided no textbook answer, I need them to be able to step back, take a breath, and lose themselves in the dance of the moment.”

By insisting on certainty, we are killing innovation. If we could bring ourselves to calm down and explore the uncertainty for a while, perhaps we can discover something new. Penicillin was the result of moldy bread, and microwave ovens were the result of melted chocolate in a researcher’s pocket. After all, research has shown that the main distinguishing characteristic between lucky people and their less fortunate counterparts is being observant. Yep, just being able to spot an opportunity.

So maybe we should all just relax and enjoy the dance.

I’m not going to be bitter about the fact that I’m not going to SXSW this year. Or that I haven’t been before. Ever. (sob)

But just in case I ever DO get to go, and for the benefit of all the lucky SOBs who ARE going, I want to find out what the best SXSW-targeted apps are.

So far there are the obvious ones like Foursquare (they’ve even got special badges ready), location-based stuff on Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Then there are these:

PlanCast

Hot Potato

Anybody know any other ones? Tell me which ones you like (or hate) and why.

Also, keep in mind the How Not to Be a Douchebag at SXSW panel if you’re unsure of what to do. And here are some parties and events on the don’t miss list. Please go to them and blog about them so I can live vicariously through you! Put links in the comment section (with explanations please) or tweet them!

Following up on Mike’s previous post about Google Buzz, I totally get the furor about it. The service definitely needs work, and Google has definitely made a whole lot of big mistakes.

But hey, it’s new. That’s the downside of a service being released by such a huge, publicly visible company. Twitter and Facebook were NOT famous when they were released. They weren’t globally famous for years after they were founded. They had plenty of time to make changes, fixes, and tweaks based on quiet user feedback. Google Buzz had the disadvantage of going very public, very quickly. It wasn’t finished. And it got slammed. Now I wonder whether Google will have enough time to fix it and realize its potential before it gets laughed out of existence.

I think it would be nice if Buzz went back to beta. Google definitely needs more time to tweak it, and they need a setting to get real constructive criticism instead of media snarking. I still think the service has a lot of potential. I like Pete Cashmore’s take on it. If you insist on using an analogy to define Buzz, try this one. Think of Facebook as the local bar, where you go to hang out with your friends, play some games, and just shoot the breeze. Think of Twitter as the village square where you get all the news and have public conversations. It’s a public forum. Then you have Buzz, which SHOULD eventually become a place to focus detailed conversations on IDEAS. Not news, not people, not “what are you doing” or those awesome photos you took on your trip to Cabo this spring, man. It’s a platform to talk about content and have major brainstorming sessions about concepts and projects.

If Facebook is the local bar and Twitter is the town square, Google Buzz (I hope) will be the local college campus.

I’ve said before that I like Google Wave as a productivity tool–an easy way to keep work projects neat, tidy, and collaborative at the office. I don’t find much utility for connecting with friends about random things. It’s a business thing, and I like it that way. I think Buzz will end up being sort of similar in market, although I hope more concept-oriented and less business-y.

If it lasts that long.

Google buzz is out! It was out yesterday however I didn’t have access until today. As with any new social network buzz is going to take time for it to find its place and function. Keep in mind that Google buzz is still a very young network (like 2 days old) clearly this means that it is not the final product. After using the product for about 15 minutes I think there is huge opportunity for business. However buzz is going to require engagement on the next level! Without a search feature you are going to need to be interesting to gain a following.

Some notes on Google Buzz

1. Google buzz does feature twitter “integration”. I put that in quotes because it will post your tweets to your buzz account. However buzz doesn’t use the O-auth or function like an API. Im not a fan of this because I always have and always will dream of the world when everything I want is on one dashboard… (I know there are a few sites that try but they are laggy and frustrating).

2. As far as I can tell google buzz lacks a searching feature … like twitter search which is ironic Apparently buzz does offer a twitter search look in comments blow great tip..

3. This is a network that will take some time to generate momentum… while this point may seem obvious… Google has millions of gmail accounts so some might assume an instant hit. However when you look at the bell curve gmail is nearing the laggard phase of adoption. That means many users are going to ignore it until everyone else figures it out.

4. Some evidence suggests that the product might be getting released a little ahead of schedule because of the so called “Facebook Titan project”. (Gmail v Facebook) This could be the reason why google buzz noticeably ignores Facebook as a social component.

5. There are many people suggesting that Google buzz will turn into a Digg or Reddit personally I cant imagine that google would have made such a large investment if that was the goal. The digg conclusion doesn’t seem logical because Google probably would have just purchased a company like it… (hipstr has been toying with selling for a while now)

If you are still wondering what the heck Im talking about here is a quick video about Google buzz…

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT want to get involved in a political debate and I am making NO statement about any of these candidates. I just want to know what people think of this ad by Carly Fiorina for Senate. Is this the most bizarre campaign ad you’ve ever seen or did I eat some bad shellfish?

Zombie Wolf in Sheep\’s Clothing

CBS is beginning to head down an interesting path in its ad placement for the SuperBowl. They have turned down two “gay-themed” ads so far: one is from male-male oriented dating site ManCrunch.com and the other is from web-hosting service GoDaddy.com. The ManCrunch ad shows two men watching a football game (presumably the SuperBowl) and munching chips. Their hands touch as they both reach for a crisp, and suddenly they can’t hold back any longer–they smooch! The GoDaddy ad is more surprising…it does feature a flamboyant ex-football star, but it also features women in lingerie. Doesn’t that usually get any and all content a free pass? (It does for American Apparel)

In any case, both ads were rejected on the grounds that they don’t meet CBS’s content standards for the SuperBowl and they might offend people. For ManCrunch, the broadcasting company went one further and claimed that they couldn’t verify the firm’s credit (the rejection letter is up on Scribd as well as being reproduced on the Mashable article). However, it DOES look like they’re going to air the Tim Tebow pro-life ad, which is guaranteed to offend at least some people…which people is it okay to offend, and which have to be kept happy? CBS is sending a pretty clear message about what audience bracket they value, which is fine–First Amendment and all that. But still, what about all the gay-friendly sports fans? Seems like a bit of a business mistake to alienate such a vocal consumer group…

Thoughts?

Sounds easy enough, right? We’re all used to hearing the saying “the customer is always right.” It’s common sense, isn’t it?

Apparently not.

It’s old hat at this point to toss around Zappos as an example of a good business model. If you’ve read even one marketing or business magazine in the last few years, you’ve probably heard all about their willingness to embrace social media and their fun, kooky office culture. Which is great. That explains why their employees love it, and therefore why the company reposes such trust in its employees.

But why do the customers love it? Well, because of the fact that the business trusts its employees and encourages its call center workers to do things like spend hours on the phone with a customer to make sure his or her question gets answered, or send a thank you note and flowers, or even direct a customer to a rival site if Zappos.com is out of stock on a particular item. The employees are truly invested in helping the client get what he or she needs and wants, without the usual customer service nastiness and disinterest. A positive experience generates positive buzz. Pure and simple. Any press may be good press because it gets you air time, but positive buzz is the thing that translates into respect and loyalty from both employees and consumers. In the current downward-trending climate, every company should be doing whatever it can to hold on to both.

In other words, trust your employees. Respect your consumers. Both will reward you for it.

For more details on Zappos’s business model, check out this Business Week article.

***DISCLAIMER: Let me just say, before I get into the actual post, that I love Sherlock Holmes. And mysteries requiring deductive reasoning. And witty banter. And steampunk. But most of all, I LUURRRVE Robert Downey Jr. So beware of fangirlishness popping up in this post.***

We at Nostrum have been fiddling around with augmented reality stuff for a while now, and as part of that, I’ve been researching film promotions. Now, as I warned above, I was already excited for Guy Ritchie’s upcoming reboot of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and the delightfully lugubrious Mark Strong. So when Robert (Nostrum’s Robert, not Iron Man Robert) asked me to check out a promotional game for the film, I was happy to oblige and immediately hopped over to 221b.sh. I landed on a nicely designed page depicting a nice darkly luminous Dickensian-looking London…and a ridiculously long load time. The long load time, combined with the huge “Facebook Connect” button, led me to believe that the game was going to be some lame Facebook game where you get two choices: 1. run away or 2. “fight.” And by fight, they mean hit a button and get a message that says “you just fought and won 20 gold coins!”

I was therefore quite pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a real, participatory game. It’s kind of like the scavenger hunt games that were set up leading up to The Dark Knight, and apparently, for Iron Man 2 (why didn’t I hear about that one??), except the evidence is all in one place. You get assigned a case by Scotland Yard and then put together the evidence to solve it. And here’s the kicker–you need two people to play (ideally). One plays as Holmes and the other plays as Watson, and they each get different evidence and have to consult in order to solve the mystery. Of course, you can play both ends yourself if you’re like me and don’t feel like waiting for somebody else to figure it out. It has all the usual stuff, like automatic status updates and so forth to spread the word, but it’s not a Facebook game.

The mechanics of the game itself are well-done, except that they load too slowly. You watch a video from Scotland Yard or a victim setting up the mystery, and then you read police reports, newspaper clippings, mysterious letters, and so forth, to piece together what’s going on. Then you do some more creative things like chasing down burglars, breaking into buildings, exploring hideouts, and interrogating witnesses. It incorporates strategy games, timed games, hidden object games, and logic games all in one, which is what makes it more fun (and way more participatory) than your average Facebook game. Plus it hints at the premise underlying the plot of the film without giving anything away or relying on teasers like Sherlock Holmes wallpaper or AIM icons (which nobody cares about). In short, it’s fun, it’s intriguing, and it’s well-done.

And it’s ongoing until the film comes out on Christmas Day. There’s a new chapter every Monday. Ok, Holmes, now go find your Watson and get sleuthing.

Alright, I think I managed to avoid too much fangirl blather. What do you say?

OMG. OMG.  take a deep breath.  i had my 2nd reality celebrity sighting (my first was Madison from Million Dollar Listing) last night…at Souplantation!  there I was mid-tomato bite and I spot a “hello there” looking fella.  that fella was Slade!  i quickly scanned the room, as i knew his fair haired maiden had to be only a soup bowl away.  and, there she was in all her beaming blonde beauty - Gretchen from The Real Housewives of Orange County.  no make-up, velour jumpsuit and size 00.  wow she is tiny.  out of the Housewives, she is my OC fav.  i don’t care about all that nonsense with what Tamra says.  i feel like Gretchen may have the capacity to grow and learn, whereas the other wifey’s - not so much.   Read the rest of this entry »

Nostrum loves the videos that Socialnomics are putting out.

These short bursts of facts and social stats are great for users to understand the potential of the social web. However, everyone must know - as socialnomics points out in each video they showcase - that with all of these success stories there is a substantial amount of TIME put forth by each brand’s marketing team. None of these cases were done on the “build it and they will come manifesto” that for some reason the C-Suite always seem to think will happen when starting a new social initiative. Most, if not all cases are of one key employee rolling up his or her sleeves and burning the midnite oil for the betterment of their brand for little to no compensation other than his/her pure passion for the product of service ( i.e. Gary Vaynerchuk, Scott Monty, The BlendTec Dude).

While we love this video, please remember social media may not require a lot of dollars to start - it still requires alot of capital - TIME!

The next film in the Twilight series came out at midnight. And it’s already grossing off the charts.
The thing that eludes me is that there’s been little to no branding for the film (that I’ve seen) and it’s still the most popular thing EVARRRRR (according to my 16-year-old sister). At this point I can only chalk it up to the unholy power of teenage girls. Someone please enlighten me.

All I know is that I will be avoiding the movie theater like The Plague, and hiding under my bed, with a stake in one hand and a big plate of garlic bread in the other.

We’ve all heard the case studies (mostly done in-house) touting @comcastcares as the future of customer service. How it would change the negative image of cable companies…how Comcast customers wouldn’t be so cranky.

It hasn’t worked so far. A few individuals got good service, but were still annoyed. Not ever having been a Comcast customer, I can’t judge too much.

But other cable companies have jumped on the bandwagon as well. And that’s what I do have experience with–I recently canceled my account with Charter Cable. And they didn’t like it, not one little bit.

Here’s the back story–I was moving out of my apartment and didn’t want to transfer my account to my new place. I called May 17th and arranged to have my account stopped on June 10th. All good. I moved out of my apartment at the very end of June, all paid up and good to go. I returned my equipment. Good. I thought I was all done with Charter. Peachy.

So imagine my surprise when I got a call in November. From a collection agency. Saying I owed Charter $130. BIG SURPRISE. So I called Charter customer service and got no help. They were very polite and looked up my account. And they saw that I had paid out and closed the account (I had actually overpaid) but they couldn’t do anything. I was going to have to drive forty miles to the local office and beg them to call off the credit agency and fix my credit score. I was NOT HAPPY.

Naturally, in order to relieve my feelings, I took to the web and made some very angry Tweets and went off to bed. After which, cue Surprise Number Two: when I woke up, I found an @reply from @Umatter2ChrtrG asking if he could help. I explained my situation to him in both tweet and email form, and he connected me with @Umatter2Chtr2. A couple hours later, I got a phone call from @Umatter2Chtr2 (aka Josh). He listened, asked me to wait while he called the billing department, and called me back shortly with the news that the bill had been reversed, the money I overpaid was on its way, and the problem hadn’t even been put on my credit record.

Score. The problem got fixed. After a lot of freaking out on my part.
So, many thanks to Josh at Charter for his help. But that doesn’t negate the months of screw-ups while I was a Charter customer. If all the customer service I received had been that good, I’d still be one.

Conclusion: having a social media VIP line won’t keep your customers from hating you if all the rest of your customer service is terrible. Customer service and product quality should be the priorities, not afterthoughts and Band-Aids.

People may or may not know that we here at nostrum are extremely big fans of Gary Vaynerchuk and all the people over at VaynerMedia. Gary leads an amazingly eclectic conglomerate of social branding campaigns outside his core business of Wine Library TV.  From the launch of Corkd (@Ronga) to the NFL’s NY Jets’ Social Initiatives to a few packaged goods brands to the flipping NHL, Gary is leading the behind the scenes charge on so many levels, it astonishes me.

I recently attended his Pasadena book signing for his new book Crush It. At the event, an animated and intensely passionate Gary reared his dominate, yet endearing head telling all the Vayner-aics how toil, sweat and hustling got him where he is today. He had over 200 people salivating on his every word and trust me Vromans’ made some bank that night on Gary’s back. In fact, I overheard the manger say how floored he was at how many people showed up and continued to say that to his recollection only Bill Clinton and Howard Stern had more people for a signing than Gary.

Throughout the entire 2 hour session, Gary ranted and raved about the book, but what struck me as so amazing was that when it was time to sign books, he spent on average 3+ minutes with every single person autographing books, posing for pictures or just advising them based on a question or 2 they had prepared for him. He took the time and the energy to do it all with a straight face and a smile.

Post signing, I was lucky enough to spend an un-interrupted half hour with the man, the myth, and the legend. During our conversation his passion and charisma bubbled to the top (which I expected), but it was his listening skills that impressed me the most. As we chatted while driving the 110, I thought he would lead the conversation with overt references to his insights and lifestyle but that was not the case at all. He focused on what my concerns were (in relation to my business dilemmas) and addressed each individually based on how he felt he could assist. We talked business, ideation and passion and to each aspect he had his own take, yet never did I feel like I was being preached at; it was more like hanging out with a friend discussing the day over a beer (or sorry a glass a wine).

One response that rings ever so true is what he said when I asked if it is ever hard to continue to be “nice” for an event, even when you’re not mentally there. He responded with a wink and smile saying something to the effect that “these people came out to say hello to me and to purchase my book, the least i can do is honor them with a few words and/or an autograph.” He went on to say it all goes back to the early days of adding his personal posts to every single wine article he came across in order to obtain greater influence within the wine community. Trust me he still does this; if you don’t believe me check out how he wins over a negative reviewer of Crush it.

Few people have that ability to connect on so many levels with so many different types of people and still stay true to everything that they believe in: Gary is one of the chosen few.

Thanks for the ride Gary and see you on the other coast…robert

This is just a short post to say:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! You can now report spammers on Twitter with just a click–in the actions tab on any profile you can report the profile as spam! YAAAAAY!!

The details are available on the official Twitter blog. On the one hand, ABOUT FREAKING TIME! On the other hand,

YAAAAAAAAAAY!!

Now Graham Spam Spam Spam Chapman can finally have his breakfast without spam.

This Mashable compilation of hilarious Twitter spoofs brought me back all the way to my very first blog post with Nostrum, way back in March.

The Jon Stewart one is still my favorite…and I still like Twitter.

Major League sports have failed again.

The NBA has followed in the footsteps of the NFL and the SEC and banned athletes from using social media during events. From 45 minutes before the event until they’ve finished their team responsibilities, team-related personnel are not allowed to use ANY KIND OF SOCIAL MEDIA.

I’ve been harping on what a bad idea this is for AGES, so I won’t rant about it again today…all I have to say is:

SHAQ AIN’T GONNA LIKE THIS.

I came across this post on Slashdot and it just really pissed me off. Reverb Communications’ idea of good social media practice is to hire a team of interns to spam the iTunes store with fake positive reviews of its clients’ apps. Be prepared, because I’m going to rant a little…

THIS is EXACTLY why people get suspicious of marketers using social media! Consumers are afraid of companies co-opting what was meant to be an authentic, altruistic community for mercenary ends. By contrast, they don’t mind if companies (like Threadless and Zappos) use social space to have real conversations and provide real, useful content…so why is it so hard for companies to understand that, to make the best of the social space, you need to participate in good faith?

/rant.

Seriously, when you (the reader) find out a company employs tactics like that, does it make you reluctant to purchase from them, or is it just me?

Mommy bloggers are becoming a force to be reckoned with and in Chicago at this year’s BlogHer conference, they were treated with shopping sprees, lavish meals and the much coveted swag from brands like Tide, Bounce, Kodak, Pepsi and more. I suppose for this particular segment, it’s akin to hitting the motherload.
Read the rest of this entry »

I saw this recently and it made an immediate impact on me and the team here. By blurring the lines between online and offline social interactions, it is a must see for an CMO who is reticent that this “social media thing” is just a fad.

Props to Sour and their directorial team: Masashi Kawamura, Hal Kirkland, Magico Nakamura, and Masayoshi Nakamura for their innovated and inspiring work. I am just waiting to see how many “copy cats” will be “sampling” this execution over the course of the next few months.

Clay’s take on how people utilize social networks to build communal harmony is remarkable. This NYU professor understands the social space and how sociology integrates into the equation more than most. This preeminent thinker should be listened to. I mean that’s why ted booked him.

Please visit his personal site and his comments re: the ted video below can be found here.

And if you’re so inclined his book Here Comes Everybody is a fantastic read. A true must have for any digital player in the industry. I was lucky enough to attend a lecture on the UCLA campus when he was doing the circuit promoting the book. Amazing mind and we here at nostrum are lucky to be able to access his work so freely.