STIRR is a casual networking event for people who work in internet start ups. Start Ups can present their projects.

I've just bought this book so I can read it when I get back to Aus for holidays. the World Changing site has heaps of useful articles so I'm hoping the book will too!

http://www.worldchanging.com/book/

the blurb from the site:

[quote]
"Worldchanging: A Users Guide for the 21st Century is a groundbreaking compendium of the most innovative solutions, ideas and inventions emerging today for building a sustainable, livable, prosperous future."

"From consumer consciousness to a new vision for industry; non-toxic homes to refugee shelters; microfinance to effective philanthropy; socially responsible investing to starting a green business; citizen media to human rights; ecological economics to climate change, this is the most comprehensive, cutting-edge overview to date of what's possible in the near future -- if we decide to make it so."
[/quote]

here's a freemind mindmap summary (exported to xhtml using javascript) I made after watching the TED Talks Kevin Kelly presentation.

attached is the TED_Talks_Kevin_Kelley.mm file.

click on Expand or Collapse links (above) to navigate the sections

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I've been looking at the TED Blog today and watching some of the videos from the conference - it's the blog for the TED conference. The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference is an annual event where leading thinkers and doers gather for inspiration.

which reminds me I should catch up with the Kurzweil-AI site after watching the Ray Kurzweil presentation on the exponential growth of technology and it's adoption.

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There's been lots of discussion on the vlogtheory yahoogroups list about videoblogging - debates over content, medium etc. I've done up a quick mind map (using sourceforge freemind) to try to collect my thoughts. it may not be completely in line with the ideas of the group, but could be useful as a starting point to capture thoughts, for me at least. I haven't included everything yet, but it's a start.

current version :
( see http://www.aliak.com/files/videoblog_v02.mm attached )

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getting articles / promo written

- hopefully useful for music / arts artists
- not in any order; just a list of things to think about / try perhaps

- list of facts that would make interesting articles
- list of quotes from artists on different topics so their names are mentioned more often
- street press / website / publication editors are busy people. they'll either reprint your promo info, do an interview or article on something based on promo / fact sheet (depending on the size of the media - assuming media for niche topics)

do an article on cybercash & micropayments

- a low cost usb smartcard reader for micropayments for extra security
- pre-paid / top up scheme
- plugin to the computer and sites which support it can adjust balances upon purchase
- also a paypal / software type system for the same thing; with digital signatures
- you put $ into the account which can be spent; similar to paypal but less transaction fees

- setup a db table for contacts and notes
- upload notes from notebook
- music & arts resources

new format for briz:b:e:a:t:s
- 1 hour show max
- some music, some talking, perhaps videoblogging, text

- interviews : recorded over the internet?? skype, msn etc, not phone preferably as too expensive
- music & arts artists & co-ordinators, curators from aus & overseas
- what are they up to this year
- new projects
- what other developments are they tracking; arts, media, worldwide issues

mobile phone art as seen at the museum of art, seoul.

http://www.nabi.or.kr/en/projects/2003/mobileart_resfest/resfest_summary.html

consider the mobile format :
- pixel size: 176X144
- frame: 10~15 frame per second
- screen size: approx. 350mmX290mm

at the drupal conference, find out about these things:

http://drupal.org/drupal-conference-2005

- themes
- patching modules with ftp access
- new releases - cvs version / personal updates by developers
- writing modules
- moblogging
- vlogging
- podcasting
- rss feeds - comments / reply via email
- subscribe to forum - reply via email

old brainstorm notes - 15/02/2003 - exported file attached

website collaborations

content sharing - articles/news/events/media etc

examples in industry : aap newswire

most media businesses eg tv/radio/press use the content from newswire services such as AAP, Reuters, PR-newswire

these can include different types of media- vision, audio, scripts

media businesses also use their own local, interstate and networked reporters and staff to report on topics according to their preferences and focus

media businesses are mostly networked these days - eg the commercial television/radio stations have one in every state which allows them to act as separate entities to some extent but also use and provide content to/from their fellow networked stations

there are cost benefits to this as well as sharing of resources

if you use the example of the recent content sharing agreement of paytv whereby foxtel is buying all the content (eg US movie studio content known for it's outrageous pricecs amongst others) for it's competitors optus and austar, there are benefits on both sides - more buying power due to greater audience numbers for foxtel so they can negotiate a better price, and less expense for optus and austar because they don't need to negotiate themselves and compete against their local competitors and they get the choice of more & better content choices for their customers

some different methods of sending content to other sites - depending on the source and destination site

automated via RSS/XML feeds

email

sites could download it/copy paste from a source site

database dumps

single point of data entry, even on different sites

one or more sites could setup the data entry point for content eg event listings

promoters could either send their data here or enter it themselves, then it is sent to the other sites in the collective

there could be check boxes for the promoter to choose where they want it sent and text boxes for them to suggest other places

one site could handle event listings, another interviews for distribution- these don't necessarily have to be on the one site, but could be if people are happy with it

advertising sharing

there would be more buying power for the person/s who were buying advertising due to greater audience reach

they would be able to setup deals for cross platform media, eg maillists,magazines, websites, radio, netradio etc

there would have to be some guidelines in place - perhaps following the tv/radio advertising rules (eg u can't show competitors ads back to back on tv/radio - eg ford ad then toyota ad)

each site would specify it's audience size and demographics (without giving away all their secrets of course!)

each site would still be able to arrange their own local/direct advertising if they wish but if they were part of the advertising sharing option they would have to use some from it as well

paid advertising : there would be a number of corporates/related businesses approached - this is the tricky part of course, who to choose? people don't want to be accused of 'selling out' and some people have problems with certain corporates.

most sites tend to be using party promoters banner ads - this is cool, but I think often the parties, especially the smaller ones can't afford advertising

I think if say it started with (choosing a low number here for example) 8 sites in the collective, 24 advertisers came on board - everyone would have to use at least 2-3 of them.

there may be some caveats from the advertisers, but when setting up the deals, it would be better to say there is a pool of sites wanting to show your ads

there should be different categories of ads : paid general, sponsorship, community announcements, local/direct ads up to the discretion of the individual site

promo/publicity sharing

each collaborative site specifies the requirements of it's banner ads or other type of advertising which is freely available for the other sites to access

banner swapping between the sites or link swapping-whatever the individual site's policy is

the sites may choose to only swap with some of the sites in the collaboration, ie you probably wouldn't swap with your competitors unless you were happy doing that

sites involved

a wide range of sites would be approached, some examples include:

arts

music

music community- strong message board focus

magazines

music label

mailing list services

both specialty sites and general interest sites

national and locally focussed sites

visual art sites

general notes

when mentioning sites in the sections here I'm referring to different members of the collective whether they be websites, magazines, street press, zines, radio programs, maillists etc

these ideas are designed to share resources and information and give some of the smaller sites the opportunity to concentrate on the part they do best.

individual sites could use this sharing system in a small or large way - totally up to them, some may choose to have some shared content, others might want content and ads/promos etc

distribution

there are also possibilities for distribution for artists wanting to be featured on a site, new music releases announcements, reviews etc etc

this could tie in with music distributors and people signing up to p&d deals - these are not much use without a bit of publicity to let people know about it, so this could provide a source of revenue for the collective as well - ie people pay a fee to publicise or be featured on the sites without having to approach them all seperately

administration & skills & revenue

a new system could be put in place, with members of the collective administering it, or members of the collective could allocate an area of their existing system to use for the collective

there are already many talented people working on their own sites with excellent and transferable skills - everyone is basically working towards the same goal of spreading the word of what they are passionate about.

some people have sites which create revenue, although I think this would be rare and if they do make money it's probably only enough to cover costs

some people are just doing it for a hobby/gain more skills and others are wanting to prepare their future by setting up something which may be able to support them in the future

the costs would be shared between the collective just as the benefits would be

there are a wide range of skills available to the collective if people were to join up - writers, editors, system admin, web designers, coders, publicists, music artists, advertising sales/buyers, music label people, graphic designers, video editors, visual artists, party promotersas well as general people who are happy to support their friends, biography writers

revenue streams exist in a few places, such as the advertising deals, publicity services, helping people make press kits, artwork etc

even if the revenue streams are not high, they could outweigh some of the expenses (even if only in time) which are involved in the running of a site which could allow individual sites more time to spend on their own fun or revenue making methods (eg, sometimes people have these great ideas but spend most of the time administering a site or replying to emails that they never get to try find banner ad prospects or advertise anywhere else)

of course, not all sites want to make money, but I imagine most would like to at least cover their costs, and perhaps pay contributors or spend any money on further developing their site so one day it might become a more self-sustaining site. and even if people do make some money on their sites, I think there would be only a few if any who were making industry standard wages - most would be working other jobs to pay the bills and doing their sites in any spare time they have. these are the types of sites which could benefit from a sharing system/collective