digitalbritain

Today’s Digital Consultant Links for March 23rd

These are my links for March 23rd from 09:22 to 23:16:

Scrolling and Attention – Jacob Nielsen, usability legend, with some very interesting research on user experience tracking in relation to below-the-fold content: 80% of users ONLY read what's above the fold, but some layout that encourage scrolling can still command attention.
5 days until Mediacamp, Nottingham’s first barcamp for creative media March 27 – If you're not following me on Twitter (please do, I'm @susioneill) I may have been remise to inform you that we're once again hosting another Mediacamp in Nottingham this Saturday. It's a day long energised discussion, presentation and exploration barcamp to discuss all aspects of how digital media is rocking our world. I'll be experimenting with social reporting, capturing highlights of the day for our website www.creativenottingham.com, and hosting a session to talk about the CreativeNottingham project and our plans. <br />
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The event is currently sold out – if you *really* want to come email me (susi@digitalconsultant.co.uk) and I'll see if I can help, otherwise they'll be live streaming of the main hall and live reporting on CreativeNottingham.com.
How to build Augmented Reality into your digital strategy – Augmented reality – building in a layer of digital information and content into real world places – is the next real innovation from the future that's already hitting our world through services like Google Goggles and Layar. This article talks about how you can bring AR into your brand's digital strategy.
Project Canvas is open and standardised – and great for consumers – The CEO of video-on-demand service Blinkbox counteracts Sky's claims that Project Canvas, providing a standardised broadband to TV service, will be bad for business. He counteracts that producers are aggregators will be able to delivery pay-as-you-watch programming and in will generative innovative 'apps' like for the iphone to provided added value services through the open network. I can't wait – this could be yet another exciting platform for technologies and video producers.
Creative funding database – Although I'm sure this is probably the same data as the funding database on Business Link site, this creative funding/business support from the excellent Creative Choices skills website works very well, it's easy to use and seems to be pretty comprehensive.
Conservatives’ ‘Cash Gordon’ web campaign backfires – And in the blue corner, the Tories have made a pigs ear of their latest venture to discredit Brown. 'Cash Gordon' site had a rent-a-crowd vibe, and was based on a back-end system used by right-wing lobbying groups against healthcare reform in the US. Trolls quickly hacked the site and used the unmoderated hashtag's on the site's display to make a disparaging remark or two. Well done Tories for going web 2.0, poor show on making such a #hashtag of it. Lessons learnt: although an election is a fast and furious thing, it's essential to allow time for user-testing of a site launch, rather than a very public flop.
Brown outlines advanced UK digital strategy – As we're all on tenderhooks for the notice of the UK election date, the parties are lining up their policies. In the red corner, Brown the encumbent plans to introduce two new bodies to advance the digital economy, An Institute fo Web Science headed up by web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, and a digital public service unit led by Last Minute.com founder and digital inclusion champion Martha Lane-Fox (one has to have double-barrelled names to succeed nowadays in government). Whilst creating two new quangos, Brown dashes against the rest, replacing 'first gen' e-government with an integrated MyGov portal (cue expensive new makeover). It will be interesting to see how the development of this policy unfolds, particularly in line with the forthcoming digital economy bill and whether this does progress through parliament despite public uproar.
Direct Marketing 2.0 – You are what you click – Net Imperative article briefing on how user insight and split-run testing can help to build better return on investment as part of a digital strategy. Some important lessons here like 'rubbish in, rubbish out' data sources, and the idea of an A-Z rather than A-B, testing iteratively all aspects of a campaign or conversion web page as an ongoing beta.

Today’s Digital Consultant Links for February 7th

These are my links for February 7th from 16:28 to 16:39:

Don’t Disconnect Us – This website is all about getting people campaign against the Digital Britain bill. Most intriguingly, it's actually created by ISP TalkTalk who say they have campaigned against the Digital Britain bill. All very curious…I find these brand sponsored 'campaign' sites somewhat suspicious, non-the-less, it's pretty good with info on joining the campaign and petition There's also a competition Inspired by Dan Bull's rather ace 'Dear Mandy' song against Digital Britain's disconnection policy, this competition, supported by Stephen Fry, encourages users to submit their creative responses against the trial without jury of Mandelson's Digital Britain. Great songs and poems, folk, punk all sorts.
Matrix: Companies Should Factor ‘Social Influence’ Into Total Customer Value – Jeremiah Owyang takes the popular case study of Heather Armstrong, the famous cult author who tweeted and destroyed a washing-machine manufacturer through a negative Twitter post to her 1M+ followers, and applies the idea of social influence in measuring a customers values, and suggests how you could tier customer support to popular users, and the risks of this. I don't like this much as it sort of goes against good service and engagement as being something everyone should expect from business, but I suspect this is the future of the social web.
YouTube’s Take From Movie Rentals: $10,709.16 – YouTube are experimenting in premium content: crucial to allow them to monetize and survive. However, their trial of five independent films charing $4 a rental didn't yield the highest numbers, but shows that this could become a powerful platform for distributing the usually loss-making independent film.

Today’s Digital Consultant Links for January 14th

These are my links for January 14th from 14:03 to 17:45:

Finland makes broadband access a legal right – The Finns are leaps and bounds beyond the Brits in making access to the internet a human right – 1Mb connection for all, going up to 100Mb by 2015. Meanwhile, Britain's Digital Economy Bill seems us reach for the hills with 2Mb connections by 2012, and a proposed 'three strikes' internet policy (emulating France) to kick people offline for file-sharing accusations, without a proper legal process.
5 Ways Small Businesses Can Avoid Social Media Panic – More straight-down-the-line advice for small businesses as to how to lightly plan their social media engagement strategy, and ways to monitor it. It's tricky as social media is a slow build tactic, but may not suit a fast moving start-up. It's also worth testing it out, and if it's taking up more time than it's hitting the goals, look at other tactics. I'd argue SM is an integrated tool within a larger marketing/engagemnt strategy – not a standalone thing.
Employers reject jobseekers over social networking – Further to my recent post, it seems recruiters are getting heavy-handed at screening applicants using social media. Interesting stats but to me it doesn't stack up: how are companies they accessing personal updates on private network sites e.g. Facebook? This shows also that emloyees should update their privacy settings (and favour closed networks like Facebook over open ones like Twitter or MySpace) or only let real 'friends' see their updates if they're likely to get personal in what they are posting. This sort of suggests it's better to NOT be doing anything real on social media, which is sending out the wrong messages to particularly younger job seekers. It's also furthering a divide between the heavy-hand of corporate employeeism, and the open and transparent expectations of enterprising and freelance employment.

Digital Consultant links for November 2nd through November 3rd

These are my links for November 2nd through November 3rd:

Constant Transformation Is the New Normal – Piece by disruptive innovation expert Scott Anthony on how 'business as usual' ain't coming back: you need to be customer-focused, adaptable to change and have distinct, autonomous spaces for innovation.
Lord Mandelson sets date for blocking filesharers’ internet connections – In full: the timetable and approach for UK government to impose the "three strikes and your offline" policy to tackle file-sharing; which, interestingly, WASN'T a recommendation of Lord Carter's Digital Britain report from this year.
A fistful of (internet) dollars – The Guardian have produced this useful round up showing the size of the digital industries (music, TV, film, games, publishing) in 2000 compared to now, and how they are siddling with Lord Mandelson and the government on the issues around downloading and regulation.
To Be a Better Leader, Give Up Authority – Prof Vlatka Hlupic believes that in complex trading environments in knowledge industries, the leader who delegates more control to their workers can see improved levels of innovation and results. Command and control models are broke.
Expansive English Game Development Hub Discussed – The long-running 'games centre of excellence' proposal seems to be zoning in on becoming a reality, with a research, training and testing facility mooted to be established in MediaCity in Salford – which could put the noses out of joint in Liverpool, where most of the North West games industry are based.

Today’s Digital Consultant Links for October 13th

These are my links for October 13th from 10:11 to 14:43:

Creative Boom Magazine – New website to promote UK creative industries practitioners with stories, news and events. You can sign up as a contributor and use the site to promote events in your sector or area.
Martha Lane Fox: over 10 million in UK never been online – Headline stats on research, proceeding Carter's Digital Britain report, which shows 17% of Brits have never been online, which costs each household £560 in savings they could make from online services.

Today’s Digital Consultant Links for March 23rd

Today’s Digital Consultant Links for January 14th

Digital Consultant links for November 2nd through November 3rd

Today’s Digital Consultant Links for October 13th

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