Davos
Nancy Lublin: 3 Current Trends in Social Media for Activism
One of my favorite people in the zone of Social Media-meets-idealism, Nancy Lublin of Do Something introduces 3 trends to watch in 2010 for the use of Social Media for activism:
1- Crowdsourced philanthropy enables “the crowd” to decide to whom organizations and companies grant money. As the advisor of both Chase Community Giving and Pepsi Refresh campaigns, Lublin knows the power of this new model. As for Pepsi, they have decided to ditch the expensive SuperBowl ads and instead introduce an online project, where people can submit ideas and vote for others.
2- SMS fundraising: Texting to give has proven powerful during the Haiti crisis, where people have been able to donate money via text messaging. This model might have upset a few parents along the way as the generous children rarely pay the mobile phone bill themselves, Lublin says.
3- Slacktivism is the idea of clicking to give online. The concept has suffered from negative connotations, but Lublin says that the quick and easy way to make a difference appeals to the younger generations.
Popularity: 1% [?]
The Economist: The 3 hot topics of Davos
Matthew Bishop of The Economist gives his take on the 3 hottest issues being discussed in the hallways of the Congress Center in Davos this week:
1- The banking sector: Will we be able to regulate the banking system to help the world economy instead of destroying it?
2- Haiti: How can we rebuild Haiti as a working country?
3- International aid: How will governments deal with aid and debt as they come out of a financial crises?
Bishop also talks about the general feeling and attitude towards the world economy. Unlike the previous two years, the world leaders now agree that it is time to move forward and make the necessary changes, he says.
But are the current economic leaders capable of doing that? This is really the main thing that has to be proven in Davos, he says.
In conclusion, Matthew made a shameless promotion of his book: “The Road From Ruin”. Now available at all fine bookstores.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Wanted: Tech Pioneers from Asia for the World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (Disclosure: Ogilvy client) is keen to find exciting Asian tech start-ups or companies in their early stages that should be considered for the WEF Technology Pioneer Award.
As someone who has been fortunate enough to have been invited to attend the WEF annual meeting in Davos for many years, I can say it would be a tremendously powerful platform for any startup to be present.
Criteria:
1. Innovation
2. Sustainablity (in terms of business model, funding)
3. Proof of concept (more than just an idea)
4. Quality of management team (we bring one of them to Davos!)
5. Impact (not something too niche)
The advantages, as detailed on the WEF site:
Technology Pioneers are invited to participate in the activities of the World Economic Forum, including the Annual Meeting of New Champions and potentially the Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters. These Meetings are the two premier international events bringing together leaders of business and government from around the world, providing an opportunity for Technology Pioneers to interact with the World’s foremost thought leaders and trend .For this reason, the Technology Pioneers will definitely be invited to the Annual Meeting of New Champions for two consecutive years, and they will be potentially invited to the Annual Meeting in Davos should the Forum consider that the programme reflects the interests of the company.
Recipients of this distinction get worldwide media coverage at the time of recipient list publication. In past years, Time, BusinessWeek and Forbes have regularly profiled all or a selected group of Technology Pioneers.
Post your pitch here or send me an email: thomas at crampton dot com. (I do not make the selection, but have been asked to forward names of possible candidates)
Popularity: 6% [?]
Randi Zuckerberg: Helping Politicians Flock to Facebook
Recently caught up with Randi Zuckerberg, marketing director of Facebook, to hear how she is helping other politicians follow Obama’s lead into cyberspace.
Net, a friend who also works for Facebook, described how Israel’s politicians were the latest to use Facebook Connect prominently.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn: In Crisis, Pimp Your Profile
Recently met with the founder of the business-focused social network LinkedIn to discuss how the crisis has affected online social networking and how brands can best interact with such sites. Video below this quick summary.
For those searching for a job, Reid gave a few tips on how to work with social networking sites:
Digital Self-branding: The important thing today is how you brand yourself on the Internet. Its good to be careful not only about how you establish profile but also how you run it on social networks. One of the things we do for you is we actually try to SEO your profile, so that people will Google you. Managing reputational information is that if you have an embarrassing picture it will be hidden because the LinkedIn profile is found first.
Endorsements: You should get some of your friends to recommend you, so you have recommendations there.
Brands and social networks:
At LinkedIn, we use our polling tool to allow people to run market surveys on specifically defined target audiences. When a car company like Mazda advertises and asks which of these characteristics you like the most in a car. From out polling tool, when you click on it, our polling product actually shows them how many people in a region, or how many senior professionals or how many from the Internet industry have said what about their brand.
One of the ways blogging is described is that it is essentially to establish your brand for conversation. Its another way of saying that o.k. I put my brand in a place where people are actually congregating, communicating.
Facebook has these fan pages. They say this is an area they like and this is a soft drink they like. They are treating a brand as another virtual friend.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Can you trust the Davos crowd?
A study by Edelman PR showed that trust is hitting an all time in many institutions. This video includes quick discussions with:
Jeff Jarvis – who thinks that the Davos crowd really does not appreciate how much trust in them has slipped.
Richard Edelman of Edelman PR – describes the details of the report.
Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, who says we should continue to trust financial journalists. (He points out that some of the FT’s reporters were writing about the vulnerabilities in the financial system long before the markets tanked).
Popularity: 4% [?]
Rich Stromback: Why bother going to Davos?
Former professional ice hockey player and serial entrepreneur Rich Stromback seems best known in Davos as the last man standing – at night in the piano bar, that is.
In fact, this year at Davos he celebrated his 40th birthday in the piano bar with Richard Branson, more than 100 grandees and magnums of champagne liberally flowing.
For some reason Rich insists on calling me T-bone, often shouting across rooms crowded with CEOs and world leaders. He claims the nickname is a term of endearment.
“No self-respecting person from the part of Detroit where I grew up is called ‘Thomas’,” Rich explains. “You gotta have a nickname. A tough nickname.”
Um, gee, ah, thanks Rich.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Barry Colson: Playing the Piano Bar in Davos
Everyone attending Davos seems to end up at the piano bar around 3am at least one night during the week.
Barry Colson has played at the piano bar for 12 years during the WEF meeting and seen more than his share of late-night scandals, including prominent people who seem to love dancing on top of his piano.
Sadly, he only shared one specific name: Actor Chris Tucker sang with Barry a few years ago. The most requested song by WEF attendees? Robby Williams’ Feel.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Davos Summary by The Economist’s Matthew Bishop
To save you the cost of a hotel room and airplane ticket, Matthew Bishop of The Economist kindly summarized what he found after a week in the Swiss mountains.
Mainly, it was pretty depressing and will likely get worse!
Popularity: 4% [?]
Advertising-supported Toilet Paper
One great pleasure of Davos and DLD this year was hanging out with uber-blogger Jeff Jarvis.
He has a great sense of humor, outlook and fantastic new book that I read on the flight back to Hong Kong: What Would Google Do?
In his book, Jeff does an intellectual road test of what a variety of industries would do, if invented from the ground up by Google.
This is a photo taken by Jeff in Davos of just such a concept, advertising supported toilet paper. The next stage should be individually targeted advertising supported toilet paper. Install a dot-matrix printer in each stall and you’re in business, so to speak.
Not convinced you should buy the book? Check out this video interview of Jeff about his book.
Disclosure: I just signed up to the Amazon associates program, so I would get a small amount (15%, I think) if you buy the book. I wonder how much Jeff makes on the sale of each book. I imagine it is about the same, but he did a lot more work.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Davos: Peter Gabriel sings Biko, a capella
The most amazing session I attended this year in Davos was a 2-hour Dignity Day event in a local school auditorium.
Speakers included the schoolchildren, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Richard Branson and Peter Gabriel, who sang Biko a capella.
Hearing Desmond Tutu speak was an incredible experience. I have rarely seen someone captivate and hold an audience with such simplicity, humility and light heartedness.
At the end of the event Peter Gabriel led the entire room in singing his tribute to Steve Biko.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Pascale Lamy: Faceoff in Davos over World Trade
Pascale Lamy, director general of the World Trade Organization, briefly describes the competing pressures he has felt here in Davos.
Government leaders are feeling pushed towards protectionism while business leaders fear protectionism will hurt their business.
Who will win?
Lamy said he is neither optimist, nor pessimist, but activist.
Popularity: 2% [?]
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Thomas Crampton was a correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times for more than a decade, reporting from five continents, writing a column on Asia and covering Asian politics, economics and culture. Currently based in Hong Kong, he writes here about China, the Internet and New Media seen from Asia, while also advising companies on digital communication strategies. For more information click here...
