Disqus - Friends of alec

Re: Meetings in Nevada County: Save the Date!

Aaron Klein — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:20:45 -0000

Hi Russell,

I don't have updated numbers yet after the construction inflation that has occurred. But you are correct -- the most recent numbers I heard were $440 per square foot. Amazing to think it will be even higher than that now.

This is something that I'm very frustrated about, and that I've raised numerous times at board meetings. The fact is that state regulations are driving those costs.

In fact, the architectural firm we have running our project is building community college facilities in the State of Arizona for around $250 per square foot.

Our state regulations require that we build our community college buildings to "Department of State Architect" regulations, as if we're on top of the San Andreas fault and have earthquakes every couple of days.

Second, our state regulations, which were driven by union lobbying in Sacramento, require that we pay what is known as "prevailing wage" to all construction workers.

As I said, without these two regulations, Arizona is putting up these same buildings for as much as HALF what it costs in California.

As a trustee, that's incredibly frustrating to me -- and I will continue to push for ways to cut construction costs and use taxpayer funds as wisely as possible. I will also continue asking our state legislators to reform these laws and stop regulating us to death.

Let me know if you have further questions.

Re: Meetings in Nevada County: Save the Date!

Aaron Klein — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:43:25 -0000

Russ,

That troubles me as well. It troubles me that the promise was made in the first place, because Sierra College is required by law to follow certain practices in "equal opportunity contracting" that make it impossible for us to guarantee that our local contractors get the work.

Be that as it may, I know that our team did the maximum extent that it could under the law to encourage local contractors to bid, in an effort to spend our tax dollars locally. The bids have not been presented to the board for approval, so I don't have personal knowledge of whether any local bids were successful, and if not, what the reasons were.

Both of the issues you've raised here underscore one very clear point: we need serious reforms of our state laws and regulations regarding construction of community college facilities, to put the interests of our local taxpayers and local economies first.

Best,
Aaron

Re: Search monetization as a model for social media monetization

Aaron Klein — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:49:11 -0000

Fred,

I think you hit the nail on the head about something more native than display ads. If you look at the search engine path, they finally created a product -- text ads that look like search results with a different background color -- that do two key things.

First, they apparently dodge the problem with most display ads where the human eye can apparently train itself to "avoid" the ad and not even see it on the page.

Second, they often ADD value to a search. I've long thought that Twitter or Facebook simply needed to provide sponsored results (mixed into my feed) that are highly personal to me.

There is no excuse why Facebook, which both knows which musicians I'm a fan of and where I live, shouldn't have mixed into my news feed, "Chris Tomlin is live in Sacramento on March 6. Do you have your tickets yet?"

I'm assuming they may feel like they don't have big enough audiences yet to do this? But I can't figure it out. I'd "see" that so much better than their funky little ads to the side. And if it actually was relevant to me and added value -- I'd actually APPRECIATE the ad! (Much as I do many Google paid search results!)

Re: Search monetization as a model for social media monetization

Aaron Klein — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:43:15 -0000

One problem with your theory, stone...Facebook isn't selling. And Twitter knows they can hang in there a while longer and get a much bigger valuation. Google and Microsoft would love to get their hands on both assets. It's early in the game.

Peter and Fred are correct: there are huge similarities between search and social media, not as much with the algorithms behind them, but in the fact that social media needs to create a product that is integrated into and adds value to its use. Banner ads do neither; ads integrated into a feed that are highly tuned to interests and locality do.

Re: Search monetization as a model for social media monetization

Aaron Klein — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:06:22 -0000

Possibly...would be interesting to see how it actually works. I am finding that I prefer chat interactions (when well designed) because they save time and I can multi-task (chat customer service is all the rage at BofA).

That being said, I still think text ads that are somewhat distinctly mixed in to my content, which are personal to me, are far better than banners, any day of the week.

So in your example, if I've twittered or facebooked about Adidas, why not hit me every couple of days or weeks with a feed ad that says "I'm Your Dream Adidas Shoe. You Just Haven't Designed Me Yet. Want to Start Now? Only Takes Three Minutes."

Noticeable, engaging, personal, interactive, and it adds value to my day because it's something I'm actually interested in. That's even more powerful than search ads.

Re: Search monetization as a model for social media monetization

Aaron Klein — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:09:17 -0000

Put it in your feed, and make it clearly based on the other items in your feed and profile, and I think it makes sense to the user and doesn't feel big brotherish.

On the other hand, randomly load a banner on some web site based on other sites you're visiting, and it starts feeling VERY big brotherish. How does party A know that I was surfing Party B?

That's just my perspective, but it's similar to search. I don't find it weird that what I typed into search generates ads relating to that -- I appreciate it. Likewise, I won't find it weird that what I typed in my status or profile generated ads relating to that.

Still don't know why FB and Twitter aren't doing this. Not tooting my own horn, but I would have done this as soon as I hit critical mass on audience. Just my opinion.

Re: A New Site

Aaron Klein — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:41:45 -0000

Very cool. Yeah, it's working out really nicely. I'm quite impressed. The only thing I wish it had (that I haven't found yet) is a native app for BlackBerry, but I can do e-mail posting for now. :)

Interestingly enough, I'm in the process of starting a podcast with a buddy of mine. More on that soon. :)

Re: Dossier Received

Aaron Klein — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:32:02 -0000

Thx! We think so.

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Aaron Klein — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:29:04 -0000

I just googled wordpress themes, and surfed around until I landed on jestro.com. There are a lot of cool themes out there!

Re: Preposterous: AIG Never Fired the Risk Managers

Aaron Klein — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:27:52 -0000

Good point. Thx for sharing.

Re: Google Reader

Aaron Klein — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:03:56 -0000

Good to know. But you had to go way back to 2007. :) That kid is almost two now!

Re: GM = Bankrupt

Aaron Klein — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:41:15 -0000

I suppose that's true, but it's so very rare. I don't know the exact percentage, but something north of 85% of bankruptcies end with common shareholders holding nothing, and debtholders holding all of the equity.

It appears the strategy is to split the company into two: one destined for reorganization and a quick exit from bankruptcy, and the other destined for a slow liquidation. The latter will hold the retiree health care benefit obligations.

Re: Quick! Stop that Capitalist!

Aaron Klein — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:10:38 -0000

Hey, dude! Nice to hear from you.

This is a great point. But you sort of hit the nail on the head. Enforcing the law against people stealing is something the government should be doing, instead of wasting their time putting Joe the Farmer out of business on the side of the road.

Re: 8 Things I Love About My Sweetheart

Aaron Klein — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:31:38 -0000

Thanks, Mary... :)

Re: 8 Things I Love About My Sweetheart

Aaron Klein — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:22:30 -0000

Thanks, Madi!

Re: 8 Things I Love About My Sweetheart

Aaron Klein — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:52:24 -0000

Thank you...and thanks for the delightful card! :)

Re: BlackBerry vs. iPhone

Aaron Klein — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:33:31 -0000

Cool! I'll take a look, Tyler...

Re: BlackBerry vs. iPhone

Aaron Klein — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:07:08 -0000

Yep, that's very true. As much as Apple is trying for the corporate world, it's a long way off from cracking that. Not sure if the touch screen ever fully makes it in the corporate world, but we'll see.

Re: Honk If You’re Paying My Mortgage

Aaron Klein — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:36:13 -0000

That's an interesting theory. But in effect, if you only allow the people who can afford their homes and their payments the ability to refinance 105% of the value, isn't that sort of doing what you're saying here?

Great points overall.

Re: Honk If You’re Paying My Mortgage

Aaron Klein — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:36:30 -0000

Thanks for posting that!

Re: Honk If You’re Paying My Mortgage

Aaron Klein — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:37:49 -0000

This is a really good point, Ken. Huge moral hazard and inequity exists when you bailout people for their choices, no matter how good of a bet it should have been.

Re: Where is the Economy Headed?

Aaron Klein — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:04:17 -0000

Thank you...what a nice compliment. Glad people find it interesting.

Re: My Interview about Twitter in the Auburn Journal

Aaron Klein — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:38:24 -0000

LOL. You crack me up.

It's next Tuesday. Think up a better one about the fiscal ramifications of full-time part-time ratio degradation vs. loss of growth revenue and the effect that could have on existing staff retention. :)

Re: Honk If You’re Paying My Mortgage

Aaron Klein — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:07:07 -0000

Thanks for posting that list. Do you know which of these involve federal taxpayer dollars? Enjoy the beach today. :)

Re: Just the Tip of the Real Estate Iceberg?

Aaron Klein — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:21:46 -0000

Interesting. Foreclosures are triggered largely by job losses or resets, and will trail both by 5-6 months (it takes time to fall behind on payments and then be defaulted for 3 months before foreclosure typically starts).

My gut is that this wave of foreclosures may be more tied to the 600,000 jobs estimated to be lost in January and February. What do you think?