Disqus - Latest Comments for joemanna

Re: Will social media burn conferences to the ground?

Joe Manna — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:57:28 -0000

You nailed it -- conferences are about the people and the relationships attendees can build. I find that social media highly improves communication and bonding around topics. If a presenter blows, Twitter knows about it. If a presenter delivers good content, Twitter knows about it.

As one who attended the Inbound Marketing Summit, led by Chris Brogan, I thought it was outrageous that CrossTech Media (operators of the event) blew a gasket because I was broadcasting it via Qik. It wasn't bandwidth (used 3G), it was simply because of they saw social media as a loss of revenue, not an asset.

My advice to conference facilitators -- put a live video feed up. It can be crappy, but put one up. Now, everyone is a broadcaster and they're going to do it without your blessing. Heck, monetizing that feed with sponsors and even live Web chats with sponsors can be lucrative and help the conference reach a larger audience.

... And aren't we here to bring audiences together?

Social media is a direct threat to crappy conferences. Have a good conference with topics and people they care about and they will attend regardless.

~Joe

Re: http://blog.louisgray.com/2009/06/10-ways-apples-iphone-leaves-me-wanting.html

Joe Manna — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:31:16 -0000

I hear the pains. This is what we call a great product being killed by an inferior service. Several of the pains described can be remedied by jailbreaking the iPhone and using a combination of free (free as in beer, err, speech...) applications and 3rd party modifications. The only way Apple will learn on their poor decision to align with AT&T is when users surpass them and dictate how they want to use their phone and service.

The 3.0 Firmware brought some favorable changes to the iPhone. That said, I highly recommend and use the following apps:
* Backgrounder (multitasking)
* BossTools (more control of things)
* WinterBoard (more UI control)
* Qik (video broadcaster, competes with UStream)
* UStream Broadcaster (video broadcaster)
* Cycorder (video recorder, .MOV filetype)
* PDANet (tethering via ad-hoc Wifi)

The real solution here is not to hinder innovation through a finite set of resources. Apple should permit/sanction hacked apps via a certification process. Official apps gain visibility and preference; unofficial apps are slapped with a warning and users take their own risk in using them.

In the end, Apple COULD have leveraged the paid and free app dev communities. And AT&T would have a superior network for simply providing bandwidth. But it's a calculated risk, and for now, the hackers haven't amounted to much losses.

That's what the record companies said when Napster was around. Now look how thriving the Apple iTunes Store is, eh?

~Joe

Re: Capital One Exploded my APR by 255%!

Joe Manna — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:55:31 -0000

I don't believe that as consumers, we have rights to sue. We waive those when we agree to the cardholder agreement. That said, take your business elsewhere and double check the conditions of the agreement before agreeing to it.

Personally, I just find it shortsighted of CapitalOne to do this to loyal, faithful cardmembers. Maybe this is why Amex has such higher satisfaction ratings.

~Joe

Re: Crush It! Why Now is the Time to Cash in on your Passion

Joe Manna — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:31:51 -0000

Looking forward to it, Gary. I love it. Keep it up!

Re: Twitter Loses Control Of Twitter

Joe Manna — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:49:28 -0000

Good perspective on this matter. Indeed, I think it would be great if Twitter would put in place a better system for allowing replies to cascade across the network. If Biz simply just stated "hey, here is a graph of the system activity, it's a problem. Here's what we propose to fix it..." and lay an open plan and hold an open discussion (vote via Tweets, who knows) ... I suspect the community would more easily accept the outcome.

This "little" change is actually a big change, and it limits how people interact on there. If there's one thing I know, it's that people dislike change, they especially hate change when it affects their experience.

With my experience as blogging for companies, the vagueness of the blog posts by @Biz lend belief that nothing will change and likely they will cater to new users instead of the early adopters.

~Joe

Re: Twitter: You Can’t Give Us a Feature Then Take it Away #fixreplies

Joe Manna — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:53:21 -0000

#Fail.

It's quite interesting to see once Twitter gets some significant growth, they completely blindsight their userbase and attempt to control the interactions between users.

Another point to make clear -- @replies and #hashtags have been created by the people, for the people. Not by Twitter.

~Joe
@JoeManna

Re: WARNING: AMC theaters are running FAKE IMAX's and charging $5 extra for a slightly bigger screen. Boycott IMAX, AMC, and Regal. Don't let them fool you.

Joe Manna — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:20:18 -0000

Well, now that it's a joke, then all is well. I respect his opinion, but the argument is flawed.

Guilty as charged, I didn't realize that he only asked for a partial refund. Regardless, I don't see the theatre being at fault, it's more so the marketing of IMAX.

Regardless, you won't catch me railing against companies simply out of entertainment. Seriously, if the screen size wasn't as large, then get up, grow a backbone and leave. But clearly, the motion picture was enjoyable enough to tolerate 127 minutes of torture on the 58 foot screen.

I don't think all of this was simply humor, that's all I'm saying. I think there is some merit to this, but not to the degree that Aziz is taking it.

--Joe

Re: WARNING: AMC theaters are running FAKE IMAX's and charging $5 extra for a slightly bigger screen. Boycott IMAX, AMC, and Regal. Don't let them fool you.

Joe Manna — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:04:27 -0000

As it appears, you received the "IMAX" experience, and saw a new release film on a slightly larger screen. I think it does suck that maybe they're not insanely huge screen, I find that it speaks to your character that you wanted a full refund following the viewing of the movie and that you blog so emotionally instead of using facts to state your grievance.

I disagree that this is a scam. I find $6 for 32oz of Diet Coke a scam, but that's another story.

I think using one's Twitter following to threaten a company is as weak as the argument itself. Sure, you got Re-Tweeted like crazy, but look at the feedback in your comments here. Having 25k Twitter followers doesn't mean they are necessarily loyal or will go up to bat for you.

I believe that the correct way to handle this is to stick to the facts and keep your point to the fact that the screen sizes. Perhaps offer constructive feedback in how they market the IMAX experience instead of jumping to conclusions that it was a strategic maneuver that they intended to mislead viewers.

Thanks for elevating this to the people, but your argument is weak and you killed it with the fact you threatened with your 25,000 Twitter followers. Make your argument to the merit of facts and not emotions and character.

Best wishes,
Joe