alexandrasamuel.com

You can’t download sovereignty

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January 31st, 2008 by Alex

I waited for Tivo. I waited for iTunes video downloads -- and I'm coping with its still-too-limited content. I'm even scraping by without Amazon Unbox. But THIS is the last straw:

We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.

Our friend Adam put us onto Pandora a couple of months ago. It is a deeply groovy, rapidly addictive web radio service that creates custom channels based on your musical preferences. It took just a tiny bit of feedback to get a great mix that plays a great range of mellow working tunes on one channel, a set of showtunes on another channel, and energetic hip-hop on a third. Most magically, each channel settles into that perfect balance of tunes you know and love, and tunes that you are thrilled to discover. For those of us who have ceded control of the radio to our children, this is a wonderful chance to explore musical genres that don't involve farm animals or princesses.

But once again, Canadian sovereignty has done me out of my online content. Part of me (the part that subscribes to Entertainment Weekly) wants us to undertake the digital-era equivalent of those currency schemes in which countries adopt the US dollar instead of going to the trouble of running their own currencies; let's just trade our precious intellectual property freedoms for a broadband hookup that delivers all the goodies available to our southern neighbours, and sign onto all the American I.P. laws so that what works there works here.

The other part of me (the part that subscribes to the New Yorker) is sick of being ingored by media companies that can't be bothered to navigate regulations they haven't written themselves. Yes, it's very convenient to get the laws changed when your mouse is about to go rogue, but sometimes companies have to figure out how to comply with laws instead of just writing new ones.

And the way I see it, there's no time like the present: with the majority of the US media empire stymied by a labour force that has recognized its own interests in digital media rights, their lawyers might as well turn their attention this way. Maybe we can catch their attention if we point out that the writers up here are covered by a different union.

Google docs: now in Safari

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January 31st, 2008 by Alex

I just discovered that Google Docs finally work in the Safari web browser. (Up until now, Mac users had to access their Google Docs via Safari.) I think we may have the iPhone to thank for this; all those iPhone users wanted mobile access to their documents! I wonder what else the iPhone will finally bring to the Mac platform.

If you're not using Google Docs, this is a great time to start! Google Docs let you create, edit, store and share documents and spreadsheets; the word processor feels very much like Microsoft Word, and the spreadsheet editor like Excel, so you'll be right at home. But unlike the desktop versions of those apps, Google Docs let you collaborate with your colleagues. Here are some of the ways we've used Google docs and spreadsheets in our work:

• as part of a strategic planning process: brainstorming results in rows, participants in columns, with each participant marking their favorite ideas
• manage our docket of clients and projects (one client per row, one week per column; each week we insert a new column and add notes, current status, and upcoming actions and status
• capacity planning: clients and projects in rows, weeks/months in columns, to track upcoming hours required
• document creation: one person drafts in word and uploads, others fill in their details/examples

A new way of thinking about our name

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January 30th, 2008 by Alex

Open source didn’t just open a Pandora’s Box for the software industry -- it was the emergence of an entirely new method of production based upon social interaction and low transaction costs...Social signals, rather than price or managerial demands, drive contributions and coordination.

-- Ross Mayfield, Social Network Dynamics and Participatory Politics

Social media for social enterprise: How your non-profit can earn revenue with Web 2.0

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January 18th, 2008 by Alex

Social Signal has worked with many different non-profit organizations, of varying size and means, to create a variety of social media sites, of varying scale and ambition. One thing that just about every non-profit client (and most for-profit clients) ask is about the return on investment. How can non-profits assess the financial value of their social media investments? And perhaps even more fundamentally, how can they find the money to pay for sites that can be costly to build, and just as costly to run?

When we work with non-profits to think about the financial model behind social media projects, we encourage them to think not only about the cost of building a site, but the costs of maintaining an active online community -- which can be a much more expensive endeavour than running a conventional site. A social media site thrives on active and ongoing user contribution. That typically demands ongoing infusions of content, skilled animation, participation incentives -- all of which cost money.

The great news is that social media sites offer at least as many opportunities for revenue generation as for spending. Over the years, we've worked with our clients to  identify a range of revenue-generation options for social media sites. This is the first in a series of blog posts that will review options for non-profit revenue generation using Web 2.0.  Over the coming weeks we'll review:

• Intellectual property
• Advertising
• Fee for service
• Product sales
• Indirect revenue
• Reflected glory marketing
• Danger zones

We'll conclude by helping you think about how to choose between these different options for revenue generation -- and how to consider whether revenue generation is even an appropriate part of your site's business model.

But first, let's talk about why you might want to earn revenue from your social media venture. Here are some of the reasons that our clients have looked at generating revenue on the web:

• To pay for the operating costs of social media (e.g. content creation, moderation)
• To fund a new online initiative
• To create employment opportunities for your clients (e.g. in product fulfillment)
• To fund upgrades to your site
• To pay for a special program, campaign or initiative
• To support your organization's general operating budget
• To create a model for sustainable, socially responsible enterprise

Of course, there are also some reasons to hesitate before looking to earn money from your online community. Bear in mind...

• Revenue-generating sites are perceived differently by users and the public, particularly for non-profits. Think about potential alignment (or conflict) between your organization's mission, and your sources of revenue.
• Tax laws in your jurisdiction may restrict the kinds of revenue a non-profit organization can generate. Be sure to get legal and/or accounting advice about how different revenue models could impact your non-profit status.
• There's no free lunch. Most options for generating online revenue carry a price -- even if it's just the price of making your site that much better and more compelling.

These are reasons to tread carefully, not reasons to foreclose the potential opportunity of revenue generation on your site. If your revenue targets bear a reasonable relationship to your site's development and operating costs, and your revenue model maintains a responsible relationship to your organization's mission, your site's revenue model can provide a great source of financial support for your online operations, and your revenue-generating activities may even enhance the value you provide to users.

If there are specific questions or issues you want us to tackle as we work our way through the different kinds of revenue options listed above, feel free to leave a comment below. And if you want to know when the next installment comes out, subscribe to the RSS feed for our Social Media for Social Enterprise series.

Can your software or web project pass this test?

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January 17th, 2008 by Alex

"If you want to do something that's going to change the world, build software that people want to use instead of software that managers want to buy."

- from Groupware Bad by Jamie Zawinski