Breakfast Bytes

More Information About The New Breakfast Bytes Session...

2007-05-10T01:21:00Z

The new Breakfast Bytes will be delving into the exciting world of media content and technologies.

Please refer below for further information...

Session Content

The migration of readers to the web has left many traditional publishers grappling with the loss of readers and revenue, forcing a new model of publishing that embraces the growth of online news and information. In the technology news sector over the past seven years, the industry has witnessed declining circulation and publication numbers.

The challenge for publishers today is to find a formula that allows them to balance and explore the information needs of the online audience, while maintaining the interest of their hard copy readers. Or perhaps the question is - how long before we see the full migration of readers from hard copy to digital ? Are there publishing models out there that have demonstrated innovation and a deep understanding of their readers to allow them to continue to publish successfully – is the smarter publishing model about researching, owning and knowing your reader better?

Panel speakers will include

• Peter Roberts – Managing Editor, BRW
• James Tuckerman – Publishing Editor, AntHill
• Brian Haverty – Editorial Director, CNET Networks Australia
• Tony Sarno – Editor, APC
• Heather Craven - Director of Marketing & Communications, Circulations Audit Board and Audit Bureau of Circulations

Where:   Citigate Sebel Sydney, 28 Albion Street, Sydney
When:     7.15-9.00am, Thursday 24 May.
               Breakfast will be served from 7.15am
Register: http://www.hillandknowlton.com.au/breakfastbytes.html.

New Breakfast Bytes Event!

2007-05-09T23:46:00Z

Hope everyone is looking forward to the exciting new Breakfast Bytes next week (May 24th, 7:15am)

I encourage anyone with an interest in media technologies or who wants to hear about the changing face of media today to come along.

Seats are limited so please rsvp early to avoid missing out!

2005 Breakfast Bytes footage resurfaces on YouTube

2007-01-18T03:57:00Z

Frank Arrigo points us to some Breakfast Bytes footage from 2005 (in three pieces) that has resurfaced on YouTube thanks to Metrix Media.

(Looking for the footage, I also stumbled upon this...)

Welcome to the blogosphere, 3RD sense

2006-07-05T03:51:00Z

3RD sense is a casual gaming and advergaming company based in London, UK, and Sydney, Australia. 3RD sense is also a Hill & Knowlton client and, as of last month, the force behind two new blogs: thelittlegamer.com and theadvergamer.com.

3RD sense is no stranger to social media, having pioneered the use of social bookmarking for games. This is one company that will find blogs to be a completely natural means of communicating with customers, the industry and other communities of interest.

Any discussion of best practice in blogging usually comes back to a half-dozen connected themes, ranging from authenticity to honesty to listening. But it is one of these themes in particular — personality — that I believe will be the cornerstone of 3RD sense's success. Personality is present in everything 3RD sense produces, from its games to the cute little avatars on its business cards. To my mind, personality is also the hallmark of these two new blogs.

Welcome to the blogosphere, 3RD sense. I know you'll be very well received.

Podcast: "Must this be a trainwreck for traditional publishers?"

2006-05-26T06:09:00Z

In our latest installment Peter Blasina — magazine publisher, TV identity and Breakfast Bytes regular — asks a question from the floor: "Must this be a trainwreck for traditional publishers?" The short version of Brad's answer is, well, for the most part yes.

Podcast: "Where's the business benefit?"

2006-05-19T08:26:00Z

This time around, someone from the audience asks where the business benefit is in Web 2.0. In response, Colin explores how his business is using Web 2.0, Brad talks about the money companies are loosing by ignoring Web 2.0, and I argue that the business benefit is not in Web — it's in the business strategy.

Boom 2.0: "How we got here today"

2006-04-27T03:43:00Z

Another week, and another recording has been added to the podcast based on the most recent Breakfast Bytes seminar.

This time around, it's the opening address from Myrna Van Pelt, which set the scene for the entire conversation. To summarise:

When the first internet bubble burst it seemed like the world had changed forever, but somebody forgot to tell the world's citizens and consumers that the boom was over. Across the globe, people continued to sign-up for internet access in record numbers, or to upgrade their connections to broadband...

Enjoy.

Podcast: "How do you control the conversation? You can't"

2006-04-20T23:47:00Z

Another week, another recording added to the podcast based on the most recent Breakfast Bytes seminar.

This time around, an audience member asks how we can still control the conversation in the new web order. This question came quite near the end of the seminar, after we'd spent most of the previous hour talking about how smart businesses are loosing control and loving it. This just goes to show the size of the mind-shifts that are involved.

The panellists then discuss a range of practical options around moderating comments before I summarised the overall position we'd taken throughout the seminar: Given that you can't control the conversation, the real question is "how will I communicate?"

Podcast: "Will the bubble turn to rubble?"

2006-04-12T03:53:00Z

We've added another recording to the podcast based on the most recent Breakfast Bytes seminar. This time around, Myrna asks if the bubble will turn to rubble or keep on keeping on. Brad — no doubt drawing on his substantial experience in writing for titles like BRW, Australian Anthill and Red Herring — explains clearly why, in his words, "it's a bit of both".

Social media audits: don't rely too heavily on search

2006-04-10T00:37:00Z

When surveying the social media landscape that is facing an organisation, search tools are essential. For example, we use tools like BlogPulse to search blogs and Google to search the internet as a whole — including blogs, forums and any mailing lists that are archived to the web.

But once you dig deeper, you always find these tools only tell part of the story. There are countless mailing lists, forums and so forth that are not well-connected to other sites, have a dismal Google PageRank, and are very important to their community of interest. There is only one way to find these conversations: participate in their community of interest. Talk with its members. Take your time, rather than expecting a nanosecond answer from Google.

Listening and learning while you explore social media is the only way to build a true understanding of how it does and could affect an organisation.

Podcast: "Web 2.0: our panellists give their definition"

2006-04-06T03:09:00Z

We've seen Breakfast Bytes The Event, and Breakfast Bytes The Blog — now please welcome Breakfast Bytes The Podcast.

In our first airing, Hill & Knowlton's Myrna Van Pelt introduces:

Then, each of us take a crack at answering the six-million-dollar question: "What is Web 2.0?"

To listen to the recording as stand-alone audio file, please use this link.

To subscribe to the podcast, please use this address.

We'll upload new highlights once a week until all 8 are up.

In praise of Danah Boyd

2006-03-28T23:29:00Z

Everyone says "it's about culture not technology", but Danah Boyd actually "walks the talk" (if you'll forgive the cliche) with insightful essays, speeches and blog postings about matters ranging from the rise of MySpace and decline of Friendster to tensions between global information networks and local interaction and culture. Every arguement is clear, well-reasoned, and grounded in both theory and evidence. This is genuine wisdom, not thoughtless trend-following. Check it out.

Channel 10 embraces camera phone submissions

2006-03-21T21:53:00Z

According to this story from IT Wire, one of Australia's largest television networks has published a phone number and email address for anyone who wants to submit photos or movies they took with their camera phones. Of course this is still mass media not citizen journalism, but it's interesting to see technology is not just supporting the growth of citizen media, it is also updating the relationship between citizens and mass media.

The online equivalent of saying "no comment"

2006-03-13T21:06:00Z

Everywhere I look, people are so scared of "loosing control" of the online conversation that they're actually refusing to participate in it. It's the online equivalent of saying "no comment" during a crisis, which simply means the only voices that are heard are those of your critics.

A year ago, I discussed blogging with a local lobby group. I did this as a local resident rather than as a representative of Hill & Knowlton, which is why I am using this story to make my point. Before you know it, the discussion turned to big bad property developers. What if they left pro-development comments on our blog? What if they pretended to be local residents when they did so? In short: what if we can't control the conversation?

The project never went ahead. Because of their fear of losing control of a conversation that they never controlled anyway, they actually decided not to participate in the conversation. Of course there would have been dissenting voices on their blog had they chosen to start one. It's even possible that some of these comments would have been from "developers in disguise", though it's far more likely that critical comments would have come from local residents such as myself who share their passion for local issues but disagree with some of their views. Either way, by encouraging and participating in the debate, they would have actually engaged with their audiences, which is a lightyear ahead of being silent.

As we usually explain to clients during a crisis, saying "no comment" is the only way of guaranteeing that you will not be heard. It's the same on the internet. You simply can't control the online conversation, so you have nothing to lose except the opportunity to be heard.

Web 2.0 "cheat sheet"

2006-03-08T06:09:00Z

Every revolution comes with its own language, and Web 2.0 is no different. Unfortunately, language can also exclude outsiders and newcomers, especially if it is more complex than it has to be. In the spirit of inclusion, we prepared this Web 2.0 "cheat sheet" after this morning's breakfast seminar.

Web 2.0

An umbrella term for a range of trends that are changing how individuals and organisations build and use websites. Most of these trends have the effect of shifting some control over the internet away from companies and governments and towards consumers, employees and citizens.

Examples:

The rise of social software
The rise of tagging
The rise of blogging

Social software/social networking

Software and websites that help individuals to find and connect with each other, whether to find a job, share ideas or any other reason.

Examples:

Tagging

Letting users control the way in which a website sorts games, links, photos or anything else by helping them to create categories that make sense to them.

Examples:

(Note: when organisations take control of how content is sorted, they are said to be creating a "taxonomy". When users control the process, they are said to be creating a "folksonomy".)

(Note: the programming "hooks" that allow one site to exploit another are called APIs.)

Breakfast Bytes

More Information About The New Breakfast Bytes Session...

New Breakfast Bytes Event!

2005 Breakfast Bytes footage resurfaces on YouTube

Welcome to the blogosphere, 3RD sense

Podcast: "Must this be a trainwreck for traditional publishers?"

Podcast: "Where's the business benefit?"

Boom 2.0: "How we got here today"

Podcast: "How do you control the conversation? You can't"

Podcast: "Will the bubble turn to rubble?"

Social media audits: don't rely too heavily on search

Podcast: "Web 2.0: our panellists give their definition"

In praise of Danah Boyd

Channel 10 embraces camera phone submissions

The online equivalent of saying "no comment"

Web 2.0 "cheat sheet"

Web 2.0

Social software/social networking

Tagging

Tag cloud

Blog

Wiki

Consumer Generated Media (CGM)/Citizen Media

RSS

Podcast

AJAX

Mash-up