The Dawn of the Human Network

The best way to summarize the introductory chapter of Crowdsourcing is that it is exciting. I think for some, such as Procter and Gamble (before Lafley) that fact that crowdsourcing is here is scary because it represents a major departure from the status-quo, and in P&G's case a departure from what has been working for decades and decades. Since I am not invested in a company with such roots, the role of the internet in harnessing human potential is simply exciting because of the possibilities that exist. The t-shirt and stock photo examples are just two ways in which the internet has given a voice to anybody with access to the internet. Not only are there countless opportunities for businesses to create crowdsourcing platforms, but there are so many chances for consumers to participate in the products they want. Although the concept was predicted by Alvin Toffler (incredibly), its implementation is in its infancy. There are countless ways to tap into global human talent to improve society-- I just need to come up with one.
The biggest question I have after doing this reading is what did it take for the Jakes to launch their website? What type of initial investment was there? The article suggested it was more or less a cocktail napkin business plan but what does that really entail? I suppose that type of information is easily available on the internet.

This may be ambitious for week 2, but I am going to try to make it through all of the content posted on Angel. My goals for this week are to think about how empowering the customer can relate back to my career and what ways I can open the lines of communication to improve the services I offer. Furthermore, I think crowdsourcing is an exciting concept because it is "what is next," so I hope to use this week to think about new ways that crowdsourcing can be used and simply brainstorm ideas for what could be useful to society.

One last word about Books 2.0

While ipads, nooks and kindles are all the rage, I do not think screen text will make paper text obsolete. I cannot stand reading articles on the computer and I know many people who feel the same way. It will be interesting to see what our children prefer since they will grow up in learning environments where that technology already exists. What is amazing is the amount of text that has been digitized and made available for the world to see. I think having text online is critical to the proliferation of information around the globe, but books will always have their place as the preferred medium for many.

Week Reflection/Accomplishments

This week I read "Made to Engage," "Does the Internet Make You Smarter?," "Does the Internet Make You Dumber?, "Books 2.0 (NPR Media)," and "Gil and Frank on the Newspaper Industry." I did encounter a few technical problems. When I tried to view podcasts or videos during the week the link did not work on Angel. It went to a page that said it could not display the page. I fixed this by trying again over the weekend and was able to gain access. The problem I had was that at some point I said to deliver only information that was secure which blocked the links.
As far as topics and subtopics, I realized how important the "live web" is to Marketing 2.0. As I use digital technologies such as Wiki, social networks, widgets, Ajax, etc, I seldom realize what their impact is on marketing. From my marketing course, I bought into the 4 P's of marketing but never thought about what type of media I actually engage in. Very rarely do I watch advertisements on TV--most of the advertisements I remember reached me through either my mobile phone or the computer as I searched for products and information. The "so what" about this is that as the Age of Engage is here, it is constantly changing, and it is what matters in marketing right now.
How fast marketing is changing makes it an interesting topic to study because the only way to learn is by staying current on the latest technology and trends. The first big takeaway I have from this course is that marketing is now a continuous process--it is not something to simply address and then move on to other strategic planning. It has to be part of everyday operations and even what we learn right now may be obsolete in a year or two.
I tend to side with the "internet makes you smarter" side of the coin. I see what is happening throughout the middle east and I cannot help but think the dissemination of information throughout that region (because of the internet) is fundamental to the change that the people want to see. Sure there are many distractions on the internet and if you are able to browse while you should be paying attention to a lecture you will not absorb as much material--but the ability of anyone to find information on anything is astonishing. I have access to world class institutions, courses, diagrams, maps, books, how-to's, you name it.
As far as newspapers are concerned, I think the biggest challenge is how well companies can handle the transition from traditional income flows to internet subscription and online/mobile advertising revenues. Marketing will play a huge role in that transition.

Goals for the week

In addition to the required reading and podcast, I would also like to read the smarter/dumber articles regarding internet usage, the web/tv rivalry video, and a newspaper industry blog post.

X501 Kickoff Post

My goal for the week is to get an understanding of what we will be looking at this quarter and why it is important to me in my career. The biggest question I have as we begin the course is that I understand how important digital technology is but how can I make it work for me? It seems as though everything happens so quickly, it is hard to keep up with technology. How am I able to be proactive in such a fast moving environment? I look forward to this course and material.

Brand new blog...

This is a test post just to see that it works. Cameron