Paradigm Shift: The User-Generated, Real-Time Web

The industry's leading visionaries rate and debate what technology trends will emerge during the year ahead.

Steve Jurvetson, Vinod Khosla, Joe Schoendorf, Ram Shriram, and Ann Winblad are among the speakers.

Questions to Contemplate at the SAM Event

Hello everyone,

As promised... here are some questions to contemplate as you wander through the museum and see the various works of art. I will send these in a email to all RSVPs the day of the event as a reminder. For now... they will be here for all to see. Enjoy!

Hanging by a Thread, by Cai Guo-Qiang
It's hard not to notice the symbolically exploding hanging cars in the lobby. Created after the tragic events of September 11th, one must ask themselves, how does one respond when the world radically changes? How has the tragic events of this decade shaped world dialogue and opinions. Today, with the advent of swine flu, we seem to live in a panic driven society. What is the cost of information overload versus the freedom of constant, instant information?

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. (Highlight exhibit)
Study these paintings. Ask yourself, these are ideal images about the American dream. How has this dream changed over the last 200 years? What ideals should be revisited? How does modern business "sell" these American ideals to customers for better or worse? And what part will you play in the next 200 years?

Less is More
The minimalist room. Before you brush off the area as "non-art," take a moment to absorb the feeling of the room. Is this the future of retail space? How does modern art use spacial relations to tell a story or invoke a feeling? Is this something you can incorporate into your company. Is this the future of retail?

Sea Change, 1947 by Jackson Pollock
The middle part of the 20th century saw great changes in our country. Jackson Pollack captures the emotion of that change in his work. As yourself, how must it have felt to be thirty-something in the late 1940s and early 1950s? How would you have reacted to the sweeping changes in the 1960s? And how have those radical changes effected our society to this day?

Double Elvis, 1963/1976 by Andy Warhol
How has the massive infusion of pop-culture changed the way we see the world today? Or more accurately, is there a way is hasn't?

How My Mother's Embroidered Apron Unfolds in My Life, 1944 by Arshile Gorky
Is this painting, that was visually way ahead of its time, the future look of advertising?

Native & Meso-American Art
This culture once thrived in the Pacific Northwest. It is a reminder that eventually life, culture, and society changes over time. Ask yourself, a thousand years from now, what legacy will you leave behind? And finally, look closely at the native art... what elements of this style has carried over to modern society. (Hint: Think about the Seahawks logo for starters.)

The Doge's Palace and the Grand Canal, Venice, ca. 1710 by Luca Carlevariis
This painting offers a window onto life in Venice along the Molo, the wharf near the Piazza San Marco. A moment captured in history. With the advent of modern technology, a lot has changed, but much has stayed the same. Especially the need for face-to-face personal relationships, which technology has yet to replace. How would someone from 1710 respond to our modern society? With fear? Inspiration? Hope?

Field Trip to the SAM: Seattle Art Museum

Hosted by Michael Foster, Jaime Foster & Jewels Foster in Seattle, Washington

Type: Business Mixer
When: Thursday, April 30 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM
Fee: Free

Event Info

Title:

Field Trip to the SAM: Seattle Art Museum

Hosts:

• Michael Foster
  

  
  
  
  
• Jaime Foster
  

  
  
  
  
• Jewels Foster
  

  
  
  
  

Start date & time:

30 Apr 2009, 3:30 PM Pick end time?

End date & time:

30 Apr 2009, 7:00 PM

Type of Event: Business Mixer Educational Workshop Breakfast/Lunch Meet Discussion Walk & Talk Other
Event summary:Field Trip to the Seattle Art Museum with free admission exclusively for RSVPed Biznik members. RSVPs will obtain free admission to the museum until 6pm. Afterwards we'll gather at the TASTE Restaurant for food, drinks & networking.

One short paragraph that describes your event concisely. This is what will appear on the main events page.

RSVP Limit (optional):
Your Fee:

Free

Note that changing any information on this page means that we'll review it for content again, and could possibly result in it getting delisted.

Visit the Museum Site: http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/

In the 21st Century, Art and business are quickly becoming more interwoven. The need to think creatively is quickly becoming essential to the survival of your company. We strive to create events that not only up the ante for future Biznik gatherings, but also impress and inspire your creative needs.

Hence, with special thanks to the Facilities Marketing Manager at the SAM, John Ferguson, we are hosting a Field Trip to the Seattle Art Museum with free admission exclusively for RSVPed Biznik members. (Sack lunches not necessary.) We will gather in the Arnold Board Room from 3:30pm until 4:00pm, where 100 RSVPs will obtain free admission to the museum until 6pm. Afterwards we can gather at the TASTE Restaurant downstairs for food, drinks & networking. (The admission is FREE, but you gotta cover the food and beverage tab.)

Also, we will post a series of questions in our blog to keep in mind as you wander around the museum, to help enhance your senses and translate the experience of how art can make you feel, and how that feeling can be translated into how you think and feel about your company.

Art opens the mind, the heart, and the senses. In business, it is easy to become so embedded with a routine work schedule, that we do not take the opportunity to infuse new ideas and experiences into our lives. This event is strictly aimed at the hard working individual that needs a break, and wants to interact with like-minded business savvy individuals in a nurturing and creative environment. We sincerely hope you can join us.

The Human Face by Goldie Jones

Incorporating video into your website can be an amazing opportunity to give your company a human face and make a personal connection with your clients before they ever even pick up the phone to give you that first call.

In an era where "economically uncertain times" has become one of the most common phrases we hear on a daily basis, people are looking for things that they feel like they can trust. And more and more often, companies are finding that they need to give their potential customers a human face to relate to as they carefully consider how to spend their increasingly limited budgets.

For most of us, when we look for a new product or service provider, we go to the internet. Websites are typically a company's opportunity to make a first and lasting impression on prospective clients. And yet, all too often these websites are fairly impersonal, focusing on products and services and pricing packages and a short bio of the business credentials of the team that makes up the company. But these don't really give the client a good idea of who they will be working with. This doesn't give them any idea of those people's personalities. It doesn't give them an opportunity to feel a personal connection with another living human being.

More and more, my clients are coming to me to give them a human face on their websites. Web video is affordable and internet speeds and video compression are capable of giving the vast majority of the wired public access to high quality videos. So, except for camera shyness, there is very little reason not to include video on your company's website. People, now more than ever, need to trust the people that they will be giving their money to. Open up to them, give them the opportunity to get to know you and your company and feel like they already have a personal connection with you before they even pick up the phone to call for the first time.

There are countless types of videos that you can do to create a human face for your website.

1) Let your team introduce themselves and what they love about working at your company.

2) Let your clients introduce themselves and what they love about what you have done for them.

3) Give your prospective clients a glimpse into what a day at your company is like.

4) Give your prospective clients a chance to see you just being you, talking about the things that you are passionate about, and how you bring that passion to your work.

5) Show them how you found your way into the industry you are in. Most of us start of down a path in our lives that branches many, many times along the way and frequently some pretty fascinating events lead us to where we are today. Share those stories with potential clients, sharing your journey is a very personal way to share your background and expertise without simply listing off your past employers.

6) Just play with it. Fun simple little animations about your service/process/product. This can be as low tech as using drawings on a white board or paper cutouts. Google, Microsoft, and UPS aren't afraid to utilize lowtech animation, why can't you use it?

7) Share a personal story, how your work has create a positive impact on other people in a powerful way? Does your company donate to charities or non-profits? Does your company volunteer in the community? Share these stories.

Reaching out to another human being on a personal level may just help you and your clients find a little more certainty in uncertain times.

Goldie Jones is the owner of Subversionz Media, a Seattle based video production and motion graphics company. She has spent years in the Seattle area creating hundreds of broadcast, marketing, web, event, b2b, and internal videos for dozens of companies

VIDEO Cafe Brainstorm: The Future of the Web Part 1 of 4

Recorded February 27th, 2009: Part one of a groundbreaking think tank. Seattle based creatives and technicians discussed in depth the trends and ideas that will shape the world wide web, web interaction, the problems with content management, design for the web, and the importance of video.

VIDEO Cafe Brainstorm: The Future of the Web Part 2 of 4

Recorded February 27th, 2009: Part one of a groundbreaking think tank. Seattle based creatives and technicians discussed in depth the trends and ideas that will shape the world wide web, web interaction, the problems with content management, design for the web, and the importance of video.

Intermission: Rags Madison

I know Rags is gonna kill me for this, but this creative video he created and submitted for his introduction to the Brainstorm Cafe just simply didn't fit in the opening with the rest of the introductions. However, considering our event consists of four brain pounding half-hour segments, it works quite well as an intermission. So, Rags... your efforts will not be in vein. For all of you wanting a sample of a clever introduction to video self promotion, take notes.

VIDEO Cafe Brainstorm: The Future of the Web Part 3 of 4

Recorded February 27th, 2009: Part three of a groundbreaking think tank. Seattle based creatives and technicians discussed in depth the trends and ideas that will shape the world wide web, web interaction, the problems with content management, design for the web, and the importance of video.

VIDEO Cafe Brainstorm: The Future of the Web Part 4 of 4

Recorded February 27th, 2009: Part four of a groundbreaking think tank. Seattle based creatives and technicians discussed in depth the trends and ideas that will shape the world wide web, web interaction, the problems with content management, design for the web, and the importance of video.

Turn your brain off and on, watching TV on the web.

Is watching TV on your television vs. on your computer the same... or different?

I believe it was Steve Jobs who said when people turn on the TV they turn their mind off, when they go on the computer, they turn their mind on. I wonder... is their scientific studies to prove this statement, and with the rise of websites like Hulu.com that feature on-demand television content, does watching television on the computer have the same brainwave effect as watching on that big flat screen? What do you think?

What Will Replace Web Search Engines?

Currently the primary way most people use the web to answer questions or do online research starts with a search engine such as Google or Yahoo!. However since before the web was invented people have dreamed of a machine which could compute answers to questions posed in natural language such as, 'How many weather stations in North America are reporting above average temperatures today?' With current search engine technology, this requires doing keyword searches and individually sifting through large lists of results filtering out the irrelevant, or suspect matches. One is left hoping serendipity and Google's proprietary algorithm quickly lead to a document that holds the answer you need embedded in it someplace. In the example above, actually computing the final answer might require collating readings found from each weather station in North America! If the answer to a question requires synthesizing information from more than one source that can rarely be done automatically and requires human intellect. What we want is to just ask the question and get a straight answer instead a list of documents that might have the answer.

The Semantic Web, a proposal originating from World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners Lee, is one attempt currently underway to move in this direction by augmenting content and services on the Web with semantic information that describes what kind of information that content actually contains in a format that can be understood and processed by machines themselves. A simple example would be tagging a line of text as one ingredient in a recipe for chocolate cake. The eventual goal is the elusive 'intelligent agent' which is a piece of software that goes out and uses these semantic tags to intelligently find just what you were looking for. Many are skeptical that this approach will work in the end but it has gained the most traction as a way to evolve the web into something with more possibilities for entirely new or at least more efficient uses of the Internet.

However, Steven Wolfram, inventor of Mathematica and author of 'A New Kind of Science', may be leap frogging ahead of the Semantic Web efforts with a project he is about to unveil known as Wolfram Alpha (no hubris in that name!). Here is a detailed blog post describing it titled, "Wolfram Alpha is Coming -- and It Could be as Important as Google". Hopefully I have included enough background in this post to help understand that article.

Cheers,
Barry Tolnas

First cut: Cafe Brainstorm highlights video

Here's my highlight reel from the event.

Russell Smith on Too Much Information and the Future of Blogging

We asked our Cafe Brainstorm participants to further explore the future of the web by individually answering some of the questions brought up during our meeting. The following is answered by Russell Smith, a marketing copywriter in the Seattle area.

Too much information, the web has become over-saturated with content, much of it spam, mis-information, and gossip. What will be the checks and balances of Web 3.0, and will the organic qualities of the web have the ability to influence third world countries and oppressed nations?

When people think of the Web, they think of what it means to them. The Web is a mind game, a mall, a treasure hunt, a candy store, a puzzle palace, a trash heap, a castle to the stars, and however you choose to fill in the blank. The Internet is personal, and daily and weekly it becomes even more personalized. The Internet is an extension of the mind now. Googling is in the mind of the beholder. People can Google Britney Spears or Albert Einstein. They get to choose what they want to find on the Web. Oops, now what was that Einstein quote everyone mentions?

Can the Web/Internet influence the way the world acts? Yes, it already has. Whether it can be steered toward doing more good and distributing it more evenly worldwide is what we’ll all discover in the years ahead. The Web’s immediacy to current events, large and small is a large part of its transformative power. Centuries, and even decades ago, major news traveled slowly around the globe, and now word of an event is instantaneous.

Out of curiosity I Googled Sean Penn’s opening phrase for his recent Oscar acceptance speech. There were 44,300 results for “You commie, homo-loving, sons of guns.” (0.22 seconds). Over 44,000 hits for something uttered in good humor by an Oscar-winning star. He followed a humorous opening line with strong personal and political statements. All of this instant communication was first broadcast, then soon after Googled.

Since I write and edit content for businesses on the Web, I see a huge range of information on the Web. From my corner of the Web universe, I feel like I’m clearing up what I can—creating clear messaging, and making sloppy writing better.

What is the future of blogging on the web and is there a way to make the blog content more memorable, thus making the information easier to retain?

People search out blogs that are enjoyable to them, and that excite or teach them something. There are blogs of every flavor for every individual.

A blog I discovered while blogging was still only known about by a select few Web wanderers is Rebecca Blood’s blog: Rebecca’s Pocket, or What’s in Rebecca’s Pocket. http://www.rebeccablood.net/ It’s has a nice, clean look to it, and its all about the text.

She began her blog in 1999, so definitely no latecomer to the activity. She writes about things like books and food, so, it’s on topic for those who like to read and eat. A while back she’d mentioned that one of the things people want are more visual blogs, and soon after I read this, there appeared more and more visual art and photography blogs and now there are more photos and artwork on blogs than ever before. The world of life lived and experienced by individuals has entered the Internet and this helps to connect the entire planet.

Visit Russell C. Smith's Website

Raves for the Cafe Brainstorm Web 3.0 Event

We've gotten a lot of positive feedback from last Friday's Cafe Brainstorming Web 3.0 event. As stated in the introduction, this will be one of three Cafe Brainstorming events, known as the Trends for the Tens Trilogy. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond and take part in this unprecedented think-tank.

"Great Job Michael and BooJazz Studios for hosting this monumental WebCast of an Intellectual Cirkus! Pennies were flying! My bag of pennies hit a brand new Apple I-Phone... at the start of the event. Some guy named Dan McComb crashed the event with an unauthorized camera and spouted some crazy ideas about social media and how money was not going to be made by people unless they... Oh! and a big shout out to: Corbin Curfman, Barry Toinas, Russell Smith and resident meta-philosopher Yasmine Rafii who were illuminating and brilliant. They totally brought their A-games. And you Michael for breaking your own rules with the ante-up-the-pennies thing... I mean, several times my two cents worth of input cost me FOUR cents. But hey, the video camera person [Jaime Foster] said the close-ups of me were great.... I made sure to sit behind Al Roxin of Flash to get some face-time on camera."

Rags Madison, Owner of Madison's Avenue

"This was an awe inspiring event. Talk about talking about the future of the Internet! Kept me up all night thinking about the future of the World Wide Web."

Darrell Kirk, Publisher of Coffee News Seattle

"I really enjoyed the event and I thought everyone did a great job. It was interesting tp hear the different views and concepts that people have about the future of the web in general. Particularly nice was the fact that the video recording did not effect the flow of the discussion. Great job Michael and Margaret for organizing this. Also for anyone who might want to see a little comparsion of Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 check this out."

Al Roxin, Flash and Web Designer / Developer

Why Embrace Technology?

Erin Pierce discovered this video clip, one of the participants of the Cafe Brainstorm. It answers the basic question with facts and figures. Why embrace technology? The video is called “Did you know” and it is about the progression of information technology, researched by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Bronman.

Erin is an innovate web developer and designer in the Seattle area.

Visit Erin's Website

Looking for Jefferson's Moose: The State of Cyberspace

In 1787, Thomas Jefferson put a stuffed American moose in the lobby of his Paris residence. As the U.S. minister to France, Jefferson displayed the moose to powerfully symbolize the enormous possibilities of America.

The new world of the Internet has equally vast possibilities and, like North America in Jefferson's day, its landscape remains largely unexplored.

In his new book, In Search of Jefferson's Moose: Notes on the State of Cyberspace, David Post draws remarkable and entertaining parallels between the Internet and the natural and intellectual landscape that Thomas Jefferson explored, documented, and shaped.

Creatively drawing on Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, Post describes how the Internet functions technically and applies Jefferson's views on natural history, law, and governance to the unfolding complexities of cyberspace.

Jefferson's Moose is a book for both fans of Thomas Jefferson and for fans of the Internet, each of whom should know more about the other topic.

The Brainstorm Questions

As we now hit the final stretch of the event this Friday at 2pm at Mosiac Coffeehouse, I have prepared five or six start off questions to get the ball rolling. If there is time, we will take questions from the audience (if we have any) and answer those.

THE FIVE OR SIX WEB 3.0 QUESTIONS

1) What in your mind is Web 3.0 and what projects are you currently developing that you feel would qualify as a gateway to the new web.

2) How will the Nintendo Wii interface (as well as the portable iPhone) change the way we browse the web?

3) There seems to be a tug-of-war between creatives and technicians when it comes to the web. What can be done to help cooperation between the left and right brains to meet in the middle and being the steps to the creation of Web 3.0?

4) In 1996, Nicholas Negroponte speculated that it may be difficult for human beings to justify spending money on ones and zeros (bits of data). Chris Anderson Editor of Wired recently speculated that one of the secrets to finance in the future will be to give web content away for free. With the exception of the adult industry, most still find little value in buying web content. What is the future of buying content on the web, if there is any, and how will Web 3.0 change the way we look at the value of online information.

5) Too much information, the web has become over-saturated with content, much of it spam, mis-information, and gossip. What will be the checks and balances of Web 3.0, and will the organic qualities of the web have the ability to influence third world countries and oppressed nations?

6) What is the future of blogging on the web and is there a way to make the blog content more memorable, thus making the information easier to retain?

Growing Up Online: Frontline PBS Special

This is a must watch for anyone working in the internet.

"FRONTLINE takes viewers inside the private worlds that kids are creating online, raising important questions about how the Internet is transforming the experience of adolescence. At school, teachers are trying to figure out how to reach a generation that no longer reads books or newspapers. Fear of online predators has led teachers and parents to focus primarily on keeping kids safe online. But many young people think these fears are misplaced. Online media has also intensified the social dimensions of adolescence as teens create and play with identities on sites like MySpace and Facebook and encounter intense peer pressure in a variety of virtual worlds. Parents are confused about how to respond to the increasingly private worlds inhabited by their children, lacking an understanding of both the creative potential and the genuine risks of this new dimension of our cultural environment."

Watch Growing Up Online On PBS

The Next Digital Experience

Social networking applications and sophisticated mobile devices are combining elements of the real and virtual worlds, and delivering an augmented experience of reality.

How is this digital experience changing consumers and communities? - World Economic Forum

From The Offical Google Blog.... Google Learns to Crawl Flash

Google learns to crawl Flash

6/30/2008 09:26:00 PM

Posted by Ron Adler and Janis Stipins, Software Engineers

Google has been developing a new algorithm for indexing textual content in Flash files of all kinds, from Flash menus, buttons and banners, to self-contained Flash websites. Recently, we've improved the performance of this Flash indexing algorithm by integrating Adobe's Flash Player technology.

In the past, web designers faced challenges if they chose to develop a site in Flash because the content they included was not indexable by search engines. They needed to make extra effort to ensure that their content was also presented in another way that search engines could find.

Now that we've launched our Flash indexing algorithm, web designers can expect improved visibility of their published Flash content, and you can expect to see better search results and snippets. There's more info on the Webmaster Central blog about the Searchable SWF integration.

Read More From the Google Blog Here...

Eric Rodenbeck: Beyond the Web We Know

What will our future online look and feel like? How do we make sense of an increasingly decentralized world where technology threatens to take us away from a sense of place and home?

Event Poster

Web 3.0 Summary

As promised I am going to be posting facts and figures about Web 3.0, just to get our minds moving. Here's the first as quoted from the oracle of oracles... Wikipedia.

"Nova Spivack defines Web 3.0 as the third decade of the Web (2010–2020) during which he suggests several major complementary technology trends will reach new levels of maturity simultaneously including:

• transformation of the Web from a network of separately siloed applications and content repositories to a more seamless and interoperable whole.
• ubiquitous connectivity, broadband adoption, mobile Internet access and mobile devices;
• network computing, software-as-a-service business models, Web services interoperability, distributed computing, grid computing and cloud computing;
• open technologies, open APIs and protocols, open data formats, open-source software platforms and open data (e.g. Creative Commons, Open Data License);
• open identity, OpenID, open reputation, roaming portable identity and personal data;
• the intelligent web, Semantic Web technologies such as RDF, OWL, SWRL, SPARQL, GRDDL, semantic application platforms, and statement-based datastores;
• distributed databases, the "World Wide Database" (enabled by Semantic Web technologies); and
• intelligent applications, natural language processing, machine learning, machine reasoning, autonomous agents."

Now let's see if we can find a tech to explain some of this. Actually, you can find the rest of the article here...

Wikipedia Web 3.0 Breakdown

Posted by Michael Foster

What Does the Future Hold for the Newspaper Industry?

Washington Post Media CEO Katharine Weymouth in conversation with Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson on the difficulty of identifying revenue streams for quality news content online and what the near future holds for the industry.

The Main Event

Cafe Brainstorm: The Future of the Web in the Next Decade

Hosted by Michael Foster & Margaret Friedman in Seattle, Washington

When: Friday, February 27 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM (new date)
Fee: Free
Where: Mosaic Coffeehouse
4401 2nd Ave NE
Seattle, Washington 98105
Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:00 PM

During the Cuban Missle Crisis Bobby Kennedy suggested we gather a group of smart guys and lock them in a room until they came up with some good ideas. In that spirit, we're hosting this event.

Beauty vs. the Blog: We're looking for creatives and technicians to discuss in depth the trends and ideas that will shape the world wide web, how we interact with it, the problems with content management, upcoming programs that will change how we design for the web, the importance of video in the next five years... you name it, we'll disucss it for an hour, then spend the next hour networking and more than likely drinking lots of coffee.

We are planning to have this event recorded for broadcast on the web on my website as well as a handful of others. So when you RSVP just know there's a good chance you'll be on video. The sign-in sheet will serve as a release form. Also, we will be posting this video on a blog (either my own or on its own), where everyone that RSVP's will have the ability to post contributions to this topic. We may even have one-on-one video interviews scheduled at a later date for those who would like to participate.

We've been talking about hosting an important event like this for quite some time. The web is rapidly changing and we invite everyone to use these ideas that are generated for their business. Even if you don't want to RSVP, but would like to observe and take notes, you are more than welcome. Unfortunately, if we have more than 16 involved in the discussion, it might become too difficult to manage. Sorry!

Look forward to seeing you there.