I’m at ad:tech today and tomorrow exploring some opportunities in the adverising space for SocialRoots.  Harper Reed, my fellow intern from the Squidoo days, has been kind enough to host me for the duration – sure is nice to see him again.

Chicago really is a beautiful place – though the train system is not my favorite by far.  If you’re in the area, leave a comment and I’ll try to catch up with you.

Next stop, New York home.

While I was out in Portland last week, I had a chance to re-connect with Brian Oberkirch and Jeremiah Owyang. I had previously met them both on past trips out to the Bay Area. Brian is a nomad-in-training, much like myself (still aspiring to the true zen my cohort Stowe has achieved).

Brian had some interesting news about his future – which he revealed only after peeling away at the layers that are SocialRoots. Jeremiah has a wonderful mission as well and it was good to hear again.

The ironic thing – I actually missed working around the mic from the Beercasting days. Sometimes I wish I had the time to podcast more often. Usually, though, that’s followed by sweeping pains as I reconsider everything else I haven’t quite yet finished.

More over at the guy’s blogs: Brian, Jeremiah.

There’s some interesting chatter going on at TechCrunch currently surrounding the purported rejection of a $550M offer to purchase Bebo. Nestled in the comments, one reader, Devin, is building a very interesting case against these high-flying valuations:

A company is worth whatever somebody is willing to pay for it. Basic economics. Facebook thinks they’re worth $2 billion. The market, so far, says otherwise. It does not matter that the user sessions are extraordinarily long and that users have multiple sessions per day if you can’t monetize that and make it profitable. You’re arguing for the “eyeball” economy, and we saw how that turned out the first time around. Funny how quickly we forget.

TechCrunch » Blog Archive » Bebo Shuns $550 Million Acquisition Offer

It makes me think, at the same time, about the way that we value ourselves and our creations. As a consultant, I’ve faced a number of different clients in countless different situations and circumstances. One of the most critical things when you are going to walk into a room and demand $200 an hour for your time – you sure has hell better be able to quality (maybe quantify) the value you’re providing your customer.

I remember a week or two ago, PayPerPost came out with their service and it made some big splashes. One of the many threads in that discussion focused on the pricepoint. Some were arguing that the prices were too low. That gave me pause for a moment – not because I agree or disagree but because there was no explanation as to why. If you’re getting paid $10 to post 10 words – that’s $1 a word – on par with the copywriting industry standards I believe. Of course, you just wrote 10 words :) What’ the hidden part that gives you more value?

If we as a whole want to demand more for the value we create, well, I’m all for it. It does require, of course, that we start to figure out how to measure that value and how to convey that data as information that others will be able to use.

technorati tags:valuation, markets, bebo, facebook

The World Cup is over, but there are many lessons that still remain to be learned. I’ll leave you to find the others, but the Times has an article about the one we can all learn about Big, Bad Mainstream Media.

At a time when many viewers are turning away from mainstream media, the World Cup demonstrates the continuing power of live sports events to pull in the mass audiences that advertisers crave.

Old Media, Not New, Is World Cup Winner – New York Times

When I hear things like this, it always makes me smile a little. On the one hand, there’s still the perception from the mainstream that large audiences are the valuable ones – we know that’s not entirely true though it’s simpler to convince certain types that millions of folks = something compelling and connected. At the same time, however, I’m chuckling as I think of all the folks that are bloggers flying the journalist flag that can’t or don’t want to recognize the business of journalism and media.

I guess, from both directions, there’s a lot to not like about the other end of the rainbow. Fortunately, one of my favorite maxims still rings true: “When seeking the truth, look in the middle”.

P.S. This was my favorite quote from the article: “Another Portuguese-speaking squad that was sponsored by Nike, Portugal, fell in the semifinals. That left the final to be contested between Puma and Adidas, er, Italy and France.”

[update: Brian Oberkirch has a very relevant pointer here.]

technorati tags:media, msm, worldcup, sports, entertainment, business, socialroots

I was just getting used to being home, but the train just keeps on moving these days.  I finally made it back to New York about a week ago, but I knew I was going to be gone before I knew it.

On Friday, I’ll be in San Francisco once again for a few days, 5 to be precise.  If we were supposed to meet, talk or follow-up, let’s try to coordinate during that period.  I won’t be back for at least 3 weeks :)

Wednesday, I’m off to Portland for WebVisions.  I had the honor of speaking on a panel last year with Matt May and Eric Rice.  This year, I’ll be cheering from the audience as many of my old favorites strut their stuff.  I’m in Portland from Wednesday until Friday night, I am suspecting.

Finally, I’ll be home Saturday morning (bloody red-eye) so I can catch my flight to Chicago on Sunday morning. I’ll be working the Exhibition Floor at ad:tech.  If you’re reading this and attending, please let me know.

Many large pieces are moving in concert now and we’re getting very close to sharing with the world what the big picture looks like.  Stay tuned.

I just wanted to send a quick message to Adam Curry and Family.  I was saddened over the weekend to download a brief podcast paying tribute to his mom who recently passed.  Though we’re connected through copper wires, it certainly doesn’t diminish the connection you come to have with someone you hear from regularly.

My best to Adam and the Family and hope they continue to have the strength he has demonstrated.