Socially Speaking

There are a few things brewing at Waxxi. One of them, we can talk about here. Others will have to wait, just a while longer.

While we’ll continue our typical 30+ minute interactive podcasts with very interesting people, we’ll also begin a shorter version, called the Sweet Spot. The idea is micro-consumption: an interesting snapshot of cool, smart people which you can read, listen to, or watch in five minutes (or so).

We’ll be announcing a lineup soon, but here we’ll let you in on one of our first guests: Twitter co-founder, and genius , Biz Stone. Have a question for Biz? Simply leave a comment here, DM me on Twitter here, or message me on Facebook here (guest suggestions may also be submitted in the same manner).

Thanks!

The April 5th Waxxi cast with Jimmy Wales is up, and available for your streaming (or downloading) pleasure, here.

At just 32 minutes, this was the shortest cast we’ve done so far, and the first one we haven’t had to cut in two parts. Although the reason for the shortened cast had to do more with Jimmy’s schedule than anything else, it’s a refreshingly nice length.

It’s a fascinating conversation, and while it’s (again, for the first time) just mine and Jimmy’s voices you’ll hear, the interactivity and participation was awesome.
One question, for those of you who prefer text, came from the live chat:

Steve asks: What are the pros and cons of a transparent search algorithm? Are the advantages of having an open book approach to how search is performed worth the risks of some who will use the information to “game” the system?

JW:

Yeah, so that is a really core question. And, in a certain sense, the success or failure of this entire concept hinges on that question: which actually will work better in the long run?

So, there are a couple things that I think are pretty clear. When you have an transparent, open search engine with freely licensed software, when people find that there’s a problem, there’s a potential for people to actually correct it – and actually have oversight into what’s gone wrong and how to fix it – that you really don’t get in a proprietary search engine, unless you hire lots and lots of people.

The political implications are, well, they’re important to me. And I mean political with a small ‘p’, not really talking about government, but talking about the organization of society, and the organization of information in society. I think as citizens and consumers and producers in the world, we should be concerned about secrecy around such a core piece of the infrastructure of the Internet. So that’s one of the major pros.

Now, if you talk to security people – so, people who work in computer security – they’ll always tell you that “security through obscurity is a bad idea.” In other words, if the way you’re keeping something secure is by keeping it secret so people can’t game it, well you’re always subject to people to figuring it out and gaming it without you noticing. You’re subject to that kind of attack all the time.

One of the reasons we trust the encryption algorithms that we use is that they’re published. They’re public, and they’ve been tested by many, many mathematicians and computer programmers. Everybody can throw what they want at it, and try to find a flaw. If you’ve got a secret encryption algorithm, well…you just don’t know: I mean, has it really been tested thoroughly? And so forth.

So, I think the same idea applies to search algorithms. If the only reason it’s good is because it’s secret, well, that never lasts. What you really want is to truly begin to solve the problem in a more systematic way. For that I think the open approach is the best.

We had another great interactive experience at yesterday’s Waxxi ‘cast. Jimmy Wales, as you might expect, was a fascinating guest. We’re truly grateful that he took the time to join us, and share his thoughts and ideas on Wikipedia, Wikia, search, culture, the web, Google, and more.

It was interesting to see the level of interaction via IM vs. phone. This was the first Waxxi ‘cast where most all of the questions came in via chat or private IM vs. the phone (just two callers who ‘raised their hand’ to ask a quesion, one of whom we couldn’t hear because his headset’s mic was muted – woops!). Since most of the participants were true power-users/early adopters, IM is simply more natural a communications method than the phone.

We had a great showing of NYC’s ‘next generation of digital movers and shakers’ – otherwise known as nextNYers. One of them, David Evans of Civil Netizen, says of Waxxi:

If basic podcasting is like standing, then Waxxi’s interactive podcasts are like flying…

He also blogged about his experience yesterday:

The chat was moderated by Tracy Sheridan of Waxxi, who performed the job masterfully like a great conductor, bridging the worlds of phone callers, online chatters, studio guests, and staff into a fluid experience for both Jimmy and the guests. The event was reminscent of a good talk show where the host and guest interact with both a live studio audience as well as with phone in callers.
…

I’ve never felt so drawn in to an interactive online event like I was today. For an hour, I felt like I wasn’t even sitting at my desk, but rather as a part of a live studio audience. Suddenly, listening to TWiT on the train ride home just doesn’t sound as exciting as it used to…

Wow. We’re absolutely blushing! Thanks to David, to our guest Jimmy Wales, and each person who participated. We had a lot of fun. Till next time!

After having spent the majority of my time in NYC over the past months, I’ve experienced some impressive conferences, talks, Meetups and gatherings. One such gathering, held at a three story penthouse in Tribeca, was dubbed the Founder’s Club. Or,

…a group of NYC Internet founders and CEOs promoting the start-up spirit in Silicon Alley.

It was that, and more. I spotted Jeff Jarvis, and ran into some now-familiar faces, like CNET’s Caroline McCarthy, Civil Netizen’s Dave Evans, Brett Petersel and Socialight’s Dan Melinger.

It was nice meeting blip.tv’s Dina Kaplan, Fast Company’s Michael Prospero and artist Scott Draves, a highly regarded geek artiste whose work adorns the walls of Google’s Mountainview HQ. Scott recently moved his life from San Francisco to NYC to make it all happen. I told him that I could relate to that, firsthand (although I’m originally from the East coast, and he’s not).

A few other organizations, and their leaders/evangelists, I chatted up:

Ventbox’s Nate Westheimer
Ventbox is, as you might guess, a place to vent on the web. But it’s more than that – it’s social ranting, if you will. Nate, aka VentMan, sees many other applications for the service, particularly within corporations (don’t employees like to vent?). I told him it’s a pretty cool knowledge management tool he’s got on his hands. Nate wins best dressed founder of the evening, simply because he was the only 20-something (or any age, actually) that showed up in a bow tie. And, it worked.

Noel ‘NoNeck‘ Hidago
What to say about Noel Hidago, other than once you meet him, it’s not likely you’ll forget him. Filled with passion (and I mean cup-runneth-over filled not just to-the-brim filled), Noel will speak quite intelligently – yet not without flair – about technology and culture, politics and co-working, entrepreneurship and unconferencing. His latest project, called the Luck of Seven, is an “open source, around the world project” where:

…for seven months, he will traverse the seven continents, dive into the seven oceans, and attempt to visit the seven ancient wonders of the world. Using a wiki, noneck will harness the collective knowledge of the globe, and report weekly on seven topics of freedom. Before he leaves, he is fundraising US$11.11 from 700 global residents.

Trickle Up’s Jesse Greendyk
Trickle Up is a non-profit which has been around, for 27 years to be precise. Jesse explained the core focus of the organization, microfinancing the world’s lowest income, would-be entrepreneurs, giving them their ‘first steps out of poverty.’ They do this by

… providing conditional seed capital, business training, and relevant support services essential to the launch or expansion of a microenterprise. This proven social and economic empowerment model is implemented in partnership with local agencies.

You can catch an enlightening conversation with Trickle Up’s President Bill Abrahms, led by BusinessWeek’s Karen E. Klein, here. And, meet one of their entrepreneurs here.

What’s happening in the NY Tech sector is worth paying attention to. Observationally speaking, it’s a rumble of energy, passion and power that, I believe, is on the verge of erupting.

[originally blogged over here, thought it was worth repeating, here.]

Used to be that ‘Differentiate or Die’ was the survival catch phrase for organizations in just about any industry. Seems now, the word of the day is one that we like very much: interactive. Don’t believe us? Ask around:

“We can have the coolest content or technology, but changing human behavior is hard,” said Mitch Feinman, senior VP at Fox Mobile Entertainment. “But if you give people a reason to participate, they will.”

Eric Bader, senior VP of MediaVest Worldwide had this to say:

“Too much of what we’re seeing is for branding and awareness — it’s the easy model to graft onto digital,” he said. “But what we’re looking for from digital media is levels of interaction.”

“For us, it’s a lot less about finding ways to use mobile but the ubiquity of the phone to allow you to participate in a campaign,” Bader said. “That it’s interactive is more compelling to us.”

And, (fairly new) CBS Interactive president Quincy Smith:

“The real opportunity for media, in this day and age, is ostensibly the interactive platform, not just online, but mobile and gaming. Basically, promise a way for content companies to get closer than ever to their audience, to build community around their audience, to learn from their audience so they can put out better professional content.”

For months we’ve been preaching this: if we’re in the world of two-way (or social) media, then why are so many platforms still linear? Let people participate. And by that we mean more than commenting (although commenting is great). One of Waxxi’s mottos is: The Floor is Yours. That means, when it comes to a podcast or vidcast, it’s not all about the interviewer, or interviewees. It’s what the people (the viewers, audience, listeners, customers) bring to the table; what they bring to the conversation, experience, and content.

In short: Let Them Participate.

Our next Waxxi interactive podcast will feature two world-renowned figures in technology and business: Michael Parekh and Michael Arrington.

A founder of Goldman Sachs’ Internet Research group, Michael Parekh was one the early pioneers who helped discover, nurture, and fund the foundations of the web as a lead analyst for the IPOs of such organizations as UUNET, Yahoo!, and eBay. Michael (Mukesh) is a native of India and came to the US in 1977. He is passionate about all things Internet and technology, as well as interesting trends he observes, globally.

In building TechCrunch over the last year, Michael (Mike) Arrington helped lay the foundation for the Web 2.0 world we’re living in today, becoming one of its most highly respected pundits, educators, and analysts. Mike is a former corporate attorney (of Wilson Sonsini fame) who has also helped bring public several companies, and is co-founder of edgeio. He grew up in California and Surrey, England, and lives and works in Atherton.

Together, Michaels Parekh and Arrington represent the core of the Internet, and technology: where it’s been, how it’s evolving, and where it’s going.

The date to join in on this global conversation is Thursday, June 29, 2006 and time is 10:30AM PDT. As always, all you need is a phone and/or Internet connectivity.

By dialing in, you’ll not only hear the entire conversation, but have the chance to be a part of it. We’ll give you instructions when you register, but the process is rather simple: hit two buttons on your phone in order to ‘raise your hand’ to ask a question or make a comment.

Many of our members and participants outside the US will choose to use this feature only. This was tremendously effective and important for our first interactive podcast.

We’ll have more details posted shortly. Stay tuned.