I interviewed Rob at Northern Voice about his company and how the social web can use a laugh every now and then. (I should note that in former lives we worked on the same NDP election team, he was the dashingly funny speech writer who swanned in with brilliant bon mots – I was the rumpled press flack in the corner with the cell phone smoking a pack-a-day. At least that’s how I remember it. And, yes I’ve since quit smoking.)

Interview with Rob Cottingham from Ian Capstick on Vimeo.

Anyone on Twitter these past few days might have been bombarded by messages tagged with #sxsw. I know I was. South by Southwest is no stranger to public relations. SXSW, or “South-by” as it’s known, is all about getting noticed. Here is a quick guide to what all the fuss was about these past five days.

The venerable and much loved cultural festival started with music as its roots. Created in 1987 when 700 musicians and record executives converged looking to tap into the city of Austin’s unique musical heritage and see (or sign) bands the organizers had corralled from all across America.

In 1994 SXSW moved away from an exclusive focus on music with the addition of film and interactive conference programming. For Maggie Fox, CEO of the Social Media Group, says SXSW Interactive is like “spring break for geeks.”

This is exactly why in 2007 Twitter decided to launch its now ubiquitous service at the festival. People like Fox would be there.

Early adopters are to technology start ups what street fashion is to fashion designers – a muse, a sounding board, a reality check.

What are the early adopters seeing and hearing about this year? Here three big trends highlighted at this years SXSW Interactive that I think might make a broader impact on the web:

Location, Location, Location: all the rage with the SXSW crew this year was checking in and being checked out using Foursquare and Gowalla. Online consensus from Canucks attending is that Foursquare is the application to watch. It’s broadly about more than just one application however. Twitter launched their geolocation features at SXSW. And Facebook choose the second last day to start a roll out of a truly geeky – and potentially location based feature - QR codes.

Money, Money, Money: PayPal is making major moves in the online payment space. Recently announcing PayPalX (essentially an application programming index) will now communicate with IBMs cloud services and at SXSW announcing a a new iPhone application allowing easy transfer of money via literal bumping of technology together. ZoomPass in Canada is another recent entry into a similar market.

Toronto start ups like Community Lend and Freshbooks are also at the forefront of at distinct trend away from relying on big banks and major software providers for financial management. Look to Wesabe.com and thus far US only (but Canadian owned) Mint.com for more clues on how banks and credit institutions are being sidelined by new ideas in money management.

Format, Format, Format: The SXSW format itself was the topic of much internet banter. The SXSW organizers estimate 17,000 in attendance officially at the festival and this included players from the worlds biggest brands. This isn’t the crowd that attended SXSW when it first started, and as one online wag put it, “you do have to wonder where the cool conference no one knows about is now?” SXSW music festival works on a scalable format, music concerts work small and large. Attendees regularly reported this years keynotes – the largest events at SXSW – were not as engaging as in previous years. In particular, the Twitter “interview” with founder @ev was subject to many in the hall simply abandoning the talk. The size and scope of the festival is precisely what attracts some people – while others in the interactive community are surely seeking out less frenetic experience. And, as SXSW gains a reputation for being “spring break for geeks”, will managers and business owners ask their staff to find a less exciting trade show to attend in these austere times?

For more on SXSW

Friend and colleague Jaime Woo has been reporting from SXSW for the Torontoist. Take a look at his dispatches here. And, review his travel Twitter account for a neat inside view on the festival.

And, if you thought the SXSW madness was over for this year, think again. The music festival has just started; slightly smaller and less connected than the interactive side the classic SXSW experience creates just as much buzz in music circles – and like everything that too is spilling into our daily social channels.

So, were you at SXSW? How is my “from afar” assessment? Thinking about going next year? Comment below.

Photo credit

The store is a nostalgic favorite for many. One friend online recently tweeted that “That was one of my favourite stores in Ottawa growing up! A small piece of modernity in what was (once) a small town.”

Special thanks to @shawndearn for editing this video.

Modern furniture icon gets makeover from Ian Capstick on Vimeo.

O’Malley on the prorogation protest from Shawn Dearn on Vimeo.

It’s been a busy day. When I wasn’t freezing and tweeting at the Ottawa protest, I was tracking the crowd-counts from across Canada. With 32 communities that I could find tweeted reports on; I estimate that over 25,000 people rallied against the Prime Minister’s decision to prorogue parliament. I’ve uploaded and embedded below a PDF with the community totals and my methodology. I’m hoping to continue to add to the list, please comment if you have numbers from cities not listed (or if you have a correction.) Update: as of Sunday at 8:00 am I have added 7 more communities; including New York City and St. Johns. I’m still looking for smaller communities to report. About twenty listed events could push it to over 30,000. Again, please comment with corrections or more information.

Estimated Crowd Attendance for #CAPP Rallies

To provide a visual look at today’s Ottawa protest, this is Gregory Pang’s shots of the demonstration today from Flickr.

And lastly, a quick look at the instant popularity of the #noprorogue hash tag on Twitter.

No Canadian Member of Parliament carries an iPhone.

No Canadian MP has a smart phone other than a Blackberry. [Update: Stephen Taylor suggests he knows two MPs that have non-Blackberry smart phones; "I know of at least 2 CPC MPs (one cabmin and one MP). Remember, two cellphones particularly useful when one is paid for by the taxpayer and one is for personal calls."] That is how strong the RIM brand is on the Hill. The ubiquitous Blackberry presence on Parliament Hill extends to virtually every member of the House of Commons and the National Press Gallery.  A few hold out MPs refuse the device all together, an iPod Touch  can be found here and there and a few journalists use both a Blackberry and iPhone.

The rise of RIM

How did it happen? John Manley. It really is that simple. One MP made it all happen. Well, at least he got the ball rolling. At first, derided by his colleagues for toting around the device – then a bit larger than a pager and featured a signature orange key – soon all the Ministers wanted one.

Former Minister Manley was influenced by a few key factors:

1. It’s Canadian. Legislatures like buying Canadian. (and they spend a lot on RIM)
2. It was the tech boom in Ottawa; Manley was eager to be part of it. “Silicon Valley North” was snapping up Blackberrys.
3. It worked. And, it worked really well. The battery lasted for a week. The emails never got lost and the direct device-to-device contact (PIN) even lead to a new Ottawa verb “to PIN”.

It caught on in a big way. And soon enough all offices on the Hill were clamoring for the devices. Blackberry has a near total dominance on the political market. A quick check with friends in other legislatures across Canada reveals the same patterns – perhaps one or two vanguard reporters and MLA/MPPs but very few iPhone users.  Is it all really John Manley’s fault?

The Keyboard Question

Well, no. As, David Akin points to the most reasonable argument “against” the iPhone. The keyboard. Or, rather, the perceived lack of a keyboard.

(I note quickly here that David is one of the only reporters who is actively using an iPhone in his daily routine.)

I agree, but only to an extent. I also think it’s a bit like language. One of the most regular excuses I used to hear from Blackberry-resisters was “my fingers can’t use the tiny keyboard.” (I guarantee somewhere in the Senate there is an august fellow dribbling those same words. I digress.)

Think of it like this: it’s like the time your meager French vocabulary sudden multiplied when dropped into Gaspé and you found you knew more French than you thought. Same thing when I made the mistake and ordered one of those teeny tiny Blackberry’s with half the keys (yeah, made typing harder…but I learned.)

Certainly, the iPhone is not a Blackberry. It’s not engineered for only email. But then again, I don’t really think humans are made for email either. We like to talk to one another. Instructions are clearer when spoken. Perhaps slowing down the pace of email, the endless CC train and forcing MPs to talk to their staff a bit more (instead of just pointing them about by email) would make the Hill a more civil place to work.

Laura Payton of Embassy Magazine uses both and had this to say:

Getting an iPhone onto the Hill

Sure other platforms have been kicked around on occasion. NDP Whip Yvon Godin was one of the last hold outs when the House of Commons IT department yanked their pilot project of Handspring Treo.

It will only be so long before an MP demands an iPhone. What happens then? Here is a prediction:

• First, they would say no. They like to do that. If pressed; and persistently requested – many, many reasons will be proffered for why it’s impossible;
• The iPhone would be viewed with great suspicion by a few specific bureaucratic branches of the House; Finance will worry (rightly) about cyclical replacement costs and (wrongly) about application costs;
• Information Services (ISSI), the division of the House of Commons responsible for all IT on the Hill is notorious at being slow to adopt new technology; much of this due to costs and security reasons; will balk at the request. A lot.
• So, a business case would need to be written. Memo drafted to the MPs that sit on the Board of Internal Economy to request approval of a pilot project – what’s this board you ask? It’s the all-party consensus based committee that allocates and makes all decisions related to the House of Commons administration. (I know! Shocking, MPs getting along to make decisions.) Catch is: you need to get one of the MPs on the board to bring the proposal to the board (and they will only do that with the support of their Caucus leadership).

Lets face it, since the mid 1980’s the House of Commons has responded to every change in mobile communications (pagers, giant cell phone, flip-phone craze, Blackberrys of all stripes.) And, it’s not like the addition of the cell phone and then the Blackberry didn’t cause a few headaches on the Hill. From the high-security models required by the Forces to the near constant cycle of replacements required for the clumsy or careless -  the administration has adapted. SO as I said, it’s only a matter of time until an MP requests an iPhone. And, I’d guess she will eventually get it.

Next up in our Mobile tech series

On Monday in the Mobile technology series: Picking the best applications for reporting and politicking on the iPhone

Photo

Q) It’s looking like “geo-tagging” is one of the most cited tech-trends-to-watch for 2010; the first move advantage goes to the little application that could from New York City – Foursquare. Some have called the geo-aware game “Boresquare” for its frequent pushes of information and broadcasts of information using social channels; how have your online communities reacted to your use of Foursquare? Any user revolt or new relationships built?

Several major announcements recently made in the smartphone market and my ongoing research (read: playing) on Foursquare – a hyper-local social network based on “checking in” at locations (office, restaurant, home, etc.) to earn points with your phone, are perfect fodder for a set of MediaStyle.ca posts.

Over the next few days I’m going to be featuring developments in the mobile space. We will be posting on new smartphone applications that feature of this years most-mentioned online trends: geolocation; as well a couple ideas on how political parties and unions could be using mobile technology and I’ve got a few amazing interviews lined up.

Tomorrow: Pro and Con of Foursquare. Two seasoned online communicators from Toronto are interviewed about their Foursquare views.

Monday: we explore why geolocation may be the tool that gets politics really (and spending real money) on social media channels.

Tuesday: ideas on how unions and NGOs could be using text messages, mobile applications and wireless communications.

But first, I wanted to hear from my online community on Foursquare – a couple days ago I asked via Twitter what users/non-users thought of Foursquare. Here are some of the responses. Some love it, some hate it  and many see opportunity.

PS. If you want that Nexus One from Google? I’d look to the new kid on the block. WIND Mobile COO tweeted yesterday:

Wow! Lots of interest in the Nexus. http://bit.ly/5XZQ9e Yep, works on AWS, and we’re chatting with them… will let everyone know soon.

It all started innocently enough.

Your friend has joined a group “Canadians Against the Prorogation of Parliament.”

One-by-one my friends on Facebook were joining the group.

Soon enough an avalanche of media attention (the CBC National and the Toronto Star front page specifically) had contributed to over 60,000 Canadians signing up by this morning.

Yesterday saw another avalanche: of opinions on political blogs (and twitter) about the Star article, the CBC piece and “impact” of this Facebook group about the efficacy of online activism overall. This post is my attempt at bring at capturing some of the ideas and highlight a few interesting contributions to the debate surrounding “social media activism.”

The Opinions

In classic National Post style the editorial, titled “The Toronto Star and the Interweb” they mock.

Of course, the National Post isn’t alone in thinking the Canadians Against Prorogation of Parliament is just online hot air. Maclean’s columnist Andrew Coyne wrote:

“Certainly there’s no evidence the public is up in arms about it, notwithstanding the Star’s typically tendentious headline. Smug Tory types whose response to every principled objection is “nobody cares” are, unfortunately, right: the 35,000 plus who have subscribed to that facebook page are indicative of very little: most, I would bet, are opposition partisans. Were their situations reversed, they would be saying the same things the Tories are. I wish it were otherwise, but that is what politics has become in this country.”

And, as to be expected even Conservatives who understand online actions like blogger Stephen Taylor spent much of yesterday reminding people on his blog and Twitter that:

“…the anti-coalition Facebook group soared to over 125,000 in a week. To be fair, this week has been slow while last year’s coalition story was the busiest week we’ve had in Ottawa in years and there were many other non-Facebook stories to report!”

A side note; Aaron Wherry of Maclean’s cleverly replied;

“@stephen_taylor So if this one gets to 127,000 members will you accept its legitimacy?”

http://twitter.com/aaronwherry/status/7414083435

While I obviously don’t agree with all of the points these mainly Conservative voices raise. Similar notes of caution are being sounded by more moderate voices as well.

For instance, yesterday AM as the Twitter conversation heated up; Joe Boughner – well-known social media smartie in Ottawa -  was quick to get a blog post out explaining his views on situation that was unfolding.

“While the growth of this group in such a short time is impressive, I’m kind of left wondering what’s next. As my brilliant wife noted on Twitter, maybe the fact that the group itself is a story makes this a success. In the biz that’d be considered earned media, the ultimate goal of any outreach strategy.

But, as I’ve blogged before, how much traction does a protest have when it’s so easy to be part of it? Is joining the group the end of the action taken by those 25k? What percentage of them will actually take the next step and write to their MP or attend a rally?”

National columnist Paul Wells put forward his post “Money (or action?) where your mouth is” and referenced Joe’s post; he made the interesting point that if the hoard joining Facebook groups donated even a little money to the Liberals or New Democrats – say even half of them – this might be worth something.

Ryerson University professor and political pundit Greg Elmer suggests an entirely different approach and tactics, “a selective boycott”, as he explains:

“Much of the banter has debated the merits of joining groups as a form of political action or public opinion. I would suggest, however, that a much more meaningful protest (apart from collecting $ to fund events and campaigns against such acts and politicians) would be to “de-friend” or otherwise remove oneself en masse from existing pages on Facebook.

The must read post on this subject belongs to Jesse Hirsh, freelance CBC technology correspondent and long-time tech user and thinker.  He suggests:

“A crisis like this presents an opportunity to expand the democratic process and include more people in politics as a whole. However, it’s hard not to snicker at the fact that joining a Facebook group to show opposition to something has become the ultimate cliche. While such a group does raise awareness and cross over into mainstream media with front page headlines, I am not alone in wondering whether it actually accomplishes anything.”

The reason I like Jesse is that he gives actionable advice. In particular he talks about how the framing of the prorogation is playing into the perception of democracy in Canada and how comedy should be employed.

As Hirsh points out;

“The key is to avoid the media’s perpetual attempt to frame these political actions as protest, and instead transcend all boundaries until the power to set the agenda is achieved. At that point you are no longer protesting, but much closer to governing.”

Jesse is pleading with people to take the action off the social networking site Facebook and speak out not in protest or opposition – but from a place of knowledge and contribute to the debate. He writes:

“From all sorts of voices saying all sorts of things, that together unite into a single message, that we are the people, we will not go away, and we demand a government by the people for the people.”

Media fundamentals at play here:

1. Media is self-perpetuating: that is to say that with every story on the National; every front page of the Toronto Star the creators of the group will be exposed to more journalists – naturally making them sought out for interviews; the group will continue to grow
2. Media likes to measure things. Some think numbers and polls are notoriously misinterpreted and oddly reported. Get a few people in a room with a pile of polling data and watch how readings of the information come out. So it’s no wonder that there would be debate on what social media metrics mean to public policy/political reporting.
3. Media need to report. Nothing is going to make the Prime Minister recall Parliament; but in the mean time reporters on Parliament Hill need to report on something – and in the early stages of there being little Parlaimentary activty – it’s natural to look for opposition. They found it on Facebook. where will they find it next?

What does this mean for people who want to take Jesse’s advice? Well, the above fundamentals clearly signal a Parliamentary Press Gallery willing to give people an opportunity for people who oppose prorogation to create, collaborate and demonstrate why this undemocratic move by Harper should be remembered during the next election.

But, as Jesse points out: we do not need to do this from a position of protest in the traditional way. We can’t yell and scream Parliament back open, but we can reason and argue Harper out of his job.

My contribution

So, what is my contribution to all this going to be? I’m not entirely sure just yet but I’m going to engage in some open-source research on the role of online activism, Facebook and social networks. I don’t think we are anywhere near fully understanding how Facebook groups (and more broadly online activism) fit into the Canadian political context. I do believe that people need an entry to the political process. Four in every ten Canadians are non voters. So, if your sister asking you to join a group opposing prorogation leads a non-voter to vote, or the disengaged to re-engage – isn’t that worth something?

In the next few days I’m going to start this research project into the question of political activity on Facebook – I’m happily taking contributors, co-researchers and partner to help me look at the questions and reality of “Slacktivism vs. First Step to Action.”

So, what do you think? Please leave a comment – or if you have a contribution to make to the project let me know.

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

From the designers:

“The concept aims to capture the essence of magazine reading, which
people have been enjoying for decades: an engaging and unique reading
experience in which high-quality writing and stunning imagery build up
immersive stories.

The concept uses the power of digital media to create a rich and
meaningful experience, while maintaining the relaxed and curated
features of printed magazines. It has been designed for a world in
which interactivity, abundant information and unlimited options could
be perceived as intrusive and overwhelming.”

Is this what’s next for magazines in Canada?

(h/t @remarkk)

Two incidents have official Ottawa buzzing about “social media” and the far reaching implications of these new communications tools:

First, the Yes Men pulled off a complex stunt aimed at confusing the Canadian delegation – it worked by leveraging common internet behavior and trust of major media; much of the media focus has been on the hoax itself – thereby drawing attention to Canada’s laggard status on climate solutions. It worked so well, the Prime Ministers press secretary Dmitri Soudas pounced on the wrong environmentalist and made himself look like a fool.

Second, a photoshop contest over at Liberal.ca has gone awry. As Taber and O’Malley report the official opposition site posting a manipulated image of the PM getting shot, well this simply made the Liberals look like fools.

Neither of these stories are really about social media - oh, sure they have aspects where social media/internet communications helped along the story – these stories are really about unforced staff errors. The worst kind of political staffing mistake.

Soudas made an unforced error in screaming at a well known activist. And, the Liberals made an unforced error by failing to see that assassination isn’t funny. Apologies all around and move on folks: social media isn’t the problem. Foolish behavior is.