The United States houses roughly 5 percent of the world’s population. It stands to reason that many ideas for recasting technology to improve our daily lives and business operations will come from those born outside the U.S. That’s why the hoopla around President Trump’s immigration policy is so threatening to Silicon Valley. I’m surprised his …more
The grab bag returns for the first time in 2017. Why the hiatus? Playing homage to the Google algorithm, I’ve been consciously avoiding shorter blog posts or what some term “stubs.” Yet, I continue to come across shards of content that either amuse, surprise or teach. As individual content, they don’t necessarily frame a post. …more
If the intended audience doesn’t trust the format of the ad, the actual content has no chance. We know that the rise of digital consumption has brought advertising along for the ride. In fact, projections call for the digital ad spend to surpass TV advertising dollars for the first time this year. So back to …more
You can’t make this stuff up. Raking through my storytelling and PR posts, I’ve curated a list of seven “life is stranger than fiction” moments. 1. Media Squeeze — and Watermelon Explosion — Described by the NY Times Presents an Opportunity for PR BuzzFeed proved what everyone has always believed in theory. If you stretch …more
I thought the newspaper was asking me questions about my favorite travel destination. It turned out that the newspaper assumed San Francisco was my favorite travel destination — hey, why else would I live 53 miles south of San Francisco? — so my answers around Aix en Provence didn’t fit. As public service for those …more
Yesterday marked the three-year anniversary since VentureBeat and Jolie O’Dell’s focus group of one correlated expensive toast to the decline of San Francisco. The O’Dell discourse came with jagged edges, damning the tech industry for a cycle that goes something like this: Someone creates a business for consumers with too much money and pretensions of …more
Playing a quick game of word association with European soccer fans conjures words like hooligans, violence and racism. When my family lived in the UK, my youngest son and I took in a match between West Ham and Liverpool at storied Anfield.The section for the West Ham supporters was literally wired off with police on …more
College graduation ceremonies aren’t exactly the most entertaining affairs. By design. A speaker will make a case to “follow your passion” followed by a glorified roll call that, depending on the size of the school, can literally last hours. Still, to lower the probability of something going awry, schools provide an FAQ. While these documents …more
Joint Venture Silicon Valley is incredibly thorough in putting together its annual index on Silicon Valley. Perhaps too thorough. Reviewing the 100-page document might be best described as a trudge. To save you the time of plodding through the pages, here are the CliffsNotes. Where Invention Happens The combined patents generated in Silicon Valley …more
