the webthinking blog

This year I have the privilege of being one of the PodCamp Toronto 2010 co-organizers. Being a PodCamp junkie since 2007 I was more than happy to help! My role as a member of the web team? Making sure we have a brand new, shiny web site under the new domain name – podcamptoronto.com, that is.

Let me tell ya – working together with talented folks like Daniele Rossi, John Leschinski and Tommy Vallier has been an exciting, “open-source” experience!

Go check out the PodCamp Toronto 2010 site! Subscribe to our feed or grab the podcast.

I am looking forward to seeing you there on February 20 and 21. It will be fun! If you are new to PodCamp Toronto, here is the elevator pitch:

PodCamp Toronto 2010 is a FREE “unconference” bringing together professionals and hobbyists from Toronto and the surrounding area to explore the cutting edge of new and social media. If you are an online content creator – hobbist and professionals – who are building communities online in a variety of ways, then PodCamp Toronto 2010 is for you. Share ideas, discuss theories and learn lessons from an audience of experts. Network, network, network. All are welcome. Join us!

The official hash tag is #pcto2010

Is it me or sites like Boing-Boing, Boy Genius Report or Mashable have become the new tabloids for geeks? The difference? Most of the rumours are true. That’s because they leak out on purpose, right? See the Nexus One / T-Mobile story published three weeks before the actual launch. Welcome to the new marketing.

So I spot this advertisement today, on the subway. Wait a minute, that’s a strange place to spot a “TinyURL.com“! If you are not familiar with the concept, you can create, short memorable (or not) URLs, using a third party free service. All good, but how much would you trust such a service, in order to count on a URL you have no control over? Of all URL shortening services, TinyURL was ditched by Twitter a while ago.

Funny story: JobConnect is a government funded program offered by St. Stephen Community House. I have met some of the folks over at SSCH on my third day after moving to Canada, many years ago. Lots of good memories. Phillip my friend, where are you now?

Possible advice: pay attention to domain names, it’s not a joke. If you really need such a shortcut URL, it’s not too late to own one. Be creative. Here’s my own example which, of course, I love it: urllr.com/goog

Different users have different ways to find their destination, no doubt about that. Today, I have witnessed (via WebEx) a very unusual behaviour: one had “binged” the name of a private client site in order to get to it. Whoa! I must admit, it was a unique keyword combination that happened to return “the bookmark” as the number one result. Deep.

Oh wow, it is definitely worth spending an hour and twenty minutes now to see how Google Wave will change the web, the way we think of it and use it. It also explains why GOOG did not buy Twitter or Facebook. They need the critical mass to embrace this new way of thinking.

I have almost finished reading Ahead Of The Curve by Philip Broughton. Since “change” was an important buzzword in 2008, I want to capture an interesting definition mentioned in Broughton’s book:
Change = function (Dissatisfaction * New Model * Implementation Process) + Error

Signed-up for a Club Sobeys points card a while ago. The store is very close and is open 24/7, so why not getting an extra bonus point? Or 0.5 Aeroplan Miles, to be more precisely. A first statement comes in three months later, inviting me to just visit the site and give them my email address. All this for 200 points, that is 100 Aeroplan Miles, which translates to 0.006 per cent of points needed for something meaningful, like for a short-haul flight (15,000 Aeroplan Miles for a YYZ/YUL round-trip). Lovely, eh?